{"id":4025,"date":"2018-12-19T19:37:07","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T01:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/?p=4025"},"modified":"2025-09-09T17:53:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T23:53:28","slug":"best-albums-of-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/2018\/12\/19\/best-albums-of-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Albums of 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here are some of the SoCC writers&#8217; favorite albums this year in no particular order:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Be The Cowboy \u2013 Mitski<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Be the Cowboy\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/653wRjqO0GOZPQPcXpeAXD?si=KzlcpkDuSZiN_TeKctZiAQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If you can believe it, I didn\u2019t like Mitski (of\u00a0<em>Bury Me at Makeout Creek<\/em>\u00a0era)\u00a0at first. I thought her sound was too rough, too grating, somehow a little too angsty. Fast-forward two or three years, and songs from\u00a0<em>Be The Cowboy<\/em>\u00a0occupy at least a quarter of my weekly music rotation. I can\u2019t give Mitski all the credit for that transformation; I\u2019ve grown enough to learn to love\u00a0<em>Bury Me at Makeout Creek<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Puberty 2<\/em>. Still, Mitski\u2019s own artistic development is crystal clear to everyone engaged with her art\u2013\u2013 for proof, google\u00a0<em>Be The Cowboy<\/em>\u00a0and count the number of \u201cBest of 2018\u201d lists the album\u2019s included in.<\/p>\n<p>This album shines so brightly because it feels so honest. We know most of the songs are persona songs; few contain any autobiographical information about Mitski at all, and yet almost every lyric feels intensely personal &amp; soaringly sincere (i.e. \u201cand I am the idiot with the painted face\/ in the corner taking up space\u201d). Musically, Mitski experiments more on\u00a0<em>Be The Cowboy<\/em>\u00a0than ever before, which is explicitly evident on \u201cNobody\u201d \u2013\u2013 a disco-Daft-Punk-circa-R.A.M. track that is both extremely energetic and emotional, a panic attack coated in glitter.<\/p>\n<p>I could write about this album forever, except I can\u2019t. I\u2019m about to get on an 8 hour plane ride, during which I will listen to\u00a0<em>Be The Cowboy<\/em>\u00a0in its entirety at least three times. I don\u2019t necessarily suggest you do the same (your Mitski tolerance might be a little lower than mine), but you cannot sleep on this album. If you do, you\u2019re depriving yourself of the joy of feeling validated in your own experiences through a voice, and an artist, from the realm of the divine.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Paulina Ukrainets<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>abysskiss\u00a0<\/em>\u2013 Adrianne Lenker<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: abysskiss\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/5W6TxvIqACEfnxm0VgPhv7?si=3_fDw785S_mfl65IIMmqyQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You might recognize Adrianne Lenker\u2019s stunning voice from the songs she\u2019s sung with her band Big Thief<em>.<\/em>\u00a0Her solo album<em>\u00a0abysskiss,\u00a0<\/em>released this October, is a hushed, focused, and beautiful account revolving around intimacy, death, and nature. Because her airy voice and finger-picked guitar are the album\u2019s only audible sounds, her emotions are palpable and the listeners feels as if they\u2019re sitting in the recording studio by her side. The album\u2019s highlight is the song \u201csymbol,\u201d an ambiguous love story in which Lenker explores phrases and imagery as she echoes sounds with the words: \u201cfly make flea, make haste, make waste, eight makes infinity \/ times I\u2019ve tried to make breaks, embrace for the enemy\u201d. During a year marked by seemingly incessant chaos and negativity, Lenker created a space for introspection, appreciation, and imagination with her stripped down musings about life.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Mimi Norton<\/p>\n<p><strong>Isolation \u2013 Kali Uchis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Isolation\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/4EPQtdq6vvwxuYeQTrwDVY?si=iXRskS9tRuKf6S_qd9OXRQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While there were great albums that came out this year, the album that completely commanded my attention was Kali Uchi\u2019s pop masterpiece <em>Isolation<\/em>. Uchis\u2019 debut album <em>Isolation<\/em> has a nostalgic tinge that made it warmly familiar. While nostalgic, it strays from solely being campy throwbacks through its hybridity of genres. The sound is an entirely new animal in its eclectic fusion of soul, funk, and reggaet\u00f3n. <em>Isolation<\/em>\u2019s lyrical content is apt for the times, speaking to a year of political distress, escapism, and loneliness. While the instrumentals are upbeat, her melancholic voice and lyrics throw each song askew. This album has been the soundtrack of my year as a relatable emotional landscape and a source of empowerment. A song that particularly jumps out for me in the album is \u201cDead To Me\u201d with biting lyrics that make Uchis diva of the year. She is taking pop in an entirely different direction, opting out of the sonic trends of 2018 and delving into the past to make an entirely unique sound.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Maya Day<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ll Be Your Girl \u2013 The Decemberists<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: I&amp;apos;ll Be Your Girl\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/2aCFve5jvcVkJ9JFcNeHc6?si=fb2eehASQ52TVVZa1DBBoQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If the lyrics \u201c\u2026Everything, everything, everything, everything, everything is\u00a0<em>awful<\/em>\u201d aren\u2019t relatable to a college student experiencing a minor inconvenience, I don\u2019t know what is. This song, aptly titled \u201cEverything is Awful,\u201d is the seventh track on The Decemberists\u2019 newest album,\u00a0<em>I\u2019ll Be Your Girl<\/em>. The nihilism continues with lead singer Colin Meloy\u2019s plea, \u201cOh, for once in my life\u2026could just something go right?\u201d on the first track, \u201cOnce In My Life\u201d (also aptly titled), overtop synth beats and chords reminiscent of the music of New Order and Berlin. Questions of doubt, life\u2019s meaninglessness, and embracing despair pop up in tracks throughout the album while also, inexplicably, appearing alongside \u201cRusalka, Rusalka \/ Wild Rushes,\u201d an eight-minute ballad about a mermaid (I think). \u201cRusalka, Rusalka \/ Wild Rushes\u201d returns me, a seasoned The Decemberists listener, to the lengthy epics \u201cThe Mariner\u2019s Revenge Song,\u201d \u201cThe Crane Wife\u201d<em>\u00a0<\/em>parts 1 through 3, and<em>\u00a0<\/em>their insane rock opera\u00a0<em>The Hazards of Love<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>My favorite track, \u201cSucker\u2019s Prayer<em>,<\/em>\u201d showcases that good-old-Decemberists commentary on unrequited love, present on their older albums, with cheery chords opposing this chorus: \u201cI want to love somebody, but\u00a0<em>I don\u2019t know how<\/em>.\u201d That lyric, followed by \u201cI want to throw my body in the river and drown,\u201d presents an image so painfully full of aching, desire, and self-hatred. I may be very dramatic, but I almost fell out of my chair when I first heard it. \u201cSucker\u2019s Prayer\u201d thankfully brought me back to some earlier Decemberists tracks that have now been occupying my mind and Spotify queue for weeks. Overall,\u00a0<em>I\u2019ll Be Your Girl<\/em>, despite being an eclectic mix of songs experimenting with new styles and sounds, nonetheless draws from the best of their old music and projects their ideas towards the future and cements itself as one of my favorite albums of 2018.<\/p>\n<p>-Jane Harris<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES \u2013 Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, 21 Savage<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES (Deluxe)\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/3IO8IPjwXuzPJnoaqkwYrj?si=SGKcSV5WQh6dRiiLUID-Rw&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Metro Boomin\u2019s sixth studio album, NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES, redefined rap in 2018. The album\u2019s sharp beats over ambient instrumentals forms a futuristic, yet familiar Atlanta sound.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[TOP SONG: Don\u2019t Come Out the House (with 21 Savage)]<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Emily Faulks<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aviary \u00a0\u2013 Julia Holter<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Aviary\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/6icpwcJQWK4nq9Xilk4yRu?si=VUTzaVqZRJyhV-HZyzV2rQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>With the resurgence of vinyl and physical forms of music, the album as an art form has come back into style. Julia Holter\u2019s latest album Aviary is not only a work of art; it stretches our ears into unknown shapes and sizes. Each of Holter\u2019s songs feels like an album in itself. One moment we are wrapped in electronic, orchestral swirls, and then we land in a glitchy, spooky folk fairytale. Although it is hard to isolate individual tracks, \u201cVoce Simul\u201d exhibits this transformation of time through delicate sonic manipulation. Her songs are in constant conversation with one another. This is an album that I could write or think about for hours on end, discovering endless secrets embedded within pockets of sound. Holter guides us through the terrifying beauty of \u201cEveryday is an Emergency\u201d, which reflects on various sounds that occupy daily life, and how something as simple as a siren can affect us in multiple ways. These soundscapes are only strengthened by Holter\u2019s usual thought provoking lyrics: \u201cFirm in your mystery\/ Will you remember the body?\/ And what does it do to you?\u201d Melding genres together with lucid craftwork, Aviary is so progressive that will certainly not be left behind in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Listen to when: you are ready to experience feelings that you\u2019ve never had before.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Lena Farr-Morrissey<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are some of the SoCC writers&#8217; favorite albums this year in no particular order: Be The Cowboy \u2013 Mitski If you can believe it, I didn\u2019t like Mitski (of\u00a0Bury Me at Makeout Creek\u00a0era)\u00a0at first. I thought her sound was too rough, too grating, somehow a little too angsty. Fast-forward two or three years, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1138,"featured_media":4026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-soccs-picks"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/files\/2018\/12\/be-the-cowboy-album-artwork.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa7fJU-12V","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4025"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4036,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025\/revisions\/4036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/socc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}