My Favorite Albums of 2019

It seems like you can't write a piece about your favorite music this year without mentioning the fact that the entire world seems to be going to shit. Pretty understandable! The current social, political, and literal environments are all trending toward collapse, and that absolutely has an effect on the kind of music we produce and consume. Music lets us engage with otherwise overwhelming topics in different ways- directly, obliquely, as escapism, as protest, as hope and despair and every other emotion it is possible to feel about the state of things. Here are my favorite records from this year, arranged in no particular order.

Floating Points- Crush

Probably the most anticipated electronic music record of the year, and it doesn't disappoint. Sam Shepherd goes to town with his modular synth to deliver meticulous, classically-informed pieces arrangled tidily next to some absolute bangers, including the utterly gargantuan "LesAlpx." 

Shed- Oderbruch

Nobody does slippery rhythm quite like Shed, and nobody else could take the bassline on album opener "B1 (Anfang und Ende)," a single syncopated note played on an utterly obnoxious synth preset, and turn it into a glorious, propulsive track. The album is full of elements like this- things that shouldn't work, but somehow do. It's remarkable.

Sleep D- Rebel Force

Rebel Force opens with a seven-minute long slice of cosmic techno and then strolls through an entire ecosystem's worth of dance music species, from acid, to dub techno, to irreverent major-key house. The ecosystem simile is apt, because despite the diversity, it all fits together- as if it had been evolving that way for millennia.

Octo Octa- Resonant Body

The ultimate in self-care house music. Resonant Body is an album about loving yourself, loving those who love you, and shaking your goddamn ass about it. Octo Octa is one of the most consistently good artists in music today, and you're doing yourself a disservice if you haven't listened to her work yet.

Barker- Utility

I can't remember the last time I discovered an artist as instantly identifiable as Barker. His gorgeous, thrumming synth programming sounds utterly unique- like if you told an AI to use a Casio to write baroque ASMR counterpoint. There's hardly any beats on the album but you'd never notice if I hadn't just pointed it out.

Efdemin- New Atlantis

Beautiful, eerie experimental techno loosely based on an unfinished utopian fiction piece from the 17th century. If you modded Bioshock to remove all of the enemies and NPCs, this would be the perfect soundtrack for wandering through a crumbling, but peaceful, Rapture.

Upsammy- Wild Chamber

Delightfully off-kilter rhythms, spacious sound design, and mischievous melodies make this a supremely enjoyable listening experience. To use another video game metaphor, imagine if Untitled Goose Game took place in a nightclub. It'd probably sound like this (but with more honking.)

DJ Python- Derretirse

DJ Python takes reggaeton to space. It's pretty chill. It's so chill I'm not even gonna try to describe it more. You should check it out.

Caterina Barbieri- Ecstatic Computation

Ambient post-rock but played on modular synths instead of guitars. If that doesn't sell you, I don't know why you're even reading this. How did you get here? This is not your beautiful house! I am not your beautiful wife!

Lerosa- Bucket of Eggs

Lerosa reminds me a lot of late-2000s minimal techno, only less "minimal" and more "interesting." This is the music they'd play at an AI nightclub in my comic.

Andy Stott- It Should Be Us

I've always loved Andy Stott's work, but this album is my favorite since Luxury Problems.  Slow, blown out techno, but with more of a bounce than his previous work, some flashes of humor in the bassline of "Promises," and even a flirtation with footwork on "Ballroom." 

Leif- Loom Dream

Gorgeous, etherial ambient music that's equal parts Brian Eno and Steve Hauschildt. Like all the best ambient, it gives back exactly as much as you put in- close listening reveals a huge amount of depth and nuance, but it also works beautifully as true ambiance. I said these albums were arranged in no particular order, and that's true, but I do think this is my favorite record of 2019. It's certainly the one I find myself coming back to the most.