Dearest Ladies and Gentlemen,

I always say that my favorite playlist to make each year is the Top 100 Songs list, but I may have been lying. Not intentionally, of course, but the music snob in me loves albums. There’s so much more to albums, so much more to the artist (assuming he/she is an “album” artist), the lyrics, the flow, and the time.

If you’ve ever sneered, “I don’t really listen to singles, I listen to albums” when asked if you’ve heard the latest pop star’s new hit single featuring this week’s cool and relevant rapper (Lil Yachty, Migos, 21 Savage, G-Eazy, etc), well then, you’re in the boat of the album hungry. (Though it is usually for the best of mankind that you never have to hear those songs because they’re so god awful. HOWEVER, I just continually a amazed by Post Malone. He always seemed like such a joke, yet he keep making great songs. Of course, I’m referring to his latest, “Wow,” which is, yeah, wow.)

Top 25 Albums of 2018

Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
Mac Miller - Swimming
Khurangbin - Con Todo El Mundo
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
A Star Is Born - Soundtrack
Hippo Campus - Bambi
Tom Misch - Geography
Leon Bridges - Good Thing
Maribou State - Kingdoms in Colour
Vince Staples - FM!
Snail Mail - Lush
The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
Jay Rock - Redemption
Young the Giant - Mirror Master
The Brummies - Eternal Reach
Rayland Baxter - Wide Awake
Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon
Shame - Songs of Praise
Logic - YSIV
Black Panther - Soundtrack
Dega - Dega
The Moondoggies - A Love Sleeps Deep
Pony League - A Picture of Your Family
Colter Wall - Songs of the Plains
Roosevelt - Young Romance

ANYWAYS, on to the albums and away from the singles.

If you’ve been following my blog at all, you could have probably guessed Kacey Musgraves’ "Golden Hour would be the #1 album of 2018. It is a flawless work of songwriting. Musgraves delicate dreamlike voice juxtaposes her lyrical vices, like smoking week and zoning out. Not coincidentally, it’s a total “zone out” of an album, one that flows perfectly from start to finish with stoner jams, funky beats, and her pristine tone. What an album.

Number two, perhaps surprisingly, is the late Mac Miller’s Swimming. I wrote about his death and created a Best Of in his memory, but needless to say, Swimming was his best work by far. It was the furtherst he’s pushed himself musically, as can be seen with songwriting credits to Thundercats, Pharrell, John Mayer, and many more. Ultimately, it’s a very sad album. Miller dives in and out of a lifeboat floating in a rocky ocean, tempting fate to stay alive. He knows he’s playing with the devil and all his drugs, and he really sounds like he doesn’t know which way it’s going to end. It all ended terribly for him, way too soon, too young a talent for Miller to create greatness and have people separate his real gifts from his class clown persona. I’ll miss him a ton.

Khurangbin wins for the most original album of the year. NO ONE sounds like them, and they don’t even sing!

A Star Is Born is my favorite music movie of all time. I absolutely loved it. I will never forget when the movie starts and Bradley Cooper takes the stage with his guitar, and that first guitar riff from “Black Eyes” flies out through the theatre speakers…Holy Shit! I thought, this movie could really be amazing. Usually, when you think that after hearing the first track of an album, you end up disappointed because the album can’t keep the momentum. But somehow they did, and it’s a credit to all of the talent on display with the actors and musicians that contributed to this movie. Just brilliant.

I’m floored that no critic seems to care about Hippo Campus. They weren’t named in ANY year end lists of note (sadly, mine doesn’t count), and I struggle to understand why. Bambi, their second album, showed some serious leaps in songcraft and production as well as talent with their tools. I loved this album and could never play it enough. They’re also great live!

The remainder of these albums are all great in their own right, albums that I’ve listened to many times. I hope you can find a handful that you love and enjoy them as much as I did.

Here’s to another amazing year of music. On to 2019!!