Listed below are the best albums of 2019 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 59,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 7 hours ago).
"Very good solo record. It runs slightly out of steam towards the end but for the most part it's a solid and eclectic album with nods to pop, soul, blues, jazz and rock."Reply
"After the light touch of Forget, Girl...is a return to Angel Guts’ dark pit of despair. However, even that album had a pop feel Girl...really doesn’t, the music being percussive heavy with the vocals (often) disjointedly laid on top. You could say this is Xiu Xiu but hardcore which says a lot con...""After the light touch of Forget, Girl...is a return to Angel Guts’ dark pit of despair. However, even that album had a pop feel Girl...really doesn’t, the music being percussive heavy with the vocals (often) disjointedly laid on top. You could say this is Xiu Xiu but hardcore which says a lot considering Stewart’s career-old preoccupation with humiliation and degradation.
I still don’t know what to make of it but I still can’t stop listening."[+]Reply
"I loved Holly Herndon's "Platform" and it's true that the San Francisco musician amazed her entourage with her experimental music blending technology and organic. Four years later, she recurs in this approach with her new audacious album called "Proto". Holly Herndon created an artificial intelli...""I loved Holly Herndon's "Platform" and it's true that the San Francisco musician amazed her entourage with her experimental music blending technology and organic. Four years later, she recurs in this approach with her new audacious album called "Proto". Holly Herndon created an artificial intelligence called Spawn designed to react to human singing and to mix the voice of the choir with its own digital singing. It's science fiction! And I think this album really sounds like a science experiment and not a real album. It's science that Holly Herndon tries to infuse. It focuses on theories, the impact of new technologies on current music. Surely one of the craziest records this year but not necessarily one of the easiest to listen to.
6/10"[+]Reply
"quickly becoming my fav project of hers. Every cut is as hypnotizing and catchy as the last. Some really great incorporation of horns from the Spells EP that blend nicely with the 90s-era trance and experimental bits. 8.5-9/10."Reply
"This isn’t a terrible album, but it’s not terribly good either It all just feels and sounds so incredibly safe with sparking clean production you could eat your lunch off. Where are the unfiltered guitars? Where are the sicko lyrics about murder , incest and mayhem? Slicing up eye balls? More lik...""This isn’t a terrible album, but it’s not terribly good either
It all just feels and sounds so incredibly safe with sparking clean production you could eat your lunch off. Where are the unfiltered guitars? Where are the sicko lyrics about murder , incest and mayhem? Slicing up eye balls? More like slicing up bread ? I guess with 5 children in tow Charles Thompson the 3rd is mellowing with life as a family man .Even the title ‘Underneath The Erie’ is uninteresting so named because drummer David Lovering spotted an eagles nest close to the recording studio in the Catskills Mountains
The one track I did find interesting was Daniel Boon about a man who dies when his car hits a deer , it’s apparently an accompaniment to the track “Caribou “ from ‘Come On Pilgrim’ their very first release back in 1987
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"No sophomore slump here for Hozier. Building upon the melancholy mood he brought to us in his debut "Take Me To Church" Hozier finds the proper balance between retro- Van Morrison aping Irish soul, and the 21st century. He's comfortable name-dropping James Brown and Curtis Mayfield in a nod to hi...""No sophomore slump here for Hozier. Building upon the melancholy mood he brought to us in his debut "Take Me To Church" Hozier finds the proper balance between retro- Van Morrison aping Irish soul, and the 21st century. He's comfortable name-dropping James Brown and Curtis Mayfield in a nod to his soul roots in first single "Nina Cried Power" and brings home the bacon and fries it up in a pan on the remainder of the album. He's gritty and smooth at the same time! Love this album!"[+]Reply
"PSYCHODRAMA is the first album to completely deliver on the promise UK hip hop has shown in the past few years. There's been some good records in the grime scene, most prominently Skepta's 'Konnichiwa' and Wiley's 'Godfather', but for the most part even the best of these feel like a modern update...""PSYCHODRAMA is the first album to completely deliver on the promise UK hip hop has shown in the past few years. There's been some good records in the grime scene, most prominently Skepta's 'Konnichiwa' and Wiley's 'Godfather', but for the most part even the best of these feel like a modern update of a subgenre that was better 15 years ago. UK hip hop that doesn't fall under grime has provided some great singles but only Kojey Radical's 'In God's Body' really came together as an album. Dave has been one of those rappers who puts out hit and miss singles and there's been a pretty clear pattern of the serious tracks being great and the party tracks being forgettable.
Fortunately of the last two singles Dave released it's 'Black' that makes it onto PSYCHODRAMA, not 'Funky Friday'. 'Black' is an excellent political track that tackles institutional racism and is so necessary right now. There's no shortage of brilliant music from the US discussing race but it's staggering how little this conversation comes up in the UK where a post-racial myth has gone largely unchallenged by both sides of the political divide.
Other highlights on the album include 'Psycho' an uncomfortable but powerful expression of mental health and the circumstances surrounding it. J-Hus featuring 'Disaster' sees the two rappers go back and forth detailing the ways in which fame has changed their lives. Closing track 'Drama' is even more expressive and honest than 'Psycho' and is the perfect way to finish the project offering as much positivity and closure as you can get on an album this grim.
As good as these tracks are they pale in comparison to centrepiece 'Lesley'. It's one of the very best storytelling tracks I've heard in years and its success comes down to a combination of emotional connection and its necessary but overlooked subject matter. Changes in perspective also allow Dave to discuss the pain caused to several groups of people as a result of the track's subject. I won't go into the subject matter of the track here because the best way to get the full impact of the track is to just hear it instead of seeing it described first.
There are a couple of drawbacks. 'Purple Heart' is a pathetically corny track featuring some of the least sexy lines I've heard in a while. The star sign puns are also on another level of painful. 'Location' is nowhere near as bad but lags way behind the quality of surrounding tracks and becomes completely forgettable.
In spite of a few missteps PSYCHODRAMA is a fantastic album which shows Dave reaching new heights (worth keeping in mind that he's only 20). His gloomy delivery and subject matters are so reflecting of modern Britain and its multitudes of problems and injustices. The personal core of this record is particularly strong and really sets Dave apart from his peers, he's got a real talent at building an emotional connection to his more serious tracks. 'Lesley' in particular shows a talent that very few in the music scene have. All 11 minutes of it are viscerally written and emotionally draining. As depressing as a lot of PSYCHODRAMA is there's still an overwhelming feeling that when these subjects are expressed so competently it can start the conversations in society to help us do better."[+]Reply
"Decidedly, Phoebe Bridgers is on fire right now. After a first solo album in 2017 named "Stranger In The Alps", the Californian re-offended with supertrio boygenius the following year with a first EP, now she presents her new side-project with Conor Oberst named "Better Oblivion Community Center ...""Decidedly, Phoebe Bridgers is on fire right now. After a first solo album in 2017 named "Stranger In The Alps", the Californian re-offended with supertrio boygenius the following year with a first EP, now she presents her new side-project with Conor Oberst named "Better Oblivion Community Center ". Yes, it's really the duet that nobody expected a week ago. "Better Oblivion Community Center" is obviously not attached to a single style. With the musical past of Conor Oberst, the duet manages to diversify itself with the electronic accents of "Exception To The Rule" or the noise-rock sounds of "Big Black Heart". The album is unexpected and enjoyable but there are some pretty forgettable moments, taking over the clichés of indie folk. With "Better Oblivion Community Center", Conor Oberst has been offering one of its best performances for a long time, thanks to the infallible charisma of Phoebe Bridgers.
6/10
Best track: "Dylan Thomas""[+]Reply
"Cards on the table I’m some thing of a Wilco fan boy so I’m probably writing this with rose coloured glasses on but I have to admit I really enjoyed ‘Ode To Joy’ more than any Wilco album in ... well , years ! . It is a hidden gem in the Wilco cannon What drew me in most initially were the wonder...""Cards on the table I’m some thing of a Wilco fan boy so I’m probably writing this with rose coloured glasses on but I have to admit I really enjoyed ‘Ode To Joy’ more than any Wilco album in ... well , years ! . It is a hidden gem in the Wilco cannon
What drew me in most initially were the wonderful atmospheric songs that harken back to ‘Y.H.F’ for example “Bright Leaves “ , “Before Us” and “An Empty Corner “ , but then the slices of pop begin to shine through with “Love Is Everywhere (Beware)” quite simply one of Wilco’s best ever tracks
Recently Jeff Tweedy’s solo albums have outshone the Wilco collaborations but not here. Wilco are back with the most surprisingly good album of 2019 "[+]Reply