The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. 3v. Ed. by David Schultz and John R. Vile. 2005. 1,141p. illus. index. Sharpe, $299 (0-7656-8063-7). 323.
The LP is expansive yet down-home, chill despite its grand ambitions - from the gracious wonder of "Slow Burn" to the dance-pop sass of "High Horse" to the Daft Punk-y vocoder flash "Oh, What a ...World" to the modern classic "Mother," an LSD-inspired song about how much she misses her mom. 3 Camila Cabello Camila the year's most exciting pop debut saw Cabello break free from her old job singing in the girl group Fifth Harmony to make an LP infused with rhythms from her Cuban-Mexican background, especially on the ubiquitous smash "Havana." Whether on the throwback soul weeper "I'll Never Love Again" or the monster-glam power ballad "Shallow," she puts on a master class in sincere spectacle. 9 Kurt Vile Bottle It In the long-haired poet-king of Philadelphia surveys his realm in high style on this 78-minute whopper, a double serving of bad dreams and spectacular guitar tones. A NATIVE'S LOVE letter to Long Beach, California, steeped in Staples' classic G-funk and wintry reality: "My black is beautiful/But I'll still shoot at you," he raps on this buoyant, conflicted stunner. 19 Hop Along Bark Your Head Off, Dog M the PHiLLY band stepped up its ambitions in a major way for Album Three, turning in a rich set of kaleidoscopic pop ("Somewhere ajudge"), stormy folk ("How You Got Your Limp") and much more that reveals new nuances with each listen. 20 The Beths Future Me Hates Me these kiwis make indelible power pop out of sticky Sixties melodies and spiky Nineties guitars: 23 U.S. Girls In a Poem Unlimited art-pop provocateur Meghan Remy's sixth studio LP was one of the slyest and smartest political records of 2018 - a radical mix of acid funk and throwback disco that takes on domestic violence, environmental collapse and other traumas. 24 Kali Uchis Isolation an American pop upstart with Colombian roots, Uchis recalls vintage Beck in the grab-bag brio of her debut:
