2019 : I don’t feel tardy.

Ada Lea : what we say in private

A both tough and sweet album, with a very personal tone. I’m new to Ada Lea but this comes off as a mature rock album with a lot of range. No doubt influenced by indie staples of the 90’s, it alternates between big chunks of guitar, and strummy, softly sung tracks. The bits of electro-pop and tasteful dissonance give it a toothy freshness.

Amerigo Gazaway : The Notorious J​.​B​.​’s: The B​.​I​.​G. Payback

You’re going to want this.  We are the same age as rap (+ or -) and the hip hop we grew up with (thank you JK) was almost entirely backed by James Brown samples. James was the hook that got me into it – which drew me in to hear the the actual messages and woke me up a bit.  I’m a skeptic with mash-up attempts but Amerigo Gazaway makes proper albums. This is both a James Brown album and a Notorious B.I.G. album. Both halves, the old-school and the older-school are right up front and make these songs, that you know by heart, pump new blood.

B. Cool-Aid : Syrup

“Syrup” is right. This feels all D’Angelo silky but with a bedroom-made rawness and intimacy. You can feel this … Both the greasy sultriness and its exposed homemade bits.

Billie Eilish : WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

It’s not your first time hearing about Billie but it really is a good album. I’m still shocked that it’s become a pop hit. Maybe I’m underestimating people but there is an edge to this that just feels too weird for mass consumption.

billy woods & Kenny Segal : Hiding Places

This is moody, personal, artful rap but it bounces when it wants to. A real, surprise favorite this year … I knew nothing of billy woods. Creative production and thoughtful, dense poetry.

Black Dresses : LOVE AND AFFECTION FOR STUPID LITTLE BITCHES

Pop songs that sound a bit like corroded batteries. It is mercilessly rough, sort-of-juvenile, and trans-focused.  It is also wicked catchy if you can embrace the crude effects.

Cate le Bon : Reward

Cate le Bon seems very cool. Other albums have dipped just a little too heavy into something more enigmatic and inaccessible. This one, I love. Her voice is beautiful but weird: Eraserhead+Nico feeling but with joy that I hadn’t noticed before. Her guitar playing is as cool as ever. She still rocks a detached-Talking-Heads flavor but this time draws more from classic 60s pastoral-pop. The icing on my cake was her live performance. I expected someone more introverted but she was hypnotic and had moves!

Control Top : Covert Contracts

“Searing” is a good word for Covert Contracts. Heavy, buzzing, hardcore-ish guitar rock. This is modern, topical and confrontational. Maybe like Minor Threat with more melody, a better voice and less bro-ish.

Daniel Norgren : Wooh Dang

I didn’t expect to find a Swedish guy in 2019 sounding like a Richie Havens contemporary. There is as much indie rock here as there is rural blues & classic 60’s/70’s music. None of it feels phony, or costumey.

David Vassalotti : Guitar Dream

You might know him from Merchandise. For my money, this is even better. On Guitar Dream, Vassalotti leans more on an obvious love of new wave. The moody pop songs with their Johnny-Marr-ish guitar really caught me.  Instead of sounding derivative though, he draws from familiar flavors arranging them in his own vision, into a melodic bunch of intimate guitar songs.

Djunah : Ex Voto

This duo is heavy and awesome. She sings like a more aggressive PJ Harvey … While also playing a blistering lead guitar … While also playing bass with her leg on some sort of floor-keyboard set-up.  Djunah is very good, very powerful rock. Even more satisfying for the fact that I just happened upon it without some online music magazine feeding tube. Just some questionable album art, Bandcamp and an inability to focus on whatever work I was supposed to be doing.

Earth Girl Helen Brown : Four Satellites Vol. 1

Actually, 4 EPs that came out in the previous 2 years (but my rules here).  THE EARTH GIRL HELEN BROWN CENTER FOR PLANETARY INTELLIGENCE BAND (their full name) is as eclectic as it is joyful as it is catchy.  They pull off that experimental collage feeling I always got from the Clash’s Sandinista.  They’ve no concern for where they fit in. There are spooky Specials-like songs, catchy garage songs and the strange vamping deviation of “Smooth Operator” on “Language of Love”.  And I learned that a friend plays in this band after making this list.

EARTHGANG : Mirrorland

A young, Atlanta duo that brings the love and the party back to hip hop. A lot of their aesthetic nods to Outkast with maybe some “Atomic Dog” campy futurism but this is not retro. This is a great, positive rap album.  And man, I miss rap duos. A great rap partnership pulls you in and you feel like you are a part of the dialog.

Ecstatic Vision : For the Masses

MC5, Motorhead, Comets On Fire … Ecstatic Vision. Thrashy, non-fussy, visceral metal. Pure fun and catharsis.

Faye Webster : Atlanta Millionaires Club

A catchy Pop/Soul album with some slide guitars flourishes and a great voice that always suggests tongue-in-cheek-i-ness. Faye Webster has a gift for in-the-moment, 1st person story telling … But I wish she went with her second choice album cover no matter what that was.

French Vanilla : How Am I Not Myself?

If the B52s let their angular punk bits punch harder than the twee pop bits they could have had French Vanilla as their child. I can’t remember their earlier album even though I know I heard it … This one, though, grabbed me by the grey chest hairs. Just aggressive enough; just pop enough; just enough … saxophone. Saxophone is a dirty word to some in my house but the heavy sax here feels right.

Frustration : So Cold Streams

Madame Sileo’s 8th grade French hasn’t served me well in the long-haul to adulthood so I’m thankful that this French band sings in English.  So Cold Streams introduces a more nuanced, mature and occasionally slowed down tempo to Frustration’s normal post-punk-ish, fast, chunky guitar sound.  That extra space also leaves a little room for some real singing which reveals an Ian McCulloch quality to his voice.

Guerilla Toss : What Would the Odd Do?

Guerilla Toss is like sci-fi cartoon radio in album form. Hyper-catchy electro pop that could be the child of Super Furry Animals and Stereolab.  Their child, though, adds a little extra bassy funk and Def Leppard guitar licks.

Helado Negro : This Is How You Smile

I’ve missed the sweet, bare feeling that Elliot Smith created. Helado Negro fills some of that void – and without Smith’s relentless sadness. This is a beautiful album of unique, gentle indie rock songs, with a calm and sweet voice. The way he bounces between Spanish and English is a treat – even though it reminds me of my shameful language delinquency.

Homeboy Sandman : Dusty

Sandman is a fantastic rapper with a pretty deep catalog already but this is my favorite yet (it’s worth bragging that Pitchfork totally disagrees with me). Dusty is more carefree and fun than the past where he’s been a little moodier and dense. The songs are built on classic but fairly minimal jazz samples with a singularly clever new flow every time. There are a couple of childish, “dude” songs but his rapping is always solid.

Horse Jumper of Love : So Divine

Because the band name is just so bad, this is an against-the-odds stand-out album. Despite that name I was won by the fact their influences hit major sweet spots from my 90’s and 00’s: DeSoto label post-rock/post-hardcore (if that means anything); The first 2 Death Cab for Cutie releases; and the best song on it, “Volcano”, has got to be a nod to Nirvana, with the mood bouncing from indifferent, low energy singing to a vocal shredding, guitar wailing chorus that kind of screams “Lithium”.

James Blake : Assume Form

I love this warmer, happier side of James Blake!  I’ve kept up hope for him, but always been luke-warm to every album since the eponymous 1st release. That 1st one just always felt deep, unpredictable and spooky – also, the least corny.  But on Assume Form, he indulges. Styles that could have been super corny come off as cheerful and unselfconscious. Beautiful lyrics to more singable tunes, while he keeps his distinctive experimentation and distortion that makes it just ugly enough.

Julia Jacklin : Crushing

Julia Jacklin is very cool and this is a great indie rock record. Live, she commanded a club in a way that few solo artists can – As if she’s sharing stories around a dinner table. Her voice on this album is impressive – live it was chilling.  I’ve noticed that 2019 seemed to have a heavy 1990s music influence. That continues on this album of straight-forward guitar rock broken up by a few pretty and personal folk songs.

Juliana Hatfield : Juliana Hatfield Sings the Police

The 90s: Bill Clinton, JNCO jeans, my first email, Winona, etc. and Juliana Hatfield!  Juliana and The Blake Babies froze in time after great releases in the 90s. The Police is iconic, so it’s hard to hear any of their songs with the excitement they once sparked.  When I decided to check out this album I expected nothing. But Juliana Hatfield’s fantastic, lazer-sharp voice, over her slight interpretations of The Police’s seminal songs brought both artists back to life.  It sounds great and the talent of each is unmistakable … As is the fact that Sting has become a truly horrible, insufferable piece of crap.

L’Orange & Jeremiah Jae : Complicate Your Life with Violence

I expected to hear more excitement about this one.  Last year I was raving about the L’Orange project, Marlowe, and this year he has made something even better. With Jaremiah Jae as lyricist this time, they created a retro-future story over an atmosphere of Wu-Tang-worthy strings and b-movie samples. Complicate Your Life with Violence is tongue-in-cheek spooky, richly musical Hip Hop where the both the MC and the DJ are central.

Lambchop : This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You)

Up until now – very late in Lambchop years – they’ve seemed cool but something short of their rave reviews.  Finally, with This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You), I really get Lambchop.  I’m not going to name the musical device liberally used throughout this album. But they used it … And it’s a beautiful, rich, mellow, clever album.

Lardo : Sinking

Brand new to me but apparently a couple of years old now, Lardo has moved into almost daily rotation.  Heavy, dissonant, Shellac-like guitar rock that some people might call post-hardcore … I guess? This is the kind of music that is like candy to me but kryptonite to some of my friends. The bass chugs, the guitars buzz, scrape and scream, and it all makes you a little uncomfortable.

Lightning Bolt : Sonic Citadel

Speaking of scraping and uncomfortable!  Lightning Bolt never disappoints. Theirs is music that should only be played alone. No one will enjoy it with you.  If you don’t like it … It’s not me it’s you … Trust me that it is awesome. Lightning Bolt is some of the heaviest, most chaotic and most invigorating music I know of. This time, with Sonic Citadel, they made their “catchy” album.  And catchy it is, but only discernible to the strangest, most dissonance-desensitized palettes.

LIP TALK : D A Y S

Here is something smooooth that doesn’t require a lot of caveats and awkward descriptors.  LIP TALK is Kate Bush-like, experimental, electronic pop music. Smooth and nice. D A Y S is catchy, a little new-wave-y and won’t make your ears bleed at all.

Lizzo : Cuz I Love You

Lizzo deserves all of the attention. I was on board with the more straight-forward rap on her earlier albums and they are still great despite her decision to bury those when Cuz I Love You took off.  But this album is extra fantastic, creative, filled with great rap, pop, singing, horns, etc.  It hits me in a similar way to Janelle Monáe – but even more wild. Plus, who doesn’t like Lizzo? Her enthusiasm and just-right-sized ego are infectious.  Anyone who disagrees can go to hell.

Masego : Lady Lady

About a year late to this as well. I know nothing about Masego himself, but Lady Lady is some really good-feeling r&b.  It’s smooth, cocky, not really retro-styled, and yet you can’t ignore that new-jack bounce.

Maxo Kream : Brandon Banks

Maxo Kream comes off as a bit of a tough guy. Somehow that doesn’t run at odds with the natural, self-aware, kindness of his stories. Brandon Banks is all about Maxo Kream’s complicated relationship with his dad. While his dad often seems to be a device to talk about a lot of dads, the beauty is in how sincerely he’s still just talking about his dad. This isn’t a Golden Era rap album at all but the storytelling is an echo of some of those classics.

Nap : Ausgeklingt

Metal from Germany.  I have no idea … Is that exciting or a cliché?  Regardless. Stand-up, let your hair down (maybe don a wig if we’re of a similar age), put your metal horns up, and turn it up just a little too loud.  Ausgeklingt has a stoner metal heart, but Nap throws enough odd twists and styles to make this much more exciting than the many, many, bluesy metal bands breeding on Bandcamp.

Nilüfer Yanya : Miss Universe

Young and very talented. The sounds she created on this album betray her age, say nothing about the depth of her voice.  I’d have imagined an older artist with a solid back-catalog of experience. She’s 24, full of ideas, catchy hooks and smokey vocals.  This is an eclectic and cohesive album with some foggy pop tunes, some gently roughed-up r&b, and some timeless indie guitar rock. And her voice.

Possible Humans : Everybody Split

This subtle indie rock album is in danger of being overlooked if you’re just scanning and skipping through songs. Possible Humans’ songs are understated but well up all the same feelings I have for some other understated favorites: The Feelies; This is a Long Drive era Modest Mouse; The Clientele; and that one Tapes ‘n Tapes album.  They’re from Melbourne, but there’s something americana about it – not as a specific style – but because I can imagine listening to Everybody Split on repeat, driving for days through every boring stretch of the US, and only loving it more.

Raphael Saadiq : Jimmy Lee

Jimmy Lee is the best Raphael Saadiq album since Instant Vintage. He put aside the passable, classic soul salutes of recent albums and made one that is both disquieting and dynamic. The theme is pretty poignant: Saadiq is reflecting personally on his family experiences, and observations at a larger scale of addiction, loss and incarceration.  He’s assembled an eclectic palette with bass bubbling around grimey beats full of soul and gospel.

Rapsody : Eve

Let’s get this out of the way … She samples fucking-Phil on the second song. But despite that one offense of choosing a sinus-stabbing sample with “In the Air Tonight”, Rapsody has kicked down that “great potential” barrier that can elude some excellent rappers.  The production compliments her skill better than her past albums. Previously, Rapsody could come off as pretty intense. On Eve, where every song is about an inspiring black woman, there is a new looseness to her flow that allows her to sound more buoyant and energizing.

Richard Dawson : 2020

This guy is kind of out there.  His storytelling, the biggest treat here, is vivid, exhaustively detailed yet pretty straight-forward.  Richard Dawson’s voice, on the other hand, is peculiar and the oddities of these pop songs can take a minute to settle into.  If you have that minute though, the twists and turns of semi-pastoral, occasional glam metal, British, geek pop will really worm into your head.

School Of Language : 45

A concept album about Trump’s presidency (pre-impeachment) could sound as enjoyable as poking an open, infected sore. For me, I expected that nerve to be too raw to be any fun. 45 (the album) is fun and surprisingly cathartic. I’ve always liked David Brewis’ in his band Field Music, but that project tends toward a stiff, academic, geekier-XTC sound. Inexplicably, this solo album and its cast of Trump, Tillerson, Hillary, etc. give Brewis a swagger like James Brown + the Ohio Players covering Talking Heads + XTC.  Of course, if we don’t align on this particular prez you will hate this album in very deep, Russian-facebook-bot ways.

Shana Cleveland : Night of the Worm Moon

A cool album of gentle indie and psychedelic pop. I don’t know a ton of 60’s folk bands to name drop in here so I’m struggling to describe what sounds so familiar about Shana Cleveland. I can say that there is some less-wacky, softer, Love and zero Joni Mitchell.

Show Me the Body : Dog Whistle

This is my “sort of Fugazi” album for this list … But they don’t sound like Fugazi. Show Me the Body are New York City hardcore for the 2020s. Dog Whistle is heavy, abrasive and dissonant and with electronic flourishes thrown in sparingly. My reasons for why it brings Fugazi to mind: A heavy, hardcore band that scares and excites me the way the 1st Fugazi EP did in 1988; Words like “arty” and “cerebral” fit; Up-front rhythms and searing guitars make you nod and stomp like a pubescent, sweaty punk; They are unabashedly political and started me unconsciously chanting “No work will set you free! No work will set you free! No work will set you free!!” at my corporate job.

Sneaks : Highway Hypnosis

Highway Hypnosis is the first 2019 album I knew would be one this list. I don’t know if she is, but I get the impression that this solo artist is very young.  She exudes that uber-confident, cross-genre-experimentation that only comes from growing up with every song imaginable, and every music tool available in a 5″x2″ computer that you can wear like a ring if you like. That should be read as a compliment.  I love Sneaks with her bag full of heavy rhythms, dark and catchy pop hooks, electronic rap nods, little clubby-reggae experiments, and short instrumental earworms. This is another Clash, Sandinista feeling album for me.

Sudan Archives : Athena

Soul music is best when it’s a little psychedelic … From classics like Ohio Players/Funkadelic to Prince to Badu, Portisehead, Andre3000 or even Bjork. Sudan Archives fits somewhere in that very messy categorization, but way more in the cosmic-hippy vein than wacky. Her self taught, non-traditional violin is the backbone to most of this smooth, eclectic, electronic r&b music, which she apparently played entirely herself.

Swan Valley Heights : The Heavy Seed

Swan Valley Heights begins 100% stoner-metal.  The locomotive-paced, grinding, blues-metal definitely caught my ear right away but the quality that really sold me showed itself much more slowly.  Eventually and occasionally the riffs settle down and leave room for a sunny chorus of sweet, Athens, GA, indie jangle to beam through. You’d swear they time travelled and brought young Michael Stipe to the studio.

The Ballet : Matchy Matchy

A lot of what you and I love about Belle & Sebastian, Magnetic Fields or Pet Shop Boys is in this charming album by The Ballet.  So now you might think, “Whatever. I’ll go listen to 69 Love Songs instead.” Don’t be like that. This is a wonderfully catchy, gentle, funny and clever album. Matchy Matchy is as good as most of those albums it brings to mind.

The Hecks : My Star

“Jittery” and “arty” are the first words I can find to describe My Star. The jerky guitar and vocal rhythms of The Hecks make you want to dance, but instead seem to exaggerate your worst white-dancing habits … Kind of like the Talking Heads.  The “Psycho Killer” influence is strong along with some dance-y post-punk and new wave, but the dissonant, angular tones give a peculiar rawness that separates them from any of their influences.

Tierra Whack : Whack World

In 2018 I slept on this. This is one of the very best discoveries of my year. She’s raps while mixing eclectic genres in a whimsical style. Tierra Whack is quick witted, quick lyrically, funny as hell and a little bit punk – especially for the choice to make an album of only 1 minute songs. Whack World is 100% brilliant hooks and sharp lyrics – no filler. The accompanying video is a cute and captivating collage of Terry Gilliam, Beetlejuice and Mario Brothers.  “It goes like … ABC (all boys cry). MTV (men touch vaginas). BET (bitches eat tacos)”

U.G.L.Y. Boy Modeling : Alter Native

Alter Native is an abstract, murky, warm, silly and challenging rap album. The samples are cloudy, the hooks are sticky, and the piano keys are Wu-Tang pitched. It is a terrible choice if you want to warm 70 year old parents to rap … These days, Common is made for that.  But, while U.G.L.Y.’s lyrics may sound juvenile at first, they are aware, self deprecating and clever.

Vagabon

What a wonderfully touching, optimistic, gentle and powerful album. All of the albums here are my favorites but a few shine a little brighter, like Vagabon. Stylistically, there’s not one specific reference point.  It is all very gentle and very indie. Vagabon is somewhat electro, acoustic, and post-new-wave (not a real thing) imbued with a smokey Sade-warmth.

Young Guv : GUV I & II

Believe it or not, Young Guv is not the name of a SoundCloud rapper with a heavy MDMA habit but the solo work of the guitarist for Fucked Up (who are as heavy as the name implies).  Stranger still, Ben Cook (Young Guv) is in love with the sweetest bits of 90’s indie music. His album (actually 2 albums) is stacked full of nothing but excellent, irresistibly melodic indie rock. He echoes the best bits from late Lemonheads, some Girlfriend era Matthew Sweet feelings and some synthesized pop bits that mix up the latter half. Catchier than measles in a Waldorf school.