Truly heavenly. 2)’ – and this thrilling, unabashed sense of freedom is precisely the kind of quality that made ‘Kids See Ghosts’ one of the best listens of 2018. 75. critic score (13) User Ratings. EH, Cardi B’s whip-smart debut album ‘Invasion of Privacy’ is filled with witty braggadocio, and understandably so; the last few years have taken the Bronx rapper from rags to riches. From the soaring ‘Come Back to Earth’, which sees Miller juxtapose his personal challenges with his optimism for the future over trickling pianos and gauzy strings, to the funk laced ‘What’s the Use?’ which alludes to the musician’s battles with addiction, he expertly hops through genres and shimmering production to create what was his best work in years. It’s worth a listen to hear Muse taking the piss to nth degree on ‘Propaganda’ alone. Each writer picks their personal 20 best albums, and 2018 had no shortage of albums to choose from. AT, Driven by romance, pomp-pop abandon and an old-school fighting spirit against the digital age’s hiss of zeros and ones, the Manics’ thirteenth album couldn’t be more perfectly married to the Franz Von Stillfried-Ratenicz photograph of a last Samurai; like him, the Manics are survivors. And this celebration of their marriage, the third part in the trilogy comprised of her album ‘Lemonade’ and his ‘4:44’, is both personal and political; boasts of their wealth are combined with observations on racial inequality, an implicit comment on their triumph against the odds. There are cameos from established artists – Jorja Smith and Tyler, the Creator – but Uchis always emerges as head honcho; when her falsetto croon glides over rippling sound effects on ‘Dead To Me’, it’s clear we’re in the presence of tomorrow’s pop royalty. Stick around for the sentimental and sweet summer pop of ‘Hunnybee’ or the Prince-indebted disco jam of ‘Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays’. RD, Inspired by his grandparents’ journey to the US decades ago, Vynehall’s debut album is a work of symphonic genius that isn’t afraid to get a bit heavy when it needs to. RD, With album two, the Norwich duo brought their unique brand of space-pop into even sharper focus than before, leaping from dance to prog to electronica – often in the same song. In her time away the Swedish pop icon experienced two heavy blows of loss in quick succession; she broke up with her long-term boyfriend (the pair have since reunited) and lost her bandmate and collaborator Christian Falk to pancreatic cancer. ‘Be My Mistake’ moves me to tears. At once cerebral and appealing to your basic repetitive beat instincts, ‘Singularity’ – contrary to its name – is an album of endless layers, a rich soundscape of ideas to lose yourself in. It’s complex, it’s beautiful, it’s special in its observation of not just the politics, emotions and relationships of our time, but in its spanning and embracing of different styles of music. Her face when she learned about her recent Grammy nomination for album of the year said it all – it’s been a long time coming, and in ‘Django Jane’ Monae spells out the historic erasure of black artists at major award ceremonies; “runnin’ down Grammys with the family” is something of a career ambition. TS, The undersung grime hero returned with an un-showy album that, in tackling racial discrimination and paying tribute to London, his hometown, assured fans of his staying power. Full of wearied upset and despair at the world around him, Pierce’s voice captured human emotion at its most vulnerable and downtrodden: “You gotta take the pain / You gotta give it all away,” he sings on ‘The Morning After’, one of the album’s standout tracks. This record is unique. Everything is Recorded , artist. View the top albums of the year based on genre. TC, The Californian rapper evoked the bleaker side of his native land on this crisp collection. Best new artist. A hefty, distortion-drenched tangle, the Japanese-American musician held up the extremes of heady romance and loneliness against one another, unpacking questions of identity, contentment, and the conventions of indie rock. From romance to rage and all stops in between, it’s an album driven by instinct. With a title that’s Spanish for ‘Holy Wood’, the twin themes are religion (tracks include ‘Preacher’ and ‘Hallelujah’) and sex. 2018 looked like the year where BROCKHAMPTON would make it big, and with two albums slated for release, it appeared as if 2018 would be even bigger than 2017. Check out ‘Sorry About The Carpet’ and you’ll see what we’re getting at. With stone cold bangers like ‘High Horse’ and ‘Butterflies’ who can resist? It’s a record which thrives on that same delicacy – a slow-building, slow-burning cut of atmospheric, dusty indie-rock, all carried by Damon McMahon’s honeyed vocal. Exclaim! Post-album, Soccer Mommy has put out retooled early track ‘Henry’ and her melancholy take on Springsteen’s ‘I’m On Fire’. For an artist we expect to set the agenda for the future, ‘Ye’ has been seen as something of a misfire. Imagine if The Bunnymen ended up as roadkill, crushed beneath the wheels of Idles’ tourbus. Genres. AT, The kids are saying Disco Yes to soulful, south London smoothie Tom Misch. JB, A band who always struggled with the mainstream, often preferring to deliver their experimental sound from the edges, ‘Cocoa Sugar’ marked a bold change in direction for the Edinburgh three piece. And ‘Lonesome Love’, meanwhile, plays host to the best self-love one liner since St Vincent’s ‘Birth in Reverse’: “Cause nobody butters me up like you, and nobody fucks me like me”. RD, Jay Rock’s suffered a lot of setbacks in his career and none of them have stopped him so far. SC, ‘And Nothing Hurt’ rivalled some of Jason Pierce’s most emotive and touching writing of his career to date. A Rough Trade Albums of the Year vinyl bundle + download our digital zine; Albums of the Year 2018 . JB, The final album by the late, great Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison, this side-project with members of Editors, Minor Victories and his brother/F’Rabbit drummer Grant took his brutal and introspective poetry into gnarlier terrain to create something much like its Sega console namesake: simple, free of frills, nostalgic, and yet weirdly futuristic at the same time. Best rap/sung performance. Rock. Its gentle piano-arpeggios and infectious gospel harmonies uplifted whilst its synth heavy, drone backdrop felt ominous, creating a mood that unsettles as much as it comforts. Lists. User Ratings. 2018 Music Year End Lists. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. Community. Jay-Z is really, really sorry for his bad behaviour! Genuflect. Safe ballads were out, and fidgety art-pop and daring songwriting hinted that Rae Morris’ future is looking remarkably rosy. Musically, ‘Iridescence’ bounces from howling sirens and brutal bass kicks to barked vocals, almost always offset by the vulnerability conveyed in the lyrics. The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Genres. His battles over the last year have been widely publicised – and widely referenced on this record – but this is a different man than the brashly confident ‘UGH’ era Matty, still making astute observations about the world around him but with a self-awareness that comes from an inward-looking period spent in therapy, getting clean and communing with a horse. The same goes for his latest – a near-fatal motorcycle crash in 2016 – with him making even more progress on the creative, reflective, and fun ‘Redemption’, which mixes radio-friendly jams and crunk-tinged bounces. Although Staples’ lyrics are often hard-boiled (‘Don’t Get Chipped’ warns against gang violence), the sound is predominantly sunny: this is a summer record for the darkest of times. A dark, twisted take on goth-rock bleakness, the youthful punk of their past was here shelved in favour of an altogether more intoxicating sound. Best Albums. Hardcore heavyweights Turnstile have never been ones to shy away from the fun-first approach, but on ‘Time and Space’ they took that mantra to huge new heights. TC, The Michigan rockers may well be America’s biggest new rock band, and their hair-raising debut album has done the impossible: pleasing the old Led Zep fans while gaining a new wave of young fans. 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