Barack Obama, Wilco, Superchunk, Thou & more list the Best Music of 2018

Newport Folk Festival 2017 - Saturday
Wilco at Newport Folk Fest 2017 (more by Ben Stas)

It’s officially 2019 but before we jump fully into the year’s new music, there’s still some ‘Best of 2018’ catching up to do.

Barack Obama posted a list of his favorite songs of 2018 on Instagram, including songs by Beyonce & Jay Z, Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile, Lord Huron, Jay Rock & Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper & Joey Purp, Leon Bridges, Cardi B, and more (see the full list below, along with a list of Barack’s favorite movies).

Wilco posted a list of “(some of) Wilco’s favorite albums of 2018 on Instagram, including Adrianne Lenker, Anna St. Louis, Bill Frisell, The Breeders, clipping., Drinks, Earl Sweatshirt, Erin Rae, Iceage, Jim O’Rourke, JPEGMAFIA, Lonnie Holley, Low, Marianne Faithfull, Michael Nau, Mountain Man, Olden Yolk, Parquet Courts, Rafiq Bhatia, Tigue, Yo La Tengo, and more (see full list below).

Superchunk frontman and Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan posted a list of his 2018 non-Merge faves to the Merge blog, including music by Robyn, Mary Lattimore, Wreckless Eric, Anderson .Paak, Christine and the Queens, Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, Adrianne Lenker, Hop Along, Yves Tumor, Kali Uchis, Camila Cabello, J Cole, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Leikeli47, The Goon Sax, and more (see full list below). Superchunk bassist and Merge co-founder Laura Ballance also posted a more eccentric list that recommends dogs, tequila, Cardi B, the movie BlacKKKlansman, and more.

Over the holidays, we also posted lists from Wreckless Eric, The Go-Betweens’ Robert Forster, This Will Destroy You, and Mark Kozelek, as well as our Bill’s Indie Basement column’s favorite albums and EPs of 2018, and Best Punk & Emo, Best Rap, and Best Metal.

In the ‘Best Metal’ roundup, we included lists by two members of Thou (who were #15 on BrooklynVegan’s Top 50 Albums of 2018), and you can check out their list below here too.

For even more lists, browse our roundup of year-end lists from artists (including Kurt Vile, Kevin Morby, Ryley Walker, The Mountain Goats, Swervedriver, Parquet Courts, Converge, Hop Along, Taking Back Sunday, and many others) and browse our ‘Best of 2018’ tag for even more.

Mac McCaughan’s 2018 non-Merge faves
Robyn – Honey
Mary Lattimore – Hundreds of Days
Gumba Fire – Bubblegum Soul & Synth-Boogie in 1980s South Africa
Wreckless Eric – Gateway to Europe
Anderson.Paak – Oxnard
Christine and the Queens – Chris
Cold Cream – Cold Cream cassette
John Prine – The Tree of Forgiveness
Cardi B – I Like It
Andrew Cyrille / Wadada Leo Smith / Bill Frisell – Lebroba
Oneohtrix Point Never – Age Of
Neneh Cherry – Broken Politics
Chance the Rapper – “65th and Ingelside”
Lee Scratch Perry – The Black Album
Adrianne Lenker – abysskiss
Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog
Yves Tumor – Safe In The Hands of Love
Kali Uchis – Isolation
Miss Red – K.O.
Anderson.Paak – Oxnard
Camila Cabello – “Havana”
No Love – Choke On It
J Cole – KOD
Rosali – Trouble Anyway
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Sparkle Hard
Leikeli47 – Acrylic
Hailu Mergia – Lala Belu & live at Hopscotch
Yo La Tengo – There’s A Riot Going On
Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer / live at The Ritz
The Goon Sax – We’re Not Talking
Ryo Fukui – Scenery / Mellow Dream reissues

Thou’s Favorite Albums of 2018
Andy’s picks:
SRSQ – Unreality
Silent Servant – Shadows Of Death and Desire
Miserable – Loverboy/Dog Days
Special Interest – Spiraling
Un – Sentiment

Mitch’s picks:
Moloch – Shame
The Body – I Have Fought Against It, Blah Blah Blah
Cloud Rat – Discography 2
Rage Against The Machine – Evil Empire
False – Last Laugh

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