Throughout 2019, I tried my best to fully review as many albums as I could, still quite a few managed to elude me by the time of this year-end list. Regardless, below you'll find not necessarily the best albums as per any objective decision-making but what I think are the 50 best albums of the year. The first half will be pretty swiftly disseminated, while the second half will include a little more of a thorough explanation. Towards the end, you'll get my five honorable mentions and top-five EPs as a nice little bonus.
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50. Barrie - Happy To Be Here
~7.5
49. Devon Welsh - True Love
~7.5
48. Kanye West - Jesus Is King
~7.5
47.Thom Yorke - Anima
~8.0
46. Duster - Duster
~8.0
45. Drugdealer - Raw Honey
~8.0
44. Kaytranada - BUBBA
~8.0
43. Goldlink - Diaspora
~8.0
42. Divino Niño - Foam
~8.0
41. Bon Iver - i,i
~8.0
40. Joel Ross - KingMaker
~8.0
39. Vagabon - Vagabon
~8.0
38. Caroline Polachek - Pang
~8.0
37. Steve Lacy - Apollo XXI
~8.0
36. Black Marble - Bigger Than Life
~8.0
35. Carla dal Forno - Look Up Sharp
~8.0
34. Anderson .Paak - Ventura
~8.0
33. Jay Som - Anak Ko
~8.5
32. Hand Habits - placeholder
~8.5
31. Sampa The Great - The Return
~8.5
30. Julia Jacklin - Crushing
~8.5
29. Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs
~8.5
28. DIIV - Deceiver
~8.5
27. Brittany Howard - Jaime
~8.5
26. Big Thief - U.F.O.F.
~8.5
25. Shura - forevher
Maybe the strongest pop record of 2019, forevher is something most people are familiar with, an album solely and entirely based on the beginnings of a relationship. Since her debut, 2016's promising Nothing's Real, Alexandra Denton has not just found someone to settle down with but has grown as a writer as well. The tracks here are lighter, finding a way to come across less like a narrative than as a direct profession to the listener. With a confident intimacy and a knack for both soulful introspection and dance-floor logistics, forevher is full of love songs by and for Millenials at a time when that can be hard to come by.
~8.5
24. SASAMI - SASAMI
After leaving the spotty LA band Cherry Glazerr to pursue a solo career, Sasami Ashworth has come through with a debut that completely eclipses any work she's been involved with prior. Instrumentally lush and synth-heavy, the result is an intimate collection of big songs, coming from the hushed whisper of a tour-fatigued outsider.
~8.5
23. Wilco - Ode to Joy
Wilco has no doubt run the gamut on what it means to be a rock band of a certain age. From drug addiction, record label and interpersonal strife and a series of "comeback" albums, it seems that even if Jeff Tweedy disbanded the group, no one would be surprised to see them reunite for a world tour following a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. With all that being said, it's worth acknowledging that the last few Wilco albums (besides the standout Star Wars) have been pretty good, not great, but pretty good. I can happily say, as a life long fan, Ode to Joy is their best album in at least ten years... maybe even 15. A dense and slowly revealing group of ballads and old-Wilco-isms, their eleventh album uses its soft composure to pull from the best of the band's past while remaining lyrically prescient.
~8.5
22. Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?
Although this is probably the worst Deerhunter album since their debut "Turn It Up Faggot", it is still, by any other measure, a great record. With Bradford Cox and company starting families and finding less time to tour and record, the music itself can't help but settle into a restrained and sonically measured sound. But at this point, that is exactly what I want to hear from Deerhunter.
~8.5
21. Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe
After a string of stellar singles and EPs, Nilüfer Yanya has finally come through with her debut studio album. With eight different producers and at least as many co-writers Miss Universe could have easily felt a little scattered but that is the testament to Yanya, her unique vocals, and her delivery. She can take all of her songs, from seemingly every inch of her psyche and bind them together into a genuinely unified listen. Between disparate styles and tones, Yanya remains the only constant, acting as a spiritual guide through her anxiety and her composure.
~8.5
20. Jenny Hval - The Practice of Love
Whether or not you have enjoyed Jenny Hval's work up unto now seems pretty irrelevant at this point. Although the artist has long sought to push her sound past the edges of trance and electro-pop, trying to bind the two whilst distancing herself from their narrow borders, that guiding principle hasn't paid off until The Practice of Love. Now, those albums are mostly pretty great, but after hearing Hval's seventh album, they sound more like just steppingstones. The Practice of Love is a beautiful and complex album, at times beguiling, but always accessible and the culmination of ten years of consistent work.
~8.5
19. Richard Dawson - 2020
2020, is an ugly album. It's a biting, dirty and scattershot mediation on just how bad things have gotten and how much worse there going to get. Dawson fixates on the mundanity of life as the real disaster of the modern world, the stifling of art and social acquiescence towards technology seems only a bi-product. In the end, there's no happy ending, just more of the same. However, Dawson glides through these songs with grace and confidence, combining the avant-garde with his trademark Canterbury scene-folk pulling from England's past as much as its future.
~8.5
18. Sui Zhen - Losing, Linda
The dystopic and cybernetic obsessed third album by Melbourne artist Becky "Sui Zhen" Freeman focuses its efforts on that copy of a copy. The process of constructing artificial intelligence based on the lives we distribute on the internet and social media. While the protagonist Linda guides the listener through glittering art-rock, retro lounge easy-listening or futurist Japanese City-pop, she never lets go of her optimism towards the human race or her innate imitation of it. As far as concept albums or really any music heavily influenced by science fiction Losing, Linda works remarkable well as both light radio fare and as a deeper dive into the human psyche and the possibilities of technology.
~8.5
17. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
Nick Cave is often a perennial candidate for these kinds of year-end lists, but it seems particularly evident with his current career resurgence (can you even call it a resurgence when he never really stopped making great, compelling music?) Regardless, for those not aware, similar to Phil Elverum's Mount Eerie project, the last few years for Cave have been dominated by tragedy. Specifically, the 2015 death of his 15-year-old son Arthur who fell from a cliff in England. A year later, Cave released Skeleton Tree, a singular work clearly defined by this loss and one of the strongest albums he's ever released. But where that record was sparse and disturbing in its frankness and personal anguish, Ghosteen, it's sister-album, is a sprawling meditation on life and death. Farther removed from the tragedy but just as heart-wrenching, the double-album manages to diffuse its length and subject matter with a few glimmers of optimism and existentialism to help guide the massive undertaking. While Ghosteen isn't perfect, it could come from no other place at no other time and carries its hefty baggage with an unheard-of grace.
~8.5
16. Solange - When I Get Home
The defining theme of When I Get Home, besides the obvious, is Solange's continuing journey as a person who's more famous than the actual music she makes. A Seat at the Table not only laid the groundwork for a successful career as Beyoncé's sister but also raised the bar, proving to be one of the best albums of the 2010's. As a result, her newest record eventually ends up feeling like a sophomore record, albeit an extremely successful one. She pushes her distinct sound towards the future while effectively living up to the hype, something that's easier said than done, especially for Solange.
~8.5
15.Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile
For an album as quiet and pensive as it is, looking through the liner notes for This Is How You Smile can be daunting. With over thirty different musicians contributing vocals, saxophone, steel pan drums and "footsteps", you get the feeling this is a very different record from what it is. While the music may prove to be collaborative, the subject and maestro remain the same. Roberto Carlos Lange utilizes his moniker and commandeers his band of merry men and women to illustrate his meditations on nostalgia, intimacy, and uncertainty as intricately as possible. In the end, This Is How You Smile is a complex production, one where Lange coordinates each player, using their vocals to ebb and flow amongst his and knowing just when each cymbal crash and where each piano key should be placed.
~9.0
14. Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
What may amount to one of the defining chamber-pop records of this decade (I'm hard-pressed to think of a better one, although Have You In My Wilderness can certainly make a case for itself) Titanic Rising is no doubt the pinnacle of Natalie Mering's long, strange voyage as Weyes Blood. Like all great chamber-pop, Mering's third album is lush and quiet at times, building its simplicity to only reveal itself more and more upon repeat listens - whilst allowing for just a few soaring arrangements and vocals to help carry the load. As a culmination of her previous work, it is both cathartic and resounding in its pop-allure, a testament to the niche she has carved for herself.
~9.0
13. Little Simz - GREY Area
In 2019, it is only fair that the best straight-up Hip-Hop album would come from Little Simz, the English MC who has been making waves for the last five years across the pond. It's a concise and breezy album, without the usual filler or purposely short tracks meant only to increase Spotify streams. In other words, in the saturated Rap community, it's a breath of fresh air, a moment where a promising young artist takes the reigns and definitively lays claim to her rightful place as one of the best of her generation.
~9.0
12. FKA Twigs - MAGDALENE
Coming off her lauded debut and a string of critically acclaimed EP's, Twigs has left me lukewarm for the most part (outside of a pretty surprising acting performance in 2019's Honey Boy). But Magdalene proves the exception to the rule of sophomore albums - a tight and potent futurist R&B that maintains her requisite Arca-ism's while focusing on her melodicism. Despite the left turn, Twigs ends up sounding much more comfortable, delivering most of her lines in hushed ruminations until her characteristic upper register comes pouring out. Even a Future verse can't bring her down.
~9.0
11. Ana Frango Elétrico - Little Electric Chicken Heart
Immediate and carefree MBP by way of Gal Costa and Buena Vista Social Club. In her vintage mindset, Ana Frango Elétrico emerges sounding like a veteran bandleader presenting a wide array of accomplished studio-lifers. All these experts coming together for the innate honor to work under her tutelage. But in reality, Ana is only 22 years old and this is only her second studio album. Hopefully, she doesn't lose her youthful exuberance by the time she really recruits those "experts".
~9.0
10. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
Of all the artists here, Sharon Van Etten may prove to be the most consistently heartbreaking and emotive. On each new album, she manages to string together long term dissolution with both triumph and loneliness in a way skirts confessionalism in favor of pure theatre. Each album seems to bring Van Etten's personal life, her eccentricities, and foibles back into the purview, but with a growing maturity and artistic confidence to help carry the load. So when Van Etten released her fifth album, one recorded during pregnancy and at the heights of her fame and artistic strength, it was sure to be exactly what we hoped to expect from the visionary artist.
~9.0
9. Jamila Woods - Legacy! Legacy!
Legacy! Legacy! is Woods at her most expansive, and cerebral. Each track devoted to a famous black artist, she is able to draw from her inner turmoil and pay tribute to those who laid the groundwork for her success. As Wood's second album, it both solidifies her own legacy and that of her role in African-American culture. Legacy - ✔, Legacy - ✔.
~9.0
8. Aldous Harding - Designer
Aldous Harding, the artist, has gotten increasingly more pop-centric and approachable as her music has developed over the years. Maybe as a byproduct, Aldous Harding, the person, has become increasingly more bizarre and eccentric since her stellar sophomore album Party. Designer proves to be exactly in the right place at the right time for Harding, giving her a break-out album that has led to her increasing exposure in 2019 and simultaneously her critical zenith.
~9.0
7. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
Following David Berman's suicide, It's not that it's more clear what his thought process was behind Purple Mountains' lone release. In fact, it's always been pretty obvious what this album was about, but maybe that's what makes it so heartbreaking. An enchanting, funny and blunt fixation on death and loneliness, Purple Mountains is not just a swan song, but the climax of an immaculate career from one of our greatest songwriters.
~9.0
6. Office Culture - A Life of Crime
Sophisti-pop by way of Brooklyn, New York ends up yielding many comparisons to the dense cityscapes of England's Joe Jackson and Prefab Sprout, but Office Culture owes more to its bureaucratic namesake than to any late-night parties. In reality, A Life of Crime is a drawn-out and beautiful trip through the first hour of a New Years' day spent alone at a low-lit bar outside Bed-Stuy.
~9.0
5. (Sandy) Alex G - House of Sugar
Alex Giannascoli has released ten or so albums over the last few years, mostly through Bandcamp, but it wasn't until 2017's Rocket that he really began to build up a following. That record and this year's House of Sugar work as a one-two punch, proving that Alex is not going anywhere.
~9.0
4. Cate Le Bon - Reward
Cate Le Bon's fifth album marks her first real foray into veteran-territory, having released two break-out albums back to back, Reward finally gives her the chance to put her feet up. However, Reward is also the sound of ambition on a grander scale, a work that's less focused on pop earworms and more on cementing Le Bon as an iconoclast.
~9.0
3. Big Thief - Two Hands
The second and better of the two Big Thief albums released this year solidifies their role as bonafide Indie stalwarts, contributing one of their strongest albums yet and further cementing Adrianne Lanker's inconceivable win streak. With lead single, "Not" landing on Obama's Best of 2019 playlist and with its debut on Colbert, Big Thief prove that they are no longer anyone's best-kept secret.
~9.5
2. Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
One of the most beautiful and well-crafted albums by any singer-songwriter in recent memory, Angel Olsen's lush fourth album somehow overshadows her sublime breakout on 2016's My Woman and proves she only gets better with age. If this isn't her masterpiece, I'm not sure how she can top it.
~9.5
1. Tyler, the Creator - IGOR
It's bittersweet when the best album of the year comes out in the first few months, but in a way, even in May, I knew nothing was going to top IGOR - even if I tried to tell myself that wasn't true. The good thing is that we've been able to watch this album's influence spread throughout popular music and enjoy the breadth of its success and its effect on other albums on this list. It's Tyler's strongest outing so far, crafting an immensely satisfying, depressing and fun break-up album flawlessly. Reinventing himself based on the strongest parts of Flower Boy - IGOR is the vision of Hip Hop to come and that is very exciting.
~9.5
Honorable Mention
- Dawn Richard - New Breed ~7.5
- Neil Young / Crazy Horse - Colorado ~7.5
- JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes Are Cornballs ~7.5
- Men I Trust - Oncle Jazz ~7.5
- Avey Tare - Cows on Hourglass Pond ~7.5
Top Five Eps
Tie for 5. and 4. Dry Cleaning - Sweet Princess ~8.5
Dry Cleaning - Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks ~8.5
1. Mor Mor - Some Place Else ~9.0
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