Best music from last year

The Grammy Awards are Sunday night.  Based on my not-so-lofty credential as rock and roll critic of the Michigan State News (largest circulation paper in Lansing at the time) in the early 1970s, here are the 10 albums I enjoyed the most in 2018.  Most of them are not Grammy nominees.  My current tastes run to alternative, rock and world music, with occasional trips down the classic rock and soul memory lanes.  If you are looking for advice on the best hip-hop, stop reading.

1.  US Girls, In a Poem Unlimited; songs about women done wrong backed by a band that brings the funk
2.  Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour; country is cool again
3.  Christine and the Queens, Chris; she sings (in French and English), dances and channels Michael Jackson
4.  Rosalia, El Mal Querer; flamenco is cool again
5.  Boygenius, Boygenius, EP; Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus's supergroup
6.  Snail Mail, Lush; being an indie rock star beats going to high school
7.  Soccer Mommy, Clean; being an indie rock star beats going to NYU
8.  Boz Scaggs. Out of the Blues; best effort by an artist of my generation
9.  Beach House, 7; more dream pop from a band that keeps getting better
10.  SOPHIE, Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides, industrial strength electronics

Honorable mentions (multiple playlist-worthy tracks): Janelle Manae, Dirty Computer; the 1975, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships; Iceage, Beyondless; Hot Snakes, Jericho Sirens; Let's Eat Grandma, I'm All Ears.  

On Grammy night I'll be rooting for: Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin, "I Like It"