The year 2018 can, will, and should be defined by many things. But for us here at Vanyaland, it was the year of the song. 2018 was a fantastic year for music, singles in particular -- short bursts of sonic brilliance that hit like a fist and lingered like a kiss, all in line with our ever-dwindling attention spans. Over the past 12 months Vanyaland Editor-in-Chief Michael Marotta and Assistant News Editor Victoria Wasylak documented all these brilliant songs as they hit each day in their New Sounds and Fast Tracked columns, daily hype pieces presenting what, in our opinions, were the best tracks of that particular day. Below is a collection of those columns from Marotta and Wasylak, as they were written that very day, shaping the sound of Vanyaland as one based deeply in alt-pop, but extending out to reflect not only Boston's diverse music scene, but the varied tones around the world that made the year so great. This collection is likely different than the other Best of 2018 lists floating around the internet, and that's by design -- here at Vanyaland, nothing trumps our genuine interest in a song we love and admire.
