The end of the year is no doubt a time for rumination on the songs that spoke to us and speculating on which artists will continue to make an impact. In this episode, we bring closure by highlighting the best albums and songs of 2018; the soundtracks that manifested our own experiences. The year taught us to look inwardly, as in Charlotte Day Wilson’s “Doubt,” in which she contemplates leaving behind her vices. Love, she comes to realize, is one of them. Empathetically, Amen Dunes considers mythical heroism and the contradictions of the people we admire in “Miki Dora.” And the dashingly brazen “ Pearly Gates” by U.S. Girls evokes the macro message that the ostensibly pleasurable is the political. We won’t spoil the rest—2018: let’s wrap it up.

Best Albums of 2018
Track List
Charlotte Day Wilson - “Doubt” from Stone Woman
Kaia Kater - “Grenades” from Grenades
Amen Dunes - “Miki Dora” from Freedom
U.S. Girls - “Pearly Gates” from In A Poem Unlimited
Lucy Dacus - “Yours and Mine” from Historian
DJ Koze - “Illumination” (feat. Róisín Murphy) from knock knock
Janelle Monáe - “Crazy, Classic, Life” from Dirty Computer
Other tracks in episode:
Baio - “Endless Rhythm” (Noise Pop Podcast Theme Song)
Cool Maritime - “Engage” from Sharing Waves
Cool Maritime - “Climbing Up” from Sharing Waves
Cool Maritime - “Forest Bathing” from Sharing Waves
Cool Maritime - “Mossage” from Sharing Waves
Cool Maritime - “Dropping In” from Sharing Waves
Cool Maritime - “Secret Caves” from Sharing Waves
Cool Maritime - “A Restful Place” from Sharing Waves
Kohinoorgasm - "Azaadi Is Freedom Is Fate"
Links Mentioned In Episode
- Noise Pop Podcast | Best of the Bay 2018
- Rocket Radio | Interview with Damon McMahon of Amen Dunes
- Paste Magazine | U.S. Girls Is Paste’s Best Live Band of 2018
- The New York Times | How an Indie-Rock Star is Made In 2018
- Pitchfork | 72 Hours in Paradise with DJ Koze, Electronic Music’s Trickster Genius
- Noise Pop Podcast | Songs and Album of the Year 2017 feat/ Kevin Morby