As we sit on the cusp of a new year—and a new decade—it’s become customary to look back and quantify all of the music produced into a neat little list of what’s noteworthy.

While these lists are always bound to vary from person to person and between publications, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so much variation as in 2019. This year was an undeniable banner year for music, with excellent release after excellent release piling up relentlessly without ceasing. If you slipped behind, there was no hope of catching up.

As I look back on the year, I keep being surprised by all the stuff I missed—either ubiquitous barn burners like Lizzo or Lana Del Ray’s NFR or artists I love like Solange and Deerhunter. Even among releases I loved and purchased, quantifying all of it into a top ten list proved a much more difficult task than most years.

And so, as much as I stand by this list, I’m fully aware how flawed a ranked top whatever format is for describing just how magnanimous this year’s musical output was.

15. Cave In – Final Transmission

On paper, a memorial album adapted from unfinished demos by their late bass player sounds like it would have more sentimental value than artistic. But Final Transmission lands firmly among the legendary spacecore band’s best output.

Ranging from restrained sheogaze ballads to pummeling hardcore, the band spent the record revisiting their Jupiter-through-Perfect Pitch Black sonic palette, which has always been my favorite of their work.

14. Comrades – For We Are Not Yet, We Are Only Becoming

The wife-husband led Comrades releases their third consecutive home run with a new drummer/screamer. On For We Are Not Yet, their post rock and hardcore tendencies are tempered with some of the most earnest songwriting of their career.

The songs explore issues of mental health and spirituality, shifting from intricate instrumental work to blasting catharsis on a dime. Bassist/frontwoman Laura McElroy shines brighter than ever, even offering a couple ballads between breakdowns.

13. HarborLights – Isolation Ritual

While post rock has a close kinship with both metal and emo, those two genres don’t typically mingle together (at least not in a way I want to hear. And yes, I’m looking at all of the trendy metalcore bands lauded by the mallcore kids).

However, Isolation Ritual somehow manages to capture all of the heaviness of post metal with the earnest catharsis of emo to create an album that is instantly engaging and endlessly relistenable.

12. La Dispute – Panorama

Much has been said about the Grand Rapids talkcore legends’ newest release. Many people criticize the inaudibility of the near-whispered vocals while others call it their best ever.

While I’ve never had too many strong feelings about La Dispute (except ten years ago when I dismissed them as nothing more than a mewithoutYou ripoff), I lean much more towards the second group. After all, it was only after hearing the softer tracks on Rooms of the House that I shed my initial bias, so stretching that mood across an entire album is a great formula in my book. Not that there aren’t any moments of hardcore catharsis: they’re there. And as rare as they are, they feel that much more powerful.

11. Appleseed Cast – The Fleeting Light Of Impermanence 

Longevity is a hard thing to cultivate in any project. Typically, bands either break up after running out of things to say or continue to release music that pales in comparison to their wonderful early output.

But twenty years after their debut, Appleseed Cast continues their flawless catalog with a record that is a strong contender for their best ever. Guitar lines twist around angular drum beats and dark synths while Christopher Crisci offers some of the strongest vocal performances of his career.

10. Local Natives – Violet Street

After the blissful poptimism of Sunlit Youth, it took a bit to make peace with the fact that Local Natives would probably never return to the same dark indie rock they displayed on their masterpiece Hummingbird.

And good thing, because if I hadn’t, I would have completely missed the glistening pop masterpiece that is Violet Street. On this release, Local Natives borrow liberally from 70s soft rock stalwarts, underpinning their flawless pop harmonies with affecting minimalist arrangements. Electric pianos dance with the grooviest bass lines of their career, offering up the most feel-good record of the year.

9. Brutus – Nest

After Sunbather broke the Billboard 200  in 2013, blending metal with post rock and shoegaze stopped being entirely original. Throngs of imitators have taken Deafheaven’s (read: Alcest’s) formula and adapted it to their own output.

But on their sophomore record, Belgium natives Brutus manage to meld metal catharsis, post rock intricacy, and hardcore punk fury into a fiery album that uses many of the same musical colors without sounding derivative.

While it undeniably draws comparisons to fellow female-led Belgian blackgazers Oathbreaker, Nest never comes off like a soundalike. This power trio pulls no punches, shifting from heartbreaking balladry to punishing fury—often between the same song.

8. Bon Iver – i,i

Ever since emerging from the proverbial (and literal?) woods with the now-mythological For Emma, Forever Ago, it’s felt like Justin Vernon has been trying to shake off his rustic-loner-folk-singer mystique. After countless side projects, collaborations,  and electronic dadaism, i,i feels like the most quintessential Bon Iver record yet.

His trademark blend of white soul, 80s soft rock, folk rock, and avant-garde experimentalism are on full display, with a long list of cowriters and guest features (including longtime Bon Iver muse Bruce Hornsby). The result is a record that is at once weightless and dense, unfolding with repeated listens into a intricate sonic structure.

7. Astronoid – Astronoid

With 2016’s Air, Astronoid cemented themselves as one of the most rewarding new metal bands. Blending rapidfire, headbang-ready riffage with soaring melodies in what has been dubbed “dream thrash,” Astronoid was at once brutally powerful and emotionally potent.

Their self-titled sophomore release leaves the formula largely unchanged (thankfully), but explores the extremities in a way their debut did not. More time is given to delicate ambience and heavier riffs, with plenty of double-kick assisted harmonized guitar solos throughout. In any other year, this would take top honors.

6. Baroness – Gold & Grey

As a testament to just how relentless of a music year 2019 was, I completely forgot there was a new Baroness record until a couple weeks ago.

And what a record it is. After the (relative) straightforward brevity of Purple, Gold & Grey lingers for a deceptive 61 minutes. With several instrumental segues filling out the 17 tracks, Gold & Grey plays like a highlight reel of the band’s career. Songs shift from proggy ballads to fist-pumping heavy metal to glam rocky guitar solos to experimental weirdness.

Baroness is at their softest and heaviest here, and—just maybe—their best. But seeing as Purple was my first introduction and I’ve only begun to dig back into their legendary back catalog, I might not be the best person to make that call.

5. American Football – American Football 3

After the reunion album no one asked for proved that the legendary emo stalwarts could still recapture what made them mythic heroes in the first place, their third record finds them stretching outside of the walls of the proverbial Americ Anfootball house and creating an album that captures the magic of the group without a hint of nostalgic retread.

Chock full of polyrhythmic interplay, pensive songwriting, and some surprising guest features, LP3 is an excellent album that relies not at all on its legendary pedigree. This is an emo record that delivers on the best conventions of the genre without falling into any of the tropes. It captures the greatness of the band without indulging in any of their memeability. An excellent third record from a band that so many of us thought we’d never hear from again.

4. Pedro the Lion – Phoenix

Speaking of comebacks…

It should be worth noting that David Bazan never quit making music. Since Pedro’s 2004 swan song, he’s continued to release work with Headphones, Lo Tom, and under his own name.  But something about retaking the Pedro moniker feels significant.

And Phoenix absolutely lives up to the impossibly high expectations set by the symbolic name change. This childhood autobiography (allegedly the first of several records dedicated to the cities he’s lived in) is as gutpunchingly dour and evocative as anything he’s done before. It conjures images of childhood bicycles, lunchroom teasings, and boring Sunday afternoons with perfect clarity. It turns wasted allowances and daily chores into religious sacraments. It wrestles with the trauma of leaving a childhood home and the grown man’s futile attempts to recapture it.

All while being the most consistent record he’s ever released, regardless of the name.

3. Holy Fawn – Death Spells 

I know, I know. “But this came out in 2018!” Officially, yes. However, it didn’t see a physical release until this year, nor did it make much impact until this Spring. And above all else, omitting it from my year end list would offer a completely disingenuous look at my year as a music fan.

Because few things have ever hit me as hard as this other-worldly, whiplashing blend of dreamy shoegaze and earth-shattering doom metal. At times, this record feels like the result of an experiment to juxtapose the softest and loudest sections they were capable of making, all while offering up one of the most masterful sonic experiences I’ve ever heard.

Many have mixed the same influences, but few have done so with the kinds of results that Holy Fawn achieves. It is one of the most beautiful and most crushing pieces of music I have ever heard—often at the same time.

2. Spotlights – Love & Decay

Spotlights’ specific brand of dreamy heaviness (branded sludgegaze by some writers) put Tidals and Seismic firmly in the top of my 2018 year end list, even though neither of them came out in 2018. Husband and wife duo Mario and Sarah Quintero’s specific mixture of heavy influences make them one of the best kept secrets around.

But with Love & Decay, that secret might be out. It plays on the same formulas that made their previous work such masterpieces (thank God) without varying too far from what works. “More of the same” might be a criticism for some bands, but for Spotlights, it’s a mark of their unflappable consistency. Thick walls of shoegaze noise mingle with chugging riffs, glittering synth loops, and the occasional bit of industrial electronics. The duo’s hazy vocals float easily above the instruments, unwavering in the face of the storm.

1. Alcest – Spiritual Instinct 

As I’ve said multiple to times to anyone who will listen, Alcest is one of the most important metal bands of all time. The now-ubiquitous trend of mixing metal with shoegaze and post rock can be traced back to their 2005 EP Le Secret, recorded as a solo record by bandleader Neige, which sounds almost as fully formed as the rest of their output.

On this year’s Spiritual Instinct, Neige & Co. remind everyone why they’re so important. This is arguably their heaviest and darkest record, riffing and chugging more frequently than they ever have. That said, it wouldn’t be an Alcest record if every moment weren’t also entirely beautiful. Even at its most punishing, there is an emotional tenderness that keeps it from becoming too abrasive.

Following up a celebrated catalog can be a daunting task for any group, let alone one as legendary as Alcest’s. But Spiritual Instinct doesn’t just live up to their legacy: it expands on it. After a decade and a half of delivering heart-achingly gorgeous, otherworldly metal, Alcest is just as consistent and powerful as ever.

Runners Up

Niights – Hellbores
My Epic – Violence
Junia – Everything’s A Canyon
The End of the Ocean – -aire
Driving Slow Motion – Arda
Joe Baughman – Vacant Spaces
Thrice – Deeper Wells EP
Naal – Harvey Weinstein Is A F*cking Rapist
Salt Creek – If You Were There

 

Top Discoveries

Despite however closely I follow new releases, things will always slip through the cracks. Here are some albums from other years that lodged themselves firmly in my record collection this year.

SOM – The Fall
Crushing, glistening doomgaze from members of Caspian and Junius. Scratches the same hard-to-reach spot as Spotlights and Jesu.

Less Art – Strangled Light
Introspective, brutal post hardcore from members of Thrice, Kowloon Walled City, and Curlupanddie that stands without its members’ resumes.

Hundredth – RARE
In which a metalcore band abandon screamed vocals and breakdowns in favor of a straight shoegaze sound. And honestly, I’m here for it.

Blonde Redhead – 23
No wave rockers pivot to more earnest songwriting, delivering a classic dream pop record that lands somewhere between My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, and Radiohead.

Lo Moon – Lo Moon
A stunning piece of nocturnal synth pop that harkens to Talk Talk’s best.

Niights – Whisper
A stunning piece of shoegaze that flirts with doom as readily as dreampop with stunning results.

Hopesfall – Arbiter
The post hardcore stalwarts return, adding a healthy dose of HUM-ready space rock.

Basement – Colourmeinkindness
I missed a great deal of emo’s “fourth wave.” These Brits gave me good reason to look deeper.

Embracer – No Gospel
This West Virginia outfit blends post rock textures with soulful songwriting in a way few groups pull off. I’m just now remembering that they released an album this year that I meant to listen to…

Low – Double Negative
The slowcore giants released a piece of sonic anarchy that is both abrasive and dreamlike.

Palehorse/Palerider – Burial Songs
Drony doom metal that swallows up everything in existence without resorting to the usual tough-guy tropes.

Nothing – Tired of Tomorrow
I’m not sure what madness led me to disregard these shoegaze heroes’ sophomore album, but I made up for it after taking a risk on a cheap used copy.

 

 

So there it is. My take on 2019’s best, full of glaring omissions and things I absolutely should have spent more time with but didn’t (Cult of Luna released a new one too?!? I gotta my life together).

I guess now I’ve got a best-of-the-decade list to put together…