The 18 of '18: Albums You Should Listen To
As 2018 rolled around, I found myself wanting to diversify my musical portfolio a bit. Even with it being as weird and wide as it already was, there was always a feeling that I could be doing a little more to find new stuff. With that in mind, I had two goals for this year:
Find more women singer-songwriters and women-led bands.
Take more time to really dig in to bands I hadn't heard before.
I feel like I managed to crush both of these goals with some aplomb, and 2018's list of Favorite Albums is not only the most diverse list I've had since 2015 or so, but it's got a great spread of both new artists to these prestigious lists (11 of 18 artists haven't been on one of my lists before!) and women-led bands (6 of 18, with several others that I enjoyed but didn't quite bump up to the top.)
Read on, and find out about 18 albums from 2018 that I think are worth your time and a place in your library.
I’ve put them in a Spotify playlist right -here- as well, if you feel like listening to them at the same time! Isn’t the future wild?
#18:
Donut County OST
Daniel Koestner & Ben Esposito
One of my favorite games of 2018 also happens to have a killer soundtrack to go along with it. The cheery, relaxed synthesized vibes of Koestner and Esposito's soundtrack give an extra level of loveliness to the game in context, but the music works incredibly well on its own. It's playful, just a little moody, and makes for stellar writing music. I wrote the majority of my Game of the Year list to it, and would put it up with FEZ and Katamari Damacy as one of my favorite videogame-related albums.
#17:
Tell Me How You Really Feel
Courtney Barnett
It doesn't quite have the same energetic, distraught punch of 2015's Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, but Courtney Barnett's second proper LP still has her lyrical quality and moody, self-doubt-riddled atmosphere in spades. It's an album that had to grow on me a bit, as I was still listening to Sometimes with some regularity when this came out, but I'm glad I gave it more of a chance. “Nameless, Faceless” and “Need a Little Time” are both cutting, engaging tracks, and “Walking on Eggshells” cut a little close to home for me.
#16:
Con Todo El Mundo
Khruangbin
If someone asked me to describe this album's tone to them, I'd probably tell them it’s somewhere close to, “the perfect backing track to a low-key bar somewhere out West.” It's just got a vibe to it that's equal parts cozy, wistful and solemn. Mostly instrumental, the thumping bass lines propel laid-back guitar solos forward as pleasantly sparse drum lines keep everything in check. It's an album I could see putting on for a cocktail party or a long, solitary drive through the desert, and it'd be the perfect accompaniment for either.
#15:
Please Don't Be Dead
Fantastic Negrito
Xavier Dphrepaulezz is an incredible name to begin with, but the Oakland-based singer-songwriter decided to rebrand himself as Fantastic Negrito a few years ago and his second release under that moniker is a bizarre blend of funk, soul, a splash of gospel and hard rock that works shockingly well. It's gritty and compelling from the moment the riff in opener “Plastic Hamburgers” screams into your ears, and holds your attention through the croonier “A Cold November Street” and straight-up slap-bass-drenched funky jaaaaam in “Bullshit Anthem.” The deluxe version of the album also comes with several acoustic versions that shouldn't be missed, serving as interesting counterweights to the raw energy featured on the album proper.
#14:
Automata I & Automata II
Between the Buried and Me
Okay, so these are technically two separate releases, but they're two halves of a much greater whole, and a return to form for the prog-metal behemoths who gave us not one, but two genre-defining releases in Colors and The Great Misdirect. Automata as a whole is grand, noodly, and just as weird as any of the best moments in either of those two albums. The balance between growls and clean vocals is right where it should be after the dramatic shift away from their screaming nature on Coma Ecliptic, and there's an INCREDIBLE swing-metal section on “Voice of Trespass” that makes me just cackle with glee almost every time I hear it.
#13:
In a Poem Unlimited
U.S. Girls
2018's music as a whole - or, at least, what I gravitated towards - felt moodier, a generally forlorn view of the world and living in it. In a Poem Unlimited is dripping with that sorrowful sheen, a darkly tinged album somewhere between funk and disco. Plenty of warbly synths, electrifying brass and bass, and some haunting lyricism from grand orchestrator Meghan Remy give the album a sense of frustration, a feeling that she's at once fed up with how things have been and ready to change things for herself moving forward. It's an album I immediately knew I'd be listening to for a long while after opener “Velvet 4 Sale” came up on my Spotify Discover, and a rare album that doesn't overstay its welcome in the slightest.
#12:
Head Over Heels
Chromeo
The Funklordz returned in 2018 with possibly their peppiest, poppiest album to date, and it's brimming with guest spots and outright jams. I feel like there's not a lot to be said about Chromeo's particular brand of goofy, schmaltzy funk, as they've simply refined their style further and further as the years move on, but some of the tracks on Head Over Heels are certainly the finest they've put out to date. “Bad Decision” and “Just Friends” are certifiable bangers just asking for remixes, while “One Track Mind” showcases a slower, more alluring pace for the duo. Taken as a whole, it's probably their best release to date, if not in close contention with 2014's White Women.
#11:
Electric Messiah
High on Fire
In what's possibly their most self-indulgent record to date, the metal trio monolith High on Fire continues to just bully the listener's ears with unrepentant riffs, extensive solos, and blast beats for days. It's a lot more drawn out than 2015's Luminiferous felt, with over half of the album's tracks passing the six minute mark (including the 10-and-a-half minute juggernaut “Sanctioned Annihilation”), but they certainly find enough energy and fury to fill the time. It's a tremendous record that you likely already know if you like or not, as their signature style...really hasn't changed all that much. I don't think that's a bad thing when the music continues to be this good.
#10:
How to Socialise and Make Friends
Camp Cope
I never quite know how to apply “raw” as a descriptor to things, especially music, but I can't rightly think of a better word for the distraught rumination found in How to Socialise & Make Friends. The Australian trio tackle failure in so many ways - toxic masculinity, the struggles of fading relationships and finding meaning from them, parental sickness - with such a deft, biting touch that the whole weight of the album comes crashing down on you with the singer's resigned, “Alright, I'm done” that closes out the album. It's a sad album, and I think it channels that sadness marvelously, as if to say that things suck sometimes, but you'll get back on that bike and keep riding.
#9:
The Unheavenly Creatures
Coheed & Cambria
I've never really given Coheed and Cambria a chance beyond hearing a few songs in Rock Band. Something about the fervor of their fanbase always kind of drove me away, which is admittedly a pretty common occurrence. I took the chance with The Unheavenly Creatures, and I'm glad I did! It's schlocky, lavishly detailed prog rock, telling a story about some lovers starting a rebellion in a future space government called the Star Supremacy or something. Look, I don't know what's “happening” in the story of this record, but I know it sounds fantastic. The riffs are crunchy, the vocals are glistening, and there's just a ton of Production that went into this dang thing. It made me interested in checking out the rest of C&C's catalog, if nothing else.
#8:
CARE FOR ME
Saba
“Lo-fi hip hop beats to study to” kind of became a parody of itself at a certain point, but I was struck pretty quickly by the earnestness of the lyricism on Saba's second release. Delivered as a response to the emotional stress of losing a loved one, CARE FOR ME is dripping with sorrow, introspection and what feels like genuine reflection. Those lo-fi beats create the right atmosphere for plaintive, more storytelling-oriented lyrics to really stand out. The ghost of Saba's lost mentor and cousin is all over the album, whether it's one-off lines or a detailed recollection of events that transpired around their prom night in “PROM/KING.” It's moved me in a way I rarely experience in hip-hop, and I genuinely appreciate the openness it's got on offer.
Even if you're not a fan of popular rap (and believe me, I'm certainly not), I'd encourage you to give this one a try. It stands out.
#7:
Joy as an Act of Resistance.
IDLES
IDLES’ debut, Brutalism, blew me away last year with its profound balance of harsh walls of sound and biting, in-your-face lyricism. They didn't shy away from tackling harsh topics and had one of the strongest debut albums I've heard in forever. Joy as an Act of Resistance continues their refinement of that sound, and the album title serves as an effective ethos for their particular style of aggressive, towering punk rock. Opener “Colossus” is a brooding, building freight train that takes a moment to breathe and then rocks forward with lines like “I punch Stone Cold Steve Austin, I put homophobes in coffins.” Throughout the rest of the album, they yell about Brexit, the emotional weight of a failed pregnancy, toxic masculinity, and not being afraid of being afraid. All of it just feels so...well, so joyous to listen to. In the span of two releases over as many years, they've managed to become one of my favorite bands, and I’m so thoroughly excited every time I sit down to spin through this record.
#6:
Dirty Computer
Janelle Monae
Dirty Computer is a sonic masterwork from a woman who's been crushing it for years and years. Janelle Monae jumps effortlessly between genres on a track-by-track basis and somehow manages to make it all seem like a cohesive, singular product. There's hip-hop in “Django Jane,” the Prince-blessed funk of “Make Me Feel,” the pep and poise of the call-and-response sections in “Screwed;” every track feels strong by itself, and in the context of the album as a whole, it's even more impressive. It's a release that grew on me tremendously with each listen, and so much of it is just so damn fun, which is a rare treat these days.
#5:
Twin Fantasy (Face to Face)
Car Seat Headrest
I don't know what the rules are on including effective re-releases of albums that sort of came out seven years ago in your Best Albums of XXXX list. When it comes to Twin Fantasy, I'll disregard them. A frenzied, elaborate, fuzzy release that's as interminable as it is engaging, this album manages to make a fifteen-minute alt-rock song that's practically got three movements to it diverse, electrifying and moody. Even wilder, that's the second track! Dealing with finding one's sexuality and depression, it's another fairly heavy album on this list, but it's also musically dense. There are so many bizarre musical choices and decisions that work really well, illustrating that struggle to find happiness and companionship when things are seemingly overwhelming.
“Don't worry: you and me won't be alone no more.”
#4:
Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Deafheaven
This…might be the album that gets me into black metal.
Deafheaven's juggernaut-esque wall of sound is something I was passingly familiar with, having heard Sunbather upon its release in 2013, but I don't think I was able to appreciate the nuance of a sound like that at the time. Thankfully, my Twitter feed blew up around the time Ordinary Corrupt Human Love came out, and it only took a few minutes into the album's opener “You Without End” to feel there was something special at work here. The back-and-forth between that wall of sound and more tender, almost post rocky moments contrasting with the quiet spoken word sections is at once exhausting and uplifting. In that same vein, Human Love feels like a distillation of all the things I love about post rock without the languid nature of the genre. There’s no real “downtime” on this album: even the stretches where the guitars take a momentary break and it's just soft drums and piano, it feels like the briefest inhale before another several minutes of towering, monolithic expression. I've listened to this while working out, while driving aimlessly into the night, and while simply sitting in my apartment, staring out a window and contemplating the weirdness of life. It makes good accompaniment for all three.
#3:
LONER
Caroline Rose
What a weird album! What a fantastic release!
I'm not gonna lie, I added this album to my initial “Hey I Should Listen To This” playlist based entirely on the incredible cover art, but the music on offer within Rose's second album handily catapulted it to one of this year's best releases. It's an incredibly diverse record, with synth lines for days, the goofy driving bass line in “Money,” and some of the wittiest lyrics on anything you'll listen to from 2018. Cheating partners, the struggles of single parenthood, and whatever the hell “Soul No. 5” is actually about: all of these topics and more receive attention and deserve yours. More than anything else, LONER is just a damned fun listen from start to finish. It never seems one-note or anything less than surprising, musical styles and genres being thrown at the wall with abandon as Rose's smooth, crooning voice carries it all home.
#2:
Shrine
Republic of Wolves
I don't know if Shrine is actually a concept album, but it certainly has the cohesion and overwhelmingly considered pace of one. It's captivating, bursting with emotion, and feels like an album written from the guise of a wounded individual, grappling with things bigger than themselves. I could pluck fifty different lines from the songs that all feel gutpunch-heavy (“You stormed out of who you were to follow her,” “Maybe free will isn't free, but we all pay a different price, and I've got nothing but my morals left to sacrifice.”) and still leave a few wonderfully wistful lyrics out. Singer Mason Maggio's crisp, haunting tenor glides in lockstep with the crashing cymbals and smooth guitar riffs, and the Republic of Wolves has struck such a tight emotional balance between quieter moments and loud, heavier jams that listening to Shrine feels like a genuine journey. It feels like an album in league with Trophy Scars’ Holy Vacants (my favorite album from 2014) in that it feels like a singular expression, something that could only exist in this specific form, these specific tracks. For most of the year, Shrine and the next album on this list were jockeying for my Album of the Year distinction, and the difference is so slight that it's barely visible.
Shrine is a patently exceptional album.
Album of the Year:
All at Once
Screaming Females
From the opening seconds of All at Once's first track, “Glass House,” there’s an immediate sense that you're in for an experience, Marissa Paternoster's haunting, heavy voice echoing out, “When you rust red like blood, I wonder,” the thumping bass carrying the first half of the song between staccato drum-and-guitar clashes. It's the kind of momentum, the build-up and breakdown that signifies All at Once as a tremendous, immensely satisfying listen, every track either containing that sense of pacing within itself or working to adhere to that pattern in the album as a whole. And what a set of tracks Screaming Females has put out this time around! The bright, driving riffs of “Agnes Martin,” the droning, growing and growling two-parter in “Chamber for Sleep,” and what may well be my singular favorite song this year with “Black Moon,” a tight, furious single that commands attention as the bass thrums away and Paternoster's guitar rings out. Even the quiet moments get time to register, with songs like “Dirt” and “Deeply” letting the listener breathe a little as the lyrics tell tales of suspicion, love and opening up. I can't think of a bad song on this album, and it's telling that my end-of-year recap on Spotify listed four of my top five songs of the year as being from All at Once.
It's an incredible encapsulation of driving, take-no-guff rock music, a wonderful understanding of how critical pace and song arrangement is to the overall flow of an album. All at Once is simply the best album of 2018.
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Another year of fine, fine music. I hope 2019 can hold a candle to the myriad of strong releases we had in 2018!
…I guess I have to come up with a piece of writing that's not a listicle for next week as well.
Yikes.
