My Top 100 Albums of 2019 (4 Months Late But Not a Buck Short)
Yeah, yeah, I know: it’s May 2020 and I’m just posting my best albums of 2019. Between work, travel and COVID, it’s taken me awhile, but I hope it’s worth […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: #25-1
#25: Natalie Prass, The Future and the Past The Future and the Past starts off with “Oh My,” a slinky slice of ‘70s dance pop. “Short Court Style” and “Sisters” […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: #50-26
#50: Gulfer, Dog Bless Canadian indie rock group that plays in odd time signatures, which often change (sometimes multiply) within the same track. Tempos shift, the music starts and stops […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: #75-51
#75: Preoccupations, New Material Goth electronica, like an angrier, less dance-friendly New Order with pounding percussion. “Decompose” is driven by an urgent triplet bass figure and augmented by a downward […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: #100-76
#100: Kyle Craft, Full Circle Nightmare If Kyle Craft’s voice and music doesn’t give it away, his hairdo (see the album cover) will: ’70s glam rock. You’ll hear lots of […]
Top 100 Albums of 2018: Honorable Mention
This year I decided to list some honorable mentions to cover albums that didn’t fit into my top 100 but which are worthy of mentioning. Some of these are a tad tongue in cheek! Best Instrumentals Given the importance I place on melody and lyrics, I’ve always struggled with how to […]
Best Albums of 2017: #25-1 (with commentary)
#25: Bjork, Utopia More ethereal fairy music from the Icelandic pixie. (And I don’t use “fairy” lightly: just listen to the title track and tell me the flutes and strings don’t […]
Best Albums of 2017: #50-26 (with commentary)
#50: King Krule, The OOZ To understand this album, just imagine stoned jazz. Very stoned jazz, with a lower-class English accent. You can see him holding a mic and not […]
Best Albums of 2016: #25-1
#25: Aurora, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend A phenomenal debut from Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora Aksnes. This is more in the tradition of orchestral, torch music of Lykke Li than […]
Best Albums of 2016: #50-26
#50: Corinne Bailey Rae, The Heart Speaks in Whispers Impeccably written and arranged gospel/soul #49: Bleached, Welcome the Worms Imagine The Go-Gos with guts, more punk sensibility and a sense of noise, and you’ll […]