This was a weird one for me. Reflecting on the actual list and how it compares to my list was somewhat of a negative experience. Part of it was how utterly predictable it was – conversations over the year pointed almost exactly to its DNA, as if the placement of some releases was a foregone conclusion. Part of it was how little I related to those releases. But still, 80 percent of it was personal taste, and Tiny Mix Tapes remains one of the preeminent repositories of cutting-edge music, not to mention resplendent writing.
And yeah, sure, there’s SOME overlap. Those cases just don’t happen to be what I consider representative.
The year 2018 marked my first participating in the Tiny Mix Tapes year-end spectacular – I started writing there in October 2017, so I (probably wisely) sat out the festivities. I was a n00b, I could keep it down for a season. This year, though, I dove in, haunting the digital pages of Chocolate Grinder at least twice a week and even contributing a news story or two (and even a feature review, which I will likely not do more of, because who has that kind of time?). It was a lot of fun.
But as I mentioned in my Tabs Out recap, I’m not a huge list fan, so quantifying these releases seems, and is, silly. But the list exists, and so I present it to you how I submitted it. Again, take it with a grain of salt, but that top 10 is pretty inarguable. (Relatively, of course.)
Notice that I have more “rock” stuff on here than you’d think? Yeah, weird for me too. That Parquet Courts album is SO TIGHT.
I just realized one or two of the tapes changed places when I did my Tabs Out list. This one came first.
50. Substrates – Lethean
49. Jacco Gardner – Somnium
48. They Will Burn Us to Ashes – They Will Burn Us to Ashes
47. Derek Piotr – Grunt
46. Faxada – Paraa
45. Matthew Ryals – Machine Memory
44. Hot Snakes – Jericho Sirens
43. Dotson – De/termination
42. Kraus – Path
41. New Hard Folk – New Hard Folk
40. Matthew D. Gantt – Isomorphs
39. x.nte – CLOUD2
38. I am just a pupil – The White Album
37. The Caretaker – Everywhere at the End of Time (Stages 4 and 5)
36. Czarface & MF DOOM – Czarface Meets Metal Face
35. James Ferraro – Four Pieces for Mirai
34. Honnda – Maraschino Mic Drop
33. Energy ☆ – Energy ☆
32. Budokan Boys – That’s How You Become a Clown
31. Niedowierzanie – Lumiere
30. Brother JT – Tornado Juice
29. Beach House – 7
28. DJ David Goblin – Ork Muzik
27. Bamba Pana – Poaa
26. Gwenno – Le Kov
25. Obnox – Templo del Sonido
24. Dommengang – Love Jail
23. Tropical Interface – OM1
22. Barrio Sur – (heart break)
21. Mako Sica / Hamid Drake – Ronda
20. Gas – Rausch
19. The Necks – Body
18. Visitors – Nature Documentary
17. Navel – The Hamburg Arkansas Starsound Orchestra Play Navel
16. Carey – The Great Southeastern Dissatisfaction
15. Frog Eyes – Violet Psalms
14. Seth Graham – Gasp
13. somesurprises – alt
12. Cave – Allways
11. Mitski – Be the Cowboy
10. Quin Kirchner – The Other Side of Time
9. Sleep – The Sciences
8. Oh Sees – Smote Reverser
7. Mukqs – 起き上がり
6. Similar Fashion – Portrait of
5. Bliss Signal – Drift EP
4. Fire-Toolz – Skinless X-1
3. Tangents – New Bodies
2. Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!
1. Low – Double Negative
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