2019 - The Top Ten Albums

As I've been thinking about and preparing for this post, I've found it quite difficult to assemble my list. This is a problem I usually have, but this time it's because there wasn't any clear frontrunners. There wasn't an album or a couple releases that were battling it out for the top spot. 2019 saw the release of many good records - don't get me wrong. But it wasn't like last year, where my top 5 albums were all keeping close pace with one another throughout the year. In fact, according to my Spotify data, some of my top played songs from this year were songs from last year, mainly off of Delta by Mumford & Sons. So it was similarly difficult to order my list of favorite records from the year, if for different reasons.

An interesting note is the number of EP's that made this list. Usually the shorter releases don't make my lists because there's less material and they can be outshined by the longer releases. However, there were a number of EP's this year that really shone and were incredible pieces from start to finish.

Side note: something I did want to discuss is a few albums that didn't quite meet my expectations. I don't like dwelling on negativity, especially when it comes to music from bands and artists that I absolutely love, but I did want to discuss two albums and what felt off about them for me.

You Are OK - The Maine

• I mentioned this briefly in a mini review, but my anticipation for this album was really high. Like really, really high up there. So while I knew it might not match that, I didn't expect it to fall as flat as it did - for me. Some of the messages and atmospheres of the songs didn't feel up my alley, and it created a distance and dissonance that was hard to overcome. There are definitely songs I love (spoiler, one of them is in my 10 songs for this year), but the overall work just didn't mesh with me. But, as I said in that same mini review, this album has been well received by fans and critics alike, and means a lot to some people - that's something that makes me very happy.

NINE - Blink-182

• Again, expectations were pretty high for this album. I heard a lot of hype in the build up, but most of the singles were pretty forgettable for me (I even forgot one when I was doing a summary review of them all). Once the album came out, I found my disappointment was about the same with the rest of the material. There were songs I thoroughly enjoyed, but it felt a bit all over the place; not cohesive enough. It didn't feel enough like Blink-182 for me, which is understandable considering how long the band has been around and the many changes they've undergone. But it was still hard to be underwhelmed by two of my favorite bands this year.

Last year I did a much more different format and had multiple categories and rankings. This year, I'm going with a simple top ten list, based on which I liked best. I'll probably discuss some numbers within the rankings, but due to switching from Apple Music to Spotify, my data this year is a little scrambled.

Starting from number ten and going up, here are my top albums of the year.

10. TIE: Violet Street - Local Natives & hi this is flume (mixtape) - Flume

• I cheated a little and put both of these albums here. I couldn't pick between the two because they were vastly different from each other, in genre and sound and vibe. It left me really struggling to pick, because I felt they both had earned a place on this list. Violet Street was, as I mentioned in my mini review, a solid record, a collection of well written and recorded songs that are consistent in their mood and direction. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, hi this is flume explores multiple genres and sonic ideas, going from electronic to rap to trap to abstract/experimental. Each had different times that I wanted to listen to them, different moods and moments that they soundtracked best. The more I thought about it and listened to these records, the more I realized that they both needed to be on this list.

9. Native Tongue - Switchfoot

• Despite this album releasing in January, I managed to miss out on it until a little later in the year. Switchfoot is one of my wife's favorite bands, whereas I tend to resonate with specific albums - Native Tongue was one of those. Hearing the way that the band managed to combine the core of who they are as an artist while exploring new and more popular sounds was such a delight. Switchfoot is consistent in their ability to create music that has such joy and child-like wonder - perhaps (or 100% for sure) stemming from their rootedness in their faith as Christians.

8. Hallucinations - EP - PVRIS

• I wasn't sure about this EP when I heard the first two singles - the direction was cool but different in a way that took some time to get used to. However, with the entire EP at hand, it all made much more sense together. It felt like the band had undergone a transformation, a new awakening. There were still elements of the PVRIS of the past, but this is a band that knows where they're going and isn't afraid of showing off their true selves.

7. i,i - Bon Iver

• I was explaining to a coworker the way that I discovered this album. My wife and I were on our honeymoon, having just arrived at the apartment we would be staying at. We were unpacking and settling in and my wife, Kellyn, put music on for background noise. After a little while, I asked her what she had put on, because it was somewhat quiet but I enjoyed what I could hear. She told me it was this album, and we proceeded to listen to it multiple times during our stay in France. I now cannot listen to it without thinking of that week in Paris and the way it soundtracked our stay there. Does that give it a different bias than what it might have normally had? Yes. Does that make its meaning any less significant? Not at all.

6. Hollywood's Bleeding - Post Malone

• Not an album I expected to be on this list, but I couldn't deny the step up Post Malone took with his latest album. It's still got songs/elements that aren't my favorite, but it's full of well crafted and well written songs that have unsurprisingly been topping the charts since it's release. "CIrcles" & "Take What You Want (feat. Ozzy Osbourne & Travis Scott)" have been my two stand out songs, the former for its indie-pop perfection and the later for the wild ride of a song it is. While Post isn't writing the most innovative music, he's writing some solid pop music that's insanely and undeniably catchy.

5. Surviving - Jimmy Eat World

• Jimmy Eat World was a hugely influential band on who I was growing up, specifically their Bleed American album. To hear an album from them that reminds me of that same energy and spark they had in their early days was not something I expected, but something I most definitely welcome. There's a rawness, an intensity to this album that feels really fresh and invigorating for the band, and it translates into an album that's an absolute blast to listen to.

4. Dimly Lit - From Indian Lakes

• From what has become one of my favorite artists, especially of the last decade, Dimly Lit feels like a true representation of what From Indian Lakes wants to be as an artist. Free of any label constraints, the band explores new ground while innovating on signature sounds. As I mentioned in my review, it's hard to feel cemented on the way that I perceive new albums from them, but this one seems to be growing in appreciation with each play-through. The highlight (so far) is "Your Heartbeat Against Mine", which is the perfect pop song (and I say that in the most positive manner possible).

3. amo - Bring Me The Horizon

• While I knew that this album would probably not live up to my expectations/anticipation after the stellar record that was That's The Spirit, this album was still a fantastic piece of work. A deeper dive into the pool of genres, blending more elements of pop and alternative rock as well as introducing new sounds and ideas while retaining their core sound. There's also a greater sense of vulnerability on this record than before which truly resonates with the audience. It's been one that I've come back to repeatedly this year, and I know that will continue to be the case in the future.

2. a modern tragedy vol. 3 - EP - grandson

• The final EP in the a modern tragedy series, vol. 3 sees grandson revealing the depth and scope of their potential as an artist. While the focus is still political, the content and sound varies greatly, and reveals the multi-dimensional aspect of grandson's music. I absolutely loved the first two EP's, but this one helps show that the band isn't a one-trick-horse. They can do the hardcore/edm/trap sound, but they can also be soft and vulnerable. These EP releases, especially vol. 3, make me anticipate their debut album immensely - which we'll hopefully get to hear this coming year.

1. Everything Opposite - EP - Simple Creatures

• When Mark Hoppus & Alex Gaskarth announced Simple Creatures, their musical child, I never doubted whether I would enjoy it or not. I was, however, surprised to find how much I enjoyed it. Both EPs that the project has put out have been truly stellar, but this release felt like it showed a wider range and sense of potential this duo has together. I don't know if we'll get more from the band, but I am incredibly thankful for this release in particular. Hoppus and Gaskarth might joke that they're making "trash-pop", but this sound is the sound of alternative future to me.