Favorite Albums of 2019

At the end of each year, I compile a list of my favorite music albums, mainly to document what I enjoyed listening to, but also to share with others.

This is my 5th year using a streaming music service (Apple Music). While I love the convenience of streaming and having just about every new song and album ever released at my fingertips, I’ve found it difficult to really get attached to anything new simply because there’s so much new music coming out all the time. It’s easy to get lost in all of the new releases and not get a chance to really listen for an extended time and allow the music to sink in.

These are the music albums and artists that I’ve spent the most time with, and/or have connected with over the past year.

Full disclosure: Purchasing any of the music using the links below will give a small percentage of the sale to my wife.

10. Madison Cunningham - Who Are You Now

This one gave me the same feelings when I first heard John Mayer’s “Room for Squares” in 2001 and realized what an awesome musician I was listening to. Simply full of great hooks and fantastic guitar riffs. I can really hear the Fiona Apple influence in some of her tunes.

Hot tracks: Pin It Down, Trouble Found Me.

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

9. Christone “Kingfish” Ingram - Kingfish

The best blues album this year goes to (currently, as I publish this) 20 year old Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. I’m always afraid that the blues greats will one day disappear, but listening to his debut album makes me feel like the blues is gonna be all right. He’s a new generation of blues hero!

Hot tracks: Just listen to Ingram rip on his guitar for the whole album.

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

8. Jay Som - Anak Ko

I’ve loosely followed singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Melina Mae Duterte’s (stage name Jay Som) career over the last few years. On her third album, “Anak Ko” (meaning “my child” in Tagalog, one of the dialects in the Philippines), I feel she really took things to the next level. Lush and poppy 80’s sounds with swirly vocals. Each song is a story and I really enjoyed listening to them unfold. The album has solid production and songwriting throughout with lots of great riffs and creative sounds. I really loved the anti-guitar solo in ‘If You Want It’.

Hot tracks: If You Want It, Super Bike, Tenderness

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

7. Ric Ocasek - Nexterday

This album didn’t come out in 2019, but when Ric Ocasek passed, I had to write about my love of his last recording, “Nexterday”, that he released back in 2005.

Shown above is the original album cover when it was released. I’m not sure why they changed it, but I liked this one better as it’s how I remember it.

“Nexterday” has a fairly stripped down sound compared to his other albums, but that’s what I really love about it. Mostly recorded in Ocasek’s home studio, he played a lot of the instruments himself. My favorite track is “Silver” which is his tribute to his estranged bandmate from the Cars that passed, Benjamin Orr.

Hot tracks: Crackpot, Bottom Dollar, In a Little Bit, Silver

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

6. Men in Grey Suits - Return of the Cnidarians

I purchased a guitar pedal (an Ibanez DE7 delay) from a guy on Craigslist, and he gifted this CD to me. He told me that this was his band and it was one of the albums they put out. The instrumental tracks are mainly guitar, bass, drums doused with lots of reverb and tremolo. If you’re a fan of surf, SKA and the sounds of Khruangbin, this album will be right up your alley. Wonderful, ethereal soundscape fun.

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

5. Karen O & Danger Mouse - Lux Prima

My favorite Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) collaboration has to be when he produced Norah Jones’s 2012 album, “Little Broken Hearts”. The album was written after a relationship breakup for Jones, and the collaboration really worked. To date, it’s the most moody and dark record she’s put out, but it’s also my favorite.

For “Lux Prima”, Danger Mouse teamed up with Karen O from the “Yeah Yeah Yeahs”. I’d describe the album as lo-fi and distorted synths with a healthy portion of soundtrack and funk. If you liked the Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi collaboration album “Rome” and the previously mentioned Norah Jones album, you’ll probably love this one too.

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

4. Cory Wong - Motivational Music for the Syncopated Soul

I heard and saw Cory Wong everywhere this year. He was all over YouTube and was interviewed many times as a rising indie guitarist. If you’ve ever wondered who’s playing the funky guitars in the band “Vulfpeck”, that’s him.

This album is full of funk, soul and even moar funk. I can’t get over how great his clean guitar tone is. I can just imagine his right hand flapping around like there’s nothing but cartilage holding it to his forearm (you must see this to truly understand). The opening track “Limited World (featuring Caleb Hawley)” sounds so much like a Prince song that you’ll be seeing purple. If funk is what you crave, this album has it.

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

3. Tatsuro Yamashita - For You

While on vacation in Japan last year, I picked up the 30th anniversary edition of Tatsuro Yamashita’s soundtrack for the surfing motion picture “Big Wave”. A homage to surf, sand and sun, Yamashita leans heavy into his “Beach Boy’s” influences on this and many of his other albums. His deft use of vocal harmonies are proof that he cracked that secret formula for that “sound”.

This year while in Japan, I picked up his greatest hits package “Opus” as well as this album, “For You”, which many have regarded a must own album if you’re into City Pop. ‘For You’ came out in 1982, so it’s not new at all, but it’s still sounds like a fresh record. The album opens with the funky guitar chords of “Sparkle” and only gets better from there. Overall, one of my favorite purchases of the year.

Buy: Amazon

2. Mukai Taichi - Pure

Funky, hooky, great songwriting and production, oh, and did I mention funky? I wasn’t familiar with Mukai Taichi at all, but heard his single ‘Reset’ on Apple Music’s Top Japan Hits playlist. I later realized that it was also used as the ending theme for the anime ‘Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru (Run with the Wind). Solid songs through out, it was hard not to keep this album on repeat during 2019.

“Pure” came out at the tail end of 2018, but Mukai has put out a new album every year since 2017. I’m really not sure how Japanese artist are able to write, arrange and produce full albums with really high quality on a yearly schedule. “Pure” matches that high quality aesthetic in spades.

Hot tracks: Secret, Crazy, Haters, Reset

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

1. 新しい学校のリーダーズ [Atarashii Gakkou no Leaders] - Wakage Ga Itaru

Atarashii Gakkou no Leaders are a Japanese dance and vocal performance group consisting of 4 members, RIN, KANON, SUZUKA, and MIZYU. I first saw them perform at an event called Moshi Moshi Fest in 2016. Out of all of the acts we saw during the event, they had the best songs and had the most energy on stage. I’ve been a fan ever since!

As he did on their previous debut release “Maenarawanai”, H ZETT M of H ZETTRIO continued production and arrangement duties on “Wakage Ga Itaru”. The H ZETTTRIO are also featured musicians on three songs.

As with “Maenarawani”, it’s difficult to classify their music as it spans an eclectic range of genres including Showa-era (Okami No Uta), Electronic Jazz (Rakuen Nite Watashi Jigoku), and high energy Rock/Punk (Shaken Zenya).

Looking through the liner notes, there is no designation as to which of the Leaders is singing on each track. While SUZUKA could be considered the lead singer, MIZYU, RIN and KANON’s vocals take center stage on many of the tracks.

If you’re ever in Japan and have a chance to catch one of their live performances, you should make it a point to see them. You’ll be amazed at the energy, talent and command of the stage that this group has. Seeing them live during the past 4 trips to Japan has been the highlight of the trip for me. I’ve watched their audience grow ten fold since 2016. I’m predicting continued success for the Leaders in 2020!

Hot tracks: Amayo No Seppun, Shaken Zenya, Mayoeba Toutoshi, Koi Geba, Rakuen Nite Watashi Jigoku

Listen: Apple Music | Spotify
Buy: iTunes | Amazon

Lo-fi and Downtempo Favorites

I can’t always listen to regular music when I’m working and need to concentrate on specific tasks. If you’re like me and want to concentrate but don’t need lyrical content, here are some smooth grooves to play in the background. These have hit the mark throughout 2019.

FloFitz - Transit
Listen: Apple Music | Spotify

Honshu Lo fi - Voyage
Listen: Apple Music | Spotify

Tourist - Wild
Listen: Apple Music | Spotify

Moonchild - Voyager
Listen: Apple Music | Spotify

E.Sanchillo - Waneella Tunes: The Album
Listen: Apple Music | Spotify

Aso - Home
Listen: Apple Music | Spotify

See my Favorite Albums of 2018 here.