Albums of 2019

[washing machine]

Has it really been six years since Modern Vampires, though? Wow.

[digster]

The new Big Thief record is outstanding, though I'd likely put it behind their two prior albums. I'm very psyched to see where they're going to be in five years, and they're definitely on a tear (three records in four years, along with a few solo records from members that are pretty great, as well).

[psychobain]

new Local Natives sounds very good

[E.H. Ruddock]

New Of Monsters and Men album out in July

[Jorge]

New album by Lucy Patané is just staggering

[epilogue]

I'm a few tracks into the new Mountain Goats record. I really like it so far. Younger is a phenomenal song.

[bune]

New Of Monsters and Men album out in July

woo! I did a routine wiki check of the bands I like and saw that the other day. Not sure on the different look.

EDIT: Going down a youtube hole with their videos, saw this comment:

All the music videos of the last album are of strange creatures, and all the videos of this album are of people. So last album they were of monsters, and this one they're of men.

[Brett]

Last Constellation release of the first half of the year is the debut album from the punk trio Lungbutter, Honey. They have an austere heavy sound, somewhere in the general sonic neighborhood of Shellac. It's out May 31, and a few tracks can be currently streamed for it:


Bassist/composer Pete Johnston has started a new ensemble, called Stranger Still, and their debut is out on All-Set! Editions (who have put other other Johnston works as well as the Mike Smith Company album I posted before). Basically poems from Canadian poet Alden Nowlan set to a weird counterpoint-focused folk form.


Sarah Pagé is a harpist who is best known as a founding member of The Barr Brothers, but she is also an accomplished collaborator, having worked with Lhasa de Sela, Patrick Watson, Jerusalem in My Heart, and Esmerine, among others. She recently began composing works for solo harp and self-released an early digital version of her debut, Dose Curves in 2017. Now it's getting a more proper and "official" release on October 11 by Backwards Music. "Ephemeris Data" can be listened to now:

[Teeeeeekay]

TYLER, The Creator’s new album IGOR is fantastic.

[Jorge]

Linda May Han Oh's new album Aventurine!!!
https://open.spotify.com/album/6WZ1VdrN ... Gfli_Srxyg

I haven't listened yet but she made one of the best jazz albums of 2017 (Walk Against Wind) so I am excited to dig in

[verb_to_trust]

Undress by the Felice Brothers is pretty good.

[psychobain]

the point where the band fronted by Bono's son becomes better than u2 these days

[bodysnatcher]

Sono

[psychobain]

Sono

Nice

[Brett]

I wanted to put to text some thoughts about many of the albums I've listened to this year, so without further ado:

Praed - Doomsday Survival Kit: This is a fun one. Nonstop, hypnotic movement. It's not much for emotional resonance, though, being conceived as a trance and dance album.

Light Conductor - Sequence One: Kinda disappointing. It's more airy and meandering than I expected, but it has this nice feeling of progressive growth towards something that falls flat with the final track completely subverting the tone of the rest of the album and sounding like a tossed off amateur jam.

Joni Void - Mise En Ebyme: Less eclectic than the first Joni Void album, but more thematically focused. It's also more resigned and cautious, but it achieves a satisfying climactic payoff.

Marc Codsi - A New World: A different take on Arabic music forms than Praed's psychedelic chaabi, this uses maqam (Arabic melodic modes) to create a blissful, floating space formed by clouds of modular synth. I wish it had a little more diversity, as the first six tracks are three pairs of thematic variations, but the ending is so good that it elevates everything else to the next level with it.

Marla Hlady & Eric Chenaux - Fluff: Dreamlike, edge of the senses stuff where snatches of melody drift by complete with Doppler effect, chased by ethereal scraps of field recording. It's got the usual Eric Chenaux charm going on, and is quite reminiscent of his works with The Draperies, but on an even more subdued level.

Efrim Manuel Menuck & Kevin Doria - are SING SINCK, SING: Not as powerful or devastating as Menuck's Pissing Stars from last year, but it's still pretty good, especially in the opener and the final two songs. It clocks in at just over thirty minutes, and feels a little undercooked at times, so I think it's a case of really wanting to get some material from the new project out without waiting for a great deal of refinement or development.

Siskiyou - Not Somewhere: Back to basics for Siskiyou, but it doesn't sweep away the musical development accumulated from 2009-2015 (the album was mostly recorded in 2015). The age-old conflict of man vs. an indifferent, impersonal world is a central thematic tenet and really resonates with me a on a certain level, so I've been quick to connect with certain songs on this one, very similarly to the debut album.

The Mike Smith Company - Songs of The Mike Smith Company: My favorite album of the year, so far. Clever and interesting lyrics, unconventional song structures, vocal and instrumental performances that aren't bowl you over great, but work perfectly with Smith's approach at making a kind of filtered, rectangular salsa music.

[Jorge]

Marla Hlady & Eric Chenaux - Fluff: Dreamlike, edge of the senses stuff where snatches of melody drift by complete with Doppler effect, chased by ethereal scraps of field recording. It's got the usual Eric Chenaux charm going on, and is quite reminiscent of his works with The Draperies, but on an even more subdued level.

The Mike Smith Company - Songs of The Mike Smith Company: My favorite album of the year, so far. Clever and interesting lyrics, unconventional song structures, vocal and instrumental performances that aren't bowl you over great, but work perfectly with Smith's approach at making a kind of filtered, rectangular salsa music.

These two sound great

[Brett]

Marla Hlady & Eric Chenaux - Fluff: Dreamlike, edge of the senses stuff where snatches of melody drift by complete with Doppler effect, chased by ethereal scraps of field recording. It's got the usual Eric Chenaux charm going on, and is quite reminiscent of his works with The Draperies, but on an even more subdued level.

The Mike Smith Company - Songs of The Mike Smith Company: My favorite album of the year, so far. Clever and interesting lyrics, unconventional song structures, vocal and instrumental performances that aren't bowl you over great, but work perfectly with Smith's approach at making a kind of filtered, rectangular salsa music.

These two sound great

Here's Fluff on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/avatar-quebec/sets/fluff

Here's the Mike Smith album through his label, All-Set! Editions: https://all-set.bandcamp.com/album/song ... th-company. If you like it, you might enjoy most of the rest of the All-Set! stuff from a couple years ago, too.

[Jorge]

That Mike Smith album is so cool, so weird. That's some bizarre, sci-fi salsa.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[armogi]

RAMMSTEIN.