Top 20 2019
Hello again. End of year list time. Astonishingly LiveJournal is still functioning.
Sadly this is more than can be said for eMusic. After several years of declining catalogue and rumours of unpaid royalties eMusic seemed finally to throw in the towel by redirecting users to 7Digital. Which the CEO of eMusic is also the CEO of and which will sell you MP3s at "normal" (i.e. 99p) prices as opposed to the about 20p I was paying.
This paragraph possibly of interest only to me, but it makes a big change in the way I listen to music - from my point of view, the economics of eMusic was worth it as long as I could find tracks - my £6.15 (cheaper than Spotify) got me 40 downloads (as many as I could reasonably assimilate) per month. The discovery of the entire Nein Records back catalogue held it open for a couple more months but there is a limit to the amount of minimal German synthwave/techno crossover that even I can absorb. And now there is pretty much nothing else there. So, goodbye eMusic and hello Apple Music, picked for the back integration of my existing iTunes collection. Let's see how Apple's famous legacy support works out then /sarcasm. At the same time I am moving from my much loved iPod Classic to my phone as main listening device because hey it's the 2020s now or something, and because I can't get streamed tracks on my iPod.
Films. Didn't go to a lot, mainly due to lots of music and other commitments, Endgame was OK, Ad Astra was wrecked by an intolerably silly ending, and Star Wars: Triumph of the Incels was marred by JJ Abram's decision to bow to the fanboys and ditch anything interesting set up by TLJ. Detective Picachu it is then.
Gig. I honestly thought it was going to Chromatics for sure, I have waited so long to see them and they were so good. But so were The Comet Is Coming at Ritual Union and most of all Light Asylum + Sinkyateeth in a sweatbox at Elephant and Castle. I've seen both bands before but not like this. Got to bed at 3, knackered next day at work, so worth it.
So to the Music.
Single of the year: Teeth by Working Men's Club. Almost missed them at Ritual Union. Fortunately they're coming back to Oxford in the new year.
Click to viewEP: Town Centre by Squid. Yeah, we all like this.
The One That Got Away: Crack Cloud by Crack Cloud. According to the PR this is a bunch of drug workers and their charges' rehab project from Vancouver. Believe it or don't as you please but this is great.
Albums.
20: Tutti by Cosey Fanny Tutti. Abstract industrial.
19: Serf's Up by Fat White Family. I have been pretty much immune to the Fat Whites' shtick up till now but their messed up lounge thing is sounding good to me.
18: In Shadow by Fader. Who would have guessed I'd like a retro synth thing.
17: And including some of the same people, Um Dada by Stephen Mallinder
16: No Home Record by Kim Gordon. it seems a bit harsh to describe it as a break up record - lyrically that seems to be what it is but musically she has launched off into something wholly other drawing on the likes of Gazelle twin as much as her past.
15: Ladytron by Ladytron. Excellent return.
14: Useless Coordinates by Drahla. They seem to have decided that the post punk of the first couple of singles is not ambitious enough, acquired a sax player, and turned left into somewhere a bit strange. These are all positive developments as far as I am concerned.
13: Stunning Luxury by Snapped Ankles. Yes.
12: Inside The Rose by These New Puritans. The title track has the NSFW video but this is a better song so
11: Debridement by Spectres. Some of this collection of rarities and B sides was previously unobtainable so it gets in as this year's record. Includes the Greatest Chirstmas Song Of All Time
10: Slaves Of Fear by HEALTH. HEALTH adapt to the loss of Jupiter Keyes and come out with something reliably great.
9: Drift by Underworld. Not really an album, not really a series of EPs, let's just release a bunch of stuff under a common name. Quality is a bit variable or it would be much higher. The best tracks, such as this, are not always on the collections either for some reason, except some which are *only* on the collections. Whatever.
8: Right. As indicated above I have been listening to a lot of Nein Records stuff, all of which is great, and none of which came from 2019. So there is this, from the free EP which introduced me to them, to stand in for all that. Could be much higher it's all a bit tight now.
7: Animated Violence Mild by Blanck Mass. Just keeps getting better
6: Closer to Grey by Chromatics. Chromatics return! With a completely different album the the one they have been teasing for the last (checks watch) 8 years! Which is apparently still due "soon". Never mind, we forgive you, for the fantastic live shows and for this.
5: The Center Won't Hold by Sleater-Kinney. St Vincent production and the related loss of their drummer make this a divisive record. I know which side of the divide I am on, this is by far and away my favourite of their records.
4: International Teachers of Pop by International Teachers of Pop. Moonlandingz and Eccentronic Research Council associates come good with this. New album and further spin offs on the way.
3: Dogrel by Fontaines DC. Yes, I was one of the two dozen people who saw them in the Cellar before they blew up huge. I will always have that and you won't.
2: Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery by The Comet Is Coming. Acording to an irate trumpet player at the Bullingdon who stormed out of their gig "this is not jazz!". Jazz's loss I reckon.
1: Fibs by Anna Meredith. Becuase the end there has to be a winner and this is it. Thankyou and goodnight.