Thursday, December 26, 2019

Twist and Shout Staff Picks: The Best Albums of 2019 (Pt. 1)

At the end of every year, we ask our employees to share their favorite releases of the year. Herein are the results of our end of year employee poll. We gave each employee a sheet suggesting ten titles on different formats but weren’t strict about how the numbers broke down and also weren’t strict about what format, whether titles were new, or whether it was even music, so there’s a lot of variety here.

Our Number One Winner with 9 votes:
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats' Nest

Our Number Two Placer with 7 votes:
FKA Twigs - Magdalene

Our Number Three Showers with 6 votes each:
Mdou Moctar – Ilana: The Creator
Oh Sees - Face Stabber
Tyler the Creator - Igor

Fourth Place Mentions with 5 votes each:
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana
L’épée ‎– Diabolique
Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
Anderson.Paak - Ventura
Solange - When I Get Home
Jamila Woods - Legacy! Legacy!

Fifth Place Mentions with 4 votes each:
Big Thief - Two Hands
Black Midi – Schlagenheim
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Floating Points - Crush
Flying Lotus - Flamagra
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Fishing for Fishies
Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
Sturgill Simpson ‎– Sound & Fury
Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
Sunn O))) – Life Metal

Sixth Place Mentions with 3 votes each:
The Beatles - Abbey Road (50th Anniversary Edition)
Black Marble - Bigger Than Life
Bon Iver - i,i
Danny Brown - uknowwhatimsayin¿
Clipping. - There Existed An Addiction To Blood
The Dukes Of Stratosphear ‎– Psurroundabout Ride (reissue)
Bob Dylan - Rolling Thunder Review 1975 Live Recordings
Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Frankie & the Witch Fingers - Zam!
Kim Gordon - No Home Record
Karl Hector and the Malcouns - Non Ex Orbis
Robyn Hitchcock/Andy Partridge - Planet England
Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
Thom Yorke - Anima




Paul Epstein

1. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars/Western Stars Soundtrack
2. Prefab Sprout - I Trawl The Megahertz
3. Steve Gunn - The Unseen In Between
4. Robyn Hitchcock / Andy Partridge - Planet England
5. Mercury Rev - Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited
6. Sturgill Simpson - Sound & Fury
7. Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee
8. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Colorado
9. Van Morrison - Three Chords And The Truth
10. Santana - Africa Speaks

2019 Reissues
1. Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks original acetate (RSD 2019 LP)
2. The Beatles - Abbey Road Super Deluxe 50th Anniv. CD
3. Neil Young - Tuscaloosa
4. The Dukes Of Stratosphear - Psurroundabout Ride
5. John Coltrane - 1963: New Directions
6. Bobby Gentry - Girl From Chicksaw County
7. Allman Brothers - Fillmore West ‘71
8. Grateful Dead - Giants Stadium '87 '89 '91
9. Bob Dylan - Rolling Thunder Revue
10. The Yardbirds - Live & Rare



Patrick Brown

Music:
1. Mdou Moctar - Ilana (The Creator)
2. Todd Snider - Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3
3. Negativland - True False
4. Los Wembler’s de Iquitos - Visión del Ayahuasca
5. Anthony Braxton - Quartet (New Haven) 2014
6. Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee
7. Chuck Cleaver - Send Aid
8. Abdullah Ibrahim - The Balance
9. Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
10. Michael Formanek/Tim Berne/Mary Halvorson - Even Better
11. Imperial Teen - Now We Are Timeless
12. Bantou Mentale - Bantou Mentale
13. Fea - No Novelties
14. Tank & the Bangas - Green Balloon
15. Yola - Walk Through Fire

New non-box set blu-ray of 2019:
1. The Image Book
2. Parasite (early 2020 release)
3. Birds Of Passage
4. Ash Is Purest White
5. Midsommar
6. The Dead Don't Die

Archival/catalog Blu-ray releases of 2019:
1. Wanda
2. Polyester
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
4. Criss Cross
5. Bob Le Flambeur
6. Cruising
7. The Stuff
8. Obsession
9. Death In The Garden




Ben Sumner

1. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
2. Michael Kiwanuka ‎– Kiwanuka
3. Prefab Sprout ‎– I Trawl The Megahertz (reissue)
4. The Beatles - Abbey Road (50th Anniversary Edition)
5. The Residents - B.S. (reissue)
6. The Residents - Not Available (deluxe reissue)
7. Mike Cooper ‎– Distant Songs Of Madmen
8. Sturgill Simpson ‎– Sound & Fury
9. Cosey Fanni Tutti ‎– Tutti
10. Moon Duo ‎– Stars Are The Light
11. FKA Twigs - Magdalene
12. Robyn Hitchcock / Andy Partridge ‎– Planet England
13. Rupa - Disco Jazz (reissue)
14. The Dukes Of Stratosphear ‎– Psurroundabout Ride (reissue)
15. Mdou Moctar ‎– Ilana: The Creator
16. Prince - Originals
17. Kate Bush - Other Sides (b-sides compilation)
18. Alex Cameron - Miami Memory
19. Gong - Live Au Bataclan 1973
20. Johann Sebastian Bach ‎– Cello Suites (Alban Gerhardt)
21. Robert Ashley ‎– Private Parts (reissue)
22. Henryk Górecki / Beth Gibbons / Krzysztof Penderecki ‎– Symphony No. 3 (Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs)
23. Janáček - Piano Works (Jan Bartoš)
24. Hawkwind - The '1999' Party (Live in Chicago, 1974)
25. Gene Clark - No Other (expanded reissue)
26. John Coltrane ‎– Blue World
27. Akiko Yano - Iroha Ni Konpeitou (reissue)
28. Karl Hector And The Malcouns ‎– Non Ex Orbis
29. L’épée ‎– Diabolique
30. Popol Vuh ‎– The Essential Album Collection Vol.1

Brian Albright


1. Long Ryders - Psychedelic Country Soul
2. Meat Puppets - Dusty Notes
3. Sacred Paws - Run Around the Sun
4. Anderson Council - Worlds Collide
5. Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
6. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
7. Redd Kross - Beyond the Door
8. The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble - Build Bridges
9. Robyn Hitchcock/Andy Partridge - Planet England
10. The Minus 5 - Modern Mirror


Anna Lathem

1. The Beatles - Abbey Road 50th Anniversary
2. Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
3. Jenny Lewis - On the Line
4. Brian Jonestown Massacre - Brian Jonestown Massacre
5. L'epee - Diabolique
6. Bob Dylan - Rolling Thunder Review 1975 Live Recordings
7. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks Test Pressing
8. Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
9. Maggie Rogers - Heard It In A Past Life
10. Bleached - Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough?
11. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Fishing for Fishies
12. The National - I Am Easy to Find
13. Joe Strummer - The Rockfield Studio Tracks
14. Spaceman 3 - Live In Europe 1989
15. Oh Sees - Face Stabber
16. Mercury Rev - Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited
17. Brittany Howard - Jaime
18. Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
19. Sasami - Sasami
20. Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
21. FKA Twigs - Magdalene
22. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats’ Nest
23. Link Wray - "Vernon's Diamond"/"My Brother, My Son" (7" single)
24. Various Artists - Stax Does The Beatles
25. Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
26. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
27. Thom Yorke - ANIMA
28. Mdou Moctar - Ilana: The Creator
29. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - O.S.T.
30. Jamila Woods - Legacy! Legacy!



Jonathan Eagle

1. Sunn O))) – Life Metal
2. Meat Puppets – Dusty Notes
3. Fire! Orchestra – Arrival
4. Arrington de Dionyso – Honey & Poison
5. Black Midi – Schlagenheim
6. Bartosz Kruczinski & Poly Chain – Pulses
7. Cherubs – Immaculada High
8. Lightning Bolt – Sonic Citadel
9. Danny Brown - uknowwhatimsayin¿
10. Bill Orcutt – Odds Against Tomorrow
11. Fennesz – Agora
12. L.A. Guns – The Devil You Kno
13. KK Null – Abiogenesis / Quantum Pulsation
14. Joe McPhee / John Butcher – At the Hill of James Magee
15. Mdou Moctar – Ilana: The Creator
16. Not Waving / Jim O’Rourke – Side A / Side B
17. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
18. Swans – Leaving Meaning.
19. The Comet is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
20. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana

Films
1. Them That Follow
2. Murder in the Front Row: The Bay Area Thrash Metal Story
3. Rolling Thunder Revue
4. The Irishman
5. Ken Burns’ Country Music
6. Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
7. The Dead Don’t Die
8. Dolemite is My Name
9. Sword of Trust
10. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood



Marley Schwartz

1. Goldlink - Diaspora
2. Earthgang - Mirrorland
3. IDK - Is He Real?
4. Flying Lotus - Flamagra
5. Mahalia - Love and Compromise
6. AJ Tracey - AJ Tracey
7. Solange - When I Get Home
8. Tyler the Creator - Igor
9. James Blake - Assume Form
10. Anderson.Paak - Ventura

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