the top 25 best albums of 2018 (VIDEO)

And that's the last of year-end list promotion...whew.

Next up... honestly, no idea, we'll see - stay tuned!

the top 25 best albums of 2018

Normally this is the list that feels like the greatest relief to make - it's the final moment where we can lay a year to rest chronicling the best of the best, the sort of release that comes with it being the last list but also one that feels the most professional, for lack of better words. I'm having fun with the lists of the best and worst hits, I'm getting more personal with the overall songs list - this list for critics is staking claim, drawing our lines in the sand, and as such, it's normally the most professionally rewarding.

But I have to say, in comparison to previous years, this list was not that hard to make. Even though I covered far more albums in 2018 than ever before, it felt like I hit greatness less often on average. Which is probably not completely true, but it sure as hell feels like it, especially given that the cuts weren't that painful this year, or it certainly seemed like there was less of them to make. And while I don't do an Honourable Mentions segment for this list, I will say I'm a little regretful that I have to leave Rolo Tomassi and Against All Logic off this list, and I'm sure I'm going to surprise some folks by saying that Beach House and Kacey Musgraves also missed the cut - sorry, but especially in country, Kacey had stiffer competition. But really, if we're to highlight a genre that turned out in spades in 2018, it was hip-hop - and no jokes here, this is more hip-hop on this albums list than I think there has ever been before... which yes, means that there were two painful cuts in the form of Marlowe and Armand Hammer. But you know, let's start off with hip-hop here...

video review: 'dying star' by ruston kelly

So yeah, got to this WAY too late, but it's concentrated fucking wonderful. If you haven't heard it and need to plug a spot on your year-end lists... well, what are you waiting for?

Next up, though... yeah, it's not winding up on ANY lists, so stay tuned!

album review: 'dying star' by ruston kelly

So look, I had my reasons for not getting to this for a while.

Yes, I had seen some of the critical acclaim, I had heard the hype from folks in my circle... and I'll admit the naturally suspicious side of me was overruling all of it. For those of you who don't know, Ruston Kelly is an indie country artist who put in a lot of work as a songwriter behind the scenes for the Josh Abbott Band and Tim McGraw before releasing his EP Halloween last year, which got him a deal on Rounder and the traction for this debut as well. What some might know him better for, though, is his high profile marriage to Kacey Musgraves, who with the critical acclaim and major Grammy nominations for Golden Hour is having a banner year of her own. And yes, fairly or not that did mean I was naturally suspicious of any of the critical hype, especially given that some of his recent career traction was likely driven off that connection - hell, her backing vocals are on the album! Nevertheless, given that he is still independent, the hype hasn't quite translated to commercial traction in the same way outside of rave critical reviews, and even then there are a few indie country outlets that seem wary of him, so I figured I might as well give this a chance, so what did we get on Dying Star?