There’s no one like Carl Weingarten and his new retrospective ‘The Simian River Collection’ will make you like his music, like no one else’s.

Carl Weingarten’s long embrace of technology has paid off handsomely in the making of ‘Ember Days,’ an album with his signature pristine sound and the perfect, stress-relieving, soul-satisfying elixir for these trying times.

Here is S. Victor Aaron’s Best of 2018 list for avant garde jazz and experimental music, including releases by Wendy Eisenberg, Brandon Seabrook, David Dominique and others.

The twofer bundle of ‘escapesilence’ and ‘Local Journeys’ capture ace impressionistic guitarist Carl Weingarten at his best, making soothing music that’s far from boring.

‘This Is Where I Found You’ finds Carl Weingarten in a very good spot, musically speaking. With ample support and positivity oozing from his songs, Weingarten’s velvety revolution continues.

The new album by Roberto Maria Zorzi, Michael Manring and Scott Amendola relentlessly delivers surprises with sounds heretofore unheard.

Lush, attenuated and unpredictable soundscapes by looping and effects guitar masters make ‘Mu’ a major entry in the celebrated catalogs of both Pinhas and Cleveland.

When Carl Weingarten decides to create his soundscapes with little or no augmentation from others, it’s a flair that can be appreciated and enjoyed at its maximum potential.

With the funky-tight ‘Jeff Oster Live!’, Oster and his band replicate the sophistication of the studio as well as the immediacy of the stage.

Michael Hedges did nothing less than bring the acoustic guitar into the New Age realm and completely conquer it within the space of this record.