Best Albums of 2018

This is always the hardest list to write. In the past it's because I've barely listened to enough new music to construct a list, but more recently it's because I listen to too much to clearly remember it all. I'm not certain these are the albums I absolutely enjoyed the most last year, but they're definitely all very good. Eight of ten albums on this list are the first I've heard by the artist.

Best of 2018

10. Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs


I've never heard a rap album that sounds quite like this one. Abstract and experimental are both good descriptors for it. Earl creates his own soundscape and it's fun to exist in for 24 minutes.

9. Robyn - Honey


I've been listening to more straight up pop music in the last couple years, and Robyn is one of the better artists I've heard in the genre. She makes intimate party songs, if that makes any sense. They use synths well without going overboard and she knows how to write a good hook.

8. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour


This is the album that convinced me that the country genre might be able to produce something of value. Most popular country I end up hearing is always about the dumbest shit, but Kacey writes songs with actual meaning, and she can also write a catchy chorus.

7. Saba - Care for Me


If you like Kendrick Lamar and other rappers who make songs about pain and loss, then you'll probably like Saba. His songs are personal and emotional, and also he can do the whole rapping thing pretty darn well.

6. Of Montreal - White Is Relic/Irrealis Mood


I haven't heard anyone talk about Of Montreal in a while, but this album surprised me with how much I dug it. The mix of their unique sensibilities with an 80's style is a whole lot of fun.

5. Vince Staples - FM!


Vince doesn't need more than 22 minutes to craft a tight, entertaining audio experience, and I don't need more than one sentence to highly recommend it.

4. Mitski - Be the Cowboy


Mitski has some wonderful, emotional, poignant songs on this album. She also has some tracks that just kind of kick a lot of ass. Enjoyable from top to bottom.

3. U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited


Normal pop is good, but I also like my pop weird, and U.S. Girls is some weird-ass pop. But not unlistenably weird, just weird enough that you feel like you haven't heard it before.

2. Low - Double Negative


I've listened to some slowcore/drone/glitch music before, but it rarely gets this dirty. Double Negative is a dirty-ass album and I'm into it.

1. Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy

Is it weird that my favorite album from 2018 is a rerecording of an album from 2011? I don't really care. In a year of albums I really liked, Twin Fantasy is one I loved. It's a bunch of sad guitar boy songs. Check it out.

Delayed Entry

This is the best album that wasn't released in 2018 but I didn't hear until then.

Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure

I had never heard of Roxy Music before, but they were a glam rock band who for a time featured Brian Eno on synths. This album fucking rules.

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

I can't tell how good of a place this is to start listening to Of Montreal. It was a very highly acclaimed album, but was written and recorded almost entirely by Kevin Barnes without the band's help, and is a bit of a departure thematically. In any case, it's a damn good album. It's a bit hard to describe the sound, sort of indie pop with a lot of electronic and psychedelic elements. Barnes' high voice and the catchy choruses belie the dark lyrics, written during a bad time in his life. He's better now, but you can see how it must have affected him. I appreciate that aspect of the album's creation, but the main reason I like it is the music is entertaining to listen to. Yet more proof that I'm turning into an indie dork that will like anything if it's unique.

Being a story of his separation from his wife and descent into depression, there's a clear arc to the album, as it builds towards something and gets more chaotic and surprising later on. Early tracks like "Suffer for Fashion", "Cato as a Pun", and "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" feature poppy refrains, nice synth melodies, and some more traditional rock sensibilities. The album climaxes about halfway through with the nearly twelve minute long epic "The Past is a Grotesque Animal", driving constantly forward with a nice bassline and creepy vocal hook as Barnes examines what's happening to him. The song really hit me the first time I heard it on the way home; besides the quality of the song, you can really feel the despair. The rest of the album doesn't seem that different musically, but you get sort of a different vibe as it's more out in the open with the subject matter. There are more frequent moments of odd musical choices, but it seems natural and gives the whole a record a consistent artistic feel. Really something I wish I heard before I chose last year's best albums.