Spanning Taiwanese pop to unearthed gems from the archives of a jazz luminary.
The time of year is upon us where blogs and music journalism websites the world over discuss their favourite albums released throughout the year. With that said and without further ado, we present to you a rundown of our top ten releases of 2018.
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10. John Coltrane
Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album
(Impulse! Records)
When it was revealed that a lost 1963 studio session from the esteemed late John Coltrane had been unearthed, the news was met with unanimous excitement. Described by Sonny Rollins as “Like finding a new room in the Great Pyramid” and featuring those who ultimately came to be considered the comprising players of Coltrane’s classic quartet – McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums – Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album holds deep significance as it presents the saxophonist in the grips of a crucial transition in his approach to music; knocking at the door that he would kick down entirely with his radical magnus opus A Love Supreme the following year.
Recommended track(s): ‘Slow Blues’
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9. Noname
Room 25
(Self-released)
It should come as no surprise that Fatimah Warner’s sophomore album as Noname has firmly secured a place on most year-end lists. Following up 2016’s critically acclaimed Telefone, Room 25 sees not a second wasted as the slam poet-turned-rapper balances social consciousness and a sharpened wit whilst coursing through topics such as police brutality, terminal illness and sex at breakneck speed.
Recommended track(s): ‘Don’t Forget About Me’
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8. Sunwatchers
II
(Trouble In Mind Records)
Self-described as “Punk jazz drone out of Brooklyn”, New York ensemble Sunwatchers have continued to sidestep convention since their formation. After finding a new home with Chicago’s Trouble In Mind Records, the band returned in February to present a sophomore album that blisters through psychedelia, free jazz and meditative Eastern modalities with the poise and grace of a bull in a china shop.
With the scorching sonic frenzy that rears its head at various points throughout II it’s miraculous that Tobias and McHugh’s saxophone and guitar are able to exist on the same plane, however they do and the resultant product is thunderous perfection.
Recommended track(s): ‘Nose Beers’, ‘There Are Weapons You Can Bring To School’
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7. Ravyn Lenae
Crush EP
(Atlantic)
Whilst technically not a full-length project, Ravyn Lenae‘s Crush EP has been a mainstay in our listening rotation since its February release and it would be an injustice if not included on the aforementioned grounds.
Featuring wall-to-wall production from The Internet‘s Steve Lacy, P-funk-styled guitars and synthesizer sounds akin to those of early 00s R&B accompany Lenae in a four-track exercise of vocal acrobatics that pulls at many stylistic threads. The end product – similarly to Lacy’s own solo debut – sounds fresh and innovative whilst retaining a nostalgic quality due to its nods to the past.
Recommended track(s): ‘Sticky’, ‘Closer (Ode 2 U)’
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6. Triathalon
Online
(Broken Circles)
A Casiotone keyboard fortuitously found whilst thrifting in New York City and a reconfigured approach to the guitar sparked what would eventually become Online, the third full-length album from Savannah natives Triathalon. Over the course of forty-five minutes, ruminative and sultry R&B arrangements soundtrack an engaging insight in to the musings of a millennial growing older in the age of the internet.
To borrow from our original album review, “This is one for late nights, long drives, quiet moments with your significant other and accompaniment to smoking bowls.”
Recommended track(s): ‘Couch’, ‘Hard To Move’
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5. Pink Siifu
ensley
(Self-released)
ensley marks the thirty-eighth (Yes, thirty-eighth) project to surface on the Bandcamp page of LA-based rapper and beatsmith Pink Siifu, real name Livingston Matthews. As with many of the musician’s previous works, in his latest sonic exploration a lo-fi warmth is the tie that binds as he traverses divergent realms to paint a picture that blurs the lines between psychedelia, jazz and neo-soul.
The project is fragmented and vignette-like in nature, with most of its twenty-five tracks never reaching the three-minute mark and Matthews’ voice often bearing a fleeting presence. In the moments where poignant and poetic raps are absent, the opportunity is offered for each component of the gorgeous, sprawling instrumentals beneath to clarify their individual importance. As such, ensley works at its best when digested through headphones in solitude where its countless nuances and subtleties can be given the attention that they deserve.
Recommended track(s): ‘Proud/Pray’, ‘Stay Sane’
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4. Earl Sweatshirt
Some Rap Songs
(Columbia/Tan Cressida)
In a generation of “more content please” where attention spans are short and consumers digest information, music and art at an ever-increasing speed, Earl Sweatshirt has chosen to take an opposing stance. After waiting no less than three years the Odd Future expat stepped out of a relative seclusion on November 30th to throw his hat in to the ring with the modestly named follow-up to I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside, marking the final entry in to our list.
The title Some Rap Songs grossly underplays what lies within as Earl utilises each second of the project’s brief twenty-five-minute running time to its fullest potential. The subject matter covered on Some Rap Songs is cathartic and undiluted as Earl touches base on the recent events that have transpired in his life; namely the passing of his father, South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile followed by his adopted uncle, legendary jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela just weeks later. Touching homages are made to both family members on ‘Playing Possum’ and ‘Riot!’ respectively. The former sees a poem of Kgositsile’s collaged against a speech by Earl’s mother as an ode to the rapper’s progenitors whilst the latter sees a sample of Masekela’s resounding and triumphant horn work close out the album, serving as a piercing light at the end of the tunnel.
Recommended track(s): ‘December 24’, ‘Playing Possum’
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3. Sons Of Kemet
Your Queen Is A Reptile
(Impulse! Records)
If there was ever a question of whether jazz should still hold a place in the lexicon of contemporary music, one should look no further than South London for an affirmation of its vitality.
Whilst honing his chops performing with the likes of Mulatu Astatke and the legendary Sun Ra Arkestra, 33-year-old saxophonist and clarinetist Shabaka Hutchings has stood at the forefront of what has rapidly evolved from a flourishing grassroots scene to steroid-injected behemoth with three primary musical projects: Shabaka And The Ancestors, The Comet Is Coming and Sons Of Kemet.
For the latter’s explosive and acutely political third LP which arrived in March, tuba, tenor saxophone and a propulsive double dose of drums are brought together for a marriage that demands the listener’s attention through its limited vocabulary. Uninhibited in its vocalisation of the country’s weary state and party-inducing through it’s unshakeable rhythmic pulse, Your Queen Is a Reptile stands as one of the most intoxicating and revolutionary jazz records of 2018.
Recommended track(s): ‘My Queen Is Harriet Tubman’
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2. The Orielles
Silver Dollar Moment
(Heavenly Recordings)
In March, Silver Dollar Moment provided listeners with their first full-length glimpse in to the world of The Orielles. Brimming with a childlike fervour and fearlessness to explore disparate ideas as it flips between modulated guitar motifs and rhythms that channel the pulse of ESG, the Halifax-based group’s debut would be equally at home within the hedonistic walls of New York’s Paradise Garage or on stage at Californian festival Desert Daze’s three-day-long celebration of all things psychedelic.
The band’s recent follow-up single ‘Bobbi’s Second World’ simultaneously tightens the hinges of and further contorts the ideas showcased on Silver Dollar Moment, alluding to the notion that even greater ideas will surface in 2019.
Recommended track(s): ‘Blue Suitcase (Disco Wrist)’
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1. Sunset Rollercoaster
Cassa Nova
(Warner/Chappell Music)
Returning seven years after the release of their debut album and following 2016’s Jinji Kikko EP, Taiwanese outfit Sunset Rollercoaster have presented an album that whilst referencing sounds of the 80s as its calling card, feels forward-thinking and carries incredible sonic depth in its intricate and carefully arranged balladry.
Saxophone, seamlessly blended electronic and acoustic percussive sounds and an arsenal of synthesizers are deployed to filter artefacts of American music such as Motown and P-Funk through a kaleidoscopic lens yielding mesmerising results.
Recommended track(s): ‘Greedy’, ‘Angel Disco Love’
Honourable mentions:
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids – An Angel Fell (!K7 Music) – Buy / Stream
Armand Hammer – Paraffin (Backwoodz Studioz) – Buy / Stream
Alan Braufman – Valley Of Search (Valley Of Search) – Buy / Stream
David Byrne – American Utopia (Todo Mundo) – Stream
Neneh Cherry – Broken Politics (Smalltown Supersound) – Buy / Stream
Connan Mockasin – Jassbusters (Mexican Summer) – Buy / Stream
Tommy Guerrero – Road To Knowhere (Too Good) – Buy / Stream
Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans/Night Time Stories) – Buy / Stream
Low – Double Negative (Sub Pop) – Buy / Stream
Parquet Courts – Wide Awake! (Rough Trade Records) – Buy / Stream
Spiritualized – And Nothing Hurt (Fat Possum Records/Bella Union) – Buy / Stream
Vanishing Twin – Magic And Machines (Blank Editions) – Buy / Stream
Various Artists – Gumba Fire (Bubblegum Soul & Synth-Boogie In 1980s South Africa) (Soundway Records) – Buy / Stream
Kamasi Washington – Heaven And Earth (Young Turks) – Buy / Stream
Young Fathers – Coca Sugar (Ninja Tune) – Buy / Stream
Words by Sam Wilkinson.
Illustration by Jacob Armitage.
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Fruit and Grooves Collective 