Shall we begin...
Runners Up listed alphabetically
Lost Girls
Indie Pop : Listen
The glory that is Natasha Khan's entire career has only been handicapped by the time she takes between albums and her deep, deep feeling. After the darkness that inhabited her while writing (and filming?) her last album, The Bride, Khan swore off writing new music ever again; terrible news for anyone who is a fan of unique songwriting, sumptuous arrangements, and heavenly voices. But like a teenager after their first break-up will find love again, Khan brought her Bat for Lashes project back when the pull of music became too strong. And we are all so much better for it. Lost Girls is a fantastic new direction for Khan where she takes up fully the synth-pop sounds she had only dabbled with on previous efforts. If Lost Girls sounds like a soundtrack to an 80s teen vampire movie, well, you're not far off. Much of the music was written while Khan was writing and directing a short film about...well, teen vampires in the 80s, and this was originally just meant as a score for that film. The beautiful "The Hunger" (which itself is the title of an 80s vampire movie starring David Bowie and Susan Sarandon) includes some of Khan's best soundscaping and heartstring-pulling lyrics: "I want to fly, you know how I like it / I want to feel like I'm still alive / I want to bleed and feed us forever / But I want to feed the hunger inside." The dream pop of "Jasmine" could easily be a Giorgio Moroder score highlight, while "So Good" wouldn't be out of place in Bangles album. The sound is definitely very different for Khan, but it is executed to perfection. Welcome back Natasha, you have been so sorely missed.
Schlagenheim
Math Rock : Listen
Since I am not Pitchfork, I won't just paste a gif in here and call it a day. But if I did, it would be...probably a mouth-agape Patrick Star combined with Homer Simpson backing/disappearing through a hedge, then blend into the prank opening of Skyrim. I know that doesn't explain a lot, but this album is a next-level braintrust experience. The members of black midi (yes, they insist it's lower-case) I can only assume have degrees in astrophysics and music theory. Some of the songwriting would give TOOL, Yes, and King Crimson a run for their money, at times like a hardcore show, while others are pure psychedelia. Schlagenheim, the incredibly ambitious debut album of black midi, is like a metal album written by Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, complete with a very Gabriel-sounding co-lead singer in George Greep. The album is sometimes punishing, sometimes soothing, but always intriguing. black midi have not striven for something mind-warping and soul-crushing, like a Xiu Xiu album, but instead are clearly complicating their music in an attempt to open your mind to new sounds. It's hard for me to explain the weirdness of it without sounding off-putting, but Schlagenheim isn't an impenetrable fortress of complexity and bizarre sound effects. Instead, it's the most interesting way these particular structures ever been combined.
ZUU
Trap : Listen
Anytime I hear trap, I thank God that Denzel Curry exists, to shine a light in the otherwise pitch-dark tomb that is this unbearable genre. Curry had one of the best albums last year with TA13OO (though I still despise the numerals-as-letters thing), and I guess he couldn't wait even one minute more to drop another epic on the world. ZUU is not as expansive or theme-centered as its predecessor, but it more that makes up for it with banging beats, brilliant lyrical performances (by Curry especially, but all the guests as well), and brazen originality. Opener/title-track "Zuu" acts as the perfect thesis statement with it's smooth groove punctuated by a nearly-yelled chorus that then blends seamlessly into "Ricky," a song I've listened to enough times by myself to pay the man for a year. The inimitable Rick Ross guests on "Birdz" and gives one of the best performances of his career, while Sam Sneak adds a verse to "Shake 88," a song that still wouldn't be long enough if there were another ten verses. Closer "P.A.T." slapped me so hard I told people I deserved it, with its industrial inspired loops and the hyper-aggro rhymes delivered in a way that is becoming Curry's signature: part Danny Brown, part Death Grips' MC Ride. ZUU is a rap album you can mosh to, and boy have we been in dire need of those.
Strange Creatures
Grunge : Listen
Drenge left 2015 as one of the most promising bands to continue the grunge tradition. Undertow was a polished, perfectly produced miracle of a genre left for dead in the wake of the disturbing 2000s "post-grunge" movement. Then, seemingly, they disappeared. When Strange Creatures was finally announced, it instantly became my most anticipated album of the year; more than Bat for Lashes, more than TOOL. Gladly, it was well worth the wait. The album opens the heaviest song in Drenge's discography, "Bonfire of the City Boys," a loud, driving anthem to announce the band's return, complete with Eoin Loveless shouting his proclamation at the top of his lungs. Song of the Year "This Dance" is the classic, jumping romp that is the equal to any of Drenge's 90s forefathers, mixed with a bit of Franz Ferdinand garage rock. On the title track, the band explores their soulful side in a mysterious and emotional ode to to all the "selves" we keep hidden from the outside world, and showcases the first synth the band has used beyond sound effects. We travel down a dark and twisting road, where stops include a layered shout chorus and a delay-riddled guitar drone that continuously adds to the atmosphere. "Avalanches," the penultimate track, explores a fuzz-heavy shoegaze plea to tear down all those walls we put up in "Strange Creatures," with songwriting so unexpectedly beautiful it brings tears to your eyes. Here's hoping we get more exploration, more depth, and more headbanging awesomeness from this group sooner than later.
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Indie Pop : Listen
This is truly one of the best surprises of 2019. Billie Eilish has been releasing singles for a while now, but many of those were showcasing her ability to mimic Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and other dark-pop singers. On this, her first proper album, Eilish demonstrates just how incredibly talented she is. Sure, those pop influences are still there on songs like "When the Party's Over" and "Listen Before I Go;" but in many cases she's done more subversion than reflection, such as the troubling "Xanny," or the deliciously snide "Wish You Were Gay." Then there's her intense hold of trap and club-EDM on bangers like "Bad Guy" and the Vantablack dark "Bury a Friend." The showstopper is, of course, "You Should See Me in a Crown," the song that destroyed all my preconceptions about who Eilish was as a singer/songwriter. The song is bone-chillngly disturbing with it's knife sharpening sound effects, and the lyrics are the type of coming out anthem that would turn the stomach of a Roman conspirator. Eilish and her brother, Finneas O'Connell are such an excellent songwriting and production tandem that I can easily see them being hired by other headlining acts in the very near future. I would say that they should take their time and create another perfect pop album, but I also selfishly want another When We All Fall Asleep every year.
Dogrel
Post-Punk : Listen
It wouldn't be a Conquest of Gaul annual list without a little post-punk, and Fontaines D.C. fulfills that requirement perfectly. The impressive debut by the Dublin band hits every possible infulence: Joy Division, Siouxsie, Adam Ant, Pere Ubu. The most clear parallel is to Gang of Four, their guitar work is impeccably similar, as is the jazzy percussion punctuated the occasional slamming of floor toms. Album standout "Too Real" has every calling card: the Peter Hook-style bass line, the jangling guitars, the overstated vocal accent. Apart from wearing their influences on their sleeves, Fontaines do a masterful job of maintaining a consistent aesthetic, even with all the varied styles, and their songwriting is absolutely top-notch. It is a rare feat indeed to create an album so original while so deeply honoring the past.
Grey Area
Conscious Hip Hop : Listen
If you didn't know, Grey Area is Little Simz' third album, not to mention her four mixtapes and seven EPs, most of which came out before she was 21. So...what are you doing with your life? All of them are beyond the comprehension of your average 21 year old: thematically deep, and sampling from a library that rivals the one at Alexandria. Grey Area doesn't look to slow that pace down, either. While it may be her first truly visible release, it's just one in a long line of compelling, heady, sonic stunners leading to the very spot where she stands now. Simz demands you sit up and pay attention as looping beats perfectly match her rapping "I'm Jay-Z on a bad day / Shakespeare on my worst days" on opener "Offence." The strutting bass-line of "Boss" is enough to hook even the most skeptical of listeners, and the sheer inventiveness of "101 FM" should wrap up the pitch. With the backing of names like Kendrick Lamar and Lauryn Hill, you would think talent this fathomless would have been blown-up all over the States by now. Sadly, her well-deserved fame is still waiting, seemingly doomed to the obscurity of many a UK grime artist. But when you're Shakespeare on your worst days, you have a lot to look forward to.
Fear Inoculum
Progressive Metal : Listen
TOOL's perfectionism and professionalism is already well known, so going into details about it here is putting a hat on a hat. The fact that this album in here in the list should be absolutely no surprise, and a foregone conclusion the moment it came out an wasn't a pile of burning garbage. thirteen years in the making Fear Inoculum continues TOOL down their path to becoming the metal Pink Floyd: no song (real song, weird interludes and drum solos don't count) is under ten minutes. That said, the drum solo, "Chocolate Chip Trip," clearly named by a 4-year old who somehow understands Timothy Leary, is the best drum one-off since the great John Bonham recorded "Moby Dick" some...oh my God, 50 YEARS AGO! In fact, the entirety of Fear Inoculum is guided, and even helmed, by Danny Carey's god-like drumming, like a 76-minute solo that he graciously allowed the other members to jam over. Songs like fan-favorite "Pneuma" and live preview "Descending" are as mind-bending and experimental as TOOL have ever been, while semi-closer "7empest" is the equal to AEnima closer "Third Eye" in both creativity and face-melting awesomeness. We can only hope we don't have to wait another 13 years to hear more.
IGOR
Contemporary R&B : Listen
If you can honestly say that you didn't listen to "I Think" at least three times in a row after hearing it, you are either a very good liar, in total denial, or you didn't hear it. Every song on Tyler, The Creator's fifth full-length solo album is its own statement of purpose: sometimes a musical theme, sometimes a political message, but always goal-oriented. It feels kind of silly writing about IGOR like you didn't hear it. It was #1 on the Billboard 200, much to the hilarious chagrin of a fat, trashy, talentless moron whose only claim to fame is yelling his own moniker on other people's songs like the world's longest, saddest, most expensive game of Marco Polo, who shall remain nameless. IGOR, however, is a showcase of every influence Tyler, The Creator ever encountered, turned up to 11: Motor City R&B, 80s synth-pop, old school hip hop, Italo-disco; they're all here. This is the most successfully experimental contemporary album I've heard since James Blake's debut. The constant vinyl hiss, the extreme mash-up of styles, the harsh mixing, the offensively pink album art, you can just feel that this is the album Tyler has been trying to make his entire life. The exacting perfection of each new twist: "I Think"'s roller rink pop, to spoken word on "Exactly What You Run From...," to the crooning of "Running Out of Time," to a straight-up banger in "New Magic Wand." This is the kind of album that keeps hip hop fresh, immediate, and growing in cultural importance.
Titanic Rising
Soft Rock : Listen
I find it funny, and slightly annoying, that Weyes Blood has been stamped with the label of "indie" when, if you go back about 50 years, this is what pop sounded like. Late 60s and early 70s pop radio was filled with Carol Kings, Carly Simons, James Taylors, Paul Simons, Janis Ians, and Billy Prestons. And while the 80s' synths, 90s' drum-and-bass, and 00s' bling may have changed how we view pop forever, the musicality of the old ways will never die. That musicality is what Weyes Blood understands better than anyone, helping her to deliver one of the most listenable acoustic pop albums ever. Titanic Rising is like a thesis statement for an art history PhD candidate. While this hasn't always been the M.O. of Natalie Mering, having played bass for the experimental post-rock Jackie-O Motherfucker to kick-off her career, she has seemingly come to accept the genre that best fits her solid, alto, Karen-Carpenter-esque voice. And before we get too far, let's talk "Andromeda." I have never heard a song about slowly, procedurally falling in love, much less one that is this complex and beautiful. Listening to Titanic Rising, you get the uncanny feeling that if Mering had just been born a generation earlier, she would have conquered the charts and raked in millions. Her lyrics are heartfelt and powerful, and her arrangements are new and compelling...if you just forget the last 40 years happened.
Up next, the best albums of the year...
(coming soon)
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