2019 List Week: The Top 100 Albums Of 2019
100. Sea Of Worry - Have A Nice Life
The third record from one of the most respected experimental rock bands of the internet era is probably their worst, but their songwriting proved to shine through as the album grew on me nearly every time I heard it in the late stages of this year. The songs here are dark and winding but less confrontational than ever before, but in this nuance the band manages to assemble some truly captivating tunes to get our list started at #100.
Listen To: Science Beat, Destinos
99. Back At The House - Hemlock Ernst & Kenny Segal
Hemlock Ernst, AKA Sam Herring on indie pop band Future Islands tries his hand at rapping on this record produced by well respected underground beat-crafter Kenny Segal. The pairing isn't perfect but more often than not the two are able to make successful crossover tracks indebted to decades of conscious hip hop.
Listen To: Addicted Youth, Jargonne
98. Cows On Hourglass Pond - Avey Tare
Runner-up for Animal Collective extended universe album of the year is Avey Tare's new surreal and psychedelic record Cows On Hourglass Pond. The record gives you almost nothing tangible to hold onto as it pulls you through a winding zany series of psych folk songs that morph and change faster than you can prepare yourself for making for a very interesting musical experience by all accounts.
Listen To: K. C. Yours, Saturdays
97. The Soft Cavalry - The Soft Cavalry
The new collaborative effort from Rachel Goswell of Slowdive and Minor Victories fame and her husband managed to surprise me as I went into it with low expectations. Thankfully the record pulls out a full array of instrumentation that sounds great on most of these songs and the songwriting manages to sound fresh and original from an artist who has done so much like this in the past, The Soft Cavalry is a triumph in its own right.
Listen To: Bulletproof, The Velvet Fog
96. LSD - Labrinth, Sia & Diplo
This mega-collaboration was a long time coming but once it finally arrived I was surprised by how much of its short tracklist I genuinely enjoyed. Diplo's beats are lively pop standard instrumentals and Sia and Labrinth prove to have more chemistry than I would have ever guessed making these songs really shine despite the fact that they fall for some modern pop cliches.
Listen To: Genius, Thunderclouds
95. Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? - Deerhunter
Deerhunter has stripped their sound back to the essentials on Disappeared and made a mostly agreeable set of catchy indie rock songs. When the band does step outside of these boundaries results may vary at least on this record but there is enough quality content here to more than justify giving it a listen.
Listen To: Plains, Death In Midsummer
94. Thanks For The Dance - Leonard Cohen
It doesn't feel like its been three years since the passing of Leonard Cohen, but long after the music industry tends to have already run dry their well of posthumous music we get our first taste of what Leonard Cohen may have had in store for us before his death. Carefully assembled by his son this record is short and far from perfect but the experience of hearing new music from Cohen was unmatched by posthumous record standards this year.
Listen To: The Night of Santiago, What Happens To The Heart
93. Free Nationals - Free Nationals
Anderson .Paak's longtime backing band the Free Nationals finally put out a record of their own late this year and while the quality of the songs can sometimes depend on the performance of the many guests, the instrumentals are as rich as ever and I loved one after another on this incredibly smooth and jazz inspired record.
Listen To: Beauty & Essex, Time
92. Slayyyter - Slayyyter
Slayyyter has been one of the newer voices being hyped up out of the hyper pop community in 2019 which is why I was surprised to find her record to be sonically pretty tame and agreeable. Despite the limited sound palette she spends most of her time writing catchy hooks and singing personality filled bars over these tracks that make for a simple formula, but one that becomes irresistible when done right.
Listen To: Daddy AF, Celebrity
91. Pyroclasts - Sunn0)))
The second of Sunn's two records this year really surprised me as well, these tracks are far more than afterthoughts. Labelled as some kind of studio recording jam sessions they are some of the heaviest and fullest drones I have heard in years and it seems fitting that one of the forefathers of the genre is capable of showing up and dropping two fantastic records in it just a few months apart.
Listen To: Frost, Ascension
90. Ribbons - Bibio
Bibio had never really impressed me until he went full on ambient a few years ago with Phantom Brickworks. Since then I've been paying attention and while Ribbons didn't do quite as much for me as that last record it is clear he has learned from that experience and is making more interesting tracks than ever before.
Listen To: Watch The Flies, Curls
89. My Finest Work Yet - Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird's My Finest Work Yet doesn't quite live up to its namesake but it does contain a number of great songs that show off his strength in songwriting and are backed by some of the sweetest instrumentals you'll hear in indie folk this year. From his kooky metaphors to trademark whistling there is no mistaking this record for anything other than Andrew Bird being Andrew Bird.
Listen To: Manifest, Sisyphus
88. Hyperion - Gesaffelstein
The second record from French house producer Gesaffelstein is a mixed bag of conflicted priorities that features some very underwhelming collaborations. But between the lines there are a number of absolutely fantastic dark house tracks here that have been in my rotation all year and prove how much talent Ges still has to assemble the kind of muttering and murky house tracks he originally came up off of.
Listen To: Reset, Vortex
87. Bubba - Kaytranada
Kaytranada traded out the heavy jazz influence of his debut record and surprised with a true to form dance and club music record. Despite being released late in their year and being a stylistic switch-up this thing got some attention from notable places, and not just because of the talented roster of features it boasts across its tracklist.
Listen To: 10%, The Worst In Me
86. From Out Of Nowhere - Jeff Lynne's ELO
Did I think an ELO record would sound this fresh in 2019? Absolutely not. Despite some lulls in the tracklist for the most part this is ELO writing some of the best music they've released in at least two decades if not three and you owe it to yourself as a fan of the band or of classic rock in general to check out the highlights from this thing.
Listen To: From Out Of Nowhere, Help Yourself
85. Romance - Camila Cabello
Camila's second solo record is just as inconsistent as her first but the albums high points once again prove her immense potential. On tracks across this album she stands out with great songwriting and fantastic performances that could elevate her above her contemporaries if she was ever able to put it all together into one great record,
Listen To: My Oh My, Shameless
84. First Taste - Ty Segall
Taste is an example of Ty Segall's relentless creativity in the world of rock music as he once again prolifically releases music in a busy 2019 and manages to encapsulate a number of styles. The record is a low-fi garage rock outing with plenty of grit and explosive mixes to be found all across its pretty consistent tracklist, as always Ty Segall is somebody I'm looking forward to hearing from again in 2020.
Listen To: Taste, Ice Plant
83. Outer Peace - Toro Y Moi
Since pioneering chillwave earlier this decade Toro Y Moi has been a reliable source of records that at least feature a handful of good tracks and Outer Peace is no different. Taking a mostly chill approach the songs aren't immediate but some of them will definitely work their way into your head, and ultimately into your playlist or rotation after that.
Listen To: Ordinary Pleasure, Monte Carlo
82. Lost Girls - Bat For Lashes
Lost Girls is a much simpler rendition of the Bat For Lashes sound but in that simplicity she has managed to find some incredibly catchy tunes. The dark electro-pop songs on this record are guaranteed to get stuck in your head and while its appeal may be a little bit shallow there is enough here to keep you coming back over and over again.
Listen To: Feel For You, Vampires
81. On Time Out Of Time - William Basinski
William Basinski is an name in experimental and avant-garde music that just gets peoples heads turning whenever he comes up and this year most of that attention was directed at On Time. The record is a distant and spacey meeting of ambient and electronic music that is capable of lulling you into some serious punches when it wants to and made for one of the most memorable ambient experiences I had this year.
Listen To: 1.1, 1.7
80. Turn Off The Lights - Kim Petras
The complete edition of Kim Petras' Halloween mixtape dropped just in time this year to spawn a new catchphrase in "Boo Ah" but more importantly to soundtrack the holiday and get us all hooked on some of its catchiest tunes. The spooky thematic elements laced all over these explosive electro pop sounds make it all the more rewarding an experience and one that I'm sure many people will enjoy listening to in the many non-October months of the year this year.
Listen To: There Will Be Blood, TRANSylvania
79. No Home Record - Kim Gordon
The long awaited debut solo record from former Sonic Youth frontwoman Kim Gordon is an unpredictable experimental rock record that interpolates a number of different genres and has some twists and turns you won't see coming. Not every path the record goes down works but there is enough creativity here to more than warrant a spot on the list.
Listen To: Sketch Artist, Paprika Pony
78. In The Morse Code Of Break Lights - The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers never quite blow me away with their sound but they have a fascinating consistency that makes record after record a treat packed full of smooth and catchy indie pop songs that are easy to fall in love with, Break Lights is no different.
Listen To: Dreamlike And On The Rush. Falling Down The Stairs Of Your Smile
77. Why Me? Why Not - Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher continues his surprisingly good post Oasis and Beady Eye solo career with a second punchy fun rock record. He is snarky, unabashed and incredibly catchy across these songs and spawns yet another set of conventional rock tunes that make me hope for an Oasis reunion sooner rather than later, because this would be great to hear the brothers back together on.
Listen To: The River, Shockwave
76. Fear Inoculum - Tool
Tool was back this year, and that alone may make it some peoples favorite musical year of this entire decade. While there are some questionable interludes on this record the bulk of its content sees Tool continuing to push their sound forward in creative and technical new ways. While it may not be as great as their classic records the album certainly avoided some of the big pitfalls comeback records tend to always get caught up in.
Listen To: 7empest, Pneuma
75. This Is Not A Safe Place - Ride
DIIV took the cake for shoegaze revitalizing this year and we will talk about that a little later in the list but one of the things that has surprised me in a really good way these past few years is how fresh shoegaze legends Ride have sounded. One of the big three original bands in the genre they have dropped two records, an EP and a remix album since they came back and I have enjoyed pretty much all of it, Safe Place included.
Listen To: Future Love, In This Room
74. A Bathful Of Ecstacy - Hot Chip
Hot Chip may have gone a bit to generic and predictable on their last record but one thing you can't accuse this record of is being too accessible. Experimenting with punchier percussion and cloudier mixes paired with some longer and more dense songwriting on the record Hot Chip really found a way to make their sound interesting again and I was excited by it all year.
Listen To: Hungry Child, Melody Of Love
73. Flamagra - Flying Lotus
Flamagra isn't quite the thematic statement that Flying Lotus has been known to make this decade, but despite some missteps his talent shows through on a number of ways across this long and inconsistent record. When he gets it right he gets it just as right as ever and some of the records sneakiest and most underrated songs have been emerging more and more as favorites as the year goes by.
Listen To: Fire Is Coming, Post-Requisite
72. Late Night Feelings - Mark Ronson
After he threw in back a decade or two on his last record Uptown Special Mark Ronson was back to a much more rewarding sound on Late Night Feelings. Not only are his instrumentals pretty consistent but the impressive cast of features across this record give it some great variety, if also a few inconsistencies.
Listen To: True Blue, Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
71. 1000 gecs - 100 gecs
Me trying to explain to you exactly what 1000 gecs is would be doing the record a great disservice. Laura Les and Dylan Brady team up for one of the strangest sets of genre blending hyper pop songs I have ever heard that really need to be experienced to even be believed. Before you write off this record or skip over it because of something you heard, give it another listen and it should reveal everything you need to know about it directly to you.
Listen To: Ringtone, Stupid Horse
70. Transportation - Your Old Droog
The second of Droog's two records this year turned out to be the better one as the album is full of some of his most lively performances and most focused tracks to date. The records thematic elements are consistently a treat and the beats and bars across the album are plenty capable of fitting into even the most critical of old heads criteria for good lowkey hip hop.
Listen To: Train Love, My Plane
69. Grey Area - Little Simz
UK hip hop had a year full of creative releases from young artists and Grey Area was no different. The record saw Simz pushing the envelope of hip hop with great beats and creative song structures but at the heart of the album is her excellent performances. The hip hop worlds embrace of the record was immediate and she earned a Mercury prize nomination for her excellent efforts.
Listen To: Boss, Wounds
68. XYZ - Gloo
This collaborative effort between experimental electronica standout Iglooghost and frequent collaborators BABii and Kai Whiston turned into an explosive little side project that I am very excited to hear more from. Combining their styles together amounted to a sugary zany and consistently rewarding set of tracks that refuse to meet you halfway when it comes to personality. This is one for the electronica heads to take a casual dive into, and I bet you'll find something you like.
Listen To: Lockii, Teef Chizzel
67. Rose Gold - Kitty
Kitty's second dive into the world of low-fi synth pop went even better than the first and featured a catchier sound palette and fantastic songwriting. At its best the record is bright and explosive synth pop pairing Kitty's perfectly sweet vocal performance with walls of shimmering keys that is absolutely infectious on the ear from start to finish.
Listen To: B.O.M.B, Strange Magic
66. Help Us Stranger - The Raconteurs
Jack White's story driven rock group is back after a full decade of waiting for a third record from the band. Help Us may not be everything its predecessor was but it contains some great radio rock tunes with a bevy of great lyrics and sharp hooks. Musically while they don't push the envelope the songs here pop with a strong and rustic mix giving the tracks a twang that had become quintessential Raconteurs in the last decade.
Listen To: Bored And Razed, Help Me Stranger
65. An Obselisk - Titus Andronicus
An Obelisk is a short but sweet politically charged, true to form punk record. While it does have some interpolations of conventional rockisms and the folk inspiration the band has always had a touch of it mainly sticks to its guns and pens a handful of snarky blistering rock tunes that challenge the state of politics in 2019, just what punk music is all about.
Listen To: I Blame Society, Tumult Around The World
64. Rap Or Go To The League - 2 Chainz
2 Chainz effectively blends the worlds of popular trap and conscious hip hop on a record that explores his come-up and dives into race politics across its entire tracklist. Managing to make these statements so catchy one after another is the records biggest triumph and it should stand as one of the better trap records you'll hear in the over-saturated genre this year.
Listen To: Threat 2 Society, Rule The World
63. Fever Dream - Of Monsters And Men
Of Monsters And Men's first record in four years is much closer to their critically acclaimed debut than its underwhelming follow-up. The songs here pop off their mix and test the limitations vocally and compositionally of the typical radio rock tunes and do it with a consistently fun attitude,
Listen To: Alligator, Waiting For The Snow
62. Injury Reserve - Injury Reserve
After a pair of critically acclaimed mixtapes put them on the map Arizona's own Injury Reserve set out to finally release their debut studio album. While there are some strange artistic choices here for the most part the record is as creative and hard-hitting an album as their mixtapes that preceded it and project a bright future for the trio.
Listen To: Jailbreak The Tesla, Gravy N' Biscuits
61. Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center
Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame teams up with indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers for a lyrically sharp and instrumentally sweet set of indie folk tracks that don't have too many sharp edges but consistently please with their great execution.
Listen To: Dylan Thomas, Exception To The Rule
60. Melly vs. Melvin - YNW Melly
This may be the most surprising entry on the entire list, for me and for anybody reading this. I did not expect to like this record AT ALL and thought I would dismiss it into a pile of other trap records that disappointed me this year. To my surprise this is a collection of work in progress songs from the incarcerated artist that add up to a series of short but very catchy trap tunes that stuck with me for much longer than most I heard this year.
Listen To: I'm A Star, Two Face
59. Ghosteen - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Ghosteen is the long, haunting and beautiful conclusion to Nick Cave's trilogy of slower records this decade. The songs here are long swelling experiences that all add up for a total musical journey through the psyche of one of musics all time great songwriters and is an experience I wouldn't miss out on this year.
Listen To: Night Raid, Hollywood
58. Fucking Bliss - American Pleasure Club
Sam Ray continues his creative streak with yet another great American Pleasure Club album that will test you with hard walls of noise next to distant whispered vocals. The record is a rollercoaster emotional experience that captivated me time and time again throughout the year and is a true example of DIY indie music succeeding in pushing the envelope.
Listen To: Ban This Book, Dragged Around The Lawn
57. Almost Free - FIDLAR
One of the truest hot and cold records of the year I had no idea what to expect going into this album and what I got was a mixed bag of sounds that includes some eye rolling cliches paired with some of my favorite rock songs I heard all year period. The album is far from perfect but it has so much achievement in its individual tracks I had no choice to put it here.
Listen To: Scam Likely, By Myself
56. Arizona Baby - Kevin Abstract
Kevin Abstract's newest solo record had a rough release that didn't do it any favors but once we had the whole thing it was clear that some of Brockhampton's collective creativity was creeping in. Despite the records length it does have some consistency issues, but its the amazing highlights that land the record this far up the list.
Listen To: Baby Boy, Peach
55. Fine Line - Harry Styles
Harry Styles second record suffers from some of the same problems as his first one. But just like his first one it has some shimmering highs that show off the true potential of his talent and if he is ever able to put it all together and release a great record I'll be the first to fall in love with it. For now we have a smooth but inconsistent collection of fun pop rock songs.
Listen Tn: Lights Up, Golden
54. Eve - Rapsody
Rapsody puts together a conscious jazz rap record with a tight theme on Eve. Each track is named after and dedicated to different successful black women which makes each song its own individual experience, and when put together it becomes a lyrically sharp collection of inspiring and smart rap songs.
Listen To: Ibtihaj, Iman
53. Let's Rock - The Black Keys
On Let's Rock The Black Keys take it back to basics. But rather than simplifying their sound and making a lesser version they dial it back and make a hard grooving true to form rock record that pulls heavy influence from the classics to put together a short, sweet and fiery rock record that I couldn't stop coming back to this year.
Listen To: Lo/Hi, Shine A Little Light
52. Schlagenhelm - Black Midi
One of the most creative rock records of the year came completely out of nowhere and made overnight indie darlings out of Black Midi. Even though not every experiment works for the most part this is a driving and dark but incredibly fun to listen to experimental rock record that may be the stepping stone leading to something amazing to come.
Listen To: Near DT,MI, 953
51. Remind Me Tomorrow - Sharon Van Etten
While not every moment on Remind Me Tomorrow is beaming with powerful performances all around, there are plenty of moments that do and when they show up they're capable of matching almost anything I heard this year. Some of the freshest ideas I've ever heard on a Sharon Van Etten record show up here and make the record a treat to listen to despite some more mundane songs here and there.
Listen To: Seventeen, You Shadow
50. Mirrorland - Earthgang
Mirrorland features some of the highest highs I heard from any hip hop group this year and it stems from their immense creativity. While the record achilles heel is its inconsistency and number of weaker songs it could definitely serve as a springboard for the band to do something amazing going forward because they are clearly overflowing with talent and a number of amazing tracks more than prove it here,
Listen To: LaLa Challenge, This Side
49. Buoys - Panda Bear
Of all the things in the extended Animal Collective universe since 2017 I think this may be my favorite of the bunch. On Buoys Noah takes what he has always brought to the legendary experimental pop band and delivers it here. With strange outer-worldly sound that somehow form into instantely catchy melodies this record is everything that indie fans could ask for out of a more natural and less electronic Panda Bear solo record.
Listen To: Token, Inner Monologue
48. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt. 1 - Foals
The second part of Foals first album in four years fell far below the precedent that was set by the first one, which is one of the punchiest and most emotional indie rock experiences I had this year. The record has songs that jam you out of your seat paired next to ones that drag you through an emotional tailspin with a strong consistency that they have failed to find on occasion in the past. Despite its short length and underwhelming follow-up this record absolutely deserves to be enjoyed by many an indie rock fan this year.
Listen To: I'm Done With The World, Exits
47. Seeing Other People - Foxygen
Foxygen has some of the best indie music of this entire decade in their back catalog and while Seeing Other People isn't quite that good, the unique elements of the band still shine through. Even on simpler songs Jonathan Rado's brilliant knack for great instrumentals is just as strong as ever and Sam France's charasmatic and swagger filled vocal performances turn good songs into great ones with shocking consistency, don't miss this record.
Listen To: Livin A Lie, The Thing Is
46. ZUU - Denzel Curry
After Denzel Curry showed off his versatility and strength in songwriting on last years Taboo, this year he took a simpler approach on ZUU. The record won't test you much, as it is just one smooth hard-hitting banger after another for an album that is much more interested in showing you how well Denzel can do one thing, rather than how many different things he is capable of in the first place. For fans that wanted a return to his more accessible and moshpit ready sound, ZUU is for you and I promise you'll like it.
Listen To: Ricky, Wish
45. Czarface Meets Ghostface - Czarface & Ghostface Killah
Last year Czarface, aka Inspectah Deck, MC Esoteric and 7L, released a collaborative album with MF Doom that the hip hop world quite enjoyed. This year they may have even outdone themselves by teaming up with another former Wu-Tang member in Ghostface Killah and making an even tighter and more consistent tracklist. Old head rap fans had a lot to love this year and one of the strongest moments came on Czarface Meets Ghostface as the collaboration lived up to everything it was billed to be.
Listen To: Mongolian Beef, Powers And Stuff
44. On The Line - Jenny Lewis
It had been five years since Jenny Lewis dropped the best album of her career yet in The Voyager and its highly anticipated follow-up didn't disappoint. Jenny's brilliant songwriting is the huge highlight of the record but that doesn't mean their aren't some great somber vocal performances on ballads and jammy guitar riffs paired with punchy percussion on the harder hitting songs. With some consistently creative tunes laced throughout this record it managed to be one of my favorite rock albums of the year time and time again.
Listen To: Red Bull & Hennessy, Wasted Youth
43. Forever Turned Around - Whitney
Whitney showed up in 2016 and dropped a debut record that made them instant indie darlings. Whether it was the long gap between releases or some other factors I can't think of they didn't get nearly the favor this time around with the underrated Forever Turned Around. The low-fi indie folk songwriting is here but with the absolutely sugary vocal harmonies that soar over the tracks they are more complete sonically than ever and hopefully will get the band the attention they deserve at some point going forward.
Listen To: Giving Up, Used To Be Lonely
42. Social Cues - Cage The Elephant
Cage The Elephant took an interesting change of pace on their last record 2015's Tell Me I'm Pretty, but on Social Cues they return to the dark and punchy sound that they perfected on their third record Melophobia. While this record isn't quite the album that Melo is, stepping in the direction of one of the best rock albums of this entire decade is certainly a good idea and it shows here.
Listen To: House Of Glass, Social Cues
41. Life Metal - Sunn0)))
2019 needed a truly great proper drone metal album and some of the genres legends showed up to drop just that. On Life Metal they assemble some bright, explosive and absolutely harrowing drones that elicit grand emotional highs and bellowing lows for one of the most captivating true to form releases the genre has had in years.
Listen To: Troubled Air, Between Slephnir's Breaths
40. Everyday Life - Coldplay
Everyday Life is Coldplay's "experimental" new album, and while it doesn't quite sound as great as the bands work in the 2000's it is still a very solid pop rock album. While it's long tracklist isn't perfect it is littered with plenty of high points that show a much more poignant side of the band than we have seen in a long time, and it's a refreshing moment for their career and all of music this year.
Listen To: Arabesque. Guns
39. The Origin Of My Depression - Uboa
For experimental music fans, 2019 may have been the year you were introduced to one of your new favorites in Uboa. The groundbreaking transgender experimental music artist had her breakout moment this year channeling her feelings into pummeling, harsh and absolutely destructive music that rill rip your soul out and pummel it from start to finish. Diving into the extremes of music can often go awry quickly but Uboa has so effectively channeled her emotions into the song that almost everyone will find a part of themselves in it.
Listen To: Detransitioning, Misspent Youth
38. Thrashing Thru The Passion - The Hold Steady
Thrashing Thru The Passion feels like one of the most creative rock bands of the 2000's returning to form in spectacular fashion and bringing their innovative take on rock music back around. With strong narratives comfortably relaxed vocal melodies and some of the bands tightest hooks in years this record proved to be a special one in rock music and spawned a ton of fantastic one liners.
Listen To: Star 18, Denver Haircut
37. So Much Fun - Young Thug
So Much Fun is one of those long, feature heavy trap records that are so common these days, but what sets it apart from the crowd is Thugger's relentless creativity. Songs all across this record seep with originality and fresh takes on old trap narratives. One great song after another shows up on this record and helps it stands above almost all of the other popular trap records this year.
Listen To: Mannequin Challenge, Just How It Is
36. I Love You, It's A Fever Dream - The Tallest Man On Earth
The warm, rich sound palette of The Tallest Man On Earth's unique folkisms is back and as good as ever. Across this record Kristian performs one beautiful low-fi folk tune after another with a spectacular consistency. If indie folk is your bag then you have to do yourself a favor and dive into this well performed and wall written record.
Listen To: The Running Styles Of New York, What I've Been Kicking Around
35. Infest The Rats Nest - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
On Infest The Rats Nest King Gizzard drops a much better album than their first of the year. They trade out corny indie pop for blistering trash metal straight out of the mid 80's. The band brings a harsh and explosive energy that helped define rock music this year and proved the bands unmatched creativity as they take on yet another genre with their frequent release schedule.
Listen To: Planet B, Mars For The Rich
34. Caligula - Lingua Ignota
On Caligula the breakout record from Lingua Ignota she is willing to do just about anything to beat the listener into submission. From shrill distorted screams to pummeling walls of sound and washed out jarring effects this record is an absolute hellstorm from start to finish. Collectively these songs make up one of the most unique and crushing musical experiences I've had all decade and I would only suggest diving into it if you're really prepared to be absolutely crushed by this record.
Listen To: MAY FAILURE BE YOUR NOOSE, DO YOU DOUBT ME TRAITOR
33. American Football - American Football
After a disappointing but overly hated comeback record a few years ago American Football sat down and wrote a true follow-up to their 1999 indie rock classic with their third record this year. With sharp glittering acoustic instrumental palettes, beautiful and angsty vocalizing and melodramatic songwriting they have absolutely everything they need to assemble another classic emo record and they do so very effectively on their third album, and give us a lot to look forward to.
Listen To: Silhouettes, Heir Apparent
32. I Also Want To Die In New Orleans - Sun Kil Moon
I Also Want To Die In New Orleans is yet another Mark Kozelek record, that means long songs winding narratives and a heavy focus on Mark's storytelling. Despite his frequent release schedule he seems far from running out of stories to tell as everything here was captivating and fresh time and time again. From the records long and detail heavy recollections to confrontational reactions to current events Mark is slipping creativity and originality into just about anywhere he can find it in these songs, and as long as it continues to sound great I'll continue to return to them.
Listen To: Cows, Day In America
31. Nothing Great About Britain - Slowthai
One of the best debut records of 2019 came from soon to be grime superstar Slowthai, who exploded onto the scene with a lyrically sharp socially charged attitude on Nothing Great About Britain. The record showed a number of things including immense creativity, respect from genre veterans and most importantly a ton of raw talent that I think will make Slowthai a voice to look forward to hearing from for a very long time.
Listen To: Nothing Great About Britain, Doorman
30. Clarity - Kim Petras
There is more straight up pop music across this years list week than ever before and alongside some of her fantastic contemporaries Kim Petras was a big part of that. Her debut album Clarity stood alongside her awesome hard-hitting Halloween mixtape Turn Off The Lights to make an absolutely excellent year for her. With infectious songwriting, sugary electronc instrumentals and an absolutely unmistakably voice Kim set herself up to be a star for a long time and will likely go off to do great things, all starting with the excellent Clarity.
Listen To: Clarity, All I Do Is Cry
29. Anoyo - Tim Hecker
Tim Hecker's Anoyo is the only true ambient album appearing on the list today and it is for very good reason that he lands this high. Just like he has been doing all decade his strange, unique and musically deconstructed compositions stand out among the crowd and make him one of the most impactful individual artists in all of modern ambient. With yet another gorgeous sonic palette on this record and a loose theme of nature meeting a rigid sense of metallics the record is one unexpected sound collage after another and was my go to release for the genre this decade.
Listen To: that world, into the void
28. Deceiver - DIIV
On their third record Deceiver DIIV returns to what made them so special in the first place. Hard-hitting, fast grooving heavy and punchy shoegaze revivalism. As dream pop has carried the torch for groups like Slowdive and Cocteau Twins, bands like DIIV are carrying on the brooding layered sounds of bands like Ride and My Bloody Valentine. From the composition of their songs to the finite details of their performances DIIV is carrying the torch for one of the most beloved genres of yester-year, and released one of the best records of the year doing it.
Listen To: Blankenship, Skin Game
27. uknowhatimsayin¿ - Danny Brown
Danny Brown's experimental odyssey Atrocity Exhibition continues to be one of the most ground-breaking rap albums of this decade, and by comparison uknowhatimsayin is a bit more tame in its execution. But this quality gives the listener an opportunity to get familiar with the other facets of Danny Brown's game. Across this record is plenty of fantastic beat crafting from Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest fame, but the highlights come in Danny Brown's varied but excellent performances and his unique lyrical style. This record is Danny at his most comfortable, and he is clearly thriving from start to finish here.
Listen To: Combat, Best Life
26. All My Heroes Are Cornballs - JPEGMAFIA
Last year JPEGMAFIA took hip hop and turned it on its head with an explosive, compositionally experimental and sonically diverse record, and in 2019 he pushed even further. Cornballs is almost unidentifiable as hip hop given how many different sounds and styles you will hear throughout the tracklist that completely break the narrative of the genre. Peggy has almost assembled a sound all his own and that is a very difficult thing to do musically in the internet age, it's then a huge credit to him that the sound is so consistently fascinating.
Listen To: Jesus Forgive Me I Am A Thot, Post Verified Lifestyle
25. ANIMA - Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke's first solo album in 5 years kind of came out of nowhere but meets the sparse electronic landscapes his solo work has always had with a brutal emotional maturity that makes them hit harder than ever before. The sounds on this record are just as good as they've always been on Thom Yorke projects but the songwriting has improved immensely from Tomorrow's Modern Boxes and it makes every time Thom's vocals emerge from the hazy landscapes of these songs hit so much harder. The record really surprised me with how encapsulating of an experience it was and I ended up returning to it far more than I thought I would throughout the last few months of the year, and it grew on me a ton becoming one of my favorites here on this list,
Listen To: Dawn Chorus, Last I Heard
24. K-12 - Melanie Martinez
Melanie Martinez had a cult hit on her hands with the tightly conceptual Crybaby in 2015 but it has been a rocky road since then. Thankfully Melanie was back to basics on 2019 and released a record with an even stronger thematic narrative than her last one, with just as fantastic results. The songs on K-12 feel just as unique as Crybaby and it is truly a moody thematic pop record that only Melanie is capable of. It felt so great to have her back making new music this year, and on top of that she may have even gone on to out-do herself with an album and film that have such a strong inherent charm they became almost completely irresistible.
Listen To: Wheels On The Bus, Lunchbox Friends
23. Girl With Basket Of Fruit - Xiu Xiu
There are a LOT of records on this list I would recommend blindly to just about anyone, Girl With Basket Of Fruit is not one of them. This insane genreless blur is one of the most challenging listens you'll have in 2019 but almost every song here has hidden within it some level of brilliance, even if Xiu Xiu tries very hard to disguise it. The record is a swirling often nightmarish descent into the psyche of frontman Jamie Stewart that will test your every musical intuition, and is rightfully genius for doing so. Give this album a shot, if you're brave enough.
Listen To: Girl With Basket Of Fruit, Pumpkin Attack On Mommy And Daddy
22. The Lost Boy - YBN Cordae
On The Lost Boy YBN Cordae proved right out of the gate why he is one of the most hyped up young rappers, and why he more than deserved his spot on the XXL 2019 freshman list. On his debut record he assembles a collection of rap songs that prove his versatility both as a songwriter and a performer. With a feature list that proves how comfortable the veteran rap world is with accepting him as one of their own this early on in his career, it may be best to listen to the people who know best and give Cordae credit for his excellent first full length project.
Listen To: Bad Idea, RNP
21. Titanic Rising - Weyes Blood
Weyes Blood has long been waiting for her moment in the chamber pop spotlight and with the help of Jonathan Rado of Foxygen fame she was able to assemble a record so stunningly beautiful that it forced us all to stop and listen. From the huge swelling waves of synths to the tight orchestral backgrounds the high points on Titanic Rising are some of the most potent and jaw-dropping of any album I heard in 2019. While some of the deeper cuts tend to fall through the cracks there is a selection of some of the best chamber pop songs of the year and even of the decade to be found here.
Listen To: Movies, Andromeda
20. Hi This Is Flume - Flume
Flume really did something special when he surprised dropped this mixtape in march of this year. Unlike his previous records the songs here have a much shorter runtime and a strong sense of urgency in the musical approach. This makes the record feel like a nonstop assault of every idea Flume had, thrown into a over and heated until absolutely nuclear, one after another after another. The shimmering yet shrill sounds he operates with are a blast to hear time and time again from the hardest bangers to the smoothest jams. The nature of the project as a mixtape may be its greatest feature, as Flume is willing to do just about anything and it pays off over and over again across the projects tracklist for one of the best experiences electronic music had to offer this year,
Listen To: High Beams, Is It Cold In The Water? Remix
19. Plastic Anniversary - Matmos
On Plastic Anniversary Matmos venture out on yet another strange and completely unique sonic experimentation. The album is an experiment in sample based music that is entirely assembled of samples made of various kinds of plastics. From riot shields to billiard balls the record has an astonishing level of sonic variety but it is the amazing compositions these samples manage to fit into that is so creative and makes the record stand out. With unique and intricately detailed textures all over the album these songs have a boosted impact and an instantly recognizable sound that could only have come from the genius brains behind Matmos.
Listen To: The Crying Pill, Thermoplastic Riot Shield
18. Ventura - Anderson .Paak
There was no smoother listening experience to be found in 2019 than on Anderson .Paak's Ventura and absolutely nobody is surprised. With one song after another performed in his instantly recognizable and utterly infectious demeanor backed by a series of expertly produced consistently rich soul and funk inspired instrumentals, Ventura is in a class all its own as far as musical experiences go in 2019. You'd be hard pressed to find a collection of songs more eager to be vibed to than this, which is a rousing compliment on all fronts.
Listen To: King James, Winners Circle
17. Thank U, Next - Ariana Grande
True to form no strings attached pop music just had a really fucking good year in 2019. Ariana Grande dropped one of the biggest records of the year that was the very definition of contemporary in 2019, and it fucking rocked. The songwriting was fantastic, the beats were punchy and fun and the performances from Ari hit it out of the park one time after another. The record was unanimously critically acclaimed and had a number of smash hits among its tracklist, thank u, next succeeded in just about every way an album can, and for very good reason.
Listen To: Ghostin, Break Up With Your Girlfriend I'm Bored
16. i,i - Bon Iver
The interpolation of electronic elements into Bon Iver's sound became the saving grace moment for a band that had failed to impress me up to that point, and 22, A Million became one of my favorite albums of 2016 as a result. While i,i may not be quite on the level of the previous record it does feel like Bon Iver successfully keeping one foot in their original sound and one foot in their new sound. They manage to have rich, natural sounding swells that call back to the band folk history, but the details of where the record shines come from the diverse artificial sounds that Justin Vernon interpolates into his songs, and the massive variety of emotional complexity that can occur as a result. Effectively combining the two was always going to be difficult, but on i,i the band pulled it off with flying colors.
Listen To: Faith, Hey Ma
15. Joey Always Smiled - Mark Kozelek & Petra Haden
If you like what Mark Kozelek has done on his own records and with Sun Kil Moon over the past few years, then Joey Always Smiled may be an album of the year candidate for you. If you hate it, keep walking because this record is one of the most meta and personality filled entries into the Kozmos there has ever been. From childhood tales to concert stories Mark's diatribes make distinct and frequent references to the ongoing stories he tells through his songs and with one of the richest instrumental palettes he's had over the past few years and no shortage of interesting things to sing about there is no doubt that Joey Always Smiled is one of the best releases Mark has put out since Common As Light And Love.
Listen To: 1983 Era MTV Music Is The Soundtrack To Outcasts Being Bullied By Jocks, Parakeet Prison
14. All Mirrors - Angel Olsen
Angel Olsen's fantastic vocal ability and fantastic songwriting is what put her on the map back when My Woman came out in 2016. But both of those things have become even more spectacular on All Mirrors where she lends her talents to more detailed compositions that create higher more impassioned vocal moments. Despite the songs being less immediate this time around they are more than capable of growing on you and given the chance may become some of your favorite tracks of the year, if my experience is anything to go off of.
Listen To: All Mirrors, Summer
13. Father Of The Bride - Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend's long awaited comeback album didn't disappoint, not with its jangly indie tunes in the front half of the record or its touching wintery ballads towards the end. The band proved that they are still creatively one of the best and had as much preppy charm as ever with a long but consistently rewarding record. Listening through Father Of The Bride may not challenge you or drop anything all that new but it does have a consistency that is nearly unmatched with great performances, stellar songwriting and one clever lyric after another from start to finish.
Listen To: Harmony Hall, This Life
12. Animated Violence Mild - Blanck Mass
Animated Violence Mild may not be unique in its results, but it certainly is in its execution. If you want a record to absolutely pummel you into submission this year there are a few places you can look, but none better than this record. With a huge and repeatedly explosive sound palette the record just beats you over the head one time after another with wild compositions that refuse to settle down and packs its mix from front to back with dense sounds carefully organized to sound chaotic. Despite the fact that the record is a whirlwind of destruction that will knock you out of your seat and probably break a window or two, it is worth every second of it for how rich and brilliantly assembled the sounds are.
Listen To: Death Drop, Love Is A Parasite
11. The Practice Of Love - Jenny Hval
Jenny Hval established herself as one of the premiere names in chamber pop music throughout this decade and the evolution of her sound has been marvelous and captivating throughout. Trading out her own spoken word for some somber but tangible guest performances so that she can take over some of the best sung vocals of her entire career. With instrumentals that become indebted to free form jazz in their saxophone interpolations to spoken word collages that tell winding intricate narratives the album never lets you push it to the background, despite its incredibly soft sound, and that alone is one of the biggest triumphs of the year.
Listen To: Ashes To Ashes, Accident
10. There Existed An Addiction To Blood - Clipping
It should be no surprise that after an Afro-Futuristic concept album about a runaway space slave that Clipping would come back with something else creative. On There Existed An Addiction To Blood Clipping reinvents the idea of horror rap, trading out haunted house samples and screamed vocals for some genuinely haunting instrumentals and shocking, brutal lyrics. From start to finish Daveed Diggs and company beat you repeatedly into submission with a scary brand of rap that consistently genuinely envelops you into the albums world. Letting the record take you is a frequently unsettling sensation that I was thrilled to have over and over again, and is a tremendous triumph of creativity for the hip hop genre. Clipping has once again proven how far ahead of their contemporaries they are and dropped yet another one of the most incredible and unique rap records of this decade.
Listen To: Blood Of The Fang, The Show
9. Brutalism - The Drums
If there is one record in my top 10 that was particularly decisive, it's this one. Some people song the vein performances and summery blissful songwriting as more annoying than topical, but not only do the sounds explode out of their songs time and time again, but they perfectly match the albums themes. The tangible feeling of heartbreak being your only problem in the world, and looking for a reason to cry while in paradise had many people calling the record pretentious. But I see the record as a triumph for so effectively pulling off this attitude, its closer to satire than ignorance and once you accept the bands artistic choices as deliberate it reveals a catchy, sunny, shimmering indie pop record that left its contemporaries in the dust this year.
Listen To: Body Chemistry, Loner
8. Charli - Charli XCX
Charli XCX went from a mainstream pop figure that seemed to be working towards something special. and transformed her career into the queen of PC Music and a jittery, futuristic pop star. Charli is everything she has been working towards so far finally realized in one incredible set of tracks. Packed full of features Charli doesn't fall into the same pitfalls of trap records that do the like, as she makes perfect use of almost all her features. From Sky Ferreira, Troye Sivan, Kim Petras, Christine and the Queens, Clairo and Yaeji, this record is absolutely soaked in talent and every artists brings their own amazing takes on Charli's genre bending style. What comes out on the other end is a dizzying but blissful series of futuristic pop tunes that was one of the sweetest listens I got to return to over and over this year.
Listen To: White Mercedes, Cross You Out
7. Ginger - Brockhampton
Ginger isn't for everybody, it is far more sad a reflective in tone than anything else the Brockhampton boys have released yet, and it comes after a transitional moment in their career. But across Ginger the bands shows off their insane versatility making songs that dive into worlds they have only barely explored. From Dearly Departed to St. Percy to the collaborative Heaven Belongs To You and Victor Roberts the band is pushing their sound in new and consistently creative directions. The album both reflects on what they had to do to get where they are and looks forward and what may challenge them into the future, it's an emotionally difficult listen but a consistently rewarding one that shows off the groups many talents in creative and refreshing new ways.
Listen To: Dearly Departed, Boy Bye
6. When I Get Home - Solange
Solange spent too much time in the shadows of her last name, and fittingly the record that has helped her break out further than ever before relishes in a sonic darkness that is completely intoxicating. Gone is the warmth of classic R&B music and in its place is a smoky, hypnotic sound that became one of the more surprising music highlights of the year for me. The album is filled from top to bottom with talented musicians that assemble a series of short rhythm heavy songs that work so brilliantly together as an album length experience. If Solange continues to further push the envelope in R&B music going forward When I Get Home will be a pivotal moment in her development, and one that was one of the strongest tracklists I heard in 2019.
Listen To: Almeda, Stay Flo
5. Magdalene - FKA Twigs
The story of Mary Magdalene inspires the thematic content that makes FKA Twigs Magdalene feel so interconnected and impassioned. But it is the genre bending R&B instrumentals and standout performances from FKA Twigs that make it one of the best albums of 2019. From the most stark and minimalist moments to some of the highest swelling and fullest instrumentals across the record Twigs dominates with show-stopping vocals, meaningful lyrics and consistently rewarding song structures throughout the record and it assembles one of the most thematically complete and strikingly beautiful album listening experiences of the year, Twigs is back.
Listen To: Cellophane, Sad Day
4. Dedicated - Carly Rae Jepsen
In 2015 Carly Rae Jepsen's Emotion proved that she was far deeper than just her hit single and brought a perfectly executed 80's throwback pop sound that was instantly infectious and spawned a cult following. Those were big shoes to fill for a follow-up record but Dedicated proved to live up to it in pretty much every way possible. The album is a longer, more consistent and more ambitious than its predecessor and the long break between records clearly gave Carly the opportunity to refine her sound. From the brightest and punchiest moments the record has to offer to the most intimate and sensual the sounds are full and the performances are passionate making for one of the most explosive and enjoyable true to form pop experiences of the year.
Listen To: Julien, Everything He Needs
3. Bandana - Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
Freddie Gibbs and Madlib proved to be one of the most electric rapper producer pairs in modern hip hop with their 2014 record Pinata, but on Bandana they may have taken their amazing sound to an even higher level. For the most part the record is working with a much brighter, catchier and more full sound palette instrumentally than their last collaboration and this allows Freddie Gibbs to truly shine and fully embrace his immense talents as an MC. There may be no record of his entire career that features such consistent writing and performances from Freddie and given that he is one of the best around, that makes Bandana a shoe in for the best rap album of 2019.
Listen To: Crime Pays, Palmolive
2. Assume Form - James Blake
James Blake has been one of the most creatively potent artists of the entire decade so its fitting that even given Assume Form is his most commercial record yet, it is also still so diverse, consistent and brilliant. Songs like Assume Form and Lullaby For My Insomniac channel Blake's origins creating sparse electronic landscapes. Even tracks like Tell Them and Barefoot In The Park remind of the silky R&B inspired sound he added into his wheelhouse on later records. And now contemporary songs like Mile High which features Travis Scott proves James Blake has become more of an industry mainstay than ever before. The thing that is so impressive about Assume Form is that all these different songs I've listed are all absolutely fantastic and executed with the consistent brilliance of a versatile musical mind. Dipping its toes into electronica, rap, pop and R&B there isn't much of a chance you'll find a record with as much variety as this one that also executes everything so consistently. While this may not be the greatest single vision of the year it may be the broadest musical triumph in a fantastic year and a storied career, the best word to describe Assume Form is special.
Listen To: Don't Miss It, Barefoot In The Park
1. Norman Fucking Rockwell - Lana Del Rey
Lana has been one of my most critically acclaimed artists of this decade, yet time and time again she has found ways to blow me away in an entirely new fashion. NFR is the most mature, measured, thematic and under-stated record from Lana to date. In the musical minimalism and lyrical impact she has found a sound that blends together the attitude and sheer vocal talent she has always been known for with a beautiful new sense of passion and touch in her storytelling that makes this record her most thematically complete to date. But all of that storytelling would go to waste if the songs on Norman Fucking Rockwell didn't sound good, but fortunately they do, they REALLY do. Every single song we heard in the lead up to the album was a huge success starting with Mariners Apartment Complex and Venice Bitch, hope is a dangerous thing moving into the Sublime cover Doin Time and ending with the split single Fuck It I Love You and The Greatest. And while they we're all fantastic they make up just a fraction of the 14 excellent tracks across the record. From the albums opening words Lana sets the instrumental and lyrical tone of the entire record. Jack Antanoff orchestrates and soft but evocative string pull as Lana sings "Goddamn man-child, you fucked me so good that I almost said I Love You" and if this moment hadn't laid waste to your emotions already then you should prepare yourself for the onslaught of emotional potency across the record as Lana Del Rey dives into one of the most dynamic and unique analyses of relationships you'll ever hear in pop music. From the more direct statements on lyrically bright songs like The Next Best American Record and Happiness Is A Butterfly to the bubbly and gorgeous tunes like Cinnamon Girl and Bartender the record never slows down long enough for you to give the necessary thought to the big picture concepts she is tackling. But once you finish and look back on the journey of Norman Fucking Rockwell as a whole you'll realize that Lana has assembled one of the most poignant looks at love in the modern age you'll hear across all of music this decade, as well as the best record of 2019.
Listen To: All of Them
Thanks for reading!
This has been one of the most fun and through list weeks I've done in the 4 years I've been running this blog. Thanks to everyone who read and shared each list this week, and if you missed any you want to check out here are the links.
The Production Awards
Artists Of The Year
Top 10 Guest Verses Of The Year
Top 10 EPs of The Year
Top 100 Singles Of The Year
Top 100 Songs Of The Year
See you next year!
Listen To: All of Them
Thanks for reading!
This has been one of the most fun and through list weeks I've done in the 4 years I've been running this blog. Thanks to everyone who read and shared each list this week, and if you missed any you want to check out here are the links.
The Production Awards
Artists Of The Year
Top 10 Guest Verses Of The Year
Top 10 EPs of The Year
Top 100 Singles Of The Year
Top 100 Songs Of The Year
See you next year!
