December 5, 2019

Nominations for Best Albums of 2019

Here are our 73 nominations for best albums of 2019. I'll post the survey link next week, so you have plenty of time to listen to albums you haven't heard yet. I encourage you to advocate for albums and shout out new favorites in the comments.

(Sandy) Alex G - House of Sugar
Genre: Alternative, Pop


Abstract Orchestra - Madvillain vol 2
Genre: Hip Hop, Rap, Jazz


Ages and Ages - Me You They We
Genre: Indie Pop, Folk


Alcest - Spiritual Instinct
Genre: Blackgaze, Shoegaze, Post Metal


Alex Lahey - The Best of Luck Club
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop


Andrew Bird - My Finest Work Yet
Genre: Alternative, Indie Rock, Chamber Pop


Ashbringer - Absolution
Genre: Blackgaze, Shoegaze, Post Metal


Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center
Genre: Alternative


Beyoncé - Homecoming
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Hip Hop, R&B, Pop


Big/Brave - A Gaze Among Them
Genre: Metal, Experimental


Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Alternative, Pop


Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
Genre: Metal, Death Metal


Borknagar - True North
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Metal, Hard Rock


Boy Harsher - Careful
Genre: Electronic, Coldwave


Brittany Howard - Jaime
Genre: Alternative, Singer-Songwriter


Charly Bliss - Young Enough
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative


Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence
Genre: Alternative, Folk


Cool Original - I Never Said I Didn't Care
Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop


Earth - Full Upon Her Burning Lips
Genre: Metal, Drone, Stoner Rock


Enforced - At The Walls
Genre: Metal, Thrash Metal


Eve - Rapsody
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Hip Hop, Rap


FIDLAR - Almost Free
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Alternative, Skate Punk


Fontaines DC - Dogrel
Genre: Punk, Indie Rock


French Vanilla - How Am I Not Myself?
Genre: Post Punk, Art Punk


Fuming Mouth - The Grand Descent
Genre: Punk, Hard Core


Gatecreeper - Deserted
Genre: Metal, Death Metal


Haelos - Any Random Kindness
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Electronic, Trip Hop


Illusion - Magic with a smile
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Punk, Hard Core


Injury Reserve - Injury Reserve
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Hip Hop, Rap


James Blake - Assume Form
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Alternative, Singer-Songwriter


Jenny Lewis - On the Line
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Alternative, Pop


Jeremie Albino - Hard Time
Genre: Folk, Roots, Singer-Songwriter


Julia Jacklin - Crushing
Genre: Folk


Juls - Colour
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: World, Hip Hop, Soul


Kishi Bashi - Omoiyari
Genre: Indie Rock, Chamber Pop


Lana del Ray - Norman Fucking Rockwell
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Alternative, Pop


Layperson - The Divide
Genre: Indie Pop, Folk


Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Soul, R&B, Pop


Mandolin Orange - Tides of a Teardrop
Genre: Alt. Country, Folk


Mapache - Lonesome LA Cowboy
Genre: Folk, Country, Psychedelic


Matthew Logan Vasquez - Light'n Up
Genre: Indie Rock, Roots


Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka

Genre: Soul, Pop

MIKE - Tears of Joy
Genre: Hip Hop, Rap


Orville Peck - Pony
Genre: Country, Shoegaze, Alternative


Paul Cauthen - Room 41
Genre: Country, Roots


Pernice Brothers - Spread The Feeling
Bandcamp, YouTube
Genre: Indie Pop, Folk


Pronoun - I'll Show You Stronger
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Dream Pop


Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
Genre: Alternative, Singer-Songwriter, Folk


Rich Brian - The Sailor
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Rap


Rodrigo y Gabriela - Mettavolution
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Acoustic, Latin, Instrumental


Rosalía - Fucking Money Man
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Latin, R&B, Pop


Sadness - Circle of Veins
Genre: Metal, Black Metal, Ambient


Sampa the Great - The Return
Genre: Hip Hop, Rap, Soul


Sinkane - Depayse
Genre: Soul, Funk


Slowthai - Nothing Great About Britain
Genre: Hip Hop, Rap, Grime


Strand of Oaks - Eraserland
Genre: Alternative, Folk


Sturgill Simpson - Sound & Fury
Genre: Alternative, Country, Synth Rock


Sudan Archives - Athena
Genre: R&B, Soul


Sunn O))) - Life Metal
Genre: Metal, Drone, Psychedelic


Surf Curse - Heaven Surrounds You
Genre: Indie Rock, Surf


Swans - Leaving Meaning
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Post Rock, Experimental


Taylor Swift - Lover
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Pop


Tei Shi - La Linda
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: R&B, Pop, Synth Pop


Teskey Brothers - Run Home Slow
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Soul


The Black Doors - Deviants
Genre: Psychedelic, Goth, Alt. Country


The Felice Brothers - Undress
Genre: Alt. Country, Folk, Roots


The Head and the Heart - Living Mirage
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Indie Pop, Folk


The Shivas - Dark Thoughts
Genre: Rock n' Roll


Tyler, the Creator - IGOR
Genre: Electronic, Chiptune, Synth Pop


Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride
Bandcamp Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Alternative, Pop


Vukari - Aevum
Genre: Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal


Westkust - Westkust
Genre: Shoegaze, Post Punk, Surf, Indie Rock


Yola - Walk Through the Fire
Spotify, YouTube
Genre: Soul, Country

12 Comments:

awmercy said...

Any egregious omissions?

Ben said...

Dave - Psychodrama
But thats my own fault. I was going back through everything and I had a memory of not likely this album. And, to be fair, sometimes an album needs a few listens to get into it.

Along those lines, I appreciate Slowthai being on the list. Another album that deserves a second (third?) listen.

Other than that, its a pretty comprehensive list.

Rain Hiawatha Kernytsky said...

Damn! This list is ALL OVER THE PLACE, and that's probably a good thing.

I wanted to give a little shout out to Icelandic musician/singer/composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. This year, she composed the soundtracks for both Chernobyl and Joker (both of which almost made my list of 5) AND is an active member of Sunn ))) (which DID make my list). She rules. Check her out...

Rain Hiawatha Kernytsky said...

Also, while I have immense respect and growing appreciation for Billie Eilish, as a dude has bled black goth blood since the mid 80's, I don't think that she fits into that genre classification. I hate to nitpick...I LOVE to nitpick.

awmercy said...

Ha! Got it. Removing the goth tag.

Ben said...

And.. what to do with Tierra Whack? She released five singles at the start of the year. No album. No EP. But shes gold. I would be thrilled to listen to those five on my desert island.

Jeremy said...

No Sharon Van Etten! I don't love the whole album so I didn't include it on my top 5 but I thought she would get some hipster love. I'm okay with The National snub - I can't wrap my head around it as an album but I love a few of the individual tracks

Ben said...

Oh.. and Big Thief.. either album. They should be on this list.

Nesto said...

This list is hilariously messing with Spotify's ability to classify my musical tastes. It's pure 2019 gold.

Fuck you machine learning! Another win for the humans!

awmercy said...

Jeremy, yeah, there are a couple of the usuals missing this year: SVE, National, New Pornographers. Hold Steady, Beirut, the Heavy, Justin Townes Earle, Josh Ritter, Black Keys, Sheer Mag. They've all made the final list in the past.

Personally, I think the New Pornographers and Hold Steady albums were their best in years. Listened to both a ton. Also loved the return of Meet Me In The Bathroom era band, Longwave. Brought me back to living in DC in the early aughts. Black Keys album also was a lot of fun.

My top bands that didn't make my list: Sego, the Orange Kite, Petite League, Big Quiet, Good Shade, Aan, Souvenir Driver, and Tincho.
All various shades of indie rock, shoegaze, pysch, and power pop. All had albums I listened to a ton.

But that's what I love about this list, it introduces me to the best albums in genres I pay less attention to.

awmercy said...

We've got a lot of good soul and funk related albums on list, but there are a couple others that didn't make it: Black Pumas, Los Coast, Seratones, Neal Francis, and Michael Kiwanuka all come to mind. My boys particularly love Los Coast.

Also, I was bummed to realize that Delgres' Mo Jodi came out in 2018. It definitely would have made my list if it came out this year.

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