MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2019
January 5, 2020 – 5:58 am
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Another year with more unlistenable, corporate crap. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of good music out there. Here are the albums that were on heavy rotation in my home this year. By Joshua Frank.
Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains [Drag City, 2019]
David Berman’s Purple Mountains is my favorite album of the year. Shortly after its release, Berman, who long struggled with what he called “treatment-resistant” depression, committed suicide. Although his label Drag City assures it wasn’t intended as a farewell, it’s hard not to believe Berman knew Purple Mountains was his final act. It’s a gorgeous record - dark, lyrical, melodic and biting in its critique of our monolithic, profit-driven culture. With Berman’s death, we lost one of the most gifted, insightful poets of his generation.
Click here for the video clip.
Jenny Lewis - On the Line [Warner Bros, 2019]
I can’t get enough of Jenny Lewis’s fabulous album On the Line. It has everything you’d want in a record. It’s intense when it needs to be, catchy, upbeat and a bit sad. Jenny Lewis has matured in all the best ways.
Click here for the video clip.
JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes [EQT Recordings, 2019]
Lest you think I only listen to rock, I also have a bit of a fetish for good hip hop. While a few artists were worth exploring this year, by far the most interesting was All My Heroes Are Cornballs by Baltimore-based experimental rapper JPEGMAFIA. A bit manic but also meditative, it was my long-run music of choice.
Click here for the video clip.
Ex Hex - It’s Real [Merge Records, 2019]
Ex Hex at Zebulon in Los Angeles was almost my favorite show I saw this year (that award goes to Dean Wareham playing Galaxie 500’s On Fire) and their second album It’s Real was by far the most fun.
Click here for the video clip.
Sheer Mag - A Distant Call [Sheer Mag LLC, 2019]
Raw, political and emotional, Sheer Mag’s A Distant Call is a record that I can’t recommend enough. Lead singer Tina Halladay’s earth-shattering vocals accompanied by bonafide lo-fi shredder Kyle Seely, is rock at its finest. If Sheer Mag is playing within a 200-mile radius of your town, make the trek. You won’t be let down.
Click here for the video clip.
Honorable Mentions
Hand Habits - placeholder [Milk Records, 2019]
Click here for the video clip.
Allah-Las - LAHS [Mexican Summer, 2019]
Click here for the video clip.
GospelbeacH - Let it Burn [Alive Records, 2019]
Click here for the video clip.
Steve Earle & The Dukes - Guy [New West Records, 2019]
Click here for the video clip.
R.I.P. Neal Casal 1968 - 2019
Click here.
Note: Joshua Frank is managing editor of CounterPunch. His most recent book, co-authored with Jeffrey St Clair, is Big Heat: Earth on the Brink. Email him here. You can troll him on Twitter @joshua_frank.
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One Response to “MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2019”
Ok, you have earned the label “wannabe pretentious snob” with your initial comments.
Wear it with pride.
By Jack on Jan 8, 2020