May was likely the biggest month of music in 2018. It seemed like every “major” record in my sphere was released. You’ll see that massive list of everything I listened to this month in addition to the ten records listed here down at the bottom of the post.

My top favorites of the bunch are definitely the two most electronic records, Skee Mask & DJ Koze. I encourage anyone not usually versed in the arts of house or dance to check both of these out. They’re truly great and will likely hold great spots on my final list at the end of the year.

For everything else, May was a big win for folks who like pop on the dreamier, hazier side – Beach House, Bernice, Hatchie, Jess Williamson and Pinkshinyultrablast have got you covered. Simian Mobile Disco, Lucrecia Dalt and Mary Lattimore are unique listens that don’t have anything similar close to them this year. All in all, pretty satisfying blend of great records. Hope you enjoy.

Beach House – 7 [Sub Pop]
Laying below dozens of printers and getting covered in delicately falling Rorschach tests.

Bernice – Puff LP: In the air without a shape [Arts & Crafts]
A conductor stands atop a tall hill and directs the graceful movement of passing clouds.

DJ Koze – Knock Knock [Pampa Records]
Laying in the bed of a pickup truck, you watch the skies change hue, listen to different sounds coming out of passing cars, and feel the terrain changing around you as you make your way across the country to visit an old friend.

Hatchie – Sugar & Spice [Double Double Whammy]
Like acquiring the Midas Touch but instead of gold, everything you touch turns to Valentine’s Day heart candies.

Jess Williamson – Cosmic Wink [Mexican Summer]
In a dusty, Southwestern town, you, as a nomadic soothsayer, sit on the porch of an old, gothic house and tell folks fortunes with a crystal ball and a smoke machine.

Lucrecia Dalt – Anticlines [RVNG Intl.]
While hiking a remote canyon, you yell out for potential human contact. A dissonant chorus of inhuman voices yell back.

Mary Lattimore – Hundreds Of Days [Ghostly International]
At a sacred spot deep in the forest, hundreds of little butterflies will peacefully roost upon your tired frame.

Pinkshinyultrablast – Miserable Miracles [Club AC30]
On a secluded beach, thousands of glass shards wash ashore and refract the powerful sunset’s rays into bright, rainbow prisms of light across the sky.

Simian Mobile Disco – Murmurations [Wichita]
Watching in awe as floating debris, arcs of lightning, torrential rain and ripping winds churn the surrounding landscape within the eye of a storm.

Skee Mask – Compro [Ilian Tape]
Like being strapped inside a metal box that has one small window to look out of and being pushed down a large, snowy mountain.

GR8 SONGS OF MAY::

Listen to all of these and more on my Best of 2018 Spotify Playlist.

• A$AP Rocky – “Buck Shots”
• Aïsha Devi – “Dislocation Of The Alpha”
• Basement Revolver – “Baby”
• Beach House – “Dark Spring”
• Bernice – “Passenger Plane”
• Black Moth Super Rainbow – “Mr. No One”
• Carla Bozulich – “Glass House”
• Childish Gambino – “This Is America”
• Chromatics – “Black Walls”
• Deeper – “Should Be”
• DJDS – “Why Don’t You Come On (feat. Khalid & Empress Of)”
• DJ Koze – “Illumination (feat. Roisin Murphy)”
• DJ Koze – “Moving In A Liquid (feat. Eddie Fummler)”
• G Flip – “Killing My Time”
• Hatchie – “Sleep”
• IDLES – “Colossus”
• Jenny Hval – “Spells”
• Jess Williamson – “Dream State”
• John Maus – “Episode”
• Jon Hopkins – “Everything Connected”
• Kevin Krauter – “Keep Falling In Love”
• Mary Lattimore – “Hello From The Edge Of The Earth”
• Middle Kids – “Mistake”
• Mitski – “Geyser”
• Ocean Hope – “Americana Nights”
• Parquet Courts – “Almost Had To Start A Fight/In And Out Of Patience”
• Pinkshinyultrablast – “Dance AM”
• Playboi Carti – “Lean 4 Real (feat. Skepta)”
• Pllush – “Big Train”
• Pusha T – “If You Know You Know”
• serpentwithfeet – “Cherubim”
• Simian Mobile Disco – “Caught In A Wave”
• Skee Mask – “Flyby VFR”
• Skee Mask – “Kozmic Flush”
• Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Middle America”
• Tanukichan – “Perfect”
• Tirzah – “Gladly”

Other Notable Releases::

(other things I listened to this month)

• A$AP Rocky – Testing
• Aïsha Devi – DNA Feelings
• Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
• Big Ups – Two Parts Together
• Black Moth Super Rainbow – Panic Blooms
• The Body – I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Longer
• Bombino – Deran
• Buck Meek – Buck Meek
• Carla Bozulich – Quieter
• Chad Valley – Imaginary Music
• CHVRCHES – Love Is Dead
• Courtney Barnett – Tell Me How You Really Feel
• Cut Worms – Hollow Ground
• Deeper – Deeper
• DJDS – Big Wave More Fire
• Domenico Lancellotti – The Good Is A Big God
• Eleanor Friedberger – Rebound
• Gas – Rausch
• Iceage – Beyondless
• Jenny Hval – The Long Sleep
• John Maus – Addendum
• Jon Hopkins – Singularity
• Kamaal Williams – The Return
• La Luz – Floating Features
• Middle Kids – Lost Friends
• Now, Now – Saved
• Ocean Hope – Rolling Days
• Parliament – Medicaid Fraud Dogg
• Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!
• Playboi Carti – Die Lit
• Pusha T – Daytona
• R.F. Shannon – Trickster Blues
• Ryley Walker – Deafman Glance
• Sarah Louise – Deeper Woods
• Shy Layers – Midnight Marker
• Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Sparkle Hard
• Sudan Archives – Sink
• Taken By Trees – Yellow To Blue
• Tracyanne & Danny – Tracyanne & Danny
• Wand – Perfume
• Wax Chattels – Wax Chattels
• Wooden Shjips – V.