Hey Guys, Dean and Charlie from Turtle Skull here. It’s been such a great year for music! Here are some of our faves:

The best of 2018, according to Dean and Charlie (Turtle Skull)

1) Khruangbin — Con Todo El Mundo

These guys have been on our go-to list for some time now. (Mostly) instrumental three pieces with some of the tastiest bass and drum grooves known to humankind, topped with incredible guitaring. Such a groovy mellow record. The way the guitar and bass interplay harmonically is just beautiful. And the drums holding down the rhythm in such an understated way. Put it on over breakfast, afternoon in the sun, evening hangs, 3am during a bender… Anytime, it’s that good!

2) Sleep — The Sciences

The mighty Sleep returns. 53 minutes of slow pulverising riffs… It’s SO heavy. Good for zoning into a meditative trance… Not sure if there’s much I could add here that everyone doesn’t know about Sleep already, but suffice to say they are one of the best, heaviest, influential stoner bands since Black Sabbath. It literally starts with a wall of feedback. And from there on its long songs, strange vocals, amazing guitar tones… Make sure you check out the bass player Al Cisneros’s side project OM as well, big Turtle inspiration…

3) Unknown Mortal Orchestra — Sex and Food

Ruben Neilson has created his own psychedelic sound that is instantly recognisable. Best snare sound of the year, so good in fact I went home straight away and tried to recreate it. He kept some pop elements from the third LP ‘Multi Love’ but came back to his lofi psych roots for this one. ‘Hunny Bee’ is probably my favourite song of the year. Its named after his daughter. ’American Guilt’ sums up the political climate in the U.S right now, and the tone of his Neilson’s guitar is unruly and heavy as.

Bonus round: Charlie Gradon — Self Doubt

This is our drummer Charlie’s newest solo album and he doesn’t know I snuck it into this list haha. A beautiful record in every sense, I have actually cried while listening to it. Amazing songwriting, thoughtful lyrics, epic grooves. Check out Double Rainbow, it’s gotta be one of the songs of the year. And did you know he played every instrument on that record! And recorded it himself! I’ve heard Charlie use the expression “master of their craft”, and he is more than worthy of that title himself.

The best of 2018, according to Benjamin Shannon (Milton Man Gogh, Kodiak Empire, Art As Catharsis)

Our second list has been prepared by Benjamin Shannon from Art As Catharsis.

1. Deatoni Parks aka Technoself – Homo Deus

As a shameless Mars Volta nerd, I’ve always been infatuated with the work of Deatoni Parks. (See the criminally underrated and ill-fated Noctourniquet) He’s worked consistently with Meshell Ndegeocelle, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, John Cale and Flying Lotus over the last couple of decades and accumulated extensive songwriting, acting and producing credits too. The man’s a machine.

It’s Parks’ solo work however that is his most groundbreaking. What you’ll hear on his latest release, Homo Deus, is a 100% live performed concoction of split-second samples and drums; the product of such past collaborations distilled through his personal exploration of the relationship between keyboard and drums. Parks explores how he can manipulate these mediums to push the boundaries of what’s possible. In one single take.

2. Mary Halvorson – Code Girl

I remember stumbling into Cornelia St. Cafe in New York years ago as per a recommendation of a friend. ‘You must go see Mary Halvorson.’ I’m so very glad I did. Having followed her work extensively since witnessing these two 60 minute sets of brutally satisfying, palette-cleansing free improvisation I was gleefully waiting for the release of ‘Code Girl’ earlier this year. Having downsized from an octet to a quintet and employing a South Indian Carnatic trained vocalist Amirtha Kidambi and longtime collaborators, (Tomas Fujiwara, Michael Formanek and Ambrose Akinmusire) Halvorson has managed to explore uncharted territory, encompassing many familiar elements of rock, jazz and free improvisation resultant in an unfamiliar sound.

3. Circa Survive – The Amulet

The sixth studio release from Philadelphia’s prog/emo/post-hardcore veteran’s Circa Survive explores a level of maturity and restraint I didn’t think the group were capable of or would seek to explore. Everything on the record seems so well placed, traversing chaos and control, delivering moments of sheer joy and others of aptly dosed melancholy. It’s the first record where vocalist Anthony Green seems to fit in with the band rather than above. The album demands to be heard, digested and taken to heart.

Bonus round: Martin Kay’s Forage – Move to the Bleat

I was stoked to record as part of Brisbane based Composer/Saxophonist Martin Kay’s Forage earlier this year. We rehearsed, drank beer, ate food, recorded and released it. We didn’t talk about the process too much either. I’ve seldom had a recording experience so natural and relaxed yet the music so frightening and detailed through its nature. We explored special effects, unique ways of playing, experimental and traditional playing techniques and an raft of musical expressions. I guess this comes through in the recording. I’m very proud of this one, see what you think?