We love lists. When we canât be bothered having to decide anything for ourselves, we turn to lists to make our decisions about what to like or dislike. Therefore, to complement my list of the best movies of 2019, I thought I should also share my thoughts on the best music releases of last year.
Now, this list is compiled only from music I have purchased this year in any format (digital, CD, vinyl etc). Â After all, if a piece of music isnât worthy of your money, it canât be that good. If you say you âloveâ a band or artist, but you only listen to them on streaming services, then you donât really like them at all. I mean, anything that is free is good and of course we like stuff that is free, so the fact that somebody listens to music free on Spotify is hardly an endorsement as to the talents of an artist or the quality of their music.
If you like it, buy it (and attend concerts and buy merchandise as well) so that artists can actually make some money and be in a position to release some more music that you might also like.
So, that being said, here is a list of the music that has really impressed me this year. It includes a lot of new discoveries and quite a bit of Australian content as the local scene is thriving at the moment in terms of quality releases from great artists. The list only includes albums released in 2019 and purchased between January 1 and December 31 and therefore excludes individual song releases or EPâs, regardless of when they were released. Having said that, there were some cracking singles and EPâs released last year from the likes of Sahara Beck, Flossy, Middle Kids, Eliza & The Delusionals, The Buoys and Jaguar Jonze, just to name a few.
The strong prevalence of female artists on the list isnât indicative of anything other than the fact that, at the moment, women are absolutely smashing it across all genres.
Anyway, sharing is caring, so here are 20 great album releases from 2019, not in any particular order, that stand out for a whole range of reasons:
Ali Barter â Hello, Iâm Doing My Best
Ali Barterâ Hello, Iâm Doing My Best
Amyl and The Sniffers â Amyl and The Sniffers
Marika Hackman â Any Human Friend
Mannequin Pussy â Patience
Mattiel â Satis Factory
Thelma Plum â Better in Black
Pinch Points â Moving Parts
 Laura Imbruglia â Scared of You
 Faye Webster â Atlanta Millionaires Club
 Sharon Van Etten â Remind Me Tomorrow
 Julia Jacklin â Crushing
 Priests â Seduction of Kansas
 Stella Donnelly â Beware of the Dogs
 Jade Bird â Jade Bird
 Ex Hex â Itâs Real
 Angie McMahon â Salt
 Alex Lahey â The Best of Luck Club
 Bleached â Donât You think Youâve Had Enough
 Miss June â Bad Luck Party
  Sweet Sweet Music, the Best of 2019 We love lists. When we canât be bothered having to decide anything for ourselves, we turn to lists to make our decisions about what to like or dislike.Â