My Favorite Songs of 2018

Following the examples of many publications releasing their "Best of" lists, I decided to follow with one of my own. Rather than narrowing my favorite albums though, I thought it would be more accessible to rank each album by my favorite song from each. That way, I don't have to pull my hair out deciding which albums were my favorite, and can just do the list pretty freely (I didn't even include a song from one of my favorite albums, Stephen Malkmus' Sparkle Hard, since no one song does the whole record justice).

Without further ado, here are my short blurbs on twenty-five of my favorite songs from 2018 (and a link to the playlist!):

1. Kacey Musgraves - "Lonely Weekend" (Golden Hour)

Kacey Musgraves' new album is the only of hers I have really dived into, but I can say with biased certainty that it is her best. Musgraves has a great voice, but her greatest strength is blending an intimate pop sound into her country background - in fact, country no longer describes her music. "Lonely Weekend" still gives me chills simply from its beauty and shimmering production, and its simple yet poignant lyrics are hands down my favorite of the year.

2. Ovlov - "Spright" (TRU)

This song sounds exactly like Built to Spill (which is an accomplishment in itself), but close listening reveals an important uniqueness. The shifting, unstable melancholy of BTS with epic hooks à la Dinosaur Jr., along with some dynamic guitar parts, are only parts that make up Ovlov's immense emotional and sonic power, one I have not heard in many other current indie bands. From only their second record, "Spright" sticks for cutting straight to the core of the listener.

3. YOB - "Beauty in Falling Leaves" (Our Raw Heart)

Our Raw Heart is the best metal album of the year for everything - it is the most emotional, beautiful, epic, introspective, and one of the heaviest (in every sense of the word). This over 16-minute track demonstrates these qualities best, with newly-recovered guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt's cathartic wail leading the slow-burning builds and releases of distorted tension. "Beauty in Falling Leaves" meditates on mortality throughout, trying to stretch itself as long and meaningfully as possible before finally extinguishing.

4. The Midnight Hour - "Feel Alive" (The Midnight Hour)

From a collaboration by Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) and producer Adrian Younge, this Karolina and Loren Oden duet has actually been around since 2015, but it's so good I wanted to include it. The Midnight Hour has 20 songs (wow!) of cinematic soul-jazz, but none have the same intimate propulsion as "Feel Alive." The incredible vocals help unfold the song with warm passion, highlighting Muhammad and Younge's exceptionally lush, refined approach and sound.

5. Lotic - "Hunted" (Power)

Lotic is great for employing messages of empowerment and resolve in the face of racism and sexism against gender nonconformity. But the coolest thing about Power is how those messages are woven into the music through an exciting balance of sorrow and the threat of danger. Take highlight track "Hunted," wherein the sense of persecution and paranoia exudes from the intense, experimental beat and atmosphere. Highly recommend this song for fans of "IDM" (Intelligent Dance Music).

6. Janelle Monáe - "Make Me Feel" (Dirty Computer)

Dirty Computer is a masterpiece, maybe the best album of the year. The songs preceding this one, the rap tour de force "Django Jane" and Grimes collab "PYNK," are almost as good, but "Make Me Feel" takes the cake as the funkiest piece of R&B-pop she has ever recorded. Despite its obvious Prince callbacks, the song was created by Mattman & Robin, the Swedes who produced for Imagine Dragons, DNCE, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani.

7. Mitski - "Nobody" (Be the Cowboy)

Who knew Mitski liked disco? While much more polished than Puberty 2, her new album still retains the classic Mitski spontaneity, with stylistic shifts and odd choices that keep the listeners on their toes. "Nobody" combines themes of loneliness with an extremely infectious beat, and her typically crystal clear vocals illuminate this dichotomy brilliantly. The brisk pace of the song surprisingly does not undercut its intimacy, a feat which only marvelous Mitski could accomplish.

8. Robyn - "Missing U" (Honey)

Robyn has endured a lot since Body Talk (2010), including separation with her fiancé and loss of longtime friend Christian Falk. Her revived changes shown in Honey are both innovative and emotionally enthralling. "Missing U," even without background context, highlights the simultaneous joy and sorrow of love. This song's highly refined beauty demonstrates her most involved creative process yet - only a highly individual touch and undefined timeline could create such essential music.

9. Field Music - "Count It Up" (Open Here)

Open Here is surprisingly good thanks to Field Music's mastery of different song styles. David and Peter Brewis prove they can play swaggering rock ("Share a Pillow"), ballads ("Open Here"), insistent soft rock ("Daylight Saving"), and epic slow-burn finales ("Find a Way to Keep Me") with equally playful arrangements and pop-songwriting restraint. Most surprising is "Count It Up," a synth-driven pop song about middle-class white male privilege. In short, it's a must-hear.

10. Christine and the Queens - "Goya Soda" (Chris)

This song is one of my (many) favorites from the new Christine album, made even better by the fact that it's about this painting. Regardless of her bizarre and puzzling inspiration, the song takes an erotic turn as the sexually ambiguous narrator discusses eating flesh and chasing/fleeing. While musically analyzing the seamlessness of masculine/feminine, strong/vulnerable, exposing/controlling, Chris demonstrates its creator's power of making ambitious and engaging music.

11. Shopping - "The Hype" (The Official Body)

Post-punk music dominated 2018 with fantastic albums by IDLES, Iceage, and new bands like Moaning, Frigs, and Shame. Shopping dominates the list by reveling in its outsider qualities, letting songs like "The Hype" simultaneously groove and prick with jagged guitar lines and a tight rhythm section. Shopping dial back their intensity on The Official Body but lose none of the angular, kinetic qualities that made this British trio so fantastic.

12. Superchunk - "Break the Glass" (What a Time to Be Alive)

I think What a Time... is pretty underrated - it's a strong set of pop-punk (almost entirely anthemic), filled to the brim with righteous anger and energy. The earnest approach keeps tracks as invigorating as "Break the Glass" from sounding like the songs of old folks almost 30 years into their career. The song sounds rougher and more passionate than Superchunk has in a while, making it a rousing success.

13. I'm With Her - "See You Around" (See You Around)

This folk supergroup of Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), Aoife O'Donovan (Crooked Still), and Sarah Jarosz has a beautifully mellow sound on "See You Around." Slowly, the band builds up until it finally takes off, with soaring Americana harmonies and graceful acoustic strumming that excel above any other 2018 folk release. The record's feminine strength informs each song, but the title track stands out for its exceptional, deliberate nuances.

14. KIDS SEE GHOSTS – “4^th Dimension” (KIDS SEE GHOSTS)

Kanye West’s 2018 release Ye had some fine tracks but was admittedly quite bland and boring. KIDS SEE GHOSTS proved West could still produce, rap, and collaborate expertly, without too much self-indulgence. “4^th Dimension” builds flawlessly off a typically obscure sample to create two-and-a-half minutes of gold, with an excellent verse each for West and Kid Cudi.

15. Ghost - "Rats" (Prequelle)

Ghost is well-known in the metal community, but Prequelle marks the first release after the mega-hit singles "Cirice" and "Square Hammer" that exploded Ghost to stardom. "Danse Macabre" was more radio-rock popular, though creator Tobias Forge hasn't forgotten the heavy -  "Rats" shows their more metallic side, but the chorus hook is, as always, to die for.

16. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - "An Air Conditioned Man" (Hope Downs)

90% of Rolling Blackouts CF's full-length debut could be on this list. The first three tracks especially are so perfectly composed and produced that it's shocking the rest is almost as good. "An Air Conditioned Man" loses a bit of the "hit single" feel of the other songs, but it's a beautiful demonstration of the three songwriters' abilities to create lively, dynamic, and freeing indie rock music.

17. Blood Orange - "Chewing Gum" (Negro Swan)

Dev Hynes has always done his own thing as Blood Orange, and not even the array of guests on Negro Swan can prevent that. The insistent "Chewing Gum," featuring A$AP Rocky and Project Pat, is as moody and alternative as ever, hardly rising above its lilting refrain "tell me what you want from me," expertly inferring underlying anxieties and feelings of exhaustion.

18. SOPHIE - "It's Okay to Cry" (Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides)

SOPHIE's official debut is a recent addition to my music obsessions, and honestly any song on the first half could fit this list. Her music is highly complex and bold, but it is also bright and animated. This first song is the closest to conventional electro-pop, but its vulnerable simplicity makes the transformation over the arc of the song more epic.

19. Melody's Echo Chamber - "Cross My Heart" (Bon Voyage)

Melody Prochet's debut with Kevin Parker hypnotized listeners with dreamy atmospheres, but Bon Voyage blows that album out of the water. Collaborating with a slew of Swedish musicians including Reine Fiske (The Amazing) and Gustav Ejstes (Dungen), Prochet blends dream-pop with a highly experimental touch - "Cross My Heart" breaks into a flute-led funk/hip-hop section part way through, and she sings first in English then French.

20. Oneohtrix Point Never - "Babylon" (Age Of)

Electronic experimentalist Daniel Lopatin subverts his musical confines more than ever with Age Of, a deliberate, relaxed take on the undefinable OPN sound. Songs like "Babylon" stand out because, well, they're actually songs instead of sonic collages. This song's mellow Bon Iver-esque sound works contextually and alone, with processed vocals propelling the sparse shifts from pastoral guitar to atmospheric synth.

21. Low Cut Connie - "Beverly" (Dirty Pictures Part 2)

Low Cut Connie exceeded my high expectations with Dirty Pictures Pt. 2, following up two albums of rocking roots jams with a surprisingly heartfelt, universally accessible continuation. "Beverly" is an excellent pop tune, highly catchy but also appealing to rock fans. Of course, the grooving piano lines and melodic guitar riffs keep us firmly rooted in LCC’s roots background.

22. Vince Staples - "Relay" (FM!)

Vince Staples can literally do no wrong: the epic double-length Summer ’86, the intense EP Prima Donna, the creative Big Fish Theory, and now a continuous radio-inspired release, flowing expertly track-to-track blending song and interlude. His typically confident and fiery verses work in brief formats, able to stuff every track to its brim and highlight nearly every song.

23. Old Crow Medicine Show - "Dixie Avenue" (Volunteer)

This style is not my normal cup of tea, but I was very impressed with the band's Bob Dylan-esque synthesis especially on "Dixie Avenue." This track has a classic Dylan-like country propulsion that tells a simple story, one about the small delights of living in this small southern town. Country producer Dave Cobb adds some new tonal colors without losing the focus of the song.

24. Virginia Wing - "Be Released" (Ecstatic Arrow)

Virginia Wing have been on the fringe of British experimental pop since their 2014 debut, so it's nice to see them getting recognition even if they're still not really popular. The song "Be Released" demonstrates "stardom" best, having a double meaning of sonic advancement (driven by lush synths) and separation from the past. Something this deep and forward-thinking is rarely this calming and moving.

25. Kadhja Bonet - "Mother Maybe" (Childqueen)

The best music of 2018 seems all about blending classic sounds with a modern sheen, and no one does that better than Kadhja Bonet. Created almost entirely by herself, her sophomore album beautifully transcends time with a flowing, gentle atmosphere. "Mother Maybe" joins fantastic interweaving strings with an empowering message about motherhood, showing classic R&B inspirations can unsurprisingly still resonate with modern audiences.

Honorable mentions: anything from new Stephen Malkmus, Thee Oh Sees, The Joy Formidable, Twenty One Pilots, and Rae Morris albums, which are all too good to just pick one song from. Thanks for reading <3