rone | the year in music

In alphabetical order, 2019 releases:

Battles, Juice B Crypts— The band's down to two members now. Bleepier. Vocal collaborations like Gloss Drop.
Andrew Bird, My Finest Work Yet— He's not kidding. He keeps getting better.
Ioanna Gika, Thalassa— She had a guest appearance on Stumptown, where she played an amazing cover of "One Thing Leads to Another", so i looked her up and yeah, sold.
The Joy Formidable, Y Falŵn Drom— The band reissued their debut mini-album A Balloon Called Moaning for its 10th anniversary, but also recorded new versions of the songs with Welsh lyrics.
Juan Luis Guerra 4.40, Literal— He remains a force, so very good at what he does, and barely looks like he's aged since he came across my cultural radar 30 years ago.
Mdou Moctar, Ilana: The Creator— Tuareg Nigerien rock. Recommendation from a friend, another instant buy.
The New Pornographers, In the Morse Code of Brake Lights— Another TNP album without Dan Bejar, which is fine by me. Doesn't feel as good as its predecessor.
Rodrigo y Gabriela, Mettavolution— Fabulous. They stretch by adding more multi-track work, electric guitar, and vocals. Their arrangement of Pink Floyd's "Echoes" is epic.
Takénobu, Conclusion— Nick Ogawa is joined now on violin by his fiancée Kathryn Koch; here, they re-record some older tracks and add new ones. They're great together.
Tool, Fear Inoculum— It's good but... the tracks lack separation. The overall feel is too similar. And their ultra-deluxe CD packaging ($45, if you can find it) feels like a cash grab from their legion of slavering fans (i bought the MP3 album).