One Month In, Five Years Out
One Month In, Five Years Out
Celebrating one month of The Mixtape by looking back to the Best Music of 2019
Happy One Month Anniversary to The Mixtape! To celebrate, I’m looking back at my favorite albums from 2019 to see if I still agree with myself. Turns out - Shocker! - I do. Let’s travel back now to those seemingly innocent days of 2019 B.C. (Before COVID.)
This piece was originally published on another site on December 20, 2019…
It was a strong year for music across the board. It was tough to narrow these down to just twenty, which is always a good sign. Self-imposed rules: studio albums of new material only, no live albums, no reissues, no compilations (though there were some great ones released in 2019). Let’s not mess around and just start at the top…
1. Gary Clark, Jr. - This Land
A sprawling, uncompromising masterpiece of skill, craft, and audacity, nothing came close to Gary Clark, Jr.'s career-defining (for now, anyway) This Land. Musically touching on quiet storm R&B, hard blues, punk/rockabilly rave-ups, Prince/Funkadelic-inspired funk, and straight-up rock while lyrically tackling the racial division in "Trump Country" plus the loneliness of the road as well as love and devotion to family, This Land is a statement of the times that'll be remembered many years from now. He's not bad on that old guitar, either.
Original Review for No Depression
2. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
Besides boasting the most beautiful album cover of 2019, Western Stars saw The Boss embracing the sunny '70s AM countrypolitan pop and the lush arrangements that were commonplace at the birth of the singer-songwriter era (think Nilsson, Jimmy Webb, Danny O'Keefe, etc). Springsteen proved once again that he doesn't need the bombast of the E Street Band, or even a raw folk setting like Nebraska, to get his point across. Western Stars is the sound of America: wide open spaces and beautiful vistas that can sometimes mask the loneliness, doubt, and uncertainty within all of us.
Original Review for Americana-UK
3. Mavis Staples - We Get By
No one else in contemporary music other than Johnny Cash can command such attention with their voice than Mavis Staples. Now in her 80s, Mavis has been exuding pure gravitas since she was a teen when she sang lead on the funkiest "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" ever recorded. In 2019, she teamed up with blues/roots troubadour Ben Harper for this down-and-dirty, swamp-sweat-and-soul workout. Harper conjures the ghost of Roebuck "Pops" Staples and his "nervous guitar" on tracks like "Sometime," while joining in on vocals on the affirming "We Get By." In this dark time we're living in, we need as much Mavis as we can get.
4. Allison Moorer - Blood
One of the most powerful albums of the year and the companion to the memoir of the same name, Allison Moorer's Blood is a devastating song cycle detailing the complex relationship between her mother and father, and the effect it had on her and her sister (country singer Shelby Lynne). Though that relationship ended in unspeakable tragedy, throughout Blood Moorer doesn't shy away from the bad, she exposes it while boldly emphasizing love and compassion by concentrating on empathy and, ultimately, forgiveness.
5. Sturgill Simpson - Sound & Fury
Some media outlets have claimed Sound & Fury to be Sturgill Simpson's Trans, but it's more Re·ac·tor. Either way, Simpson pushed the envelope right over the cliff in 2019. Guitars squeal and buzz Crazy Horse-style on the seven-plus-minute "Fastest Horse in Town"; synths dominate the otherwise Fabulous Thunderbirds-sounding "A Good Look" (co-written with John Prine, and about as far-out as when Prine collaborated with John Mellencamp on the Uh-Huh track, "Jackie-O") and "Last Man Standing." It's not all aggression, however: the Delflonics sonics of "All Said and Done" hypnotize as do the Tangerine Dream-meets-Pink Floyd-meets-ZZ Top foundation that precedes the sublime "Make Art Not Friends."
6. Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
We as a nation needed Lizzo in 2019. She's a blinding light of positivity in a dark world. Performing for years now, Lizzo put out a couple of independent releases (Lizzobangers and Big Grrl Small World in 2013 and 2015, respectively), and broke through with her 2016 major-label EP, Coconut Oil (which included the irresistible "Good As Hell"). It all leads up to Cuz I Love You: a jaw-dropping ride of versatility and empowerment through the prism of soul, rock, hard R&B, and hip-hop. She's also the best mainstream flutist since Ian Anderson and Jerry Eubanks. Oh, and she can sing her ass off. I've posted her Tiny Desk Concert here as Exhibit A. If Lizzo doesn't bring you joy, check your pulse.
7. Jenny Lewis - On the Line
When Ringo Starr (yes, that Ringo Starr) starts the beat on the chorus of the opening track, "Heads Gonna Roll," you know damn well who it is. You can practically see his Beatle head swaying back and forth to the beat in that inimitable Ringo way. That super-drummer Jim Keltner is the other drummer on the album and Benmont Tench and Don Was round out the players, this can't help but be a master class. That’s all well and fine, but if the songs aren't worthy, what's the point? They're worthy, all right. The hooks get under the skin and won't let go. Lewis is a sly wordsmith and her vocals fill each track with the perfect amount of experience, expression, and vulnerability.
8. Lucette - Deluxe Hotel Room
With 2014's Dave Cobb-produced Black Is the Color, Lucette showed promise as the next Americana artist awash in gothic textures, boom-clap percussion, and ominous atmospherics. Fast forward five years, and the follow-up, Deluxe Hotel Room was the sound of someone who's seen the world in those ensuing years and is now weary as hell. With Sturgill Simpson producing (after hearing Sound & Fury it all makes perfect sense), the sound is nocturnal, pensive, provocative, and irresistible. Synths and saxes weave in, out, and around seemingly infinite space; tempos crawl, harmonies are airy and pleading. It's Hope Sandoval and Margo Timmins at an after-hours bar sharing a bottle and swapping stories.
9. Yola - Walk Through Fire
Yolanda Quartey (or Yola Carter, if you prefer) blew our minds in 2019 with Walk Through Fire. The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach brought out the sepia-toned '70s country-soul sound, but Yola is undeniably the star. Her vocals are rich, full, and devoid of any melismatic trickery. It fits right in with long-ago albums of everyone from Lynn Anderson to Donna Fargo. It exudes a certain innocence, but it is anything but naive. Walk Through Fire is fully self-aware, and aware of a time when craft and artistry were first and foremost the main goals of making great music.
10. Sarah Potenza - Road to Rome
When you hear that voice, your hand stops turning the dial or shuffling the player. You can't resist it. You've got to see where it's going to go. It then goes straight to your gut. Then you hear what she's saying: songs of resilience, independence, and power. Road to Rome is a pummeling mix of irresistible soul, blues, and rock. From the self-empowering "I Work For Me" to the reassuring "Earthquake" and the confessional sparsity of the title track, Potenza is a force that commands your attention, and you'll be glad you stopped to listen.
11. The Who - WHO
"I don't think I've ever felt so out on the margin," Roger Daltry sings on "Rockin' in Rage," just one of several self-aware tracks on The Who's first album since Endless Wire in 2006. "I feel like a leper, like handing my cards in," he continues, "like I don't have a right to join the parade." Such is the feeling of many of Daltrey and Townshend's peers in a time of "OK, boomer" memes. Of all their contemporaries, however, they don't whine or ignore it. Townshend does what he always has: he digs in and spills his guts about it with his pen, his guitar, and Daltrey's voice. Some say WHO is their best album since Quadrophenia. Ok, millennial, calm down. Still, it's solid and memorable enough to stand among their latter work when Moon was bashing away behind them.
12. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Signs
In the best tradition of Delaney and Bonnie & Friends and Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen, TTB released one of the most joyous albums of the year. Signs is balanced by songs of hope and love ("I'm Gonna Be There," "They Don't Shine") with cautionary tales ("Signs, High Times," "Shame") but the overall message remains: we may be living in a divided world right now, but we'll make it through like we always have: with faith, hope, and love. As always, TTB is anchored by the endlessly inventive slide of Derek Trucks's guitar and the smoky soul of Susan Tedeschi's vocals.
Original review for No Depression
13. Hiss Golden Messenger - Terms of Surrender
It was a year of several artists hitting a dark place, going through certain traumas, yet living to sing and write about them. 2019, if anything, is a year of resilience. That resilience spills over from the personal to the community, and, ultimately, the universal. M.C. Taylor used the darkness to celebrate the light on Terms of Surrender, an album that shimmers with depth and beauty from beginning to end. Recruiting Brad Cook to produce and play bass, Jenny Lewis to add superbly textured vocals, and The National's Aaron Dessner on piano and guitar, Taylor delivers folk-rock that entrances and enraptures.
14. Owen-Glass - The Rope & The Rabbit
This album grabbed me by the ears mid-way through 2019 and wouldn't let go. Singer-songwriter Kelly Wayne Conley and guitarist Cole Humphrey shape music that hovers just below your skin and haunts you long after the album's over. The Rope & The Rabbit is well worth searching out if you dig well-crafted, mellow, but not wimpy or sugary, quality folk-rock with just enough experimentalism to keep things interesting. It's the surprise of the year.
Original review for Americana-UK
15. Brittany Howard - Jaime
The Alabama Shakes brought a Southern soul vibe back to the forefront in 2012 with the outstanding Boys & Girls. Like any true artist, however, lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard chose not to repeat the formula that made that debut a success. Instead, the Shakes went deeper and wider on the follow-up Sound & Color while Howard moonlighted in the garage soul combo Thunderbitch. In 2019, she released her proper solo debut, Jaime (named after her sister who passed away when Brittany was 8) and it's not just a culmination of all the sounds she's thrown at us thus far, but she discovers new avenues and alleys along the way. It all adds up to the very definition of a "grower," but once you've got it, you won't want to let it go.
16. Starcrawler - Devour You
Every generation needs a Starcrawler. They're the kind of band that will renew your love and faith in rock'n'roll. Sure, skeptics will say they're derivative, that they're just a product of their influences, but aren't we all to a degree? Besides, in 2019, if a band wants to be as threatening as the Stooges or Alice Cooper (as in the band) or the sleaze rock of the late '80s/early '90s pre-grunge, yet hit you in the feels with a track like "Born Asleep," well, you could do much worse. Thankfully, you don't have to. Starcrawler (led by Arrow de Wilde, the best rock frontperson in years) has what we need and demand in our rock'n'roll, and sadly, what's been missing lately: swagger.
17. Reese McHenry - No Dados
Pounding, chugging, howling, relentless rock'n'roll; Reese McHenry busts out of the gate at maximum volume on "Magnolia Tree" and then just as quickly, settles into a bluesy groove for a few bars before hitting wide open again on the way out. It's a hell of an opener and No Dados just gets better from there, mixing pile-driving rock with a sense of '50s and early '60s rhythm and blues. Surviving four strokes (you read that right) can give one perspective and determination. Throughout No Dados, McHenry, with backing from Drag Sounds, tears through these thirteen tunes like someone possessed with the joy and realization of the power of second - or fifth - chances.
18. The New Pornographers - In the Morse Code of Brake Lights
After more than two decades as a band, albeit a band with a lot of other irons in the fire, The New Pornographers have developed a sound rooted in a sort of art/prog/pop/rock that's at once dense, adventurous, and ambitious, yet endlessly accessible and strong on craft. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights both underscores and expands their signature sound. Placing lyrics and melodies that investigate the complex emotions and conflicting logic of love over lush art-pop arrangements that wouldn't sound out of place on a Trevor Rabin project, it's a rewarding, exciting experience.
19. Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
Full disclosure: I had been foolishly on the fence about Lana Del Rey until NFR! Well, no more. Packed with sweeping, sprawling ambition, themes on NFR! reveal themselves, disappear, and reappear later. It's an album that unfolds slowly and beautifully over its almost 70-minute runtime. A perfect soundtrack for the endless summers on Venice Beach, it romanticizes LA as it name-drops the Beach Boys, the Eagles, Sylvia Plath, and CSN. It truly does take you there, and you can't ask more from an album than that.
20. Hannah Williams & The Affirmations - 50 Foot Woman
This soul revival thing? It's real, y'all. Yes, some of it can never compare to Otis, Aretha, or the Wicked Pickett, but there's quite a bit out there that hits near that same spot the Stax sound hit many years ago. Hannah Williams and The Affirmations wails on that spot with a sledgehammer. Vocals that can make you drop everything and stand at attention, Williams guides you through gut-busting, greasy, funked-up soul for sure, but it's also a journey peppered with unexpected twists and turns into inventive time signatures and behind-the-beat grooves.