Zeitgeist 2018 is here! Our roundup of the year in music, with guest mixes from some of our favorite artists, playlists of 2018′s most-discussed acts, popular tracks, and good music longreads. 

Explore it all. 

It’s Zeitgeist time! We’re back with our annual collection of the year’s best music. Alongside the most-posted artists and videos of the year are two new features:

First is a reflection from some of the people who defined the year in emerging music. We asked artists featured in our Stack newsletter for their favorite music discoveries of 2017. Their answers—songs, videos, mixes, books, experiences—are collected in the Stacks section.

The next feature is exclusively for current Hype Machine supporters: a playlist containing the most popular tracks of the year according to data from the supporter community.

Dive in!

New feature: check your profile to buy favorites on Bandcamp and join them in supporting the Transgender Law Center today

Featured album: Kalbells, Ten Flowers

The solo debut from Brooklyn-based composer and visual artist Kalmia Traver is a celebration of self: finding the strength, time, and space to express freely and fully. She started writing Ten Flowers during a period of creative retreat, apart from Rubblebucket, her band of nearly a decade, and following a battle with ovarian cancer. Traver spent two wintry months in her childhood home of Taftsville, Vermont, and emerged with 27 demos. Ten of them bloom here in collaboration with fellow Vermonter Ryan Power. The record is colorful, cathartic, and beyond easy classification. Traver’s spirited vocals shine over a bed electronic production accented by whistles, woodwinds, percussion, and field recordings. It’s out on NNA Tapes.