2019 has been the most important year of my entire life, from a musical standpoint. At the beginning of the year I challenged myself to listen to 500 unique albums throughout the year and, while I probably failed, and absolutely lost count, the true purpose of my challenge was fulfilled. I finished 2019 with a far greater understanding and appreciation for music I’d never even considered listening to. It helped me evolve beyond my previous self-imposed limits of Metal, Punk, and Rock. I dove deep into genres I’d previously hated, like Hip-Hop and Pop, and found a greater appreciation for genres I’d previously only been aware of, like Jazz and Folk. I still have much to learn, and can never truly stop exploring new music, but I’m proud of the development I’ve made musically over the past 12 months. With that I bring you my 10 favorite albums of the year. I did not listen to everything, and some albums I didn’t get to until after the cutoff point, but I’m confident in my list. Enjoy!

10. Stella Donnelly – Beware of the Dogs

Stella Donnelly was an extremely last-minute find for me, I only stumbled across her beautiful style of singer-songwriter indie pop towards the end of December, and immediately fell in love. I scrambled to make room wherever I could on this list to share what I’d found and, while it wound up making the bottom of the list, I think it sets a perfect theme for many of the albums that make up my list this year. Beware of the Dogs is emotionally vulnerable, it’s confrontational, and it absolutely refuses to be subtle for even a moment. Vibrant, spacious clean guitars and sweet keys are often the only thing underpinning Stella’s sweet and pronounced vocals, with her Australian accent and uniquely operatic wavering at the end of each note delivering a vitriolic message against abuse, and an anthem of equality grounded in real experiences. The point is never disguised or hidden behind layers of metaphor. Stella wants to be heard, and delivers it in a condescending, blunt way that digs straight at the abusers of power that are directly confronted, and leaves you chuckling nervously. The track that, rightfully, gets the most discussion in this regard is Boys Will Be Boys, an unrelenting confrontation of rape and victim blaming, delivered beautifully with only the accompanying guitar softly plucking along. “Like a mower in the morning, I will never let you rest” is a clever line that anywhere else would warrant a smirk, but it lies tainted by the devastating “Your father told you that you’re innocent, told you women rape them selves / Would you blame your little sister, if she cried to your for help?” that precedes it. It’s not an easy subject, but when tackled with the maturity and beauty on display on this record, it’s made far easier to swallow, and by the time the album has ended your mind is left racing, thinking about the confrontation you just received. Beware of the Dogs is an incredibly impactful piece of music that I’d be disappointed not to have found this year.
Favorite Tracks: Boys Will Be Boys | Season’s Greetings | Watching Telly

9. Blood Incantation – Hidden History of the Human Race

As the final quarter of 2019 began, I started to worry that I would not have an album to represent my love of heavy metal on my list this year. While there were certainly quality releases earlier in the year, nothing stuck out to me in a way that I was passionate about. I began to worry that in my newly expanded taste in music, I had somehow “outgrown” metal. Just as November came to a close, however, Denver Death Metal band Blood Incantation proved me dead wrong, with their epic, layered, and brutal 36-minute journey into the depths of space. There is a defined strangeness to the riffs that dominate this record, a clear decision to stand apart from the sludgy ugliness that pervades throughout the genre, and to create something beautiful. They don’t abandon the grime, and some of the passages throughout the record are as brutal as they come, but it’s spacious in a way that is refreshing in a genre often infamous for flat and distracting production, intentional or not. Across the entire record, no riff ever outstays its welcome, and rarely returns once it’s gone, like a voyage into the depths of the universe, passing incredible galaxies and stars in an instant, never to be seen again. The production and tone of the record leaves little to be desired, with crushing, wide growls, reverb-laden, squealing lead guitars, and grimy, chugging bass riffs driving everything to its conclusion. The vocals act as a textural instrument, rather than a leading force, and are meticulously placed and mixed to give a sense of vastness to every other sound on display. Spacey clean passages leave time to breathe, but always give a foreboding sense that something looms just beyond, and by the time the album reaches its close, the listener is left only to look back on the journey, as if they’ve reached the center of the universe and all that is left to do is look out into the infinite space they went through to get there. The wordless storytelling at play here is impeccable, reminiscent of an abstract painting. It never tells you exactly what it means, but through a mutual understanding, it all makes sense. For a death metal record, all this is nearly unheard of, and is absolutely a feat to applaud, and a journey I’ll be continuing to take for years to come.
Favorite Tracks: The Giza Power Plant | Slave Species of the Gods | Inner Paths

8. Anamanaguchi – [USA]

Six years after their acclaimed album Endless Fantasy, and nearly a decade after their groundbreaking soundtrack for the now defunct Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, Anamanaguchi has returned with their long-awaited followup, [USA]. Right off the bat, it’s obvious that Anamanaguchi, as a band, has aged. There is far more restraint on display on this project, with the hyperenergetic synthpop bangers being equally balanced with softer, more inherently beautiful and emotional passages. They’ve moved from creating music that feels like background to something else, as a soundtrack, to developing lush and vivid landscapes with nothing but the incredibly vibrant synths and nostalgic 16-bit midi flair. Anamanaguchi no longer relies solely on nostalgia, but forces the listener to consider modern hyperpop trends through the lens of said nostalgia. It feels distinctly anime-inspired as well, no doubt due in some part to their experience touring with Miku Hatsune, who makes an appearance on the track B S X. I can very vividly imagine this as the backdrop to a Sailor Moon-esque scene of using the power of friendship to create a rainbow laser to destroy an oncoming meteor, or something to that effect. Vocal features appear throughout the tracklist, both organic and digital, and while not all of them make themselves obvious, the textural aid they provide to the tone of the tracks makes every one worthwhile. The lead single, Lorem Ipsum (Arctic Anthem), perfectly encapsulates the exact sound and tone this album strives to provide, with its sweet and slow melody building up to the greatest beat drop of the year, unleashing a wave of pure synthetic energy upon the listener, and keeping them engaged with an undeniable melody over aggressively powerful drums, before releasing into a droning and soft conclusion. It’s hard to describe this album without just throwing a dozen adjectives into a sentence, there’s just so much going on at every moment. It’s long, and can be exhausting if you’re not in the mood for the anime assault on the brain that comes with this album, but it’s the perfect boost of energy I needed this year and, put simply, it’s fun as hell.
Favorite Tracks: Lorem Ipsum | The C R T Woods | B S X

7. Billie Eilish – WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Likely to be the most polarizing pick on my list, Eilish’s debut full-length album had me skeptical at first, especially hearing the wave of dissent from various communities online. Imagine my surprise when, upon listening to the first couple tracks, I found myself completely invested in this shockingly watertight debut. Right from the opening track, Bad Guy, the listener is hit with the unique production, catchy hooks, and pleasant vocal style, reminiscent of other melancholic pop artists such as Lana Del Rey and Lorde, but with a uniquely youthful and even devilish tone. The braggadocious character, however, soon gives way to a more introspective and vulnerable version of Billie, without entirely abandoning the tongue-in-cheek style of writing. Tracks like Wish You Were Gay stand out as shining examples of her lyrical ability, with the genius lyrics and the petty but heartbreaking theme of searching for some kind of explanation for someone’s disinterest, refusing to accept that they might just not be into you. The countdown motif sprinkled throughout the track is absolutely genius and truly ties the whole track together. The true replay value is found in the production, though. Billie’s older brother Finneas does an impeccable job of keeping the songs simple and stripped-down, while still being incredibly creative with the nuances of the sound. The track Xanny is a soft and beautiful song with sweet instrumentals, until the chorus kicks in with the crushing bass which warps and distorts everything around it, especially Billie’s vocals. Rumbling bass is an ongoing theme around here, with it being the driving force behind Bad Guy, and the punchy piano banger All The Good Girls Go To Hell. Overall this is the most surprising debut I’ve heard in a long while, and absolutely one of the most overhated albums of the year. If you’ve avoided it based on public reaction, I recommend you give it a try, you may be surprised.
Favorite Tracks: all the good girls go to hell | wish you were gay | bury a friend

6. 100 gecs – 1000 gecs

Addicting. Lively. Shameless. Wacky. 1000 gecs is a project defined by these traits. It’s quick, insane, and unrelentingly fun. And it’s genius. Laura and Dylan have truly achieved something special in this fantastical exploration of dadaist humor and 2010s internet culture. It looks back at all the music of the past ~25 years, throws up horns, and says “Hell yeah!” before throwing everything into a blender to see what comes out. And what did come out? Easily some of the catchiest, most addicting music of the year. Listening to this album is like being hurled across a room over and over, and every time you slam into a wall, the genre changes. From Bubblegum Bass to Dubstep in an instant, from Extreme Metal to Ska, all overlaid with the violently autotuned vocals the duo drops onto every track. It all sounds like it shouldn’t fit, like a dozen puzzles mixed together, but the duo cuts those puzzle pieces in whatever way they want, and build their own absurdist portrait. There is no greater concept at play, no deep lyrical meaning, but that’s not the point. 1000 gecs is dedicated to nothing. It’s dedicated to whatever it feels like dedicating itself to in the moment. It’s spontaneous and unpredictable and doesn’t care what anyone thinks about it. From the hilarious taunting at the beginning of money machine, to the adorable ringtone, to the ridiculously high-energy ska of stupid horse, it all lasts just long enough to get stuck in your head, and then disappears before it can wear on you, which can be said of the whole album. At 23 minutes, it lasts long enough to say what it wants to, and gets out without any filler.
Favorite Tracks: stupid horse | ringtone | money machine

5. Charli XCX – Charli

2019 has gone down in my books as one of the best years ever for Pop music, with half of the albums on this very list having heavy pop influences or elements, and at least a dozen more that didn’t make the list. This one, however, is my favorite pure pop record of the year. The most obvious and notable quality that Charli possesses is its strangely futuristic and forward-thinking production, with watery muted beats, vibrant, arpeggiated synths, and blasting, distorted bass presenting themselves on nearly every track, building an instantly recognizable and hyper-modern listening experience. A great example is the catchy and consistently witty Click, with Kim Petras and Estonian rapper Tommy Cash, with its violently autotuned and slightly layered vocals, the jarring, machinelike beats, and the freakishly loud, ear-shattering breakdown at the end. The production leaves little to be desired, and leaves room to discover something new on every consecutive listen. Also notable are the features sprinkled throughout the tracklist, with the previously noted Kim Petras and Tommy Cash being joined by other huge names, including cupcakKe, Clairo, and even Lizzo. Every member of this all-star cast of names, big and small, seems to share an incredible chemistry with Charli, and none ever feel out-of-place. The personal highlight in that respect is the single Gone, featuring French singer Christine and the Queens. Chris and Charli so obviously share the same artistic vision, and compliment each others’ strengths perfectly, exchanging lines and harmonies throughout the track constantly, and together building one of the best Pop songs of the year. This album is also incredibly meaty, with 50-minute runtime almost completely devoid of filler. Charli ends strong on a vast, spacy, maximalist leap to a future of pop in 2099, a suitable tonal piece to complete this masterful exploration of the extents of Pop music production, and the best pure pop album of 2019.
Favorite Tracks: Gone | Click | Official

4. PUP – Morbid Stuff

Okay, I’ll admit my bias at the gate. I saw this band live twice this year, and those two shows are two of the best I have ever been to. That said, few albums got their hooks in as deep or as quick as this one did. The Toronto-based band PUP had always lived at the edge of my purview, I was made aware of them by my friend who said they put on a good live show when they opened for another show, but I’d never really looked into them. This year, though, I stumbled upon this album and instantly fell in love. From the very first line, Stefan Babcock’s snotty, whining vocals grab attention with petty lyrics dripping with character and with all the subtlety of a rock smashing through a windshield. The lyrics of the record absolutely do not fail its name, with tongue-in-cheek lines about hoping the world explodes so that you don’t have to talk to your ex on the track See You At Your Funeral, or the opening lines of the title track: “I was bored as fuck, sitting around and thinking all this morbid stuff, like if anyone I’ve slept with is dead”. The catchiness of this album is its true strength, though, with singalong choruses that beg you to join them, even if you don’t know the words. Free At Last, the third track on the album, has one of the most inescapable hooks on any song this year, it’s nearly impossible not to sing along with the chanting of “just ’cause you’re sad again, it doesn’t mean you’re special.” Instrumentally, PUP is at peak performance, with extremely memorable, layered guitar riffs, tasteful solos, hard-hitting, energetic drums, and a crunchy bass end driving the whole thing forward unrelentingly. This album may not be doing anything particularly unheard of or new to listeners of hardcore and pop-punk listeners, but PUP display a refreshing understanding and mastery of rock songwriting formula in a way that perfectly encapsulates the raw nihilistic energy that lies at the core of Punk as a genre. Their name may stand for Pathetic Use of Potential, but this album is anything but that.
Favorite Tracks: See You At Your Funeral | Morbid Stuff | Free At Last

3. Tyler, The Creator – IGOR

For the majority of the year, I failed to give this album its due. I listened to it immediately upon release, after catching up with Flower Boy and a couple of older singles. While I certainly enjoyed it, for some inexplicable reason I didn’t latch on to it, and thus moved on. As the year reached its closing months, however, I began to feel uneasy about IGOR, like there was something I had missed the first time. I needed closure, and I absolutely found it. Every element of this record is applied with a level of mastery learned from a combination of both successes and failures. It truly feels like Tyler coming into his own and exploring his talents in an organic and self-fulfilling way. The instrumental and compositional elements of IGOR take heavy influence from 80s Alternative R&B and Synth-funk – some tracks even possessing psychedelic elements – the layered and varied instrumentals giving a depth and space that’s easy to get lost in. It’s mixed with a lo-fi aesthetic that revisits his earlier project, Cherry Bomb, but with a greater understanding of production, and an intentional exploration of the style, as opposed to Cherry Bomb’s unintentionally poor quality born from inexperience. IGOR  flows extremely well, with song ends cleanly and appropriately leading into each other, giving no excuse to leave before it’s done, or before the narrative has run its course. From a narrative standpoint, this album is by far Tyler’s most cohesive and consistent to date, taking the universally understandable concept of the breakup, and diving into the nitty-gritty with impressive maturity, and extensive depth. We watch as IGOR, the protagonist and vehicle for Tyler’s lines, makes his journey through stages of grief for the relationship that has just ended. Songs like EARFQUAKE and I THINK show our protagonist’s shock and outright denial of the fact that the relationship is over, trying desperately to explain how seriously he took it. NEW MAGIC WAND and WHAT’S GOOD are easily the most aggressive and angry tracks – the two obvious “bangers” on the album. IGOR’s divided and confused mental state reaches its peak on the track A BOY IS A GUN*, seemingly indicated by the asterisk at the end of the title, as he flips between bargaining and anger multiple times at the drop of a hat. Finally, the album reaches its conclusion with ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?, with the theme of acceptance coming in the form of a soaring and epic finale, like the end of a stage show. The curtains close, the crowd applauds, and everyone leaves to continue their lives, IGOR included. My experience rediscovering this album is perfectly described by Tyler himself on this album: “I think I’m falling in love. This time I think it’s for real.”
Favorite Tracks: NEW MAGIC WAND | WHAT’S GOOD | GONE, GONE/THANK YOU

2. Lingua Ignota – CALIGULA

It’s been eight minutes since the album started. I’ve been listening to the mesmerizing voice of Kristin Hayter and the gorgeous strings and piano with great unease, knowing what’s coming, but not knowing when. I know it’s coming because the person who told me to listen warned me of it. And even though I know it’s coming, it still hits me like a truck. “I don’t eat, I don’t sleep,” echoes the  apocalyptic shriek, a dramatic departure from the preceding softly eerie vocals, “I let it consume me.” In an instant it is clear as day that Kristin will stop at nothing, and will use every tool in her posession to deliver her message to the world. CALIGULA is fuelled by rage, down to its core. It is an anthem of the abused, a match lit to burn down the church of misogyny from its foundation using the most powerful and direct instrument of all: the human voice. Oftentimes,  this album feels like an intimate solo performance, with just Kristin and her piano spotlit at the center of the room, belting out gorgeous, operatic vocals over beautiful keys. This beauty, however, like the respite from the trauma this album portrays, is short-lived. It may come suddenly, it may build gradually, but inevitably the curtain will fall, and every time it does it reveals cascading, crashing, waterfalls of noise. Sometimes it lasts indefinitely, aimlessly droning on until something cuts it off, with nothing but the painful shrieking to pull the track along. Other times, like on the track DAY OF TEARS AND MOURNING, It’s driven forward with loud, pounding rhythms driving forth the clearly black metal-inspired vocals, layered over the drone of static and noise samples, digital and organic. All of this only serves to underpin CALIGULA’s strength, and the purpose it is is here to serve. CALIGULA is brutal, honest, and unrelentingly dark, tackling abuse, post-trauma, mental damage, and raw hatred in whatever way will grab attention. It’s inconsiderate, it’s harsh, and it has no sympathy for those who abuse, who harm, and who make victims of others. It’s full to the point of bursting with unforgettable lines that resonate long after their delivery. MAY FAILURE BE YOUR NOOSE, with the spiteful “Who will love you if I won’t, who will fuck you if I won’t” and I AM THE BEAST, with the haunting chants of “All I know is violence.” The strongest, however, seems to be the track IF THE POISON WON’T TAKE YOU MY DOGS WILL, with the repeated reference to Aileen Wuornos, and the absolutely devastating line of “Make worthless your body so no man can break it,” which still leaves me shaken on each consecutive listen. Few things sound quite like Lingua Ignota, and while I struggle to recommend it to many, CALIGULA truly does provide an unparalleled experience I will never forget.
Favorite Tracks: IF THE POISON WON’T TAKE YOU MY DOGS WILL | MAY FAILURE  BE YOUR NOOSE | DO YOU DOUBT ME TRAITOR

1. UBOA – The Origin of My Depression

Making the final choice between the top two records on my list proved to be a nearly impossible task. Both albums fill a very similar purpose for me, and affected me in a very similar way. I am, however, confident in my choice. Stumbling across this album changed the way I listen to music, and opened me up to dozens of my favorite projects that I would never have found or enjoyed otherwise. It straps you down and forces you to watch as Xandra Metcalfe lays out the experience of depression and anxiety in an unforgivingly brutal and personal way. You watch as the eerie and unsettling pianos and seemingly random sound interpolations gradually evolve into foreboding rhythms, which build and build as you nervously wait for them to snap. Xandra’s vocals are quiet here. They add a texture that beautifully complements the soundscapes on display and, while they are often drowned out by the noise surrounding them, are lyrically impassioned and moving. Even without knowing that Xandra is transgender, every word felt important and meaningful to her, and learning the context afterwards gave a new lens with which to view the entire project. It ties real-world events and experiences to its tonal peaks and valleys, and gives a deeper understanding to the pain on display. That pain rears its ugly head all throughout this project in a similar way to the previous pick, CALIGULA, with its throat-shredding screams that tear down to the core of your being unrelentingly. The first instance of this is in the Title Track, where a slowly building and terrifyingly dissonant instrumental suddenly reaches its peak with the pained scream of “You, you’re the origin of my depression.” It cuts through like a knife. It’s clean but no less painful. As the record progresses, however, the noise gets harsher and more aggressive and we begin to see influences from Industrial and even Doom Metal. Sometimes it builds gradually like on the track Epilation Joy, where the wind chime instrumentals are slowly drowned as the static noise moves from background to foreground naturally. Other times, like on the devastating Please Don’t Leave Me, it all hits at once. With only a small gasp as warning, the listener is hurled into a cacophony of mechanical blasts of energy, like bullets from a gun, before being hit with what is possibly the heaviest passage in any album I’ve heard all year. The crushing march of industrial machinery slams into you like a club, beating you over and over until suddenly it’s over. You’ve survived for now. The 6th track, An Angel of Great and Terrible Light, is my personal favorite. Xandra lays down masterful, impactful, and revealing poetry over a beautiful, coherent instrumental driven by pounding drums. Like the other tracks, if eventually builds to a devastating climax, but this one feels more measured, more controlled. Xandra has learned to control her pain, and use it as a tool. The screaming is still there, but it’s fainter and less aggressive. The final track, Misspent Youth, is acceptance. The pain isn’t gone, and it tries multiple times to break through across the 10 minute runtime of the track, but it’s held back. It’s not triumphant, it’s not definitive, but it still feels decidedly victorious. The Origin of My Depression is a musical landmark in the Noise genre, and may be the most impactful album I have ever heard. It’s harrowing, abusive, and not for the faint of heart, but no album meant as much to me in 2019 as this one. For that, it earns its spot at the top of my list.
Favorite Tracks: An Angel of Great and Terrible Light | Please Don’t Leave Me | The Origin of My Depression

And with that, I can conclude the musical journey that was 2019. To finish, I’d like to mention a few albums that did not make the list, whether because I liked these albums more, or because I didn’t get to hear them until after this list was complete, that I loved nonetheless. Thank you so much for reading, and may the current year be at least as strong as the last.

Honorable Mentions:

Dorian Electra – Flamboyant
JPEGMAFIA – All My Heroes are Cornballs
Show Me The Body – Dog Whistle
Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising
Xiu Xiu – Girl with Basket of Fruit

– Nathan