Listmania: OpenAir’s Favorite Music And More From 2018

<p>Photos: courtesy of the artists; Nathaniel Rateliff by CPR</p>
<p>Some of the artists selected by the CPR&#039;s OpenAir staff. Top row, left to right: Mitski, Anderson .Paak, Lucy Dacus. Middle row: Caroline Rose, Parquet Courts, Snail Mail. Bottom row: Janelle Monáe, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Richard Swift.</p>
Photo: Best of 2018 OpenAir host picks
Some of the artists selected by the CPR's OpenAir staff. Top row, left to right: Mitski, Anderson .Paak, Lucy Dacus. Middle row: Caroline Rose, Parquet Courts, Snail Mail. Bottom row: Janelle Monáe, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Richard Swift.

As 2018 comes to a close, the obsessive OpenAir staff has rounded up their favorite music of the year. Below, see our lists for favorite albums, songs, concerts and more.

We want to know your favorite music of 2018 too. Let us know by casting your vote in our listener poll by Dec. 17.

Listen to a Spotify playlist of OpenAir staff members' favorite songs of 2018 below.

Jessi Whitten

10 Favorite Songs

  • Janelle Monáe - "Make Me Feel"
  • Mitski - “Washing Machine Heart”
  • Childish Gambino - "This is America"
  • Caroline Rose - "Soul No. 5"
  • Haley Hendrickx - "Oom Sha La La"
  • Lucy Dacus - "Next of Kin"
  • Matthew Dear feat. Tegan and Sara - "Bad Ones"
  • Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - "Shiggy"
  • Superorganism - "Something for Your M.I.N.D."
  • Middle Kids - "Never Start"

10 Favorite Albums

  • Janelle Monáe - "Dirty Computer"
  • Middle Kids - "Lost Friends"
  • Mitski - "Be The Cowboy"
  • Anderson .Paak - "Oxnard"
  • Brent Cowles - "How to Be Okay Alone"
  • Caroline Rose - "Loner"
  • Courtney Barnett - "Tell Me How You Really Feel"
  • DeVotchKa - "This Night Falls Forever"
  • Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - "Tearing at the Seams"
  • Wye Oak - "The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs"

Alisha Sweeney

10 Favorite Songs

  • Childish Gambino - "This Is America"
  • Janelle Monáe - "Make Me Feel"
  • Khruangbin - "Evan Finds The Third Room"
  • Young Fathers - "In My View"
  • Eels - "Today Is The Day"
  • Mitski - "Nobody"
  • Babehoven - "Out Of This Country"
  • Richard Swift - "Sept20"
  • Brazilian Girls - "Let's Make Love"
  • Superorganism - "Everybody Wants To Be Famous"

10 Favorite Songs (From Colorado Artists)

  • Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - "You Worry Me"
  • DeVotchKa - "Second Chance"
  • The Velveteers - "Just Like The Weather"
  • Brent Cowles - "How To Be Okay Alone"
  • Oxeye Daisy - "Elevator"
  • The Milk Blossoms - "Tell Me Something"
  • John Grant - "Diet Gum"
  • Gregory Alan Isakov - "Dark, Dark, Dark"
  • The Corner Girls - "Cellphone"
  • Poppet - "Riddled With Manifesto"

Scott Carney

10 Favorite Songs

  • Caroline Rose - “Jeannie Becomes A Mom”
  • Damien Jurado - “Percy Faith”
  • Lucy Dacus - “Night Shift”
  • Khruangbin - “Evan Finds The Third Room”
  • Mitski - “Remember My Name”
  • Ought - “Desire”
  • Parquet Courts - “Total Football”
  • Richard Swift - “Broken Finger Blues”
  • Snail Mail - “Heat Wave”
  • Yo La Tengo - “For You Too”

10 Favorite Colorado Concerts in 2018

  • Alex Cameron at Globe Hall (March 5)
  • Khruangbin at The Bluebird Theater (April 23)
  • Big Thief at The Bluebird Theater (April 24)
  • Parquet Courts at Gothic Theatre (April 28)
  • Snail Mail at Larimer Lounge (June 20)
  • Janelle Monáe at Paramount Theater (July 1)
  • Animal Collective at Ogden Theatre (July 25)
  • David Byrne at Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Aug. 28)
  • Vic N' the Narwhals/Pink Hawks/Los Mocochetes/DJ Polyphoni at Hi-Dive (Sept. 21)
  • Guerilla Toss at Hi-Dive (Sept. 28)

Bruce Mitchell

10 Favorite Songs

  • Courtney Barnett - "Not Your Mother, Not Your Bitch"
  • Childish Gambino - "This Is America"
  • Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future, James Blake - "King's Dead"
  • Lucero - "Everything Has Changed"
  • Making Movies & Flor de Toloache - "Amor de Mis Amores"
  • Janelle Monáe - "Make Me Feel"
  • Mountain Man - "Rang Tang Ring Toon"
  • Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - "A Little Honey"
  • Vic N' The Narwhals - "Brujeria"
  • Y La Bamba - "Mujeres"

10 Favorite Band Shirts

  • Colfax Speed Queen
  • Andy Thomas' Dust Heart
  • iZCALLi
  • Hang Rounders
  • The Velveteers
  • Flor de Toloache
  • Tropa Magica
  • The Chimanas
  • Helado Negro
  • The Marías

Jeremy Petersen

10 Favorite Songs

  • Babehoven - "Out of This Country"
  • LUMP - "Curse of the Contemporary"
  • Superchunk - "What a Time to Be Alive"
  • Kamasi Washington - "Street Fighter Mas"
  • Parquet Courts - "Wide Awake"
  • Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - "Talking Straight"
  • Childish Gambino - "This is America"
  • Noah Gundersen - "The Sound" (OpenAir Sessions version)
  • Amen Dunes - "Miki Dora"
  • Chaka Khan - "Like Sugar"

10 Favorite Albums

  • Shame - "Songs of Praise"
  • Natalie Prass - "The Future & the Past"
  • Richard Swift - "The Hex"
  • Grapetooth - "Grapetooth"
  • U.S. Girls - "In a Poem Unlimited"
  • Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "Sex & Food"
  • Janelle Monáe - "Dirty Computer"
  • Wye Oak - "The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs"
  • Parquet Courts - "Wide Awake!"
  • Low - "Double Negative"

Daniel Mescher

10 Favorite Albums

  • Julia Holter - "Aviary"
  • Midwife - "Prayer Hands"
  • Vince Staples -"FM!"
  • Adrianne Lenker - "abysskiss"
  • Lala Lala - "The Lamb"
  • JPEGMAFIA - "Veteran"
  • Grouper - "Grid of Points"
  • Yves Tumor - "Safe in the Hands of Love"
  • Caroline Rose - "Loner"
  • Empath - "Liberating Guilt And Fear" / "Environments"