 |
| Everywhere At The Edge of Time: Stage 6 |
2019 LPs/EPs
Mark Of The Mould -Baron Mordant
Cavity Slabs - Moon Wiring Club
Ghosteen - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Everywhere At The End Of Time: Stage 6 - The Caretaker
Chernobyl OST - Hildur Guðnadóttir
Facets/Air Example - N Chambers
Giant Swan - Giant Swan
Giant Swan - Giant Swan
I Am The Last Of That Green & Warm Hued World - M Geddes Gengras
Melts Into Love - xin
Tierra Del Fuego - Tayhana
Metabolizm/In Search Of A Third Mantra - Ekoplekz
Activated Clown - S. Araw Trio XIII
Sisypheans - Xylouris White
Negative Legacy - Robedoor
Utility - Barker
Geography Of The Abyss - Lo Five
Spirited Discussion - Rangers
It Should Be Us - Andy Stott
Acreage - Bastion Void
The Debatable Lands - Howlround
My Diary - WOOdy
Baroo - Carl Stone
Ghastly Garden Centres - Moon Wiring Club
Roll With The Punches - Yu Su
Proto - Holly Herndon
My music listening is the lowest it's ever been since I got my first transistor radio when I was small. The Migraines and cluster-fuck headaches are making me one of those people who hates music! I don't like those people and I don't wanna join their boring humourless club. I only put the radio on a couple of times this year and that was to listen to the footy. Along with the music mentioned above and below I did hear some great tunes in Emma's car from Billie Eilish Bury A Friend and Bad Guy which are a couple of the best pop songs I've heard in years. I thought this LA musician was definitely British though with her evocations of Martine circa Tricky's Maxinquaye (1995), grime, The Specials circa Ghost Town (1981) etc. I didn't buy her album because I wanted to keep those singles pure, was I wrong? Maybe her LP was full of classic tunes?
The above top ten here is no particular order as any one of these records could be my favourite 2019 album depending on the time and weather of any particular day. There are seven artists in the list and another three in the honourable mentions list who are new to me this year which even surprised me. Why is N Chambers formerly known as Panabrite not in all the end of year lists? He's producing the best music of his career right now including the excellent Facets and Air Example LPs this year. I'm also yet to spot Moon Wiring Club in one of these lists which is odd because Cavity Slabs is one of Ian Hodgson's finest LPs. Nobody talks about Cameron Stallones and his various incarnations of Sun Araw anymore but the S. Araw Trio XIII tape Activated Clown was a brilliant improv-psych-head-trip like no other and Yu Su's Roll With The Punches might just be the first album to be influenced by Sun Araw. Baron Mordant bows out of the music biz at the top of his game with Mark Of The Mould and nary a peep is to be heard from the music press (Simon Reynolds excepted). This just makes me concur to myself that the music press be it electronic or paper is so out of touch it is the embodiment of lame, it's dead. Also I think these are the final LPs from The Caretaker & Ekoplekz. So thanks and farewell to all you retiring legends.
Some other records I also enjoyed include Young Thug's So Much Fun, Ulla Straus' Big Room, Hollow Earth by Pye Corner Audio, ~ ~ ~ from Ana Roxanne, ATØ by Ziur, Pink Stuff which was Royal Trux remixed by Ariel Pink, Komachi's Meitei, FRKWYS Vol.15: Serenitatem the collaboration between Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano, Himalaya from Carl Stone and Tropical Fuck Storm's second LP Braindrops. I totally missed some new records ie. Separate Dimension the 5th LP from The Horrorist, Kemper Norton's Brunton Calciner and Polymer from Warp legends Plaid.
??? Part 1: 100 Gecs. Are they pure genius or total shite. I like how they are so synthetic and that they're a big "get fucked!" to so called authentic or roots music. Are they just a slightly noisier Kesha though? Actually that sounds like a bloody good thing. I just talked myself into liking 100 Gecs or have I? Do I want to put this album on again?... dunno... time will tell, I guess.
??? Part 2: Gabber Modus Operandi. The 90s Nostalgia is irresistible but is it anything beyond that? Well the first track on HOXXXYA Genderuwo was black metal meets shoegaze meets gabba. Calon Arang and Sangkakala are pretty cool hardstyle tunes set in Indonesia, gabber exotica if you like. So that's pretty much a winner innit?
??? Part 3: Lingua Ignota. Her 2019 album Calugila is an event like a symphony, an epic pretentious art film or an OTT broadway musical. This impressive Black-Metal-Noise-Folk-Operatic-Mass is definitely worth listening to once for the experience. Going in for another serve might be a bit masochistic though.
My favourite score this year was from a HBO mini-series not a movie, Chernobyl by Hildur Guðnadóttir, which was sublime just like series was. She did The Joker score too which was a lot more bombastic compared to the supreme pitch black drone-ology of Chernobyl. Hildur fully grasps the tone of the images she is creating music for generating incredible synergy. As far as song-y soundtracks this year there was Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and The Irishman which were both meticulously curated for your retro listening pleasure.
Psychedelic rock keeps on keeping on and still getting critical praise. I thought after Dungen's brilliant Ta Det Lugnt (2004) LP it was done and dusted. Instead of Dungen being a full stop to the genre they hatched a bunch of acolytes. Perhaps LSD is a much cooler drug than E now which would explain Psych's persistence and dance music's slow death march. Did psych not reach its last innovative peak 20 years ago with The Boredoms astounding freak-out LP Vision Creation Newsun though?
Slowcore and Plunderphonics were the surprise genre revivals of 2019.
Post-Punk revival revival! Jesus Christ.
Dream Pop, Indie Pop, Death Metal, Gabber, Rave and Shoegaze seem to be the other new old trends. Although none of these genres ever really went away did they? Vanishing Twin's The Age Of Immunology is an impressive facsimile that's 50% Broadcast and 50% Stereolab, do I need that in my life though? Art Pop still seems to be the big thing. I've still never heard Angel Olsen. I didn't catch the new Lana Del Ray tunes in Emma's car so I dunno if it's the goods or not. I gave that Weyes Blood LP a go but...
Are there any new genres? Has there been anything new since Gqom? Let me know.
2019 REISSUES/ARCHIVAL/COMPILATIONS
Fingertracks: Volume 1 - Various
Greg Belson's Divine Disco Volume 2: Obscure Gospel Disco 1979-87 - Various
Global Sounds Vol.4: AOR Soul Disco 1977-1986 - Various
The Time For Peace Is Now: Gospel Music About Us - Various
Cumbia Beat Volume 3: 21 Peruvian Tropical Gems - Various
Sicodélicos - Los Destellos
Vanity Box: Vanity Records - Various
Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-86 - Various
Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-90 - Various
Nova + 4 - Yutaka Hirose
Still Way: Wave Notation 2 - Satoshi Ashikawa
Une Collection Des Chaînons I & II: Music For Spiral - Yoshio Ojima
Thousand Knives/B-2 Unit - Ryuichi SakamotoMouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard - Issam Hajali
Melts Into Love - xin
Tierra Del Fuego - Tayhana
Metabolizm/In Search Of A Third Mantra - Ekoplekz
Activated Clown - S. Araw Trio XIII
Sisypheans - Xylouris White
Negative Legacy - Robedoor
Utility - Barker
Geography Of The Abyss - Lo Five
Spirited Discussion - Rangers
It Should Be Us - Andy Stott
Acreage - Bastion Void
The Debatable Lands - Howlround
My Diary - WOOdy
Baroo - Carl Stone
Ghastly Garden Centres - Moon Wiring Club
Roll With The Punches - Yu Su
Proto - Holly Herndon
 |
| The Caretaker |
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
 |
| bad guy cassingle |
My music listening is the lowest it's ever been since I got my first transistor radio when I was small. The Migraines and cluster-fuck headaches are making me one of those people who hates music! I don't like those people and I don't wanna join their boring humourless club. I only put the radio on a couple of times this year and that was to listen to the footy. Along with the music mentioned above and below I did hear some great tunes in Emma's car from Billie Eilish Bury A Friend and Bad Guy which are a couple of the best pop songs I've heard in years. I thought this LA musician was definitely British though with her evocations of Martine circa Tricky's Maxinquaye (1995), grime, The Specials circa Ghost Town (1981) etc. I didn't buy her album because I wanted to keep those singles pure, was I wrong? Maybe her LP was full of classic tunes?
 |
| Facets |
The above top ten here is no particular order as any one of these records could be my favourite 2019 album depending on the time and weather of any particular day. There are seven artists in the list and another three in the honourable mentions list who are new to me this year which even surprised me. Why is N Chambers formerly known as Panabrite not in all the end of year lists? He's producing the best music of his career right now including the excellent Facets and Air Example LPs this year. I'm also yet to spot Moon Wiring Club in one of these lists which is odd because Cavity Slabs is one of Ian Hodgson's finest LPs. Nobody talks about Cameron Stallones and his various incarnations of Sun Araw anymore but the S. Araw Trio XIII tape Activated Clown was a brilliant improv-psych-head-trip like no other and Yu Su's Roll With The Punches might just be the first album to be influenced by Sun Araw. Baron Mordant bows out of the music biz at the top of his game with Mark Of The Mould and nary a peep is to be heard from the music press (Simon Reynolds excepted). This just makes me concur to myself that the music press be it electronic or paper is so out of touch it is the embodiment of lame, it's dead. Also I think these are the final LPs from The Caretaker & Ekoplekz. So thanks and farewell to all you retiring legends.
Some other records I also enjoyed include Young Thug's So Much Fun, Ulla Straus' Big Room, Hollow Earth by Pye Corner Audio, ~ ~ ~ from Ana Roxanne, ATØ by Ziur, Pink Stuff which was Royal Trux remixed by Ariel Pink, Komachi's Meitei, FRKWYS Vol.15: Serenitatem the collaboration between Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano, Himalaya from Carl Stone and Tropical Fuck Storm's second LP Braindrops. I totally missed some new records ie. Separate Dimension the 5th LP from The Horrorist, Kemper Norton's Brunton Calciner and Polymer from Warp legends Plaid.
??? Part 1: 100 Gecs. Are they pure genius or total shite. I like how they are so synthetic and that they're a big "get fucked!" to so called authentic or roots music. Are they just a slightly noisier Kesha though? Actually that sounds like a bloody good thing. I just talked myself into liking 100 Gecs or have I? Do I want to put this album on again?... dunno... time will tell, I guess.
??? Part 2: Gabber Modus Operandi. The 90s Nostalgia is irresistible but is it anything beyond that? Well the first track on HOXXXYA Genderuwo was black metal meets shoegaze meets gabba. Calon Arang and Sangkakala are pretty cool hardstyle tunes set in Indonesia, gabber exotica if you like. So that's pretty much a winner innit?
??? Part 3: Lingua Ignota. Her 2019 album Calugila is an event like a symphony, an epic pretentious art film or an OTT broadway musical. This impressive Black-Metal-Noise-Folk-Operatic-Mass is definitely worth listening to once for the experience. Going in for another serve might be a bit masochistic though.
My favourite score this year was from a HBO mini-series not a movie, Chernobyl by Hildur Guðnadóttir, which was sublime just like series was. She did The Joker score too which was a lot more bombastic compared to the supreme pitch black drone-ology of Chernobyl. Hildur fully grasps the tone of the images she is creating music for generating incredible synergy. As far as song-y soundtracks this year there was Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and The Irishman which were both meticulously curated for your retro listening pleasure.
Psychedelic rock keeps on keeping on and still getting critical praise. I thought after Dungen's brilliant Ta Det Lugnt (2004) LP it was done and dusted. Instead of Dungen being a full stop to the genre they hatched a bunch of acolytes. Perhaps LSD is a much cooler drug than E now which would explain Psych's persistence and dance music's slow death march. Did psych not reach its last innovative peak 20 years ago with The Boredoms astounding freak-out LP Vision Creation Newsun though?
Slowcore and Plunderphonics were the surprise genre revivals of 2019.
Post-Punk revival revival! Jesus Christ.
Dream Pop, Indie Pop, Death Metal, Gabber, Rave and Shoegaze seem to be the other new old trends. Although none of these genres ever really went away did they? Vanishing Twin's The Age Of Immunology is an impressive facsimile that's 50% Broadcast and 50% Stereolab, do I need that in my life though? Art Pop still seems to be the big thing. I've still never heard Angel Olsen. I didn't catch the new Lana Del Ray tunes in Emma's car so I dunno if it's the goods or not. I gave that Weyes Blood LP a go but...
Are there any new genres? Has there been anything new since Gqom? Let me know.
2019 REISSUES/ARCHIVAL/COMPILATIONS
Fingertracks: Volume 1 - Various
Greg Belson's Divine Disco Volume 2: Obscure Gospel Disco 1979-87 - Various
Global Sounds Vol.4: AOR Soul Disco 1977-1986 - Various
The Time For Peace Is Now: Gospel Music About Us - Various
Cumbia Beat Volume 3: 21 Peruvian Tropical Gems - Various
Sicodélicos - Los Destellos
Vanity Box: Vanity Records - Various
Pacific Breeze: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1976-86 - Various
Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-90 - Various
Nova + 4 - Yutaka Hirose
Still Way: Wave Notation 2 - Satoshi Ashikawa
Une Collection Des Chaînons I & II: Music For Spiral - Yoshio Ojima
Thousand Knives/B-2 Unit - Ryuichi Sakamoto
Al Hadaoui - Attarazat Addahabia & Faradjallah
Something New - Space Cats
Leite Quente Funaná De Cabo Verde - Grupo Pilon
Psicodelia Afro-Cubana de Senegal - Star Band de Dakar
Nigeria 70: No Wahala: Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987 - Various
Africa Airways Five: Brace Brace Boogie 1976-82 - Various
Mogadisco: Dancing Magadishu Somalia 1977-91 - Various
Third Noise Principle: Formative North American Electronica 1975-84 - Various
Dancing In Darkness: EBM, Black Synth & Dark Beats From The 80s - Various
Psicodelia Afro-Cubana de Senegal - Star Band de Dakar
Nigeria 70: No Wahala: Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987 - Various
Africa Airways Five: Brace Brace Boogie 1976-82 - Various
Mogadisco: Dancing Magadishu Somalia 1977-91 - Various
Third Noise Principle: Formative North American Electronica 1975-84 - Various
Dancing In Darkness: EBM, Black Synth & Dark Beats From The 80s - Various
Neighborhroods - Ernest Hood
Re4sults, Not Answers - Young Scientist
Next Of Kin OST - Klaus Schulze
Viral Shedding/Spiritflesh - Nocturnal Emissions
Michael O'Shea - Michael O'Shea
All The Young Droogs - Various
Slayed? - Slade
These are obviously not ranked. An outstanding year for archival gear. Habibi Funk, RPM Records, Cherry Red, Ace, Soundway, Strut, Awesome Tapes From Africa, Africa Seven, Cultures Of Soul, Mr Bongo, Dark Entries, Numero Group, Light In The Attic, Wewantsounds, Soul Jazz, Freedom To Spend, Favorite France, Finders Keepers, Mexican Summer, RVNGTIntl., Bureau B and Allchival were on a reissue roll in 2019.
Peruvian cumbia, chica and psych get the compilation (Cumbia Beat Volume 3) and reissue (Los Destellos) treatment thanks to the underrated label Vampisoul. Speaking of Vampisoul they reissued a stack of original LPs from the most prestigious ye olde Columbian record label Discos Fuentes. I bought a bunch of these by the likes of Michi Sarmiento, Fruko Y Sus Tesos, Lito Barrientos Y Su Orquesta, Los Supremos etc. but they have yet to get any air time.
The Japanese deluge continues with Vanity Box which is the entire 7" and LP catalogue from Osaka's obscure subterranean label Vanity. They released minimal, electronic, post punk and experimental music from 1978-1981. Their catalogue is so rare that original copies of Vanity records go for absurd prices. So thanks to Kyou Records & WRWTFWW we can all now experience this cult label's output, most of which is stunningly unique. Special mention must also go to the Light In The Attic label for releasing Pacific Breeze and Kankyō Ongaku two excellent and comprehensive compilations covering 70s & 80s City Pop, AOR, Boogie, Ambient, Environmental, New Age etc. Plus there were reissues of Japanese classic LPs from Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yutaka Hirose, Akiko Yano, Satoshi Ashikawa, Yoshio Ojima and more thanks to the wonderful Wewantsounds and WRWTFWW labels.
Special mention must go to Strut who put out the 4th volume of Nigeria 70 this year on the 20th anniversary of the first volume which was a total game-changer in the archival compilation game. I still remember buying my copy on Chapel St. in Prahran at either a HMV or Virgin megastore back in the day. All of the tunes on Nigeria 70: No Wahala have never been issued outside of Africa before which is astounding. Ostinato Records had another brilliant year with three outstanding releases unearthing more gold from Cabo Verde and Senegal. Along with those aforementioned labels Habibi Funk, Analog Africa, Awesome Tapes From Africa and Africa Seven also provided choice compilations of African music this year from Somalia, Mali, Ghana, The Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Morocco and beyond. Surprisingly one of the best years ever in African archival reissues.
Then there was all this fabulous sweet obscure gospel disco, gospel, soul disco and choice AOR boogie. These irresistible soundz came courtesy of labels like ESP Institute, Cultures of Soul Records, Favorite Recordings & Luaka Bop. These compilations were a life affirming tonic to the absurd world in which we all now live.
2019 was also the year I finally got into Nocturnal Emissions after Ekoplekz mentioned his admiration for their 1988 classic Spiritflesh LP in a tweet. For a long time I've intended to sit down and give Nocturnal Emissions a good listen and Spiritflesh being reissued has made me a total believer. So I tracked down another Nocturnal Emissions 2019 reissue, 1983's Viral Shedding which is also cool but more beat-y conform to deform industrial than the ominous clanky enviro-ambience of Spiritflesh. Both of these sterling records were reissued by Mannequin Records along with the more song oriented Songs of Love & Revolution (1985). So now I've accumulated another six of their albums and they're all bloody good. This obsession could get out of hand like my Current 93 one has.
Zoviet France released a 15 LP box-set Châsse Recordings 1982-1987. At over $500 this prime era Zoviet France box sadly remains out of my hands.
Finally we can't forget the miscellaneous archival releases in the fields of Glam-Rock, Soca, Avant-garde, Electronic, Noise, Experimental, EBM, Industrial-Dance, Ambient and whatever the fuck Michael O'Shea's brilliant music is.
2019 TELLY
FLEABAG
I didn't think the charismatic Phoebe Waller-Bridge was going to be able to top the first season of Fleabag but I think she did. The finest cast and best show of 2019.
CHERNOBYL
The only way to describe this 5 part HBO drama is grim yet gripping. It's hard to watch but you can't look away. A truly horrific catastrophe that happened in my lifetime. Now the mystery of what really happened is revealed. Great gloomy score from Hildur Guðnadóttir.
MR INBETWEEN
Best Australian crime show since Wildside (1997-99). Dark, violent, hilarious and kinda touching.
LINE OF DUTY
Another brilliant season of the best British cop show ever. Some people may not have liked it as much because they front loaded the season with the action packed episodes which in previous seasons were placed in the concluding episodes. It's still all about catching bent coppers.
MINDHUNTER
Top shelf telly based on the life and books of John E Douglas the FBI's original serial killer profiler. Includes the frustrating Atlanta Child Murders case and sit downs with Son Of Sam and good ole Chuck Manson. It's all leading up to the next season though when I suspect they're finally going to track down BTK.
THE CROWN
Very good but you can't top the first two seasons which were TV drama perfection. The episode about the Aberfan Disaster is truly haunting and horrific.
THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR
Five part documentary series on John Demjanjuk. An elderly Grandfather in Cleveland is accused of being a notorious Nazi concentration camp guard responsible for psychotic cruelty and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The best true crime documentary of the year.
THE CONFESSION KILLER
If you thought American true crime documentaries couldn't get any more twisted think again. Get a look inside the demented world of Henry Lee Lucas, Texas Rangers and an absurd justice system. Shocking and infuriating.
2019 PODCAST
PURE CINEMA PODCAST
Elric Kane and Brian Saur posted their first episode of this podcast in February 2017. It was good but their tastes were so aligned with mine it sometimes felt like I was patting myself on the back listening to them rave about many of my favourite films. Twelve months ago they got sponsored by The New Beverly Cinema in LA which is owned by Quentin Tarantino. Once a month they now do a special episode devoted to going through what's on at that theatre for the month. For these episodes they are now joined by co-host Phil Blankenship and sometimes Jules McLean who are employees of the cinema. The New Beverly is a repertory cinema with a twist which is quite possibly paradigm-shifting. They don't just show the same old cult classics and midnight movies. They often show little known, popular, rare, strange, obscure, unloved, forgotten, and unheralded films from the the olden days, the recent past and even sometimes the present. This year they showed current flicks Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (of course), Dolemite Is My Name, Shirkers and probably a couple of others. They always roll film be it 35mm or 16mm, you won't get no digital there. Anyway these calendar episodes have become totally essential for me as they often introduce me to films I've never seen and sometimes never even heard of. Not only that there is always a total film buff as a special guest to guide us through what is about to be screened. QT turned up for the best episode of the year and I think in that one episode alone he mentioned at least 20 films I'd never heard of. The other highlight for me was when Larry Karaszewski (writer of Ed Wood, Dolemite Is My Name, Problem Child etc.) was there to drop his knowledge on a bunch of New Hollywood Era flicks, oh boy this man knows his stuff. Other guests on the calendar episodes have included Josh Olson, Kim Morgan, Alicia Malone, Pat Healy etc. The outstanding non-calendar episode for me was when legendary movie director Joe Dante (Pirañha, The Howling, Gremlins, The Burbs etc.) dropped in to talk about nothing else but Westerns for an hour and a half. Dante's film knowledge is probably unsurpassable, so that was an incredibly valuable episode. Onya PCP.
2019 BOOK
Happy New Year!
Re4sults, Not Answers - Young Scientist
Next Of Kin OST - Klaus Schulze
Viral Shedding/Spiritflesh - Nocturnal Emissions
Michael O'Shea - Michael O'Shea
All The Young Droogs - Various
Slayed? - Slade
Loverboy - Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti
Kirlian Visionz (2014-17) - Ekoplekz
Water Memory/Mount Vision - Emily A Sprague
Peruvian cumbia, chica and psych get the compilation (Cumbia Beat Volume 3) and reissue (Los Destellos) treatment thanks to the underrated label Vampisoul. Speaking of Vampisoul they reissued a stack of original LPs from the most prestigious ye olde Columbian record label Discos Fuentes. I bought a bunch of these by the likes of Michi Sarmiento, Fruko Y Sus Tesos, Lito Barrientos Y Su Orquesta, Los Supremos etc. but they have yet to get any air time.
The Japanese deluge continues with Vanity Box which is the entire 7" and LP catalogue from Osaka's obscure subterranean label Vanity. They released minimal, electronic, post punk and experimental music from 1978-1981. Their catalogue is so rare that original copies of Vanity records go for absurd prices. So thanks to Kyou Records & WRWTFWW we can all now experience this cult label's output, most of which is stunningly unique. Special mention must also go to the Light In The Attic label for releasing Pacific Breeze and Kankyō Ongaku two excellent and comprehensive compilations covering 70s & 80s City Pop, AOR, Boogie, Ambient, Environmental, New Age etc. Plus there were reissues of Japanese classic LPs from Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yutaka Hirose, Akiko Yano, Satoshi Ashikawa, Yoshio Ojima and more thanks to the wonderful Wewantsounds and WRWTFWW labels.
Special mention must go to Strut who put out the 4th volume of Nigeria 70 this year on the 20th anniversary of the first volume which was a total game-changer in the archival compilation game. I still remember buying my copy on Chapel St. in Prahran at either a HMV or Virgin megastore back in the day. All of the tunes on Nigeria 70: No Wahala have never been issued outside of Africa before which is astounding. Ostinato Records had another brilliant year with three outstanding releases unearthing more gold from Cabo Verde and Senegal. Along with those aforementioned labels Habibi Funk, Analog Africa, Awesome Tapes From Africa and Africa Seven also provided choice compilations of African music this year from Somalia, Mali, Ghana, The Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Morocco and beyond. Surprisingly one of the best years ever in African archival reissues.
Then there was all this fabulous sweet obscure gospel disco, gospel, soul disco and choice AOR boogie. These irresistible soundz came courtesy of labels like ESP Institute, Cultures of Soul Records, Favorite Recordings & Luaka Bop. These compilations were a life affirming tonic to the absurd world in which we all now live.
2019 was also the year I finally got into Nocturnal Emissions after Ekoplekz mentioned his admiration for their 1988 classic Spiritflesh LP in a tweet. For a long time I've intended to sit down and give Nocturnal Emissions a good listen and Spiritflesh being reissued has made me a total believer. So I tracked down another Nocturnal Emissions 2019 reissue, 1983's Viral Shedding which is also cool but more beat-y conform to deform industrial than the ominous clanky enviro-ambience of Spiritflesh. Both of these sterling records were reissued by Mannequin Records along with the more song oriented Songs of Love & Revolution (1985). So now I've accumulated another six of their albums and they're all bloody good. This obsession could get out of hand like my Current 93 one has.
Zoviet France released a 15 LP box-set Châsse Recordings 1982-1987. At over $500 this prime era Zoviet France box sadly remains out of my hands.
Finally we can't forget the miscellaneous archival releases in the fields of Glam-Rock, Soca, Avant-garde, Electronic, Noise, Experimental, EBM, Industrial-Dance, Ambient and whatever the fuck Michael O'Shea's brilliant music is.
2019 TELLY
FLEABAG
I didn't think the charismatic Phoebe Waller-Bridge was going to be able to top the first season of Fleabag but I think she did. The finest cast and best show of 2019.
CHERNOBYL
The only way to describe this 5 part HBO drama is grim yet gripping. It's hard to watch but you can't look away. A truly horrific catastrophe that happened in my lifetime. Now the mystery of what really happened is revealed. Great gloomy score from Hildur Guðnadóttir.
MR INBETWEEN
Best Australian crime show since Wildside (1997-99). Dark, violent, hilarious and kinda touching.
LINE OF DUTY
Another brilliant season of the best British cop show ever. Some people may not have liked it as much because they front loaded the season with the action packed episodes which in previous seasons were placed in the concluding episodes. It's still all about catching bent coppers.
MINDHUNTER
Top shelf telly based on the life and books of John E Douglas the FBI's original serial killer profiler. Includes the frustrating Atlanta Child Murders case and sit downs with Son Of Sam and good ole Chuck Manson. It's all leading up to the next season though when I suspect they're finally going to track down BTK.
THE CROWN
Very good but you can't top the first two seasons which were TV drama perfection. The episode about the Aberfan Disaster is truly haunting and horrific.
THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR
Five part documentary series on John Demjanjuk. An elderly Grandfather in Cleveland is accused of being a notorious Nazi concentration camp guard responsible for psychotic cruelty and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The best true crime documentary of the year.
THE CONFESSION KILLER
If you thought American true crime documentaries couldn't get any more twisted think again. Get a look inside the demented world of Henry Lee Lucas, Texas Rangers and an absurd justice system. Shocking and infuriating.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
2019 PODCAST
PURE CINEMA PODCAST
Elric Kane and Brian Saur posted their first episode of this podcast in February 2017. It was good but their tastes were so aligned with mine it sometimes felt like I was patting myself on the back listening to them rave about many of my favourite films. Twelve months ago they got sponsored by The New Beverly Cinema in LA which is owned by Quentin Tarantino. Once a month they now do a special episode devoted to going through what's on at that theatre for the month. For these episodes they are now joined by co-host Phil Blankenship and sometimes Jules McLean who are employees of the cinema. The New Beverly is a repertory cinema with a twist which is quite possibly paradigm-shifting. They don't just show the same old cult classics and midnight movies. They often show little known, popular, rare, strange, obscure, unloved, forgotten, and unheralded films from the the olden days, the recent past and even sometimes the present. This year they showed current flicks Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (of course), Dolemite Is My Name, Shirkers and probably a couple of others. They always roll film be it 35mm or 16mm, you won't get no digital there. Anyway these calendar episodes have become totally essential for me as they often introduce me to films I've never seen and sometimes never even heard of. Not only that there is always a total film buff as a special guest to guide us through what is about to be screened. QT turned up for the best episode of the year and I think in that one episode alone he mentioned at least 20 films I'd never heard of. The other highlight for me was when Larry Karaszewski (writer of Ed Wood, Dolemite Is My Name, Problem Child etc.) was there to drop his knowledge on a bunch of New Hollywood Era flicks, oh boy this man knows his stuff. Other guests on the calendar episodes have included Josh Olson, Kim Morgan, Alicia Malone, Pat Healy etc. The outstanding non-calendar episode for me was when legendary movie director Joe Dante (Pirañha, The Howling, Gremlins, The Burbs etc.) dropped in to talk about nothing else but Westerns for an hour and a half. Dante's film knowledge is probably unsurpassable, so that was an incredibly valuable episode. Onya PCP.
2019 BOOK
Happy New Year!
i didn't hear about the Vanity box - a lot of your reissues in fact passed me by completely.
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