it’s past the end of the year and all the other year end lists have been forgotten. so now is my list’s time to shine!!
this is not a ranked list (except for my top 10 + 1). they are all releases that came out in 2019 and i enjoyed. i recommend all of them.
i’d like to preface the list with a wine-mom-recipe-blog-style prologue:::::::
at the end of 2018, i made a resolution with myself to listen to more world music. (what is world music? it’s the same non-genre term as experimental music, it doesn’t actually mean anything). i refined that resolution into listening to less western music (music from US/UK/Can/Aus) and more music from everywhere else around the globe.
of course, there’s a lot of western music i love and enjoy so i’m not removing it from my musical diet at all. i just tried to keep my ears open to more. which is a little harder than it sounds. it required research and crate digging on my own.
this led me to discovering many new artists, new labels, new festivals, new everything. it led my physical self to visiting Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur – and to record stores in each city. it led to receiving packages from Russia, Korea, Brazil, China. i think the resolution led me to have my most musically adventurous year yet.
i hope you’ll channel the same curiosity as you scroll through this list. beyond all the music, i believe this is a way to connect with people from all over planet. and to share art and experiences with people on the other side of this rock is one of the coolest feelings.
so without further ado!!!! here’s text and pictures — i hope you enjoy.
and as always: Rule #1: If you like the album art, you have to listen to it.
and here’s a playlist if you hate words (but it’s missing stuff that just isn’t on spotify):
My Favorite Of The Year
The Stargazer Lilies – Occabot (Rad Cult Records)
10 Other Favorites
Деревянные киты – Супер (Self-Released)
Altin Gün – Gece (Glitterbeat)
BIG|BRAVE – A Gaze Among Them (Southern Lord Recordings)
Danny Brown – uknowhatimsayin ¿ (Warp Records)
Episode One – King Dynasty: Rich Gods Saga: The Money Crusades (Bird Brain Media Empire)
Hot Chip – A Bath Full of Ecstasy (Domino)
Khana Bierbood – Strangers From The Far East (Guruguru Brain)
Lorelle Meets The Obsolete – De Facto (Sonic Cathedral Recordings)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Ghosteen (Ghosteen Ltd)
Thom Yorke – Anima (XL Recordings)
The Rest (In Alphabetical Order)
Джуна – Свет и тень (They Live! Records)
Нотэбёрд – Нотэбёрд (Self-Released)
공중도둑 (Mid-Air Thief) – 무너지기 (Crumbling) (Topshelf Records – Reissue)
교교요람 皎皎搖籃 – Dream Diary (Self-Released)
오영 – 우리마음 (Self-Released)
棉花山脈 Cotton Range – 銀河巴士 Galaxie Bus (Sango Records)
Abdu Ali – FIYAH!!! (Self-Released)
Acid Rooster – Acid Rooster (Sunhair Music)
Ami Dang – Parted Plains (Leaving Records)
Ana Roxanne – ~~~ (Leaving Records)
Andrew Chalk – One Long Year (Faraway Press)
Ben Shemie – A Skeleton (Hands In The Dark)
Black Moth Super Rainbow – Panic Fades (Rad Cult Records)
Boogarins – Sombrou Duvida (OAR)
Bratty – Delusión (Self-Released)
Charles Rumback & Ryley Walker – Little Common Twist (Thrill Jockey)
Chromatics – Closer To Grey (Italians Do It Better)
Circuit Des Yeux – Reaching for Indigo: Gaia Infinitus (Drag City)
Clark – Kiri Variations (Throttle Records)
Clipping. – There Existed An Addiction To Blood (Sub Pop)
Dead Neanderthals – Ghosts (Utech Records)
Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek – Kar Yağar (Bongo Joe)
Dhidalah – Threshold 発端 (Gurugu Brain)
DJINN – DJINN (Rocket Recordings)
Elizabeth Colour Wheel – Nocebo (The Flensing)
Freddie Gibbs – Bandana (ESGN)
Föllakzoid – I (Sacred Bones Records)
Fortune Kit Corporate – Ultimate Vibes Hair Dryer Peaceful Piano Chill Lo-Fi Transcendental Study Mindfulness Crazysexycool Wellness Sleepy John Vibes Vol 1 Sissy Graydon Carter (Self-Released)
Gucci Mane – Delusions of Grandeur (GUWOP Enterprises)
High Tides – Paradise Daze (Rad Cult Records)
Huron – Happy Transmission (Rad Cult Records)
Jaeho Hwang – ‘Non-self 비자아’ (Chinabot)
Jambinai – Onda (Bella Union)
Kazu – Adult Baby (Adult Baby Records)
Ken Ishii – Möbius Strip (U/M/A/A)
Khruangbin – Hasta El Cielo (Night Time Stories)
Lifafa – Jaago जागो (Self-Released)
Lightning Bolt – Sonic Citadel (Thrill Jockey)
Lingua Ignota – Caligula (Sargent House)
Marble Arch – Children Of The Slump (Geographie Records)
Marissa Nadler – Droneflower (Sacred Bones)
Masaki Batoh – Nowhere (Drag City)
Meitei – Kwaidan / 怪談 (Evening Chants)
MONO – Nowhere Now Here (Temporary Residence Ltd)
Moon Duo – Stars Are The Light (Sacred Bones Records)
Moor Mother – Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes (Don Giovanni Records)
No Men – Hell Was Full So We Came Back (Let’s Pretend Records / State Champion Records)
Oruã – Romã (Transfusão Noise Records)
Oval – Eksploio (Thrill Jockey)
Prefuse 73 – Fudge Beats (Lex Records)
RAKTA – Falha Comum (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Ryan Jewell Quintet – Vibration! (Two Rooms Records)
SHHE – SHHE (One Little Indian)
Shin Joong Hyun – Beautiful Rivers And Mountains: The Psychedelic Rock Sound Of South Korea’s Shin Joong Hyun 1958-1974 (Light In The Attic)
Slugabed – any attempt to control the environment or the self by means which are either untested or untestable, such as charms or spells (Activia Benz)
Somesurprises – Somesurprises (Drawing Room Records)
Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury (Elektra Records)
Sunlotus – This Old House (Hema)
SUUNS x Blonde Redhead – Go To My Head/Sunday Jam (Self-Released)
Telever – Have A Good Health (Self-Released)
TENGGER – Spiritual 2 (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond)
Tennis System – Lovesick (Graveface)
The Appleseed Cast – The Fleeting Light of Impermanence (Graveface)
The Buildings – Cell-O-Phane (Middle Class Cigars – Reissue)
The Giraffe Told Me In My Dream – Slowfall (Self-Released)
Tokyo Shoegazer – Crystallize (Graveface – reissue)
Trey Boyte – Five Songs From Summer (Self-Released)
Tyler, the Creator – IGOR (Columbia)
Various Artists – Anthology of Contemporary Music From Africa Continent (Unexplained Sounds Group)
Walsh – Vanilla (Self-Released)
Whirr – Feels Like You (Self-Released)
William Tyler – Goes West (Merge)
YĪN YĪN – The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers (Bongo Joe)
Yu Su – 泉出通川为谷 / Roll With The Punches (Second Circle)
