The Best Weird Albums of 2019
Contrary to the beliefs of several angry YouTube commenters, a lot of excellent and creative music came out in 2019. Let’s take a few minutes and dive into my favorite releases from this year. This list is not ranked in any particular order, so we’re not saving the best for last. These are the albums that struck me in a deep way and provided so much value after several listens.
“Fields Amaze” by Patrick Grant was released near the end of 2018, but it still makes this list because I didn’t get to listen until January 2019. This album is so fantastic. It’s a 20th anniversary collection of music Patrick has remixed, remastered, and reimagined with some bonus tracks. As old as some of the recordings may be, the music is as fresh as ever. My advice: crank up your speakers and listen to this album standing up. Why standing up? This is a CD that will get you moving. There’s so much movement in each piece and it really has the power to take your ears and mind to unfamiliar, novel places. You’ll hear odd time signatures, unfamiliar instrumentation, microtonal melodies, and a group of musicians having fun recording.
“12 Little Spells” by Esperanza Spalding is one of the most uninhibited expressions of creativity I’ve ever heard. This album is truly incredible. Nearly every song is a winner on this one and so many of the tracks explore new worlds and forms of expression. There are genuinely surprising moments throughout this record and so many songs that will give you goosebumps. This is another one of those albums that I crank as loud as possible in my studio. I can’t use enough superlatives about this album. The musicianship and songwriting is stellar. I have no idea what she’s singing about most of the time, but I can tell she is 100% genuine singing every word of the lyrics. This album is a must-have for anyone looking for truly new music.
“Scholars” by Buke & Gase is something I’ve already featured as a jaw-dropper album earlier this year. Check out that video for more detail about why I love it so much. But for the purpose of this video, it’s hard to summarize the record in a few sentences. There are sounds and melodies on this record that will make your head spin. Like I said about “12 Little Spells,” this album is an uninhibited expression of creativity. It looks and sounds like a rock record, but is really a work of art encapsulated in mostly-improvised electronic bliss. This is a record that will make you want to dance and headbang at the same time. Such strong music on this one.
“Empath” by Devin Townsend has a special place for me because when I interviewed Devin right before this record came out, he drove me around in his car and we listened to the whole thing blasting in his car stereo with him narrating and conducting and singing along with it. And it’s made even more special to me because he’s touring with three musicians I love and have featured on the site several times: Mike Keneally, Morgan Ågren, and Markus Reuter. Mike co-produced this album and Morgan plays drums on it. While it’s a hard rock slash heavy metal album, anyone looking for creative musicianship and composition is going to find tons to enjoy on it. The songwriting and musical performances are just beyond. This is Devin’s best work yet, and I say that as a listener of his music for 20 years.
“String Quartet No. 1: Heartland” by Markus Reuter is a very new form of musical expression for Markus. To me, this is his most personal and expressive record. The constraints of a string quartet on Markus’s writing plus the amazing musical performances of the Matangi Quartet captured so beautifully by Dirk Fischer make this an all-around winner. Markus and I have talked at length about this album and how much control he had to relinquish to the quartet’s interpretation of his sheet music. I think that’s my favorite part of the record: listening to Markus’s musical choices filtered through instruments and instrumentalists who are so very separate from his normal method of musical delivery. Beyond all that, the music is simply fantastic.
“Blurring into Motion” by Charlie Cawood is a very strong follow-up from his mind-blowing debut record, “The Divine Abstract.” You can check out my interview with Charlie to find out more. I have very, very strong feelings for “The Divine Abstract,” so it’s hard for me to compare anything else to it. However, Charlie brings more of his incredible compositional talents into the world with “Blurring Into Motion.” This album is pure beauty and personal reflection. It’s such a versatile listen. You can put it on to meditate or to get into a state of flow at work or just to bask in the pure beauty of uniquely expressive music. I keep wanting to say, “This is a must-have for your record collection,” but that’s true of every record in this video... especially this album!
Speaking of Charlie, he contributed to another surprising and creative record called “A Pocket Full of Posies” by Mediaeval Baebes, arranged by Katherine Blake. What a mesmerizing trip of an album that’s definitely worth a mention in this list. It’s a collection of nursery rhymes performed with some of the songs going in a very psychedelic direction. I hope to do an interview with Katherine about this truly weird album in 2020.
And finally, “p3 line26” by Sandbox Tree, performed and composed by Jake Finck, is one of the best ambient and experimental records I’ve ever heard. He sent it to me via email as a submission and it met me exactly where I was. And it continues to meet me exactly where I am every time I listen to it. I did a live stream of this record with Jake earlier this year, which suffered from some unfortunate technical issues, but I might just ask him to do it again because this is an album I think people need to hear and open their minds to. Jake is an up-and-coming guitarist in Maryland and he’s priced this album at $3 on Bandcamp. If you’ve got $3 and 20 minutes, give this album a listen. Any serious listener will have an emotional response to this record, whether they like it or not.
Honorable mentions from our Patreon supporters include: “Fractal Guitar” by Stephan Thelan, which is another excellent Moonjune Record release that is an adventurous foray into unique guitar instrumental music. I haven’t yet listened to these other releases from other supporters, but they are scrolling by on the screen right now: Ni's Pantophobie, Trio HLK's Standard Time, the self titled by Spain's Pyramidal, Hashshashin's Badakhshan this year's releases by Fawn Limbs, Penguin Cafe - Handfuls of Night New to me: an offshoot of Penguin Cafe Orchestra. From the Erased Tapes label.
What are your favorite albums of 2019? Let us know in the comments. And happy new year! May 2020 bring you lots of new music. Try to make a resolution this year to buy 5 records from artists you haven’t heard of who are young and releasing new, interesting music. And watch my contentious video about “boomer music” if you don’t know how to find anything new. Be sure to leave an angry comment and tell me how stupid I am. See you next year!
