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2019 SNA Album Of The Year


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3 hours ago, proftournesol said:

OK folks, it's that time of the year, again.

Close of polling?

 

PS - I love these threads, as it cues me into all the good music, that I was supposed to be listening to during the year, so keep posting everyone!   :)  :party

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Album Of The Year. Volbeat- Rewind, Replay, Rebound

 

Discovery Of The Year. Gary Moore-Still Got The Blues. I haven't the faintest clue why I overlooked this brilliant album for years. Bought in on a whim mid year and haven't stopped playing it since.

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6 hours ago, davewantsmoore said:

Close of polling?

 

PS - I love these threads, as it cues me into all the good music, that I was supposed to be listening to during the year, so keep posting everyone!   :)  :party

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My best of 2019 roughly in descending order:

 

Popular 

 

Fontaines D.C. Dogrel

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Equal parts angry snarl and social sensitivity, Dublin five-piece Fontaines D.C. have lived up to the hype with this spirited neo-punk debut. These are improbably accomplished songs for newcomers, and, much like the The Strokes' sophomore album, the follow-up to Dogrel will be intriguing. 

 

Raphael Saadiq  Jimmy Lee

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R&B master Raphael Saadiq has sculptured a jewel with his fifth release, Jimmy Lee. It is stylistically fluid yet flows like classics of yesteryear, and Saadiq's bass guitar is coolness personified. 

 

Little Simz – Grey Area

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Best rap album of 2019, though one shouldn't confine this tasteful record to a single genre. London-born Little Simz (Simbi Ajikawo) delivers her lines with vigour and conviction, while her funky tunes unfold with an almost graceful ease.

 

Sigrid – Sucker Punch

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Maiden album by Norwegian popster Sigrid, full of charming and deceptively good songs. Recalls the freshness of Madonna's self-titled debut.

 

Faye Webster – Atlanta Millionaire's Club

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It's hard to believe that Faye Webster has just turned 22, such is the unforced appeal of these summery songs. A relaxed alt-country affair with a brief nod to rap, Atlanta... features artful chord progressions and pedal steel guitar. 

 

Aldous Harding – Designer 

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Harding's inviting voice and a lushly appealing backdrop sets off nine beguiling songs on Designer, the third folk-coloured offering from the talented New Zealander.

 

Jazz

 

Branford Marsalis Quartet – The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul

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Branford's first instrumental outing for some time and what a stimulating trip it is. He and pianist Joey Calderazzo stretch out and create their own vocabulary over seven expansive tracks, yet for all its adventure the album has a coherence and poignancy harking back to the saxophonist's heyday (Random Abstract, Crazy People Music, Trio Jeepy, I Heard You Twice...). A breath of fresh air in today's era of genre-bending jazz—which is mostly a diversion from a creative swamp. 

 

Quentin Collins Sextet – Road Warrior

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A contemporary bob album from England that pleases the ear from the opening chord. Collins' trumpet blends in beautifully with his homegrown horns, while an American rhythm section brings the swing to London.

 

Miles Davis – Miles Smiles (Mobile Fidelity reissue/remaster) 

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Could Davis' second quintet be the greatest band of all time? His younger collaborators Hancock, Shorter, Carter and Williams shine like beacons on this 1967 classic, the group's second and some say best release; with songs like 'Footprints' and 'Circle' it's hard to argue, although I can't split their first four albums. Jazz lovers waited impatiently for Mobile Fidelity to get to Miles Smiles as part of the label's reissue series. As always they were rewarded with improved instrumental texture and clarity.  

 

Classical 

 

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad" – Jansons, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

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With Mariss Jansons' recent passing we lost one of the world's great conductors, and this recording with his beloved Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is a fine testament to his artistry. Jansons has a natural affinity with the Leningrad as evinced by his previous recordings with the Leningrad Philharmonic and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. With the BRSO he gives his players near autonomy in the starker moments, then stirs up yearning crescendos in the climaxes. His latest reading can stand beside Bernstein's legendary 1988 account with the Chicago Symphony.

 

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 – Honeck, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

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Manfred Honeck's interpretations are nothing if not assured, and happily his conception of Bruckner's 9th is utterly convincing. Sweeping phrases are crafted with subtle rubato and themes are linked seamlessly throughout. On some Pittsburgh Symphony albums the bass instruments compound to muddy proportions, but Reference Recordings has done an even job here.

 

Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Op. 109, 110, 111 – Steven Osborne 

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As concertgoers will tell you, Scottish pianist Steven Osborne plays with a wonderful sensitivity—a sincerity, that favours the composer's leanings over the performer's. In this context, when spontaneity arrives it feels natural and pertinent. Osborne also brings great clarity and drive to louder, complex passages: what a great recipe for Beethoven's last three sonatas. The sound of Hyperion's Steinway is pristine, although treble fortissimos will test DACs that lack refinement.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by was_a
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This hasn't been a great year for new music IMHO

Top 10 Albums Of The Year

Underworld - Drift Series 1. A 6 CD masterwork reflecting a 52 week project of releasing new tracks every week. The collaboration with The Necks is masterful

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen. One of their best albums

Leonard Cohen - Thanks For The Dance. Any Leonard Cohen album is almost an automatic entry

Moon Duo - Stars Are The Light. Mixed reviews, but, I think it's their strongest album. More Sanae on this one

Fenella - Feherlofia. Jane Weaver is a musical polymath

Eva Geist - Urban Monogamy. Dark ambient groove from the Berlin based Italian

Sleaford Mods - Eaton Alive. More political street music from this great British duo

A Winged Victory For The Sullen -  The Undivided Five

 

Discovery Of The Year (bought, but not released in 2019)

Aretha Franklin - Aretha's Gold MFSL double 45rpm release. Amazing quality, amazing album

 

 

Genre Album Of The Year

 

 

Australian Album Of The Year

Teskey Brothers - Run Home Slow

Emma Russack - Winter Blues

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Hi All,

 

In no particular order.

 

NEW RELEASES:

Devin Townsend - Empath                                                             Thom Yorke - Anima

 

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Opeth - In Cauda Venenum                                                          Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo

 

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David Byrne - Grown Backwards                                                Rhiannon Giddens’s - There Is No Other

 

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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen                                       Flying Lotus - Flamagra

 

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Santana - Africa Speaks                                                                The Flaming Lips    King's Mouth

 

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DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR

 

Heilung - Lifa

 

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JJ

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Top 10 Albums Of The Year

 

Portico Quartet - Memory Streams

Matthew Halsall - Colour Yes (remastered)

Tool - Fear Inoculum

Alcest - Spiritual Instinct

 

Discovery Of The Year (bought, but not released in 2019)

 

Infictions - Vanity Project

The Evpatoria Report - Maar

 

 

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Top 10 Albums Of The Year

 

Tool - Fear Inoculum (2019)
Russian Circles - Blood Year (2019)
Alcest - Spiritual Instinct (2019)
Nils Frahm  - All Encores (2019) 

Arild Andersen - Tales of Hackney (2019)
Yosi Horikawa - Spaces (2019)

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Top 10 Albums Of The Year

 

Opeth - In Cauda Venenum

Tool - Fear Inoculum

Devin Townsend - Empath

Russian Circles - Blood Year

Alcest - Spiritual Instinct

Hot Chip - A Bath Full of Ecstasy

Leprous - Pitfalls

The Chemical Brothers - No Geography

Thank You Scientist - Terraformer

The Hu - The Gereg

 

 

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Just a few that I can remember purchasing this year:

 

Opeth - In Cauda Venenum

Tool - Fear Inoculum

Nils Frahm  - All Encores 

Portico Quartet - Memory Streams

Bill Frisell - Harmony

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

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On 02/12/2019 at 12:05 AM, RankStranger said:

Wilco - Ode to Joy (2019)

 

Bill Frisell - Harmony (2019)
 

Anouar Brahem - Blue Maqams (2017)

 

 

I honestly doubt I’ve listened to 10 new albums this year but I’m just discovering Brittany Howard’s Jaime which is superb and I don’t think it’s been mentioned yet so I’m throwing it in. 
 

Think Marvin Gaye produced by Prince and you’re somewhere in the ballpark

 

Also Beck’s Colors from 2017 was new to me. Not the sort of thing I’ll listen to a lot but a fantastic album in its way

Edited by RankStranger
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This is my top 10 for the year i.e the albums that I've had on high rotation. Some new and some older. 

Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita - Soar (Bendigedig)

Biosphere - Substrata / Man With A Movie Camera  (Biophon )

Cecil Taylor - Garden 1st Set (and companion album 2nd Set) (Hat Hut )

Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Alatt Szuletett (Planet Mu)

Ralph Towner - Open Letter (ECM)

Zoviet* France - Digilogue (Soleilmoon)

William Basinski - The Disintegation Loops II (Temporary Residence)

Bresil : Choro Samba Frevo 1914-1945 ( Fremeaux & Associe)

Julie Fowlis, Eamon Doorley, Zoe Conway & John McIntyre - Allt ( MacHair)

Michele Rabbia/ Gianluca Petrella/ Eivind Aarset - Lost River (ECM)

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I feel like I've discovered plenty of new albums this year, but most were from 2018 or earlier. I often wade through the end of year lists on Largeheartedboy and discover 'new' music that way. If you really want to lose a weekend, work your way backwards through the archived lists. 

 

2019

Ladytron - Ladytron

Middle Kids - New Songs for Old Problems (first album may be even better - one of the better Aussie bands right now)

Tool - Fear Inoculum

 

Pre-2019

The Dead South - In Good Company (just a riotous good time)

Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet

Many/most of the Fabric albums. E.g. Fabric 99: Sasha (various artists). These are great electronic mixes. 

 

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