There is never enough music / There is too much music. Both statements are completely true.
By the time you finish reading this, the list will have changed. A good rule of thumb would be for me to post my “best of” list two years after year end. This would, at least, allow some distance - time during which I could discover what will inevitably become some of my “favorites” of 2018. Conversely, some of these titles will fall off the list as well. Others will be enduring classics that shine forever. I suspect Jennifer Castle’s ‘Angels Of Death’ will be one of the latter.
I look at this process (of creating year-end lists) as a “snapshot in time,” much like photography. Something else happens before and after…and perhaps what appears to be happening in the snapshot wasn’t really happening at all.
I want to thank all of the bands that let me photograph them in 2018. I witnessed so many incredible shows this year. I met (and photographed) some of my favorite musicians - and all of them were incredibly giving, generous with their time, extremely kind. Some of them went above and beyond for me - for that I am grateful. In a lot of cases incredible labels and kind management helped to allow me access.
Please see the links below and support the artists, they are all amazing; buy their music, see them live, visit the merch tables, listen closely…
In no particular order:
L-R: Jennifer Castle : Angels of Death [Paradise Of Bachelors]; Buck Meek : Buck Meek [Keeled Scales]; Sam Evian : You, Forever [Saddle Creek]; Molly Burch : First Flower [Captured Tracks]
Mothers : Render Another Ugly Method [ANTI-]; Josephine Foster : Faithful Fairy Harmony [Fire Records]; Miranda Winters : Xobeci, What Grows Here [Sooper]; The Breeders : All Nerve [4AD]
Anna St. Louis : If Only There Were a River [Woodsist]; Marlon Williams : Make Way For Love [Dead Oceans], Haley Heynderickx : I Need To Start A Garden [Mama Bird Recording Co.]; Emma Louise : Lilac Everything [Liberation / AWAL]
Faustina Masigat : Faustina Masigat [Mama Bird Recording Co.]; Jessica Risker : I See You Among The Stars [Western Vinyl]; Renata Zeiguer : Old Ghost [Northern Spy]; Jess Williamson : Cosmic Wink [Mexican Summer]
Empath : Liberating Guilt And Fear [Get Better Records]; Palberta : Roach Goin’ Down [Wharf Cat]; Neurotic Fiction : Pulp Music [Specialist Subject Records]; Pill : Soft Hell [Mexican Summer]
Natalie Prass : The Future And The Past [ATO]; Boygenius : Boygenius [Matador]; Gwenifer Raymond : You Never Were Much Of A Dancer [Tompkins Square]; Sun June : Years [Keeled Scales]
Cornellia Murr : Lake Tear Of The Clouds [Autumn Tone Records]; Juanita Stein : Until The Lights Fade [Nude Records]
Kali Malone : Organ Dirges 2016 - 2017 [Ascetic House]; Sarah Davachi : Gave In Rest [Ba Da Bing Records]; Sarah Davachi : Let Night Come On Bells End The Day [Recital Program]; Caterina Barbieri : Born Again In The Voltage [Important Records]
E Ruscha V : Who Are You [Beats In Space]; Emily A. Sprague : Mount Vision [self-released]; Red Brut : Red Brut [KRAAK]; Louise Bock : Repetitives In Illocality [Feeding Tube Records]
Laurel Halo : Raw Silk Uncut Wood [Latency]; Yialmelic Frequencies : Yililok [Leaving Records]; Félicia Atkinson / Jefre Cantu-Ledesma : Limpid As The Solitudes [Shelter Press]; SUSS : Ghost Box [Northern Spy]
Body/Head : The Switch [Matador]; Grouper : Grid Of Points [Kranky]; Lucy Railton : Paradise 94 [Modern Love]; Lucrecia Dalt : Anticlines [RVNG Intl.]
Lori Scacco : Desire Loop [Mysteries Of The Deep]; Julia Holter : Aviary [Domino]