ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2019

It's an extremely impressive album that I'm never in the headspace to want to put on.

Album of the year

ancestral recall was no. 6 on my list, i've been following scott for... more than a decade now (ugh) but this is his best record. i've always liked his work but felt it sometimes got a little suffocated by its influences cf. radiohead, post-rock, deep studies of the second great quintet (not that i minded that he drew heavily from these sources). here his extremely hybridized vision of jazz becomes—and i'm consciously using this word despite its other associations in the genre—free

So so happy Caligula placed. Had I known about the record and given it a good listen before compiling my ballot it would have been top 5. It's insanely good.

Title track from Highwoman was really good! Excellent play on words from the original song and the subject matter fits the mood. Listening to the rest of the album and while it's not quite my thing, it's not bad.

Rest of the rollout today was aces. Not familiar with Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, but damn it was nice to see Saul Williams is still fire. Love that dude.

one more and then a pause

Oh hell yeah there's more

Yay Ancestral Recall. Also pleasantly surprised, thought it might squeeze into the seventies, but ten votes is great. Wonderful album.

in advance of the TOO LOW hullaballoo: this is not a false flag; #30 is actually #30

https://i.imgur.com/D29cqSv.jpg
#30 – Richard Dawson - 2020 (352 points, 14 votes)

Richard Dawson (raucous experimental UK folk racket w/ intense picaresque realness vox)

https://thequietus.com/articles/27259-richard-dawson-2020-review

there he is

probably going at about one every ten minutes up to 21 now.

take us there forks

every time I play Dawson on the radio the program we use to log tracks insists that the record is actually three different records called "0", "1", and "2"

Let's talk about 'Jogging'.

Not too low! This album came on the heels of two of the best albums I have ever heard and will ever hear, in a row, and in that context it can't measure up. It's obviously a fantastic piece of work in its own right, and apart from Jogging, Civil Servant and Black Triangle (a heartbreaking tale of a conspiracy theory nut who loses his family) are top-tier Dawson songwriting as well. A bold and often surprising leap into his own peculiar sort of indie-rock, and my #14

Let's talk about Black Triangle and how it serves imperialism by rattling about UFOs and loneliness

Never got this dude. Oh well

I will admit the Jogging deep dive in that side thread was amusing

not low enough

will say that i absolutely love 'the vile stuff'

Serving SPQR imperialism is fine tho.

no more shiters please

is this an actual thimg amongst you ukpol nonces

Not his best album but still really good.

https://i.imgur.com/TWeMmFN.jpg
#29 – The Comet Is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery (354 points, 17 votes)

London jazz wizard Shabaka Hutchings: Sons of Kemet / The Comet Is Coming / Shabaka & the Ancestors

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/07/700510300/first-listen-the-comet-is-coming-trust-in-the-lifeforce-of-the-deep-mystery

the comet came

Eh, the comet isn't all it's cracked up to be. Like I said in the tracks thread, more improv (not necessarily of the 'free' variety) would've been welcome.

Not as good as their previous album but happy it is here!

Really good live though

all of ancestral recall is great but i am particularly in love with "overcomer" -> "songs she never heard," both so beautiful. the little spikes of distortion added to the piano and the percussion in "songs" in particular. an album of jewel-like details to get lost in!!!!

good record

in my top ten (in my personal list, i included The Afterlife too, because they're really 'of a piece')

more improv (not necessarily of the 'free' variety) would've been welcome.

hard disagree, the more minimalist this music is the more I like it

Dunno, it sounds too much like a less laid-back late 90s Ninja Tune to me.

Or like they're going for instrumental pop corkers.

Richard Dawson was (I think) my #3, I liked Peasant a lot but 2020 just resonated with me more.

https://i.imgur.com/T3JKwAP.jpg
#28 – SAULT - 5 (354 points, 17 votes)

Sault - What's the story?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/20/sault-5-7-review-forever-living-originals

congratulations to sault and big thief

damnit Special Request drops 4 albums and I'm sure not one will place 😭😭😭😭

comet is coming = best show i saw last year just amazing energy + sound exploding throughout the venue shabaka hutchings is an allstar

that said - despite some v fine moments on the album and some remarkable tracks, as a whole it's just not all there. not only is the EP better as a standalone work but so are some of the previous EPs (I think Death to the Planet remains my favorite complete thing they've done) but bc of those tracks + the live work + all the other stuff he's putting out I ranked this fairly high and i'm happy to see it place.

some of the other london projects we've named (theon cross, nerija maybe even the cykada album which i don't think has been mentioned) are also deserving

this sault album is pretty great!

that said, here's my #1 album

https://i.imgur.com/n0Sgw47.jpg
#27 – Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee (364 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee- "He Was My Mama's Son"

https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753458288/raphael-saadiq-sets-his-dark-meditation-to-music-with-jimmy-lee

yeah!!!!

(just got tickets to see him in New Jersey on valentine's day; pretty hyped)

Two indifferences in a row.

My favourite jazz album of last year's was Marilyn Mazur's awesome (and aptly named) Shamania, but wonder if anyone else here voted for it at all? Frederik?

xxxxpost

I liked about half the Saadiq. By all means watch him live.

This is an impressively diverse list! Just looking at the last 10, three dnp on any of the eoy lists tracked in Rob Mitchum's sheet:

27 Raphael - 133
28 Sault - dnp
29 Comet is Coming - 26
30 Dawson - 88
31 Ancestral Recall - 286
32 Simz - 19
33 Highwomen - 50
34 Arthur Russell - dnp
35 Danny Brown - 30
36 Men I Trust - dnp

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SklyhzT6ty4fJH9wrItm0qOiI6kiloRdkZMhONpZ0CA/edit#gid=0