Top 5 EPs of 2019 (starting today)

Artists to follow for 2020 (starting today)

Top 50 Albums Of 2019 (end of January 2020 approx)

Top 10 UK Hit Songs Of 2019 (February 2020)

Top 50 Songs Of 2019 (end of February 2020 approx or probably March 2020 if the Hit Songs list doesn't get done by then)

TOP 5 EP's OF 2019

 

Honorable mentions:

 

Both of the EPs by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (Black Star Dancing and This Is The Place)

Willie J Healey - Hello Good Morning

Candy Says - You Are Beautiful; We Are All Beautiful

 

 

5. Thom Yorke - Suspiria: Unreleased Material

While it's not as good as Yorke's official score from last year, it still succeeds in spine-chilling the listener

Fave Track: A Conversation With Just Your Eyes

 

 

4. Max Blansjaar - Fantasy Living

Filled with upbeat, pleasant sounding lo-fi material to spread some good vibes

Fave Track: The Shame That I Wear

 

 

3. Sunflower Bean - King Of The Dudes

A nice slice of that late 70's/early 80's USA punk rock sound

Fave Track: King Of The Dudes

 

 

2. TNGHT - II

Contains some of the most out-of-this-world electronic music of this year. We hear Mohawke and Lunice take a Reggaeton beat and add their own unique sound to it on First Body, some peculiar Young Thug style ad-libs in Club Finger to go with some occasional rave stabs and Clever Pants bearing a flute line that sounds like someone trying to play the theme tune to the animated TV series adaptation of Mr. Bean only to get carried away by freestyling his/her parts. I could see myself returning to this EP quite frequently in the future.

Fave Track: Gimme Summn

 

 

1. Lapsley - These Elements

After a three year hiatus, Lapsley returns to the studio to create a heartbreaker of an EP. The synthesizer is a great choice for a tool to back up these elements of emotion established throughout this EP, this is evident on the highlight of the four Ligne 3, in which we see Lapsley struggling to move on from a breakup. The chorus of Eve 6 has some questions asked about whether the man described in the song truly loves his lover, and Drowning shows that no matter how well you are raised, you still go through low points in your life.

Fave Track: Ligne 3

 

 

 

EP Hall Of Fame

2016: Massive Attack - Ritual Spirit

2017: David Bowie - No Plan

2018: Aphex Twin - Collapse

2019: Lapsley - These Elements

Edited January 1, 20205 yr by SantaDalek32

Artists to follow in 2020

• Georgia
• Squid
• Easy Life
• Greentea Peng
• Sudan Archives
• Sports Team
• VC Pines
• Joy Crookes
• Celeste
• LIFE
• The Mysterines
• N0V3L

Edited January 1, 20205 yr by SantaDalek32

A great shame that Squid's Town Centre EP is not in your Top 5 - it was by far my favourite of the year. Looking forward to your lists though DT. : )

A great shame that Squid's Town Centre EP is not in your Top 5 - it was by far my favourite of the year. Looking forward to your lists though DT. : )

 

Didn't make it into my Top 5, but it was still a pretty swell EP

Plus I'm glad you're looking forward to my lists

Giving Ligne 3 a listen since you recommended it, don't think it's the sort of thing I'd listen to but I do like it, the repeated chopped-up lines really add to the song. Didn't realise Sunflower Bean had released new music this year either, King of the Dudes is sounding pretty nice.

 

Also like Georgia and Sports Team from the artists you listed!

I haven't checked out the Låpsley EP yet (although there's no excuse as there's only 4 songs :kink:) but I do have to say that 'My Love Was Like the Rain', taken from it, was an amazing comeback song! She was on my radar due to enjoying 'Hurt Me' back in 2015 but I think this song is even better than that, a top 10 smash in my chart <3

 

Looking forward to more!

Didn't heard any of these EPs yet, might give them a listen soon.

Out of these artists, nice to see Georgia, Easy Life, Sports Team, Joy Crookes and Celeste in there!

Giving Ligne 3 a listen since you recommended it, don't think it's the sort of thing I'd listen to but I do like it, the repeated chopped-up lines really add to the song. Didn't realise Sunflower Bean had released new music this year either, King of the Dudes is sounding pretty nice.

 

Also like Georgia and Sports Team from the artists you listed!

 

Glad to see that you liked Ligne 3.

You can say King Of The Dudes is nice

 

 

 

I haven't checked out the Låpsley EP yet (although there's no excuse as there's only 4 songs :kink:) but I do have to say that 'My Love Was Like the Rain', taken from it, was an amazing comeback song! She was on my radar due to enjoying 'Hurt Me' back in 2015 but I think this song is even better than that, a top 10 smash in my chart <3

 

Looking forward to more!

 

Hurt Me was the first song I heard by her, and I also remember putting Long Way Home at the lower end of my Top 75 Albums Of 2016 back when I did my 2016 EOY.

 

 

 

 

Didn't heard any of these EPs yet, might give them a listen soon.

Out of these artists, nice to see Georgia, Easy Life, Sports Team, Joy Crookes and Celeste in there!

 

Glad you like some of the artists on the list.

If you find the opportunity to listen to one of these EPs, I hope you end up liking the one you chose to listen through.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the replies!

My Top 50 albums (with an added 25) will start at the end of January/start of February. It might come earlier if I finish some planned writeups quickly

Edited January 3, 20205 yr by SantaDalek32

I'm currently working on the writeups for the Top 10.

Also, I'm ditching the 75-51 for a Top 50 in order for a smaller chance of album overload for the course of the next year. I will be doing it for this countdown as it's the end of the decade.

 

 

ALBUMS 51-75

 

51. C Duncan - Health

52. BROCKHAMPTON - GINGER

53. Lana Del Rey - Norman f***ing Rockwell

54. Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

55. Metronomy - Metronomy Forever

56. Solange - When I Get Home

57. Coldplay - Everyday Life

58. Danny Brown - uknowhatimsayin¿

59. Harry Styles - Fine Line

60. Jack Savoretti - Singing To Strangers

61. Denzel Curry - ZUU

62. Friendly Fires - Inflorescent

63. Elbow - Giants Of All Sizes

64. Ed Sheeran - No. 6 Collaborations Project

65. Stereophonics - Kind

66. Beck - Hyperspace

67. Iggy Pop - Free

68. Catfish And The Bottlemen - The Balance

69. Lizzo - Cuz I Love You

70. Ride - This Is Not A Safe Place

71. Circa Waves - What's It Like Over There?

72. Liam Gallagher - Why Me? Why Not.

73. Dermot Kennedy - Without Fear

74. P!nk - Hurts 2B Human

75. Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent

 

 

Edited January 18, 20205 yr by DalekTurret32

And I feel like getting #50-#46 out of the way since I'm close to finishing the writeups.

 

 

Rules:

 

An album must have been released in 2019

The album must be a studio album (no compilation albums or mixtapes, so Hi This Is Flume and Angel's Pulse will, sadly, not pop up)

 

 

 

BTW, I may copy this countdown onto my new Blogspot page once it has finished.

 

 

 

ALBUMS 50-46

 

 

50. KAYTRANADA - BUBBA

A bit of a late entry, but KAYTRANADA’s followup to 99.9% succeeds in immersing you into the atmosphere of a nightclub like that album did. There’s also a handful of addictive beats on this.

Fave Tracks: Freefall, Culture, Midsection

 

 

49. JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes Are Cornballs

“You think you know me?”. An experimental album containing some weird and wonderful sounds, vocally and instrumentally. However, there’s more to this than just the distinct production. The lyrical content shows a personal side of Peggy in which he looks back on his past life, talks about facing enemies and obstacles he often encounters, and breaks down the effects of internet culture

Fave Tracks: Papi I Missed U, Post Verified Lifestyle, Kenan vs. Kel

 

 

48. Tom Walker - What A Time To Be Alive

Some good singer/songwriter material in there, such as Angels where it tells us to find hope when we’re down rather than give up, smash hit Leave A Light On in which Walker counsels a friend struggling with addiction and my personal favourite Dominoes, a song showing the negative effects of clickbait-related media such as tabloids

Fave Tracks: Dominoes, Angels, Fade Away

 

 

47. Mac DeMarco - Here Comes The Cowboy

I felt like this didn’t have too much of the mindless fun that was present in his previous work (or to be more specific, Salad Days and 2). Nevertheless, it still offered some pleasing acoustic guitar music.

I also give credit to DeMarco for adding some different sounds to this album, such as the gloomy Moog chords that pop up in the 2nd half of the album; they remind me of the chords that he used in his 2015 mini LP Another One. The album’s biggest highlight is Heart To Heart, which serves as a touching tribute to the late Mac Miller

Fave Tracks: Heart to Heart, All Of Our Yesterdays, Skyless Moon

 

 

46. Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

The moment these piano chords kicked in during album opener A Lot’s Gonna Change, I could immediately sense a moving classic. Natalie Mering does a great job evoking feelings of nostalgia in said track’s lyrics. The album also touches upon the problems of the dating side of modern society in Everyday and Wild Times.

My favourite track of this is Movies, a song in which Mering sings from the perspective of a person watching a film in the cinema while imagining being in one, with the amazing instrumental arrangements perfectly capturing a cinematic experience.

Fave Tracks: Movies, Wild Time, A Lot’s Gonna Change

Edited January 18, 20205 yr by DalekTurret32

 

ALBUMS 45-41

 

 

45. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana

The Portugese Google Translate feature in the intro is a little distracting, but that doesn’t stop this album from sounding nice and relaxed.

The 1970’s soul samples that Madlib incorporates into his production really enhance the experience of this; plus it goes back to the roots of hip hop, as well as the music that influenced the early days of that genre.

I also like Freddie Gibbs, his flows and what he raps about on this album. These topics include police brutality on Soul Right, a perspective of a person with a high profile on the streets on Fake Names and discrimination on Education.

The guest verses are also really good, with my favourites probably being Anderson .Paak on Giannis as he adds to the soulfulness that was already established by the samples occurring throughout the album.

 

Fave Tracks: Education, Crime Pays, Cataracts

 

 

44. Temples - Hot Motion

Temples’ last album Volcano is my favourite album of 2017. The Kettering band’s follow-up isn’t as divine, but still manages to pack in that excellently exuberant energy that made their content fantastic from the start.

The first two tracks go off with a bang (and are also the ones I often come back to easily). I also love The Howl as it shows the album at its most theatrical point, with its fast 12/8 rhythm and its majestic instrumentation, as well as the great sounding mid-high vocals from James Bagshaw as usual

 

Fave Tracks: Hot Motion, The Howl, Monuments

 

 

43. Skepta - Ignorance Is Bliss

Skepta returns with some great flows and brags. He also comes with insightful lyrics, which are at their most visible in Bullet From A Gun, a track in which he raps about betrayal, police brutality and even reflects back on his past anger towards his father.

Some of the instrumentals are also really good and give a night feel like Going Through It with its 1980s style synth chords and Glow In The Dark with a woodwind instrument blending with a soulful drum kit pattern to create a 70's style combination. The penultimate track Gangsta features a great return from Skepta’s group Boy Better Know; I especially liked JME’s verse.

 

Fave Tracks: You Wish, Gangsta, Going Through It

 

 

42. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars

The Boss is back with an album that takes the traditional elements of folk and country and introduces them to a more modern audience. Even as someone that doesn’t listen to country music in his spare time as much as other genres, I can say that there’s some really good cuts on this album with some great songwriting from Springsteen.

 

Fave Tracks: The Wayfarer, Hello Sunshine, Drive Fast (The Stuntman)

 

 

41. Pond - Tasmania

While we wait for Tame Impala’s next LP to come out, let’s listen to the latest album from a band whose lead singer used to be a touring member of Tame Impala to see what it has to offer. Like with Temples’ Hot Motion, It does a good job at capturing that psychedelic atmosphere that Pond have succeeded in doing so previously.

 

Fave Tracks: Burnt Out Star, Goodnight P.C.C., Shame

 

 

ALBUMS 40-36

 

 

 

40. Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

The spiritual feelings from Love & Hate carry into this project, but they now come with a mixture of funk and soul from the 1970’s to spread some unity.

I love how the album tackles discrimination problems in a similar vein to what soul music of that decade would usually do. Examples of this include Rolling and Hero, as well as the interlude leading to the latter. It also discourages the listener from giving up, even at the lowest points in life (like on the album opener You Ain’t The Problem).

 

Fave Tracks: Hard To Say Goodbye, You Ain’t The Problem, Light

 

 

39. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

I haven’t listened to a lot of Nick Cave’s material, besides his fantastic 2016 album Skeleton Tree and a few other singles from his discography (with Red Right Hand probably being my favourite of them). I have listened to his new album Ghosteen this year and I found it to be a really good studio effort from him.

The lyrics have this wonderful sense of poetry to them, and they come with some incredibly atmospheric instrumentation. This is noticeable on the album opener Spinning Song with the boomerang like movement of the synths ascending and descending along with an elegant sounding glass harmonica. Plus Nick Cave is an engaging vocalist in the storytelling of these tracks.

The only thing holding it back is that the album feels slow at points, but I might be nitpicking.

 

Fave Tracks: Hollywood, Spinning Song, Bright Horses

 

 

38. Vampire Weekend - Father Of The Bride

A nice sounding album looking into the idea of love; both the positives and negatives. It’s like The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs in some way but with a much smaller number of tracks.

Lead single Harmony Hall left me excited for the album with the song. It blends the acoustic ballads of Paul Simon with the upbeat rhythmic elements of Primal Scream's Screamadelica (particularly Movin' On Up). That anticipation was worthwhile after listening to the end result.

Sympathy is to this album the same way Americano is to Lady Gaga's Born This Way (both tracks burst with amazing flamenco flavour), Big Blue is a relaxing guitar tune with a hint of Mac DeMarco influence and the Haruomi Honsono sample occurring throughout 2021 hits me in the feels. We also have some optimistic guitar lines from Steve Lacy, as well as some good vocal contributions from him and Danielle Haim.

 

Fave Tracks: Sympathy, Harmony Hall, This Life

 

 

37. Bon Iver - i,i

Bon Iver showed in their previous album 22, A Million that they had more to their music than just atmospheric indie folk; they experimented with different elements of sound. This journey of experimentation continues on i,i. We get to hear these unique vocal filters from its predecessor on the proper beginning track iMi.

Additionally, the album manages to paint some beautiful landscapes with its sound thanks to the production, and we even get some nostalgic lyrics written into the music like in Hey, Ma.

b,r,i,l,l,i,a,n,t a,l,b,u,m

 

Fave Tracks: Naeem, Holyfields,, Hey, Ma

 

 

36. Anderson .Paak - Ventura

It’s quite hard for me to choose my definite favourite of the Anderson .Paak albums (though I have yet to listen to Venice). Malibu is the one I come back to the most for its smooth, bright sounds. However, Oxnard and Ventura look more into his culture with interesting topics, the latter of which is sitting at this very spot.

We get a smooth Motown throwback with some great contributions from the likes of former Outkast member Andre 3000, Neptunes producer Pharrell Williams and even legendary soul singer Smokey Robinson. There’s also an empowering tribute to basketball player LeBron James in King James, which also demonstrates him overcoming his challenges and shows how his journey inspired others to achieve their fullest potential.

 

Fave Tracks: Come Home, Reachin’ 2 Much, Jet Black

 

Nice to see "Father Of The Bride" and "Ventura", two amazing albums that came out last year!

 

 

 

 

ALBUMS 35-31

 

 

 

35. White Denim - Side Effects

I forgot to add Performance onto my 2018 EOY. I listened to it a few months before that countdown and thought it was a solid candidate for the Top 30 part, but I forgot to add it in to my plan for that list. Fortunately, White Denim’s follow-up Side Effects was one I found to be really good, though not on the level of its predecessor, or even Stiff.

Listening to a White Denim album feels like you’re taking a time machine back to the early 1970’s, and this one has a similar production style. There are times where it can get cheesy, but lead singer James Petralli adds a lot of charisma to his vocal performance. Head Spinning has a great chorus. I love how the terms ‘head spinning’ and ‘a spinning head’ are combined to make an interesting variation of the repetitive kind of chorus.

 

Fave Tracks: Head Spinning, Reversed Mirror, NY Money

 

 

34. Sam Fender - Hypersonic Missiles

The debut album from this year’s (should say 2019 as we just entered 2020 at the time of writing this) BRITS Critics’ Choice Award winner serves as a great look into the current state of UK politics, as well as toxic masculinity.

There is quite a lot to say about this album. The political topics occurring throughout the album are set up with the album opener bearing a similar sound to The Killers’ anthemic rock style. This is followed by The Borders, with a fantastic sense of rock swell to it that reminds me of The War On Drugs. The song also looks at two boys from different upbringings with one hating the other due to their different levels of fortune over the course of their lives. Dead Boys is a heartbreaking song tackling the shockingly high rates of male suicide and how society frequently ignores this issue. That Sound shows the importance of music in general, plus it’s a banger of a tune. But if I can choose a favourite track from this album, it’s definitely Play God. I love how this song paints a dystopian Air Strip One-esque picture to show what a future society would evolve (or possibly devolve) into.

 

Fave Tracks: Play God, That Sound, Hypersonic Missiles

 

 

33. Floating Points - Crush

I’m a fan of electronic music. But if there is one type of electronic music that I truly love, it’s the type that sounds atmospheric (like Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada). Floating Points does just that, but also adds some orchestral layers along with it.

There are even instruments that you wouldn’t expect to hear in electronic music popping up, like the use of a mellotron in Sea-Watch or the use of bagpipes in Anasickmodular (It’s not everyday you hear bagpipes in music of this genre). There’s also some pulsating cuts on this, such as Bias and Environments, both of which remind me of the energetic sounds that ran through my favourite EP of 2018, Aphex Twin’s Collapse.

 

Fave Tracks: Bias, Last Bloom, Environments

 

 

32. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow

Remind Me Tomorrow lays out some great nostalgic imagery, while also discussing heartbreak in its lyrics. The album marks a gradual shift from Van Etten’s usual indie folk style to a more alternative synth-driven style with further experimentation involving that instrument.

 

Fave Tracks: Seventeen, Jupiter 4, Stay

 

 

31. Kevin Abstract - ARIZONA BABY

While BROCKHAMPTON’s latest studio effort does have a couple of tracks I keep coming back to (and the album itself is very good), I still prefer Kevin Abstract’s solo album that came a few months prior that album.

The album looks at missed opportunities (Joyride), Kevin’s struggles with the homophobia surrounding him (Georgia) and is even reflective on some of the issues circling round the Ameer Vann shock and how it affected those close to him (Corpus Christi). Joyride has a joyful chorus with a saxophone line that reminds me of the one used in Robbie Williams' cover of Manu Chao's Bongo Bong.

We also get some welcome vocal contributions from Dominic Fike, who would soon find success with his hit 3 Nights, on Use Me and Peach. Jack Antanoff seemed to be very busy this year, as he not only produced this album, but also Taylor Swift’s Lover and Lana Del Rey’s Norman f***ing Rockwell. Both of the albums I referred to became big sellers on the charts worldwide, which shows that hard work truly pays off.

 

Fave Tracks: Corpus Christi, American Problem, Crumble

 

 

 

ALBUMS 30-26

 

 

30. Jack Goldstein - LOVE, THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

A relatively short album coming with sounds that evoke images of seaside landscapes with an interesting usage of personification in tracks like DUNGENESS. This, Pusha T’s DAYTONA and a handful of EPs I’ve listened to are great examples of what artists can offer in a shorter amount of time than expected.

 

Fave Tracks: Beckon Call, DUNGENESS, We’re Starting Out (Eye To Eye And Hand To Hand)

 

 

29. Cate Le Bon - Reward

A lyrical technique that can be very useful is “show, don’t tell” and Cate LeBon uses this technique in her songwriting excellently, such as in Home To You where she makes use of it to tell a tale of nostalgic feelings. The album also comes with an artistic atmosphere painted by the instrumentation, which is greatly established in the first track of the album Miami. Also, when the saxes come in, the album becomes elevated, especially in the outro to Mother’s Mother’s Magazines.

 

Fave Tracks: Magnificent Gestures, The Light, Home To You

 

 

28. Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head

A slightly softer transition from the hard-hitting Gang Signs & Prayer. There’s still a handful of grime bangers like Wiley Flow and Handsome, but we also get a calmer side from Storm, such as in Rainfalls in which he faces his enemies with strength, Lessons focusing on a relationship coming to an end, and Superheroes in which he feels inspiration from his idols (along with a nice interpolation of the Tracy Beaker theme tune at the end of the track).

 

Fave Tracks: Crown, Wiley Flow, Rachael’s Little Brother

 

 

27. WH Lung - Incidental Music

A wowing, psychedelic debut. Might grow on me in the future as it has some of that power that The Comet Is Coming have in their music.

 

Fave Tracks: Empty Room, Inspiration!, Simpatico People

 

 

26. The Chemical Brothers - No Geography

It’s no Dig Your Own Hole or Surrender, but No Geography shows that The Chems’ material is still fizzing with electronic energy after two decades of producing music.

MAH is catchy as all hell, with the sample from El Coco’s 1977 soul track I’m Mad As Hell, which, in turn, interpolates a quote from the 1976 Sidney Lumet film Network. I love the way the sample is integrated into this track.

If their last album Born In The Echoes is an essential listen for the night time for you, than I would recommend listening to No Geography the morning after.

 

Fave Tracks: Got To Keep On, MAH, The Universe Sent Me

 

Glad to see "Hypersonic Missiles" and "Heavy Is The Head" on here!

 

 

ALBUMS 25-21

 

25. The Twilight Sad - IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME

The art rock aesthetic accompanies the themes of heartbreak amazingly on this album, plus there’s some fantastic sounding synths on this.

 

Fave Tracks: VTr, The Arbor, Videograms

 

 

24. The Specials - Encore

The OG Specials line-up is back! Their first new material with vocalist Terry Hall since the spine-chilling 1981 stand-alone single Ghost Town.

The album exhibits the importance of ska music, and how impactful the genre was in the late 70’s in a time where riots and racial tensions were at a point in Britain.

The lyrical themes combine the issues that were present in the 1970’s, as well as those that we face today. These include the numerous incidents of gun violence (Blam Blam Fever), the idea of a trustworthy, reliable Prime Minister (Vote For Me), those who abuse the power of freedom to the point where the term is starting to lose its meaning (Embarrassed By You) and a message on how we shouldn’t force happiness on people who are struggling with depression (The Life And Times (Of A Man Called Depression)). The last of which has jazz keyboards in the instrumental beat that sound quite similar to the ones used in The Doors’ 1971 song Riders On The Storm, which might be one of my favourite album closers of all time. But the one that’s the most worth noting about is BLM, a song with guitarist Lynval Golding telling us about a time in which he and his father moved to England and the discrimination they had to deal with while moving places, as well as showing that we are important, no matter the colour of our skin.

 

Fave Tracks: The Life And Times (Of A Man Called Depression), Vote For Me, Embarrassed By You

 

 

23. Dave - Psychodrama

The Mercury winner of 2019. When I first got a glimpse of Dave back in 2018, I thought he was decent, but I soon started to see a lot of great potential in him after listening to Hangman. And going through this album made me truly appreciate him as an artist.

In this album, Dave discusses his emotions and the events surrounding him in a therapy session. According to an interview with The Observer, the idea occurring throughout Psychodrama was inspired by the therapy that his older brother Chris was going to in prison.

Psycho is an excellently written song dealing with bipolar disorder. Black comes as an amazing presentation in racial equality. Dave exposes the music industry for the images they fabricate in Environment. Drama talks about his reaction to the news about his brother receiving a jail sentence. The main highlight of this album is the 11 minute long heartbreaker Lesley, which gives out a message to abuse victims on how they should seek help instead of keeping their memories undisclosed.

 

Fave Tracks: Lesley, Drama, Black

 

 

22. Flying Lotus - Flamagra

FlyLo takes you on a phenomenal, psychedelic 67-minute long experience, filled with cups of hip hop fusion.

You also come across some guest features along the way. Anderson .Paak’s performance on More is smooth as always. Denzel Curry expands on his struggles that he talked about on TA13OO on the track Black Balloons Reprise. Thundercat, Solange and Little Dragon blend divinely into Flying Lotus’ jazzy style of production. David Lynch gives off a fantastic narration to blend with the terrifying instrumentation in Fire Is Coming, which becomes more tense as the song progresses. Lynch does so in a similar fashion to Tom Waits on What’s He Building from his 1999 album Mule Variations.

 

Fave Tracks: Takashi, Fire Is Coming, Land Of Honey

 

 

21. SEED Ensemble - Driftglass

A pleasing fusion of jazz, hip hop and traditional African music. The way it blends these genres together reminds me of when Sons Of Kemet did so on their Your Queen Is A Reptile album from last year. It’s not as good as that album, and it’s not my favourite jazz album of 2019 (we’ll get to that), but it’s still pretty damn great.

 

Fave Tracks: Afronaut, The Dream Keeper, Interplanetary Migration

 

 

 

 

ALBUMS 20-16

 

 

20. Slowthai - Nothing Great About Britain

The title may state that there’s ‘nothing great about Britain’, but there sure are a lot of great things about this album. Slowthai brings a raw, energetic sense of rage in tracks like Doorman and Inglorious, while also covering the issues involving the current political and economical state of Britain.

 

Fave Tracks: Inglorious, Dead Leaves, Grow Up

 

 

19. The Murder Capital - When I Have Fears

A splendid blend of anger and depression. The way the latter subject is tackled on this LP reminds me of when Joy Division’s 1979 classic Unknown Pleasures did the same. There are a few points in which the lower range of James McGovern’s vocals sound slightly like Ian Curtis.

The first two tracks get you pumped up, before we see a dejected side of the album starting from Green & Blue. There’s two more energetic tracks that kick ass in the middle of the album (Feeling Fades, Don’t Cling To Life) to contrast with these feelings. How The Streets Adore Me carries this sombre, avant garde vibe to it with a continuous line of impressionist Debussy-esque piano chords which sound magnificent.

 

Fave Tracks: Feeling Fades, Green & Blue, How The Streets Adore Me

 

 

18. Fontaines DC - Dogrel

Step into a small town located in Ireland where you get to see how live television twists reality (Television Screens) and how money can drive people to do things that are considered morally wrong (Too Real, Chequeless Reckless). We even get a handful of post-punk bangers like Sha Sha Sha, Hurricane Laughter and Boys In The Better Land. The album closes with a pleasant waltz-style tune that feels like the celtic punk material that The Pogues would do in the 1980’s.

 

Fave Tracks: Boys In The Better Land, Hurricane Laughter, The Lotts

 

 

17. Mark Ronson - Late Night Feelings

I’d like to call this album the night time equivalent to Calvin Harris’ Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1. I say this because both albums carry a 1980s throwback style in their sound. The night time feel really compliments the lyrical content dealing with heartbreak, like with Jungle’s album For Ever from the year prior. The synths sound like they came straight outta Drive and the vocal performances, from Miley Cyrus’ Americana vocal style on smash hit Nothing Breaks Like A Heart to relative newcomers King Princess and the YEBBA triple bill, are pretty great too.

 

Fave Tracks: True Blue, Truth, Late Night Feelings

 

 

16. Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind

The last time a metal album made it onto my Fave Albums Of The Year countdown was back in 2015 (my very first one) with Motorhead’s Bad Magic and Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls popping up on that list (The latter of which was also the album that, for some odd reason, gave me the energy to become a vinyl collector upon listening to it on Spotify back in September ‘15. That or the fact that I got invested into Facebook competition posts held by Warner Bros./Rhino sub-label Vinyl Collector back in the day). We Are Not Your Kind, Slipknot's first album in 5 years, is the first metal album to have made it into my countdown since, and what can I say? It's a roaring, haunting masterpiece.

One of the many highlights of metal is that spark of darkness that the electric guitars generate over the frantic rhythms of the drum kit, and this album shows just that. The instrumentation feels both energetic and melancholic at the same time, thus making a sublime sense of contrast.

Corey Taylor’s vocals are really good on this as he switches between downcast melodies in the chorus to yelling out his rage in the verses to convey the emotions he feels while dealing with depression, as well as venting his frustration at society for forcing happiness onto people, throughout the tracks.

 

Fave Tracks: Nero Forte, Red Flag, Solway Firth

 

I think the album I've probably heard the most of is Late Night Feelings - giving True Blue a listen now since it's one of your favourites, it's not what I was expecting but it's really good! Reminding me of the indie hits from back in the early '10s, really well put together and the vocals are brilliant.