Year-End Lists

The A.V. Club: 20 Best Albums of 2018

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. 7
   Beach House
2. Hell-On
   Neko Case
3. Care for Me
   Saba
4. Hunter
   Anna Calvi
5. Only Love
   The Armed
6. Safe in the Hands of Love
   Yves Tumor
7. Transangelic Exodus
   Ezra Furman
8. Some Rap Songs
   Earl Sweatshirt
9. Knock Knock
   DJ Koze
10. Be the Cowboy
    Mitski
11. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
12. Singularity
    Jon Hopkins
13. And Nothing Hurt
    Spiritualized
14. Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths
15. Wilkes
    Sam Wilkes
16. Overload
    Georgia Anne Muldrow
17. Song for Alpha
    Daniel Avery
18. You Won't Get What You Want
    Daughters
19. Daytona
    Pusha T
20. I’m All Ears
    Let’s Eat Grandma

Q Magazine: Top 50 Albums of 2018

[see also 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
   Arctic Monkeys
2. I’m All Ears
   Let’s Eat Grandma
3. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
   The 1975
4. Honey
   Robyn
5. Wide Awake!
   Parquet Courts
6. Chris
   Christine and the Queens
7. Joy as an Act of Resistance
   Idles
8. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
9. True Meanings
   Paul Weller
10. Hunter
    Anna Calvi
11. Marauder
    Interpol
12. Golden Hour
    Kacey Musgraves
13. Babelsberg
    Gruff Rhys
14. Tell Me How You Really Feel
    Courtney Barnett
15. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
16. Be the Cowboy
    Mitski
17. Freedom’s Goblin
    Ty Segall
18. Knock Knock
    DJ Koze
19. Daytona
    Pusha T
20. And Nothing Hurt
    Spiritualized
21. Double Negative
    Low
22. Hope Downs
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
23. Record
    Tracey Thorn
24. Look Now
    Elvis Costello & The Imposters
25. God’s Favorite Customer
    Father John Misty
26. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
27. Song for Alpha
    Daniel Avery
28. Hell-On
    Neko Case
29. World’s Strongest Man
    Gaz Coombes
30. Bottle It In
    Kurt Vile
31. High As Hope
    Florence + The Machine
32. Sparkle Hard
    Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
33. Songs of Praise
    Shame
34. Mozart’s Mini-Mart
    Go-Kart Mozart
35. Aviary
    Julia Holter
36. Rebound
    Eleanor Friedberger
37. 7
    Beach House
38. Yawn
    Bill Ryder-Jones
39. Wanderer
    Cat Power
40. Kids See Ghosts
    Kids See Ghosts
41. so sad so sexy
    Lykke Li
42. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
43. Everything Is Recorded
    Everything Is Recorded
44. Pray For the Wicked
    Panic! At the Disco
45. Swimming
    Mac Miller
46. Invasion of Privacy
    Cardi B
47. Merrie Land
    The Good, the Bad & the Queen
48. Heaven and Earth
    Kamasi Washington
49. Resistance Is Futile
    Manic Street Preachers
50. Silver Dollar Moment
    The Orielles

Mark Olsen: Best Movies of 2018, as published by The Los Angeles Times

[see also 2017]

And another ten, in alphabetical order

• Annihilation
  Alex Garland
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• The Death of Stalin
  Armando Iannucci
• Gemini
  Aaron Katz
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• The Sisters Brothers
  Jacques Audiard
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• Suspiria
  Luca Guadagnino
• You Were Never Really Here
  Lynne Ramsay

1. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
2. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
3. Private Life
   Tamara Jenkins
4. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
5. Widows
   Steve McQueen
6. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
7. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
8. Madeline’s Madeline
   Josephine Decker
9. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
10. The Other Side of the Wind
    Orson Welles

Tiny Mix Tapes: Favorite 50 Music Releases of 2018

[see also 2010s • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
   Sophie
2. Safe in the Hands of Love
   Yves Tumor
3. The Smoke
   Lolina
4. Pop 2
   Charli XCX
5. Devotion
   Tirzah
6. Elysia Crampton
   Elysia Crampton
7. Double Negative
   Low
8. Daytona
   Pusha T
9. Grid of Points
   Grouper
10. Cruel Practice
    Shygirl
11. Stadium
    Eli Keszler
12. Aviary
    Julia Holter
13. Now Only
    Mount Eerie
14. Make Me Know You Sweet
    Pendant
15. Poaa
    Bamba Pana
16. Die Lit
    Playboi Carti
17. बड़ा शोक (heart break)
    Barrio Sur
18. Be the Cowboy
    Mitski
19. Another Life
    Amnesia Scanner
20. soil
    serpentwithfeet
21. Konoyo
    Tim Hecker
22. I'll Tell You What!
    RP Boo
23. ye
    Kanye West
24. IRISIRI
    Eartheater
25. Whack World
    Tierra Whack
26. Everywhere At The End Of Time – Stage 4
    The Caretaker
27. Simple Affections
    Simple Affections
28. Skinless X-1
    Fire-Toolz
29. Mudshadow Propaganda
    Prime Minister of Doom
29. Nothing 2 Loose
    DJ Healer
30. CC
    Klein
31. El Mal Querer
    Rosalía
32. Paraffin
    Armand Hammer
33. Raw Silk Uncut Wood
    Laurel Halo
34. Let Night Come On Bells End the Day
    Sarah Davachi
35. Gasp
    Seth Graham
36. K.T.S.E.
    Teyana Taylor
37. 7
    Beach House
38. Behold a Dark Horse
    Roc Marciano
39. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
40. Future Pop
    Perfume
41. Rio Grande
    Delroy Edwards
42. Everyone Needs A Plan
    Matthew Revert/Vanessa Rossetto
43. Orpheus vs. The Sirens
    Hermit and the Recluse
44. Approximately 1,000 Beers
    Jeff Witscher
45. Wide Awake!
    Parquet Courts
46. Rausch
    Gas
47. Veteran
    JPEGMAFIA
48. Freedom
    Amen Dunes
49. dOPENet [NYPD Records Volume 2]
    Satoshi Nakamoto
50. Mudboy
    Sheck Wes

E. Ce Miller: 15 Poetry Collections From 2018 You Won’t Want To Miss, as published by Bustle

[see also 2017 • 2016]

• Virgin
  Analicia Sotelo
• Eye Level
  Jenny Xie
• Wade in the Water
  Tracy K. Smith
• Years, Months, and Days
  Amanda Jernigan
• Indecency
  Justin Phillip Reed
• Not Here
  Hieu Minh Nguyen
• American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
  Terrance Hayes
• If They Come for Us
  Fatimah Asghar
• A Memory of the Future
  Elizabeth Spires
• The Carrying
  Ada Limón
• feeld
  Jos Charles
• Human Hours
  Catherine Barnett
• The Flame

  Poems Notebooks Lyrics Drawings
  Leonard Cohen
• Hey, Marfa
  Jeffrey Yang
• So Far So Good
  Ursula K. Le Guin

Steve Erickson: Best Films of 2018, as published by Gay City News

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014]

1. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
   Travis Wilkerson
2. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
3. Revenge
   Coralie Fargeat
4. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
5. Hale County This Morning, This Evening
   RaMell Ross
6. Cam
   Daniel Goldhaber
7. 24 Frames
   Abbas Kiarostami
8. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
9. Black Panther
   Ryan Coogler
10. Fatal Pulse
    Damon Packard

Runners-up

• Angels Wear White
  Vivian Qu
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  Marielle Heller
• Custody
  Xavier Legrand
• Discreet
  Travis Mathews
• Gavagai
  Rob Tregenza
• The Green Fog
  Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson
• I Remember the Crows
  Gustavo Vinagre
• The Island
  Bo Huang
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Life & Nothing More
  Antonio Méndez Esparza
• 1985
  Yen Tan
• Notes on an Appearance
  Ricky D'Ambrose
• Werewolf
  Ashley McKenzie
• The Wild Boys
  Bertrand Mandico
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
  Morgan Neville

Joe Morgenstern: Best Film of 2018, as published by The Wall Street Journal

[see also 2019 • 2017]

• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron

Other choices in alphabetical order

• A Star Is Born
  Bradley Cooper
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• Cold War
  Pawel Pawlikowski
• Eighth Grade
  Bo Burnham
• First Man
  Damien Chazelle
• Free Solo
  Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
  Morgan Neville

Revolt: 11 Best Rap Albums of 2018

[see also 2019]

1. Victory Lap
   Nipsey Hussle
2. Daytona
   Pusha T
3. ASTROWORLD
   Travis Scott
4. Championships
   Meek Mill
5. KOD
   J. Cole
6. Swimming
   Mac Miller
7. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
8. Redemption
   Jay Rock
9. NOIR
   Smino
10. Room 25
    Noname
11. Die Lit
    Playboi Carti

Dorothy Rabinowitz: Best TV of 2018, as published by The Wall Street Journal

[see also 2019]

• My Brilliant Friend
• The Americans
• Homecoming
• Succession
• American Experience: The Circus
• The Pacific War in Color, episode "The Enemy Underground"
• The Woman in White
• A Very English Scandal

Lindsey Bahr: Best Films of 2018, as published by Associated Press

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
2. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
   Marielle Heller
3. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
4. Wildlife
   Paul Dano
5. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
6. A Star Is Born
   Bradley Cooper
7. Private Life
   Tamara Jenkins
8. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
9. Juliet, Naked
   Jesse Peretz
10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Joel & Ethan Coen

Honorable Mentions

• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• A Simple Favor
  Paul Feig
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu