Best Of The Year 2019

Hello, and best wishes for the New Year, which is mere minutes away now! Like always, I bought different music magazines in December for their end-of-the-year retrospectives. Next to the lists (published here) Uncut,  MOJO, and Classic Rock also give away a CD containing cuts from their chosen albums of the year. Since I haven't listened to most of the albums, I'll give you my two cents' opinion based on the samples I heard on these CD's.

UNCUT's album of the year is Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood. Her track here is excellent, akin to a modern-day Fleetwood Mac. One of many female voices in the compilation, mostly reminiscent of past glories: Joan Shelley reminded me of Emmylou Harris, Cate Le Bon of Kate Bush, Rhiannon Giddens of Sandy Denny, Aldous Harding of Joni Mitchell, Mother Nature of Stereolab, and Julia Jackson of a Fleetwood Mac/Portishead hybrid. I'm not talking about copycats, you understand. Just of great traditions being carried on. Big Thief are a bit difficult to pin down, I'll settle for "countrified Velvet Underground" for the time being. Also, speaking of female voices, how about Sampa the Great? Never had heard of her before, but wow! I usually bypass modern R&B and Rap artists but I was impressed by what I heard here. Nick Cave's new album is on No.2. It's quite something for sure: Eerie, poignant and beautiful, if not quite what we're accustomed to by him. I love it, its ghostly synths work well for this particular record, but I'd like The Bad Seeds back, please! Having one of the world's all-time-best backing bands and not using them all is a sin, it is. Bruce Springsteen's on No.7. No sample track for him, but there's none needed. He's The Boss, of course the album's great! Michael Kiwanuka is on No.31. Also no sample in the CD but I got his album as a Christmas present and I'll present it here in due time. Purple Mountains' debut has gathered great reviews. They're represented on the CD by "Darkness and Cold", a fantastic song that sounds like a cross between Neil Young and The Go-Betweens. Which makes the fact that the band's leader David Berman committed suicide this year even sadder. Lana Del Rey's "Norman Fucking Rockwell!" likewise got rave reviews. I haven't heard it yet, actually haven't followed her at all since her debut. I don't know why, she's obviously very talented. Probably I had her pegged as too "mainstream" for me. Bon Iver has also been getting consistently good reviews, but it's only now that he's won me over with "Hey Ma". It reminds me of Paul Simon and of Vampire Weekend - the latter's album is are on Uncut's list but not on the CD. The big names are also predictably here: Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Wilco, Jack White's Raconteurs etc. Of the new bands, watch out for Irish punk-rockers Fontaines D.C.! I'd place their debut alongside those of The Libertines and Strokes. Judging from Uncut's CD it sounds that 2019 was a great year for music indeed!

1.Weyes Blood — Titanic Rising 2.Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Ghosteen 3.Purple Mountains — Purple Mountains 4.The Comet Is Coming — Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery 5.Lana Del Rey — Norman Fucking Rockwell! 6.Joan Shelley — Like the River Loves the Sea 7.Bruce Springsteen — Western Stars 8.Bill Callahan — Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest 9.Big Thief — U.F.O.F. 10.Wilco — Ode to Joy 11.Cate Le Bon — Reward 12.Julia Jacklin — Crushing 13.Oh Sees — Face Stabber 14.Richard Dawson — 2020 15.Bon Iver — i,i 16.Sharon Van Etten — Remind Me Tomorrow 17.Modern Nature — How to Live 18.Jenny Lewis — On the Line 19.Peter Perrett — Humanworld 20.Brittany Howard — Jaime 21.Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi — there is no Other 22.Leonard Cohen — Thanks for the Dance 23.Aldous Harding — Designer 24.The Specials — Encore 25.Neil Young — Colorado 26.Angel Olsen — All Mirrors 27.The National — I Am Easy to Find 28.Jenny Hval — The Practice of Love 29.Trash Kit — Horizon 30.Jessica Pratt — Quiet Signs 31.Michael Kiwanuka — Kiwanuka 32.Kim Gordon — No Home Record 33.The Raconteurs — Help Us Stranger 34.Fontaines D.C. — Dogrel 35.Sturgill Simpson — Sound & Fury 36.Dave — Psychodrama 37.The Murder Capital — When I Have Fears 38.75 Dollar Bill — I Was Real 39.Bonnie “Prince” Billy — I Made a Place 40.Vampire Weekend — Father of the Bride 41.Billie Eilish — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? 42.The Fat White Family — Serfs Up! 43.W.H. Lung — Incidental Music 44.Robert Forster — Inferno 45.Sleaford Mods — Eton Alive 46.Lambchop — This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You) 47.Nérija — Blume 48.Lizzo — Cuz I Love You 49. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks — Groove Denied 50.Shana Cleveland — Night of the Worm Moon

MOJO has compiled some of the best promo CD's in my collection but they blow this one by trying to include a wider (but disparate) selection of tracks. Their No.1 of the year is Nick Cave, followed by Bill Callahan and Bruce Springsteen. Callahan's song here shows him to be a worthy successor to  Americana pioneers like Townes Van Zandt. The Comet Is Coming are on No.4, same place as in Uncut. No songs from it included on the CD, so I had to resort to youtube. It's heady stuff, with spacey saxophones and the like. Not everybody's cup of tea. The CD starts with "History Repeats" from former Alabama Shakes' singer/guitarist Brittany Howard. Alas the song sounds more like a half-baked Gorillaz track instead of her typical Southern Rock and Soul sound. Don't write her off though, there's better stuff in her album. It's followed by Edwyn Collins in his Bryan Ferry-esque best, and P.P. Arnold. The former Ikette picks up where she left off 50 years ago as if not a single day has passed. Next we get Lee "Scratch" Perry (dub), Underworld (techno) and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (space-metal boogie). Good for their respected genres, but placing them in the middle seriously disrupts the flow of the compilation. The Fat White Family's indie-disco "Feet" reminds me of their labelmates Franz Ferdinand. Sharon van Etten offers classic indie-pop, and she's one of many names repeated in both lists. The Purple Mountain's "Nights That Won't Happen" sounds like those Gene Clark covers by 4AD bands. With lyrics like "This world is like a roadside inn and we're the guests inside/And death is a black camel that kneels down so we can ride/And when the dying's finally done and the suffering subsides/All the suffering gets done by the ones we leave behind" it sounds like Berman announcing his intention to commit suicide. How come no-one heeded it? Tinariwen are obviously the token "world music" track for the CD, but that doesn't matter. On any given album, you can count on their bluesy licks and desert drones to transport you to a campfire in the Sahara with a million stars shining above.

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Ghosteen 2.Bill Callahan — Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest 3.Bruce Springsteen — Western Stars 4.The Comet Is Coming — Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery 5.Aldous Harding — Designer 6.Fontaines D.C. — Dogrel 7.Lana Del Rey — Norman Fucking Rockwell! 8.black midi — Schlagenheim 9.Purple Mountains — Purple Mountains 10.Lee "Scratch" Perry — Rainford 11.Brittany Howard — Jaime 12.Jenny Lewis — On the Line 13.Weyes Blood — Titanic Rising 14.The Fat White Family — Serfs Up! 15.Tinariwen — Amadjar 16.Amyl and The Sniffers — Amyl and The Sniffers 17.Solange — When I Get Home 18.P.P. Arnold — The New Adventures of... P.P. Arnold 19.Cate Le Bon — Reward 20.75 Dollar Bill — I Was Real 21.Michael Kiwanuka — Kiwanuka 22.Big Thief — U.F.O.F. 23.Dave — Psychodrama 24.Sharon Van Etten — Remind Me Tomorrow 25.Thom Yorke — Anima 26.The Raconteurs — Help Us Stranger 27.Lizzo — Cuz I Love You 28.Underworld — DRIFT Series 1 Sampler Edition 29.Edwyn Collins — Badbea 30.Esperanza Spalding — 12 Little Spells 31.Hot Chip — A Bath Full of Ecstasy 32.Robert Forster — Inferno 33.Jake Xerxes Fussell — Out of Sight 33.Sturgill Simpson — Sound & Fury 34.King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — Infest The Rats' Nest 35.Sleater-Kinney — The Center Won't Hold 36.Leonard Cohen — Thanks for the Dance 37.Flying Lotus — Flamagra 38.Mavis Staples — We Get By 39.Angel Olsen — All Mirrors 40.slowthai — Nothing Great About Britain 41.Durand Jones & The Indications — American Love Call 42.Modern Nature — How to Live 43.Chris Forsyth — All Time Present 44.Royal Trux — White Stuff 45.Deerhunter — Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? 46.Bon Iver — i,i 47.Jenny Hval — The Practice of Love 48.Rustin Man — Drift Code 49.Lambchop — This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You)

CLASSIC ROCK now, that's a magazine different from the others: for most of us "classic rock" means the 60's and 70's, but for the purveyors of the magazine it seems to mean the 80's and 90's. Most of their choices are the kind of songs that would be on heavy rotation for a year in (Greek) Rock FM in the 90's, never to be heard again. Take their No 1, for example: The Wildhearts' "Renaissance Men" starts of with a Who power chord and continues with U2-like guitars and a silly/catchy chorus. Perfect recipe for big arena rock, but perfectly forgettable too. On No.2 a band everybody else considers a joke: The Darkness' metallic guitars and histrionic vocals are a complete throwback to the 80's - or is it a parody? The Black Star Riders on No.3 are the first band that deserves the "Classic" label. They sound as expected for a band that rose from the ashes of Thin Lizzy, but I wouldn't call them derivative because the songwriting is up to notch. The Who are, of course, classic rock incarnate. They're on No.5 and, judging by what I've heard on youtube, are still unmistakably the same old rock stalwarts, even though they're two men down. This late in the game, not disgracing your legacy is all one can hope for, and The Who achieve exactly that. Rammstein figure on No.6. They've peaked long ago and their new album will not disappoint their fans - provided all they want is more of the same. Nobody else noticed that Status Quo (No.15) carry on despite the loss of Rick Parfitt, but based on the sample here it's business as usual at The Quo camp regardless. Of the tracks on the CD, I loved Beth Hart (on "Bad Woman Blues" Janis Joplin meets Alanis Morissette) and had fun with Airbourne's AC/DC pastiche. It was also good to see someone acknowledge the return of The Stray Cats (on No.8). Their new album is called 40, which is how many year they've been around, on and off. Apart from Bruce Springsteen (No.9) you'll have to go to the lower reaches to find common entries with the other magazines: Nick Cave at No.26 (right below Slipknot, for fuck's sake!) and The Raconteurs at No.45. Tool's return must have been relatively underwhelming (No.19 for Classic Rock, not mentioned by the others). Similarly low positions for prog-metallers Opeth (No.40) and Dream Theater (No.50). Nevertheless, good to see some veterans like Neil Young and Iggy Pop get a nod. And, of course, CR is the only magazine that could ever feature both The Who and (Mongolian rockers) The Hu on their list! 

1. The Wildhearts - Renaissance Men 2. The Darkness - Easter Is Cancelled 3. Star Riders - Another State Of Grace 4. Rival Sons - Feral Roots 5. The Who - Who 6. Rammstein - Untitled 7. Gary Clark Jr - This Land 8. Stray Cats - 40 9. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars 10. Big Big Train - Grand Tour 11. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Signs 12. The Black Keys - Let's Rock 13. Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse - Love & Murder 14. Beth Hart - War In My Mind 15. Status Quo - Backbone 16. The Magpie Salute - High Water II 17. The Defiants - Zokusho 18. The Allman Betts Band - Down To The River 19. Tool - Fear Inoculum 20. Diamond Head - The Coffin Train 21. Airbourne - Boneshaker 22.Alter Bridge - Walk The Sky 23.Claypool Lennon Delirium - South Of Reality 24. Royal Republic - Club Majesty 25. Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind 26.Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Ghosteen  27.Volbeat - Rewind, Replay, Rebound 28. Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind - CollectiV 30. Sturgill Simpson - Sound & Fury 31.Whitesnake - Flesh & Blood 32.Steve Hackett - At The Edge Of Light 33.Duff McKagan - Tenderness 34.Iggy Pop - Free 35.Starcrawler - Devour You 36.Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown - Truth & Lies 37. Kris Barras Band - Light It Up 38. Grand Slam - Hit The Ground 39.Jeff Lynn's E.L.O - From Out Of Nowhere 40. Opeth - In Cauda Venenum 41. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Colorado 42. Phil Campbell - Old Lions Still Roar 43.Black Futures - Never Not Nothing 44.The Glorious Sons - A War On Everything 45.The Raconteurs - Help Us Stranger 46.Michael Monroe - One Man Gang 47.The Hu - The Gereng 48.Michael Schenker Fest - Revelation 49.Tigers Of Pantang 50.Dream Theater - Distance Over Time