Avant Music News Best of 2018: Part II – Albums of the Year

To the extent that these lists mean much of anything, here are our favorite recordings of 2018. Many of these albums have been reviewed here at AMN, and such reviews have been linked in the list below.

This year, our list is so lengthy that we broke it into two separate postings. The “best of” is today, and the honorable mentions were yesterday. As usual, let me add the usual disclaimer that this list is incomplete, I have not heard all 2018 releases, and have probably missed a few really good ones. Enjoy.

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

Albums of the Year

All Traps on Earth – A Drop of Light
Ari Chersky – Fear Sharpens the Dagger
Philipp Gropper / Philm – Live at Bimhaus
Lauren Redhead – Hearmleoþ-Gieddunga
YAK – Bardo

Best of 2018

4 Airports – 4 Airports
John Luther Adams – Everything That Rises
Ajna – Lucid Intrusion
Albatre – The Fall of the Damned
Anguish – Anguish
Aseptic Void – Ideazione di Contrasto
Steve Ashby & Daniel Barbiero – The Elongated Path
Bangladeafy – Ribboncutter
Big Heart Machine – Big Heart Machine
Bonini Bulga (Pär Boström) – Sealed
Carter / Holmes / Putman / Greene / Ughi – Telepathia Liquida
Chaos Echoes with Mats Gustafsson – Sustain
Josh Charney – Chaos Magic
Common Eider, King Eider – A Wound of Body
Cruel Diagonals – Disambiguation
Death Drag – Shifted
Christi Denton – Meduse
Desiderii Marginis – Vita Arkivet
Alvaro Domene – The Compass
David Dominique – Mask
Evil Genius – Experiments on Human Subjects
Far Corner – Risk
Ghost Flute & Dice – Kropsbygning
Jelena Glasova – The Malady of Death
Jordan Glenn – BEAK
Ross Hammond – Riding Dragons in Winter
Hezaliel – Paradise Lost
Christopher Hoffman – Multifariam
Adam Hopkins – Crickets
Jeton Hoxha – Vowel
Ignite – Ignition (EP)
Ikizukuri – Hexum
Christoph Irniger / Pilgrim – Crosswinds
Jack O’ The Clock – Repetitions of the Old City – II
Pandelis Karayorgis / Damon Smith / E. Rosenthal – Cliff
Reid Karris Group – Ghost Dancers Slay Together
Kiss the Frog – Days of Wrath
Kyoko Kitamura – Protean Labyrinth
Kreysing / Penschuck / Stadlmeier – Re-encypher
Ingrid Laubrock – Contemporary Chaos Practices
The League of Assholes – IM PEACH The Sequel
Lore – Lore EP
Rene Lussier Quintet – Rene Lussier Quintet
Matthew Lux / Communication Arts Quartet – Contra/Fact
Moloch Conpiracy – The Cave of Metaphysical Darkness & Lights
Monolithes – Limites
Michael Moss / Accidental Orchestra – HELIX
William Parker – Lake of Light: Compositions for AquaSonics
Jo Quail – Exsolve
Jo Quail / Hands of Ruin – Hands of Ruin Remixes (Single)
Abbey Rader / West Coast Quartet – Second Gathering
Raison d’Etre – Alchymeia
Alec K. Redfearn & The Eyesores – The Opposite
Robert Rich / Markus Reuter – Flood Expeditions: The Gatherings, 19 May 2018
Stephanie Richards – Fullmoon
Rivener – Rivener
Rent Romus / Life Blood Ensemble – Rogue Star
Devin Sarno – Visitor (Suite)
Shatner’s Bassoon – Disco Erosion
Patrick Shiroishi / Dylan Fujioka / Paco Casanova – Kage Cometa
Shrine – Celestial Fire
Josh Sinton / Predicate Trio – Making Bones
Maryam Sirvan – Untamed Terror
SUSS – Ghost Box
Jennifer Thiessen / Ida Toninato – The Space Between Us
The Thing – Again
Robert Scott Thompson – Phonotopological
Henry Threadgill / 14 or 15 Kestra: AGG – Dirt… And More Dirt
Tunnels of Ah – Charnel Transmissions
Peeter Uuskyla / Tellef Øgrim / Anders Berg – Oslo Hærverk
Visions & Phurpa – Monad
Warren Schoenbright – Excavations
Dan Weiss – Starebaby
Mars Williams – An Ayler Xmas Vol. 2
Gabriel Zucker – Weighting