The Best Albums of 2019: Individual Writers’ Lists

We’ve cycled through a lot of of our favorite music of the year: Our Top 50 Albums of 2019 and our Top 100 Songs of 2019. And beyond that, our favorite metal, hip-hop, electronic, jazz and missed albums of the year. And now we’re sharing our individual top 10 lists of the year to close it out. Here’s what we, individually, liked a lot this year.

Adam Blyweiss:

Toro Y Moi – Outer Peace
Drab Majesty – Modern Mirror
The Juan Maclean – The Brighter the Light
Curry, Denzel – Zuu
Com Truise – Persuasion System
Chemical Brothers – No Geography
Cinematic Orchestra – To Believe
Tinariwen – Amadjar
Tr/st – The Destroyer 1
Tool – Fear Inoculum

Virginia Croft:

1) National, The – I Am Easy to Find
2) Blake, James – Assume Form
3) Donnelly, Stella – Beware of the Dogs
4) Wilco – Ode to Joy
5) Jay Som – Anak Ko
6) Kevin Abstract – ARIZONA BABY
7) Del Rey, Lana – Norman Fucking Rockwell
8) Bon Iver – i,i
9) Cherry Glazerr – Stuffed and Ready
10) Webster, Faye – Atlanta Millionaires Club

Ben Dickerson:

Ari Lennox — Shea Butter Baby
Baroness — Gold & Grey
Better Oblivion Community Center — Better Oblivion Community Center
BROCKHAMPTON — Ginger
Charly Bliss — Young Enough
Cherry Glazerr — Stuffed & Ready
clipping. — There Existed An Addiction to Blood
DaBaby — Baby On Baby
Danny Brown — uknowhatimsayin¿
Denzel Curry – ZUU

Tyler Dunston:

1. MAGDALENE – FKA twigs
2. Ghosteen – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3. Miss Universe – Nilüfer Yanya
4. This Is How You Smile – Helado Negro
5. IGOR – Tyler, the Creator
6. i,i – Bon Iver
7. After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house – Nivhek
8. U.F.O.F. – Big Thief
9. ANIMA – Thom Yorke
10. Hidden History of the Human Race – Blood Incantation

Liam Green:

1. Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
2. Danny Brown – uknowhatimsayin
3. Bruce Springsteen – Western Stars
4. Chelsea Wolfe – Birth of Violence
5. Denzel Curry – ZUU
6. Sturgill Simpson – Sound and Fury
7. Baroness – Gold & Grey
8. Flying Lotus – Flamagra
9. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
10. Freddie Gibbs/Madlib – Bandana

Langdon Hickman:

Black Marble – Bigger Than Life
Earth and Pillars – Earth II
Clippng. – There Existed An Addiction To Blood
Opeth – In Cauda Venenum
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
Cult of Luna – A Dawn to Fear
Danny Brown – uknowhatimsayin?
White Ward – Love Exchange Failure
Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
Jenny Hval – The Practice of Love
Bat for Lashes – Lost Girls
Mizmor – Cairn

Wil Lewellyn:

1- Morrissey – California Son
2- Miley Cyrus – She is Coming
3- Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury
4- Bon Iver – i,i
5- Gold – Why Aren’t You Laughing
6- Pleasure Leftists – The Gate
7- Bats – Alter Nature
8- Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell
9- Low Dose- s/t
10- Bleached – Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough

Timothy Michalik:

1. Purple Mountains – s/t
2. Bill Orcutt – Odds Against Tomorrow
3. Chromatics – Closer to Grey
4. Bill Callahan – Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest
5. Big Thief – Two Hands
6. (Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar
7. Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
8. Tenci – My Heart is an Open Field
9. K. Leimer – Irrational Overcast
10. Jenny Hval – Practice of Love

Patrick Pilch:

1. (Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar
2. Lomelda – M
3. Nonlocal Forecast – Bubble Universe!
4. Caroline Polachek – Pang
5. Slauson Malone – A Quiet Farwell
6. They Are Gutting a Body of Water – Destiny XL
7. Young Thug – So Much Fun
8. This is Lorelei – The Dirt, The Dancing/The Mall, The Country
9. Meghan Thee Stallion – Fever
10. Fire Toolz – Field Whispers

Max Pilley:

1) Richard Dawson – 2020
2) Jessica Pratt – Quiet Signs
3) Kate Tempest – The Book of Traps and Lessons
4) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
5) The Comet is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
6) Thom Yorke – Anima
7) clipping. – There Existed an Addiction to Blood
8) Jamila Woods – Legacy! Legacy!
9) Anna Meredith – Fibs
10) Otoboke Beaver – Itekoma Hits

Sam Prickett:

1. Tyler, The Creator: Igor
2. Swans: Leaving Meaning
3. Big Thief: UFOF
4. Danny Brown: uknowwhati’msayin?
5. Deerhunter: Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?
6. Bon Iver: i,i
7. Thom Yorke: Anima
8. Jenny Hval: The Practice of Love
9. Vampire Weekend: Father of the Bride
10. Angel Olsen: All Mirrors

Sam Pryce:

1. Spellling – Mazy Fly
2. Hot Chip – A Bath Full of Ecstasy
3. Fat White Family – Serfs Up!
4. Pharmakon – Devour
5. Self-Esteem – Confidence Please
6. Bat For Lashes – Lost Girls
7. Jenny Hval – The Practice of Love
8. Aldous Harding – Designer
9. Sleater-Kinney – The Center Won’t Hold
10. Sunn O))) – Life Metal

Konstantin Rega:

1. Sarah McKenzie – Secrets of My Heart
2. Catherine Russell – Alone Together
3. Tedeschi Trucks Band – Signs
4. Joyce DiDonato – Songplay
5. Trialogue – Andrew Lawrence
6. Alicia Olatuja – Intuition
7. Lee Fields and the Expressions – It Rains Love
8. Red Velvet – The ReVe Festival: Day 1
9. Sempre – Marcus Valle
10. Blue World – John Coltrane

Brian Roesler:

1. American Football – s/t
2. Mizmor – Cairn
3. Cloud Rat – Pollinator
4. La Dispute – Panorama
5. Oso Oso – Basking in the Glow
6. Sunn O))) – Life Metal
7. Wolfe, Chelsea – Birth of Violence
8. Baroness – Gold and Grey
9. Yellow Eyes – Rare Field Ceiling
10. Pharmakon – Devour

John-Paul Shiver:

Solange – When I Get Home
Tawiah – Starts Again
rRoxymore – Face to Phase
Elusive – Afterthought
Vagabon – s/t
Octo Octa – Resonant Body
Ghost funk Orchestra – A Song For Paul
G&D – Black Love and War
Afrikan Sciences – Centered
Ryan Porter – Force for Good

Jeff Terich:

1. Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
2. Big Brave – A Gaze Among Them
3. Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising
4. Jamila Woods – Legacy! Legacy!
5. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
6. Brutus – Nest
7. Baroness – Gold & Grey
8. Lingua Ignota – Caligula
9. Inter Arma – Sulphur English
10. Spirit Adrift – Divided by Darkness

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