Paste's 50 Best Albums of 2018

Paste's 50 Best Albums of 2018

Original Source →

50.

March 16, 2018
Critic Score
74
31 reviews
The undulating tones anchor it all, giving it a unified purpose even though few of the melodies are of the hummable variety. A riot? Hardly. But by combining these trance-like textures in such an incessant way, they’ve created music of a mostly memorable variety regardless.

49.

August 24, 2018
Critic Score
83
34 reviews

With myriad collaborators from A$AP Rocky and Puff Daddy, to rising talents TeiShi and Ian Isiah, Negro Swan looks unflinchingly at black and queer life—its traumas, its tensions, its passions. And tucked somewhere within it all, is hope.

48.

March 30, 2018
Critic Score
85
5 reviews

The needle may keep moving for female country artists, but that’s of little concern to McBryde. She’s on a journey toward career longevity and Nowhere is her confident and solid first step.

46.

October 5, 2018
Critic Score
76
24 reviews

His fine-grit tenor is still perfectly raspy, and his songs still hang effortlessly near the border between barstool country and warm-glow pop, with Houck’s experimental streak interloping into both territories. This is still Phosphorescent. It’s just that the man behind the wheel is older and a little bit wiser these days.

43.

February 23, 2018
Critic Score
80
12 reviews

She remains unafraid of singing about serious subjects (capitalism, sexism, death, etc.) but on LONER, she delivers it through a bold, candy-colored filter that’s always intriguing and often irresistible.

42.

Bettye LaVette - Things Have Changed
March 30, 2018
Critic Score
80
8 reviews

41.

October 5, 2018
Critic Score
80
17 reviews

Fans of Big Thief should latch on to this record as Lenker’s evocative storytelling, oneness with nature, unique vocal tones and her ability to arouse grandeur from the mundane are all apparent on this record.

39.

September 14, 2018
Critic Score
74
5 reviews

38.

September 21, 2018
Critic Score
82
12 reviews

37.

March 23, 2018
Critic Score
71
25 reviews

Examinations of creation, destruction and the ways that we often practice the two in vain have regularly been tethered to the Canadian post-punk band’s work—even going back to their days as Viet Cong. And while that’s quite a downcast undertaking, it’s one that goes hand-in-hand with Preoccupations’ dystopian-future-sounding music. With their third LP, New Material, they dive into it headlong, getting closer to Munro’s stated goal than ever before.

35.

February 16, 2018
Critic Score
75
5 reviews

34.

May 4, 2018
Critic Score
83
23 reviews

33.

Rosanne Cash - She Remembers Everything
November 2, 2018
Critic Score
79
5 reviews
Though Cash refrains from direct political speech on this record, she offers solace amid the political unrest, choosing to focus on personal connection rather than polarization as we near the end of a chaotic, divisive year.

32.

September 14, 2018
Critic Score
86
16 reviews

31.

June 1, 2018
Critic Score
82
27 reviews

She’s like no one else, with an artistic vision that’s deeply rooted and clearly focused, and an adventurous compositional spirit that runs laps around most of her contemporaries. As a result, her catalog overflows with interesting and unconventional songs that nonetheless feel comforting and familiar. That’s a catalog worth celebrating, and Hell-On is a wonderful new chapter of Case’s career.

27.

February 16, 2018
Critic Score
79
27 reviews

26.

February 16, 2018
Critic Score
76
21 reviews

24.

May 4, 2018
Critic Score
81
30 reviews

Iceage are plenty capable as musicians, and Rønnenfelt clearly has a lot to say as the frontman. But his diatribes would be more palatable with a little sweetener—after all, a refrain that sticks in your head seems more effective than lyrics that just hammer at your skull.

22.

August 31, 2018
Critic Score
72
12 reviews

The themes running through Big Red Machine are rarely uplifting, but there’s unmistakable joy in the music here, a deep care and love for what they were creating and how they got to create it.

21.

March 23, 2018
Critic Score
77
14 reviews

The Seattle singer spends much of May Your Kindness Remain exploring ideas of home and what it means to have roots, on 10 new tunes that are lusher and more expansive while leaving plenty of room to showcase her astonishing voice.

19.

October 26, 2018
Critic Score
88
29 reviews

Honey is a near-flawless dance pop album. It doesn’t need political or cultural commentary to assert relevancy; in Robyn’s deep understanding of human emotion and what moves us, Honey feels dire all the same.

18.

June 1, 2018
Critic Score
80
39 reviews

Tillman’s gift for melody and his penchant for droll, evocative lyrics pull these 10 songs back from the brink of morbidity.

17.

February 9, 2018
Critic Score
76
33 reviews

Working again with Dave Fridmann and with some key assists from likeminded popster Ariel Pink and MGMT touring member James Robinson, the album feels like it’s alternately melting and lifting, warming and woozy.

16.

March 23, 2018
Critic Score
76
28 reviews

All in all, Twentytwo in Blue spills over with well-crafted songs and sumptuous performances.

15.

March 16, 2018
Critic Score
69
26 reviews
The results are mostly successful; occasionally a strange sound seems shoehorned into a perfectly good Decemberists song.

13.

February 16, 2018
Critic Score
85
27 reviews
Rem is as mercurial as ever, shapeshifting her voice and the music surrounding it as easily as she switches characters.

12.

January 12, 2018
Critic Score
83
25 reviews
What sets these lads apart is their beyond-their-years songwriting, riotous live shows (they were once fined for ripping a chandelier from the ceiling) and frontman Charlie Steen’s arresting vocals.

11.

March 30, 2018
Critic Score
80
17 reviews

Even when he was obscured by the hiss and echo of his lo-fi beginnings, McMahon had the look of a fascinating songwriter. Freedom bears that out.

9.

September 14, 2018
Critic Score
85
26 reviews

8.

June 15, 2018
Critic Score
81
25 reviews
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have more tricks up their sleeves, it seems. For a debut, though, a couple tricks are enough, especially when you’ve already mastered them.

6.

August 17, 2018
Critic Score
85
40 reviews

Whether she’s singing about herself or creating stand-ins that feel just like real people, Be the Cowboy shows why she is fast making herself into one of the most interesting songwriters of her generation.

5.

June 8, 2018
Critic Score
79
36 reviews

Though the highs and lows of the album are subtle, Lush confirms what the Habit EP first introduced. Jordan is a definite talent. The songs illustrate a wise-beyond-years songwriting style, with none of the self-importance and indulgence that can come with more experience. Nothing feels trite or contrived.

4.

March 2, 2018
Critic Score
79
21 reviews

With Clean, she may have again left her bedroom for the studio, but her introspective and comfortably confessional lyrics maintain their intimacy and diary-scrawl relatability.

1.

March 2, 2018
Critic Score
79
25 reviews

It’s a rare artist who has a voice so compelling, and rarer still are the ones who learn so early on how to use it. At 23, Dacus has already made a career album with Historian, and she’s really only just getting started.

Original Source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/11/the-50-best-albums-of-2018.html
Comments
Sign in to comment
No one has said anything yet.
Connect with AOTY
Like Us
Follow Us

February Playlist