best of (Done!) Ewan Chaos's Top 27 Artists of 2019, A-Z!

[World Eater]

so much to cover, whew chile

I said this in another thread, but I feel like Lost Girls is too empty at times, both lyrically and musically

agreed what you said re: Charli and seeing her live definitely made me appreciate some songs even more

finally someone stanning Drugdealer  ...but I gotta say I didn't like this new album that much, him and Natalie are yet to top Suddenly

Dula Peep snnaped, oh yes she did, and Future Nostalgaga is even better imo

 

Erika De Casier...I don't know a better person

 

this Friendly Fires album was meh  been a fan basically since the release of the last one (which I LOVED), but this simply wasn't worth such long wait

the Foxygen drag  I don't remember a single thing from this album and I say this as someone who has loved their last three records (even And Star Power!)

and lastly, HAIM SNAPPED, I'm honestly shocked

 

On 12/8/2019 at 10:17 PM, Ewan Chaos said:

SCREAMING you always absolutely hate completely innocuous musicians every year like... I think it was the boygenius ladies last year and then also Lydia  Knew you'd appreciate Aldous though.

what can I do, they all make me physically ill

 

boygenius may have made some points though, but I still hate Julien

[madonnas]

WAIT I didn't know Hallelujah existed?!  I thought we just had Summer Girl and NIII

I didn't know Gavin released this year, she usually gives us a bop or two a year but I never really check on her that much.  Don't Fight It is prob still her best song.

 

Your True hatred   it will grow on you.

 

[Ewan Chaos]

Going to a company holiday party, pray I don't die!

 

Letter: J

 

Top Artist: Jenny Lewis

Okay so I found that even though there were a lot of J musicians that I liked this year, none of them really released anything that I was so so so so in love with, so I may sound a little more muddled about my choices here than I intend to hahaha. Jenny in particular, I wanted to give her some love since I assumed this album would be underrated and I’m finding that to be true. I’m still kinda pissed P4K didn’t give her BNA, but meh whatever.

 

Wasted Youth is the top pick here for me. I guess it’s more about the arrangement of the song and production/instruments than the lyrics, but the second I heard this song I always wanted to go back to it. So that must be a good sign!

 

Red Bull & Hennessey was the first track I and most others heard and I still really enjoy it as well. A very breezy and sweeping track that almost borders on hard rock with the guitar and I just love that. Heads Gonna Roll, a cute opener, yep. Little White Dove is cute too - very mellow track that I’d enjoy hearing at like a lowkey bar or something. I also enjoyed On the Line, Dogwood, and Do Si Do.

 

Runner-Up: Jade Bird

I was reeeeeaaally looking forward to her debut album since I loved literally every single from last year and saw her live and it was so much fun. Honestly, as cute and fun as the album ended up being, I was a little disappointed, but I really love her so she deserves a little shout-out being such a talented queen, especially at such a young age.

 

Of the songs only released this year, I Get No Joy is a Jade-classic with the rapid spoken-word verses and the screaming along chorus. The “all the words your mother said…” is fun as HELL especially when you try to sing it. Side Effects is a number 2, given that it’s a more breezy and swinging fun track and it was one of the ones that she did live last year that was soooo good.

17 is a gorgeous ballad and sooooo good. And I’ll also give Going Gone a shout-out too. Now for the songs that came out last year, I rank those as Lottery > Love Has All Been Done Before > Uh Huh. Give her a listen if you haven’t before!

 

Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations*

Artist	Loves It	She's a Cute Girl	It's a No From Me	Notes
J.S. Ondara	Lebanon	American Dream, Torch Song, Saying Goodbye, Give Me a Moment		Yas Grammy nom'd king
Jack Penate	Prayer	Murder, Ancient Skin, GMT		Cool record! He hasn't released in ages and, fun fact, Jessie Ware used to be a backing vocalist for him
Jai Paul	Do You Love Her Now	He		I love him. I guess I could have put the "leaked" album stuff here too...
James Blake	Barefoot In The Park (feat. Rosalia)			Never cared for James Blake... this SONG tho!
Jamila Woods	BETTY (for Boogie)	Basquiat, Miles, Sonia, Zora		Great album. I liked it more than her last one!
Japanese Wallpaper	Tell Me What You Mean by That	Imaginary Friends, Tongue Tied		This is like... one of the best pop songs I've heard in a long time.
Jay Som	Devotion	Superbike, Anak Ko, Peace Out, Tenderness		I like it more than the previous record! A verrrrry close #3
Jayda G	Sunshine in the Valley	Stanley's Get Down (This is the dance floor baby!), Leave Room 2 Breathe, Orca's Reprise		UNDERRATED disco queen! Seriously, check her out
Jenny Hval	Ashes to Ashes	The Practice of Love, Six Red Cannas, High Alice		Good album from the good sis Jenny!
Jens Lekman	Who Really Needs Who			This was cute
Jesca Hoop	Shoulder Charge (feat. Lucius)	Outside of Eden, Free of Falling, Old Fear of Father		She is so underrated, however her album from 2016 outsold
Jessie Ware	Mirage (Don't Stop)	Adore You		Love the good sis, always. YES I prefer Mirage, SUE ME
Jidenna	Sou Sou	85 to Africa, Babouche, Vaporiza, Sufi Woman		Better album than his debut. This song is SEXY.
Jon Bellion	Crop Circles			Meh, enjoyed the song more when it had first come out
Jonas Brothers	Sucker	Happy When I'm Sad		Their album was okay
Joy Williams	No Place Like You	The Trouble with Wanting & Canary (from 2018), When Creation was Young, One and Only		I think the songs from last year I liked more than the album unfortunately, but it's still good!
JPEGMAFIA	Kenan Vs. Kel	Jesus Forgive Me, Post Verified, Thot Tactics, All My Heroes...		Good rap album! Didn't have as much time to give it love tho
Jukebox The Ghost	The Other Side			Saw them live this year; LOVED IT
Justin Townes Earle	Don't Drink the Water	Ain't Got No Money, Over Alameda, Flint City Shake It		A fun little country album
The Japanese House	We Talk all the Time	You Seemed so Happy, Maybe You're the Reason, Marika is Sleeping, Lilo		This is a good album but I wished I listened to it more!

[Ewan Chaos]

Spoiler

 

11 hours ago, TheWayWeWere said:

ionnalee new album serves Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten: Side B realness tbh  

nice to see some praise for HAIM's STTY  actually I loved it better than debut  all 3 new singles are flawless tho ! very excited 

YES exactly with ionnalee, and personally I wasn't even that sold on that album so  Ooh love to see an underrated opinion re: STTY.

8 hours ago, Lazuli said:

haim  something to tell you was ok but i was a disappointment tho. now i'm in it deserved a lil more praise  

you calling hatchie overrated...  

 

I love Now I'm In It too sis, don't worry! And nnnn sorry about Hatchie, it's just everyone was clamoring for me to listen to her EP when I snubbed her last year and I waited until the album to check her out and was like "eh okay I like it, but I'm not obsessed"

8 hours ago, Eeveelution said:

Haim snapped a bit this year tbh... sophomore slump redeemed. Hatchie talented and Harry was surprisingly good! Cherry is my favourite too. 

 

the Is... great gowns.

Yeah the I's are easily nothing to write home about LOL even I can say that. But yas at us stanning Froot I mean the fruit song!

4 hours ago, Vilppu said:

Never liked HAIM but I think their new songs are among their better work, keep it up girls x

Yasssss a good sign. Their singles this year seem to be mostly universally loved which I am ENJOYING.

4 hours ago, Remmy said:

H: half-alive - Nice set of standouts (except ok ok?, but that song is... ok )
Harry Styles - Fine Line delivered, as expected Not as strong as self-titled but I wasn't necessarily expecting that
Hatchie - A little overrated?!?!? How dare you. Mmmm a nice top 5 from her.

 

You know, I think ok, ok has opener privilege for me lol cuz I don't LOOOOVE it or anything.

 

kiiii I mean I like Hatchie!

3 hours ago, World Eater said:

so much to cover, whew chile

I said this in another thread, but I feel like Lost Girls is too empty at times, both lyrically and musically

agreed what you said re: Charli and seeing her live definitely made me appreciate some songs even more

finally someone stanning Drugdealer  ...but I gotta say I didn't like this new album that much, him and Natalie are yet to top Suddenly

Dula Peep snnaped, oh yes she did, and Future Nostalgaga is even better imo

 

Erika De Casier...I don't know a better person

 

this Friendly Fires album was meh  been a fan basically since the release of the last one (which I LOVED), but this simply wasn't worth such long wait

the Foxygen drag  I don't remember a single thing from this album and I say this as someone who has loved their last three records (even And Star Power!)

and lastly, HAIM SNAPPED, I'm honestly shocked

 

what can I do, they all make me physically ill

 

boygenius may have made some points though, but I still hate Julien

Future Nostalgaga sksksksks but yes it's so good. I kinda wish I waited to get to the D's for the song to be out. Yas the Erika stanning too.

 

Was wondering what you thought of Friendly Fires! If you can catch them live, the new album sounds amazing live, but ah well if you didn't care much for the album.

 

GOD that Foxygen album was terrible! I really stanned their album from 2016 (and also their songs prior) but when I listened to the album I was soooooooo disappointed. Their album would prob be top of my hated list if I did that sort of thing.

 

And a little spoiler... I know there's another girl you're not gonna be happy to see in an upcoming letter but I won't say too much outside of that  Not in a top 2, but they're included.

55 minutes ago, Madame X said:

WAIT I didn't know Hallelujah existed?!  I thought we just had Summer Girl and NIII

I didn't know Gavin released this year, she usually gives us a bop or two a year but I never really check on her that much.  Don't Fight It is prob still her best song.

 

Your True hatred   it will grow on you.

 

LISTEN TO HALLELUJAH I feel like given you're taste you'll prefer SG and NIII, but it's totally worth the listen (and not just a cover of that Hallelujah song lmao).

 

Don't Fight It is phenomenal so I understand that feeling. I just still am obsessed with all of her 2017 EP more than everything. Elevator and 2AM are totally worth listens though, so you should check them out! Great videos, too. As for True... we'll see  

 

 

[smholiv]

Drag James  

 

Jay Som... whew I need to go revisit for sure!

 

Nice Jai Paul pick too

[JGibson]

Jon Bellion 

[kelly-clarkson]

Jonas Brothers

I never listened their music before but Hapiness Begins is a great pop album

[Tom Vercetti]

I like how consistent your format has been over the years. Wish I could say a lot of good things about this year's music but alas. 

Just going by the recent update, James Blake has been completely forgotten but his own fault for releasing so early in the year w/ subpar material. Looking forward to potential new albums from Jai & Jessie Ware. 

[theblackestday]

Hatchie not overrated! 

[BlackoutZone]

Mess I missed so many letters

Loving to see some Grimes, Hannah Diamond, Hatchie, ionnalee and most definitely Jessie Ware! I’m so excited for her album I already know it will be top 5 of 2020 releases  

[Remmy]

Jon Bellion - Love love love him. Crop Circles was one of those songs I only listened to once and then forgot about. I wish the Glory Sound Prep era was longer, it could've used at least 1 more single. At least he snapped on Good Things Fall Apart w/ ILLENIUM.

Jonas Brothers - My sister is suuuch a massive stan. Wasn't impressed by their album. I'd mainly just revisit my trinity (I Believe/Only Human/Don't Throw It Away) and that's it. Happy When I'm Sad kinda haunts me sometimes, sounds like it was made for a kid's show.

[TheWayWeWere]

what's wrong with preffering Mirage over Adore You?  superior song wins  

[jose168]

Ohg what a cute concept let me read

[jose168]

On 12/8/2019 at 4:03 PM, Ewan Chaos said:

Hoping to do 2 updates today! I had... quite a busy yesterday  

 

Letter: B

 

Top Artist: Betty Who

Betty Who finally released a full LP that’s basically all good! That’s not to shade her previous two albums too hard, but you can tell she’s really come into her own style by mixing the good aspects of the “throwback” first album and the “modern” second album. You can tell pretty immediately when Old Me opens up too how confident she’ll be on the record. I’m sure a lot of this can be attributed to her leaving/being dropped by her old record label and impressively pumping out new songs very quickly.

 

It took a bit for me to actually decide on a full favorite track, but it’s gonna be Do With It, which is basically one of two of my favorite sex bops of 2019. It had to grow on me for me to really like it, and I can’t even pinpoint what makes the song so good, but I’ve been really obsessed with the song since like mid-March. Great key change towards the end. Marry Me was the O.G. favorite of mine, a very cute love song with a fantastic chorus, and Stop Thinking About You is such a gorgeous “ballad.” The verse about “you’re everywhere, you’re in my blood…” is probably still one of my favorites of the year. Other greats for me are I Remember, Language, and The One.

 

Just Thought You Should Know is still my favorite pre-album track/favorite that was on the previous EPs, but I quite enjoy how sexy Taste is as well. The only song I actually don’t really like is Between You and Me. It’s basically a... crappy redux of JTYSK and super boring.

 

It also helps that I saw Betty live back in May. It was a great concert! I’ve seen her live before and she’s always super fun and a great performer.

 

Runner-Up: Bat For Lashes

Absolutely in love with this album too! Compared to The Bride, I feel like every song really serves a purpose on the album and the album doesn’t feel too long at all. Peach Sky is that bitch for me; cowbell, great drumming, memorable synthline, a weird reverse speak thing… what a divine track. 

So Good is probably a close second, and then Safe Tonight, even if it is a somewhat safe track for Natasha. Feel For You was my favorite of the singles; what a bop! Really excited to see her live in February. Basically, short hair Natasha > long hair Natasha, sorry bout it.

 

Second Runner-Up: Big Thief

I really didn’t want to have second runners-up because it would be too much, for each letter but I had to give Big Thief a shout-out as well for releasing 2 amazing albums in the same year. UFOF > Two Hands.

Running through quickly: my favorites from UFOF are Cattails, Strange, Betsy, Contact, and From. My favorite from Two Hands are Two Hands, Not, Forgotten Eyes, and Those Girls.

 

Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations*

Artist	Loves It	She's a Cute Girl	It's a No From Me	Notes
Bad Suns	Love By Mistake			Kinda bad album! Their 2016 record outsold for SURE
BANKS	Gimme	Alaska, Stroke, Til Now	The Francis song, The Fall, What About Love	Banks is still a cute girl. Better than The Altar
Basement Jaxx	Yodel Song			An excuse to add my faves to my list!
Bastille	The Waves	4 a.m., Joy, Doom Days, Another Place	Bad Decisions	I liked this album! Less than Wild World, more than Bad Blood
Beirut	Varieties of Exile	Gauze fur Zah, Landslide, Corfu, We Never Lived Here		Cute album. OBSESSED with my top pick from them, love the ukulele and the horns especially at the end
Ben Platt	Ease My Mind	Grow as We Go		Cute!
Best Coast	For The First Time			Ready for more.
Beyonce	BIGGER			I'll wait until her next solo album before judging tbh
Bibio	The Art Of Living	Watch the Flies, Curls, It's Your Bones, Old Graffiti, Before		AMAZING album. Definitely a close #4 from the B's
Biffy Clyro	All Singing And All Dancing	Jasabiab, All Singing and All Dancing, Colour Wheel, Balance Not Symmetry		ALSO an amazing album!
Billie Eilish	bad guy	i love you, my strange addiction		Overall I find her overrated, but I still think she's pretty cool & when she has a good song it's GOOD.
Bishop Briggs	CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?	Champion	Like... everything else lol	She's a cute girl just... so loud. CYHMN is a great mix of what makes loud-Briggs great without being OTT
Black Pumas	Know You Better	Black Moon Rising, Fire, Confines, OCT 33		Recent listen after Grammys, but a good one!
Bleached	Kiss You Goodbye	Silly Girl, Rebound City		Kind of meh!
Blood Orange	Good For You	Dark & Handsome		I mean... it's no Cupid Deluxe, as I say every year
Blue Hawaii	Still I Miss U	On a High, All That Blue, Sparkle		Recent album, I like the slight variety but cohesiveness of the songs! Of the bops, On a High is my fave
Bombay Bicycle Club	Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)			New album in a month!
Bon Iver	Hey, Ma	U (Man Like)		I've just never been able to stan Bon Iver idk why
Boy Harsher	Tears	Face the Fire, Lost, Fate		Cute album; Tears is a MASSIVE bop
Bring Me The Horizon	medicine	nihilist blues, in the dark, mother tongue		Good rock record
Brittany Howard	Goat Head	Presence, History Repeats, Tomorrow, Baby, Run to Me		A great solo record from Brittany!
Broods	Hospitalized	Everytime You Go, Sucker, Dust, Peach, Everything Goes	To Belong	Their best album for sure. Peach & Everything Goes from 2018 are still the best.
Bruce Springsteen	Hello Sunshine	Western Stars, The Wayfaer, Sundown		Great album!
The Ballet	Love Letter	But I'm a Top, Messing Around, Jersey		Gay legends

 

On 12/9/2019 at 1:32 AM, Ewan Chaos said:

Fitting in update #2 here today! Another big one.

 

Letter: C

 

Top Artist: Carly Rae Jepsen

I know you gays seem to sleep on someone every year (you lot still underrated Primal Heart too much), but UGH at everyone being like “Dedicated was disappointing, meh.” Yes it wasn’t as good as Emotion, even I can admit that, but come on! IT’S SO GOOD.

 

No Drug Like Me would actually probably be my favorite song of… the year. This year has been filled with sexy jams and this is just barely above Do With It. THAT is a phenomenal chorus. A pretty close second would be Julien which is disco-pop excellence. The breathy chorus paired with the “last breath that I breathe” is so good. Want You In My Room rounds out my top 3 because, well, it’s understandably basically everyone’s favorite track from the album. I think its short length lends to its strengths.

 

Other loves would be the “didn’t need to be called out Carly, thx” bop Too Much, the polarizing and bizarre Everything He Needs, the Mariah Carey driving-with-the-windows down underrated Automatically in Love, the fun, breezy, and WAY underrated funk of Feels Right, and the beautiful “closer” Real Love. The oooooonly track I don’t care for is Right Words Wrong Times.

 

Fun fact, she was probably also my favorite concert of the year (and I saw A LOT of concerts this year). It was the Friday of pride weekend too so… IT WAS LIT.

 

Runner-Up: Charli XCX

Yeah yeah, Pop 2 is her magnum opus, I KNOW and I AGREE okay. But Charli the album is still quite good! It totally ****s live as well, so you really need to check out Choli live at one point and experience these songs live. I think you can tell the point she wanted to make with the album with the bangers, futuristic tracks, and electro-emo in the middle, but it totally got muddled down with some subpar songs like Warm & White Mercedes (which personally, I still get enjoyment out of both).

 

Anyway, my top 4 always rotate so I’ll just list them in order & try to bold one. Gone was always gonna be awesome with Chris on the track. I think lyrically it’s a pretty great move for Charli to actually be more emotional/deep than just partying while still fitting the BOP of a song that it is. Cross You Out is that True Romance-throwback excellence that really keeps you hooked with the banging production. Official is my favorite of the electro-emo tracks in the middle of the record. The melody is absolutely fantastic and I think the song is just phenomenal. Shake It… would probably be my top pick if I HAD to select one. I mean, I Got It is still my fave Pop 2 song, so it shouldn’t be surprising that I absolutely love a messy MASSIVE banger of a song.

Outside of those, I also enjoy Next Level Charli, I Don’t Wanna Know, February 2017, and 2099. And you know what, I think Thoughts gets a really bad rap. It starts off the electro-emo part of the album really well and you can tell it’s gonna be the “in your feelings” part of the record, with her autotune being WILD. Whatevs, y’all.

 

OKAY ALSO, does anyone else have friends who like... know you like Charli XCX and they go "omg just listened to her album and it's great! Fave song was 1999 "? Because I swear that's like the definition of her career LOL.

 

Second Runner-Up: Caroline Polachek

Okay again… really didn’t want to have multiple runners-up for this, but Caroline got ME ****ED UP! I mean, I knew she had the range given all of her career in Charlift (well, we can overlook most of the debut LP), but this is amazing! Again, it’s hard for me to pick an absolute top favorite from the album, but I have to give it to Door for being the perfect intro to the project. It’s kinda hard for me to explain to people what I find ethereal about the track, but it’s just beauty in all forms.

 

Following Door, I have to highlight other singles So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings (yes I’ve memorized the dance moves…), the spine-tingling chorus of Ocean of Tears, the haunting closer Parachute, and Crying in Public-comparable Look At Me Now.

BUT I also am obsessed with Caroline Shut Up even tho… no one else seems to appreciate it like I do? And also I Give Up, the fantasy of Go As a Dream, and 2003 Postal Service-like Pang are great. I only don’t care for Hit Me Where it Hurts since it feels way too out-of-place and… tbh, I find it boring. I guess I get the appeal tho.

 

Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations*

Artist	Loves It	She's a Cute Girl	It's a No From Me	Notes
C Duncan	Talk Talk Talk	Pulses & Rain, Somebody Else's Home, Blase, Holiday Home		He's a gay so please stan him!
Cage The Elephant	Night Running	Love's the Only Way, Social Cues, Skin and Bones		Actually never listened to them before, nice stuff
Caitlyn Smith	Damn You for Breaking My Heart			Pretty good!
Cardi B	Press		Please Me	As far as her standalones go, Money is better, but it came out last year.
Caribou	Home			Album please
Cassius	Don't Let Me Be	W18, Calliope, Cause oui!, Summer		RIP Zdar :( Great album.
Cate le Bon	Home To You	Daylight Matters, Magnificent Creatures, The Light, You Don't Love Me		Glad she got some critical acclaim for this!
Chance the Rapper	Zanies and Fools	I Got You	Well... every other song	What a trash album!
Charly Bliss	Chatroom	Bleach, Under You, Young Enough, Hard to Believe		Underrated!
Chelsea Wolfe	Deranged for Rock & Roll			Mmmm a bit boring.
Christopher	High	Monogomy, Irony, Just Kiss Me		Cute male pop, which was rare this year
Chromatics	Closer To Grey	You're No Good, Light as a Feather		I... admittedly never listened to them before this album
CHVRCHES	Death Stranding			Ended most of Love is Dead
Cigarettes After Sex	Don't Let Me Go	Falling in Love	The rest lmao? Not even bad, just meh.	zzzzzzzzz
Clairo	Impossible	Softly, Bags, Sofia		Nice album!
Clare Maguire	Jungle Gardenia	Heavenly Disaster, Vibe		Clare, sis, I need a new FULL album from ya!
COIN	I Want It All			Cute sing
Conan Gray	Comfort Crowd			Cute sing x2
Confidence Man	Does It Make You Feel Good?			Legends! I still blast their album from last year lol
Cuco	Best Friend			Album was meh but I think this song is so sweet in a young love kinda way
CUP	Spinning Creature			Interesting album...
The Chemical Brothers	Eve Of Destruction	We've Got to Try, Gotta Keep On, Gravity Drops		Wish my faves could be this creative this late in their career lmao. Don't tell them I said that.

 

Competitive B and C category! I'm a carly STAN, and I like dedicated alot but I'd have to give it to charli xuz the highs are much higher imo. 

On 12/11/2019 at 7:42 PM, Ewan Chaos said:

Going to do an update now and try another later, since I think I may only be able to get in one update tomorrow. Hopefully 2 on Friday, and hopefully one on Saturday. WE SHALL SEE.

 

Letter: F

 

Top Artist: Friendly Fires

We have been WAITING for them to release a new album, and after some teasing last year it is finally out! I can kinda see why people are a tiny bit disappointed in the release, but I think it’s a pretty awesome return. I really love the house influence throughout the album & the fact that they have lots of live instruments, including horns, is super cool. I’d love to take this album to the beach.

 

Silhouettes would be my top pick! How can you NOT be enticed by the “ba-ba-ba” hook with the little guitar riff? Probably my favorite bit of the song actually would be the pre-chorus. I find it getting stuck in my head the most and bopping the most when that part comes up. I do kiiiiiinda wish the outro was tidied up just a bit, but it’s not detracting or anything!

 

Offline is a ****ing bop too. The horns in the chorus is truly everything, and the chorus in general is one of the most fun parts of the album. Almost Midnight is one of the more house-influenced tracks on the album and it works super well imo. Kiss and Rewind is like a basic version of a La Roux track, but I actually really bop to it. Lack of Love is a dope cover that you can really STOMP to down the street. Sleeptalking is so interesting, it’s almost like a Little Red era Katy B. Opener Can't Wait Forever is perfect because... yes lads... I can't wait forever for this album, thanks for releasing it and kicking it off with a banger.

And of course, I’m gonna have to give a shout out to last year’s songs, Heaven Let Me In, and Love Like Waves. The latter would have been my favorite had you asked me last year, but since I saw them live Heaven is my favorite for sure. That production is CLEAN and it’s performed live so well. If you can get the chance to see these dudes live, it’s a serious treat. Ed dance moves are just hilarious and I’ve definitely stolen some of them.

 

Runner-Up: FKA Twigs

WHOA a girl who I would still to this day say had the most overrated album of 2014, being included in the top listing of musicians for ME?! Who would have THOUGHT?! I feel like she actually learned how to make her weird ass whispery voice more impactful with this new production she has, but the SONGWRITING on this album is really what grabs my attention.

 

Underrated Daybed is my top pick, solely for the fact that I know exactly what she means when she sings this to the point that I want to well up. Just feeling like nothing anymore and laying in bed with that awful feeling that switches from numbness to static… but then you somehow get out of it and carry on with things. 

Fallen Alien, another underrated one! Admittedly though… not sure why I’ve been liking this one so much. And then both Mary Magdalene and Sad Day are other songs on this album that are just so beautiful. Home With You was my favorite of the singles, and I ignore that song with Future!

 

Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations*

Artist	Loves It	She's a Cute Girl	It's a No From Me	Notes
Faye Webster	Kingston	Right Side of My Neck, Pigeon, Jonny,		I liked this!
Faze Action	Kubatana			Fun disco bop
Felix Cartal	Love Me			Lights & producer snapped!
FIDLAR	By Myself		The rest of the alberm	Love this chavvy bop. The album, however, SUCKED
Finn	I Know, I Know	Do What You Want Forever, Friends & Lovers		Check out this EP if you like disco! It's awesome!
Fitz and The Tantrums	OCD			Meh, they really fell off in 2016 and haven't recovered
Florence + The Machine	Moderation	Jenny of Oldstone		Cute sings.
Flume	Rushing Back	Let You Know		Cute sings. [2] He had a mixtape?
Flying Lotus	Takashi	9 Carrots, Burning Down the House, The Climb		This was pretty good! I don't have as many specific song standouts tho
Foals	On The Luna (album 1), Wash Off (album 2)			Alberm 1 >>>> Too lazy to back and listen to pick other highlights LOL
Foxygen	Mona			Whew, chile, the ghetto
Frank Ocean	DHL			I can't follow along these singles, just release an album
Free Nationals	Time			Good track, RIP mr. Mac
FRENSHIP	Won't Let You Go			A bop! The rest of the album honestly was meh
Freya Ridings	Poison	Castle		Ehhhhhh only listened cuz she was gonna open for Hozier and then didn't show up...
The Felice Brothers	Special Announcement	Undress		It was alright.

I LOVE the FF album but girl, NOT over twigs.  The album is kinda a seenitbefore moment (Hello In Ghost Colours - Cut Copy).  Takashi was also a nice nod

[jose168]

Jenny is cool too, she opened for Death Cab this summer and I was like 

[Body Electrician]

wow, so many artists  

 

Lost Girls over both Big Thief albums was a choice.. happy to see them acknowledged though

 

Don't think I've ever heard Friendly Fires but I don't need to to know that MAGDALENE is better x

[potent]

Whew at HAIM and Hozier being the top picks for letter H, Now I'm In It is just epic tbh

Hozier's album was a little boring compared to my expectations, but Movement always gives me life!

Hatchie had some great songs on her album, I love Not That Kind and Secret.

[Pink Matter]

I kinda got over HAIM after their debut (which was quite good!) and the reception to their second album didn't really make me want to check that out  But I've been seeing nothing but good things about their recent singles. Gonna save those.

Screaming at the lack of I's

 

SN: Poor James Blake getting lost in the shuffle again dd Barefoot in the Park is a gem though   

[Ewan Chaos]

Welcome back erryone! Hopefully formatting still works LOL. I was able to keep working on this on my Docs/Sheets when we were offline thankfully.

 

Letter: K

 

Top Artist: Kishi Bashi

What an underrated dude. I listened to his 2012 album back when it was on a random “best indie albums” list as #1 and I liked it, but then I needed until 2016 to fall in love with him again since that album Sonderlust is still so good. This album is a concept record that follows the struggles of incarcerated Japanese Americans during WWII, which was also paired with a documentary he made.

 

My favorite track from this album would be Annie, Heart Thief of the Sea, which admittedly seems to not follow the general album theme when you first listen. It’s basically like a sea-shanty you can jig to, with a fun piano-banjo-violin thing going on. You can tell the track was recorded live too, with the opening of the song and some cool backing vocals. I love feeling like I fell in love with a mermaid while being on a ship and coming home not realizing decades have passed.

F Delano is also a great track - a track with some fun production with the real lyrics falling out FDR for being the one to make the call to unjustly imprison Japanese Americans and not making a formal apology until the 90’s. Violin Tsunami is pretty self-explanatory of a track. It gets fantastic at the 2-minute mark. Additional tracks I love are Song For You, Angeline, and Marigolds.

 

Runner-Up: King Princess

I was really happy miss Princess pulled through with this album! I liked the non-album singles 1950 and ***** is God, and obviously it’s risky to not include tracks like that on your debut album, but she proved she didn’t really need to include them.

 

Ain’t Together is my favorite from her. It’s so crisp and cute. Hit the Back is my next favorite - on the more fun side in terms of the production (queen of bottoming). Cheap Queen rounds out my top 3; it’s such a simply great track and that’s really the best way I can think of it. Cute sample as well.

I also liiiiiiike Trust Nobody, Prophet, and Homegirl. Boom!

 

Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations*

Artist	Loves It	She's a Cute Girl	It's a No From Me	Notes
K.Flay	I Like Myself (Most Of The Time)			The album was okay! Her voice can be annoying.
Kaiser Chiefs	The Only Ones	Target Market, Electric Heart, Record Collection, Northern Holiday		A late listen but it's good!
Kali Uchis	Solita			Ready for more sis, Isolation is still amazing
Katy Perry	Never Really Over	Harleys in Hawaii	Small Talk	I find most Katy songs to be meh or bad, but NRO is REALLY good!
KAYTRANADA	10%	What You Need, 2 the Music, Taste, The Worst in Me		Yas!
Kehlani	Nunya (feat. Dom Kennedy)	Nights Like This, Feels	Too Deep	Cute mixtape!
Kelsey Lu	Poor Fake	Atlantic, I'm Not In Love, Foreign Car		I quite liked this album! "Could this be? A forgerRRYYYYYY"
Kesha	Raising Hell (feat. Big Freedia)			Ready for the full album next year.
Khalid	Talk (feat. Disclosure)			Trash, horrible album. I'll give Disclosure the credit for making this song good
Kim Gordon	Paprika Pony	Sketch Artist		I only listened to this a week ago and need more time for faves. It's good!
Kim Petras	Sweet Spot	Do Me, Personal Hell, Icy	Clarity, Shinin	As a pop girl she's kinda overrated, but there are some BOPS she has
Kimbra	Lightyears - Chris Tabron Mix	THE WHOLE PRIMAL HEART ALBUM STILL!!!		Did I really need to include this in my listing? No. BUT I DID IT THE MIX CAME OUT LAST YEAR
Kindness	Lost Without	Raise Up, The Warning, Hard to Believe		You know, the album was a touch meh but I love my faves
Kito	Wild Girl			Cute song!
The Knocks	Exit Sign (feat. Gallant)			They had some cute sings this year, but nothing really phenomenal.

[Ewan Chaos]

Spoiler

 

On 12/14/2019 at 12:54 PM, minho said:

Drag James  

 

Jay Som... whew I need to go revisit for sure!

 

Nice Jai Paul pick too

James a DAMN FOOL TBH

 

On 12/14/2019 at 2:04 PM, kelly-clarkson said:

Jonas Brothers

I never listened their music before but Hapiness Begins is a great pop album

Kinda same actually!

 

On 12/14/2019 at 2:51 PM, Tom Vercetti said:

I like how consistent your format has been over the years. Wish I could say a lot of good things about this year's music but alas. 

Just going by the recent update, James Blake has been completely forgotten but his own fault for releasing so early in the year w/ subpar material. Looking forward to potential new albums from Jai & Jessie Ware. 

 Thanks for commenting on my Best Of this year. Strong agreement with Jai & Jessie.

 

On 12/14/2019 at 3:11 PM, theblackestday said:

Hatchie not overrated! 

You can have your own wrong opinion, that's okay sis!

 

On 12/14/2019 at 4:28 PM, BlackoutZone said:

Mess I missed so many letters

Loving to see some Grimes, Hannah Diamond, Hatchie, ionnalee and most definitely Jessie Ware! I’m so excited for her album I already know it will be top 5 of 2020 releases  

Absolutely regarding Jessie, cannot WAIT for the good sis's album!

 

On 12/14/2019 at 5:44 PM, Remmy said:

Jon Bellion - Love love love him. Crop Circles was one of those songs I only listened to once and then forgot about. I wish the Glory Sound Prep era was longer, it could've used at least 1 more single. At least he snapped on Good Things Fall Apart w/ ILLENIUM.

Jonas Brothers - My sister is suuuch a massive stan. Wasn't impressed by their album. I'd mainly just revisit my trinity (I Believe/Only Human/Don't Throw It Away) and that's it. Happy When I'm Sad kinda haunts me sometimes, sounds like it was made for a kid's show.

Ooh let me check out that Good Things Fall Apart song. Kinda agree with Happy When I'm Sad actually even if I like it lmaooooo

 

12 hours ago, TheWayWeWere said:

what's wrong with preffering Mirage over Adore You?  superior song wins  

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING I just assumed everyone was gonna drag me for my correct choice  

 

10 hours ago, jose168 said:

 

 

Competitive B and C category! I'm a carly STAN, and I like dedicated alot but I'd have to give it to charli xuz the highs are much higher imo. 

I LOVE the FF album but girl, NOT over twigs.  The album is kinda a seenitbefore moment (Hello In Ghost Colours - Cut Copy).  Takashi was also a nice nod

I can respect your opinion on Charli being above Carly! But I'm glad we just like a lot of the same stuff  Sorrryyyyyy about twiggy losing!

 

9 hours ago, Body Electrician said:

wow, so many artists  

 

Lost Girls over both Big Thief albums was a choice.. happy to see them acknowledged though

 

Don't think I've ever heard Friendly Fires but I don't need to to know that MAGDALENE is better x

Eh yeah I just was sooooo into the Bat for Lashes album for like 2 months straight, so I couldn't let it lose. Love having controversy with Friendly Fires  

 

7 hours ago, potent said:

Whew at HAIM and Hozier being the top picks for letter H, Now I'm In It is just epic tbh

Hozier's album was a little boring compared to my expectations, but Movement always gives me life!

Hatchie had some great songs on her album, I love Not That Kind and Secret.

Loving the similar taste we're having! Glad someone else also enjoyed the Hozier album (even if it was definitely worse than self-titled)

 

1 hour ago, Pink Matter said:

I kinda got over HAIM after their debut (which was quite good!) and the reception to their second album didn't really make me want to check that out  But I've been seeing nothing but good things about their recent singles. Gonna save those.

Screaming at the lack of I's

 

SN: Poor James Blake getting lost in the shuffle again dd Barefoot in the Park is a gem though   

Personally I'd say even their second album is worth a listen, but if you at least check out their 2019 singles this year then you're winning.

 

 

 

[Ewan Chaos]

You know what... another updating incoming since I am going to be busy as hell these next few days! I'm also seeing Ariana tomorrow yas queen   EDIT: I ALSO REALLY LIKED THE LITTLE SIMZ ALBUM I just forgot to add it since I only first listened to it a few days ago!

 

Letter: L

 

Top Artist: Lizzo

This is just asking for you folks to drag me, but I don’t really care! I’ve been stanning her since last year (yes I know most of y’all knew her in like 2014 or whenever that was), but seeing her live like 3 times in the past year and a half has really made me love her. Especially when I saw her at a festival last year; whew she totally killed it. For the sake of things, I’m gonna disregard any songs released prior to this year (but justice for Phone!).

 

Juice is, clearly, the best from the album. What a funky-fresh jam that I AM PISSED keeps getting snubbed for being the massive hit it deserves to be! The lyrics are fun and the production is awesome. It was one of the first songs of the year, too, which if I still like it now then it clearly has staying power.

 

Jerome is a great track too. I’ve been so hyped for that since she played it live and the fact that so many people love the track makes it true that it was much anticipated. Probably my favorite “performance” on the record, even though I think Cuz I Love You is more impressive (also a great song). I love Soulmate as well even though I can understand the “Meghan Trainer” criticism the song gets. It’s just so fun though, even it it’s a bit derivative!

 

Ooh and another super underrated track from the album is Lingerie, which yet ANOTHER sexy jam from this year is top on my listing! She totally sells the sexy aspects well and I love the build up of the track. You have to love Like a Girl at least for the trans rights lyric. AND Tempo is a slay, which I definitely underrated because I was playing Juice forever lmao.

 

It’s a bummer that the lower half (minus Lingerie) of the album is kinda middled down when she could have just replaced those songs with tracks like Boys, Water Me, and the big singles. Ah well. At least something like Exactly How I Feel is good.

 

Runner-Up: Lana Del Rey

Another gurl who I’ve always found overrated and a kinda meh! She made her debut in my Best Of listings last year with Venice Bitch - which is still soooooo good - and with Norman Freakin Rockwell she has secured second place in my Best Of this year. Holy cow, what a great album. It’s kinda the same thing with twiggy where the songwriting is so much better than her previous material and I just find myself much more captivated with this album.

 

I think it’s a bit funny that also my favorite track from NFR is the underrated Bartender, which wasn’t even produced by Jack who I love lmao. It’s so pretty, piano-based, and I love the lyrics, especially the whole chorus. “That Cherry Coke you serve is fine.”

 

I also really enjoy Normal Effing Rockwell the track because… what an opening line! Gorgeous. And then more random tracks I like are Bleep It, I Love You, Doin Time, The Greatest, and Hope Is The Most Dangerous Thing That My Pepsi Cola Hoo Haa Can Appreciate, But I Absolutely Have That Thing. 

And then also I need to give Venice Betch another shoutout because that song still ****S oh yeah.

 

Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations*

 

Artist	Loves It	She's a Cute Girl	It's a No From Me	Notes
La Roux	Gullible Fool			Elly... the album BETTER be amazing! I will say, I actually quite like Gullible Fool
Lapsley	My Love was Like the Rain	Linge 3		I mean... kinda meh I guess lol
Lauv	Mean It			I'm surprised he & LANY didn't collab before; they're basically the same person. This song is GREAT!
Leon	You And I			I mean... meh. Her stuff from like 3 years ago was better.
Leon Ware	We Should Be Laughin'			Thank you Kimbra for making me listen to this album.
Leven Kali	1 On 1	Cassandra, Mine, Do U Wrong, Sumwrong		Really great and underrated dude! Very sexy track specifically and lovely EP.
Lights	Down Forever	Tabs		Cute EP concept. Siberia Acoustic is still the best acoustic tho
Lil Nas X	Old Town Road - Remix			Had to include it, come on.
LION BABE	Into Me			Dece/meh album, but Into Me is sooooo sexy and such a great track.
Lips	Silent Treatment			Kimbra acted in a movie WHAT. The songs she added are cool.
Lolo Zouai	Ride			The whole album is like... a copy/not copy of tu,n? It's cute tho!
Lost Kings	Don't Kill My High (feat. Wiz Khalifa & Social House)			One of the first new tracks of the year. It's okay!
Lostboycrow	Orange Juice			Another early-year song. I really like this one still.
Louis Futon	Silk Jam			Saw him last year and he's dope as hell live. The best songs on the album were the songs from years ago though.
LPX	Give Up The Ghost			I enjoyed last year's EP more, but GUTG is sooooo good.
Lucy Rose	Save Me From Your Kindness			Cute album!
Luke Combs	Beer Never Broke My Heart			This country track is GREAT
Lula Wiles	Good Old American Values			This was a cute country album!
Lydia Ainsworth	The Time	Can You Find Her Place		Ready for a certain someone to call out this "talentless hack" LMFAO
The Lumineers	Gloria			Cute album! [2]

Edited December 18, 2019 by Ewan Chaos

[JGibson]

K: Katy Perry + K.Flay 

 

 

L: Lizzo + Lana Del Rey + Luke Combs + The Lumineers

[K$Ellie]

I haven't listened HAIM's new songs, I'll probs get around to it when they release an album even tho I wasn't huge on their debut

Movement was cute but I haven't heard the whole album  Hatchie has some cute songs  no Holly Herndon good x

Japanese House's album was really nice and I liked Jessie Ware's sings this year a big step up from her last album

the Sweet Spot stanning  Raising Hell is a mess tho  not a fan of the Lizzo album  the Venice Bitch praise

the lack of Loona, shocked and disgusted

Edited December 20, 2019 by K$Ellie

[Eeveelution]

OK Lizzo as #1 over Lana is a choice but

 

Quote

I think it’s a bit funny that also my favorite track from NFR is the underrated Bartender, which wasn’t even produced by Jack who I love lmao. It’s so pretty, piano-based, and I love the lyrics, especially the whole chorus. “That Cherry Coke you serve is fine.”

 

TEA. It's one of her best songs with some of her best lyrics but is so underrated by the little lanasters

[Sunderland 4ever]

Sooooo good to see Jay Som and Jayda G getting recognition elsewhere. The former released an amazing disco album this year. Many potential hits and very few filler tracks. One of my favorite albums of 2019 for sure.

 

NFR was the first Lana album I listened to. Really good, though I'm not a huge fan of the longer tracks. Cinnamon Girl is my favorite from the album, followed by the opening track. It's got a smooth yet catchy chorus.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Sunderland 4ever