Best of: Top 25 of 2019: My favourite albums of 2019

It's been 10 years since I posted my first "best of" post back at the end of 2009. It was my favourite 25 songs and favourite 30 albums, in no particular order. I've put together annual lists of my favourite songs and albums of each year since then, and lately added my favourite concert photos starting back in 2014. If you want, you can peruse all my best of posts from this link here.

Here are my favourite albums of 2019 and you can check out my favourite songs of the year right over here and my favourite concert photos of the year right here. My best songs list is on Spotify and on Apple Music.

Thanks for checking out the list. Hope you see some stuff you loved on here and maybe find a new discovery or two.

All the best for a clearer 2020.

25. Hollerado Retaliation Vacation 

Royal Mountain Records BBQ

Lee's Palace

Hillside Festival

Riverfest Elora

24. Begonia Fear

Supercrawl

Riverfest Elora

The Horseshoe Tavern

23. Wallows Nothing Happens

The Danforth Music Hall

22. The Anti-Queens The Anti-Queens

Riverfest Elora

21. Dave Hause Kick

20. Ian Blurton Signals Through the Flames

Hillside Festival

19. King Princess Cheap Queen

Rebel

18. Alice Merton Mint

Riverfest Elora

17. The Japanese House Good at Falling

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

16. Hatchie Keepsake

15. K.Flay Solutions

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Riverfest Elora

14. The National I am Easy to Find

Field Trip

Riot Fest

13. Tallies Tallies

12. Mannequin Pussy Patience

11. Barrie Happy to be Here

10. Soak Grim Town

The Drake Underground

9. Pottery No. 1

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

Lee's Palace

8. PUP Morbid Stuff

Echo Beach

The Danforth Music Hall

Osheaga

Hillside Festival

7. pronoun I’ll Show You Stronger

6. SWMRS Berkeley’s on Fire

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

5. Bob Mould Sunshine Rock

The Phoenix Concert Theatre

The Horseshoe Tavern

Riot Fest

4. Billie Eilish when we all fall asleep where do we go

3. The Regrettes How Do You Love?

Velvet Underground

NXNE Yonge-Dundas Square

NXNE Portlands 

2. Bleached Don’t You Think You've Had Enough?

The Horseshoe Tavern

1. The Twilight Sad It Won’t Be Like This All the Time

Velvet Underground

Bestival Canada

Honourable mention to The Dirty Nil for their excellent You're Welcome covers series. They highlighted a whole group of amazing and classic songs, delivered with the power and energy that's pure Dirty Nil.

Best of: Top 50 of 2017: My favourite songs of 2017

During 2017 I've probably listened to the least music than I have in the past decade. Most of my favourite tunes of the year came from shows I've seen, bands I'm familiar with and many tunes that just happened to hit my ears the right way. Many of the loves of this year have not been deep and meaningful; they've been brief and fleeting one night stands of aural bliss. Forgive me.

Take a look at my other Best of 2017 lists: My 25 Favourite Concert Photos of 2017 and My 20 Favourite Albums of 2017.

50. "And Saints" Sleigh Bells

49. "Syncope" Bitch Falcon

48. "Love Stuck" Mother Mother

47. "Boyish" Hippo Campus

46. "Skyline" Broken Social Scene

45. "Slicked" Weaves

44. "20th Century Strategies" Public Animal

43. "Magnificent (She Says)" Elbow

42. "Play the Field" Partner

41. "Can I Sit Next To You" Spoon

40. "So True" The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

39. "On Hold" The xx

38. "Feel it Still" Portugal. The Man

37. "Humble" Kendrick Lamar

36. "Stars and Moons" Dizzy

35. "Arc of Bar" Japandroids

34. "Television Romance" Pale Waves

33. "Powerlines" Lowest of the Low

32. "Pharaoh" Louise Burns

31. "Violet" The Districts

30. "Glitter" Charly Bliss

29. "If We Were Vampires" Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

28. "Kills to be Resistant" Bully

27. "Ill Ray (The King)" Kasabian

26. "My Name Is Ruin" Gary Numan

25. "Kill for Candy" Dreamcar

24. "New York" St. Vincent

23. "Beautifully Unconventional" Wolf Alice

22. "Holy Mountain" Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

21. "Anti-Anthem" Sumo Cyco

20. "Hook, Line & Sinker" Royal Blood

19. "High" Sir Sly

18. "Day I Die" The National

17. "Brass Beam" Waxahatchee

16. "DNA" Kendrick Lamar

15. "Planet Hunter" Wolf Alice

14. "Near To The Wild Heart Of Life" Japandroids

13. "There's A Honey" Pale Waves

12. "Blood In The Cut" K.Flay

11. "The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness" The National

10. "If Before I Wake" The Districts

9. "Lingua Franca" Casper Skulls

8. "Don’t Delete The Kisses" Wolf Alice

7. "Freeze Me" Death from Above 1979

6. "Running" Bully

5. "Black Wave" K.Flay

4. "Never Been Wrong" Waxahatchee

3. "Silver" Waxahatchee

2. "Heavenward" Wolf Alice

1. "Sadboy" Wolf Alice

And if you want to check out my 2017 concert photos of the bands from by best of list, please click the following links:

Wolf Alice

Waxahatchee

K.Flay

Bully

Casper Skulls

Pale Waves

Japandroids

Sumo Cyco

Kasabian

Charly Bliss

Louise Burns

The Lowest of the Low

Partner

Elbow

Mother Mother

Bitch Falcon

And older shots of these awesome bands:

Wolf Alice at The Phoenix, Adelaide Hall and Drake Underground

Bully at Field Trip

Death from Above 1979 at Panamania and Riot Fest

Casper Skulls at Lee's Palace, again at Lee's Palace and The Garrison

The Districts at Lee's Palace, The Horseshoe and again at The Horseshoe

The National at Field Trip and at Riot Fest

Royal Blood at Lee's Palace

Sumo Cyco at Cherry Cola's

Kasabian at Sound Academy

Louise Burns at Handlebar

The Lowest of the Low at Toronto's Festival of Beer

Dizzy at Hillside

Partner at The Silver Dollar Room and The Garrison

Elbow at The Danforth Music Hall

Public Animal at The Garrison and The Horseshoe

Weaves at Lee's Palace

Mother Mother at NXNE

Best of: Top 20 of 2017: My favourite albums of 2017

I just have to have music in my life, especially live music. It makes my heart right and gives me balance, and helps me feel like a complete being.

Here are the albums that meant the most to me in a year when I have been sadly more absent from the care and feeding of this web site, and from music appreciation, than I’ve been in years.

There’s a melody that reaches into your soul, a voice that speaks to your values and your very humanity, a beat that makes you smile uncontrollably, and a hook that brings a tear to your eye; a joy that makes you feel whole. It’s love that comes through your ears from the unstoppable passion of another, through their music.

I can’t listen to everything; especially not in a crazy busy year like 2017. A year when work left me mentally exhausted most days meant I couldn’t get all the concert-going and photo-editing in that I wanted and much of my commute-listening was while otherwise mentally occupied with little things like driving. But undaunted I go into the yearly tradition of listing out the albums that made the biggest impression on me in 2017, in order, my absolute favourites at the top.

Take a look at my other Best of 2017 lists: My 25 Favourite Concert Photos of 2017 and My 50 Favourite Songs of 2017.

Wolf Alice Visions of a Life

Waxahatchee Out in the Storm

The National Sleep Well Beast

Bully Losing

Japandroids Near To The Wild Heart Of Life

K.Flay Every Where Is Some Where

St. Vincent MASSEDUCTION

The Districts Popular Manipulations

Kasabian For Crying Out Loud

Royal Blood How Did We Get So Dark?

The War on Drugs A Deeper Understanding

Charly Bliss Guppy

Diet Cig Swear I'm Good At This

Kendrick Lamar DAMN

Partner In Search of Lost Time


The xx I See You

Casper Skulls Mercy Works

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Who Built The Moon?

Sumo Cyco Opus Mar

Weaves Wide Open

And if you want to check out my 2017 concert photos of the bands from by best of list, please click the following links:

Wolf Alice

Waxahatchee

Bully

Japandroids

K.Flay

Kasabian

Charly Bliss

Partner

Casper Skulls

Sumo Cyco

And older shots of these awesome bands:

Wolf Alice at The Phoenix, Adelaide Hall and Drake Underground

The National at Field Trip and at Riot Fest
Bully at Field Trip

The Districts at Lee's Palace, The Horseshoe and again at The Horseshoe

Kasabian at Sound Academy

Royal Blood at Lee's Palace
Diet Cig at The Drake Underground

Partner at The Silver Dollar Room and The Garrison

Casper Skulls at Lee's Palace, again at Lee's Palace and The Garrison

Sumo Cyco at Cherry Cola's

Weaves at Lee's Palace

Field Trip 2016: Day 1, Band 13: The National - Concert Pictures

The National headlined Saturday, day one, of this year's Field Trip festival at Toronto's Fort York Garrison Common. I've seen The National live a couple of times and they remain one of my all-time favourite bands.

Their set featured so many of my favourite tunes, as well as two new ones, namely "Sometimes I Don't Think" and "The Day I Die". Although I was certainly getting tired after the full day in the sun at this fantastic festival, I couldn't stop singing along with as much of the set as I could, especially the most rousing songs at the beginning and end of the show.

Here are some songs that were personal highlights from their typically magnificent setlist:

"Don't Swallow The Cap"

"Sea of Love"

"Bloodbuzz Ohio"

"Afraid of Everyone"

"Squalor Victoria"

"I Need My Girl" The band was joined by Hayden Desser for this tune.

"Graceless"

"Fake Empire"

"Mr. November"

"Terrible Love"

"Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks"

Field Trip announces 2016 line-up including The National, Robyn, July Talk, Of Montreal, Santigold, DIIV, many more

Field Trip has announced their 2016 line-up and what a great line-up it is. The National, one of the biggest indie alternative bands out there and a personal favourite, is headlining along with one of the most unique anti pop stars out there, and also a personal favourite, Robyn. July Talk, one of the absolute best live bands playing these days, is listed next.

Also on the stacked bill are Santigold, Of Montreal, DIIV, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Jazz Cartier, Boy & Bear, Bully, Holy Fuck, Plants & Animals, Basia Bulat, Dear Rouge, Ra Ra Riot, Tei Shi, Eliot Sumner, Meg Mac, Brave Shores and Kalle Mattson. Consistent with years passed, this is a diverse line-up that will attract a wide variety of music fans and lead to some amazing discoveries. 

This year's Field Trip will take place on June 4 & 5, 2016 at Toronto's Fort York / Garrison Common. Gates will open at 1pm both days, and the festivities will wrap up at 11pm on Saturday and 10pm on Sunday.

Tickets go on sale Monday, February 22 @ 10AM on Ticketmaster or at Toronto independent music retailers Rotate This (801 Queen St. W) and Soundscapes (572 College St.).

General Admission weekend passes are $125, VIP weekend passes are $200 and single-day passes are $75 for General Admission and $125 for VIP, plus fees and all that jazz. Kids under 12 get in for free subject to certain restrictions.

And some music from a number of the artists on this year's fantastic Field Trip line-up:

The National

Robyn

July Talk

Santigold

Of Montreal

DIIV

Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires

Jazz Cartier

Boy & Bear

Bully

Holy Fuck

Plants & Animals

Basia Bulat

Dear Rouge

Ra Ra Riot

Tei Shi

Eliot Sumner

Meg Mac

Brave Shores

Kalle Mattson

Pic from Facebook.

El Vy at The Opera House - Concert Pictures

As 4AD's web site puts it, "El Vy (pronounced like a plural of Elvis; rhymes with ‘hell pie’) is the musical collaboration between Matt Berninger, vocalist and lyricist of The National, and Brent Knopf, the Portland musician and producer best known for his work in Menomena and his more recent band, Ramona Falls." They released their album Return to the Moon earlier this year and indie alternative radio has been playing the heck out of the title track. It even graced these pages.

The band sounded great and the light show was very cool and unique for a venue of this size. After a while, there can be a tendency to walk into a venue with expectations of what you're going to see in terms of things like a light show, and it's awesome when an act can bring something unique that makes the show and the resulting pics special.

The show was super sold out and I was lucky to have arrived early to get a good spot. Moving around was near impossible and a friend who came late couldn't get to the front. This shouldn't have been a surprise because getting to see a performer like Matt in a club this size at this point in his career, even for a side project show, was something special. At the end of the set, Matt acknowledged what we all knew, they only have so many songs and there wasn't going to be an encore, so enjoy this one - it's the last tune.

Overall, it was a cool show by a cool project.

Check out some tunes from their setlist.

"Silent Ivy Hotel"

"Return to the Moon"

"Paul Is Alive"

"I'm The Man To Be"

"Need A Friend"

New song from EL VY: The National's Matt Berninger and Brent Knopf

I just finished listening to the catchy new tune "Return to the Moon" by EL VY (pronounced like a plural of Elvis; rhymes with "hell pie", as you'd expect). Who is EL VY, you may ask? It's a new musical collaboration between Matt Berninger of The National and Brent Knopf, of Ramona Falls and Menomena.

The tune's got a cool beat, a funky little guitar hook and Matt's laid-back signature on the vocal melody. It's an instantly likeable pop tune.

Give it a listen:

The album, Return To The Moon, comes out October 30. Tour dates are on their site.

Pic from Facebook.

The National - Alligator is 10

The National's Alligator came out 10 years ago today. It's one of my all-time favourite albums from one of my all-time favourite bands. However, this didn't happen immediately. This album did take a while to grow on me, but once it did, it became love. The lyrics, the guitar parts, the rhythms, the melodies; it all slowly unveils itself to you over repeated listenings. Truly a gift that keeps on giving.

Here are my favourites from this landmark album.

"Secret Meeting"

"Karen"

"Lit Up"

"Friend of Mine"

"All the Wine"

"Abel"

"The Geese Of Beverly Road"

"Mr. November"

And just because, here's Frank Turner doing "Mr. November" live, improvised style.

Pic from The National.