In no particular order, definitely not exhaustive, and restricted to noise and related genres...
Sissy Spacek - Trash Staging LP (New Forces)
Normally I wouldn't include something I released because it's probably an asshole move, but this LP stands above a crowded year of (all excellent) Sissy Spacek recordings. Obliterating the boundary between harsh noise and noisecore. Most extreme record of the 2018.
Chris Corsano, Bill Nace, Steve Baczkowski – Mystic Beings LP (Open Mouth)
One of my favorite sets of the year was seeing Steve Baczkowski performing solo saxophone opening for Aaron Dilloway (another of my favorite sets). Add him to the reliable tandem of Corsano and Nace and you get an absolutely ripping record of noisy free jazz. Highest recommendation.
Skin Graft - Afflict CS (Prime Ruin)
Somehow Skin Graft is reaching even higher levels of excellence with recent recordings. You can dress your industrial music up in all the right imagery and get people excited without recording a second's worth of music, but no one does anger and disgust like Skin Graft, and he does it with sound.
Remnants - Marred By Time LP (Crisis of Taste)
Some of the best American tape music, and this one has more of an edge, which is a good thing in my book. The perfect album for angrily zoning out.
Jeph Jerman – The Bray Harp LP (White Centipede Noise)
This record ignited an obsession with an artist I had previously mostly ignored, much to my regret. Amazing textural noise. A positive influence on my own recording, a reminder that the cliche "less is more" is often 100% accurate.
Limbs Bin – One Happy World LP (Torn Light Records)
Pure American rock'n'roll. No artist was more consistently excellent live in 2018, and this record captured that intensity with an expansive sound honed to a razor-edge.
Mercury Hall – Living Table CS (Joy De Vivre)
One of several excellent recent Mercury Hall releases. Pure tension and anxiety, crystal clear contact-mic'ed objects and field recordings assembled into engaging narratives.
Untitled Compilation on SKSK CS (Featuring Dog lady Island, Forest Management, Skin Graft, Hostage Pageant, Being)
This one flew under the radar, there didn't seem to be much distribution. But it's a gem. Things start out quietly with an anxious introduction from Dog Lady Island and an excellent new-age drone piece from Forest Management (remember 10 years ago when there was a ton of this stuff?). Then the comp gets really brutal with one of the best Skin Graft tracks I've ever heard, followed be three crushing tracks from Hostage Pageant (we need more from Shane) and a great Being cut to round things off. It's hard to do a good noise comp but when they succeed I love them. The Skin Graft, Hostage Pageant, and Being contributions are all long enough to be solo tapes. There's a copy for $6 on discogs, hurry and grab it.
Wince – The Older Generation LP (Tordon Ljud)
Another step in the evolution of a modern harsh noise master. While the previous full length CD on Freak Animal tightened the screws for a more slow-burning approach to noise, "The Older Generation" opens up the floodgates for a torrential, pummeling harsh noise record. We are quite literally starving for noise full length LP's and CD's these days, probably because no one wants to take a chance on them financially, which makes this stand out even more. It was a good year for reissues (Merzbow, K2, Genocide Organ, Masonna, Nurse With Wound...) but the "scene" is better when there is widespread interest in newer artists taking the time to release full-length albums in bigger editions. It pushes the quality of the music higher. I can think of plenty of limited edition tapes that were released this year that deserved 200-300 listeners... All of which is to say that I'm glad this Wince record exists.
Current 93 – The Light Is Leaving Us All LP (The Spheres)
No need to describe this at length. It captures the atmosphere that is totally unique to Current 93. One of my favorite C93 art layouts as well.
I won't put any more New Forces releases on this list, but needless to say, I'm not at all surprised to be seeing the Striations - Vietnamization, Worth - The Steps, and Shredded Nerve - Final Vision cassettes showing up on other people's lists.
Live Highlights
Merzbow, Aaron Dilloway, Jackson-Pratt, Linekraft, Kakerlak, The Rita, Limbs Bin, Reverse Baptism, Steve Baczkowski, Black Leather Jesus, Magnetic Coroner, Ligature, Plague Mother, Scant, and probably a bunch that I am forgetting.
