First, no one can be objective, there’s no truth in music. Then, it can be mentally difficult for artists to accept these insights. We are music fans above all and we never want to hurt anyone. Our goal is only to discover new talents and to bring them to our readers’ ears. We know they don’t always have the time to listen to everything we scan and write about during the year so these lists are just recommendations of what they should first focus on. Nothing more.

We know it’s a shared subjective feeling: 2018 has been another great year for music. We got introduced to fascinating newcomers with strong concepts that prove that albums are certainly not dead yet. Some rising singer-songwriters confirmed their defining style while a few established artists successfully re-recorded their masterpiece or explored challenging new soundscapes. You can find below the 30 albums that made 2018 according to our staff and stay tuned for our usual 100 Tracks of the year list next week.

30) Amen Dunes – Freedom

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29) Kadhja Bonet – Childqueen

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28) Yves Tumor – Safe in the Hands of Love

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27) Whitney Ballen – You’re A Shooting Star, I’m A Sinking Ship

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26) Tirzah – Devotion

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25) CupcakKe – Eden

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24) Rosalía – El Mal Querer

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23) Tomberlin – At Weddings

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22) Sidney Gish – No Dogs Allowed

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21) Ezra Furman – Transangelic Exodus

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20) Kali Uchis – Isolation

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19) Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer

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18) Frankie Cosmos – Vessel

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17) U.S. Girls – In A Poem Unlimited

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16) Ariana Grande – Sweetener

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15) Ex:Re – Ex:Re

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14) Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy

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13) Tierra Whack – Whack World

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12) IDLES – Joy As An Act of Resistance.

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11) illuminaties hoties – Kiss Yr Frenemies

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10) Mr Twin Sister – Salt

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9) SOPHIE – Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Sides

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8) Low – Double Negative

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7) noname – Room 25

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6) Soccer Mommy – Clean

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5) Beach House – 7

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4) Robyn – Honey

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3) Lucy Dacus – Historian

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2) Snail Mail – Lush

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1) Mitski – Be The Cowboy

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A lot of artists from the boiling underground scene are unfortunately flying under our radar. Hopefully, our Brussels-based curator Free Anckaert scours through hundreds of SoundCloud tracks to bring the best of them to the surface. Check a few of his favourites and stream the whole playlist below.

A lot has been said about the vagina pants of Janelle Monáe’s phenomenal video for her single “Pynk.” The overall aesthetics of the video clip is just outstanding. The two reunite prior to their collaboration on Grimes’ “Venus Fly” (please check out the amazing video). Happy they’re together again. Maybeeeee pink like the skin that’s under… Maybeeeeee a tour together in the autumn?

I actually wanted to include this one in my previous playlist, as it was released a day before it was published. But hey, better late then never. Since its marvelous 2016 EP ‘AS’, Berlin-based duo Amnesia Scanner is one of my favourites in the progressive electronic scene. Previously on Young Turks they’re collabing with new PAN labelmate Pan Daijing. Such a brutal, but strong and danceable song!

Brand new, fresh from the oven: Goro! He’s a Berlin-based producer from Bulgaria, making electronic music with dancehall, reggaeton & dub influences. In 2018, he’ll focus on a series of monthly singles, as well as a multimedia/performance project and pop production credits. Previous single was “Call/Answer.”

Check the full playlist below!

As you might know it, Janelle Monáe will drop her third studio album on Friday but Thursday night, she will also premiere the whole project as a 44-minute accompanying film on MTV and BET. So far, we had the amazing visuals for the previously shared singles “Make Me Feel,” “Django Jane,” and “PYNK” and today, she decided to unveil “I Like That” stylish video. Watch it below.

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Besides the video, she also announced a North American tour. Check her itinerary on her website.

The experimentalist brings out the slow motion vibe out of the original rendition, as she strips it down to its minimal electronic sounds. That’s why she decided to call her cover/remix the “dark” version of the perky single by Monáe. You can see below that she already validated the cover via a tweet.

Listen to Dawn Richard‘s cover of “PYNK” below.

Only a few days after the release of her amazing video for Grimes-assisted single “PYNK” and following up on “Make Me Feel” and “Django Jane,” Janelle Monáe is back with a brand new track titled “I Like That” where she both raps and sings. We don’t know if this new offering will also get a video treatment but “Dirty Computer”, the follow-up to her 2013’s album “The Electric Lady,” will also be released as a full music video.

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Following up on “Make Me Feel” and “Django Jane”, Janelle Monáe has shared a new video from her upcoming album. “PYNK” is a collaboration with Grimes (the two of them already linked up on 2015’s Grimes‘ excellent album “Art Angels”) and it comes once again with amazing visuals. Where the first single “Make Me Feel” has been perceived as a queer song, the new video is a feminist anthem. Monáe has always stood up for women rights. About the track and the Emma Westenberg-directed visuals, the artist wrote:

[su_quote]PYNK is a brash celebration of creation. self love. sexuality. and p-ssy power! PYNK is the color that unites us all, for pink is the color found in the deepest and darkest nooks and crannies of humans everywhere… PYNK is where the future is born…[/su_quote]

Actresses Tessa Thompson and Michaela Coel are also starring in the video. Watch it below.

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Almost five years after “The Electric Lady”, Janelle Monáe is back with the announcement of a new LP. As she probably knows people were waiting for her comeback for too long, the American artist decided to spoil us by dropping two videos in a row. For the funky and futuristic “Make Me Feel”, Monáe wows us with choreographed and colourful Alan Ferguson-directed visuals. The second single, “Django Jane” is a surprising rap track. Watch both videos below.

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“Make Me Feel” and “Django Jane” will be featured on Janelle Monáe‘s new album “Dirty Computer” due out on April 27. The announcement also comes with a statement from the artist:

[su_quote]I actually had this title on this concept before my first album The ArchAndroid, and it scared me because a lot of the things that I knew that I needed to say were very deep, very personal, from the heart. You know, this is an extremely vulnerable album and it took me a while to make it because I’m a self editor.[/su_quote]

Connect with Janelle Monáe via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Arnaud: Hey Matias, how are you doing?

Matias: I have my mouth full of bio tofu with peanut oil and kale but otherwise, I feel great. Doesn’t it look tasty?

Arnaud: Well, more than you describe it than when I see it flowing along your mouth. But what is important is that is homemade, isn’t it? Like the fourth album of Grimes “Art Angels”, that was released a week ago.

Matias: I heard that Pitchfork gave an 8.6 to my tofu and named it “Best New Food” but right now, I’m in Grimes mode so I don’t give a damn about it! I don’t know if this is the same for you, but I can’t stop listening to the album since its release. This is so infectious…

Arnaud: When I first heard it, I was struck by doubt. I imagine you had the same feeling this morning when you looked at you in the mirror. Was it still Grimes? As a lot of people, I discovered her with her third album “Visions” and it is a bit like if “Art Angels” was only her sophomore effort. These two albums are very, very different. “Visions” was a bit experimental whereas “Art Angels” is super-produced, structured and definitely pop, with a big part of craziness in it. The thing is that, like most people, I made the mistake to put Grimes in a musical box. Nowadays, it doesn’t really make sense anymore as no one is still confined to a single genre; artists go beyond, explore and are freer. So once these a priori flew away, I really started to enjoy the album.

Matias: I have to say, I don’t think Grimes made a step in the direction of pop music. I have the feeling the pop sphere moved to Grimes. Ellie Goulding draws near Calvin Harris (when she is not plainly in his bed), Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande are buzzing round Zedd, Madonna is as thick as thieves with Diplo and Sophie, and in another style, Miley Cyrus takes LSD with The Flaming Lips. Pop music never overflowed like that on underground and electronic music. However, the LP is definitely pop but I wanted to underline Grimes‘ influence on contemporary pop music. She injected a lot of power and pulled the whole movement to her, and she maybe doesn’t know it yet.

Arnaud: This is probably true. But when I heard “Flesh Without Blood”, the lead single from this album, I didn’t think of avant-garde or future. It was an efficient sniper shot straight to the brain. The song is seductive and viral. It reminded me Avril Lavigne though, like a post-mortem and post-apocalyptic version of her. This guitar riff with this bubblegum atmosphere were different, but it hooked me. It would have been a pity for her to stay in her experimental universe as she proves with this track that she is a great pop producer.

What is amazing is that everything is homemade, DIY. This is a patchwork of unique sounds, samples, loops and instruments (violin, guitar, ukulele…). Sometimes, in one song, she combines several genres with success. She is a great musician, a great producer and a real maestro. This is craftsmanship!

For instance, “California” is a kind of hybrid country-pop track based on a sample of Rihanna’s “Pon De Replay”. It is not even the American state. This is a hate song specially dedicated to Pitchfork, the most influent website in the world for alternative music. Is she afraid of giving a finger to them? No, she doesn’t care! She takes pleasure and settle her score. The song is also supposed to make reference to “enema”. I personally didn’t see the blink but knowing you, I’m sure you found it out. Anyway… The track, which is totally a grower, should get a video treatment in early 2016.

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Matias: All these things around “California” and Pitchfork are so funny! I love her when she is not afraid of getting involved. She is making a stand for pushing the Canadian youth to vote. She defends feminism. She is not just a musician, she is the best side of pop music. If we could say the same for other pop stars *wink wink Madonna that you are going to see soon*. Grimes is never where you expect her to be, and she always surpasses her own limits. If you take “Kill V. Maim”, that could be a cheerleader’s anthem of Toni Basil high on speed, she is doing her own thing and by the way, scrapes off the men. She claims in “Butterfly”: “If you are looking from your dream girl, I will never be your dream girl”. This is the same with the new version of “REALiTi”, which is a big fuck to stardom, even if I think that this version is a fail compared to the demo one.

Arnaud: Please, for Madonna, open and read your History books of the 15th century and you will see that she opened most of the doors Grimes is smashing today. But you are right, Grimes is committed to some causes. One of my favorite tracks of the LP, “Venus Fly”, with the talented Janelle Monáe, is a feminist banger against all the guys that keep on speering at girls. “Butterfly” is supposed to talk about the deforestation and “Easily” is dedicated to the flip-flopping persons who constantly judge her music, like us 😉 As would sing the avant-garde Belgian singer Mary-L: “Un jour sans, Un jour avec”. Nevertheless, I am always suspicious of all the stands taken by pop musicians. This is so easy to sing that racism and war are bad and that love is nice.

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I focused more on the Asian inspiration that you can hear throughout the album. As I recall, we never opened the door that much to Asia in North American pop music since Gwen Stefani’s debut solo album. By the way, Gwen is like Avril: musically dead (RIP). There is “Easily” inspired by the sound of Bollywood in the 80s. Then, “SCREAM”, which is certainly the most furious track of the album, gives room to Aristophanes, a Taiwanese rapper who sings in mandarin. Grimes mostly plays a role in the production for this track. I could debate with the lyrics for hours but I suppose you don’t have the time for that, don’t you? Then, “Kill V. Main”, which is Grimes‘ favorite track on the album, sounds like if Nintendo’s “Street Fighter” was a song. This is also a song I adore. On Twitter, she said there also would be a video for this track. “World Princess pt II” is the following of a song from her LP “Halfaxa” even if this is not obvious. It sounds like catchy pop music made with Nokia 3310’s sounds. Finally, for each track of “Art Angels”, there is a drawing to go with and they are totally inspired by Japanese manga.

Matias: I’m sorry but compared to Gwen Stefani, this is Madonna who fell from the top perch, and not only in the metaphoric language. The singer of No Doubt is currently back on center stage with The Voice and her new single “I Used to Love You”. so you should revise your CURRENT pop music lessons. Let’s go back to Grimes now. I also like these Asian influences that I hear in “ArtAngels” or “SCREAM”. But my favorite track remains “Butterfly”: this is like Kylie Minogue having an orgy with South Korean girls band 2NE1.

Grimes is often explaining how much she hates the fact that indie music blogs generally depreciate women’s work in music. I hope we term to change her mind!

Arnaud: I am a bit afraid I have to say. If we misunderstood something in her album, do you think she will write a hate song against and scream after us on Twitter? Griiiiiiiimes I’m sorry, I love you. Don’t kill me!

Matias: It would be amazing to have a hate song especially for us. But as I prefer love to hate, I give the album a 9/10. I would have given a 10/10 if “REALiTi” was not changed.

Arnaud: I share this deception for the track and the excitement for the rest of the LP. 8/10