The 2019 end of the year music lists thread

quietus have gotten 'looks intriguing but is in fact quite narrow and dull' to an absolute tee tbh

Not wrong, alas.

relative lack of Purple Mountains from many lists is shitty and goes to show how much impact touring/general press activity has on an album's placement - or lack of it - in these lists. David's death so close to the album seemed to have made its impact a lot lower than i would have expected. personally i think its probably one of the best albums about depression and suicide ever written - and almost certainly his best album.

that said I'll probably check out most of the ones I've not heard yet

purple mountains was literally top of a list about twenty posts ago! a lot of albums get released nowadays and it isn't possible to put them all in one list. that said, i feel similarly about weyes blood who is very much alive and currently touring, and certainly not in every list either, so idk really - maybe it really just is a matter of the listmakers having different tastes to us, or just not hearing enough records

yep i spotted that one - was nice to see you - but i've also seen it totally absent from a bunch of lists

'nice to see' that should be, don't know where the 'you' came from

Oh shit, I've been meaning to check out that Stephen Mallinder album!

purple mountains is #3 over at the ringer

https://www.theringer.com/music/2019/12/3/20992882/best-albums-2019-lana-del-rey-megan-thee-stallion-purple-mountains-billie-eilish

RIP DAVID

weird that The Ringer would have precisely two people collaborating on a list rather than just a single critic or everyone relevant on staff. I wonder if Zoladz will do a list, I'm sure hers would be better.

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/155745-purple-mountains-purple-mountains/critic-lists/

that's not linking correctly, but PM is in the top 25 of 9 lists so far.

i'm pleased to be proven wrong, must have been I saw a few WRONG AND BAD lists in a row and extrapolated.

Yeah. Weyes Blood is doing very well too

yep. our sympathies should be with the brilliant records nobody is talking about at all, which obviously vary from fan to fan

^ljago knows what's up.

(imaljo)

https://www.stereogum.com/featured/best-albums-2019/

woo great grandpa love

yes ^^ now *there's* an album that isn't showing up on enough lists

Genuinely surprised by the high placing of Nick Cave in these lists. I love the man but Ghosteen is nothing short of edelkitsch to my ears.

i get why it's not for everyone but it's one of his very best works imo

Really? I love Skeleton Tree, but I don't think I'm nearly ready for Cave wringing out the sponge new-age style like this. It must not be for me, and I respect that, but oof.

Gorilla vs Bear (Albums): http://www.gorillavsbear.net/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2019/

50 ANTHONY NAPLES | Fog FM
49 KORNÉL KOVÁCS | Stockholm Marathon
48 VEGYN | Only Diamonds Cut Diamonds
47 YEULE | Serotonin II
46 SAULT | 5
45 PI’ERRE BOURNE + YOUNG NUDY | Sli’merre
44 NINA KEITH | MARANASATI 19111
43 ANA ROXANNE | ~~~
42 HTRK | Venus in Leo
41 CHARLI XCX | Charli
40 CARLA DAL FORNO | Look Up Sharp
39 ANDY STOTT | It Should Be Us
38 MARIA SOMERVILLE | All My People
37 SOFIA KOURTESIS | Sofia Kourtesis
36 TORO y MOI | Outer Peace / Soul Trash
35 LAUREL HALO | DJ-Kicks
34 MEGA BOG | Dolphine
33 PANDA BEAR | Buoys
32 ANGEL OLSEN | All Mirrors
31 NOAH | Thirty
30 JESSICA PRATT | Quiet Signs
29 JENNY HVAL | The Practice of Love
28 LITTLE SIMZ | GREY Area
27 CFCF | NIGHT BUS 4 : MEMORY OF NIGHT BUS
26 DANNY BROWN | uknowwhatimsayin¿
25) GALCHER LUSTWERK | Information
24) FLORE LAURENTIENNE | Volume 1
23) TYLER, THE CREATOR | IGOR
22) BALTRA | Ted
21) NIVHEK | After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house
20) CAROLINE POLACHEK | Pang
19) NILÜFER YANYA | Miss Universe
18) FKA TWIGS | Magdalene
17) MOODYMANN | SINNER
16) JULIA JACKLIN | Crushing
15) MALIBU | One Life
14) FAYE WEBSTER | Atlanta Millionaires Club
13) JPEGMAFIA | All My Heroes are Cornballs
12) WEYES BLOOD | Titanic Rising
11) FREDDIE GIBBS + MADLIB | Bandana
10) 박혜진 PARK HYE JIN | IF U WANT IT
09) ALDOUS HARDING | Designer
08) YVES JARVIS | The Same but by Different Means
07) BILLIE EILISH | WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
06) CHROMATICS | Closer To Grey
05) BEA1991 | Brand New Adult
04) MEN I TRUST | Oncle Jazz
03) BIG THIEF | U.F.O.F. / Two Hands
02) ERIKA DE CASIER | Essentials
01) LANA DEL REY | Norman Fucking Rockwell!

gvb should have had Essentials at #1

Ted Gioia's list:
http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2019.html

GvB with a great eoy list as usual.

Very happy to see Faye Webster's album popping up on a few lists. It's such a beautiful album that needs more love on here.

is "old town road" gonna be pazz/jop #1 i'm thinking yes

idk what else would be, "bad guy" will probably be #2 but that's the only other one that seems obvious. feels like an especially low amount of critically-approved chart hits this year?

the faye webster album is indeed really gorgeous

wait, there's a Faye Webster album? I loved the 'Right Side Of My Neck' EP

oh OK, it's the EP+ but still, I will check out tonight

The Wire Rewind 2019:

1. 75 Dollar Bill - I Was Real
2. Angel Bat Dawid - The Oracle
3. The Art Ensemble Of Chicago - We Are On The Edge
4. Moor Mother - Analog Fluids Of Sonic Black Holes
5. Morton Feldman/Philip Thomas - Morton Feldman Piano
6. Klein - Lifetime
7. Kali Malone - The Sacrificial Code
8. People Like Us - The Mirror
9. Josh Abrams & Natural Information Society - Mandatory Reality
10. Sunn 0))) - Life Metal
11. Sarathy Korwar - More Arriving
12. Little Simz - Grey Area
13. MC Yallah x Debmaster - Kubali
14. Carl Stone - Himalaya
15. Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die II: Bird Dogs Of Paradise
16. Purple Mountains - S/T
17. Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis
18. Kim Gordon - No Home Record
19. 100 Gecs - 1000 Gecs
20. JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes Are Cornballs
21. Tyler, The Creator - IGOR
22. Laurie Anderson/Tenzin Choegyal/Jesse Paris Smith - Songs From The Bardo
23. Solange - When I Get Home
24. Tunes Of Negation - Reach The Endless Sea
25. Damon Locks' Black Monument Ensemble - Where Future Unfolds
26. Zonal - Wrecked
27. Carl Stone - Baroo
28. King Midas Sound - Solitude
29. Eliane Radigue - Occam Ocean 2
30. Sote - Parallel Persia
31. Sunwatchers - Illegal Moves
32. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana
33. Loraine James - For You & I
34. James Tenney - Changes: 64 Studies For 6 Harps
35. The Caretaker - Everywhere At The End Of Time (Stages 4-6)
36. Yatta - Wahala
37. Sunn 0))) - Pyroclasts
38. Jennifer Walshe - ALL THE MANY PEOPLS
39. Big Stick - LP
40. FKA Twigs - Magdalene
41. Caterina Barbieri - Ecstatic Computation
42. Nkisi - 7 Directions
43. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
44. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Hiding Places
45. North Sea Radio Orchestra/John Greaves/Annie Barbazza - Folly Bololey (Songs From Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom)
46. Duke - Uingizaji Hewa
47. Clipping - There Existed An Addiction To Blood
48. Jay Glass Dubs
49. Felicia Atkinson - The Flower And The Vessel
50. Saint Abdullah - Mechanical Flirtations

Wire list is the first one I've seen that isn't invalid (IOW, it includes clipping.)

I don't know if I'll ever understand 75 Dollar Bill

I much prefer Natural Information Society in terms of that general tranced-out zone--Mandatory Reality was their strongest album yet IMO, with the opening 65 minutes/first two pieces on it truly psyching me out as a longer Feldman piece might

75 dollar bill are great live! also fun on tape but i haven't listened to I Was Real yet.

I'm surprised that each Sunn album got a separate slot in the top 50; I voted for them collectively. (Jaimie Branch was my #1.) I wish I liked that Zonal record more. Maybe if Moor Mother was on the whole thing, instead of just the first half. Or maybe if she wasn't riffing on Billy fucking Corgan.

Yeah, I love Natural Information Society but Ive been hesitant to spend the $14 without hearing it or w/e

75 Dollar Bill afaict seem to be a cheerier version of Beak>?

I'm listening to 75 Dollar Bill right now and I'm hearing "if Sunburned Hand of the Man were really into North African desert blues". I'm...kinda into it and might buy it on Bandcamp to have something to listen to while doing laundry tomorrow.

'i was real' is pretty good so far

39. Big Stick - LP

wait what? big stick are back?

Amanda Petrucish list in the New Yorker

FKA twigs, “MAGDALENE”

Mdou Moctar, “Ilana (The Creator)”

75 Dollar Bill, “I Was Real”

Sharon Van Etten, “Remind Me Tomorrow”

Bon Iver, “i, i”

Big Thief, “Two Hands”

Purple Mountains, “Purple Mountains”

Burna Boy, “African Giant”

Lana Del Rey, “Norman Fucking Rockwell!”

Thom Yorke, “Anima”

Jake Xerxes Fussell, “Out of Sight”

Maggie Rogers, “Heard It in a Past Life”

That’s Petrusich. Glad she listed Burna Boy and Mdou Moctar

god, i am such a mark for ted gioia, i know there are people around here who hate him but he reps for music i don't see _anybody_ else mentioning and a lot of it is excellent

I hate a lot of his stupid opinion pieces but I admire his approach to his year-end list and there are often at least a few things I wind up checking out.

holy shit is "spirit lady" right up my alley, it's like the 17 minute version of eddy grant's "everybody dance" crossed with andy hofle's "arcade ambience"

and there is nobody i trust more than him to recommend me bagpipe music

I don't know if I'll ever understand 75 Dollar Bill

this surprises me. I could listen to Rick Brown play for hours