My 2018 Mixtape

It’s that time of year once again… time for an endless parade of year-end best-of lists! Here is my contribution to the morass, along with a Spotify playlist featuring a song from each album. It was a tough call deciding on the top five, as it was basically a five-way tie for number one, and how I rank them will probably shift with my mood on any given day. Feel free to chime in with your own year-end lists in the comments!

1. The Essex Green, “Hardly Electronic”
2. The Limiñanas, “Shadow People”
3. Superorganism, “Superorganism”
4. Young Fathers, “Cocoa Sugar”
5. The Beths, “Future Me Hates Me”
6. Shakey Graves, “Can’t Wake Up”
7. James Hunter Six, “Whatever It Takes”
8. Fantastic Negrito, “Please Don’t Be Dead”
9. Jeff Tweedy, “WARM”
10. Rhett Miller, “The Messenger”
11. The Decemberists, “I’ll Be Your Girl”
12. Arctic Monkeys, “Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino”
13. Holly Golightly, “Do the Get Along”
14. Cat Power, “Wanderer”
15. Hiss Golden Messenger, “Virgo Fool”
16. Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, “Years”
17. Wussy, “Getting Better” (EP)
18. M. Ward, “What a Wonderful Industry”
19. Courtney Barnett, “Tell Me How You Really Feel”
20. Elise LeGrow, “Playing Chess”
21. Thievery Corporation, “Treasures from the Temple”
22. Cupcakke, “Ephorize”
23. Superchunk, “What a Time to Be Alive”
24. Mazzy Star, “Still EP”
25. Belly, “DOVE”
26. Holly GoLightly and the Brokeoffs, “Clippety Clop”
27. Poster Children, “Grand Bargain!”