Friday, December 27, 2019

Chart of Charts - Albums 2019


' Natalie Mering sings like Karen Carpenter with a film degree' The Observer Magazine.

So to the combined totals of the End of Year Charts I've posted over the last few days: Mojo, Uncut, The Guardian, Q, Best Ever Album site plus my own. With Weyes Blood Titanic Rising coming out on top of this Chart of Charts and by a clear margin. Not something you might have imagined at the start of the year. It is a rather gorgeous record and seems to articulate a very contemporary kind of textured nostalgia. Sharon Van, Big Thief's U.F.O.F., Cate Le Bon, Little Simz and Fontaines featured in all six charts and Bill Callahan, Aldous Harding and Purple Mountains also had respectable showings in several.

Of the records that didn't make my own list, Nick Cave is the most obvious noticeable absentee. I have to say that I don't like Ghosteen at all. I have rated a lot of Cave's recent work but this consistently sent out all the wrong notes for me though it's clear that others are much taken by it. It's  a deeply sincere album but it just didn't speak to me.

I can understand Norman Fucking Rockwell's high showing much more easily. It's a sleek and polished coffee table record that knows and gets exactly what it wants and plays to a similar Netflix sensibility as Titanic Rising doesLana Del Ray manages to reforge her brand more than you'd have ever imagined she'd be able to way back when she first arrived all those years back.

Elsewhere, I've got the greatest of respect for Springsteen but spent little time with his new record. I find Michael Kiwanuka rather overrated though his album is certainly solid. Black Midi do nothing for me at all, Brittany Howard, I can't really stomach. Billie Eilish and Lizzo are both very good though not staples of my personal playlists. Elsewhere, I've got a fair bit of time for most of the records here. It was a good year for music I'd say and it's pretty self-evident that women hold the reins right now.
  1. Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
  2. Lana Del Ray - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
  3. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
  4. Cate Le Bon - Reward
  5. Little Simz - Grey Area
  6. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
  7. Big Thief - U.F.O.F.
  8. Fontaines D.C. - Dogrel
  9. Bill Callahan - Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest
  10. Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
  11. Aldous Harding - Designer
  12. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
  13. Ariane Grande - Thank U, Next
  14. Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
  15. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
  16. Billie Eilish - When We All Feel Asleep Where Do We Go?  
  17. Tyler, The Creator - Igor
  18. Dave - Psychodrama
  19. The Comet is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery
  20. Solange - When I Get Home
  21. Vampire Weekend - Father Of The Bride
  22. Fat White Family - Serf's Up!
  23. Bon Iver - i,i
  24. Joan Shelley - Like The River Loves The Sea
  25. Black Midi -Schlagenheim 
  26. Jenny Lewis - On The Line
  27. Hot Chip - A Bath Full Of Ecstasy
  28. Slowthai - Nothing Great About Britain
  29. Brittany Howard - Jaime
  30. FKA Twigs - Magdalene
  31. Thom Yorke - Anima
  32. Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
  33. Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Rainford
  34. Robert Forster - Inferno
  35. Catherine Polachek - Pang
  36. Richard Dawson - 2020 
  37. Julia Jacklin - Crushing
  38. Big Thief - Two Hands
  39. Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs 
  40. James Blake - Assume Form 
  41. Kevin Morby - Oh My God
  42. Jenny Hval - The Practice Of Love
  43. Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won't Hold
  44. Oh Sees - Face Stabber
  45. The National - I Am Easy To Find -
  46. The Murder Capital - When I Have Fears
  47. Modern Nature - How To Live
  48. Sarathy Korwar - More Arriving
  49. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Colorado
  50. Vanishing Twin - The Age of Immunity

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