playing favorites 2018
2018 has been a year of change and heartache. Really awesome, totally not devastating! In all seriousness, things are really turning around for me despite the hard year. One of the only constants of my life have been these lists that I started making in 2009. Obviously, I've been neglecting the rest of this space for a bunch of years. But, hey, here's to scrounging up the energy to put together this list every year for ten years, and here's to ten more(?).A'ight. Here is a list of my favorite albums of the year. I usually mix up the order between ranked and date of release or alphabetical or whatever. This year, I'm ranking them. Why the hell not add more difficult decisions to my life?At the end of this post, there's a Spotify playlist of selections from these albums and more music that I loved from 2018.Thanks for reading.
Check out faves lists from:2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017
20 | Remember Sports - Slow Buzz
Let me just get this out there. 2018 has been a great year for woman-led punk/emo/indie bands. This is just one of the many entries of that variety you'll find on my list. Remember Sports started off as one of the 600 bands named "Sports" or some kinda sports-y thing. They set themselves apart with great energy and a dynamic style that comes through in their studio recordings. I need to see these guys live.
19 | Joyce Manor - Million Dollars to Kill Me
Gonna be real, fam. When it comes to Joyce Manor albums, this ain't my fave, chief. I think they've packed a lot more quality over the course of these usually 30-minute or less albums in the past. HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME STAND OUT TUNES. There are just some songs that I can't get out of my head on this album. So, good job, y'all. Do better.
18 | Kali Uchis - Isolation
Kali Uchis is probably one of the most exciting and creative artists in her space in a long time. I was really blown away by the production and songwriting on this record, and I'm excited to see what she has in store for all of us whom are unworthy.
17 | Lil Baby & Gunna - Drip Harder
Look, it's just two of my favorite young rappers going off on stupid ass beats. God bless everyone who made this possible, especially Young Thug.
16 | Long Neck - Will This Do?
Lily Mastrodimos has a haunting voice and the power she generates on this record comes through real loud and clear. That's not to say this album doesn't have its incredibly tender moments, but Lily can freaking rip.
15 | Juice WRLD - Goodbye & Good Riddance
Emo rap is finally here, and Juice WRLD might be the most successful artist you can stuff into this category in 2018. The themes and angst in this thing would give early New Found Glory a run for their money. He also put out an absolutely dog shit collab with Future that I'm going to erase from my memory. A podcast I listened to came up with an elaborate scenario where Donald Trump loved Juice WRLD and would sing "All Girls Are the Same" to the American public. I can't get that out of my brain. Please help.
14 | Tangled Hair - We Do What We Can
One day, I'm going to make y'all enjoy British math rock. I swear to God. Until then, the twelve of us are going to have a great time enjoying near-immaculate releases like this.
13 | Retirement Party - Somewhat Literate
I love this damn band. This is one of those #relatablecontent bands where almost every song strikes a chord with you on themes like death, youth, and becoming your own person.
12 | Snail Mail - Lush
Lil homie just turned 19, y'all. Lindsey Jordan has such a powerful voice and a way of communicating sadness and emotion clearer than just about anyone. This album really hit me hard, especially after this summer.
11 | Lil Baby - Harder Than Ever
Lil Baby is also really great at communicating emotion. Like, the emotion of being so fuckin drippy that all of your contemporaries hate on you but they can't do anything about it because they're really bad at trappin or other ways of getting rich. We've all felt this.Notable lyric: "wah wah wah bitch i'm lil baby"
10 | Mitski - Be the Cowboy
AHHHHHHHHHH FUCK ME UP. The wounds are still too fresh to get into this, but damn, girl, same.
9 | Mom Jeans. - Puppy Love
Full disclosure: I wasn't the biggest fan of Mom Jeans. as a band. As a fashion item, I love 'em. Y'all, keep it up. I think this album just hit me at the right time and quickly climbed up my list. I love relating to people who feel like they ruin everything good for themselves. WOW!
8 | Soccer Mommy - Clean
Two moms back to back, what am I my search history?!? Folks,, , Soccer Mommy is extremely good. Her video for "Your Dog" is extremely weird, but my kinda weird. It also is the riff of the year to me. The riff is subtle, rich, and emotional, and that's a good way to describe this dope ass album.
7 | Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
This is by far my favorite Parquet Courts record. IT MOVES. That's the only word I've got for it right now, but it moves moves moves moves. I almost always want to hit play on it again after a single play through. These guys are currently residing in their mf bag.
6 | Vein - Errorzone
Hell yeah, baby, you know what time it is. It's time to drink exactly one beer, put this record on, and dream about becoming the most brutal version of myself. It's pretty clear that over the years my fascination with newer hardcore or metal has decreased. It started to feel the same, and any bands doing anything interesting were in the extremes. I'm brutal, but not that brutal. Bands like Vein make being brutal fun again even if you're a little scared while you're listening to it. I mean, look at this album artwork. YUCKY!
5 | BlocBoy JB - Simi
BLOCBOY GAVE US "SHOOT" AND THE SHOOT DANCE. HE GAVE US "ROVER." HE GAVE US "LOOK ALIVE." HE GAVE US "NIKE SWOOSH." HE GAVE US "WAIT." AN ALBUM FULL OF TAY KEITH PRODUCTION?!?!?!?!?!?!? THIS WAS A BLESSING IN A YEAR OF CURSES. GOD BLESS TENNESSEE.T H A N K Y O U
4 | Tiny Moving Parts - Swell
I love trios where the guitarist is just singing and playing his ass off. Outside of their technical proficiency, I think this is TMP's best album to date. Lots of great noodling. Lots of dank feels.
3 | Travis Scott - Astroworld
This was probably one of the biggest rap records of the year. So, I don't have much to say past what everyone else has said about it. It's an incredible way to start your day.
2 | Beach Bunny - Prom Queen
All right. This is the release that made getting through my breakup a little easier. I know you all wanted to know. It's only 5-tracks, and four of them hit like a mother fucker if you've been broken up with recently. I was lucky enough to see Beach Bunny play with Remo Drive, and it was beautiful to see this scene rally around Lili and support her amazing voice and music.
1 | Lucy Dacus - Historian
I had a strong feeling this was going to be my favorite album of the year the second I was done with my first play through. Lucy Dacus is an incredible songwriter, and she really put her elbow into this one. It's gut-wrenching and relevant to anyone just trying to find their way through life and love. This is probably one of my favorite albums of the last ten years. Period. I'm absolutely mad about Historian.
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST AYYYY!
https://open.spotify.com/embed/user/tehdago/playlist/7GWQ37nJAjp7MaftzaPf3B