Year End 2018: Top 10 Favorite Albums of the Year

So, now well into 2019, I am finally prepared to share my favorite albums of 2018. It wasn't so much me holding out to wait for the whole year to pass, but more sloth and working on the previous year end posts. Feel free to share your list in the comments, but also remember: this is my list and will not be reflective of your taste.


10. Fred Thomas- Aftering
This is probably Fred Thomas' least hopeful sounding release yet, and, I believe, his first to be released since moving from Michigan to Montreal. He still has a way of making his pretty personal songwriting universally identifiable, and this time he's not alone. With a number of collaborators, including tour mate Anna Burch, he spins yarns about nostalgia, missed opportunity, depression, and small town toxicity.





9. Lily Allen- No Shame
A much more laid back for Allen, this album is a reflection of her last few years, from divorce to struggles with the press. Lily Allen's lyrics always have a little more wit than your typical pop star, and I think that's why I keep coming back to her music. As I said before, this record has a little bit more of reserved tone, eschewing the very loud electronic dance sound of Sheezus for more minimal beats, resembling some trap influenced R&B, but obviously with much more versatility. I even got my wish and heard a partial return to her ska and reggae influenced sound on a few tracks.



8. A$AP Rocky- Testing
A$AP Rocky is a master of flow. While what he's saying might not be the most interesting or game changing, his flows always make how he's saying it worth hearing. Testing also lives up to its name, with the beat selection and song structuring taking a pretty experimental and scattershot approach, which may not make for the most cohesive record, but it keeps you on your toes, and a certain sound never has time to overstay its welcome. And it also contains one of my most played jams of 2018 in 'Tony Tone'. Everything about that song, from the beat to the flow, seem tailor made to make you nod your head and vibe.



7. Sleep- The Sciences
The stoner metal titans return after a long radio silence with a set of tracks that made it sound like they never left. A surprise drop on 4/20 (the date is not that surprising) from Third Man Records of all labels, this record is the first proper follow up to their magnum opus, Dopesmoker. It's still just as heavy, although a little less high concept (six tracks instead of one massive suite) and possibly a little more driving. There's been a resurgence of stoner metal bands putting out new records in recent years (Electric Wizard, Bongripper etc.) but I think this record marks the best entry to the genre in a while.



6. Sun Kil Moon- This is My Dinner
It's always interesting to check in with Mark Kozelek and see what he's been up to. With an incredibly prolific output, it's always possible to hear recent stories and always have a wealth of material to listen to (there's a new collaborative solo record coming out in the coming months). Kozelek continues his long winded, incredibly detailed story telling here, and like most records since Benji, I quite enjoyed it. You'd think laboring over minutia for a 10 minute long track would get boring, but amazingly enough, it remains remarkably fresh.



5. Kids See Ghosts- Kids See Ghosts
While ye was scattershot and flawed in its approach, Kanye's collaborative project with Kid Cudi was a massive success. The duo really bring out the best in each other, and this was Kanye's best project since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and Cudi's best since his debut album. When I heard there was a Kurt Cobain sample in this thing, I got scared I was going to get more Speedin' Bullet to Heaven, but luckily, this was far from the case. The instrumentals were great and the handling of mental illness in the lyrics was a lot more tasteful than on ye.




4. Earl Sweatshirt- Some Rap Songs
Earl Sweatshirt has matured a lot as a rapper and artist since his debut mixtape, and seems to be an almost new person every time he comes out with a new project. However, one thing is always constant: he can rap ridiculously well. He leaves the agoraphobic and misanthropic tone of his last album for raps detailing his anxiety and grief at the loss of his father. While it deals with some pretty heavy themes, it's somehow more hopeful that his previous offering. The instrumentals are also completely different; looping psychedelic swirling samples to get lost in replace the incredibly dark beats. I'm really excited to see what he does next, especially since he's now free from his record contract.



3. Zu93- Mirror Emperor
I debated putting this or Current 93's proper album The Light is Leaving Us All on this list, but in the end, I thought this album was a little more instrumentally varied.This is David Tibet's collaborative album with the Italian experimental group Zu. Tibet always does his thing with the lyrics, adding more poetry to his ever growing musical world, while Zu provide instrumental accompaniment ranging from pseudo neofolk, string arrangements, to more noisy fare. I hope this isn't a one off like Myrninerest of Hypnopazuzu, and I hear more from this group again.



2. JPEGmafia- Veteran
Jpegmafia is a rapper and producer that still manages to make hip hop experimental in 2018. Imagine if Death Grips were less interested in making noise, had more to say besides plagiarizing Nietzsche, and had more technical rapping ability. This album could only exist in the age of the internet, and is obsessed with meme culture, online political ranting, and the like. I find the viewpoint Peggy has is very interesting to learn about on record, and its always good to hear an opinionated artist that actually has something new to say, especially in a genre as over saturated as hip hop.



1. Panopticon- The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness
Austin Lunn probably succeeded in creating the folk black metal album to end all folk black metal albums. A sprawling 2 disc, 4 LP album, this project splits the folk and black metal into two halves, but with Panopticon, its more like two sides of the same coin. This album is the culmination of what albums like Kentucky and Autumn Eternal merely hinted at with interludes and ambient intros. Here the folk gets just as much time on the record, and really shows Lunn's versatility as a performer and songwriter. He can write folk tunes, but also ramp up the distortion and create a triumphant black metal opus with the best of them.




So, those are my picks. Now, back to the albums in my life series. Next time, 1997.



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