Top Albums 2018 Part I 50 – 41

50. Kadhja Bonet – Childqueen

Childqueen might be the closest expression of an “Alice In Wonderland” like fairy-tale done by a black woman. By way of her vocals, her musical influences and lastly her virtuosity of never being bogged down by making “funk”, “RnB” or “experimental” music, Bonet transgresses realism in favor of surrealist sound-collages and expressions befitting a magical drink that shrinks and enlarges your view of the world – to push you to explore and understand your own viewpoint being a mere slice of a whole world. Playing every instrument herself, producing the whole thing and doing her own artwork, there is no gap, no place where the vision ends, even a slight flute detail, synth rise or string section are born from the same mind that hits us with psychedelic heart piece “Delphine”. Throwback might be a part of the message, or a modus Bonet is familiar with, but for my part, these sonics and compositions stem from a time where I wasn´t alive or conscious enough to unpack the rich worlds. Now, on tracks like the flute-driven mournful Disney Garden of “Joy”, I´m reminded of moments of listening without knowing, understanding the aural worlds my father might have encountered through listening to BBC and Deutsche Welle radio in distant Sri Lanka. Life-Worlds that were familiar but carried with them the sensation of hearing for the first time, musical worlds that seem endless and conceived by many minds. Only now it is Bonet´s vision alone and her tale of the Childqueen in a light/dark world, bedazzled, in tune with nature and striving for awareness in dream. 

49. Zombie-Chang – Petit Petit Petit 

The sprawling energy of Zombie-Chang channeled itself and become the laser-beam that is Petit Petit Petit. It feels like a step up from last years Gang! in Meirin Yung gathering her compositions, reworking them, playing with a band set up and in one way or another leaving behind tropes of J-Pop to achieve the higher goals of tighter songwriting and becoming weirder by it. “Lemonade” is the failed 1-2 dance number, a synth-pop cut Zombie-Chang did on her first album but now it sounds fleshed out and three-dimensional by higher production value and something that might be expressed by the feeling of “F.U.N” by one Spongebob Squarepants. “Iziwaru Bakari Shinaide” goes slightly more folk, highlighting Chang´s vocals in a slowed down setting, which, still, goes synthetic and impressionistic at times. While tracks like “Mona Lisa” or “We Should Kiss” come off as cookie-cutter J-Pop in their perfectly colorful music videos, both tracks never feel like being loud and obnoxious to catch your attention and stand above the rest, they are just powerhouses of energy and singing for the sake of being, having a microphone and feeling the way you feel. “Ai No Seide” or the minimalistic “Onion Slice” show a different progression of Zombie-Chang, going deeper in a songwriting perspective and completing an already variant array of tracks by one nocturnal cut and the “give love to the world” song accompanied by the coming off age home video of Yung herself. Lastly Petit Petit Petit is one of the prime examples of action painting synth music done by Japanese singers amount to a world beyond anime openings and endings, or better said, they fit these expressions perfectly because anime are not just simple kids cartoons, but a way of communication and an art form carrying every possible state of mind themselves while being inventive, visually stunning and yeah, sometimes over the top, too. 

48. serpentwithfeet – soil 

Going from his vocal capabilities alone, serpentwithfeet could stand as an operatic singer, a Maria Carrey or Bjork-like voice that is able to go from heaven to hell, paint pictures by his falsetto reaching high registers alone. But in unison with the grand voice on soil, serpentwithfeet harmonizing with himself, humming, panting, chanting, he is an artist with a unique vision in capturing the universe of love and relationship. For a more recognizable title, Josiah Wise could have chosen “Devotion”, but calling himself serpentwithfeet, taking every aspect of his artistic persona to become a piece of art, this just wasn´t an option. With soil the esoteric becomes philosophical, serpentwithfeet muses on the various instances and occurrences of love, love being misdirected on “wrong tree”, the very real pain of missing the other and realizing the depths of affection and hurt in the isolation of not wanting to go anywhere or the heights of love turning to worship on the stunning “cherubim”. As Wise goes meta on us on “bless u heart” and speaks on the consequences, doubts and ultimate goals of his sogs, soil truly becomes his diary on love meant to be shared with the world. To show the pain, wounds, and joys of loving another. sepentwithfeet does what many of us wish to do, turn his most private whispers to bold songs for the world to hear. He builds of a monument of love for the listener to worship, find solace and even inspiration from. Pair all this with production by some of the best electronic minds going orchestral while staying synthetic and rich and you get a strong statement by an artist that only started to grow and deliver his future grand opus. 

47. Okzharp & Manthe Ribane – Closer Apart

Closer Apart is the epitome of sonic design accompanied by a voice. Surely there could be an instrumental album by Okzharps impeccable productions ranging from vast dnb and garage sounds to jazz and even chiptune. However, the synergy Okzharps music creates with south African singer Manthe Ribane makes Closer Apart to a different aural beast. Like the duo describes themselves, this album was made in a state of transit, hotel rooms, airports or days of in international cities. And these spaces, the headphone quality of vibing with a world in flux beyond the speakers is apparent here. There is a plasticity to the tracks like “Why U In My Way” or “Kubona”, the imaginative force of soundtracking long ranges of plastic seating shells, glass cages serving as holding areas before going into the air. Like Brian Eno, this music should be played in airports, not for the calming effects, but for soundtracking the collaboration of the world, different nationalities, and spaces to connect and communicate. 

46. Gang Gang Dance – Kazuashita

Gang Gang Dance create the musical equivalent of shooting up in Aronofsky's Requiem for A Dream. A flurry of beauty and comfort rushing into your bloodstream to make you transcend and forget your own footing and bodily functions for this perfect high. The remaining question that I can´t shake or seem to answer is if Kazuashita nudges you into the dark pitfalls of coming down, the monkey on your back and the hurtful realization of your actual surroundings when not under the influence of fluffy clouds. They incorporate statements by protestors at Standing Rock about tear gas and riot gear, or the statement of vocalist Bougatsos on “Young Boy (Marika In America)” grappling with police brutality or the shooting of kids in general. In a band going ambient, celestial and shoegaze in a very lucid way, there is immediacy in floating away, the timely sensation of a real world that informs this music and not only pure imagination driving Gang Gang Dance´s sound. Going with the title of the album being the name of a newborn child by one of the stage members of the band and being a neologism of “peace tomorrow”, Kazuashita isn´t trying to be escapism but the promise of a better world expressed through sound. You could go with a Hindu God metaphor here, but a New York band coming together to let you float does the same trick. 

45. Usher & Zaytoven – A 

The best bread and butter RnB album surprisingly came through as a collaboration by powerhouse producer Zaytoven and Usher. Titled after Usher's home of choice and the heart of today's hip-hop music, “A” is the update Usher has needed for a long time. I grew up listening to his songs of clubbing and love-lorn anthems, but by the time Drake, The Weeknd and others crept their way into the limelight his blend of RnB became stale. Unlike artists like The Dream, Usher lived from the vibe of a pop artist making soulful RnB that was at once club ready and still heartfelt and real enough to be enjoyed by other males, especially those usually claiming harder music to be their sound of choice. With Drake turning the RnB formula to the crafty addition of a rappers persona and The Weeknd and Frank Ocean diversifying the world of a male singing about love to more recent topics and ways of being, Usher seemed to have lost his forte and his natural fanbase seemed scattered. Maybe there were those listing out of fandom, but a pretty boy making emotional music now is an outdated idea that can maybe live through the likes of Zayn Malik but finds real authenticity elsewhere. Going back for an ode to Atlanta and working with one of the men behind Future Hendrix success brings Usher back in full force. Most of the songs would have worked in the year 2000, “You Decide” or “Peace Sign” being the best examples, but tracks like “ATA” or “Stay At Home” broaden the appeal so that even a throwback like “Birthday” becomes a catchy addition to slightly darker and moody tracks. Beyond that, Zaytoven´s usually sinister vibe shines when Usher complements lines like “go girl”, his “le le le” on “ATA” and a visceral lightness to the mix. Future singing the same lines would sound off the drugged out bad boy, but with Usher, there is an affirmation and a glimpse of well-meaning previously scarce in Atlanta´s emotional palette.

44. Kevin Gates – Luca Brasi 3

After his 2016 debut album Islah, Gates seemed to incorporate even more pop and RnB sensibilities into his music. Grown from great mixtapes like the first Luca Brasi or By Any Means, Islah stepped up the sing-song hooks and catchy melodies to a point of his usual honesty and harshness that coupled well within tracks like “Weight” or “Movie” suffered in their vigor. With this year's third part of Luca Brasi, Gates delivers a more familiar blend of his sides and is decidedly harder and harsher than on his major debut. Here smooth songs like “Find You Again” or “Me Too” rarely overpower the harder cuts that have Gates being a knowingly ridiculous, masculine and hard knock gangster. For a man that quotes himself, goes on a Hajj and toes the line between being inspirational and toxic in every other statement, Luca Brasi 3 is lyrically impressive and positive. Surely, there are lines about his dick, the strange usage of “Me Too” that qualifies as offensive, but with tracks like “Great Man” Gates does what he does best, he brings blatant honesty to his raps, heralds a world he knows and understands through his own lense that is wrought by crime, poverty and the idea of the “little man” having to overcome his hardships. He is a breadwinner, not in a conscious and political way, but a man that is constantly at war with himself and tries to air this out in his lustful, aggressive ways at the time, but you´ll understand the hurt and need to be better only a few tracks in.

43. Recondite – Dämmerlicht 

To step away from the dancefloor can be a scary thing for some producers, even if its the common wish of many. Most leave for the foray into soundtracking a movie, dance performance or art piece, but few do the same thing without a cause other than the urge to revel in sound and to transgress inherent limitations or build a different side of their oeuvre. On Dämmerlicht Recondite takes the slightest allusions of his usual work and works inspirations of hip-hop, orchestral composition and soundtrack music into an album that is a downtempo goldmine. It is one thing to work with a steady beat and the intention to evoke movement in others but to loosen the hold and let go, to understands a narrative and plot points that are apparent to no one else is a different journey altogether. There are moments of taking in natures sounds, of his Bavarian home in Dämmerlicht, ideas that were modeled into beats on Hinterland, sampled and reworked to fit the bill of an electronic album that adheres to bmp structures. Now the sample like on “Der Steinmetz” become the footsteps that ground Recondites feet in his explorations of different fields and environments. Every sound that could be organic becomes amplified, develops a metabolism of its own and is dipped into a tight sound structure, a canvas of mood and meaning by Recondite. There could be many visuals, words, and text to accompany Dämmerlicht, but the power of the album lies in its ocular darkness, apart from the titles that tell you of setting like “Von der Kanzel”, “Am Sonntag” or “Im Regen”, no real image is needed, just the force of sound to enliven these scenes.

42. Nils Frahm – All Melody 

You´ll know that All Melody is a special ride when the spring time choir of “The Whole Universe Wants To Sing” transitions to the organic bump of “Sunson” through the tunnel of a high rising synth. There is the feeling of total control on All Melody. While Spaces covered the pianist gone composer gone maximalist in an explicit live setting, laughing, clunking and building his vast songs to tough the hearts of his listeners, All Melody has the currents of solitude running through its core. Frahm in his studio, gathering instruments and equipment like a kid with a lego obsession building its own magnificent version of the Millenium Falcon. Maybe this is the reason why Frahm himself said he might never use the studio again, the vastness of his production leading to the realization that his hoarder lifestyle and approach to music can lead to unnecessary clutter and the connection towards his audience being lost. And maybe this is why the most prominent and newest instrument on All Melody is not some obscure synth or specially made string instrument, but the human voice and natural reverb Frahm recorded in a well in Mallorca and his studio's natural echo chambers. The feelings of the universe, of being related to everything outside yourself make All Melody a gratifying journey, and apart from the great beats that run through many of the longest tracks, the various voices, at once tender and celestial, invite the component of a human touch to Frahm´s physics. As a man that exploded on stage, is witty and relatable in calling his biggest track a cash-cow or speaking on his own failure, the voice and the component of vastness echoing back at you are the offset of All Melody, the point in which Frahm transcended himself in the studio in the same way he transcends by way of an audience listening in a concert hall, clapping and laughing as he smugly takes his toilet brush, picks and plucks his many devices and entertains through the beauty of creation.

41. Lupe Fiasco – Drogas Wave

I´d be lying in saying that I´ve unpacked the whole 24 tracks of Drogas Wave to a satisfactory extent. Lupe unearthed his second album of the Drogas line and he was not kidding when he told us that Drogas Light was simply B-Sides to his to his album. Build from two sides “Drogas” and “Wave” respectively, Fiasco builds to narratives that feed of each other but still stand on their own to be dissected and understood. The less abstract first part Waves tells the story of slaves sinking into the bottom of the ocean in the Atlantic Ocean, learning to breathe and dedicating their life to sinking other ships and fighting against slavery on their own terms. This section is both a fantasy, social commentary, and a mythology Fiasco builds to give an expression of the horrors of slavery and put a positive twist on the trade of human life, drowning and fighting against a culture build to suppress a whole group of people. He ends this section on the tearjerking “Alan Forever”, his alternative history on Alain Kurdi, the boy that drowned on his flight to Europa and whose image made waves in media and politics alike. Lupe takes this tragedy and builds it into his own story for powerful results. We all know the harsh reality refugees face in Europa or America, and many ways of dealing with this subject become hurtful refugee porn. In Lupe´s words and his connection to survival and a reunion with his family, “Alan Forever” transforms to an imaginative form of healing, never for the family that lost Alan, but for a culture that is witnessing injustice and must come up with ways of dealing with such tragedies. The second part, “Drogas” is looser in the narrative but much more telling and realistically rooted. Here Lupe glows in his lyrical power to draw statements on the current state of things, be it hip-hop and rap or the relationship of today´s society with drugs. Every verse deserves an essay on its own, knowing this Lupe gave insight on the structure of the album. Even with this, Drogas Waves needs to be read through, digested and enjoyed again as two great albums, soulful cuts, conscious rap that never becomes preaching and even some fitting moments of Lasers like pop tracks that now, for the first time, fit the narrative and serve a higher purpose. Lupe outdid himself, and if there is still a third album titled “Drogas”, all this can only point to another masterpiece lying in wait.