Our favourite 50 albums of 2018
These are the albums we've loved most in 2018. It's in a rough order, but to be honest this would change if you asked us to put it together again tomorrow. We're up to 50 this year because it's been a good year for our ears. Let us know if there's anything we've missed, we'd love to hear about it because we like nothing more than listening to good music!
50. Neko Case - Hell-On
A varied collection from Neko with lots of collaborations taking place and plenty of co-production. An album of small moments writ large.
49. Cat Power - Wanderer
An old favourite of ours returns with a heart-wrenching, quiet album. It's a solitary thing, despite collaborations, where the moods are in charge, like a conversation with lots of silences.
48. U.S. Girls - In A Poem Unlimited
A righteous angry groove of danceable political pop that often flips patriarchy beliefs on their head (or just plain flips them off).
47. MGMT - Little Dark Age
The psychadelic fun boys are back. I'm not particularly bothered if this is a return to form or not, it's just good to have someone around making songs about people who work out too much.
46. Mountain Man - Magic Ship
A trio of friends that make music that sounds effortless and graceful. Eight years between albums means there's plenty of lived-life cooking away in there.
45. Mary Lattimore and Meg Baird - Ghost Forests
Two American folk/psych stars combine. Electric guitar, vocals and harp mingle and it's all very pleasing.
34. Melody's Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage
Pomping through fields of psychedelia, rainbows in the sky, thick pollen in the air, meadow grass soft underfoot. It's not just just a throwback though, Bon Voyage is bursting with musical ideas, inventiveness and charm.
43. The Internet - Hive Mind
A recommendation from Richard Wiggins of Silent Forum. The Internet sound like they're having so much fun with this R&B project and it's infectious.
42. Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth
Cinematic, rich and ambitious. Washington calls on a collection of extraordinary musicians to perform his vision and the results are impeccable.
41. Adrianne Lenker - abysskiss
A solo album from Big Thief's singer. Short flights of melody over feather-light guitar picking are soothing, but after a couple of minutes the troubles swirling in the songs float to the service. It's like a dream that vears between pleansant and slightly nightmarish, without ever deciding between the two.