The 131-minutes of byzantine jazz improvisations that crown my rankings is a reflection of the middling year for long-form recordings. The real action takes place on the subsequent listing of EPs.
1. Dave Holland- Uncharted Territories
2. Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd & SZA- Black Panther: The Album
3. Ambrose Akinmusire- Origami Harvest
4. St. Vincent- MassEducation
5. Rhye- Blood
6. Drake- Scorpion
7. Logan Richardson- Blues People
8. Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy
9. Fatoumata Diawara- Fenfo
10. RP Boo- I’ll Tell You What!
11. Migos- Culture II
12. Cécile McLorin Salvant- The Window
13. Eddie Palmieri- Full Circle
14. Brockhampton- Iridescence
15. Bettye LaVette- Things Have Changed
16. Four Fists- 6666
17. Hailu Mergia- Lnala Belu
18. Leikeli47- Acrylic
19. Blood Orange- Negro Swan
20. Ashley Monroe- Sparrow
21. Anderson Paak- Oxnard
22. Ariana Grande- Sweetener
23. Tyshawn Sorey- Pillars
24. Kelly Hunt- Even the Sparrow
25. Vincent Peirani- Night Walker
26. Rosalía- El Mal Querer
27. Bixiga 70- Quebra Cabeça
28. Brad Mehldau- After Bach
29. Courtney Barnett- Tell Me How You Really Feel
30. Stephonne Singleton- Caged Bird Sings Songs About Red Beard
31. Sons of Kemet- Your Queen Is a Reptile
32. Halestorm- Vicious
33. Jupiter & Okwess- Kin Sonic
34. Rodney Crowell- Acoustic Classics
35. Elza Soares- Deus É Mulher
36. Hélène Grimaud- Memory
37. Fantastic Negrito- Please Don’t Be Dead
38. Nicole Mitchell- Maroon Cloud
39. Jorja Smith- Lost & Found
40. Lonnie Holley- Mith
41. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats- Tearing at the Seams
42. Andrew Cyrille- Lebroba
43. Santigold- I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions
44. Noname- Room 25
45. Sly & Robbie and Nils Petter Molvaer- Nordub
46. Ben Miller Band- Choke Cherry Tree
47. Rich the Factor- CEO of the Blacktop
48. Matthew Shipp- Zero
49. Anja Lechner and Pablo Márquez- Schubert: Die Nacht
50. Kamasi Washington- Heaven and Earth
The Top 25 EPs of 2018
Kanye West insists that these short-form recordings are albums. He's wrong.
1. Kids See Ghosts- Kids See Ghosts (23 minutes)
2. Pusha T- Daytona (21 minutes)
3. Nas- Nasir (25 minutes)
3. Radiant Children- Tryin’ (17 minutes)
4. Tigran Hamasyan- For Gyumri (29 minutes)
5. Black Thought- Streams of Thought, Vol. 1 (17 minutes)
6. Peter Schlamb- Electric Tinks (24 minutes)
7. Nubya Garcia- When We Are (25 minutes)
8. Vince Staples- FM! (22 minutes)
9. Open Mike Eagle- What Happens When I Try To Relax (19 minutes)
10. Kanye West- Ye (23 minutes)
11. Valee- Good Job, You Found Me (14 minutes)
12. The Alchemist- Bread (25 minutes)
13. 2 Chainz- The Play Don’t Care Who Makes It (16 minutes)
14. Miles Davis- Rubberband EP (26 minutes)
15. Gilberto Gil- Pela Internet 2 (24 minutes)
16. Earl Sweatshirt- Some Rap Songs (24 minutes)
17. Chanté Moore- 1 of 4 (19 minutes)
18. Teyana Taylor- K.T.S.E. (22 minutes)
19. Soulive- Cinematics Vol. 1 (18 minutes)
20. Amber Mark- Conexão (17 minutes)
21. Diplo- California (19 minutes)
22. AlunaGeorge- Champagne Eyes (18 minutes)
23. Aphex Twin- Collapse (28 minutes)
24. Ezra Collective- Juan Pablo: The Philosopher (23 minutes)
25. Stik Figa, Ron Ron and Greg Enemy- Are The Wiz Kidz (15 minutes)
The Top 10 Reissues, Compilations and Historical Releases of 2018
Caveat: I haven’t made my way through the new version of The White Album.
1. John Coltrane- Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album
2. Prince- Piano & a Microphone 1983
3. Stax Singles, Volume 4: Rarities & the Best of the Rest
4. Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth Boogie in 1980s South Africa
5. Bob Dylan- More Blood, More Tracks
6. African Scream Contest Vol.2 - Benin 1963-1980
7. Miles Davis- The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6
8. Uncle Walt’s Band- Those Boys From Carolina, They Sure Enough Could Sing…
9. The Dur-Dur Band- Volume 1, Volume 2 & Previously Unreleased Tracks
10. Joe Strummer- Joe Strummer 001
The Top 25 Songs of 2018
Spotify playlist
1. Drake- “Nice For What”
2. Kanye West with Partynextdoor- “Ghost Town”
3. Kids See Ghosts- “Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)”
4. Janelle Monaé- “Make Me Feel”
5. J Balvin featuring Jeon and Anitta- “Machika”
6. Sa-Roc- “Forever”
7. Nas- “Cops Shot the Kid”
8. Rosalía- “Malamente”
9. Maxwell- “We Never Saw It Coming”
10. Tracey Thorn- “Queen”
11. Pusha T- “If You Know You Know”
12. The Breeders- “Wait in the Car”
13. Christina Aguilera- “Maria”
14. Four Fists- “Joe Strummr”
15. Tech N9ne- “Don’t Nobody Want None”
16. Parquet Courts- “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In and Out of Patience”
17. Chris Dave and the Drumhedz featuring Anderson Paak- “Black Hole”
18. Jimothy Lacoste- “I Can Speak Spanish”
19. Migos- “Auto Pilot”
20. Ben Miller Band- “Akira Kurosawa”
21. Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla Sign- “Psycho”
22. The Go! Team- “All the Way Live”
23. Cardi B- “I Like It”
24. Marsha Ambrosius- “Luh Ya”
25. Doja Cat- “Mooo!”
26. Ashley McBride- “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega”
27. E-40, B-Legit and P-Lo- “Boy”
28. Snoop Dogg featuring Charlie Wilson- “One More Day”
29. Childish Gambino- “This Is America”
30. Mopo- “Tökkö”
31. Ariana Grande- “No Tears Left to Cry”
32. Young Fathers- “Picking You”
33. Jlin- “Carbon 12”
34. Atmosphere- “Virgo”
35. Turnstile- “Generator”
36. Orchestra Akokán- “Un Tabaco para Elegua”
37. Flatbush Zombies- “Chunky”
38. Art Brut- “Hospital!”
39. Marianne Faithfull featuring Nick Cave- “The Gypsy Faerie Queen”
40. The Nels Cline 4- “Imperfect 10”
41. Justin Timberlake with Chris Stapleton- “Say Something”
42. La Luz- “Loose Teeth”
43. Carrie Underwood- “Ghosts on the Stereo”
44. Valee featuring Pusha T- “Miami”
45. Jorja Smith- “Blue Lights”
46. The Bottle Rockets- “Highway 70 Blues”
47. Shame- “Concrete”
48. Germán Montero- “Bumper Choque”
49. The Dirty Nil- “I Don’t Want That Phone Call”
50. Willie Nelson- “Something You Get Through”
The Top 50 Concerts of 2018
All performances are in the Kansas City area unless otherwise noted.
1. Erykah Badu- Sprint Center
2. Vijay Iyer Sextet- Gem Theater (Open Spaces festival)
3. Drake- Sprint Center
4. David Byrne- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
5. Anat Cohen Tentet- Gem Theater
6. Anthony Braxton and Jacqueline Kerrod- American Turners Club (Cropped Out festival in Louisville)
7. Taylor Swift- Arrowhead Stadium
8. Bang on a Can All-Stars with the Kansas City Chorale- Folly Theater (Open Spaces festival)
9. Protomartyr- Zanzabar (Louisville)
10. Four Fists- Riot Room
11. Pink- Sprint Center
12. Lonnie Holley- Swope Park (Open Spaces festival)
13. Injury Reserve- Encore Room
14. Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore- Knuckleheads
15. Bill Frisell, Rudy Royston and Thomas Morgan- 1900 Building
16. Low Cut Connie- Doug Fir Lounge (Portland)
17. Maxwell- Midland theater
18. Ghost- Kansas Speedway (Rockfest)
19. Cyrille Aimée- Folly Theater
20. The Breeders- The Rave (Milwaukee)
21. Flatbush Zombies- Providence Medical Center Amphitheater (Flyover festival)
22. Ryan Keberle & Catharsis- Black Dolphin
23. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Rigoletto”- Muriel Kauffman Theater
24. Uriel Herman Quartet- Black Dolphin
25. Julien Baker- Vinyl Renaissance
26. Tech N9ne- West Bottoms (Boulevardia festival)
27. Future- Petco Park (Dia de los Deftones festival in San Diego)
28. Kesha- Sprint Center
29. Michael Hurley- American Turners Club (Cropped Out festival in Louisville)
30. Atmosphere- VooDoo
31. The Project H- Westport Coffee House
32. Shania Twain- Sprint Center
33. Ehud Ettun and Henrique Eisenmann- 1900 Building
34. Randy Bachman- Ameristar
35. Drive-By Truckers- The Truman
36. Los Texmaniacs with Flaco Jiménez- Westin Crown Center (KC Folk Fest)
37. Keith Urban- Sprint Center
38. Lonnie McFadden- Black Dolphin
39. Spoon- Crossroads KC (Middle of the Map festival)
40. Emancipator- Crystal Ballroom (Portland)
41. Kenny Chesney- Arrowhead Stadium
42. Vine Street Rumble- Californos
43. Courtney Barnett- Truman
44. Hermon Mehari Quintet- Gem Theater
45. Giorgio Moroder- Truman
46. Twenty One Pilots- Sprint Center
47. Chris Hillman, Roger McGuinn and Marty Stuart’s “Sweethearts of the Rodeo”- Folly Theater
48. Lucinda Williams- Starlight Theatre
49. Edison Lights- Town Center Plaza
50. Billy Joel- Kauffman Stadium
(Original image of Erykah Badu by There Stands the Glass.)
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