At the start of this year, I lived in Texas, and by its end, I had driven 4,000 miles to Alaska. On the political and global stage, the word continued to shift and turn just as dramatically and quickly, leaving me dizzy as this year ends. The one constant has been a compulsion toward music, listened to in all manners of states—geographically and of being. Every year I compile a list of favorite albums, mostly for myself to revisit the music I’ve enjoyed, but this year the exercise has been particularly therapeutic—a way of tracking the year in song since it has made so little sense elsewhere. Here are 50 albums from this year in a somewhat arbitrary order that I’ve personally enjoyed more than other albums released from this year and that you might too or might’ve already but might’ve forgotten about.
Click here for the accompanying Spotify playlist: Personal Favorites of 2018
(RIYL = Recommend If You Like…)
1. Mitski – Be the Cowboy
RIYL… saying, “I feel that,” after hearing a lyric that cuts you deep, over and over again
2. Earl Sweatshirt – Some Rap Songs
RIYL… descending through a poet’s clouded, troubled mental hellscape
3. Amen Dunes – Freedom
RIYL… cruising down city streets as the sun sets
4. Tirzah – Devotion
RIYL… holding a loved one on a blanket in a city park
5. Noname – Room 25
RIYL… staying up late listening to your smart friend regale you with stories and jokes
6. Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer
RIYL… metaphors for the love between marginalized peoples
7. Playboi Carti – Die Lit
RIYL… as the cover depicts, stage-diving into a mob of enthralled young people
8. Boygenius – boygenius
RIYL… ugly crying in public
9. Beach House – 7
RIYL… existential black and white french movies
10. Travis Scott – Astroworld
RIYL… navigating the sprawling houston metroplex with a confident guide
11. Julia Holter – Aviary
RIYL… gazing up into the night sky, searching for meaning
12. U.S. Girls – In a Poem Unlimited
RIYL… dimly lit, hazy rooms
13. Rosalía– El Mal Querer
RIYL… losing yourself in dramatic fashion
14. Milo – budding ornithologists are weary of tired analogies
RIYL… densely crafted punchlines that complicate the rapper ethos
15. Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog
RIYL… gathering around a storyteller in the city center
16. Ariana Grande – sweetener
RIYL… mothafuckin’ artistry
17. Saba – CARE FOR ME
RIYL… the crisis of mortality you enter after losing a loved one
18. Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour
RIYL… flat Texas countryside and safe space dive bars
19. Sheck Wes – MUDBOY
RIYL… BALLIN’ LIKE A MUTHAFUCKIN’ PRO (punk is dead. long live the new punks.)
20. Wye Oak – The Louder I Call, the Faster I Run
RIYL… a band constantly perfecting its sound
21. Pusha T – Daytona
RIYL… bars that got Drake shook
22. The Internet – Hive Mind
RIYL… tipsy swiping on tinder
23. Half Waif – Lavender
RIYL… grabbing a stranger on the dancefloor and realizing its someone you love
24. Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy
RIYL… Cardi B
25. Tierra Whack – Whack World
RIYL… you got just watch this one if you haven’t seen it, and if you have, watch it again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOTebhPy04g
26. Lucy Dacus – Historian
RIYL… songs about loss that don’t diminish your faith in humanity
27. Snail Mail – Lush
RIYL… that exhilarating but anxiety-inducing period after graduating
28. Robyn – Honey
RIYL… sugar-coated dance anthems
29. Kamasi Washingtion – Heaven and Earth
RIYL… metaphysical jazz
30. Anderson Paak – Oxnard
RIYL… viewing the world through rose-tinted shades
31. Iceage – Beyondless
RIYL… a post-punk, gothic fireworks display
32. Grouper – Grid of Points
RIYL… having your physical essence dissolve into static
33. Leikeli47 – Acrylic
RIYL… a modern, black matriarchy
34. Spiritualized – And Nothing Hurt
RIYL… imagining a miniscule version of yourself inside black-and-white landscape portraits
35. Courtney Marie Andrews – May Your Kindness Remain
RIYL… believing in yourself and the goodness of others
36. Deafheaven – Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
RIYL… volleying between transcendent grace and consuming anger
37. Courtney Barnett – Tell Me How You Really Feel
RIYL… earnest introspection that sounds sarcastic
38. JID – Dicaprio 2
RIYL… thinking about what would happen if Busta Rhymes and Kendrick Lamar raised a son together
39. Ambrose Akinmusire – Origami Harvest
RIYL… complicating the lines between orchestral, jazz, and rap music
40. White Denim – Performance
RIYL… wanting to know how a song sounds live
41. Superorganism – Superorganism
RIYL… imagining social media as pop musical
42. Jean Grae and Quelle Chris – Everything’s Fine
RIYL… cleverly masking your pain with wry comedy
43. Vince Staples – FM!
RIYL… california summers, summer fun, wondering if you’ll make it to tomorrow
44. Thee Oh Sees – Smote Reverser
RIYL… music that fuckin’ rips
45. serpentwithfeet – soil
RIYL… a self-actualizing dollhouse pagan ritual
46. Mick Jenkins – Pieces of a Man
RIYL… Gil Scott Heron in the trap
47. Open Mike Eagle – What Happens When I Try to Relax
RIYL… playing mental games with yourself to get through a party
48. Masaego – Lady Lady
RIYL… being seduced in a library
49. Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer
RIYL… Father John Misty as much Father John Misty likes Father John Misty
50. Joji – BALLADS 1
RIYL… wondering what a young George Michael would’ve posted on soundcloud