Avant Music News Best of 2018: Part I – Honorable Mentions

Here we are again – our annual list of our favorite recordings for 2018. Or “lists” I should say. This year we received an enormous number of recordings to review. Given the volume of great music that came out this year, we’ve broken the “best of 2018” listing into two parts.

Today is for the honorable mentions. This is a very long list (even by our standards), but the releases herein are all very good and highly recommended. We reviewed a few of these and linked the reviews where they are available.

Tomorrow will cover our picks for albums of the year.

Like this list? Feel free to peruse previous years’ lists.

Honorable Mentions

1/2H 1/2W – Black Pelvic Fluids
Action Friend – bon•ho•mie
Alexander Adams / Billie Howard / Corey Lyons – Live at Elastic Arts, May 9, 2018
Steve Adams / Tim Perkis – A Few Eccentricities
African Ghost Valley / Billy Roisz – Angry Ambient Artists Vol. 3
Amado / McPhee / Kessler / Corsano – A History of Nothing
Anker / Thomas / Flaten / Solberg – His Flight’s at Ten
Awkward Geisha / Galaxxu – Sea Shanties & Mariner Tales
Daniel Barbiero / Ken Moore / Dave Vosh – Transparent Points on Four Axes
Nik Bärtsch / Ronin – Awase
Bella – UN
Bent Spoon Trio – Nine Year Itch
Eraldo Bernocchi – Like a Fire That Consumes All Before It
Matthew Burtner – Glacier Music
François Carrier / Michel Lambert – Out of Silence
François Carrier / Michel Lambert / Rafal Mazur – Beyond Dimensions
Bryce Catherin – make sure you have exhausted all that is communicated through stillness…
Chemical Clock – Plastic Reality
Anji Cheung – Terma
Chord – Chord
Seth Chrisman / Nathan McLaughlin – Earth Tones at the Metal Show
Cober Ord – Le Chant des Ruines
Chris Cochrane / Stuart Popejoy – Geologic Time
Rodger Coleman / Sam Byrd – The Mathematics of War
Martijn Comes & Giulio Aldinucci – Crystalline Tragedies / The Procession (distant motionless shores)
Conde / Shocron / Quinteros / Drury / Diaz – Geograficciones
Max Corbacho – Horizon Matrix
Max Corbacho – Nocturnes II
Jeff Cosgrove / Scott Robinson / Ken Filano – Hunters & Scavengers
Drew Daniel / John Wiese – Continuous Hole
Danketsu 9 – Thahraas
Dark Ages- Dark Ages
Sarah Davachi – Let Night Come Bells End the Day
Kris Davis / Craig Taborn – Octopus
Benoit Delbecq / Jorrit Dijkstra /John Hollenbeck – Linger
Dependent Origination – Dependent Origination
Jean Derome – Resistances
Dikeman / Allemano / Svirsky / Baggiani – The 2nd Path to Nowhere
Tom Djll – Serge Works
Dødsmaskin – Fiende
Dødsmaskin – Ingenting
The End – Svårmod och Vemod Är Värdesinnen
Ensemble SuperMusique – Les Porteuses d’Ô
Epos Nemo Latrocinium – Iter Itineris III
Errant Space – Seconds
Laurent Estoppey – HiLyeDyeLieDieWhyBye
Experiment#508 – The Hollow Ward
Forrest Fang – Scenes from a Ghost Train
Firetail – Nylon
Flamingo – Loud
Fonemi – Atene
Satoko Fujii / Joe Fonda – Mizu
Yuko Fujiyama – Night Wave
Future Usses – The Existential Haunting
Christoph Gallio / Paula Shocron / Pablo Diaz – Statements
Giant Gutter from Outer Space – Charred Memories
Vinny Golia – Intercommunications (Music for Woodwinds and Percussion)
Vinny Golia – Music for Woodwinds, Piano, Strings, and Percussion
Vinny Golia – Trajectory
Seth Graham – Gasp
Devin Gray – Dirigo Rataplan II
Gridfailure – When the Lights Go Out Vol. 2
Gridfailure & Megalophobe – Tasukete
Haarvöl – Peripherad Debris
Rich Halley 3 – The Literature
Mayuko Hino – Lunisolar
Christopher Hoffman Trio – Arrow of Light
Anton Hunter – Article XI
Invisible Party – The Shumankind
Reid Karris – April 18th 2018
Reid Karris – Demarcation
Kira Kira – Bright Force
Kiss the Frog – 07/15/2018 Harvelle’s, Long Beach CA
KTL – The Pyre
Peter Kuhn / Kyle Motl / Nathan Hubbard – Intention
Peggy Lee – Echo Painting
LEYA – The Fool
Matteo Liberatore – Solos
The Lie Detectors – Part III: Secret Unit
Listening Group – Listening Group
Andrew Livingston – News from the Oort Cloud
The London Experimental Ensemble – Treatise
Finn Loxbo – Eter
Roy Mattson – Flora and Fauna
Megalophobe – Megalophobe
Myra Melford / Snowy Egret – The Other Side of A
Gianni Mimmo / Silvia Corda / Adriano Orrù – Clairvoyance
N.O. Moore / John Edwards / Eddie Prevost – Darkened, Yet Shone
Joe Morris / Chris Dadge / Jonathan Wilcke – Rural Optimism
Joe Morris / Rob Oxoby – Dancing With Penguins
Remy Morritt – The Ant
Mz.412 – Ulvens Broder (10” single)
The Necks – Body
New York United – New York United
Nhung Nguyen (Sound Awakener) – Oblivion
Nouveaux Classical Project – Currents
NYTT LAND – Odal
O Saala Sakraal – Etmaal
Adam O’Farrill / Stranger Days – El Maquech
OCRE – OCRE
Otavan Veret – Syvys
Otherworld Ensemble – Live at Malmitalo
Ethan T. Parcell / Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra – Six Pieces 2016-2018
Shane Parish – Child Asleep in the Rain
Han Earl Park / Catherine Sikora / Nick Didkovsky – Eris 136199
Aaron Parks – Little Big
Phillips Pabian Daisy Trio – Divergent Flow
Dan Phillips / Chicago Edge Ensemble – Insidious Anthem
Dan Phillips / Hamid Drake – Trail of Inevitability
Matt Piet – City in a Garden
Polyorchard – sextet | quintet
Bobby Previte – Rhapsody
Psychic TV – Kondole Dead Cat
Psyclopean – Children of R’lyeh
Quoan – Fine Dining
RAIC – Multiplicity
RAIC – Symbiosis, Vol. 1
Scot Ray – vEsSeL
Reid / Kitamura / Bynum / Morris – Geometry of Caves
Charlie Rhyner – The First Second
Dane Rousay – IMP / ENV
Dane Rousay / John Kennedy – Audit
Adam Rudolph / Dave Liebman / Tatsuya Nakatani – The Unknowable
Brandon Seabrook Trio – Convulsionaries
She Spread Sorrow – Midori
Patrick Shiroishi – Sparrow’s Tongue
Patrick Shiroishi / Rob Magill – Duo Eyes in the Dirt
Christopher Sky – Vastness
Sloth Racket – A Glorious Monster
SLUGish Ensemble – An Eight Out of Nine
Sly & the Family Drone – Live at Cafe Oto
Snek Trio – November 14th 2018
Sonar / David Torn – Vortex
Tyshawn Sorey – Pillars
The Star Pillow – Symphony for Intergalactic Brotherhood
Jason Stein / Locksmith Isidore – After Caroline
Stop Motion Orchestra – Lightworks
Leo Suarez – Marbles on Tile
Taphephobia – Ghostwood
Taphephobia & Kave – Monuments
Chad Taylor – Myths and Morals
Robert Scott Thompson – Phonotopological
Tiger Hatchery – Breathing in the Walls
TOC (Ternoy / Cruz / Orins) – Will Never Play These Songs Again
Tonus – Intermediate Obscurities I+IV
TORU – Volume 1 Featuring Sam Day Harmet
TreeHorse – Séance
Joshua Trinidad Trio – In November
Manuel Troller – Vanishing Points
Various Artists – Automatas Sonoros
Various Artists – Heresy
Various Artists – In Tenebris Scriptus – A Dark Aural Tribute to H.P.Lovecraft
Various Artists – Interstellar Transmissions
Giovanni Verga – Sylpic
Vortex – As Gods Fall
Yuen Chee Wai / Lasse Marhaug – In Praise of Shadows
WeFreeStrings – Fulfillment
Nate Wooley – Columbia Icefield
XOL – XOL Plays X.EN
Zeni Geva / Steve Albini – Maximum Implosion
Zevious – Lowlands