The onslaught of Best Of lists for 2019 are coming quickly in December and it’s often an opportunity to find some great new music that slipped under your music radar. As I look back at the year in music, it has a definite book-end feel with a lot of great stuff arriving early and then late in the year. Much will be written about Lizzo and Lana Del Rey and deservedly so. Del Rey’s Norman F*cking Rockwell is a career-defining moment for her and belongs on everyone’s Best Of list. It also reinforces the power of women in music this year. Without any doubt, female artists are creating the most interesting, and important, songs of these turbulent times.
As we await the arrival of a new Duran Duran album in 2020, there is plenty of time to explore some new artists and this Best Of playlist probably has at least one or two artists you haven’t heard of (maybe?). For fans of jagged, post-punk fun, Shopping manages to sound as fun as the B-52’s while dispensing their politics with the fervor of Gang of Four. If you’re a hopeless romantic, The Regrettes have you covered with an album full of pop-punk goodness that unfolds like a fuzzy John Hughes film. It blows my mind that singer-guitarist Lydia Night was born in 2000. She sings with the wisdom of someone older than me.
Bang Bang Romeo’s debut has finally arrived and it justifies the faith P!nk showed in them when choosing the band to support her European stadium tour. I saw Bang Bang Romeo supporting Spandau Ballet (sans Tony Handley) in 2018 and they have honed their soulful anthems into something special. A Heartbreaker’s Guide to the Galaxy will be on a lot of radars in 2020.
A few 80s and 90s mainstays are scattered through the playlist. As much as the Madonna album left me a little, bleh, “I Don’t Search I Find” captures the energy and excitement of her best work. Meanwhile, Morrissey, despite the issues with, well, everything he says, provides a beautiful cover of Jobriath’s “Morning Starship” that deserves your attention. And while Sleater-Kinney might have unravelled in the wake of their latest album, the album itself is an absolute beauty. St. Vincent’s production work gives a modern sheen to their music that sparkles.
If forced to choose only one album from 2019, it would be Lily & Madeleine’s beautiful Canterbury Girls which sounds like a lost classic dug up by archaeologists in Laurel Canyon circa 1977. The sister’s weave succulent harmonies around some of the most memorable melodies of the year. It’s the perfect album for slow mornings over a cup of coffee pondering the meaning of where life has taken us. Let me know what some of your favorite songs of 2019 were in the comments and on the socials!
Being not only unaware of most new music and Not tech savvy I had no idea that the list you provided had samples of the tracks.I guess the tomes next to the title should have been a clue. I accidentally swept the cursor over it and almost jumped out of my chair when music burst forth! I anticipate listening to this tomorrow after work and seeing if I can acquire any new musical favorites.