Listed below are the best albums of 2019 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 2 hours ago).
"Just in time before the end of the decade, Michael Kiwanuka provides us with one of the most culturally aware records that we've been gifted. No doubt the message may take a few listens to permeate but when it does you really begin to understand just how important this album will be for years to ...""Just in time before the end of the decade, Michael Kiwanuka provides us with one of the most culturally aware records that we've been gifted. No doubt the message may take a few listens to permeate but when it does you really begin to understand just how important this album will be for years to come. The blend of psych and blues is a difficult task to perfect in this era, but in this album Kiwanuka at least makes it his own. Just like many other great albums of times past, I think this will be one that we look back on and appreciate the fearlessness to address topics of tense societal conflicts within the framework of cross-generational genres."[+]Reply
"Better than Veteran in terms of artistic quality and magnificent production. I've got to sit back and chew on this one for a while though, as it's an intense collage of different sounds constantly thrown at you. There's no way this can be digested in one day, but for now, I'd say this is quite th...""Better than Veteran in terms of artistic quality and magnificent production. I've got to sit back and chew on this one for a while though, as it's an intense collage of different sounds constantly thrown at you. There's no way this can be digested in one day, but for now, I'd say this is quite the imaginative album. There's no way you can compare him to Death Grips now, this is simply and purely JPEGMAFIA in his own zone"[+]Reply
"At the end of last year I’d been dreaming up a piece on Lingua Ignota (real name Kristin Hayter) and female subjectivity in metal and its subgenres. And who knows, maybe at some point it will see the light of day. But for now, here is as good as any place to let some of those half-formed ideas un...""At the end of last year I’d been dreaming up a piece on Lingua Ignota (real name Kristin Hayter) and female subjectivity in metal and its subgenres. And who knows, maybe at some point it will see the light of day. But for now, here is as good as any place to let some of those half-formed ideas unfurl themselves.
Laying claim to an authentically ‘female’ voice in the context of Hayter’s music is more than just a rhetorical gimmick, since it was a voice that was for a long time forced into silence. A survivor of domestic violence, Hayter was embedded within the Rhode Island noise scene but for several years was prevented from ever performing her music at the threat of an abusive ex-partner. Escaping the relationship, Hayter found herself frustrated at the coping strategies suggested by books for abuse survivors, strategies she felt “enforced patriarchal models of civilised femininity”. Hayter didn’t want to serenely accept her suffering, she wanted to rage at its injustice. Lingua Ignota was born.
Heavy metal’s relationship with explicit content has always been something that intrigues me. Much of the genre feels pulled in two directions at once, in that its ethos wants to identify with horror, yet more often that not, the musicians’ own morbid fascination stems from the luxury of having little to no brushes with genuine human suffering (Metallica wrote this zinger about living in a sanatorium - “They keep me locked up in this cage/Can't they see it's why my brain says ‘rage’?” - after watching One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest).
It’s in contrast to these vapid estimations at true horror that Hayter’s power as a songwriter lies. Metal has a rich history of male provocateurs describing sadistic violence upon women under the guise of shock value; Hayter repurposes this language to convey the much more frightening prospect of being the one undergoing that violence.
Though I have tried to voice Lingua Ignota, the best I can do is gesture towards the real thing. I’ll instead leave you with these words from Hayter herself:
"I don't find most of the graphic depictions of (forgive my language here) 'sending this dumb slut back to hell hearing her final screams as my throbbing erection pounds her maggot-filled cunt' upsetting to my feminine sensibilities, most of it isn't even well-executed enough to be taken seriously. I just find that it occupies this weird space of being simultaneously very loaded and totally obsolete, especially when we consider that none of these guys are actually sodomising female corpses in their free time. So my thoughts were to flip this whole paradigm and to try to make it meaningful, to reframe extreme imagery for survivors of violence, upon whom very dark shit has actually been visited.""[+]Reply
"Shabaka Hutchings, the ubiquitous figure in London's burgeoning experimental jazz scene, is back. When he is not involved with Shabaka and The Ancestors or his quartet Sons of Kemet, the thirty-year-old saxophonist and clarinettist enjoys venturing into the confines of cosmic jazz with his extrat...""Shabaka Hutchings, the ubiquitous figure in London's burgeoning experimental jazz scene, is back. When he is not involved with Shabaka and The Ancestors or his quartet Sons of Kemet, the thirty-year-old saxophonist and clarinettist enjoys venturing into the confines of cosmic jazz with his extraterrestrial trio The Comet is Coming. In these interstellar groove storms, he takes the name King Shabaka and surrounds himself with drummer Maxwell Hallett (Betamax Killer) and keyboardist Dan Leavers (Danalogue The Conqueror). After the album "Channel The Spirits" and an EP, the extraterrestrial trio today unveils a second cosmic album. In the footsteps of Sun Ra or Alice Coltrane, The Comet is Coming alternates spiritual-jazz, free jazz eruptions, burning electronic groove and transcendental stellar strolls. The trio invites on a track the English rapper and poet Kate Tempest. A fusion of genres guided by a permanent quest for new sound territories and spirituality. I really was transcended by listening to this magnificent record, Shabaka really imposes itself as one of the most important figures of Nu Jazz. And yes, even if it's not the genre I listen to the most, jazz is for me the most important musical genre of our time.
9/10
Best track: "Summon The Fire"
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"This is probably the only album or set of albums that I don't want to touch. Not because it's bad. No, far from the contrary. Listening to some snip-its from this are quite jaw dropping on how potent they are. But for people who know what this album is about, there is something that feels uncanny...""This is probably the only album or set of albums that I don't want to touch. Not because it's bad. No, far from the contrary. Listening to some snip-its from this are quite jaw dropping on how potent they are. But for people who know what this album is about, there is something that feels uncanny about this that terrifies me. And for newcomers that are reading this comment wondering what the hell I'm talking about, read what this is about, listen to songs like the last song of section 2 as well as the second half and you will know true fear.
Just had to get that off my chest. The more I think about it, the more depressed I get."[+]Reply
"Very good - not as groundbreaking as ASATT but not a step backwards at all; maybe a step to the side, or a jog in place. Faves were Jerrod, Sound of Rain, and Time (Is)."Reply
"Sometimes I'm glad I completely ignore the ratings & comments on this site before I listen to any sub genres of pop. This is a perfectly fine record without the pretentiousness of a St. Vincent or FKA Twigs record because that's not what this is. Electropop gang FOR LIFE"Reply
"What a really cool change of pace for these guys. Yeah, its genre tags are "thrash metal" and "stoner metal," but I would say the intensity of it matches the more chaotic moments from Nonagon of Infinity with some aggressive vocals and crazy good guitar work. It's a very fun listen."Reply
"Oh, this is a great album! Don't let Pitchfork fool you, this album may not be as technically accomplished as his first two but it is brimming with all this emotion, its so beautiful. All of his previous album covers have his face obscured or distorted, and for Assume Form its the exact opposite ...""Oh, this is a great album! Don't let Pitchfork fool you, this album may not be as technically accomplished as his first two but it is brimming with all this emotion, its so beautiful.
All of his previous album covers have his face obscured or distorted, and for Assume Form its the exact opposite with the hair even pulled back. A fitting cover cuz this album is James Blake unravelled, representing the current state of mind he's in and its just so pure and heartfelt.
I loved Blake's music for its cold and emotionally detached vibe, but I'm so glad he's in a place to have made this record.
I am pretty much in love with the entire album except a couple songs, but I'll come too is an absolute highlight! "[+]Reply