2019 was a varied and somewhat disjointed year for me. I spent a lot of time on autopilot, in many ways. Looking back now at the topography, both personal and musical, of the last 12 months most of it all blurs together into a flat landscape, punctuated by the occasional hills and ditches. There was some music that really spoke to me and provided sustained periods of elevation…and a lot that I enjoyed for a while but ultimately lost appeal quite quickly.

As usual, I find the data from last.fm (breakdown here) really interesting and informative in making sense of  my listening habits from the last year; here’s a look at my favourite music from 2019.

A L B U M S

Sometimes there’s a surprising disconnect between my emotive choices for my favourite albums/tracks etc vs. the actual number of listens. This is the case this year across the board for me, I think mostly because some stuff I listened to a lot but already know I’m unlikely to listen to it much in the future, whereas other stuff definitely hits the emotional connection that promises staying power and the likelihood of becoming a future staple.

While a solid album, based only on repeated listens Tool’s Fear Inoculum does not come out tops (the tracks are long and best listened to in one go, making it harder to listen to on shuffle or in isolation, affecting the play count) but based on, for lack of a better description, cultural significance, it earns the top spot of 2019 for me. I wrote some thoughts on the album in more depth for Texx and the City, check it out over here.

Like Tool, The National are firm favourites of mine and while their 2019 release I am Easy to Find takes stylistic directions I’m not inherently fond of it’s an enjoyable album with some solid tracks that I’d rank among the band’s best.

Awash with synths, reverb and general 80s vibes, Drab Majesty’s Modern Mirror makes for easy listening with some of the catchiest riffs and melodies of the year. Again with some obvious standout tracks but holding together really cohesively, it’s been heavily repeated since its July release.

Favourite albums:

• Tool – Fear Inoculum
• The National – I Am Easy To Find
• Drab Majesty – Modern Mirror

Others I enjoyed, in no particular order:

• Rammstein – Rammstein
• 3TEETH – Metawar
• Hellcats – The Hex and the Healer
• Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow
• Julia Robert – Pop Bullies
• Foals – Everything Not Saved will be Lost (part 1 & 2)
• Eluveitie – Ategnatos
• Billie Eilish – When we all fall asleep, where do we go?

Albums I missed/overlooked in the past and really enjoyed last year:

• Low – Double Negative (2018)
• Phoebe Bridgers – Stranger in the Alps (2018)
• The Cure – Disintegration (1989)
• Miss Kittin – Cosmos (2018)
• Cold Showers – Love and Regret (2012)
• Markus Krunegård – I huvet på en idiot… (2018)

A R T I S T S

Like last year, I got very obsessed over several artists this last year and often proceeded to play their back catalogues to death, so this was neater than listing all their albums. None of them are new to me but I was hearing a lot of their music for the first time:

• The Cure
• 3TEETH
• Regina Spektor
• Rasputina
• Blink-182

T R A C K S

Favourite track:

• 3TEETH – BLACKOUT

Others I enjoyed, in no particular order:

• The National – Roman Holiday  /  Rylan
• Drab Majesty – Ellipsis / Oxytocin
• Tool – Fear Inoculum / Pneuma
• Rammstein – Zeig Dich
• Sharon Van Etten – Memorial Day
• Cold Showers – Faith
• Julia Robert – Salt Seeks Summer
• Jimmy Eat World – 555
• Hellcats – Moonlight
• Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys – The Ocean at Night
• Charli XCX – Gone
• HEALTH – Feel Nothing
• Lizzo – Juice

Tracks I missed in previous years and really enjoyed last year:

• Low – Dancing and Blood
• The Cure – Pictures of You
• Puscifer – Balls to the Wall (Pillow Fight mix)
• Phoebe Bridgers – Smoke Signals
• Stina Nordenstam – Trainsurfing

L I V E

Most enjoyable gigs I’ve attended this year:

looking back I realise I shot fewer shows than in previous years and only attended 1 festival…that festival was incredible though and overall I had the great fortune to see and shoot some truly amazing things in 2019.

Bonobo’s Kirstenbosch show in Feb was really lovely; The Cure headlined Rock on the Lawns and were utterly amazing live; The Sleepers commemorated the 10 year anniversary of their debut album A Signal Path at Mercury; Medicine Boy performed their last show in Cape Town (that I would attend).

I traveled extensively* during the middle of the year and while in Copenhagen had the opportunity to attend what’s currently sitting on top of my list of all-time favourite festivals: Copenhell. Live high points for me included Eluveitie, Heilung, Slipknot, Fever333 and a hypnotic set from Tool.

Everything about the festival experience was fantastic and I would highly recommend it for all heavy music fans – I wrote a more in depth review for TATC, check it out over here.

Back home, highlights for the latter half of the year included the second installment of TATC’s After Dark series at the Two Oceans Aquarium, a highly entertaining night of music and anecdotes courtesy of Bumblefoot, some great shows from Peasant, who did a lot to sustain my need for heavy music and moshing.

I also shot over 30 shows at Aces ‘n’ Spades including some real standouts from Grassy Spark, Retro Dizzy & PIXLS and Hellcats & Indika Black.

Hellcats at Aces

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Hopefully the new decade will bring renewed enthusiasm and excitement to music. Happy new year and happy listening in 2020!

* I’d hoped to have travel pics from 2018 up by now but I’m getting even slower and slower at processing and posting travel pics so I have no idea when I’ll get around to doing the 2018 Scandinavian ones or 2019 Europe ones …but some pics from NorthSide are up over here and there are some other travel pics up on my Instagram in the meantime