TOP 10 FAVOURITE TV SHOWS OF 2018...

It's been quite the year--from comebacks to renewed zeal in reality TV, shows led the way with genuine brilliance. Here are my faves:












AMERICAN CRIME STORY: THE MURDER OF GIANNI VERSACE: Season 2 (FX)--Darren Criss. That's all I gotta say. A strong season one of AMERICAN CRIME STORY segues into an even stronger season.





ATLANTA: Season 2 (FX)--it's as perfect a season as the ratings have indicated. That correlation rarely adds up but hands down the most important comedic season this year.





BILLIONS: Season 3 (SHOWTIME)--the enemy battle lines change so many times but it's stunning to watch the resolution Every Single Time.





CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA: Season 1 (NETFLIX)--it seemed an odd choice for a reboot and add a horror twist, odder even but somehow the team pulls it off. Like, seriously.





HOMELAND: Season 7 (SHOWTIME)--every time we write off HOMELAND it rises to exceed expectations.





KILLING EVE: Season 1 (BBC America)--when we think of ruthless, charming assassins men come to mind but, based on Luke Jennings's Codename Villanelle novella series, and developed for television by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, we are riveted by the cat-and-mouse game played by Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer.





MURPHY BROWN: Season 11 (CBS)--some good things have happened due to the Trump presidency but nonemore pleasant than the return to Tv's keenest feminist. The entire gang is back except Phil but Tyne Daly as Phyllis is a welcome addition.





POSE: Season 1 (FX)--Ryan Murphy takes a closer look on the trans community and we're all paying keen attention.





THE GOOD FIGHT: Season 2 (CBS All Access)--any excuse to watch Diane (Christine Baranski) in a situation that forces her to think quickly on her feet is welcome but everyone else created sustainable drama too.





THE GOOD PLACE: Season 3 (NBC)--always been interesting but this current season has brought our fave android Janet (D'Arcy Carden) into more action. Don't even get me started on the visual masterpiece that was yesterday's episode!

2018: Top 10 Most Overrated Albums...

The critics lists have been pouring and here are this year's overstuffed LPs:











1. Mitski Be The Cowboy: I know, I’m #TeamMitski but given what she produced prior to this album, it just doesn’t hold a candle. (METACRITIC SCORE: 8.7/10)







2. Robyn Honey: I can hear the outrage now: but Neil, its Robyn. Yes, we all love Robyn but I feel being starved of new music from her caused this inevitable love for what is essentially a rather plain break-up album. (METACRITIC SCORE: 8.9/10)







3. Idles Joy As An Act Of Resistance: this really is just loudness. (METACRITIC SCORE: 8.8/10)






4. Kacey Musgraves Golden Hour: again, decent but I feel she has many more tricks to come given time. (METACRITIC SCORE: 8.9/10)






5. Tirzah Devotion: it’s decent but hardly memorable. (METACRITIC SCORE: 8/10)






6. Let’s Eat Grandma I’m All Ears: all ears and spinning too many ideas in every single track. (METACRITIC SCORE: 8.5/10)






7. Courtney Barnett Tell Me How You Really Feel: still finding her feet even though critics are falling all over themselves to carry her. (METACRITIC SCORE: 8/10)






8. Shame Songs Of Praise: there’s no shortage of guys shouting in bands so thank you Shame but next. (METACRITIC SCORE: 7.9/10)






9. Tierra Whack Whack World: fifteen tracks clocking in at fifteen minutes and well, there goes the craft to make this project twice as good as it really was. (METACRITIC SCORE: N/A)






10. Kids See Ghosts Kids See Ghosts: in the middle of his unremarkable year, Kanye teams up with Kid Cudi to present pretty much more semi-good songs. (METACRITIC SCORE: 8.4/10)

2018: Top 10 Most Disappointing Albums...

another year's worth of albums that should have ended up on my best albums list instead...












1.Kanye West Ye: there may be some karma in Kanye heading this list but amid all the PR battles he’s fighting simultaneously, I wonder if he’s scared the magic truly is gone?






2. Animal Collective Tangerine Reef: um, guys where are we going with this, like seriously?






3. Black Milk Fever: Mr. Consistently finally went too thin on a music project.






4. Santigold I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions: I feel Santi White is starting to rediscover her 2008 form but it sure is taking a while/






5. Anderson .Paak Oxnard: did not see this dud coming but I guess the many collabs—of which only one really works—was a sign.






6. John Grant Love Is Magic: it’s a conundrum that faces all queer artists: you need the pain and suffering to create great art but once you’ve found the happiness then the edge wears off.






7. Jack White Boarding House Reach: Earth to Jack: time to call Meg.






8. Parquet Courts Wide Awake: it’s hard to keep consistency going three years running so this is excusable.






9. Tune-Yards I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life: it may be time for Garbus to do some shuffling with her project.






10. Ava Luna Moon 2: still trying to recover their amazing 2012 form but it keeps falling way short.

2018 BEST NEW/EMERGING ARTISTS...

another exciting set of talent out for your listening pleasure...





Head of the class:






Kali Uchis: the Colombian-American’s debut showed exactly how smooth Latin-drenched pop can be when done right.






and the rest (in no particular order):



Clarence Clarity: I think the Guardian sums him up best when it said he is “funk played by a swarm of bees”.








Noname: previously best known for a guest spot on a Chance the Rapper mixtape, Noname has now risen to her own acclaim and its stunning.






Gaika: while so many young Brit acts continue to get dancehall horribly wrong, here is a young man who dishes it out like gold effortlessly.






SerpentWithFeet: the black queer brigade marching out of the US increases each year and here’s among the best of them.






Cardi B: sure, you’d have to be outer space not to know “Bodak Yellow” from a year ago but Cardi backed it up this year with an album that forces everyone to pay attention and bop along.






Salad Boys: the Kiwis return and they’ve delivered the goods big time.






Caroline Rose: reinvention is vital, that seems to be the big take-away from Rose’s stunning switch from country to pop.






Virginia Wing: the British band quietly doing alternative goodness.






Cautious Clay: think along the lines of Frank Ocean, without the gay subtext.

Top 10 Worst Films of 2018 (That I Saw):

Another year's worth of insufferable films...here goes:










1.Show Dogs: (directed by Raja Gosnell)—yet another unfunny film that pairs animals with the worse possible vocal work to go with the most shameful set of predictable action pieces.






2. The Happytime Murders: (directed by Brian Henson)—is this what the Henson name has sunk to?






3. Venom: (directed by Ruben Fleischer)—a box office hit because the comic book genre is gold but how did the shabby villain seriously get to be even made in such a poor state?





4. Samson: (directed by Bruce Macdonald)—noble idea but for all the crazy Christian resources out there why’d it have to look, feel and sound so cheap?






5. 7 Guardians Of The Tomb: (directed by Kimble Rendall)—I love me some Kelsey Grammer but not even he can turn this B movie around when everything else is literally shit.






6. Overboard: (directed by Rob Greenberg)—the usual crassness Anna Faris can find herself in.






7. Acrimony/Nobody’s Fool: (directed by Tyler Perry)—I’m still #TeamCookie but Perry is unable to maximize on it and as for Tiffany Haddish’s turn in the latter, it’s just all downhill from she enters the screen.






8. Slender Man: (directed by Sylvain White)—as the credits rolled I kept watching because surely what happened before then was merely a preview. I was wrong.






9. Gotti: (directed by Kevin Connoly)—no doubt Travolta felt this was a redemption but everything here felt third grade.






10. The Clapper: (directed by Dito Montiel)—um, aren’t comedies supposed to be happy?