Year-End Lists

No Depression: Favorite Roots Music Albums of 2018, as selected by staffers, columnists, and reviewers

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016]

Common Ground

• Golden Hour
  Kacey Musgraves
• By The Way, I Forgive You
  Brandi Carlile
• The Tree of Forgiveness
  John Prine
• Healing Tide
  The War and Treaty
• Years
  Sarah Shook & the Disarmers
• See You Around
  I’m With Her
• Some People I Know
  The Brother Brothers

The List (alphabetical)

• Karma for Cheap
  Aaron Lee Tasjan
• abysskiss
  Adrianne Lenker
• To the Sunset
  Amanda Shires
• Things Change
  American Aquarium
• American Folk (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  various artists
• And Friends
  Amigo
• Holler
  Amy Ray
• White Tiger
  Ana Egge
• Encore
  Anderson East
• Remain in Light
  Angélique Kidjo
• The Invisible Comes to Us
  Anna & Elizabeth
• Girl Going Nowhere
  Ashley McBryde
• Sparrow
  Ashley Monroe
• Immortal Americans
  Austin Lucas
• Soul Flowers of Titan
  Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
• Things Have Changed
  Bettye LaVette
• Rough and Ready Heart
  Blue Yonder
• Bit Logic
  The Bottle Rockets
• boygenius
  boygenius
• Port Saint Joe
  Brothers Osborne
• Buck Meek
  Buck Meek
• LONER
  Caroline Rose
• Wanderer
  Cat Power
• Songs of the Plains
  Colter Wall
• Been on Your Side
  Courtney Hartman & Taylor Ashton
• May Your Kindness Remain
  Courtney Marie Andrews
• All That Reckoning
  Cowboy Junkies
• Here If You Listen
  David Crosby
• My Mother the Moon
  Dead Horses
• Hell on an Angel
  Dillon Carmichael
• Dance in the Street
  Donna the Buffalo
• Starter Home
  Doug Paisley
• Putting on Airs
  Erin Rae
• God’s Favorite Customer
  Father John Misty
• Summertime Songs
  Field Report
• Be More Kind
  Frank Turner
• Evening Machines
  Gregory Alan Isakov
• Dancing With the Beast
  Gretchen Peters
• I Need to Start a Garden
  Haley Heynderickx
• From a White Hotel
  Hawks and Doves
• Unless
  Hawktail
• Lionheart
  H.C. McEntire
• Live and Never Learn
  I See Hawks In L.A.
• The Becoming
  Isla Craig
• Hard Times Are Relative
  Jason Boland & The Stragglers
• Socks
  JD McPherson
• Blood Brothers
  Jeffrey Foucault
• Angels of Death
  Jennifer Castle
• Peace Town
  Jimmy LaFave
• Not Tonight
  John Howie Jr.
• Mr. Jukebox
  Joshua Hedley
• Grenades
  Kaia Kater
• Heaven and Earth
  Kamasi Washington
• Dust Devil
  Kevin Welch
• The Ledges
  Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert
• Good Thing
  Leon Bridges
• Plays Well with Others
  Lera Lynn
• Liberty
  Lindi Ortega
• Window Flowers
  Liz Cooper & The Stampede
• Wouldn't It Be Great
  Loretta Lynn
• The Tree
  Lori McKenna
• Historian
  Lucy Dacus
• Come Hell or High Water
  Malcolm Holcombe
• Strange Conversation
  Mandy Barnett
• Rifles and Rosary Beads
  Mary Gauthier
• Driving in the Dark
  Mariel Buckley
• Cloud Corner
  Marisa Anderson
• For My Crimes
  Marissa Nadler
• Down The Road Wherever
  Mark Knopfler
• Make Way for Love
  Marlon Williams
• The River and the Light
  Martha Scanlan
• Wasteground
  Poor Blue
• All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn't Do
  The Milk Carton Kids
• In the Meantime
  Motel Mirrors
• Magic Ship
  Mountain Man
• Delta
  Mumford & Sons
• Hell-On
  Neko Case
• Sister Orchid
  Nellie McKay
• Before The Sun Goes Down
  The New Respects
• Other Arrangements
  Parker Millsap
• Carter Stanley's Eyes
  Peter Rowan
• Sweet Old Religion
  Pharis & Jason Romero
• Providence
  Phil Madeira
• Interstate Gospel
  Pistol Annies
• Trouble Anyway
  Rosali
• She Remembers Everything
  Rosanne Cash
• Ms. Behave
  Rosie & The Riveters
• Don't Talk About It
  Ruby Boots
• Dying Star
  Ruston Kelly
• The Prodigal Son
  Ry Cooder
• Loversity
  Sam Lewis
• Neon
  Sam Moss
• America's Child
  Shemekia Copeland
• Shooter
  Shooter Jennings
• Queen City Jubilee
  The Slocan Ramblers
• Young Sick Camellia
  St. Paul & The Broken Bones
• Future Me Hates Me
  The Beths
• Back Roads and Abandoned Motels
  The Jayhawks
• Hey! Merry Christmas!
  The Mavericks
• Let It Pass
  The Stray Birds
• One Drop of Truth
  The Wood Brothers
• Chicago Plays the Stones
  various artists
• Haven
  We Banjo 3
• Hard Times and White Lines
  Whitey Morgan and the 78's
• My American Dream
  Will Hoge
• There’s a Riot Going On
  Yo La Tengo

Barack Obama: Favorite Movies of 2018, as posted to Facebook

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019]

• Annihilation
  Alex Garland
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• Blindspotting
  Carlos López Estrada
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• The Death of Stalin
  Armando Iannucci
• Eighth Grade
  Bo Burnham
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
  Morgan Neville

Barack Obama: Favorite Books of 2018, as posted to Facebook

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017]

Books that appeared on earlier lists

• Becoming
  Michelle Obama
• An American Marriage
  Tayari Jones
• Americanah
  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The Broken Ladder

  How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die
  Keith Payne
• Educated
  Tara Westover
• Factfulness

  Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
  Hans Rosling
• A Grain of Wheat
  Ngugi wa Thiong'o
• A House for Mr. Biswas
  V.S. Naipaul
• How Democracies Die
  Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
• In the Shadow of Statues

  A White Southerner Confronts History
  Mitch Landrieu
• Long Walk to Freedom

  The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
  Nelson Mandela
• The New Geography of Jobs
  Enrico Moretti
• The Return

  Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
  Hisham Matar
• Things Fall Apart
  Chinua Achebe
• Warlight
  Michael Ondaatje
• Why Liberalism Failed
  Patrick J. Deneen
• The World as It Is

  A Memoir of the Obama White House
  Ben Rhodes

Other favorites books

• American Prison

  A Reporter’s Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment
  Shane Bauer
• Arthur Ashe

  A Life
  Raymond Arsenault
• Asymmetry
  Lisa Halliday
• Feel Free
  Zadie Smith
• Florida
  Lauren Groff
• Frederick Douglass

  Prophet of Freedom
  David W. Blight
• Immigrant, Montana
  Amitava Kumar
• The Largesse of the Sea Maiden
  Denis Johnson
• Life 3.0

  Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
  Max Tegmark
• There There
  Tommy Orange
• Washington Black
  Esi Edugyan

Esquire: The 21 Best Podcasts of 2018

[see also 2022]

• I'm Afraid That
• Deck the Hallmark
• Armchair Expert
• Blank Check
• The Rewatchables
• Who? Weekly
• In the Dark
• Slow Burn
• Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness
• This is Love
• The Wilderness
• Caliphate
• The Habitat
• Atlanta Monster
• My Favorite Murder
• Trump, Inc.
• Buffering the Vampire Slayer
• I’ll Be Gone In The Dark: The Podcast
• Dear Franklin Jones
• Making Obama
• Late Night Whenever

Hanif Abdurraqib: 47 Favorite Albums Of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Language
   MNEK
2. Whack World
   Tierra Whack
3. Harlan & Alondra
   Buddy
4. Hive Mind
   The Internet
5. Joy as an Act of Resistance
   Idles
6. Resistance Is Futile
   Manic Street Preachers
7. Your Queen Is a Reptile
   Sons of Kemet
8. Room 25
   Noname
9. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
10. Historian
    Lucy Dacus
11. soil
    serpentwithfeet
12. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
13. FM!
    Vince Staples
14. Before You Go
    EXES
15. Care for Me
    Saba
16. Down Below
    Tribulation
17. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
18. Paraffin
    Armand Hammer
19. Hold on to Your Heart
    The XCERTS
20. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
21. You Won't Get What You Want
    Daughters
22. Honey
    Robyn
23. Swimming
    Mac Miller
24. Cold Devil
    Drakeo the Ruler
25. Sister Cities
    The Wonder Years
26. Pastoral
    Gazelle Twin
27. Shawn Mendes
    Shawn Mendes
28. Floating Features
    La Luz
29. Nasty
    Rico Nasty
30. Wouldn't It Be Great
    Loretta Lynn
31. Jericho Sirens
    Hot Snakes
32. Kids See Ghosts
    Kids See Ghosts
33. Orpheus vs. The Sirens
    Hermit and the Recluse
34. Sweetener
    Ariana Grande
35. boygenius
    boygenius
36. Million Dollars to Kill Me
    Joyce Manor
37. Sink
    Sudan Archives
38. High As Hope
    Florence + The Machine
39. Chris
    Christine and the Queens
40. Everything's Fine
    Jeane Grae & Quelle Chris
41. The Wolf of Grape Street
    03 Greedo
42. Golden Hour
    Kacey Musgraves
43. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
    Deafheaven
44. Girl Code
    City Girls
45. Double Negative
    Low
46. Cocoa Sugar
    Young Fathers
47. Veteran
    JPEGMAFIA

Jordan Cronk: Albums 2018, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Double Negative
   Low
2. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
   Sophie
3. Clean
   Soccer Mommy
4. 7
   Beach House
5. Knock Knock
   DJ Koze
6. 2012-2017
   Against All Logic
7. Twin Fantasy
   Car Seat Headrest
8. Freedom
   Amen Dunes
9. Safe in the Hands of Love
   Yves Tumor
10. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
    Deafheaven
11. Aviary
    Julia Holter
12. Yolk in the Fur
    Wild Pink
13. Lush
    Snail Mail
14. Konoyo
    Tim Hecker
15. Violet Psalms
    Frog Eyes
16. Golden Hour
    Kacey Musgraves
17. American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You're Too Hideous To Look At Face On
    Sumac and Keiji Haino
18. Rausch
    Gas
19. boygenius
    boygenius
20. Nearer My God
    Foxing
21. Singularity
    Jon Hopkins
22. Cruel Practice
    Shygirl
23. How to Socialise & Make Friends
    Camp Cope
24. Sugar & Spice
    Hatchie
25. Nothing 2 Loose
    DJ Healer
26. Let Night Come On Bells End the Day
    Sarah Davachi
26. Gave In Rest
    Sarah Davachi
27. IRISIRI
    Eartheater
28. Now Only
    Mount Eerie
29. Hello People
    Chris Reimer
30. Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths

Lara Zarum: Ten Best TV Shows of 2018, as published by Miami New Times

[see also 2017]

1. Atlanta
2. The Americans
3. Succession
4. Better Call Saul
5. Killing Eve
6. Blue Planet II
7. High Maintenance
8. My Brilliant Friend
9. Glow
10. Sharp Objects

Cary Darling: The Best Movies of 2018, as published by Chron and picked up by Associated Press

1. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
2. The Rider
   Chloé Zhao
3. Black Panther
   Ryan Coogler
4. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
5. Blindspotting
   Carlos López Estrada
6. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
7. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
8. Widows
   Steve McQueen
9. Wildlife
   Paul Dano
10. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong

Runner-up 20, in alphabetical order

• 1985
  Yen Tan
• 22 July
  Paul Greengrass
• A Quiet Place
  John Krasinski
• American Animals
  Bart Layton
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• Blaze
  Ethan Hawke
• Bodied
  Joseph Kahn
• First Man
  Damien Chazelle
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Foxtrot
  Samuel Maoz
• Free Solo
  Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
• The Guilty
  Gustav Möller
• The Hate U Give
  George Tillman Jr.
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Mary Queen of Scots
  Josie Rourke
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout
  Christopher McQuarrie
• Searching
  Aneesh Chaganty
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

Michael Sicinski: Top 30 Experimental Films of 2018, as posted on his Patreon

[see also 25 Great Experimental Films of 2023 • The Best Experimental Films (That I Saw) in 2022 • The 30 Best Avant-Garde Feature Films of the 2010s • Top 50 Films of 2018 • Top 25 Films of 2017 • Top 10 Films of 2016 • Top 12 Films of 2014 • Top 10 Films of 2013 • Top 12 Films of 2012]

1. The Grand Bizarre
   Jodie Mack
2. Colophon (for the Arboretum Cycle)
   Nathaniel Dorsky
3. Gens du lac
   Jean-Marie Straub
4. A Return
   James Edmonds
5. The Image Book
   Jean-Luc Godard
6. Fainting Spells
   Sky Hopinka
7. Love and the Epiphanists (Part One)
   Scott Stark
8. Walled Unwalled
   Lawrence Abu Hamdan
9. Fatal Pulse
   Damon Packard
10. Hoarders Without Borders 1.0
    Jodie Mack
11. A Bread Factory
    Patrick Wang
12. Terror Nullius
    Soda_Jerk
13. A Leaf is the Sea is a Theater
    Jonathan Schwartz
14. Sketches and Portraits for Jean Michel
    Ephraim Asili
15. Binary Stars
    Andrew Busti
16. ALTIPLANO
    Malena Szlam
17. Life After Love
    Zachary Epcar
18. Now, At Last
    Ben Rivers
19. Mahogany Too
    Akosua Adoma Owusu
20. Fountains of Paris
    Stephen Broomer
21. Goddess
    Kevin Jerome Everson
22. Blue
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
23. Black Mother
    Khalik Allah
24. Atomic Garden
    Ana Vaz
25. Fallen Arches
    Simon Liu
26. Veslemøy's Song
    Sofia Bohdanowicz
27. I Can See Forever
    Jeremy Shaw
28. The Sun Quartet
    Colectivo Los Ingravídos
29. Commute
    Vincent Grenier
30. The Other Side of the Wind
    Orson Welles

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Best Movies of 2018, as submitted to La Internacional Cinéfila Poll

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

• The Other Side of the Wind
  Orson Welles
• The Image Book
  Jean-Luc Godard
• Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
  Travis Wilkerson
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• The Eye Was in the Tomb and Stared at Daney
  Chloé Galibert-Laîné