Oh I guess I didn't first hear Exile this year, just finally fell for it hard
― jeanie bueller energy (morrisp), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 20:43 (four years ago) link
Boris - Akuma No Uta
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 20:46 (four years ago) link
i have a few picks:
jon lucien — rashidaabdullah ibrahim — no fear, no die (s'en fout la mort)terry callier — first light (which is technically a compilation, but still didn't hear it until recently)
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 20:46 (four years ago) link
xxxpost
Fantastic collection of albums, BradNelson, would love to hear them all again for the first time...
― henry s, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 20:47 (four years ago) link
loveless
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:19 (four years ago) link
You hadn't heard it?
― imago, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:20 (four years ago) link
i've heard it a time or two
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:26 (four years ago) link
Thread is for albums you hadn't heard until this year
― imago, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:27 (four years ago) link
Akiko Yano - Tadaima (thanks, WeWantSounds & YMO expert on the Hoffman Forums who directed me to this particular album and others in the family)
― eatandoph (Neue Jesse Schule), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:33 (four years ago) link
i apologize, louis. i hadn't heard eric dolphy's iron man straight through till this year. holy fucking christ
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:38 (four years ago) link
pet shop boys - actually
― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 21:55 (four years ago) link
There's loads of ambient and classical stuff eligible for this, but the real answer is: Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 22:02 (four years ago) link
nick nicely - Psychotropia
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 22:12 (four years ago) link
I only know "hilly fields" by Nick Nicely but its a serious tune
― The World According To.... (Michael B), Wednesday, 6 November 2019 00:32 (four years ago) link
Insides - Euphoria
So great, makes me scorn Record Store Day a little less.
― by the light of the burning Citroën, Wednesday, 6 November 2019 00:41 (four years ago) link
I'd never heard Bowie's "I'm Afraid Of Americans" single until this year, bloody brilliant.
I got Blossom Dearie's "Six Classic Albums" box of her 57-61 work this year, never heard it before and just fell in love with it over the summer.
Helium's "The Dirt Of Luck" and the singles comp "More Ends With And" were also new to me this year.
My mate pointed me towards Terrible Parade in the spring, totally missed this wonderful jangly 80s band back in the day, bought their only CD comp.
Just got Jansen/Barbieri's "Other Worlds In A Small Room" as well, wonderful ambient stuff.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 6 November 2019 01:42 (four years ago) link
By some distance it's Anais Mitchell's 'Hadestown' (the original 2010 album, not this year's album based on the Broadway production). I first heard it a few months before seeing the show in NY and it would not be in my top 5 albums of the 2010s. Its scope and its inventiveness continually astound me.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 6 November 2019 02:05 (four years ago) link
Low - Double NegativeKate Bush - The DreamingThe Church - Heyday
in that order, I think
― Vinnie, Thursday, 7 November 2019 09:10 (four years ago) link
Richard Skelton - Landings (2009)
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 5 November 2019 15:21 (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink
― or something, Thursday, 7 November 2019 09:38 (four years ago) link
Ahmad Jamal - Live at the Pershing: But Not For Me (1958)
sounds so modern in the way it breaks down into tight looping fragments and I love the drumming in particular - that deadened cavernous kick drum !
― ogmor, Thursday, 7 November 2019 09:44 (four years ago) link
Great to see all the love for Skelbo. Back when I was alive, I wrote about it for a daft indie site (looks like shit, but might be useful for context): https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/richard-skelton-landings-23827
― Life is a meaningless nightmare of suffering...save string (Chinaski), Thursday, 7 November 2019 09:45 (four years ago) link
Broadcast’s Tender Buttons has been on constant rotation for me since the prev. decade albums poll.
― Una Palooka Dronka (hardcore dilettante), Thursday, 7 November 2019 12:56 (four years ago) link
yeah that was a good one
― imago, Thursday, 7 November 2019 12:58 (four years ago) link
Shelleyan Orphan - HelleborineSea Nymphs Standish/Carlyon - Deleted Scenes
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 8 November 2019 17:14 (four years ago) link
Hydroplane - S/T
― Evan, Friday, 8 November 2019 19:13 (four years ago) link
Probably Electrelane No Shouts No Calls - hat tip to the lone #1 voter for it in the 2000s album poll. Some of the songs on here could be the missing link between Sonic Youth and Stereolab and Chastity Belt.
― o. nate, Friday, 22 November 2019 02:58 (four years ago) link
david grubbs - creep mission ... thought it were released in september (2019), but lo, it came out in 2017. it's so brief and varied (and golden) that i'll listen to it 2-3 times at any given point.
― Lowell N. Behold'n, Friday, 22 November 2019 03:15 (four years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nzFNjsnbwFaaDDVXNLKhvzFwC-DSbkCG8
― Lowell N. Behold'n, Friday, 22 November 2019 04:05 (four years ago) link
Jeez, I don't know. Mike Oldfield's "Incantations"? American Football's s/t? L'Orfeo? The soundtrack to Armed Police Batrider? Clifford Jordan's "Glass Bead Games"? Dogbowl's "Cyclops Nuclear Submarine Captain"? 13 Blue Magic Lane? "Like a Hurricane" by Rex Inferi?
― Agnes Motörhead (rushomancy), Friday, 22 November 2019 04:43 (four years ago) link
new Arthur Russell
― Book Doula (sleeve), Friday, 22 November 2019 04:50 (four years ago) link
the Hydroplane s/t is fucking amazing
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Friday, 22 November 2019 05:10 (four years ago) link
The Open Mind of John D. Loudermilk
https://i.imgur.com/6k9HS0M.jpg
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 22 November 2019 05:48 (four years ago) link
"Dislocation Blues" by Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang released 2007.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/WhitleyLang_dislocationblues.jpg
― earlnash, Friday, 22 November 2019 06:01 (four years ago) link
nice JDL selection, jf !!
― budo jeru, Friday, 22 November 2019 07:12 (four years ago) link
second Iowa Dream - Arthur Russell
― clouds (peanutbuttereverysingleday), Friday, 22 November 2019 07:32 (four years ago) link
steve earle - transcandental blues
https://open.spotify.com/album/15FbLxuzw8MuuIC1AOob6k?si=NvTBl3LaRpO_s-yB3mUdmw
― de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Friday, 22 November 2019 21:21 (four years ago) link
Dogbowl's "Cyclops Nuclear Submarine Captain"
― Agnes Motörhead (rushomancy), Thursday, November 21, 2019 11:43 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
Good one!
― Evan, Friday, 22 November 2019 21:27 (four years ago) link
Shimmy Disc stuff in general has not been "rediscovered" yet it seems
― Evan, Friday, 22 November 2019 21:28 (four years ago) link
Exile on Main St.
― jeanie bueller energy (morrisp), Tuesday, November 5, 2019 3:37 PM
Yes! I've never been super into the Stones besides like knowing the hits and all. After seeing the thread revives maybe sometime around spring this year, I went all in on the record and i just totally adore it. Topped off by it soundtracking an awesome night of drinking during summer vacation.
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, 22 November 2019 21:41 (four years ago) link
I've been aware of the Pop Ambient compilations for years, but I've never actually bought one until this year - I heard Leandro Fresco's "Buenos Amigos" on Sleepbot and picked up Pop Ambient 2003, and it's great. There are three killer tracks (Markus Guentner's "Express Yourself" and Klimek's "Milk and Honey") and the rest are solid. It even has a decent track by the modern-day Orb. Admittedly it's a multi-artist compilation rather than a proper album.
I find that the Pop Ambient compilations have an melancholic air. They're a throwback to the tail end of the glitch music boom of the late 1990s (the music is generally ambient-flavoured "glitch lite", e.g. "it sounds nice", and the production is a lot simpler than Autechre). The original concept is now years out of date, as if the NME had continued to release C86 updates well into the 1990s, but it persists. One day it will come to an end. There may, or may not, be a short article in The Guardian about the series, but otherwise it will vanish from the Earth without leaving a trace.
They PA albums are full of artists who released a couple of things on Kompakt in 2001-2005 and then presumably ran out of money and stopped. In 2019 there's probably masses of equally good music, but because it's not pressed onto records that are sold in shops with a marketing push I'm probably never going to hear about it. I have never met anyone in real life who knew of Arovane or Ulrich Schnauss. The irony is that music magazines are more indispensable than ever, because someone has to sift through the modern internet's detritus to find the good stuff, but music magazines are in the shitter.
Of the actual albums I bought this year the one that stands out most is Tides by Arovane (2000), mainly for nostalgia - it's derivative and frustratingly misguided but a couple of tracks stand out - and the "Subtemble / Beachfires" EP by Burial (2017), which feels like a terrific update of Orb-style ambient music, e.g. it's a bunch of samples thrown together seemingly at random but it's atmospheric and actually does sound like fires on a beach at night next to a temple.
― Ashley Pomeroy, Friday, 22 November 2019 22:25 (four years ago) link
― brimstead, Saturday, 23 November 2019 00:18 (four years ago) link
Prefab Sprout - Jordan: The Comebackone of my fave bands ~1987-1989 that i just lost track of by the time this came out and didn't listen to until a motivating Brad post earlier this year.
the Byrds - Untitled
― one charm and one antiup quark (outdoor_miner), Saturday, 23 November 2019 00:34 (four years ago) link
― budo jeru, Friday, November 22, 2019 2:12 AM
Thanks! I never really knew much about him until after he died a few years ago, and I'd started listening to a little here and there. Then I got a copy of this record for a steal and have listened to it SO MANY TIMES.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 23 November 2019 01:05 (four years ago) link
― Evan
i ran across it looking for rock albums with clarinet on it only to find out daryl dragon was all over it?!? and this was two days after daryl dragon died, too. it was pretty spooky.
― Agnes Motörhead (rushomancy), Saturday, 23 November 2019 01:30 (four years ago) link
I feel silly for only having heard it for the first time this year, but Sleater-Kinney's The Hot Rock has defined the second half of this year for me. It was unbelievable to have become familiar with the band through their louder, more extravagent records, and then discover this. It was as loud and fast as their other records, but it sounded so wounded and introverted and outright sad... I can't get over how startling it is
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Saturday, 23 November 2019 01:42 (four years ago) link
A few stick out:
DJ Healer - Nothing 2 LooseUS Girls - In a Poem UnlimitedSun-El Musician - Africa to the World
― octobeard, Saturday, 23 November 2019 01:48 (four years ago) link
All three I found through the ILM Albums list too so thanks everyone! Would have made my top 10 had I heard them sooner.
― octobeard, Saturday, 23 November 2019 01:50 (four years ago) link
Def the Bobbie Gentry jazz album that came out on her boxed set
― ILX’s bad boy (D-40), Saturday, 23 November 2019 02:31 (four years ago) link
does that have “thunder in the afternoon”? is that song available anywhere besides dodgy comps?
― brimstead, Saturday, 23 November 2019 05:47 (four years ago) link
octobeard, have you tried Simmy’s Tugela Fairy? It’s produced by Sun-El Musician and even better than Africa to the World imo.
― breastcrawl, Saturday, 23 November 2019 14:33 (four years ago) link
― Evan, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 15:47 (three years ago) link
Oops looks like that was my answer last year. hmmm
― Evan, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 15:48 (three years ago) link
oh wow i have a very easy and obvious answer for this year: night nurse by gregory isaacs
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 16:38 (three years ago) link
The song "night nurse" is fire ... guess i should listen to the whole album
― that's not my post, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 16:40 (three years ago) link
the whole album is on the title track's level it's ridiculous
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 16:41 (three years ago) link
Real answer is probably Son House's Father of Folk Blues.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 16:42 (three years ago) link
Mine is either Lloyd Cole's Standards, East River Pipe's Shining Hours in A Can or Voodoo. I don't know *why* no one on here mentioned the D'Angelo record before.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 16:48 (three years ago) link
Carlton's The Call Is Strong (1990) and Joe McPhee's Nation Time (1971), were those records, personally
― where do all these unsold amps go? (gaudio), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 17:51 (three years ago) link
didn't discover it in 2020, but i did enjoy my time with gene clark's no other more than any other album this year
― la table sur la table (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 20:46 (three years ago) link
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Wednesday, December 2, 2020 11:48 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
That collection of East River Pipe is some of my all time favorite music. How has a song like 40 Miles not made into a pivotal scene in an HBO character drama yet? Why isn't Springsteen covering his songs? He's being a bit too overlooked honestly.
― Evan, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 20:53 (three years ago) link
Bill Fay, Time of the Last Persecution without a doubt. Absolutely floored me.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 2 December 2020 21:42 (three years ago) link
Re Your Album of 2019 (that was released before 2019): why did ppl cite the Arthur Russell album that was released in 2019? Oh well, great album (Iowa Dream, on bandcamp with a bunch of his others).In recent years, I've been belatedly discovering more by Robert Wyatt, incl. prev unreleased solo, expanded reissues of Soft Machine and Matching Mole, also, if you scroll upthread here, his work with Michael Mantler etc---lotta links to streams:Robert Wyatt: Classic or Dud?Also, on YouTube: the first two Soft Machine studio albums---new to me!
― dow, Wednesday, 2 December 2020 23:37 (three years ago) link
For me, this year, would be between Elvis Presley Elvis in Memphis, Hypnosia Extreme Hatred and Evil Spirit The Imageless Mirror.
― o. nate, Thursday, 3 December 2020 01:44 (three years ago) link
Pat Methany & Lyle May - As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
― Tim F, Thursday, 3 December 2020 02:20 (three years ago) link
Evelyn "Champagne" King's Get Loose is probably the best album I heard this year.
― kitchen person, Thursday, 3 December 2020 02:24 (three years ago) link
that is def the best album ever made
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 3 December 2020 02:26 (three years ago) link
Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington. It was a gift from a friend a number of years ago that I never played, and forgot I owned until recently.
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 3 December 2020 02:31 (three years ago) link
― kitchen person, Thursday, 3 December 2020 02:24 (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
This probably would have been my answer in whichever year I first heard it.
― Tim F, Thursday, 3 December 2020 02:39 (three years ago) link
the best album i discovered this year was probably jimmy giuffre — "western suite"
i listen to it all the time now
― budo jeru, Thursday, 3 December 2020 04:21 (three years ago) link
I can't even remember how I stumbled across this Barbara & Ernie album, but I apparently listened to it so much they ended up my #1 artist in my Spotify Wrapped for 2020. It's quite nice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EApQoFzmJXw
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 3 December 2020 04:45 (three years ago) link
Michael Head & The Strands - The Magical World of the StrandsTakashi Kokubo - Jamaica ~ Waves And Light And EarthSign Libra - Closer To The Equator
― Evan, Thursday, 3 December 2020 05:03 (three years ago) link
veedon fleece. i'd listened to it before but never with sustained attention
― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Thursday, 3 December 2020 16:10 (three years ago) link
it's the best album ever made
― la table sur la table (voodoo chili), Thursday, 3 December 2020 16:16 (three years ago) link
probably danny brown's last lp.
― billstevejim, Thursday, 3 December 2020 18:15 (three years ago) link
The first album by The Left Banke, and Forever Breathes the Lonely Word by Felt.
― Halfway there but for you, Friday, 4 December 2020 16:30 (three years ago) link
100% Proof - The Tubby Hayes Orchestra
― calzino, Friday, 4 December 2020 16:35 (three years ago) link
NRBQ at Yankee Stadium, or Pretzel Logic
― enochroot, Friday, 4 December 2020 17:46 (three years ago) link