2019 was a great year for movies, a decent year for music and a horrible year for video games (seriously, did anything come out worth a damn besides Luigi’s Mansion?). I tried 117 new beers this year and went to a lot of restaurants. Body does reflect. In this post and those that follow, you will find my top 5 beers of the year, my top 5 restaurant meals of the year, my top 5 2019 movies and my top 10 albums of the year.
Without further ado…
MY TOP 10 FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2019
Honourable mentions: Titanic Rising – Weyes Blood, Emotion – Surfing, Hypnagogia – Dan Mason
10. Bae 5 – Yung Bae
RELEASED: June 28 2019
GENRE: Future funk, nu-disco
FAVOURITE TRACK: “We Came to Boogie”
This release was definitely one of the big albums of the summer for me. Future funk bangers one after another complemented by a diverse yet obscure array of 70s and 80s Motown and R&B samples. It’s impossible to resist dancing to this thing.
9. Two Hands – Big Theif
RELEASED: October 11 2019
GENRE: Indie rock, indie folk
FAVOURITE TRACK: “Not” (One of Barack Obama’s too! Hey, that’s pretty good!)
(Review originally written for RX Music Editorial’s Best of 2019 List)
Putting out two good albums in one year is a remarkable feat. However, what’s even more incredible is when the second album is better than the first. Such is the case with Brooklyn based folk outfit Big Thief, who released their third album U.F.O.F. in May and their fourth album Two Hands in October. While U.F.O.F. dwells in quiet indie folk, the band shows their teeth and cranks up the volume on Two Hands – which is more folk rock than indie folk. Frontwoman Adrianne Lenker’s raw and unmistakable singing voice weaves in and out of sounding like it belongs on a punk record to sounding soft and serene. Lyrics that aim to explain feelings that cannot be explained are complemented by carefully crafted guitar arpeggios in sync with the punches of the drums. If there’s one thing Big Thief is guilty of, it’s stealing our hearts and attention.
8. Jinx – Crumb
RELEASED: June 14 2019
GENRE: Psychedelic rock, chillwave
FAVOURITE TRACK: “Nina”
This is a very intoxicating release that turned into my writing fuel go to. The synth and jazz elements are as smooth as silk with Lila Ramani’s vocals gliding across it. Chill vibes with this one, man.
7. 2020 – Richard Dawson
RELEASED: October 11 2019
GENRE: Folk rock, alternative
FAVOURITE TRACK: “Two Halves”
This is an eclectically strange and well-written release where Dawson writes about specific generational topics such as paranoia in the age of the internet, working in an Amazon Fulfillment Center and how much we actually matter in the grand scheme of things vs. how much we think we do on Facebook or Instagram. Dawson is an amazing storyteller and litters this album with relatable lyrics and cheeky humour. A must-have to face society in the titular year of 2020.
6. WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Eilish
RELEASED: March 29 2019
GENRE: Art pop, electro-pop
FAVOURITE TRACK: “bury a friend”
Not even a shred of irony here: best pop album of the year. Eilish’s voice is infectious. The production is simple yet robust: there are songs consisting of just a few simple notes and songs that go so far as to invoke elements of trap and EDM. The lyrics are often fun and tongue in cheek but also aren’t afraid to venture into the territory of being emotional and vulnerable. BILLAY and co. deserves all the praise that they have been receiving this year for doing something interesting in the pop landscape. At a time where our lungs are coarse from yelling YAAAS at Beyonce, Billie Eilish is a necessary refreshment.
5. Morbid Stuff – PUP
RELEASED: April 5 2019 (nice birthday surprise for this author!)
GENRE: Punk rock, pop punk
FAVOURITE TRACK: “Bloody Mary, Kate and Ashley”
(This review was written originally for RX Music Editorial’s “Best of the Decade” list. However, decade wise I believe that 2016’s The Dream is Over is far superior)
Following in the footsteps of Sum 41, Alexisonfire and Fucked Up in the decades before them, PUP has solidified themselves as one of the best and most consistent pop-punk bands of the 2010s to come out of Toronto with three heavy-hitting releases. As the namesake suggests on their third album – Morbid Stuff – the band tackles death and depression with snarky, matter-of-fact lyrics and relentlessly catchy hooks screamed out by Stefan Babcock and accented by gang vocals. The power chords are as frantic as they are layered and Zack Mykula’s drums are as punchy and hard-hitting as ever. The album also exhibits diverse twists such as an alternative rock Sam Roberts style opening to the track “City” and “Full Blown Meltdown” – which is a full out heavy metal song. PUP has made the perfect album for “embracing the calamity” or maybe just going for a jog down Queen Street.
4. IGOR – Tyler the Creator
RELEASED: May 17 2019
GENRE: Hip-hop, R&B, neo-soul
FAVOURITE TRACK: “EARFQUAKE”
I can’t decide if I like this better than Tyler’s 2017 release Flower Boy or not but goddamn, this guy has matured so much since the cockroach eating days of “GOLF WANG HALEY YONKERS”. So many catchy bangers on this album and a great combination of slow R&B and heavy hip-hop trap sounds. I also didn’t know that Tyler had such a prowess for singing. I applaud Tyler’s ability to make every album its own self contained universe while re-inventing the character he plays per release.
3. House of Sugar – (Sandy) Alex G
RELEASED: September 13 2019
GENRE: Too many to name but at its roots – indie folk
FAVOURITE TRACK: “Hope”
(A condensed version of this review is published in RX Music Editorial’s Best of 2019 List)
Following the release of his acclaimed album Rocket in 2017, Alex Giannascoli’s eighth offering – House of Sugar – could be his most experimental to date. The album follows the same format as most of his recent releases, where a range of styles are delivered in short bursts throughout the album. Giannascoli serves up multi-genre, bite-sized hors d’oeuvres off a platter that is rooted in lo-fi indie-folk as the base for all experimentation. Songs such as “Walk Away” and “Near” dip heavily into psychedelia, with warped and garbled vocal passages and delay and modulated reverb centric guitars. “Southern Sky” and “Bad Man” are rooted in alt-country with Giannascoli singing in a southern twang so prevalent that we can only imagine that these particular tracks on the platter are topped with a chewed piece of straw from the side of his mouth. The ambient electronica track “Sugar” featuring electro-violins from Molly Germer and robotic vocals from Giannascoli singing about birds. It sounds like it could have been a bonus track on Radiohead’s Kid A. “Project 2” with its washed-out, hypnogogic synths and jarring, offbeat drums is a vaporwave style instrumental that wouldn’t be out of place on a James Ferraro or Oneohtrix Point Never record. Criticism has been launched at Giannascoli for rarely developing these styles beyond the 3-minute mark. We argue the contrary – that the slipping in and out of genre that’s so prevalent on (Sandy) Alex G’s House of Sugar is the album’s charm. This is an eclectic and dynamic release that benefits on multiple listens. We wonder if Giannascoli will ever take one of these many sounds and develop a full album out of it. Effectively, turning one of the many bite-size hors d’oeuvres into a full meal. Regardless, we are hungry for what’s next.
2. MANNEQUIN CHALLENGE – Saint Pepsi
RELEASED: August 30 2019 (same day as the forgettable after one listen Tool album 13 years in the making)
GENRE: Vaporwave, future funk, nu-disco
FAVOURITE TRACK: “Visions”
I cannot believe I am writing about a NEW Saint Pepsi album. After countless releases in solely 2013, a disappearance pending a possible LAWSUIT from the company Ryan DeRobertis shares his namesake with and a reinvention as “Skylar Spence” – we all thought Saint Pepsi was as defunct as the New Coke. For fellow vaporwave god George Clanton’s two vaporwave centric 100% ELECTRONICON festivals held this year (I had the privilege of attending the second iteration in L.A in October), DeRobertis decided to say “damn the torpedos” and perform as Saint Pepsi and release an album to boot. Listening to this thing made me feel like I was listening to something illicit, like a Black Sabbath album in a fundamentalist Christian household. But man, did this popping, fizzing and sweet release hit the spot. Full of hypnogogic chopped and skewed 80s and 90s R&B samples, groovy drum concoctions, and even some CHURCHWAVE in the song “God is My Best Friend” – this album delivers. Play on Soda Man, play on.
Saint Pep and Primz at 100% ELECTRONICON 2
1. Schlagenheim – black midi
RELEASED: June 21 2019
GENRE: Noise rock, metal, experimental rock
FAVOURITE TRACK: “Near DT, MI”
Best debut album of this year and my favourite album goes to black midi. This young band out of London floored me with this album filled with strange vocals, insane drumming and guitars and a combo of a rockabilly, heavy metal and noise rock. The sky is the limit for this group and I can’t wait for what they put out next. Also, they put on a crazy awesome show at Lee’s Palace that I attended. Read about it here
Primz Reviews Everything 