English Singer-Songwriter Declan McKenna took Britain by storm when he first released the song Brazil along with his debut album, What Do You Think About The Car? back in 2015. A lot has changed since then. Including McKenna's songwriting and music. Even so, I was surprised by his latest album, What Happened To The Beach? It is not what I would have expected from him, but glad for the time he spent in California that was the inspiration for this great album.
Scottish singer-songwriter Dylan John Thomas grew up on Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and Leonard Cohen and would play their songs when he was busking on the streets of Glasgow. Now he is getting a ton of attention for singing and playing his own songs..and rightfully so. John Thomas is a wonderful songwriter and singer and his debut album is a special one.
This past year was not the one that any of us expected or wanted. And I think that it's safe to say that everyone experienced such a wide range of thought, feels, and emotions as we all moved through it. This was certainly the case for me. Fortunately with each passing month, there were new albums that provided me with outlets to escape...with any hope to my happy place.
At different times, I reach for each one of these albums again and again. Here are my top albums of 2020!
10. Airbag, A Day At The Beach
I got excited when I first learned that Airbag was back in the studio recording a new album. Since 2009, the band, hailing from Oslo, Norway, had only released four albums. Each one has become favorites of mine. I was ready for more. Almost a year later, A Day At The Beach arrived back in June and I got my Airbag fix.
One would never say that Airbag has a totally original sound. Influences of bands like Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree have always been present. On A Day At The Beach, the band does move in a bit of a new directly with the addition of electronic elements which they say were inspired by the resurgence of ‘80’s electronica and new wave. In this regard, they have tapped into a bit of The Cure circa Disintegration.
With six songs clocking in at almost fifty minutes, there is plenty of music to consume here. I cannot recommend A Day At The Beach enough. This is a fantastic album.
9. Creeper, Sex, Death & The Infinite Void
WOW. WOA?! WOW! That was my reaction listing to Creeper's amazingly original, inventive, and over-the-top sophomore album. Since then, I have been trying to figure out just how to describe this one. Then I read Kerrang!'sperfect review; 'If the coquettish camp of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is your idea of a good time, or you’ve enjoyed the morbid-idiosyncrasies of a John Waters movie, the lovingly-crafted universe evoked by Sex, Death & The Infinite Void might just feel like home. Imbued with endless passion, colour and a carnival of glorious sound, it’s a musical marvel.' A marvel indeed.
8. Glass Animals, Dreamland
Four years after the release of their Mercury Nominated album, How To Be A Human Being, Glass Animals are back and better than ever. A much more personal album, ‘Dreamland is the awakening moment from a turbulent time’ for the band and the ‘nostalgic personal journey of front man and producer Dave Bayley.’ (OMH)
In the hands of other bands, exploring difficult childhood memories, relationships, and the topic of recovery might weight down an album, but not with Glass Animals. Dreamland’s heavy topics are disguised with psych-pop upbeat tones and by ‘referencing people and/or characters as food.’ Using these tactics, the band creates a dream-like state that allows the reality of Bayley’s past to ‘seem a little less intense’ (MFN).
7. The Haar, The Haar
The story goes that Irish folk and traditional percussionist Cormac Byrne and fiddler Adam Summerhayes were on holiday in Inis Oírr when they walked into a pub and were silenced along with everyone else as Molly Donnery began to sing unaccompanied. Fast forward some time and the three meet up in a studio along with accordionist Murray Grainer to record some Irish traditional songs. The four made no plans in advance of entering the studio. As they explained, they just let the music create itself.
What resulted was the creation of a truly stunning collection of songs captured on their first and only takes. As Folk Radio wrote about The Haar, it's 'a very evocative record, bringing senses of the pain and futility of war and the salt of the ocean, as well as the beauty of the land and the strength of human relationships through its works and music. We need more music like this; spontaneous, alive and affecting, The Haar will take you on a journey and have you appreciating the purest of life's pleasures. Wonderful stuff.' I so agree.
6. Eric Hutchinson, Class of 98
In the press release for Class of 98, Eric Hutchinson explains that sometime last year, he came to a strange realization: he kept daydreaming about high school. It had been over 20 years since the singer-songwriter had graduated, yet the adolescent dreams, hopes, fears, anxieties and emotions he faced as a kid began flooding back. Suddenly, he felt transported back into his teenage self and those years filled with the kind of alienation and private angst that is recognizable to most anyone who’s ever been 16.
Now, years later, he has chronicled those adolescence years. Wrapping them in ’90s inspired alt-rock-pop music from bands like Fountains Of Wayne and Weezer, Hutchinson has crafted a memorable set of songs and album.
5. Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Having no idea who Dua Lipa was when I first listened to Future Nostalgia, I got all excited that I had made some great musical discovery that I would share with my kids. The album fits squarely in their musical lane. Turns out that I'm about the only one who doesn't know about Britain's biggest female musical artist.
I will just say that I love Future Nostalgia. As Variety wrote, "It's an impeccably crafted, gleefully executed half-hour plus of pop perfection that does meet the moment, maybe, in just reminding you how good it feels to be human, And to be in love. And to be in Studio 54." This is modern pop at its best.
4. Siv Jakobsen, A Temporary Smooth
Gentle and calming, Oslo-based singer-songwriter Siv Jakobsen’s ambient, folky tunes belong in an independent coming of age film, or at very least, a heartbreaking scene in Normal People. Poised with an unhinged rawness, Jakobsen’s sophomore album ‘A Temporary Soothing’ does just as the title says, acting a security blanket to offer shelter during those blue Sunday evenings or summer thunderstorms. Clash Magazine
I was immediately drawn to this album and have come back to it many times. It's captivating and hard to escape.
3. Lime Cordiale, 14 Steps To A Better You
What a FUN album! Australian brothers, Oliver and Louis Leimbach, along with their bandmates are back with another gem of an album. With their sound that blends 'summery vibes and harmonies and bouncing melodies' (Billboard), Lime Cordiale's catchy sing-along-songs are second to none.
Listening to this album will put a smile on your face and bounce in all 14 of your steps...to a better you. This is one of those albums that we all could use a bit more of this year.
2. Katie Melua, Album No. 8
Katie Melua is one of the UK's best selling artists of all time. Yet, here in the states she is not widely known. It's really ashamed. Melua is that rare artist who's music radiates and captivates while remaining quiet and gentle. These are two qualities that we don't see too much of anymore. Being loud, shocking, and controversial seems to sell more albums these days.
Now in her mid-thirties and recently divorced, Melua's lyrics go deeper and get more personal than on past albums. Wrapped in a beautiful cinematic melancholy soundscape, Melua reflects on thoughts and feelings of loss, of heartbreak, and of appreciation for what has been and what is to be. While Album No 8 is Melua's story, passages throughout are recognizable and relatable. It all makes Album No. 8, Melua's most special album to date.
1. Motorpsycho, The All Is One
I was not familiar with Motorpsycho when I first sat down to listen to The All Is One. I also had no idea of it's running time. Turns out that the album, the last in a trilogy by the Norwegian trio, clocks in at one hour and twenty four minutes. It’s a good thing that I did not know or I probably would have never started listening. But honestly, when I go to the end….I was truly disappointed that it was over. I just wanted more. And I wanted to learn everything that I could about this band that has produced 24 albums over the past 30 years.
As Everything Is Noise wrote about The All Is One, ‘Truly, this is an album you give yourself up to. It can be a demanding task to surrender your whole attention and time to just listening to music, no matter how good it is – albums like The All Is One not only make it simple, but incentivize you for doing so. The reward is the experience itself: a swaddling of progressive, psychedelic (called ‘psychodelic‘ by the band) rock that’s equal parts calming and transcendent. It’s a portal to another world or dimension, one with technicolor skies, drinkable air, and tingling currents that prick your corporeal form to remind you that you’re the most alive you’ve ever been, all while floating on a magic carpet.'
Listening to The All Is One, I could not help but reflect on the truly epic albums that I listened to as a kid and absolutely devoured as they transported me someplace that I had never been. It is exactly what I needed this year...or any year.
2019 closes out a decade of music with some of the best albums that I have heard over the past ten years. In a few days I will be posting my 'best of the decade' list. In the meantime, here are my favorite albums of 2019.
10. Mike Posner, A Real Good Kid
In April, Mike Posner started a nine month walk across the country. In an interview with CBS, Posner said that his hope from the walk was to fall in love with being in the present moment and being perfectly incomplete. Facing the death of his father to cancer, his friend and collaborator Avicii to suicide, and breakup with his girlfriend, Posner's world came crashing down and he found himself pondering life and death, family, friends, and how he had come to define success. On A Real Good Kid, Posner pours his heart and soul into a collection of songs that bring us into the mind of a broken man looking to find a new inner peace and perspective on living.
9. Peter Perrett,Humanworld
Addiction to Heroin and crack took decades from Peter Perrett, but not his music or musical ideas. Now, at the age of 67, Perrett is making some of the best music of his career. As The Guardian wrote, Humanworld isn't just good by the standards of albums made by people who spent years on hard drugs, or by the standards of late career revivals: it's simply a very good album indeed. It 'manages to avoid both the possible traps: trying too hard to sound current, or trying too hard to recapture past glories. Instead it's clean, and sharp, and melodic guitar rock.'
8. Marillion,With Friends From The Orchestra
I have become a huge Marillion fan over the past few years. It all started when I started spending time with 2006’s Marbles which has since become one of my favorite albums. Once I did, I found myself going down the rabbit’s hole of all things Marillion going back to when Steve Hogarth joined the band in 1989. It’s crazy to think that I had paid them little attention for so long. It’s also crazy to see them still together and sounding as great as ever after 30 years.
With Friends From The Orchestra, the band revisits and reimagines nine songs from their extensive catalog. Was this necessary? I would have said ‘no’ until I listed to them. Now I will say a resounding ‘yes.’ In fact I will say that a few of these new versions are better than the originals including This Strange Engine. Whether you are a fan or Marillion or have no idea who they are….do yourself a favor and spend some time with this album.
7. Rex Orange Country, Pony
English singer/Songwriter Alexander O'Connor, who records under the name Rex Orange Country closed out the year for me with Pony, his major label debut, which was released a few weeks ago. It was 'that' album that I had been waiting for all year, but did not know it until I heard it. American Songwriter pointed to his 'unique pop prosody and production skills and inventiveness.' Jazz-tinged songs full of catchy hooks and charm, Pony is as NME writes, 'a total delight.
6. FINNEAS, Blood Harmony
Turn your attention away from the hype of Billie Eilish and towards her brother Finneas, the creative engine behind her music. On his short EP Blood Harmony, Finneas is right out in front where he belongs. Best said by Atwood Magazine, 'From the heartbreaking mourning of a friendship lost in “I Lost A Friend”, to the symbiotic, infatuated co-dependency of “Die Alone”. Blood Harmony explores soundscapes that range from radio-ready pop hits to stripped down ballads, never losing its polish or unique cinematic quality, and reveals that FINNEAS is a master at telling stories about those who surround, or once surrounded, him.'
5. The LaFontaines, Junior
Catchy, ballsy, hard edged, melodic, and packing a punch. That is how Rock N' Load Mag described The LaFontaines third album Junior. Fusing Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, and R & B in ways that are both bold and brashy (Bring The Noise), these Scotts grab your attention and don't let it go. This is a killer album that I have not been able to turn away from since its release.
4. Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell!
Del Rey’s talent has been misunderstood throughout her career, writes Spencer Kornhaber in the Atlantic, 'but with the freighter-heavy and canyon-gorgeous new album Norman Fucking Rockwell, maybe she’ll be seen for the essential writer of her times that she is.'
As someone who has not only misunderstood Rey, but has also not taken her seriously as an artist, I approached NFR with skepticism. I can confirm that Kornhaber is 100% on point! Singing 'exquisitely of freedom and transformation and the wreckage of being alive, Pitchfork contributing Editor Jenn Pelly aptly penned that NFR establishes Rey as one of American's greatest living songwriters.
3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Ghosteen
How does one grieve over the loss of a child and the endless tidal waves of emotions that overwhelm one's ability to just breath let alone live? Over three albums, concluding with Ghosteen, Nick Cave has been grappling with the tragic death of his teenage son in 2015 which left him utterly broken. On Ghosteen, the shock of Cave's son's death has passed, but devastation and isolation have slowly transformed into memories and loneliness and Cave finds himself asking more questions than ever. Now it's on to "what do I do now, where do I go?(Sputnik). There are no easy answers as Tracy Thorn masterfully conveys in her review of the album. “The past with its savage undertow” appears in two songs – in one it lets go, while in another, it will never let go, there is no escape. And you feel that both are true. There is no resolution. Songs hint at the possibility of recovery, then evert to despair. The need for acceptance of loss is in constant tension with the impossibility of acceptance." Yet, by the end of the album, you get a sense that he has come to terms as he sings "it's a long way to find peace of mind, and I'm just waiting now for my time to come." This is an astonishing album that is a must listen.
2. RPWL, Tales From Outer Space
Tales From Outer Space is a late addition to my list of favorite albums for 2019. I actually discovered this album in April of 2020 when I fell upon RPWL, a band not familiar to me. I was immediate drawn to this German progressive rock band and their extensive twenty year catalog of albums, both studio and live. As a band that started as a Pink Floyd cover band, you can certainly hear the PF influences, especially their later work (think The Division Bell). With this said, this is truly an original album and having listened to most of RPWL's albums, I will say that Tales From Outer Space is one of their best and at least right now, my favorite.
1. Tool, Fear Inoculum
Tool fans, such as myself, waited 13 long years for the band's follow up to 10,000 days. And now we have Fear Inoculum to consume and ponder. As Sputnik Music wrote, this album is a 'massive, compelling piece of music that unfolds beautifully and balances Tool’s unique style with plenty of rewarding new elements. Any fears that they would not live up to their past can be abated; Fear Inoculum is truly groundbreaking and one of the best albums of the decade.' I agree!
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine Scottish singer-songwriter, Kenny Anderson, who records under the name King Creosote has a long and impressive body of work. Add Diamond Mine, his phenomenal new collaboration with English electronic composer and producer Jon Hopkins, to his collection. This absolutely beautiful album exemplifies what is possible when two artists can marry two very different musical reference points in a cohesive and near perfect way. Anderson and Hopkins have created a magnificent and timeless musical space where their quiet and soulful songs radiate earth and warmth and richness. This is a very special album. Bubble
Washed Out, Within And Without On the chill side of an ambient 80's electronic, synth-pop sound lies Washed Out. Born in 1983, Ernest Greene would have been too young to have been aware of the music that was being created in the time of his youth, yet here he is finding inspiration in it. Sounding fresh and retro at the same time, this album mesmerized me. Greene has such a great touch and feel for creating mood and atmosphere. Lush textures, pulsating heartbeat-like bass lines and rhythms, and floating vocals combination to fill up every corner of his slow burning songs making Within And Without a particularly cool late night listen. Amor Fati
Old 97's, The Grand Theatre Vol. 2 It seems like Old 97'sThe Grand Theatre Vol. 1 was just released, though it was eight months ago. Back with the sharper Vol. 2, Old 97's once again display what they do so well...but even better here. With a more refined sound than on the rougher sounding Vol. 1, the band's alt-country songs shine with crisp songwriting and storytelling. It is just great to see a band, that has been together for seventeen years, still be at the top of their creative game on album number nine. Old 97's remind us that consistently great songs, songwriting, and rock solid playing trumps music trends of the moment and the 'it' bands that come and go. Brown Haired Daughter
Bon Iver, Bon Iver I think that I am one of the few people who did not immediately pay attention to Bon Iver's self-titled album when it was released last month. Having absored myself in it for the past two weeks, I must say that it is truly one of the most amazing listening experience that I have had this year. If this makes any sense, on Bon Iver, Justin Vernon, who is more or less the band, takes us deeper into an emotional place and space than on his debut album by expanding the band's sound. With richly textured and sonically beautiful songs, Vernon, creates a musical landscape that can be explored over and over again, and still feel new and authentic with each listen. Plug yourself into this album with some good headphones and allow yourself to be taken away by this one. Calgary Admiral Fallow, Boots Met My Face Glasgow is one of my favorite cities and I have always been impressed with the city's vibrant music scene. Admiral Fallow, who hail from this great city have just release their debut album, Boots Met My Face. Putting aside the fact that I am a sucker for a Glaswegian accent, I love what Admiral Fallow is doing on this album. With a kind of rough folk-rock sound, the band beautifully balances the warmth of so much of the Scottish folk music that I love with a more contemporary sound. I hope that Admiral Fallow's album helps this Scottish sound find a wider audience like Mumford and Sons' album Signs No More did for the English equivalent. Squealing Pigs
Bobby, Bobby Colleges can serve as great incubators for young bands. This has certainly been the case for the band Bobby. What started off as an academic musical project at Bennington College, evolved into something much more. On their debut album, the seven members of Bobby have created an impressive, sprawling twelve song listening journey. I really like the confidence that the band shows in taking its time with these sophisticated, psychedelic, folk-dream pop like songs. Sore Spores
What I love about music is its power to transport me. Sometimes it’s unexpected, sometimes it’s exactly where I want to be. A single melody can unlock memories I didn’t realize I still carried, while certain chords or lyrics take me to another time or place. Some songs feel like home, offering shelter, while others deliver me to an unknown place or space, stirring emotions I can’t quite name. In this way, music isn’t just sound—it’s a sonic subway, delivering me to a station of refuge or one I never knew existed.
Music has always been an important part of my life. My family and friends knew this well, often asking me what I was listening to and what I liked. It was always humbling to be asked, and eventually, I gathered the courage to create this music blog—to put into words what draws me to certain music and why.
Over the years, my passion for writing has grown, along with my excitement for sharing musical discoveries. I hope your time here sparks excitement and leads you to a musical discovery of your own. More than anything, I hope your visit brings a little joy to your day.
.jpeg)
