Talking about earbugs, Paténipat is another one recently.
Estrons – You Say I’m Too Much, I Say You’re Not Enough
They say alternative, NME says punk, and this is my idea of good indie rock. And a blast first record.
Black Devil – Disco Club
Timing, Forget the Timing is my latest unescapable earbug for quite some time now. It is beyond my comprehension how this track (and album, for that matter) could be made in 1978. And its story of being rediscovered and reissued by Richard D. James. Mind. Blown.
Booka Shade – Cut The Strings
I listened to all Booka Shade releases of 2018 just recently in the year after and there was quite a bit of output to dig through. Cut The Strings was the long player of the year, and a brilliant and beatiful album at that. But there was a long list of EPs, too, with mixed feelings but definitely more pros than cons. I can totally vouch for all the remix EPs from the LP, and the Quantum Leap and Rosebud EPs.
Sorry to Bother You (2018)
The most surprising movie of 2018 for sure. It was surrealistic, completely mindfuck, unexpected, and a great experience as a flick. Also made a well articulated point as social narrative.
On a different note: I haven’t heard of The Coup before. WTF?! It is a perfect friend of everything RATM, and I know Street Sweeper Social Club well, so I know the voice of Boots Riley just fine. I just haven’t heard of his original band before. So now I’m on a Coup listening spree, obviously. Although I haven’t really got through re-listening the movie soundtrack several times.
Another note: Tessa Thompson. I’m just getting into her so much. (Mean this the right way.) I first came across her in Westworld – great character, first seldom enough appearances to be mystical, then when being more active another kind of mystique. In Thor she was badass. In Annihilation she was not a driving force but another mystery not fully explored or explained. So maybe this is her thing. And this is our thing (as audience) with her. She is casted well and always had this mystical vibe around her so far. And this time again the artsy girlfriend character with her kinks and girl next door attitude. Hit home.
Fischerspooner – Sir
From the electroclash to the gayest album cover of the year.
An Orange Conspiracy – AOC
That cover.
Slam – Athenaeum 101
IDM and ambient. A journey: looking at the star-studded night sky in a wide valley, then taking a trip inside a factory colony on a distant planet, and later back into the open space and nature again.
Throwing Snow – Loma
First got hooked on this one when I was looking for something with broken beats and jungle rhythms, and I was happy to find this record. But then there are quite some flavors of electronics piled up here, all pretty much good flavors.
Maceo Plex, Swayzak – The Tesseract EP
The fourth quarter of last year was massively dominated by techno for me. Going to a good techno party resurfaced in my life as a force that I am drawn to, and I got to listening to a big chunk of good, dance-oriented techno and house.
This record was one of the highlights of the year’s end. It encompasses pretty much everything that I always loved about good techno music: dark atmosphere, industrial sound (that’s mostly the A side here), and a rolling uptempo beat that drags you along and moves your body even at 5am on the dance floor (which is coming along on the flip side).