A Best of 2019 Music List By A Guy Who Mostly Bought Used Records?
I didn’t buy a lot of new music this year. I bought a lot of records, don’t get me wrong, but most were used records, instead of new music released this year. I always thought of myself as the guy who was hip to the newest music trends and buying things as they were released, but not this year. This means, of course, that putting together a “Best Of” list for 2019 is challenging, but I’m going to take a shot and cheat a little with my picks by including reissues.
I don’t know if it’s worth analyzing my music consumption habits for others but I think I can sum it pretty quickly. This year I switched from Spotify to Apple Music after Spotify repealed the increased royalties to be paid to songwriters set forth in the new MMA legislation and Apple Music did not. So I want to support Apple Music and know when I stream music they are paying songwriters properly. Overall this led to a general downturn in online music consumption for me and I found myself digging more for older records in thrift stores, record shops and record shows. In April I started a bi-monthly DJ residency at my friend’s record store, Vinyl Tap, and found that in order to DJ a four hour set twice a month, I needed more music and used records were more affordable and easier to spin because I knew what songs would work in my sets. So my record budget went to used records and I spent more time listening to those instead of new ones or streaming music in general.
But there were still a handful of new releases that stuck out for me. Here we go…
Starflyer 59 - Young In My Head
This album, quite unexpectedly, turned out to be my favorite release of this year. Jason Martin has been making music since the mid-90’s and I’ve grown up listening to it all. I took a break for a few years and stopped following his new releases, but I’ve gone back and revisited all of them recently and really fallen back in love with his music. I believe that Jason has reached a certain level of artistry that many would envy. He consistently releases music without the pressures of radio, press or touring. He just records music and releases it for his fans. In today’s popularized vinyl market, that means his fan base is eagerly waiting anything he releases and it often sells out quick. That was the case with the red vinyl version of Young In My Head. What I love the most about the record is that his sixteen year old son plays drums on the entire album. I have sixteen year old sons and I’m mostly worried about them driving and getting good grades. I can’t imagine recording an entire album with them, ha. Regardless, I think these are some of the strongest songs Jason’s released in the past few years. They have this laid back Echo & The Bunnymen feel to them that makes them perfect for my DJ sets. If you haven’t listened to his album, I highly suggest doing so.
Pedro the Lion - Phoenix
I saw David Bazan touring as Pedro the Lion in the fall of 2018 and was happy to see him embracing his alter ego that I’ve followed for so many years. Confession, I’ve been a bigger Pedro the Lion fan than David Bazan fan over the years and what I mean is that I’ve bought almost every Pedro release while lazily streaming Bazan’s solo records. During his show, he took questions from the crowd, and many of his answers revolved around him coming to the conclusion that it’s okay for just him to be Pedro the Lion moving forward. He knows that his fans want Pedro the Lion records, regardless of who is actually in the band. Those of us who have followed Pedro the Lion since the Whole EP release in 1997 completely agree. So to me, Phoenix is the album where Bazan is rising out of the ashes (if you’ll allow me to assume such with the title) and making music again as Pedro the Lion and will hopefully do so for many years to come. If you listen to one song on this album, I suggest Quietest Friend, a song about knowing a person for years and the way we often mistreat those people but somehow maintain their friendship throughout it all.
William Tyler - Goes West
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing William and remember him telling me he was moving to Los Angeles. In fact, I bought a pair of Marantz speakers from him before he moved, ha. I was excited to see when he announced the release of Goes West and immediately pre-ordered a copy from Merge. The album sounds to me like a road trip from Nashville to Los Angeles. If you like instrumental music, be sure to add this to your collection. It’s a perfect album to play in the background while working and yet it’s interesting enough to keep you entertained on a long drive like I mentioned above. I can’t wait to hear what William does next.
REISSUE: Hum - Downward Is Heavenward
True story…Matt from Hum announced on his Facebook page he was reissuing this album and it would go on sale on a Saturday at noon. I put a notification on my calendar and clicked the link over and over again beginning at noon to make sure I got my copy. I did but many did not and that led him to press it again on blue vinyl (which I’ve done a marvelous job at not also ordering). I’ve been hoping for a vinyl release of this album for years and it finally happened and it sounds exactly like I hoped it would. I saw Hum on this tour in 1997 and I was blown away by just how BIG they sounded. I’ve always thought Downward captured that big sound the best and it sounds great on my turntable. The song I’ve grown to really love this last year is Green To Me. Thank you Matt for making this reissue happen. PS - Matt released a song this year under his own name which you can buy on his Bandcamp page.
REISSUE: R.E.M. - Monster
Monster is 25 years old and it took 24 years for me to appreciate this album. When it was first released in 1994, I was burned out on the lead single, What’s the Frequency Kenneth? and just never got around to spending much time with the rest of the album. My fault. The song that brought me back to appreciating this album was Strange Currencies, the most REM sounding song on an album filled with distorted guitars and muted vocals. REM were so big at this point that I’ve often thought this album was meant to purge some of those fair weather fans and appeal only to their hardcore fan base. Well, in 1994 I was purged, ha. But I found a beat up CD copy last year and gave it another shot and fell in love and immediately started looking for the LP which was very expensive. Thankfully the band reissued the album this year and they did so in a very interesting way by remixing and remastering the LP and including it WITH a copy of the original release. So for the cost of one LP, you got two and the ability to hear an album you’ve listened to many times over in a new way. Very cool. Something for other bands to pay attention to. Thanks REM!
REISSUE: Starflyer 59 - Gold
Yes, I’m writing about Starflyer 59, again. I’ve been waiting for someone to reissue Gold on vinyl and it finally happened this year and I bought the double LP version, in gold color, mastered at 45 RPM which is perfect for this record. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I’m a member of a Starflyer Facebook group, ha, and this release was talked about daily for months. It turned out a little controversial as the fulfillment company didn’t do the best job mailing out the copies and many arrived destroyed, but plenty of copies (like mine) arrived safely and I’m so happy to have a copy to spin.
Like I said at the beginning of this email, I cheated by included a few reissues in my list, but I was as excited for those reissues as I was for any new music released so cut me some slack.
I know there were plenty of great 2019 releases that I missed and chances are I will stumble upon them in 2020. I look forward to the new year and seeing what new music arrives.
If you’d like more information about other songs I’m listening too, visit my website: aaronhartley.me.
Also, check out the Aaron Calling podcast where I call one of my best friends, Aaron Ford, to talk about music, records and more. Listen on Apple or Spotify!
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Happy New Year!