2018 in New Music Part 2

**Dan Weiss - Starebaby (Pi Recordings)**
Dan Weiss continues to be one of the most original imaginative drummer/bandleaders in contemporary improvised music, drawing from a wide range of material and from different musical cultures. Starebaby, inspired by David Lynch and Twin Peaks, is a triumphant, agitating, disruptive work fusing jazz, metal and progressive rock, as reliant on its brilliant ensemble (including keyboard players Craig Taborn and Matt Mitchell, guitarist Ben Monder and bassist Trevor Dunn) as it is by Weiss' spidery compositions. There is no other music quite like this.



Daniel Avery - Song For Alpha (Mute)
Avery has described this album as exploring 'the moments in a club when the outside world becomes a little more than an inconsequential thought in the back of your head'. It's electronic music as an accompaniment and complement to the world, rather than an escape from it and it is beautifully realised.



**Daniel Bachman - The Morning Star (Three Lobed)**
A patient and meditative counterbalance to personal transition and political chaos, The Morning Star is one of the year's more demanding and uncompromising albums, but also one of the most rewarding. This is music that transports the listener outside time.



Daniel Blumberg - Minus (Mute)
Daniel Blumberg's journey from the teenage energy of Cajun Dance Party and the murky alt rock of Yuck towards much more personal, distinctive and outsider concerns has been fascinating. Minus brilliantly combines purposefully repetitive and minimal melodies with bursts of creative improvisation. This music is interested in the possibilities of sound, space and texture. Blumberg also uses his voice dynamically and powerfully, and the unpredictable twists and turns create an appropriately uneasy environment.



Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want (Ipecac)
Tense, stark, sometimes industrial sounding brutalist rock.



Dave Holland - Uncharted Territories (Dare2)
If it has sometimes felt as if Dave Holland's compositional voice has become so familiar as to be perhaps comforting, here is an album that places him somewhere very different. Working with the great saxophonist Evan Parker, pianist Craig Taborn, and percussionist Ches Smith, Uncharted Territories is a dense double set of thoughtful, empathetic improvisations in different configurations.



David Byrne - American Utopia (Nonesuch)
The accompanying tour has to go down as one of the greatest live events of the decade, as a result of which perhaps the actual album seemed slightly overlooked. Nevertheless, it's an impressive, typically urbane and quixotic examination of modern culture.



David Crosby - Here If You Listen (BMG)
At 77, Crosby is proving to be more restless and creative than ever, and is currently in the midst of a quite remarkable late career run. Here If You Listen finds him collaborating again with Michael League from Snarky Puppy and the excellent singer-songwriters Becca Stevens and Michelle Willis. Sometimes this music has an hallucinatory or hypnotic quality and sometimes it is more earthy, but it never feels as if Crosby is settling for anything comfortable (even when revisiting Woodstock).



Dead Can Dance - Dionysus (PIAS)
A welcome return with more fusions of traditions with modernism, this time inspired by the Greek God of wine.



Dedekind Cut - Tahoe (Kranky)
One of the finest albums of the year - drones with longing as well as creeping unease.



Demdike Stare - Passion (Modern Love)
Clearest and most atavistic Demdike Stare album for a while.



Dinosaur - Wonder Trail (Edition)
The second long player from Laura Jurd's Mercury nominated band veers away from the Miles Davis fusion era inspirations towards playful experimentation with synths and angular rhythmic phrasing. It sounds like everyone had tremendous fun making this and it's equally exciting to engage with as a listener.



**Dirty Projectors - Lamp Lit Prose (Domino)**
In which Dave Longstreth deftly combines some of the musical concerns that first brought Dirty Projectors to a wider audience circa Rise Above and Bitte Orca with some of the more solipsistic production trickery he has been exploring more recently. The combination is urgent and effective. An impressive roster of guests including Amber Mark, Syd, Empress Of and Robin Pecknold also leave their mark.



**Domenico Lancelloti - The Good Is A Big God (Luaka Bop)**
Great, reflective album of contemporary samba influenced songs, with co-production and arrangement duties from Sean O'Hagen of The High Llamas.



Don't Problem - Don't Problem (Don't Problem)
Striking EP of original music from 8 piece South London based brass band. Heavy grooves, thrilling arrangements - maximum excitement.



Doug Paisley - Starter Home (No Quarter)
Stripped back, clear and deceptively simple country songs.



Dylan Carlson - Conquistador (Sargent House)
Typically slow, doom-laden, epically distorted, heavy tread solo excursions from the Earth guitarist.



Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs (Tan Cressida/Columbia) 
Fragmented, warped, laconic and woozy hip hop.



**Eiko Ishibashi - The Dream My Bones Dream (Drag City)**
One of the year's most distinctive, ambitious and ultimately glorious works, very much occupying its own space in an exciting hinterland between modern composition, avant garde pop and improvisation.



Eleanor Friedberger - Rebound (Frenchkiss)
Unassuming but effective glossy, keyboard-heavy, outsider pop from the former Fiery Furnaces singer-songwriter.



Elephant Micah - Genericana (Western Vinyl)
Recorded with 'discarded or devalued' equipment, Genericana finds Joe O'Connell's ensemble forging a new relationship between the analogue and digital worlds, crafting some patiently unfolding, quietly stirring experimental rock along the way. Reference points - Songs: Ohia, Will Oldham.



Eli Keszler - Stadium (Shelter Press)
An abundance of rapid fire ideas but also somehow teflective and absorbing ninth solo album from the drummer-composer, someone I discovered this year thanks to his work with Laurel Halo. This is Keszler's ninth solo album, so there is plenty more to investigate.



Elliot Galvin - The Influencing Machine (Edition)
Quirky, fidgety contemporary jazz from the pianist (also a member of Dinosaur).



Elvis Costello and The Imposters - Look Now (Concord)
This first new Elvis Costello in aeons draws largely from discarded collaborations, including some further songs written with Burt Bacharach. It's a rich, polished set musically, but also comes with characteristic observational bite.



Elysia Crampton - Elysia Crampton (Break World)
Dazzling, detailed EP from the Brazilian sound collagist. Its liberal, scattershot approach to cultures and genres and cultures helps explore migration, travel and personal history.



Enemy - Enemy (Edition)
This trio of Kit Downes, James Maddren and Petter Eldh makes exceedingly complex, very modern music feel natural and effortless. More ways to refract and reshape the conventional piano trio.



Eric Chenaux - Slowly Paradise (Constellation)
I continued to find Eric Chenaux's warped and disorientating songscapes, reminiscent of some of Arthur Russell's work, a curious source of solace, and Slowly Paradise is one of his strongest.



Erik Friedlander - Thoroughbreds OST (Back Lot Music)
Friedlander's brilliant soundtrack to Thoroughbreds is percussive, driving and combative.



Erland Cooper - Solan Goose (Phases) 
Orkney, birds and a majestic, sustained and swooning romanticism.



Espen Eriksen Trio with Andy Sheppard - Perfectly Unhappy (Rune Gramofon)
Very melodic, European chamber jazz.



Ezra Feinberg - Pentimento and Others (Related States)
Gently cascading solo debut from the former Citay member that slowly exerts a magnetic pull.



Fabled - Short Stories (Pictor)
Saxophonist Sam Rapley's band is something of a who's who of contemporary London based jazz - with pianist Matt Robinson, guitarist Alex Munk (who also leads Flying Machines), Conor Chaplin (Dinosaur, also Flying Machines) on bass and the superb Will Glaser on drums. It's a creative hybrid music, drawing from a range of sources to expound on literary themes and it journeys through a range of moods and sensations.



**Fatoumata Diawara - Fenfo (Republic of Music)**
Excellent, outward reaching second album from the Malian singer that also manages to engage fully with contemporary cultural issues (one song calls for an end to the ban on marriages between different ethnic groups).



**Field Music - Open Here (Memphis Industries)**
Peter and David Brewis continue to hone their tradmark sound, blending classic pop melodies with arty, angular grooves and, on this particularly impressive album, intriguing string arrangements. Open Here might be their strongest work to date and it's one from relatively early in the year that I keep returning to again and again.



**Flying Machines - New Life (Ubuntu)**
The much hyped 'new jazz explosion' may have dominated most of the column inches when it came to UK jazz this year, but this is a major contender for my favourite UK jazz album of the year. In working with producer Sonny Johns, Alex Munk's band have crafted an album dominated by improvisation but which still succeeds in using the recording studio as a creative resource. There's an impressive dynamic and textural range here, and the music draws from rock, classical and folk forms too.



Fofoulah - Daega Rek (Glitterbeat)
A greater emphasis on both vocals and electronics makes this second album from the London based group even more adventurous and open minded than their first, drawing as much from dub and club music as from West African rhythms.



Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita (4AD)
Great to have GGD back after seven years. As ever, it's a heady and genre bending concotion. There's an interesting piece where Brian DeGraw talks about some of the influences on this album here:

https://www.factmag.com/2018/09/15/7-things-that-influenced-gang-gang-dances-triumphant-album-kazuashita/



Garcia Peoples - Cosmic Cash (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)
For all your expansive psych pop needs.



GAS - Rausch (Kompakt)
Another powerful, dark journey from Wolfgang Voigt, creating dense layers of sound until they become overwhelming.



Gaye Su Akol - Istikrarli Hayal Hakikattir (Glitterbeat)
Exploratory contemporary Anatolian rock from the Turkish singer on her second international release.




Gazelle Twin - Pastoral (Anti Ghost Moon Ray)
A very 'of the moment' record in that it uses notions and ideas from English folklore to create something sinister and apocalyptic.



Gemini Sisters - Gemini Sisters (Psychic Troubles Tapes)
John Kolodji of High Aura'd and Matt Christensen collaborate on this reflective, sensory guitar music.



Georgia Anne Muldrow - Overload (Brainfeeder) 
Intricate, surreal and evocative neo soul.



Grouper - Grid of Points (Kranky)
Liz Harris returned after a relative hiatus with this mercilessly concise but breathtakingly beautiful, pure sounding set of haunting miniatures.



Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg (Rough Trade)
An experiment in lush, Jimmy Webb-ish country pop from the Super Furry Animals frontman.



Guided By Voices - Space Gun (Guided By Voices Inc.)
Bob Pollard keeps on going with more of the artful same. It's unlikely to win any new converts at this stage but the faithful can only be delighted,



**Gwenifer Raymond - You Were Never Much Of A Dancer (Tompkins Square)**
Radical folk music with common ground with artists such as Laura Cannell. This music feels traditional and inhabited, but it is mostly a set of remarkable originals from Raymond.



Gyan Riley - Sprig (National Sawdust Tracks) 
The great Terry Riley's son is an impressive musician in his own right and Sprig is a fine and warm recording of his guitar compositions.



**H.C. McEntire - Lionheart (Merge)**
H.C. McEntire's set of affecting, graceful country rock songs from a queer perspective is triumphant. Also features a stirling set of special guests including Mary Lattimore, Tift Merritt, William Tyler and the ubiquitous Phil Cook.



Hailu Mergia - Layla Blu (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
A new release from the excellent Awesome Tapes From Africa, this captures the unusual accordion-lead jazz of Washington DC based Ethiopian bandleader Hailu Mergia. Tony Buck from The Necks plays drums.



Haley Hendrickx - I Need To Start A Garden (Mama Bird)
A stark and captivating album of songs celebrating small details and emotional nuances. Hendrickx manages to sound both in touch with folk traditions and remarkably resonant and contemporary at the same time. It's also a great example of reverb being used to bring songs into sharper relief rather than to obfuscate.



Hannah Read - Way Out I'll Wander (Hudson) 
Beautiful modern day folk songs from the Scottish singer-songwriter now residing in New York City, sometimes reminiscent of Anais Mitchell or Gillian Welch.



**Harmony Rockets with Peter Walker - Lachesis/Clotho/Atropos (Tompkins Square)**
An all star line-up featuring the great rediscovered Woodstock guitarist Peter Walker, the robust former Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, avant garde guitarist and Wilco member Nels Cline, Jonathan and Grasshopper from Mercury Rev, Jesse Chandler and Martin Keith. It's every bit as majestic and resplendent as you'd expect such a collaboration to be.



Harriet Tubman - The Terror End of Beauty (Sunnyside/Early Future)
I'm slightly ashamed to admit that this is the first time I've heard the progressive jazz trio Harriet Tubman, but I'll definitely be investigating more from their 20 year career on this basis. This is fiery and urgent jazz rock.



Heather Leigh - Throne (Editions Mego)
Heather Leigh and Peter Brotzmann - Sparrow Nights (Trost) 
Dramatic, excoriating songs with theatrical vocals and pedal steel.



Leigh's collaboration with the legendary Peter Brotzmann certainly has its predictably unsettling moments, but it also has moments of surprising romanticism and stateliness.



Helena Deland - 'Altogether Unaccompanied' Series (Vols I-IV) (Luminelle)
Not intended as an album, but more a collection of songs that live on their own - they vary from the stripped bare and unadorned to unexpected experiments with electronics, but always in service to Deland's intrepid melodies.



Helena Hauff - Qualm (Ninja Tune)
One of the year's best titled albums (Qualm means smoke or fog in German, or a sense of uneasiness in English). Qualm is one of the year's more abrasive and radical electronic albums.



Helena Kay's KIM Trio - Moon Palace (Ubuntu)
The award winning saxophonist's trio neatly blends a rich understanding of the jazz tradition with more turbulent contemporary forms. The music is melodic, thoughtful and compelling. NB: Misha Mullov-Abbado plays bass in the video below but Ferg Ireland plays on the recording.



Henri Texier - Sand Woman (Label Bleu)
Thanks must go to Peter Slavid for pointing me in the direction of this one - an open and expressive example of great European jazz.



Henry Lowther's Still Waters - Can't Believe, Won't Believe (Village Life)
A slight conflict of interest should be declared here as trumpeter Henry Lowther's justly acclaimed album is currently available exclusively from Jazz CDs, where I work for part of the week. Nevertheless, it's essential to recognise that Henry remains one of the UK's most significant musicians - adaptable to a wide range of contexts, and his compositions here are calmly authoritative.

http://www.jazzcds.co.uk/artist_id_113/cd_id_2090

**Henry Threadgill 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg - Dirt...and More Dirt (Pi Recordings)**
Two typically questing, cerebral and ambitious long form works from the pioneering saxophonist, flautist and composer.



**Hieroglyphic Being - The Red Notes (Soul Jazz)**
In a year that seemed to amplify and highlight the musical lineage and innovation of Chicago, Jamal Moss' latest album for Soul Jazz made a substantial contribution, drawing from both acid house and experimental and improvised music. Comfortably some of the best dance music of 2018.



High Aura'd - If I'm Walking In The Dark - I'm Whispering
High Aura'd and Asama - Oil Pourer (Noble Rot)
John Kolodji can lay some claim to being 2018's most prolific and consistent artists - I enjoyed three of his project this year (see also Gemini Sisters).





Hilary Woods - Colt (Sacred Bones)
The former JJ72 bassist explores entirely different, unexpected and more intimate concerns on this excellent album of meditative ambient, atmospheric, ethereal folk pop.



Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog (Saddle Creek)
Excellent, dynamic, rhythmically driving self produced third album from the alt-rock band with little respect for genre boundaries. Also thematically timely in its exploration of 'man's misuse of power'.



How To Dress Well - The Anteroom (Fat Cat)
Designed to play as a single piece, Tom Krell's fifth album of manipulated electro soul is his most ambitious and elaborate to date.



Ian William Craig - Thresholder (Fat Cat)
A collection of material spanning the period of Vancouver singer/composer Ian William Craig's first three albums and typically aching, haunting and magical.



Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids - An Angel Fell (Strut)
Improvised music that is both in the moment and transcendent, powerfully addressing necessary contemporary themes.



**Ingrid Laubrock - Contemporary Chaos Practices - Two Works For Orchestra With Soloists (Intakt)** 
This new work from the saxophonist and composer is both dramatic and cerebral and feels like a major artistic statement.




Imarhan - Temet (City Slang) 
Very strong, rhythmically driving second album from the Tuareg band from Algeria.



Insecure Men - Insecure Men (Fat Possum)
Sleazy low budget electro pop.



Israel Nash - Lifted (Loose)
A widescreen, shimmering take on country rock.



Itasca - Morning Flower (Dove Cove)
Excellent, contemplative cassette only release from Kayla Cohen.



**Ivo Neame - Moksha (Edition)**
At times Ivo Neame's grooviest and most immediate music, but also characteristically willing to explore musical ideas in great depth - an entirely irresistible recording.