Many publications offer up a Best Of 2018 Album List. And nowadays when anyone can make a record or drop a track as they say, any genre can reach an audience, and anything goes, it is more and more difficult to reach any sort of consensus. Pitchfork summarised the situation nicely in their introduction to their own listing:
In 2018, it felt hard to reach consensus on anything—including music. The heavy-hitters of pop and hip-hop returned, but many disappointed; in fact, sometimes, they were just confounding. More than ever, music felt like a playing field where new, exciting artists were sharing the discussion with the veterans, if not taking it over outright. A sea change was underway, the borders eroded—and music was better for it.
In an attempt to bring together the disparate viewpoints across a multitude of sources I've taken the Top 10 from a number of lists (see sources at the bottom of this post) and averaged them into an overall correlation. This was done by scoring 10 points for 1st place down to 1 point for 10th place.
Obviously publications have their own preferences and concentrations of genres. I've therefore taken a wide spread of publications from both sides of the Atlantic to overcome that possible bias.
Lists that published a group of Best Ofs which did not actually order the albums did not fit into my points scoring system and were therefore excluded.
So here goes. This is the definitive list of
The Best Albums Of 2018 apparently as voted for across a sample that may be statistically valid. There's no guarantee you'd enjoy any of these and as you will read Eddy didn't think much of many of them.
10. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino
The Guardian said: Conceived intimately, on a piano received for his birthday, Alex Turner’s would-be solo album was significantly fleshed out by the rest of the band so the seams became invisible. Guitarist Jamie Cook slots inventively into the strange new shapes these songs took. Matt Helders caresses the drum kit with jazzbo sensitivity instead of pummelling it. The band’s collective backing falsettos never sounded so pitch- perfect.
Eddy says: A change of direction for the Monkeys which hints at being a bit lightweight at first but is a potential grower. The band confidently embrace keyboards and vibes all at a much slower pace than their frenetic early work.
9. Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth
FOPP said: The most striking jazz album of 2018 is undoubtedly Heaven and Earth, the second proper full-length from LA’s Kamasi Washington. A 144-minute opus, it’s split into two halves, each of which would work as their own standalone album, and makes jazz accessible and inviting again even while it dishes out 12-minute detours into interstellar psychedelia. There are many influences at work: the massed percussion of Afro-Latin music, the clipped funk of early ’70s Miles, the spacey synth experimentation of Weather Report, the lush choirs and strings of vintage Hollywood and the pioneering sound of classic bebop. All these are threaded together by Washington and his crack band to create a new, decade-straddling sound.
Eddy says: Epic latin jazz rock funk fusion recalling the likes of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew.
8. Low - Double Negative
Resident said: The complexity lies not in the song structure or melody but in the production and the treatments. The balance between brutal and gentle, punishing and absorbing is what Low have built their career on but here they’ve pushed it to the extreme. With crushing electronics and feedback ridden guitar providing counterpoint to their gentler moments, they sound more vital than ever.
Eddy says: An album of interesting crackles, hums and distortions that creates an eerie doom laden soundscape.
Ok, the 3 albums above represent the usual sort of listening we have come to expect at 6 Album Sunday. Prepare now to enter uncharted territory.
7. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
Line Of Best Fit said: We probably all assumed this debut would be an out-and-out hip-hop album. But with its dallies into multiple beats and backgrounds, not to mention the laid bare lyricism, Cardi B’s Invasion conquers over any naysayers.
Eddy says: I quite like this. It's on the grime side of the rap road with hard bass (and lyrics), sharp beats and interesting keys.
6. Robyn - Honey
NPR said: Honey is Robyn's first full-length solo album in eight years, made after the end of a long-term relationship and the death of a friend and long-time collaborator. Robyn's musical antidote to grief involves avoiding clutter or drama and instead dipping into appealing sounds of gentle beauty that encourage movement without forcing it. Bass lines walk to meet starburst synthesizers, melodies unfold without fuss. There is tremendous warmth and no sharp edges. It's energized but never overwhelming. Robyn's voice is sincere and emotional, but never affected.
Eddy says: You what? I'm wondering if this listing was a good idea. This is most things I don't like about pop music in one summary package. I couldn't listen to that fey voice for more than a couple of tracks.
5. Christine and the Queens - Chris
The Independent said: Héloïse Letissier makes her vintage synths snap, crackle, pop, fizz, freeze, squelch, shimmer and soar. There’s even a shattered glass effect (on
Stranger) to complete the Old Skool Electronica bingo card. Treble notes bounce from air-cushioned soles. Bass lines lasso your hips. Chiffon layers of Letissier’s Anglo-French vocals glide around your neck and shoulders and roll them back. It’s ridiculously danceable.
Eddy says: I've dismissed listening to Christine since seeing a snippet on Jools Holland one night but perhaps she deserves another visit. Well, I've given her another visit and I was right. I don't need to hear this banal Wham! like synth pop from the 80s. Shattered glass effects? So what. The accompanying official videos tell you everything you need to know, even with the sound down. Very average album cover too which, along with the Robyn album, surely proves my
Better Artwork = Better Music theory?
4. Idles - Joy As An Act Of Resistance
NME said: Toxic masculinity, Brexit, thug culture, xenophobia – Joe Talbot kicked back against society’s copious modern ills with a passion, power and exuberance that shot Idles’ second album straight to the frontline of the new punk fightback. From the brutalism of Colossus and Samaritans to the emotional hardcore of Cry To Me and pop pogo Danny Nedelko, Joy as an Act of Resistance proved that, in a world of sonic artifice and stylish disguise, a record this raw, righteous and honest could still hit home as hard as a bloke with a perm.
Eddy says: A couple of things I've noticed about the Best Of lists this year is that they had a very strong showing from two categories: jazz and punk (before a third revealed itself here - solo female pop). The Idles have been making waves this last year I hear, possibly on account of live performances? The album is fast shouty punk rock where The Fall meet the Clash via early Arctic Monkeys, which doesn't do too much for me except dilute this list of mostly insipid pop.
3. Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer
NPR said: Pulling inspiration from radical predecessors — Josephine Baker, Stevie Wonder, James Baldwin, Grace Jones, David Bowie and most prevalently her late mentor, Prince — Monáe speaks her truth to power across a funk pop soundscape. The album feels like a rose opening to meet the sun, each petal containing a different message. Monáe captures the bliss of sexual fluidity, the eloquent anger and spirituality of black feminism, the temporary high of nihilism, the sandbagged weight of self-doubt and finally the euphoric reckoning of learning who you are. She switches from hummingbird harmonies and sugary pop hooks to fire 16s to denounce haters from every facet of her life.
Eddy says:Mostly on the pappy side of over produced synthetic pop albeit with some luscious moments. A little bit of added edge emerges with some rap (including the lyrical content you expect from the genre) but ultimately sounds like The Spice Girls. Not really my tea.
2. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour
Pitchfork said: Her inviting outlook is wrought through the record: softly strummed acoustic guitars that blur into sepia haze; boundless pedal steel as conduit for eternity, communing so effortlessly with touches of space-age funk that you wonder why nobody ever did it before.
Eddy says: The album gently rocks along in a modern country fashion. Nicely crafted pop songs fronted by Kacey's pleasant enough voice. Packed full of singles the album would make a decent road record but it's very middle of that road.
1. Mitski - Be The Cowboy
The Guardian said: Mitski continues to disrupt and update the conventions of indie rock. Gnarly guitars contrast with her extraordinarily nimble, pure voice; there are upbeat disco numbers and delicate, ethereal piano ballads.
Eddy says: A short album of catchy punchy two minute pop tunes with interesting melodies which remind me of Aimee Mann (particularly her Batchelor No.2 album). Decent with fine vocals but I wouldn't generally think remarkable enough to be the album of a year.
Also Rans
The following albums featured in many lists but didn't make the Top 10:
Rosalia - El Mal Querer
Snail Mail - Lush
Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs
Noname - Room 25
Sons of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile
The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs
Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
Pusha T - Daytona
Conclusion
I have to say this isn't the most encouraging post I've ever made. I know music and art appreciation is personal but if this is the best 2018 had to offer in music then Brexit and Trump is only the start of our problems.
There are only two artists I have heard of before - Low and Arctic Monkeys. Female solo singers have stormed the listings with 6 entries in the top 7.
There seems to have been a trend back to the 80s with some very retro and bland pop. Are the likes of Madonna and Kylie, aka Robyn and Christine, going to be played by anyone next year? Have their albums any chance of making "Best Albums of All Time" charts in the future? Maybe this is the stuff that's filling up the dance floors in downtown New York these days, but it doesn't sit well on my hi-fi.
Around the edges of this soft core of a Top 10 there is a stronger showing bookended by the Arctic Monkeys (
reviewed previously on this blog), a critically acclaimed jazz album which I will investigate further, and the Low album that I do have but have not fully absorbed yet, at one end, and, at the other, the Mitski which I will revisit and could catch on, and the Kacey Musgraves which is certainly an accomplished country/rock crossover album if you like that sort of thing.
Have I given all these records enough time? Maybe not. Sure repeated plays allow absorption, but like a good film or book, there has to be an initial way in, something to grab your interest in the early stages. Then again, once access is gained an album may hit the spot initially but then fade long term, or vice versa and be a slow burner.
Overall most of this list doesn't grab me. Maybe it's just personal or maybe in the face of such critical consensus I'm just plain wrong and am missing something; nevertheless I hope 2019 is better. Please comment below if you disagree or have a suggestion for your own particular favourite that should really be in the list. It is only opinion after all.
Sources
Pitchfork
Q
Line of Best Fit
BBC
Consequence of Sound
Rolling Stone
NPR
Vinyl Me
FOPP
Fact
Metacritic
Under The Radar
Uncut
Wire
Time
The Independent
The Guardian
Quietus
Resident
NME
