OPERATION MANATEE MUSIC PRIZE 2018: THE LONG LIST

Life has a way of making you postpone things you like doing, then Christmas came. Ah well, better late than never?

Because life’s been a little extra crazy this year, I didn’t get around to paring down the long list as much as I would have liked. As usual, I re-listened to all the albums/EPs I thought were half decent, keeping off the ones that just weren’t good enough, but I just didn’t have time for a final edit, and write-up for each album.

So this year, I’m keeping it pretty simple, because the long list is long, and it’s already late. This year, it’s just the list: no album covers, no write-ups, just a big, alphabetized list. Sorry.

To make up for it, I still plan on writing up the top five albums in full regalia, within the next week or so.

Per tradition,

Previous lists, for reference:
2017-long | 2017-top 5
2016-long | 2016-top 5
2015-long | 2015-top 5
2014
2013
2012

Some rules to make it to this list:

• Must be sonically interesting
• No singles except full album-length/concept tracks; can be EPs
• No compilations; can be solo artists, bands, collabs

And now… the 2018 Operation Manatee Music Prize Long List:

1954 – A Part Of Me
2 Mello – Memories Of Tokyo
Idris Ackmoor and the Pyramids – An Angel Fell
Yazz Ahmed – La Saboteuse Remixed
Rodrigo Amado – A History Of Nothing
Annabel (lee) – I Came Across A Dreamer
Anteloper – Kudu
The Armed – ONLY LOVE
Glenn Astro – C.I.W.
Atrium Carceri – Codex
August Greene – August Greene
Avantdale Bowling Club – Avantdale Bowling Club
Pete Beardsworth – Pour Un Homme Seul
Renick Bell – Wary
r beny – saudade
Rafiq Bhatia – Breaking English
Black Moth Super Rainbow – Panic Blooms
Jean-Michel Blais – Dans ma main
Blaptophobia – Yaminabe
Bokanté + Metropole Orkest (Conducted by Jules Buckley) – What Heat
Moses Boyd – Displaced Diaspora
Daniel Brandt – Channels
David Byrne – American Utopia
C418 – Excursions
Cadence Weapon – Cadence Weapon
Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy
Kiki Cavazos – Two Bit Gambler
Chaos Chaos – Chaos Chaos
Neneh Cherry – Broken Politics
Children Of Zeus – Travel Light
Chromeo – Head Over Heals
Louis Cole – Time
Crab sound – Data.creatures
Noah Creshevsky – Reanimator
Daniel Davies – Events Score
Dead Cross – Dead Cross EP
Oleksandr Demianenko – Tapes Recorded For Watercolors
Dowdelin – Carnival Odyssey
Eli Doyon et la Tempête – L’aube
Jeremy Dutcher – Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
Elektro Guzzi – Polybrass
Empress Of – Us
Endurance – The Wandering Of Days
Everything Is Recorded – Everything Is Recorded
Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer
Foxwarren – Foxwarren
Nils Frahm – The Whole Universe Wants To Be Touched
Nils Frahm – Encores 1
Fucked Up – Dose Your Dreams
David Garland – Verdancy
Get The Blessing – Bristopia
Ghost-Note – Swagism
Robert Glasper Experiment & KAYTRANADA – The ArtScience Remixes
Gone Beyond & Mumbles – Notes From The Underground
Gorillaz – The Now Now
Guerilla Toss – Twisted Crystal
Sameer Gupta – A Circle Has No Beginning
Haiku Salut – There Is No Elsewhere
Tim Haldeman – Open Water As A Child
Yoshinori Hayashi – Ambivalence
Helsinki Headnon Convention – Eargasms For Short-Sighted Post-Truth Era People
Hey Ocean – The Hurt Of Happiness
Lonnie Holley – MITH
Jon Hopkins – Singularity
Ice Cube – Everythangs Corrupt
Insólito UniVerso – La Candela del Río
Jay-Jay Johanson – Looking Glass, Vol. 2 (Bury the Hatchet Bonus Album)
JPEGMAFIA – Veteran
Jungle – For Ever
Ruby Karinto – Debut LP
Brianna Kelly – Sympathy Pain
Peter Kernel – The Size Of The Night
Chris Keys – Detour
Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo
Angelique Kidjo – Remain In Light
David Kitt – Yous
Nick Klein – Bathroom Wall
Knife Knights – Time Mirage
Laibach – The Sound Of Music
Ray LaMontagne – Part Of The Light
Let’s Eat Grandma – I’m All Ears
Low – Double Negative
The Low Anthem – The Salt Doll Went to Measure the Depth of the Sea
Machweo – Primitive Music
Makaya McCraven – Universal Beings
Dan Mangan – More Or Less
Maribou State – Kingdoms In Colour
Midlife – Phase
Milk & Bone – Deception Bay
Moby – Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt Mocky – Music Save Me (One More Time)
Mocky – A Day At United
Moontribe – Moontribe
Rae Morris – Someone Out There
Mother Mother – Dance And Cry
Eddie Palmieri – Full Circle
Aaron Parks – Little Big
Pram – Across The Meridian
Miss Red – K.O.
mejiwhan – Lúil Ó Fadó
Nakayama Munetoshi – Floating To Kill Time
Noname – Room 25
Anderson .Paak – Oxnard
Kayla Painter – Cannibals At Sea
Parliament – Medicaid Fraud Dogg
Ryan Porter – The Optimist
Psst Shh – Michael Tucci
Lena Raine – Celeste OST
Reverso – Suite Ravel
Rhye – Blood
Raquel Rodriguez – The 310, Pt. 2
Rudy Royston – Flatbed Buggy
Sexores – East/West
Shad – A Short Story About A War
Shakey Graves – Counting Sheep
Cosmo Sheldrake – The Much Much How How And I
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Snotty Nose Rez Kids
Somni – Bloom
SONOIO – Fine
Son Lux – Brighter Wounds
Son Lux – Yesterday’s Wake
Son Lux – The Fool You Need
Steve Spacek – Natural Sci-Fi
Starchild & The New Romantic – Language
Yuhan Su – City Animals
Submotion Orchestra – Kites
Sudan Archives – Sink
SUM – SUM
Supaman – Illuminatives
Syrinx Effect – A Sky You Could Strike A Match On
Kelvin T – Unlock Voice [AT-005]
Tangents – Stents & Arteries
Tapes And Topographies – Insomnia Drones
Kaidi Tatham – In My Life
ToupeMapeto aka Thagkia – 短編小説「廃道楽」
tunng – Songs You Make At Night
Tune-Yards – I can feel you creep into my private life
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Sex & Food
Christina Vantzou – No. 4
Von Pea & The Other Guys – I’m Good Luv, Enjoy
Venetian Snares – Venetian Snares x Daniel Lanois
Colter Wall – Songs Of The Plains
Clara Warnaar – Hollow Siren
Kamasi Washington – The Choice Web Web – Dance Of The Demons
The Weeknd – My Dear Melancholy,
Kamaal Williams – The Return
Wolf Willow – Caribou Howl
Charlotte Day Wilson – Stone Woman
Woolymammoth – Meridian
Sébastien Wright – Andalucía
Yemen Blues Official – Insaniya
Yerevan Tapes – SUGAI KEN meets G禁禁禁禁 – 岩石考 -yOrUkOrU-
Young Fathers – Cocoa Sugar