Top 10 Albums of 2018: Universal Default

Universal Default

The title of the recent Spacemen 3 reissue, ‘Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To,’ perfectly encapsulates many of the records on this Top 10 list. ‘Universal Default,’ with host Brian Lock, is the perfect show to help listeners escape the mundane with excursions to uncharted, psychedelic territories. From the purely experimental, like Sandra Boss’s ‘The Acoustic Appraiser,’ to the compellingly abstract, like Electronic Modular Orchestra’s self-titled release, these albums explore the boundaries of music in the most pleasant ways imaginable. 

Blue Chemise / ‘Daughters of Time’ / Students of Decay

Catherine Christer Hennix / ‘Live at Krems’ / Important

Electronic Modular Orchestra / ‘Electronic Modular Orchestra’ / Soave

Murray Royston Ward / ‘Dissolution Matrix in the Afterthought Skies’ / The House Organ

Psychological Strategy Board / ‘Penny Slinger: Out o the Shadows’ / Front & Follow

Retribution Body / ‘Self-Destruction’ / Glistening Examples

Sandra Boss / ‘The Acoustic Appraiser’ / BIN

Spacemen 3 / ‘Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To’ / Superior Viaduct / Reissue

Stuart Chalmers & Lee Riley / ‘Points of Vital Difference’ / Cruel Nature

The Open Secret / ‘A Geography for Plays’ / Self-released

Tune into Universal Default with Brian on Tuesdays from 3 - 5 am.