2019 Albums • Page 9

Finally getting around to the new Cherry Glazerr

 

February:

1. Cassadee Pope - "Stages" (2019)
2. Girlpool - "What Chaos Is Imaginary" (2019)

 

31. Crane Like the Bird - Crane Like the Bird (2019)
32. Marianas Trench - Masterpiece Theatre (2009)
33. U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)
34. Third Eye Blind - Blue (1999)
35. Bright Eyes - The People's Key (2011)
36. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (2007)
37. Tiny Ruins - Olympic Girls (2019)
38. girlpool - What Chaos Is Imaginary
39. Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History (2010)
40. Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose (2009)

 

January in Review:
I usually spend a healthy portion of January catching up on albums from the previous year that I missed. This year I did less of that than usual, mostly because I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the great new releases that came out this month.

There were a lot of standouts for me, but in the darkness of deep winter, James Blake's Assume Form and Jessica Pratt's Quiet Signs were two really great nighttime albums that had very different moods. Assume Form makes for incredible night drive music; Blake leans on more of his collaborative instincts with great features from Travis Scott, ROSALÍA, and André 3000, but filters them through these dark tunnels that harken back to his earliest and most arresting music. It sounds like nothing else in the world.

While Jame Blake is playing with space, Jessica Pratt's Quiet Signs sounds more like it was conjured from another time. It's a stark, meditative collection of songs that have a palpable atmosphere to them, as in lead single "This Time Around", which sounds like it was beamed in from a post-apocalyptic radio station. Pratt's songs are short and to the point, reflecting light 60s folk with a haunting voice that was tailor-made for an evening at home. It's as if the songs have always just been there, waiting in the air.

This month I also discovered the duo Your Smith, whose EP from last year Bad Habits is four perfectly laid-back pop jams. I had a hard time deciding which song to choose for my recommendations section, but I landed on "The Spot", which sounds like Sheryl Crow rewriting "All I Wanna Do" to be about smoking weed on a hilltop in NorCal. It's definitely going to be in my summer rotation this year. I'm also really excited about the brand new Verve artist J.S. Ondara, whose unique blend of folk and soul calls to mind Leon Bridges auditioning for the Lumineers. His debut album comes out in mid-February, so hopefully I'll have more to write about him in next month's dispatch.

Sharon Van Etten's "Seventeen" might be the song of the year, a roaring Springsteenian ode to looking back on who you used to be and what you'd think of yourself now. Its stunning music video drives that feeling home, as Sharon confronts herself and . It was shot around New York, including some places that I live near, which gives it an extra charge for me because I have that same sensation. In a lot of ways, I'm living a version of what I hoped I would be doing when I was 17: I have an apartment in Brooklyn with my lovely girlfriend, and am working in the music industry and going to shows. Were those uncertain times the good ones? Is it right now? In a lot of ways, life is marked by the perpetual disconnect between where you are and who you want to be, and Sharon captures it perfectly.

I could probably write another five paragraphs about January releases, from the surprise Phoebe Bridgers/Conor Oberst collaboration Better Oblivion Community Center (really enjoyable, but not a top-tier release in either of their discographies) to Maggie Roger's highly anticipated debut (growing on me, but a bit disappointing) to Toro y Moi's depressive funk jams. Ultimately, the blessing and curse of being a big music fan is that you can never listen to everything. If this January is any indication, it's going to be a very good year for music.

Next month is also my participation in the #MWE project, so I'm expecting to hear a lot of great older albums. You can follow my thoughts about them on this Twitter thread.

Top 2019 albums of the month:
Jessica Pratt, Sharon Van Etten, Toro y Moi, James Blake

Recommended Songs I discovered this month:
Strand of Oaks - "Weird Ways"
Sharon Van Etten - "Seventeen"
Your Smith - "The Spot"
J.S. Ondara - "Saying Goodbye"
Jessica Pratt - "This Time Around"

 

well this list could go on forever loll....
in no particular order

1. All We Need -Raury
2. Swimming - Mac Miller
3. American Boyfriend - Kevin Abstract
4. Currents - Tame Impala -- an all time favorite forever
5. Flower Boy - Tyler the Creator
6. Wolf - Tyler the Creator
7. College Dropout - Kanye West
8. Get With the Times - Bekon
9. Fatigue - Zach Farache
10. O My Heart - Mother Mother
11. Trip - Jhene Aiko
12. Everything Under the Sun - Jukebox the Ghost
13. Ye - Kanye West
14. The Program - Cam'ron
15. Man it Feels like Space Again - Pond
16. Gone Now - Bleachers
17. BB - Mod Sun
18. Saw You in a Dream - The Japanese House
19. Blonde - Frank Ocean
20. Cool Glxy - Devin Sunshine ;))

 

January

01. Spangle Call Lilli Line - dreams never end ++
02. Kedama - machi no akari +
03. GANG PARADE - LAST GANG PARADE +
04. RYPPHYPE - next level +
05. Controversial Spark - after intermission ++
06. yuichi NAGAO - oblivion +

from 2018:
01. Drop's - organ (mini album) ++

February

07. majiko - color (mini album) ++
08. MONO - nowhere now here ++
09. POLKADOT STINGRAY - uchoten ++
10. SHE'S - now & then +

from 2018:
02. Asian Kung-Fu Generation - hometown +

 

Forgot to update my list at the end of January. Been a hectic couple of weeks and haven’t listened many actual albums during that time.

 

January new stuff report.

FEVER 333's new release, STRENGTH IN NUMB333RS is probably my favorite release of the month at the moment, a nice chunk of RATM worship, just what 2019's political climate calls for. The Jon Hill Project also put out a strong debut, and the Better Oblivion Community Center, Say Anything, and Fidlar albums continue to grow on me and might work their way up as the year goes on. Weezer's Teal Album is an extremely take it or leave it, by the book covers album, and Bring Me The Horizon's amo has a few killer tracks, but as a whole, failed to grasp me. Slow month for new music, as is usual.

 

Oh gee golly gosh am I late to the party but here I go! First time doing this so any recommendations are appreciated!

February:
Shrezzers- Relationships
FEVER 333- STRENGTH IN NUMB333RS
Jon Hill Project- Rebirth
AM Taxi- Shiver By Me
Bring Me the Horizon- amo
Tiny Moving Parts- For the Sake of Brevity/Fishbowl
Wristmeetsrazor- Misery Never Forgets
SeeYouSpaceCowboy...- Songs For The Firing Squad
Toro y Moi- Outer Peace
Polyenso- Year of the Dog
Point North- Retrograde
Too Close to Touch- I'm Hard To Love But So Are You Vol 1
Tyler Carter- Moonshine
Sticky Fingers- Yours To Keep
Emarosa- Peach Club
iamjakehill- Solace II
Ariana Grande- thank u, next
Pedro the Lion- Phoenix
August Burns Red- Phantom Sessions EP
Set It Off- Midnight
*** newly added ***
Aesop Rock- Malibu Ken
Young Culture- (This Is) Heaven
Better Oblivion Community Center- s/t
Small Talks- A Conversation Between Us
Ithaca- The Language of Inquiry
Hotel Books- I'll Leave The Light On Just In Case
Lilac Kings- Goodnight
Jetty Bones- -
Attila- Villain
grandson- a modern tragedy vol. 2
Body Thief- Travel Glow
While She Sleeps- So What?

March:
Ghost Atlas- Sleep Therapy
Bones- SparrowsCreek
Blood Youth- Starve
Modern Error- Lost In the Noise
Calling All Captains- Nothing Grows Here
Outline In Color- s/t
Our Last Night- Let Light Overcome

 

41. The Cure - Disintegration (1989)
42. Copeland - You Are My Sunshine (2008)
43. Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs (2019)
44. Copeland - Blushing (2019)

 

63. Ariana Grande - thank u, next (2019)
64. Emarosa - Peach Club (2019)
65. Copeland - Blushing (2019)
66. RY X - Unfurl (2019)
67. Panda Bear - Buoys (2019)
68. Tourist - Everyday (2019)
69. Gary Clark Jr. - This Land (2019)
70. SWMRS - Berkley's On Fire (2019)
71. Van Halen - 5150 (1986)
72. Betty Who - Betty (2019)
73. Diplo - Europa (2019)
74. Broken Social Scene - Let's Try The After Vol. 1 (2019)
75. Kehlani - While We Wait (2019)
76. Uffie - Tokyo Love Hotel (2019)
77. Clear Eyes Fanzine - Season One, Episodes 1-6 (2019)
78. American Football - American Football (2019)
79. Weezer - Weezer (Black Album) (2019)
80. Shallou - Souls (2018)

 

January

1.Papa Roach - Who do You Trust? -

2.Pedro The Lion - Phoenix -

3.Polyenso - Year of the dog -

4.Better Oblivion Community Center +

5.Weezer - Teal Album +

6.Backstreet Boys - DNA *

7.Say Anything - Oliver Appropriate -


February

8.Broods - Don't Feed the Pop Monster *

9.Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow *

10.Cub Sport - Cub sport *

11.Maggie Rogers - Heard It In A Past Life *

12.WSTR - Identity Crisis *

13.Ariana Granda - thank u, next +

14.Emarosa - Peach Club *

15. Rhye - Blood *

16. Copeland - Blushing ++

17. Betty Who - Betty +

18. Millencolin - SOS -

19. Avril Lavigne - Head Above Water-

20. Blueface - Famous Cryp +

21. Saba - Care For Me +

22. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse +

23. Thutmose - Man On Fire +

24. Shoffy - Lenses -


March

25. The Japenese House - Good at Falling ++

26. Marianas Trench - Phantoms *

27. Weezer - The Black Album -

28. Juice WRLD - Death Race For Love +

29. Better Off - Reap What You Sow +

30. Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1 -

31. nothing, nowhere - ruiner + +

32. Sigrid - Sucker Punch +

33. LEON - LEON *

34. Beach Slang - MPLS *

35. The Bouncing Souls - Crucial Moments -

36. Teenage Bottle Rocket - Rad! -

37. FOALS - Part 1 -

38. Bad Suns - Mystic Truth +

39. Sleep in. - The Stars on Your Ceiling +

40. American Football - American Football (LP3) -

41. Nilufer Yanya - Miss Universe -

42. Foster The People - Style EP -

43. The Range - Providence EP -

44. Ruth B. - Maybe I'll Find You Again +

45. The Maine - You Are OK ++

46. Reo Cragun - Growing Pains +

47. Simple Creatures - Strange Love ++

48. Free Throw - What's Past is Prologue *


April

49. Jai Wolf - The Cure to Loneliness *

50. Glades - To Love You +

51. Khalid - Free Spirit *

52. Billie Eilish - when we fall asleep, where do we go? *

53. PUP - Morbid Stuff -

54. Bulow - Crystalline +

55. Norah Jones - Begin Again -

56. Anderson Paak - Ventura -

57. Heart Attack Man - Fake Blood -

58. La Bouquet - Sad People Dancing ++

59. Cokie The Clown - You’re Welcome -

60. Ceres - We Are a Team+

61. Valley - Maybe +


May

62. No Rome - Crying In The Prettiest Places +

63. Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride +

64. Bad Religion - Age Of Unreason +

65. New Found Glory - From The Screen To Your Stereo 3 *

66. Charly Bliss - Young Enough +

67. Teenage Wrist - Counting Flies +

68. The Get Up Kids - Problems -

69. Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated +

70. Tyler, The Creator - Igor *

71. Denzel Curry - Zuu +

72. Miley Cyrus - She is Coming +


June

73. The Dangerous Summer - Mother Nature ++

74. Jonas Brothers - Happiness Begins +

75. Lil Nas X - 7 +

76. Two Door Cinema Club - False Alarm *

77. Kim Petras - Clarity +


July

78. Nightly - Talk You Down +

79. Panic Division - Touch *

80. Ed Sheeran - No.6 Collaborations Project + +

81. BANKS - 3 -

82. Sum 41 - Out For Blood +

 

45. Betty Who - Betty (2019)
46. HOMESHAKE - Helium (2019)
47. Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters (1995)
48. Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape (1997)
49. Wicca Phase Springs Eternal - Suffer On (2019)
50. Sir Babygirl - Crush on Me (2019)
51. Bellows - The Rose Gardener (2019)
52. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005)
53. default genders - main pop girl 2019 (2019)

 

Update

 

54. Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
55. MF DOOM - Mm...Food
56. Thursday - War All the Time
57. Julia Jacklin - Crushing
58. Spellling - Mazy Fly
59. Fleetwood Mac - Rumors
60. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac

 

Gonna give a little February update. The albums that have stuck with me the most this year:

• Say Anything: Oliver Appropriate - I think it's a great capstone to this band and sees Max once again fully commit to an interesting concept (both musically and lyrically).
• Ariana Grande: thank u, next - I don't have too much to say about it other than that it's full of bops and NASA is one of the best songs I've heard this year. Really enjoy it is a counter to Sweetener.
• SWMRS: Berkeley's On Fire - The album is just so much fun, and really caught me by surprise. It feels fresh enough to stand out from the crowd, but still has all the best parts of a pop punk album. I think they're going to have a really great year.
• Teamonade: This Is Your Only Warning EP - A very young band out of Ohio releasing some really awesome songs. I like some of the ways they play with their melodies, especially on "Do or Die" which is another fantastic song.

I've also been listening to the two new Tierra Whack songs a ton. Both are great, but I really can't stop listening to "Only Child". Plenty of other releases that I think I will enjoy more as I spend more time with them (pretty much the ones marked with +++ on my list).

Releases I'm most looking forward to (in other words the singles I have been listening to the most):

• The Maine: You Are OK
• Lana Del Rey: Norman Fucking Rockwell
• Jenny Lewis: On the Line

 

February. Good month overall. Best album was Itacha.

 

A busy February resulted in me not listening to much new stuff but everything I listened to was great so that's cool.

 

Eleni Karaindrou - Tous des oiseaux

(Neo Kyma, Post-Minimalism)​

Sample

 

81. Yves Tumor - Safe In The Hands Of Love (2018)
82. Solange - When I Get Home (2019)
83. LÉON - LÉON (2019)
84. 070 Shake - Glitter (2018)
85. XYLØ - Pretty Sad (2019)
86. Wallows - Spring (2018)

 

February

07. majiko - color (mini album) ++
08. MONO - nowhere now here ++
09. POLKADOT STINGRAY - uchoten ++
10. SHE'S - now & then +
11. One Ok Rock - eye of the storm *
12. Aimyon - momentary sixth sense ++

from 2018:
02. Asian Kung-Fu Generation - hometown +

March

13. Poppin' Party - poppin' on! ++

 

February update!

 

I will list the albums I listen to that I had never heard before.

++ = Fantastic, I'm hooked!
+ = Good album, might go back sometimes.
* = Enjoyable, but probably won't go back.
- = Didn't enjoy much.
-- = Couldn't stand, probably didn't finish.

JANUARY

1. Taking Back Sunday - Twenty (2019) +
2. Coheed and Cambria - The Unheavenly Creatures (2018) +
3. Bring Me The Horizon- That's The Spirit (2015) +
4. Weezer - Teal Album (2019) +
5. Bleu Jeans Bleu - Perfecto (2019) ++
6. Bring Me The Horizon - amo (2019) ++

FEBRUARY

7. Andrew McMahon - Upside Down Flowers (2018) +
8. Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) *
9. Emarosa - Peach Club (2019) +
10. Old Sea Brigade - Ode to a Friend (2019) *

 

February in Review:
Participated in #MWE again this year, a music writing exercise where each day I listen to one classic album for the first time and write at least a tweet about it. The goal is to expand my horizons, and I try to focus on older albums by women and people of color. As always, it was a rewarding experience, and you can follow my journey by clicking on the thread below.

The absolute standout from this project for me was Neil Young's On The Beach, a depressive missive from 1974 that is soaked through in its own drunken seasick cynicism. I must have listened to "Motion Pictures (For Carrie)" a hundred times this month. I also enjoyed classic albums by Janet Jackson, George Harrison, Minnie Riperton, Steely Dan, Stevie Nicks(!!!), and King Crimson. (And special shoutout to Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, which washed over me like worn feedback.)

In the meantime, I also found some time to keep up with 2019 releases. Luckily, it was a relatively slow month for albums, so I continued to fall in love with January releases like Sharon Van Etten's Remind Me Tomorrow and Jessica Pratt's Quiet Signs, doing my best to let them burrow deeper into my soul. On its second or third listen, Julia Jacklin's Crushing hit me as hard as anything this year. She has such a distinctive writing voice, finding ways to be both sympathetic and cutting at the same time in the wake of a bad breakup. The album is very much in line with the #MeToo movement, and though she's said that this is more coincidence than intention it will be interesting to see if this narrative angle picks up in the press and gives it extra lift. I hope so; this one feels like an End of the Year contender to me already.

In single news, John Mayer finally released a studio version of his song "I Guess I Just Feel Like", and it lived up to all my expectations. I was a little worried it wouldn't have the same punch as the original live acoustic version, but he pulled it off with aplomb. It feels like a truer sequel to his Born and Raised material than anything since that time, while also incorporating some Continuum-style guitar breaks and a bit of the wide-open soundscapes from Paradise Valley. Really happy, would love more!

Top 2019 albums of the month:
Julia Jacklin, Emily King

Top archival albums of the month:
Neil Young (On The Beach), Janet Jackson (Control), George Harrison (All Things Must Pass)

Recommended Songs I discovered this month:
Miya Folick - "Premonitions"
Emily King - "Go Back"
Julia Jacklin - "Don't Know How To Keep Loving You"
Ariana Grande - "ghostin"
Mandy Moore - "Gardenia"

 

@Matt Chylak I love what you did with Feb 28, cheers to you!