This was a remarkable year for EP releases, more so than what I can recall from past years. Leading the way were a number of rising artists that are just beginning to make their mark on the international stage. 

Without giving too much away before you view the top ten list, musicians like Joe Armon-Jones, Peter Beardsworth, Nubya Garcia, Emma-Jean Thackray and others all contributed some of the best music in 2018. Hopefully in the coming year or two, we will see some of these artists put together a full-length release (even though sometimes more doesn’t mean better!). 

Without further-ado, here are BeatCaffeine’s “Favorite EPs of 2018.”  

 

10. Skinny Pelembe – Sleep More, Make More Friends
(Brownswood)

Following up on his superb Spit/Swallow single earlier in the year, the multi-talented producer released a brilliant new EP. Featuring four contrastingly different tracks, the recording blends electronic beats, hypnotic harmonies, and atmospheric melodies with elements of hip-hop, psych-rock, and jazz. This EP features a number of great special guests from the UK scene including vocalist Yazmin Lacey, south-east London band Hejira, Sonia Bernardo (who sings for Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera), and trumpeter/producer Emma-Jean Thackray. The record also features arguably one of the best tracks of the year in “I Just Want To Be Your Prisoner.”

 

9. Tony Allen & Jeff Mills – Tomorrow Comes The Harvest
(Blue Note Lab)

Detroit techno meets Afrobeat as drummer and longtime Fela Kuti collaborator Tony Allen teams up with legendary DJ/producer Jeff Mills on this great new 10” EP featuring four wildly cosmic tracks that blend African rhythms, swelling modular keys, and electric drum beats.

 

8. AMA/MIZU – Discordant In Colour
(SaS Recordings)

Blending downtempo electronic grooves, jazz-influenced textures, and folk influences, AMA/Mizu is the newest project from multi-instrumentalist Douglas Pisterman. The music blends drum machine beats, driving electronic bass, and subtle synth tones with Pisterman’s layered melodic vocals. Fans of Arthur Russell, Hot Chip, Thom Yorke, and Scott Walker will enjoy this great new recording.

 

7. Emma-Jean Thackray – Ley Lines
(The Viny Factory)

UK-based trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Emma-Jean Thackray released a great new EP in 2018 through The Vinyl Factory, titled Ley Lines. Inspired by Madlib’s groundbreaking jazz project Yesterday’s New Quintet, this EP was written, recorded, produced, and mixed by Emma-Jean at her own home studio in her South London flat. The EP is very diverse musically, blending hip-hop like produced beats and grooves, with trumpet melodies, and heavily layered textures and vocals. An impressive release from another of London’s most forward-thinking artists.

 

6. The Mauskovic Dance Band – Down In The Basement
(Soundway)

 

5. Yazmin Lacey – When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees
(First Word Records)

The London-based vocalist follows her breakthrough 2017 debut Black Moon with a great new five-track recording title When The Sun Dips 90 Degrees. Over the past few years, Lacey has been making a name for herself, making live in-studio performances on Jazz FM, NTS, and Gilles Peterson’s BBC Radio 6 show. Her newest EP, which features multi-instrumentalist Peter Beardsworth, nicely blurs the line between vocal jazz and neo-soul grooves. Fans of Erykah Badu will love this record!

 

4. Mildlife – Phase
(Research Records)

This was a massive year for the Melbourne-based cosmic fusion band. Their breakthrough debut EP Phase nicely blurred the lines between jazz-funk, disco, electronic krautrock, and cosmic psychedelic rock. The spacey-synth led funk jam “The Magnificent Moon” is undeniably one of the year’s best tracks.

 

3. Nubya Garcia – When We Are
(Nyasha)

One of the most active and virtuosic musicians in the London jazz scene, the saxophonist has contributed on some of the best releases of 2018, including Joe Armon-Jones’ EP Starting Today, Maisha’s debut album on Brownswood, a great new collaborative single with Harvey Sutherland, and both of Makaya McCraven’s groundbreaking albums, just to name a few. If that wasn’t enough, in 2018 she released a brilliant new EP featuring two incredible original tracks “Source,” and the title track “When We Are,” supported by two worthy remixes from K-15 and Maxwell Owin. The session features London stalwart Daniel Casimir on bass, and two members of Ezra Collective, Joe Armon-Jones on keys and Femi Koleoso on drums. On this recording, Garcia experiments with a more electronic sound, blending her driving saxophone melodies with broken beat rhythms and Armon-Jones spacious piano melodies. An impressive release from one of jazz’s rising stars.

 

2. Peter Beardsworth – Pour Un Homme Seul
(Running Circle)

A brilliant debut release from Nottingham-based multi-instrumentalist, this EP was was written and recorded a year after a traumatic accident that left Pete without the bottom parts of his legs. The music takes the listener on spiritual journey, fusing together jazz instrumentation and horn driven melodies with electronic beats and spacey synth grooves. The EP also features one of the most innovative jazz tracks of the year in “To The Place.”

 

1. Joe Armon-Jones – Starting Today
(Brownswood)

One of the leading musicians in the currently thriving UK jazz scene is keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones. On top of producing his own music, he is co-founder of the explosive jazz ensemble Ezra Collective and often performs alongside London saxophonist Nubya Garcia. His brilliant debut EP on Brownswood, helped lead this year’s British jazz explosion. The six-track recording is a fusion of jazz-funk, head-nodding dub, and soulful grooves. Special guests featured on the album include saxophonist Nubya Garcia, guitarist Oscar Jerome, trumpeter Dylan Jones, drummer Moses Boyd and others.

 

ALSO CHECK OUT:
Our Favorite New Albums of 2018
BeatCaffeine’s 2018 Tracks of the Year Playlist

 

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