2019.
A year full of uncertainty and polarizing issues & actions - most things (ideas, politics, people) have fallen to the middle. The middle is easy and it feels safe. I found this year to be that same way with music. 2019 was not the best year in music nor the worst - I found it hard to make a list this year as compared with years in the past. In difficult, uncertain times (and this year was challenging at times for us - new parents, new jobs, change after change!), I tend to turn to music that is dynamic, captivating, and emotive. Many bands put out good albums that are just continuations of past releases. I found Cloud Rat’s Do Not Let Me off the Cliff to be a unique output from them - soft yet brazen. It does parallel last year’s number one (Thou’s Inconsolable) but has a different emotional path - towards embracing change and continuing on. This year, there were some new additions to the list for me personally - Necking, Temple of the Fuzz Witch, Ithaca that do what they do well - they have put themselves out into the world and deserve to be on a list. And now, its onto 2020 - here is to a year full of albums that push boundaries and encourage the move out of the middle into something new. This is almost my hope for Stille - look for more to come this year.
Cheers,
ab
Cloud Rat - Do Not Let Me off the Cliff
Crumb - Jinx
Ragana - We Know that the Heavens are Empty
Necking - Cut your Teeth
Temple of the Fuzz Witch - s/t
Boy Harsher - Careful
Superlynx - New Moon
Venom Prison - Samsara
Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
No Men - Hell Was Full So We Came Back
DIIV - Deceiver
Cloud Rat - Pollinator
Big Brave - A Gaze Among Them
The Well - Death and Consolation
Rhye - Spirit
Mac DeMarco - Here Comes The Cowboy
Jamila Woods - Legacy! Legacy!
Frail Body - A Brief Memoriam
Earth - Full Upon her Burning Lips
Dowsing - Sky Coffin
Ithaca - The Language of Inquiry
Solange - When I Get Home
Brutus - Nest
Immortal Bird - Thrive on Neglect
The Regrettes - How Do You Love?