2018 was a beast of a year for music; I don’t recall a recent year when I enjoyed more new music. I am a listmaker and I do a “favorites” list at the end of every year, but I put it on Facebook where only people I’m connected with can read it.

I’m on a big “music media is driven by publicists and small bands don’t have access” kick lately, though, and as a result I think that – even though some of the records I heard and loved this year probably reached my ears due to those very same publicists – it’s worth listing my faves in a place where people can actually read them. So:

1) The Ex • 27 PASSPORTS (The Ex)
2) John Coltrane • BOTH DIRECTIONS AT ONCE: THE LOST ALBUM (Impulse!)
3) Deaf Wish • LITHIUM ZION (Sub Pop)
4) E • NEGATIVE WORK (Thrill Jockey)
5) Mourn • SORPRESA FAMILIA (Captured Tracks)
6) Stove • STOVE’S FAVORITE FRIEND (Exploding In Sound)
7) Obnox • BANG MESSIAH (Smog Veil)
8) Träden • TRÄDEN (Subliminal Sounds)
9. The Love-Birds • IN THE LOVER’S CORNER (Trouble In Mind)
10. Bodega • ENDLESS SCROLL (What’s Your Rupture?)
11. Sons Of Kemet • YOUR QUEEN IS A REPTILE (Verve)
12. Nap Eyes • I’M BAD NOW (Paradise of Bachelors)
13. Bad Sports • CONSTANT STIMULATION (Dirtnap)
14. Connections • FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Trouble In Mind)
15. Savak • BEG YOUR PARDON (Ernest Jenning Record Co.)
16. Big Bliss • AT MIDDLE DISTANCE (Exit Stencil)
17. Beak> • >>> (Temporary Residence)
18. Thee Oh Sees • SMOTE REVERSER (Castle Face)
19. Mythic Sunship • ANOTHER SHAPE OF PSYCHEDELIC MUSIC (El Paraiso)
20. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks • SPARKLE HARD (Matador)
21. Wussy • WHAT HEAVEN IS LIKE (Shake-It)
22. Roy Montgomery • SUFFUSE (Grapefruit)
23. Kamasi Washington • HEAVEN AND EARTH (Young Turks)
24. Sunwatchers • II (Trouble In Mind)
25. Borzoi • A PRAYER FOR WAR (12XU)
26. Brother JT • TORNADO JUICE (Thrill Jockey)
27. Wand • PERFUME (Drag City)
28. Tangents • NEW BODIES (Temporary Residence)
29. St. Lenox • TEN FABLES OF YOUNG AMBITION AND PASSIONATE LOVE (Anyway)
30. Tropical Fuck Storm • A LAUGHING DEATH IN MEAT SPACE (Joyful Noise)

Honorable Mentions: Azalia Snail, Eric Bachman, Charnel Ground, Ethers, Exmaid, Eyelids, FACS, Flasher, Kal Marks, The Marked Men, Messthetics, Olden Yolk, Pram, Salad Boys, Shame, Spider Bags, Superchunk, Uncontrollable Urge, Kurt Vile, The Woolen Men, Yo La Tengo

TOP SINGLES AND EPs:

1. Dag/Thigh Master • SPLIT 7” (Bruit Direct)
2. Resounding No • GROSS DOMINANCE (State Champion)
3. A Deer A Horse • “Double Wide” (A Deer A Horse)
4. Protomartyr • CONSOLATION E.P. (Domino)
5. Kerbivore • “Choice Words”/”A Moment’s Notice” (Kerbivore)
6. Drahla • “Twelve Divisions Of The Day” (Captured Tracks)
7. Honey Radar • “Frogman + 2” (Honey Radar)
8. Glued • INSIDES (Sooper)
9. Cicada Radio • CATCH & RELEASE (Killing Horse)
10. Mineral • “Aurora” (Mineral Deposits)

We are.

We are supporters of “Justice Democrats”:https://www.justicedemocrats.com, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping progressive candidates run for office as democrats to help transform the party from within. Their platform includes universal health care, free tuition at public universities and trade schools, protecting women’s rights, ending racism, and *getting corporate money out of politics*. We suggest you read more about them “here”:https://www.justicedemocrats.com/about

We’ve put together a couple of great fundraising shows for this coming weekend, to help raise awareness about Justice Democrats, and to support two local Congressional candidates: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY 14) and Jess King (PA 11). The bills are great, and admission is just ten bucks. Here are the details:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26 – music starts at 9PM:
Savak
Spectre Folk (Peter Meehan, Pete Nolan of Magik Markers, Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Mark Ibold of Pavement
Sunwatchers (with Jonathan Kane sitting in on drums)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28 – music starts at 8PM:
Bodega
Sharkmuffin
Stuyvesant
Joy Cleaner

The venue is FM, which is at 240 3rd Street in Jersey City. Representatives from Justice Democrats will be on hand to sign up volunteers for last-minute canvassing and phonebanking for the 26 candidates they’ve endorsed who are running for Congress. You can make a difference. You can move the needle. And you can have fun at two great shows. Come on down.

Our pals at Jack Rabid’s outstanding Big Takeover magazine have premiered the new single and video by Joy Cleaner, “Easter Tuesday.”

This catchy pop track will be out TOMORROW on cassette and digital formats. We’ll also be taking preorders for a super-limited 7″ lathe-cut picture disc w/download code that will be available in early November.

Check out the track and video “here”:http://bigtakeover.com/news/VideoPremiereEasterTuesdaybyJoyCleaner?fbclid=IwAR2nuSBY4MnzFTUd5R0mWiX8SnU_2q3hjPOODSR4d1F96EnJ2j1b0ORkr3g

Joy Cleaner are doing a bunch of shows to celebrate the release of “Easter Tuesday” next week.

Dates as follows:

October 16: JERSEY CITY (Low Fidelity Bar, w/Borzoi and Resounding No)
October 18: BROOKLYN (Alphaville, w/Algebra II)
October 19: FLEMINGTON, NJ (Flemington DIY, w/Algebra II)
October 20: WORCESTER, MA (Distant Castle, w/Algebra II)
October 21: NEW HAVEN, CT (Never Get To Be Cool, w/Algebra II)
October 28: JERSEY CITY (FM, Dromedary fundraiser for Justice Democrats w/Bodega, Sharkmuffin & Stuyvesant)

Check them out live, and look for a brand-new video for “Easter Tuesday” coming soon!

Let’s fix this. Are you registered to vote?

It takes less than two minutes. “Follow the link.”:https://bandcamp.com/vote

Bloomfield, New Jersey’s Joy Cleaner are one of the most exciting young bands in the area. We were introduced to them through a split 7″ that they did with the band Spowder (another favorite), and followed them through the release of their debut LP _Total Hell_, on Seattle’s Jigsaw Records.

After a live appearance on our weekly radio program “Signal To Noise” (Sunday nights on WFDU in New Jersey) and a couple of live sets at various New Jersey venues, we were sold. When the band expressed an interest in releasing a single in the fall, we jumped at the chance to work with them. We’ll be releasing “Easter Tuesday,” a three-song single on digital, cassette, and a super-cool, limited-edition lathe cut square vinyl 7″.

The street date for the new release will be October 19.