[Previous Year End Reviews: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011]
Song of the Year:
"All The Stars (with SZA)" by Kendrick Lamar
[Runner up: “Lemon Glow” by Beach House]
It’s a wire-to-wire finish for this song that feels like it came out 30 months ago (January, 2018). Fun fact: when I first heard the song’s chorus I thought I heard, “All the stars the boat show” and it always makes me smile.
Album of the Year:
7 by Beach House
[Runner up: Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves]
Hearing songs from this album from a Box at the Chicago Theatre significantly aided Beach House’s rank. Don’t be surprised to see a Country star as a silver medalist – Musgraves has been a hit since her debut.
Concert of the Year (tie):
Phil Collins at United Center + Carly Rae Jepsen at Park West
[Runner up (tie): Radiohead at United Center + Radiohead at United Center]
This is a win for my heart. I met a woman in 2018 and after only knowing her for a month I purchased tickets to see an old man sit on a stool 5 months in the future. Never before have I planned that far in front of my headlights for a person. The show was held as Relationship Ransom as the only reason why we stayed together, which cemented in my head that she wasn’t an Easy Lover. I also took her to CRJ, which was one of the most fun nights of my life.
Song of the Summer:
"Give" by Blackbird Blackbird
[Runner up: "Runnin'" by Wajatta]
No good explanation for these choices, which is too bad because it’s from the two least recognizable names in this post. These songs found their way onto a playlist early in the summer and fueled my hot walks from the L.
Song Discovered Thanks to a TV Show / Movie of the Year:
"Journal of Ardency" by Class Actress
It was my most played song of the year according to Spotify. “All The Stars” was my Spotify #2, which doesn’t qualify for this award because I heard the song before I saw Black Panther. “Journal of Ardency” doesn’t qualify for Song of the Year because it came out in 2009. The song’s been on repeat ever since I heard it at the end of a Barry (HBO) episode.
Regret of the Year:
Not attending Young Galaxy's final show in Chicago
[Runner up: Not seeing Sayers or Pool Holograph perform live this year]
A close friend with a very trusted musical IQ threated the end of my life if I didn’t see Young Galaxy at Subterranean this past October. I bought tickets immediately. The night of my concert, I was literally 200 yards away – but I had to stop myself from going. It may not be so much a regret, but doing so might have threated my life (this is a large embellishment of course, I was only recovering from an event that I felt threatened my life and wasn’t strong enough for a Montreal Music Mix that have since retired to never tour again). A quick note on the runner up regret: I need to be a better friend and support local music better next year.
Best Decision I made in 2018:
My sister's birthday present (tickets to Justin Timerlake's Man of the Woods tour)
[Runner up: Selecting the instrumental playlist for my MRI]
I’ve never been to a show with my sister until JT. He could’ve been reading from a phone book and my sister would’ve loved every letter. My thoughts on the show are mixed, but the experience was the best of the year. As far my runner up choice here…
Long (another) story short: I had a brain tumor removed this year. That Young Galaxy show I missed was a few weeks after the surgery, which is why I wasn’t strong enough to attend. One of the small pieces to that story was when I spent 90 quality minutes getting an MRI of my head. I choose my “SHUT'JO SASSHOLE” playlist (which consists of lyric-less instrumental tracks) and it perfectly tuned out any noise from the machine while calming me throughout its operation. I’ll need more MRIs in my future, and more need for my favorite mixtape.
Thank you very much for reading. Here are the concert collages / showlog from 2017:
