Still been catching up on a lot of 2018 releases over the last six weeks, and I have now made a list of my favorite records/eps, singles and comps from 2018. Bandcamp linked where applicable. my list from 2017 is here

Alvar - I Sew A Blanket Of All The Broken Clouds
Aos - Violent Light
BMG* & Derek Plaslaiko - Acid Series Vol 4
Carly Barton - Vidya World 8
Cygnus ‎- Ne0 Ge0
Drew McDowall ‎– The Third Helix
Future - Beast Mode 2
Gnork - Magic Arp
Hieroglyphic Being ‎- The Language Of Strings Vol 4
HVL ‎- Ostati
J Mono - Redate
Lady Blacktronika - Wax Cylinder Only
Lamusa II ‎- Vago Libero
Lil Mofo Business - basically every mix they brought out in 2018
Maoupa Mazzocchetti ‎- Gag Flag
Marie Davidson - Working Class Woman
Mattheis ‎- Thin Sections
Mozzy - Gangland Landlord
Odd Shy Guy & Rose Again - Bristol NormCore
Quin Kirchner - The Other Side of Time
Route 8 - 303 Exercise
Teresa Winter ‎– What The Night is For
Topdown Dialectic - Topdown Dialectic
Various ‎- CULTED001
Various ‎- Det Är Grymt I Norr
Various ‎– From The Dark Volume 1 on Cultivated Electronics
Various ‎- Stages of Grief Vol 1. ‘Convalesence’ on Vaknar
WAV FUZZ, Krycek ‎- BootlegFM

Rap Singles:
03 Greedo - Fortnite
Aidonia - VVS  
Don Toliver - Back End  
Sada Baby & Drego - Bloxk Party
Yhung T.O. -  Betrayal
Young Thug - To Me

Comps:
•ГАР001: Михаил Чекалин - Экзальтированная Колыбельная 1979 – 1987
•Carola Baer - The Story of Valerie
•Kale Plankieren - Dutch Cassette Rarities 1981 - 1987 Vol​.​2
•Industrial Landscapes From The Hungarian Electronic Underground by Hungarian Old School EBM Clan
•La Contra Ola - Synth Wave & Post Punk From Spain 1980-86
•Nouvelle Ambiance! Sounds from the Pan-African Paris Underground
•Onda De Amor (Synthesized Brazilian Hits That Never Were 1984-94)
•Paris to Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road
•Satan In Love – Rare Finnish Synth-Pop & Disco 1979-1992
•Switched-On Eugene on Numero Group
•Tokyo Nights (Female J-Pop Boogie Funk: 1981 To 1988)

highlights from the book “Art Nouveau 1890-1914″

From top to bottom:
-the studio of Elvira, designed by August Endell, Munich, 1899
-“Apparations” brooch, Eugene Grasset and Maison Vever, gold, enamel, ivory and topaz, 1900
-design for The Climax from Oscar Wilde’s Salome, Aubrey Beardsley, 1893
-walnut armchair designed by Rupert Carabin, 1896
-”Des Caresses”, Fernand Khnopff, oil on canvas, 1896
-Cabinet designed by Hector Guimard, pear and ash woods, bronze, mirrored glass, c1899
-”Armoire a layette”, Alexandre Charpentier, sycamore and pewter, 1893
-Women’s Pavilion, Exposition Universelle, 1900
-part of a table setting, Jeu de l’echarpe, b Agathon Leonard, 1898
-interior of the studio of Elvira again

Today’s harrowing and sobering bus reading: an account of the Holocaust in Budapest, from the book “The Siege of Budapest: 100 Days in World War II”.by Krisztián Ungváry. Includes first-hand accounts from diaries and goes into detail about the terror that happened from October 1944 to February 1945. Definitely recommend it. If you’ve ever toured Dohány Synagogue, you might know a few parts from this story, but this book goes into way more history. The section about the persecution of Jewish people begins on page 10 of the pdf, but start earlier if you want to read more background about the Arrow Cross.

link here

damaged photographs that I found in a house outside Budapest, February ‘18

atreoid:

VILLA STUCK was once the home of Franz von Stuck, one of Munich’s great master artists of the Jungendstil (Art Nouveau) era. More to read here  (via Rydeng`s blog…: The Artist’s Home in Munich)

Cover art for the album Dedicato A Frazz by Semiramis (1973)

Frank Bidart