What better way to kick off the first weekend of 2020 then by talking about the past year. It was another wonderful year of new music, but I will admit that this was probably the least amount of new music I have listened to since I began doing this. At a certain point it has gotten to feel more like a job to listen to new music and write about it rather than the hobby it started off being. Part of it has to do with having more responsibilities and a busier schedule than I once had; and that will only get busier and more hectic once we welcome our son into the world. It used to be that I was able to find a new album and spend some time listening to it, getting to know it. There were some albums that are on this year’s list that I listened to once and completely forgot that I had listened to when reviewing the albums at the end of the year.
One of the tweaks I am going to make going into 2020 is writing down the new releases that come out on Friday rather than just going into Spotify and saving the album to my library. Since I have been doing this for seven years now, there are hundreds of albums saved to my Spotify library, which makes finding an album to listen to from the most recent year a little more difficult than I feel it needs to be. I am hoping that I will have enough new music listened to next year in order to keep doing this blog and playlist; but I am heading into unchartered territory becoming a first-time father and have no idea what to expect.
I am a very indecisive person, doesn’t matter what it is, if I am asked to choose between two things I’ll hem and haw before reluctantly making a decision. A decision that I will second guess for the next few hours, days, etc. So, when it came to picking my favorite album of 2019, I couldn’t pick just one, as there were two albums that I really enjoyed. The first album was Sharon Van Etten’s Remind Me Tomorrow. Van Etten’s voice and the music that accompanies it are top notch from beginning to end. Producer John Congleton gives everything room to breathe, their own space to occupy while maintaining a consistent sound throughout. This record is solid from start to finish with this listener not wanting to skip any songs. Each song is its own story, a little chapter in this novel of an album. I would highly recommend listening to this album through headphones so that you can catch everything that is going on within the songs. This album also contains my favorite song of 2019, “Seventeen”.
My other favorite album of 2019 was Purple Mountains self-titled debut album Purple Mountains. I never knew much about David Berman before this year. I had heard some songs by the Silver Jews on different Spotify playlists, but I never delved deeper into their catalog. Sadly, I learned a lot more about David Berman after he took his life in August of this year. At the time of his death, I already had this Purple Mountains album saved in my library due to just the name of the band catching my eye. Once I finally listened to the album, I understood what everyone was talking about in losing a great lyrical and musical mind. This album is absolutely fantastic. The music is great, with the band Woods providing the musical backing. Each song has its own unique sound, ranging from the honky-tonk sound on the opening “That’s Just the Way That I Feel” to the subdued and morose “Nights That Won’t Happen”. This album was one where I made a concerted effort to listen to the lyrics very intently and I was not disappointed in his lyricism. Though a majority of the lyrics are sad, they are also thought provoking and beautiful. The words seem to flow from Berman’s mind with ease. It is a very big loss to the music world that David Berman is no longer around. This album contains my favorite song about drinking in malls, “Margaritas at the Mall”.
As always, there will be a link to my Spotify playlist with a track from each album I checked out and an asterisk next to the albums that really stood out to me this year:
- Anderson .Paak – Ventura
- Angel Olsen – All Mirrors *
- Band of Skulls – Love Is All You Love
- Beck – Hyperspace
- Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center *
- Big Thief – Two Hands
- Big Thief – F.O.F *
- Billie Eilish – WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
- The Black Keys – “Let’s Rock”
- Black Mountain – Destroyer
- Bob Mould – Sunshine Rock
- Brant Bjork – Jacoozzi
- Brittany Howard – Jamie
- Cage The Elephant – Social Cues
- Cass McCombs – Tip of the Sphere
- Charly Bliss – Young Enough
- The Claypool Lennon Delirium – South of Reality
- Coldplay – Everyday Life
- Creedence Clearwater Revival – Live at Woodstock
- Crocodiles – Love Is Here
- The Dead South – Sugar & Joy
- Deerhunter – Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?
- Delicate Steve – Till I Burn Up
- Desert Sessions – 11 & 12
- Drenge – Strange Creatures
- Durand Jones & The Indications – American Love Call
- Foals – Part 1 Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost
- Karen O & Danger Mouse – Lux Prima
- Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell! *
- Pond – Tasmania *
- Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains *
- The Raconteurs – Help Us Stranger *
- Raphael Saadiq – Jimmy Lee
- Reignwolf – Hear Me Out *
- Royal Trux – White Stuff
- Seratones – POWER
- Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow *
- Steve Gunn – The Unseen in Between
- Strand of Oaks – Eraserland *
- Sturgill Simpson – SOUND & FURY *
- Sunflower Bean – Come For Me
- Thee Oh Sees – Face Stabber *
- Tinariwen – Amadjar
- Unloved – Heartbreak
- Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising *
- Yak – Pursuit of Momentary Happiness
Perry Ponds 