Top 50 Albums of 2019 — Part 1–#50–#31
It’s that time children! This year for some reason I felt compelled to share my TOP FIFTY albums. A little note tho — Numbers 50–31 are not ranked as much as grouped in tiers. So 50–41 are all approximately equally ranked, as are 40–31. And these two tiers will be alphabetically ordered. Make sense? No? That’s fine. Oh and most of these will be awfully short write ups. ANYWAY HERE’S SOME FINE MUSIC.
Numbers 50 to 41 (Alphabetically)
Billie Eilish — WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
Billie’s vocals are crazy in such a powerful whisper way and her brother’s production on this thing definitely creates a vibe. Solid pop.
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah— Ancestral Recall
Christian continues to be one of the most interesting jazz artists of this decade. He’s not afraid to manipulate his production to create new textures and this record has a number of really great grooves as well as handful of beautiful meditations.
Die Hexe — In Hell, I Dreamed of You
15 minutes of crushing and shapeshifting hardcore. This band gets in, breaks shit in a number of different styles, and gets out. A really tasty morsel.
Iglooghost, Kai Whiston & BABii — XYZ
Iglooghost (this time with friends) dazzles once again with bouncy, unpredictable, and compelling electronic music for another world.
Various Artists — Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990
Is this cheating because it’s a compilation and doesn’t have any music newer than 1990? I don’t care. It’s gorgeous.
Oh Sees — Face Stabber
These prolific psych-garage rockers made it on the list on the strength of the 14-minute “Scutum & Scorpius” alone. Some bloat in the track listing prevented this record from rising higher but still some great tracks on this thing.
Purple Mountains — Purple Mountains
David Berman’s last album before taking his own life has all the jangly guitars and off-kilter lyrics (equally humourous and poignant) that has made him an indie rock icon for three decades. Very sad to have lost him just as he started this new phase as Purple Mountains.
Sturgill Simpson — SOUND & FURY
What even is this album? On his last record Sturgill broke the mold on what a country record could be in the 2010s. SOUND & FURY obliterates that mold. There’s disco, proggy synths, hard rock guitar solos, and deeply effected vocals on here. It’s chaos. And I don’t hate it one bit.
Tiny Holes — City of Siege: Olympia
These guys bring back the no-wave avante-garde “dance” music of the late 70s and early 80s and it confounds me in a delightful way. Very strange.
Xiu Xiu — Girl with Basket of Fruit
This record is mostly upsetting and violent. I don’t know if I even really recommend it. But it keeps bringing me back to listen again so it’s on this list.
Numbers 40 to 31 (Alphabetically)
American Football — LP3
This record is pure emo by some of the ones who did it best at the height of the genre. It’s not really that remarkable of a record but a couple of the tunes (“Uncomfortably Numb” with Hayley Williams for one) really got under my skin in a couple of my more depressive phases this year and just STUCK in. Soothing and sad.
Ana Frango Elétrico — Little Electric Chicken Heart
Just purely delightful brazilian pop with a jazzy 60's flair. “Se no Cinema” is a JAM.
Ariana Grande — thank u, next
A great pop record. Killer vocals, great production, and an impressively emotional delivery of some solid themes.
Bill Orcutt — Odds Against Tomorrow
Another excellent guitar record by Orcutt. Beautiful enough to soothe while simultaneously being angry and complex enough to be cathartic and invigorating.
Beyoncé — HOMECOMING: THE LIVE ALBUM
The live concert on Netflix was one of the coolest musical events of the year, being essentially one huge medley of Beyoncé’s decades long career. The album on it’s own is good, but the concert was INSANELY good.
BROCKHAMPTON — GINGER
America’s largest boy band BROCKHAMPTON bounces back after the slightly underwhelming iridescence with another diverse and catchy collection of hip hop and r&b tunes. Also, “If You Pray Right” samples the Celeste Soundtrack, so I had to love it.
Charli XCX — Charli
Charli XCX keeps pushing pop into the future and this has bangers as well as some solid emotional moments as well. Earworms galore.
Jamael Dean — Black Space Tapes
Such an interesting jazz record with lovely impressionistic improvisations layered on top of loops and found sounds. The nearly 12 minute album opener “Akamara” was strong enough to get the record on this list.
Lizzo — Cuz I Love You
Listen. I said these were alphabetical…but this is #31 (aka the best of this first chunk of albums). Combining the big belting soul of the title track with one of the biggest bangers of the year (“Tempo” feat Missy Elliot), this record has it all. So strong. So soulful. So sexy. SO FUN!
Malibu Ken — Malibu Ken
Aesop Rock and TOBACCO are Malibu Ken. Aesop’s wordplay and gruff delivery are as on point as ever and TOBACCO’s production is strong wall to wall. Great hip hop record if you like to go on lyrical journeys (and I do).
