I never know how to sum up a year in a paragraph. I don’t think it’s really possible, when a year is so big and somehow goes by so fast, to capture everything that was significant in my little corner of the world. But I’ll always try.
Before the traditional lists, I want to highlight one very important moment from 2018. Liesi and I got married and it was the happiest day of my life. To every friend and family member who helped out in any way, thanks for making it so special. I appreciate it more than I can ever say.
And it turns out I’ll actually dance if I’m making the playlist.
Music I Worked On This Year
- Jaclyn Heuser – Forgotten (mixing, mastering)
- City Mouth – Hollows (bass, keyboard)
- Pelafina – Sorry In Advance (guitar, keyboard, recording, mixing, mastering)
- Water Dog – Wet and Waggin’ (mastering)
- Katie Steel-Thomas – “A Busted Car Window” (recording, mixing, mastering)
- Bosley Jr. – “RUOK” (recording, mixing, mastering)
- Movies About Animals – “Gosling” (guitar, recording, mixing, mastering)
- Pelafina – “How Many Raindrops” (guitar, recording, mixing, mastering)
My Favorite Albums of 2018
- Spanish Love Songs – Schmaltz
- The Sidekicks – Happiness Hours
- The Wonder Years – Sister Cities
- Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers
- Ruston Kelly – Dying Star
- Mitski – Be the Cowboy
- Death Cab For Cutie – Thank You For Today
- Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness – Upside Down Flowers
- The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
- Lucy Dacus – Historian
- Joyce Manor – Million Dollars To Kill Me
- Fall Out Boy – Mania
- mewithoutYou – [Untitled]
- Foxing – Nearer My God
- Camp Cope – How To Socialize and Make Friends
- Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog
- Jeff Rosenstock – Post
- Retirement Party – Somewhat Literate
- All Get Out – No Bouquet
- Coheed and Cambria – Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures
My Favorite EPs of 2018
- Better Love – We Were Younger and Less Put Together
- Clear Eyes Fanzine – Season One, Episodes 1-6
- The Flips – Exactly Where I Should Be
- Boygenius – Boygenius
- mewithoutYou – [untitled]
My Favorite Songs of 2018
Playlist on Apple Music and Spotify
The playlist only includes 49 of my 50 favorite songs because “Coming Up For Air” by Clear Eyes Fanzine isn’t on streaming services, but it is on Bandcamp.
My Favorite Shows of 2018
- The Bad Plus – Nightshop – 12/6
- All Get Out – The House Cafe – 5/17
- Spanish Love Songs – Subterranean (Downstairs) – 4/14
- Counting Crows – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater – 9/8
- Lorde – Rosemont Arena – 3/27
- The Wonder Years – Sister Cities Pop Up Shop – 3/30
My Favorite Movies of 2018
- Annihilation
- Hereditary
- Minding the Gap
- Roma
- A Quiet Place
- Game Night
- Black Panther
- The Incredibles 2
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
My Favorite TV Shows of 2018
- Killing Eve
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- GLOW
- Atlanta
- The Little Drummer Girl
- Castle Rock
- The Good Place
- The Haunting of Hill House
- Counterpart
- Patriot
Other Highlights
The best book I read this year was They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib.
I spent a stupid amount of time playing The Binding of Isaac on Nintendo Switch.
My favorite podcast episode of the year is a tie between Roderick On the Line, Ep. 315: “The Slow Desctruction of Bueno” and Do By Friday, Ep. 109: “Bee. Wasp. Hornet.”
As always, thanks for reading. See you next year.
