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strangledeggs · 4 months

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The Best Albums Of 2018

If you want to see a full review of any specific album on this list, or are wondering why a particular album did or didn’t make the top 10, or are wondering why an album you like from the year in question isn’t on this list at all, send me an ask about it and I’ll try and respond!

The Top 10

Room 25 by Noname

Invasion Of Privacy by Cardi B

A Laughing Death In Meatspace by Tropical Fuck Storm

Wide Awake! by Parquet Courts

Whack World by Tierra Whack

Superorganism by Superorganism

Transangelic Exodus by Ezra Furman

Be The Cowboy by Mitski

Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides by SOPHIE

Três by Thiago Nassif

The Rest

Care For Me by Saba

Conexão EP by Amber Mark

DAYTONA by Pusha T

Dirty Computer by Janelle Monae

Ephorize by CupcakKe

Foreign Ororo by Riton + Kah-Lo

Guatemaya by Doctor Nativo

Hive Mind by The Internet

I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life by tUnE-yArDs

Interstate Gospels by The Pistol Annies

Queen by Nicki Minaj

Quite A Life by Lyrics Born

Record by Tracey Thorn

Snares Like A Haircut by No Age

Streams Of Thought Vol. 1 by Black Thought

Tantabara by Tal National

Temet by Imarhan

The Terror End Of Beauty by Harriet Tubman

DROGAS WAVE by Lupe Fiasco

There’s A Riot Going On by Yo La Tengo

Things Have Changed by Bettye LaVette

Twerp Verse by Speedy Ortiz

Twin Fantasy by Car Seat Headrest

Un Autre Blanc by Salif Keita

What A Time To Be Alive by Superchunk

What Happens When I Try To Relax by Open Mike Eagle

Your Queen Is A Reptile by Sons Of Kemet

Coming off of a previous year I described as lackluster, this is more like it. 38 albums in total, but more importantly, I had a particularly difficult time picking the top 10 for this year. The top 3-4 proved especially difficult – I was pretty certain after a while that Noname’s “Room 25”, perhaps the peak of what one can accomplish with the “personal is political” mantra, was going to take the top spot, but was I prepared to admit that Cardi B’s pop triumph “Invasion Of Privacy” was better than Parquet Courts’ best album yet? And so, apparently, was Tropical Fuck Storm’s unrelenting “A Laughing Death In Meatspace”? It hurt me to rank some of these things the way I did, but because of this, I’m fairly confident that you could pull any of the top 10 albums at random and have a great time regardless. Just make sure to watch the videos for Tierra Whack’s album, too, since they’re a whole work of art in themselves (it’s 15 minutes of your life for one of the most creative hip-hop visual spectacles of the century so far, come on, just do it).

What’s more, typing out the rest of the list made me realize what an awesome year this was simply by how many I realized I was sad to have to leave out of the top 10. Let me tell you, in any number of weaker years (like the last, or perhaps the next one, as you’ll see), contributions by Speedy Ortiz, Superchunk, Open Mike Eagle, Harriet Tubman, No Age, The Pistol Annies, Saba, Amber Mark and more would have made it into that upper tier. It’s a true testament to the strength of this year’s releases that they didn’t; I would strongly recommend checking out much of the second-tier list as well if you’re looking for the outstanding accomplishments in hip-hop, country, indie rock, desert rock and believe it or not, avant-garde jazz (Sons Of Kemet deserve a shout-out here, too, for their unique brass band approach).

One strange quirk I’ve noticed about this year is that it features several artists who seem either to have peaked here, releasing a lesser follow-up in the next few years, or who have yet to release a follow-up at all. Parquet Courts, No Age, Noname, Nicki Minaj, Pusha T, The Internet, Cardi B, Tierra Whack, Mitski, Superorganism and sadly even Tropical Fuck Storm and the aforementioned Sons Of Kemet all fall into these categories to varying extents. Hopefully I’ll be proven wrong in some way on at least a few of those soon, but even if they don’t bounce back, many of those artists can rest easy knowing they’ve created at least one masterpiece, which is more than most can say.

Speaking specifically to a few trends I noticed from the previous year, I will acknowledge that “mainstream”-leaning pop remains under-represented here, though I think this may just be my general bias as a critic to ignore most of it or even to recognize that the stuff that makes it on to my radar as interesting enough to write about is still too inconsistent to make a year-end list in terms of quality. Then again, I put Cardi B, breakout pop-star of the year, at #2, so you can’t complain too much there. Second, I should clarify that while I said in the previous year’s essay that I was ready to re-listen to Mount Eerie’s follow-up grieving-process album “Now Only”, I ultimately felt that it couldn’t hold its own against the other albums I selected for this year’s list. Which, again, is just an indication of how good 2018 was; nothing against “Now Only”, it’s still a very good album and you should listen to it if you...enjoyed(?) “A Crow Looked At Me”.

Finally, I’m glad to see a bit more music from outside the “western” pop sphere sneaking onto this year’s list as well. Thiago Nassif’s Tom Zé-like “Três” made the very end of the top 10, but you’ll find Guatemala’s Doctor Nativo, Nigeria’s Kah-Lo, Niger’s Tal National, Algeria’s Imarhan and Mali’s Salif Keita elsewhere on the list, each of which is worth checking out and each of which brings their own unique sound to the table. And on a sadder note, it’s still hard for me to believe SOPHIE is no longer with us after releasing such a final masterwork as “Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides”. We truly lost a once-in-a-generation talent with her.

#Music Criticism #Music #2018 #Best of project #Albums #Pop Music #Albums of the year #Best of 2018

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an-artistic-failure · 2 months

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#rottmnt #rottmnt fanart #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #fanart #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #tmnt 2018 #tmnt #donatello hamato #michelangelo hamato #donnie rottmnt #rottmnt mikey #rise donnie #rise mikey #rottmnt donnie #pb n j #they are the best #hank's art

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lotus-duckies · 9 months

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i think there's something very interesting about the fact that irl, turtles aren't very social or familial in any sense but the ninja turtles are incredibly social and love caring for others and this is arguably the greatest example of their humanity

#you see humans pack bond with everything and that's how you know they're Humanoid turtles #insert image of raph adopting spike and chompy #insert image of mikey making 10 new best friends #insert image of donnie and his BUGS #and leo doing his Bgig Brother Thing TM #insert the hamato clan growing with every person they meet #leonardo hamato #michelangelo hamato #donatello hamato #raphael hamato #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 1987 #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles

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risestarkiss · 4 months

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Being Big Red

Rise Ramblings #312

In “What Was Meant To Be” and “What They Became,” I discuss how the turtles were created by Draxum to be weapons and then how the boys were embraced by Splinter to be a part of the Hamato clan.

I also discussed how Splinter viewed television as a window into his former life. He used television as a means to drown himself in a never-ending cycle of reminiscing the past and mourning his former self.

Splinter’s crushing depression, though never voiced, impacted the turtles’ emotional growth and development. As a result, all four brothers had to cope with their father’s lack of attention and his expectations for their lives in their own way…

However, I believe that no one had more pressure placed on them than Raphael Hamato.

Raphael is naturally easy-going, sweet, fun-loving, and supportive. But, as the oldest/biggest turtle, he became the impromptu leader of their little team by default. Consequently, he takes on several different roles for the sake and well-being of his family.

Their day-to-day training regimen is directed completely by him.

He is the boys' moral compass and who they go to for guidance.

He's the team’s backbone, support, and backup, which often cumulates in him acting as a physical shield when things get rough.

And, most significantly, Raph is the leader even when he himself wants nothing more than to crumble to pieces.

Raph is so physically imposing, strong-willed, and devastatingly kind-hearted that it’s easy to expect these roles from him.

But, Raph is also just a child.

In reality, these roles should never have been Raph’s to bear…

Parentification is a process in which a child or adolescent is forced to act as a parent to their siblings (or to their actual parent) through providing emotional support (Emotional Parentification) or physical support (Instrumental Parentification) in order to maintain the household.

I believe that Raphael was subjected to both, but was especially subjected to the former.

All of the roles described above are the roles of a supportive parent to their children (or Sensei to their students.) To verify this claim, you needn’t look further than the roles that Splinter encompassed in any other iteration.

With Raph, none of this responsibility comes naturally. He has to work hard to live up to the pressures and expectations placed onto him, resulting in a dissonance between his responsibilities and his true nature.

I believe that you can see the evidence of this dissonance in his chosen form of dress.

Have you noticed that when Raph casually dresses himself, he mostly wears white?

Even Donnie picked up on this trend when he chose outfits for his brother in "The Clothes Don't Make The Turtle." (See "The Fashionista" for a full breakdown on Donnie's impeccable fashion sense.✨)

Yet, when Raphael is filling a role, or dressing to impress others, Red is his automatic go-to.

It’s almost as if the title of “The Red One” was not one that he chose, but one that was merely placed onto him.

But I digress...

Raph is able to be a pseudo-parent to his brothers and serves to fill in the gaps that their actual father could not fill. However, with no outlet for his own insecurities, all of that pressure had no relief.

And, if you understand chemistry, pressure, with no release, creates an explosion.

“Acting out” is an unhealthy defense mechanism in which one expresses their unacceptable feelings through physical actions.

In this case, the "unacceptable feeling" is disappointment, not at his brothers, or with his father, or with any external force, but with himself. And with no outlet and with no one to turn to for support, that disappointment turns into red hot anger.

He’s so disappointed with himself, in fact, that he reaches his breaking point.

Then finally, finally, he opens up.

And at long last, he gets the support he so desperately needed.

Thus, he is able to ultimately let it all go...

It's so lovely to see that his family does not disappoint.

○○○○

Next | Being Baby Blue • Being Purple ○ Part One • Being Purple ○ Part Two • Orange, Baby!

Finale | Being Hamato Yoshi

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v-albion · 2 months

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Guess who finally arrived at the @tmntbestsibscompetiton !!

Masterpost

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beannary · 6 months

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Unfortunately Donnie Little Prince AU has been diagnosed with terminal stupid disease, he is so dumb and I love him

This is part 33 of The Little Prince Separated AU

Beginning | Previous | Next

#my art #tmnt #tmnt 2018 #2018 tmnt #tmnt 2k18 #2k18 tmnt #rottmnt #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donatello #tmnt donnie #tmnt donatello #tlp au #the little prince separated au #schrodinger is so cute #shes a little baby #and donnie loves her!!!#they are best friends

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comedybingbong · 2 years

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it’s me, QAnon. are you ready for the latest seeecret?

#comedy bang bang #scott aukerman #paul f. tompkins #best of 2018

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varilien · 7 months

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man, it's a hot one like seven inches from the midday sun

(now available at my shop!)

#happy first day of fall ngl i'm really excited about the week of rain in my local forecast lmao #trigun #trigun anime #trigun fanart #vash #vash the stampede #wolfwood #nicholas d. wolfwood #vashwood #this is one of those doodles i've been wanting to make of these two since 2018 and only recently realized i can Just Do That now fdjghdk #fellas is it gay to be privately Very nosy about the fact ur best friend has never ever taken his coat off in front of you

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wormspoodle · 2 years

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rise raph but he's built like kingpin from spiderverse

#best thing ive ever drawn #/hj #3 am ideas my beloved #rottmnt #rise of tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt raph #2018 raph #worms doodles

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tangledinink · 9 months

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Does Swanatello recognise April? Does she visit him?

Swanatello recognizes April at about the same frequency that he does his brothers... and of course she visits! She's a part of the regular rotation, as is Splinter.

#even when he doesnt remember who she is he somehow always subconsciously remembers that she gives the best wing skritches #swanatello #rottmnt #rottmnt au #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt april #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donatello #rise april #rise donnie #rise donatello #donniesona #risesona #rottmnt fanart #rottmnt comic #memory loss

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dreemurr-fever · 1 year

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I would die and/or kill for these designs

#maccadam #transformers #bumblebee 2018 #one of the best openings in cinematic history to me #they did what the Bayverse were too cowardly to do #shockwave #soundwave #starscream #optimus prime #arcee #wheeljack #cliffjumper #prowl

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alluraaaa · 10 months

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lance being a jack of all trades had such good potential. a guy who’s decently good at everything but not amazing at anything who only sees the lack of perfection. he’s always someone’s second choice because there’s always someone better, and he acts out and builds a persona of false bravado to cope with that. that’s why he’s so proud of being the “cool ninja sharpshooter,” because it’s the first thing he’s been the best at that’s useful in a war

there could have been an amazing character arc about how being good at things or being the best at something isn’t indicative of someone’s worth. the team doesn’t love him because he’s a great shot and a good paladin. they love him because he’s lance

and idk if i’m swinging at a hornet’s nest here (defo would’ve been in 2017) but that’s why i don’t like black paladin lance lmao. lance isn’t the best choice for black paladin, and that’s okay. leading and strategizing are things he’s good at, like so many others, but it isn’t his forte. with his wide skillset and smooth adaptability, he’s the perfect fit for the role of support as the guardian of water. water is liquid! it fills in the gaps!! while everyone else has a dedicated Thing, he picks up the slack to make the team stronger!!!!!

and if we’re looking at this through a klance lens, there’s a lot to say about lance’s fabricated rivalry. keith was (at least in lance’s eyes) absolutely perfect. a perfect student, a perfect pilot, able to effortlessly do things that it took endless practice for lance to get decent at. of course lance starts to hate him, who wouldn’t in that position. not to mention the months spent being constantly compared to keith. to have keith— that keith— fall in love with lance would be so narratively delicious. to have someone so seemingly perfect look up to you? to have someone so seemingly perfect show he isn’t by being vulnerable and open and trusting you to not to be cruel? chefs kiss MUAH

ummm tldr blue paladin lance forever and ever and also the full quote is “a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

#don’t think this is a popular opinion but it’s mine!#i feel like since canon did him so dirty the fandom overcompensated by making him The Best At Everything Ever #and imo that’s also doing him dirty #let him be flawed!! it makes for a better story and a better character #again. (spongebob holding out hands under a big shadow) in my opinion #<- he’s terrified of rabid lance stand crawling out of 2016-2018 era tumblr and killing him #*stans jfc #txt #lance #keith&lance

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lesthowells · 2 months

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nobody else in the room

#dan and phil #daniel howell #amazingphil #dnp #*andiegif #this took way longer than i wanted it to #the fact that they are the same vid but in two seperate videos yet the colouring is different is ???#i did my best but they still don't match completely w/e #i had this idea in my drafts from 2018 i thought it was time to make it

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mutantmayhems · 4 months

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MY FAVORITE RAPH OUTFITS ↳ 1.23 Snow Day / 2.10 The Clothes Don't Make the Turtle / 2.05 Air Turtle

#these might be hot takes??#i’m curious to hear what opinions people have on his best outfits #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt raph #raph tmnt #rottmnt raph #raph rottmnt #rise raph #raph rise #may makes #tmnt 2018 #2018 tmnt #save rottmnt #unpause rottmnt

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yujateaandpi · 2 years

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Donatello Hamato is the most character ever. He loves his family. He did unethical experiments on his brothers. He’s a genius. He’s a dumbass. He has big ass eyebrows. You can play tic tac toe on his forehead. He’s bald. He’s on the spectrum. He forgot to charge his weapon. He’s been arrested. He loves Tahiti. He likes to give his family presents. He created sentient AI (multiple times on accident). He’s a mean purple bitch. He’s a soft baby.

#the writers just put so much spice in him #went ahead and gave him the best one liners too #forgot to add that he loves to dance too like what #why #he’s already seasoned stop seasoning him #absolutely feral over how ugly he is without his mask #rottmnt #rottmnt donatello #save rottmnt #tmnt 2018 #unpause rottmnt #unpause rise of the tmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the tmnt donnie #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt donnie

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v-albion · 2 months

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hello! i saw you where part of the @tmntbestsibscompetiton, so i bring my gremlins to interact with yours if you so wish! ( no pressure to respond)

I’m sorry the boys are a bit competitive @frogandbird @tmntbestsibscompetiton

Masterpost

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