Let’s see if we can keep it to 5 (with a couple of HMs if we must). Bit if a descript to help people work out if it’s one they might want to check out would not go unappreciated, I’m sure
Charli XCX — How I’m Feeling Now (singer-producer PC pop)
Nation of Language — Introduction, Please (synthy post-punk FFOs Cut Copy’s debut / early, early New Order / Lloyd Cole and the Commotions)
A Place to Bury Strangers — Rare Meat (b-sides & rarities collection (so doesn’t count) from pedal-driven, JAMC-loving rockkers)
Thick — 5 Years Behind (punky-pop, poppy punk)
The Wants — Container (post punk with Brian Moloko-esque vocals)
HM to Jack River’s Stranger Heart mini-LP (hmmm… singer-producer pop with some indie band leanings…?)
Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats - Unlocked
Baxter Dury - The Night Chancers
This could change a lot. The only one I’m sure of is Waxahatchee
My top 5 at this point, in no particular order except for the first two probably:
Caspian - On Circles (very sad, at-times heavy post-rock) Post Louis - Descender (great indie rock that covers a lot of ground) Dogleg - Melee (picture a relentless mixture of The Hotelier, early Alkaline Trio, and early Getup Kids) October Drift - Forever Whatever (almost like if a late 90s alt-rock band discovered The National. It shouldn’t work but it does.) The Men - Mercy (what a comeback - late 70s inspired indie rock)
Very Honorable Mentions that might break through Midwife - Forever (sad, slow, sparse, fuzzy, and day-ruining) Happyness - Floatr (Elliott Smith and Sparklehorse inspired indie rock. The last song Seeing Eye Dog is incredible.) Greg Dulli - Random Desire (it’s Greg Dulli)
There are a few other very good ones too.
The very short Holy Fawn EP would probably be AOTY if it were a full length. I need a lot more time with the Phoebe Bridgers album but it wouldn’t surprise me to see it shoot up the rankings eventually.
Toby Driver and Nick Hudson - Black Feather Under Your Tongue (improv piano ambient moodiness)
Dirty Projectors - Windows Open - (breezy alt acoustic weird dunno pop)
The Necks - Three (ambient/minimal/jazz)
Tomonari Nozaki - Harvest (ambient, basinski-esque)
Eyvind Kang - Ajaeng Ajaeng (modern classical/ambient/drone)
Clarice Jensen - The Experience of Repetition as Death
Nicolas Jaar - Cenizas
Laurel Halo - Possessed OST
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Jasmine Guffond - Microphone Permission
Loads to love but nothing an obvious cut above so a bit of an indicative 5.
Not listened to nearly as much new music this year as I did in 2019 but so far…
Baxter Dury - The Night Chancers
Sparks - A Steady Drip Drip Drip
Cornershop - England Is A Garden
US Girls - Heavy Light
The Heliocentrics - Infinity Of Now ( for fans of ‘Third’-era-Portishead, Broadcast, Can, Sun-Ra…)
Wow, there’s nothing that jumps out for me yet this year. The Squarepusher one is probably the most memorable thing, but it’s more ‘really good’ than ‘absolutely brilliant’
Beatrice Dillon - Workaround (pick of the electronic records this year for me: groovy and eccentric not-quite-techno with a raft of interesting instrumentation)
The Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? (This is the standout for me, experimental electro that has really got under my skin. Not one to skip through.)
Kiwi Jnr - Football Money ( Sounds very much like Pavement was my immediate reaction, but there are so many tunes here that I keep coming back. An absolutely belter of a record.)
Run The Jewels - RTJ4 (Proper banging hip-hop, more powerful than ever)
The Lovely Eggs - I Am Moron (Overlooked record of the year cos they get dismissed as a novelty. This is a great punk record with space rock influences. Reminds me of The Fall at times)
Destroyer - Have We Met? (A supremely confident synth-pop record, really grown on me)
There are lots of things I need to spend more time with. I’m really looking forward to the Braids record.