The best albums of 2019

As selected by an ensemble of some of my favourite musicians and music aficionados!

In my previous life as a journalist at a particular newspaper, I would compile an end-of-year list in which I got a bunch of the top musos and musically-connected people from my region to share their favourite albums of the year. Rather than let that tradition die, I've migrated it to my blog and upped the ante by inviting even more of my super-talented friends to take part.

Hopefully you can find some great music to listen to here, including some of the great music created by some of the selectors (links are everywhere, people!).

So behold - talented people sharing their favourite music of 2019.

Andy Kirkland (Lynchpin)

1. Beck - Hyperspace

The new Beck album is beautifully wedged somewhere between his previous two albums, Morning Phase and Colors. Incredible performances, writing and melodies, many harking back to '80s synth without complete plagiarism: "I’ve heard this before, but I can’t put my finger on it!". Pharrell Williams co-writes and performs on many tracks and the addition of Jason Faulkner (Jellyfish, Greys, etc) is a great addition to the guitar sounds and moods. My "can't do without" release of 2019.

The Divine Comedy - Office Politics
Elbow - Giants Of All Sizes
Richard Pleasance - Wentworth (Original Score), Volume 2
Weezer - The Teal Album
Trevor Horn - Reimagines The Eighties
Glen Hansard - This Wild Willing
The National - I Am Easy To Find
Thom Yorke - Anima
Morrissey - California Sun

Nigel Wearne (Above The Bit)

1. Anna Tivel - The Question

The Question is a concept album of sorts, one that spans the beautiful space between folk, country and rock. The overarching theme of the record is beautifully ambiguous and what sets it apart is some of the best damn songwriting I've ever heard - narrative-fuelled poetry that reels you in revealing something new every time, sad tales, philosophical encounters, personal tragedy, romance and retrospect. The Question covers vast territory lyrically and sonically. To augment the occasion, the production is lush, rhythmic, groovy, beautiful and challenging. A fascinating record. Highly commended, highly recommended. Anna herself sums it up best; "the glory of the question and the answer is the same".

Kittel & Co - Whorls
Ordinary Elephant - Honest
Jenny Mitchell - Wildfires
John Smith - Hummingbird
The Fretless - Live From The Art Farm
Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain
Michael Waugh - The Weir
Joe Pug - The Flood In Colour
William Alexander - The Kid From Bourke

Brady James

1. Sum 41 – Order in Decline

Batshit insane return to form and sound for Sum 41. Spices of Hybrid Theory-era Linkin Park thrown in the pot with their original balls-to-the-wall, 4/4 punk/hard-rock-driven madness. Perfect time for them to step back into the limelight with their angsty anti-establishment flavour. 10/10 seal of approval. Highlight Tracks - Out For Blood, Heads Will Roll

2. Bring Me The Horizon - amo
3. Jacob Collier - Djesse Vol. 2
4. Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent
5. I Prevail - Trauma
6. Denzel Curry - Zuu
7. City and Colour - A Pill For Loneliness
8. Kanye West - Jesus Is King
9. Gary Clark Jr. - This Land
10. Rapsody - Eve

Liam Barling (Aika, Late Night TV)

1. Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

Natalie Mering AKA Weyes Blood perfectly marries classic Laurel Canyon melodies with behemoth pop arrangements that could sit comfortably in the soundtrack for Titanic or an '80s slasher flick.

2. Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
3. DIIV - Deceiver
4. Nivhek - After Its Own Death/Walking In A Spiral Towards The House
5. Cate Le Bon - Reward
6. Nils Frahm - All Encores
7. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
8. Bon Iver - i,i
9. Third Coast Percussion - Fields
10. Better Oblivion Community Centre - Better Oblivion Community Centre

Album of the decade: Frank Ocean - Blond

Joe Gardner (Red Eagle, Mr John McKensie)

1. Better Oblivion Community Centre - Better Oblivion Community Centre

The best '90s album in the year. The right amount of folk, grunge and sadness any '90s album needs. Both voices sit together perfectly and make a match made in heaven.

Julia Jacklin - Crushing
Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
Bon Iver - i,i
Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
Black Pumas - Black Pumas
Damien Jurado - In The Shape Of A Storm
Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka

And 5 for the decade
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
The Black Keys - ‘Brothers’
Israel Nash - Barn Doors & Concrete Floors
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Alabama Shakes - Sound & Colour

Jeremy Lee 

1. The Divine Comedy - Office Politics

More genius songwriting from Neil Hannon covering multiple bases. No one else could pull off an album that goes from jaunty opener Queuejumper to the beautiful observation of After the Lord Mayor’s Show while stopping off at a potential theme tune for a sitcom based around minimalist composers Phillip Glass and Steve Reich running a furniture removal company. My wife can’t stand it but I love it.

Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
Hot Chip - A Bath Full Of Ecstasy
Danny Widdicombe & Trichotomy - Between The Lines
Solange - When I Get Home
Crumb - Jinx
Metronomy - Metronomy Forever
Orville Peck - Pony
Drugdealer - Raw Honey
Methyl Ethel - Triage

Bill O'Connell (Billy Barker, Gums)

1. Oscar Lush - Black Dog

Only listened to the one album this year. Had a bit on

Jono Colliver (Dr. Colossus, Money On Verema, Gums)

1. Vampire Weekend - Father of The Bride

Fourth albums don't usually taste this sweet. Ezra Koenig expands his songwriting further into realms of Americana, gentle politics and societal dissonance, and with his myriad producers crafts a tapestry of scenes using a common gold thread of great songs, lapsteel and Danielle Haim backing vocals.

2. The National - I Am Easy To Find
3. Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
4. Earth Tongue - Floating Being
5. Tool - Fear Inoculum
6. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
7. Private Function - St Anger
8. Pond - Tasmania
9. Gatecreeper - Deserted
10. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Fishing for Fishies

Daniel Miles (True North)

1. Andrew Bird - My Finest Work Yet

You know Andrew Bird rates this album from the title alone. While I'll always hold a soft spot for The Mysterious Production Of Eggs and Are You Serious, this is a seriously cool record. There's a sense of directness and clarity in his latest offering that's weirdly refreshing from a lyricist who has always challenged you to think deeper. It kept me coming back and kept me thinking.

Beck - Hyperspace
Glen Hansard - This Wild Willing
Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
Tool - Fear Inoculum
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
Vampire Weekend - Father Of The Bride
Bon Iver - i,i
The Tallest Man On Earth - I Love You. It's a Fever Dream.
Thom Yorke - Anima

Jordan Lockett (Gramps, Southern Ocean Sea Band)

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

Ghosteen is a deep journey into the difficult human experience of grief and sorrow. It’s an existential punch in the heart, but the album is a masterpiece. When grief hits us, nothing seems to help and nothing ever brings people back. We learn to live with loss. Cave navigates the stages of grief with the caring sparseness it deserves and it’s a privilege to bear witness. Electronic pulses, haunting guitars and synths paint a raw canvas for Cave to lament over. A painful but worthwhile journey.

2. Steady Garden - Steady Garden
3. Justin Townes Earle - The Saint Of Lost Causes
4. William Tyler - Goes West
5. Taylor Swift - Lover
6. Rodney Crowell - Texas
7. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
8. Dan Sultan - Nali & Friends
9. Traffik Island - Nature Strip
10. Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next

Andre Pangrazio

1. Georgia Spain -Trouble Isn’t Something You Can Hold

Its darkness and subtle spells lure you in. And banjos. I love banjos.

2. Charles Rumback & Ryley Walker - Little Common Twist
3. Jose Gonzalez & String Theory - Live In Europe
4. Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs
5. Nils Frahm - All Encores
6. Oscar Lush - Black Dog
7. The Cactus Blossoms - Easy Way
8. Bedouine - Bird Songs Of A Kill Joy
9. Devendra Banhart - Ma
10. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow

Jack & Michael Fitzgerald (Capricorn Records)

(in no particular order)
Allah-las - Lahs
The National - I Am Easy To Find
Kevin Morby - Oh My God
Moon Duo - Stars Are The Light
Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
Justin Townes Earle - The Saint Of Lost Causes
John Prine - The Tree Of Forgiveness
Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
Teskey Brothers - Run Home Slow
Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin' Thru, 1967–1969

Brady Jones (Red Eagle)

1. Sturgill Simpson - Sound And Fury

A southern blues rock album from the dystopian wasteland. There is a video version on Netflix at the moment, which is everything that I never thought that I wanted from a screaming synth trip to 30+ years from now. What a time to be alive.

2. White Denim - Side Effects
3. Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
4. The Saboteurs - Help Us Stranger
5. Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops
6. Julia Jacklin - Crushing
7. Brittany Howard - Jaime
8. Stiff Richards - Dig
9. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
10. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - And Now For The Whatchamacallit

Gus Franklin (Southern Ocean Sea Band, Sheahan Drive, Gramps, Architecture In Helsinki)

1. Kali Malone - The Sacrificial Code

Beautifully textured drones and harmonic chord clusters wrought from three distinct-sounding pipe organs recorded in rural Swedish churches gather and morph over vast track lengths on this trance-inducing record. The compositional framework established by Malone (a US composer based in Sweden) creates expansions and contractions of time in the listener’s headspace and allows for the contemplation of emotionally heart-wrenching landscapes that seem to perfectly evoke the combined feelings of early-human pagan existence, cosmological constants, and a summation of our current situation in a human world on the edge of self-generated existential collapse. Maybe it’s the feeling (given to a universal fatalist/atheists’ heart) of an overseeing/hearing set of hands (Kali has performed this record with a second organist to recreate the compositions live) slowly shaping and resolving these unwieldy emotional blocks of clustered harmony into something with an overarching meta-narrative order which feels somehow reassuring and utterly crushing all at the same time.

2. Hannah Diamond - Reflections
3. Lankum - The Livelong Day
4. Steady Garden - Steady Garden
5. Traffik Island - Nature Strip
6. William Tyler - Goes West
7. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Fishing For Fishes
8. Lucy Roleff - Left Open In A Room
9. Possible Humans - Everybody Split
10. Kornél Kovács - Stockholm Marathon

Matt Neal (Doctor & The Apologies, The 80 Aces)

1. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow

Those melodies, those harmonies. Van Etten fifth album is emotionally rich, her haunted world-weary voice sailing over reverb-drenched pianos and organs, pulsing and transcendent synths, otherworldly sounds, and beats that skitter, thump and wander. It's a wealth of feelings, all of which hit home, whether she be harkening back to first album MGMT on Comeback Kid or letting her voice catch on No One's Easy To Love or soaring across New York's skyline on Seventeen. It's all so achingly beautiful.

2. Pup - Morbid Stuff
3. Bring Me The Horizon - amo
4. Waax - Big Grief
5. The Claypool Lennon Delirium - South Of Reality
6. The Chemical Brothers - No Geography
7. Sleater-Kinney - The Centre Won’t Hold
8. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - And Now For The Watchamacallit
9. Pile - Green & Gray
10. Brightness - Brightness
11. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Infest The Rats Nest