ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2019

Whatever else happens, I'm glad people heard and liked that clipping. album

Wildcard is a solid B+ record that does more right than wrong and honestly that was a huge relief for me with her going from Frank Liddell (who produced everything she'd ever done) to Jay Joyce, whose production is harder edged and felt like a hard left turn from Wings. That turn ended up being more of a relief -- she's never sounded more comfortable and at ease -- and another double LP chock full of "Tin Man"s clearly wasn't where her heart and mind were at following her recent marriage.

About half the songs are good to great: "Mess With My Head" (which is maybe her tightest pop song ever), "Settling Down", "Locomotive" (she crushed this live), "Bluebird", and the closing four song run "Pretty Bitchin" -> "Tequila Does" -> "Track Record" -> "Dark Bars." There are a couple of super kitschy eye-roll tracks that were somehow written by the all-star team of Hillary Lindsey/Lori McKenna/Liz Rose ("All Comes Out in the Wash", "Way Too Pretty for Prison") but most of her albums have at least one or two that are skippable.

I'd rank it behind most of her albums, but in front of Four the Record and probably Revolution on the right day. I consider the other four to be unimpeachable classics and am just grateful that she continues to put out new music every year or two.

I'm just glad The Weight of These Wings has gotten its due. You're mostly otm w/your identifying the key tracks.

The Deerhunter album was surprisingly good, but favorite Deerhunter record by far, but it got no traction at all. It ended up falling off my ballot, but still really good.

I'm enjoying this Matana Roberts record, although I like the instrumental segments more than the spoken word ones. Am I doing it wrong?

Never even heard of the real 63 (assuming Spotify has it right) but I am enjoying it hugely.

xp

This reminds me a lot of late period Mingus

^^ read this as "late period migos"

Yes to Mingus - also reminds me of Marion Brown.

hell yeah to sampa the great making the list, bravo @octobeard for putting it at #1

it's a long, dense album but "omg", "final form" and "freedom" might provide a way in for newcomers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdF2wXc3LuM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2lvgKDpiSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM70Aqcbyxs

love the guitars and folk choirs in the mix, but above all how it keeps returning to its themes except tweaked, comes to a really emotional zenith towards the end xps to Roberts discussion

https://i.imgur.com/GqPJ8aD.jpg
#63 – Barker – Utility (210 points, 8 votes)

Rolling techno* albums thread for people who are clearly doing it wrong

https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/24139

nice!

(XP) Couldn't quite vote for Sampa in the end. Kinda wanted to but had to acknowledge that I struggled to get through it. Made do with "Final Form" in the tracks ballot!

Barbieri appears to be my only ballot inclusion revealed while I slept. (Three in total now, yowsah!)

Eh... I really hope Efdemin makes it as well.

Oh nice, this was a late discovery for me during the campaigning phase, but it was perfect me. I guess he basically took a bunch of his tracks and removed the kicks. It's kind of a simple idea, but works really well. Brings a lot of the little details to the forefront and is a nice chill techno experience.

I voted for Utility but will fully admit that my techno* listening was p cursory this year. I'm checking out the Efdemin right now (this folk song isn't doing much for me though)

love the barker

More okayishness; I'm ok with that.

https://i.imgur.com/SnaJimZ.jpg
#62 – Rapsody – Eve (211 points, 8 votes)

https://hiphopdx.com/reviews/id.3503/title.review-rapsody-firmly-secures-her-hip-hop-legacy-with-women-empowering-eve

damn albums looking to be a rap blowout

nice album, wanted to like it more than i did

TOO LOW DAMN

forks, where are you pulling these cropped images from?

the barker is great, glad some folks are doing it wrong enough to get into the albums list

nice album, wanted to like it more than i did

exactly how I felt about it, but there's some really great songs on it, just a bit inconsistent and goes on a bit long

Yay for Rapsody!

last one; moka should take over tomorrow with refixed images and more albums

https://i.imgur.com/0fkkic5.jpg
#61 – SACRED PAWS – Run Around the Sun (212 points, 8 votes)

Sacred Paws - Strike A Match
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/sacred-paws-run-around-the-sun/

love love loved strike a match, this one struck me as diminishing returns.

#63 – Barker – Utility (210 points, 8 votes)

Lower on my ballot, glad it made it. Such a beautiful record that seems to transcend the seemingly infinite pool of decent techno last year.

Gonna say, 2019 felt like a really strong year for electronic music in general. For this year specifically, it would have been fun to have an 'electronic music' ballot poll a la the metal one.

I played the Rapsody a lot in early fall. The Phil Collins sample is one of my favorites of the last couple years. Often her attitude >> her rhymes and rapping. Laila's Wisdom is the better album. Still -- it's a good record.

Oh gee, had no idea Sacred Paws was a contender. I kinda feel bad that the indie part of my brain has atrophied a bit or something and doesn't really love it (or Trash Kit) a bit more. :)

Everything so far a mystery to me and then my number 2 pops up just like that; Utility is a sublime piece of work

love the sacred paws slight in some ways but v warm and fun album that I needed last year

cate le bon was my only vote today. nervous about my number one not making it.

point totals have been crazy tight so far

oh cool! nice to see that place. didn't vote for much indie this year but i voted for that, fun album! also voted for the barker and the caterina barbieri albums, go me

my #1 almost certainly hasn't made it, but am holding out a lot of hope for #2...for now

how many Magma fans we got on this board

Barbieri was very high on my list. Beautiful, emotionally resonant music that unfortunately makes me want to buy lots of very expensive reverb modules. Probably my most re-played album of the year.

Whole Barbieri album was good but that opening track was what made me listen to the whole thing - stunning piece

she really upped her game on that record and i'm a bit fed up with myself that i missed the chance to see her live

yeah, this album really grew on me, even more than Patterns of Consciousness

Utility is lovely. I like what Moodles said about how removing the kicks brings a lot of the details to the forefront

I'm glad to see Sacred Paws show up on here. They didn't quite make my list, but I listened to them a lot. I enjoy their songs whenever they come on, but they rarely stick with me or compel me to listen more.

The Sampa album win me over bit by bit, but wow, it's long

Is the lady on The National album cover dreaming about sashimi?

Also, did The National somehow get more tuneful and melodic, or am I just imagining it?

Yay, I voted for Sacred Paws! Very fun jangle-pop sort of stuff, "Brush Your Hair" was a standout track for me.