Top 89 of 2018: Maia Jacobson, associate blogger
December 04, 2018
Listen, I know it was another huge year for some of the best female artists in the industry. I just want to state as a disclaimer before I get into my lists, and with absolutely no disrespect to the artists, that I just don't care that much about Be the Cowboy or Golden Hour or Dirty Computer. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't get on the bandwagon. Anyway, here are my lists!
Top 10 Songs of 2018 (in no particular order)
Rex Orange County – "Loving Is Easy" (for taking walks through Como in the summer evenings)
Camp Cope – "The Opener" (for screaming in your car when the stress gets to be too much)
Free Cake For Every Creature – "Whole World Girl" (for starting a new school year happily)
boygenius – "Stay Down" (for when you can't get enough of Julien Baker's voice)
The Frights – "CRUTCH" (for when you need to scream-in-your-car-because-of-stress for more than just that one song earlier in this list)
Tom Rosenthal – "Hugging You" (for when you want to cry at a music video because it's so cute)
Sylvan Esso – "PARAD(w/m)E" (for when you lock yourself out of the house but you're okay with it)
Rostam – "Bike Dream" (for when you need a change in Feb, so you dye your hair pink)
HUNNY – "Televised" (for when you need a reminder that you're so bright)
Car Seat Headrest – "Bodys" (for when you need to dance)
Top 11 Albums of 2018 (in order of seasons during which they were listened to)
Vundabar – Smell Smoke
I noticed some conflicting dates when I went to make sure this was a 2018 album; I've got Oct. 20, 2017 on Spotify and Feb. 23, 2018, so we're just going to go with 2018. I saw them on tour with the Frights in 2017; their lead singer spoke in a fake Boston accent and wore a red sequin cowboy hat; I didn't stop laughing or dancing the entire night. My friend Hannah and I saw them play a crammed house show at SXSW 2018 and it was a highlight of our trip.
Good Luck Finding Iris – Patience
Michaela Stein's voice is very seriously the most beautiful I've heard live, and live is how you really had to catch this band for years, since they only put out one single prior to this album. I was so excited for this release, and Good Luck Finding Iris is easily my favorite local band this year. If you want a real treat, look up their Radio K session and listen to the track "Trovato." She sings in Italian. Enough said.
Rainbow Kitten Surprise – How to: Friend, Love, Freefall
Rainbow Kitten Surprise is one of those bands that I feel hasn't ever put out a bad song. I interviewed them on their tour bus before their First Ave show this year, and Charlie Holt, their bassist, asked if I wanted to "partake in smoking [redacted]" with him. I declined because I'm a professional lady.
Remember Sports – Slow Buzz
Hannah and I saw them at a couple house shows during SXSW, and then they went to the same coffee shop as us one day, and I couldn't stop staring like a creepy weirdo fan. On our way out, they were carrying their gear across the street, and I yelled out the window of the car that I loved their last set. They found me on Twitter some weeks later and said they thought I was "f***ing with them." I wasn't.
Hinds – I Don't Run
These chingonas are from Spain and put on an extremely energetic live show, complete with choreography and champagne showers. I ran into my old Spanish professor at their Entry show this spring and it wasn't weird at all. (Profe taught me the word chingona. It means badass).
Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog
I interviewed Frances Quinlan before their Turf Club show in June (my first Turf Club show ever!), and she was so understanding of my stumbling over questions as I tried to keep the fangirl in me from bursting out. A real kind soul, the type you just know when you meet them.
Florence + The Machine – High As Hope
This one is for my baby teenage self, dancing to Between Two Lungs alone in her bedroom, and for my mom, who has had "Dog Days Are Over" as her ringtone for close to eight years now. At last, we saw Florence in Oct., and it was absolutely breathtaking and felt incredibly intimate for a stadium show.
SALES – Forever & Ever
I've been in love with this band for so long, I even lived in the same state as them for an entire year, and it took me until this September to finally see them live. It was so worth it. "Shoutout to my mom, shoutout to the fans. I love you, we love you, we are not SALES."
Leon Bridges – Good Thing
The soundtrack to a lot of romantic kitchen dancing and a lot of silly kitchen dancing.
Ministry – AmeriKKKant
This is a political album for the ages. At 60 years old, Uncle Al (Al Jourgenson) is still at it and has channeled all his unfiltered anger about the current political climate of America into AmeriKKKant. This one's for my Super Cool Dad, for always broadening my musical horizons.
Gregory Alan Isakov – Evening Machines
A drastic turn from Ministry, but the last (and eleventh, whoops!) on this list. I just couldn't leave Gregory out. "That Moon Song," off Isakov's 2009 release This Empty Northen Hemisphere, has been with me for so long and through so much, I have a hard time seeing the tracks from Evening Machines taking its place. But they'll definitely give it a run for its money.
Notable EPs
Clairo – Diary 001
Beach Bunny – Prom Queen
Wallows – Spring EP