The Wire's Releases of the Year 2018

On the cover: 2018 Rewind: the year in underground music . Including: Releases of the year : We asked our contributors to nominate their top ten records, CDs, downloads and streams of the year, then we counted up the votes. Critics’ reflections : Our contributors look back on 2018’s cultural highs and lows. Black Noise : Reclaiming the racket. By Moor Mother. Climate Sounds : Blowing hot and cold. By Lewis Gordon. Minimal Rock : Beat the repeat. By Marc Masters. Jazz & Protest : Freedom fighters. By Daniel Spicer. Four/Four : Deconstruction time again. By Chal Ravens. Columnists’ charts : Our specialist critics select music that rocked their corner of the subculture, from avant rock to the outer limits. Artists’ reflections : A cast of 2018’s most active movers and shakers shine the spotlight on their cultural year. Archive releases of the year : Our contributors voted for their top ten archival records, CDs, downloads and streams, and we counted them all up. Plus, Kepla & DeForrest Brown Jr , Still House Plants , Big Joanie , Invisible Jukebox Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore , loads of reviews, and much more.

Source

# 1
Album • Mar 30 / 2018 Afro-Jazz
# 2
Album • Nov 02 / 2018 Glitch Hop Deconstructed Club
# 3
Album • May 04 / 2018 Electronic Experimental
# 4
Album • Oct 26 / 2018 Noise Rock Experimental Rock
# 5
Album • Jan 19 / 2018 Experimental Hip Hop Glitch Hop Industrial Hip Hop
# 6
Album • Apr 13 / 2018 Drone Ambient
# 7
Album • Nov 02 / 2018 Avant-Folk Southeast Asian Folk Music
# 8
Album • Apr 26 / 2018 IDM Experimental
# 9
Album • Jul 13 / 2018 Experimental Rock Noise Rock
# 10
Album • Sep 14 / 2018 Ambient Pop Glitch Pop
# 11
Album • Oct 05 / 2018 Arabic Folk Music
# 12
Album • Oct 26 / 2018 Progressive Pop Art Pop Experimental Ambient Pop
# 13
Album • Oct 12 / 2018 Electroacoustic Avant-Garde Jazz
# 14
Album • Jun 08 / 2018 Grime IDM
# 15
Album • Jun 01 / 2018 Progressive Electronic
# 16
Album • Oct 12 / 2018 Conducted Improvisation Modern Creative
# 17
Album • Feb 09 / 2018 Post-Minimalism Drone
# 18
Album • May 25 / 2018 Hardcore Hip Hop Southern Hip Hop
# 19
Album • Jun 08 / 2018 Post-Industrial Experimental
# 20
Album • Oct 27 / 2016 Post-Industrial
# 21
Album • Aug 10 / 2018 Alternative R&B Art Pop
# 22
Album • Nov 02 / 2018 Free Improvisation Experimental Rock
# 23
Album • Feb 23 / 2018 Ambient
# 24
Album • Mar 30 / 2018 Abstract Hip Hop Conscious Hip Hop
# 25
Album • May 09 / 2018 Poetry Experimental
# 26
Album • Jun 22 / 2018 Progressive Electronic Ambient
# 27
Album • Nov 16 / 2018 Contemporary Folk Singer-Songwriter
# 28
Black Helicopters by Agnarkea
Album • Oct 15 / 2017 Experimental Hip Hop Instrumental Hip Hop
# 29
Album • Feb 23 / 2018 Ethio-Jazz
# 30
Album • Jun 06 / 2018 Ambient Drone
# 31
Album • Mar 23 / 2018 Drone Field Recordings
# 32
Album • Jul 04 / 2018 Art Pop Ambient Pop
# 33
Album • Jul 13 / 2018 Ambient
# 34
Album • Jan 26 / 2018 Minimal Synth Electroacoustic
# 35
Album • May 25 / 2018 Jazz-Funk Jazz Fusion
# 36
Album • Nov 09 / 2018 Deconstructed Club IDM
# 37
Album • Aug 22 / 2018 Tribal Ambient
# 38
Album • Sep 14 / 2018 Jazz Rap Conscious Hip Hop
# 39
Album • Sep 28 / 2018
# 40
Album • Apr 27 / 2018 Singer-Songwriter Ambient Pop
# 41
Album • Mar 16 / 2018 Ambient Pop Indie Rock
# 42
Album • Aug 03 / 2018 Industrial Techno Electro
# 43
EP • Mar 21 / 2018 Deconstructed Club Hardcore [EDM]
# 44
Album • Sep 21 / 2018 Post-Industrial Art Pop
# 45
Album • Oct 26 / 2018 Anatolian Rock Art Pop
# 46
Album • Jun 08 / 2018 Tribal Ambient
# 47
Album • Sep 07 / 2018 Electroacoustic Ambient
# 48
Album • Mar 02 / 2018 Post-Minimalism
# 50
Album • Sep 07 / 2018 Neo-Psychedelia Post-Industrial