The Quietus' Albums Of The Year 2019

End-of-the-year season continues and if you’re looking for an Albums of The Year list that isn’t like all the others, you can always count on UK-based site The Quietus to deliver. While their 2019 list does include some artists who are on a lot of people’s lists (Lizzo, Tyler, The Creator, Billie Eilish, Nick Cave, Solange, FKA twigs, Bill Callahan, Sharon Van Etten and Lana Del Rey), most of their list leans more experimental, including records by 75 Dollar Bill, Blood Incantation, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Snapped Ankles, Cosey Fanni Tutti, John Zorn, Teeth of the Sea, Harrga, Holly Herndon, Scorn, $hit And $hine, Richard Dawson, Caterina Barbieri, Vanishing Twin, and Moor Mother. Their top spot goes to to For You and I by Hyperdub-signed UK producer Loraine James:

If For You and I serves as a useful reminder that the distinction between cool, contemporary dance music and its dated, out-of-vogue counterpart is wafer-thin, its exhilarating final three songs seal that premise. At under three minutes, ‘Sick 9’ is a brief dalliance with glitch techno; on ‘Vowel // Consonant’, arpeggiated rushes and buckwild drum programming mutates from Jlin-ish post-footwork to rude junglisms; and ‘Words Ears Mouth’ is another one for the ‘sweet melodies / ruff beats’ column, the latter being the full Autechre-dipping-into-breakcore monty.

For You and I is consistent in its spirit with Hyperdub’s catalogue: often in its sound, too, although in a decade and a half the label has covered enough ground for this to be nebulous. That spirit, though, manifests itself in a defiant queerness; a grab-bag approach borne of big city multiculturalism; and a clear fascination with, and love of, sound in general.

You can listen to For You and I and check out The Quietus Albums Of The Year 2019 list below.

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The Quietus – Albums Of The Year 2019
100: Scorn – Cafe Mor
99: Alameda 5 – Eurodrome
98: Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter 4: Memphis
97: John Zorn – Tractatus Musico Philosophicus
96: Mega Bog – Dolphine
95: MoE / Mette Rasmussen – Tolerancia Picante
94: Warmduscher – Tainted Lunch
93: Laura Cannell & Polly Wright – Sing As The Crow Flies
92: Fenella – Fenella
91: Gum Takes Tooth – Arrow
90: The Membranes – What Nature Gives… Nature Takes Away
89: Meemo Comma – Sleepmoss
88: Thurston Moore – Spirit Counsel
87: Carl Gari & Abdullah Miniawy – The Act of Falling from the 8th Floor
86: Carter Tutti Void – Triumvirate
85: Meatraffle – Bastard Music
84: Sote – Parallel Persia
83: Félicia Atkinson – The Flower And The Vessel
82: Kate Tempest – The Book Of Traps and Lessons
81: King Midas Sound – Solitude
80: Bill Orcutt – Odds Against Tomorrow
79: Oliver Coates – John Luther Adams’ Canticles Of The Sky
78: Rakta – Falha Comum
77: Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow
76: Ana Roxanne – ~~~
75: MY DISCO – Environment
74: Tyler, The Creator – IGOR
73: Whistling Arrow – Whistling Arrow
72: Headie One – Music x Road
71: TripleGO – Yeux Rouges
70: Jennifer Walshe – ALL THE MANY PEOPLS
69: Cate Le Bon – Reward
68: Klein – Lifetime
67: Shortparis – Tak Zakalyalas’ Stal
66: Shanti Celeste – Tangerine
65: Dis Fantasy – Dis Fantasy
64: Tunes Of Negation – Reach The Endless Sea
63: Giant Swan – Giant Swan
62: Buck Young – Buck II: Where Do You Want It?
61: Dave – Psychodrama
60: DEBBY FRIDAY – DEATH DRIVE
59: Floating Points – Crush
58: Blood Incantation – Hidden History Of The Human Race
57: Deerhunter – Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?
56: Matmos – Plastic Anniversary
55: Yugen Blakrok – Anima Mysterium
54: Rian Treanor – ATAXIA
53: Oli XL – Rogue Intruder, Soul Enhancer
52: Abdu Ali – FIYAH!!!
51: Ifriqiyya Électrique – Laylet El Booree
50: Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
49: Stephen Mallinder – Um Dada
48: Christian Wolff – Preludes, Variations, Studies and Incidental Music
47: Nkisi – 7 Directions
46: Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!
45: LOFT – and departt from mono games
44: Black To Comm – Seven Horses For Seven Kings
43: $hit And $hine – Doing Drugs, Selling Drugs
42: Ghold – Input>Chaos
41: Theon Cross – Fyah
40: Cosey Fanni Tutti – TUTTI
39: Hey Colossus – Four Bibles
38: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
37: Holly Herndon – PROTO
36: Sly & The Family Drone – Gentle Persuaders
35: Jenny Hval – The Practice of Love
34: John Tilbury – The Tiger’s Mind
33: Yao Bobby & Simon Grab – Diamonds
32: Alexander Tucker – Guild of the Asbestos Weaver
31: 75 Dollar Bill – I Was Real
30: Errant Monks – Psychopposition / The Limit Experience
29: Teeth Of The Sea – Wraith
28: Tony Njoku – Your Psyche’s Rainbow Panorama
27: Solange – When I Get Home
26: Richard Skelton – Border Ballads
25: MSYLMA – Dhil-un Taht Shajarat Al-Zaqum
24: The International Teachers of Pop – The International Teachers of Pop
23: Lizzo – Cuz I Love You
22: The Comet Is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
21: FKA twigs – MAGDALENE
20: Kim Gordon – No Home Record
19: Bill Callahan – Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest
18: Barker – Utility
17: DEAFKIDS – Metaprogramação
16: Snapped Ankles – Stunning Luxury
15: The Utopia Strong – The Utopia Strong
14: Harrga – Héroïques Animaux De La Misère
13: Sleaford Mods – Eton Alive
12: Moor Mother – Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes
11: Karenn – Grapefruit Regret
10: Sunn O))) – Life Metal
9: Brìghde Chaimbeul – The Reeling
8: Fat White Family – Serfs Up!
7: Black Midi – Schlagenheim
6: Vanishing Twin – The Age Of Immunology
5: These New Puritans – Inside The Rose
4: William Doyle – Your Wilderness Revisited
3: Caterina Barbieri – Ecstatic Computation
2: Richard Dawson – 2020
1: Loraine James – For You and I