16 more songs in alphabetical order. Almost all of them by women—I’m not sure why.
"Ace" by Noname (with Smino and Saba) is from the best Chicago album of the year, Room 25.
"Anna Wintour" by Azealia Banks is so contradictory lyrically that I’m really not sure it makes any sense at all. But it’s nakedly powerful and, with that ’80s Chicago house beat, you can certainly dance to it. In the video, Banks does—and how.
"Between Two Worlds" by Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore is a slow guitar-and-harp instrumental that reminds me of Califone. It starts out sweet and turns out dark.
"Bite the Hand" by boygenius is the opening track of a consistently excellent eponymous six-song EP by three young American songwriters.
"Consequences" by Camila Cabello includes a priceless moment when Cabello pronounces “consequences” “coinsequences.” By mistake, I think. She only does it once.
"Di mi nombre" by Rosalía is from a terrific album, El mal querer, that mixes flamenco and contemporary R&B.
"Fast Slow Disco" by St. Vincent is an improved version of a good song she wrote years ago, first released last year on Masseduction, and rerecorded twice this year, in this techno version and in a solo piano version. She clearly thinks it’s one of the best things she’s written, and she’s right. I wish it were longer, though.
"Heart Attack" by Tune-Yards is art rock, I guess. But it’s great anyway.
"Hold Me" (T4T Embrace Mix) by Eris Drew, a Chicago DJ, is the best turntable dance number of the year.
"Hoy la bestia cena en casa" by Zahara may be my favorite of this year’s full crop of “me too” songs by women asserting their superiority over disgusting men, especially because the chorus begins with meowing.
"King's Dead" by Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamarr, Future, and James Blake may be my favorite song from the Black Panther soundtrack, and one of my favorite videos of the year.
"MJ" by Now, Now was, as the singer KC has said, “written from the perspective of me speaking to Michael Jackson about a deteriorating relationship.”
"Pink Lemonade" by James Bay is the conflicted brush-off song of the year. “I’m protecting you,” he sings at the end. Yeah, right.
"Slow Burn" by Kacey Musgraves slays me, though I admit I’m not a huge fan of Musgraves, who is simply too sane for my taste.
"Soul No. 5" by Carolina Rose sounds like it was created by a Swedish garage band rather than an American singer-songwriter.
"Womp Womp" by Valee and Jeremih is a delightful Chicago rap with lots of sex, braggadacio, and nonsense over a Casio beat by Cássio. The video is truly insane.
I've also been wanting to mention one of the best books about music published in 2018. But while it’s hard to write about music, writing about writing about music is even harder. So I’ve been struggling with how to write about Nate Chinen’s excellent Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century. I tried writing about Nate himself, whom I know; I tried writing about how the book introduced me to a lot of music I would have otherwise never explored; I tried writing about my favorite chapter, which explores hip-hop producer J Dilla’s influence on jazz. But none of those approaches worked. So I’m going to have to give up and just say it’s a damn good book that anyone with an interest in jazz should read.
Part Three of this list of songs will come, maybe, in a month or two. Part One is below.