2019 – Albums of the Year – The Writer’s View
2019 is nearly over and as usual I’ve left it to the last minute to put up Fighting Boredom’s best
albums of the year, this is the writer Adrian Bloxham’s choice you can read the photographer’s
choice on this page.
It’s been a struggle this year, but this is what I think.
1. Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel
We said ‘There’s poetry here, love and a way of focusing right into the tiny moments that make this life bearable and sweet. The will to find something better, the humour in the ridiculous and the mundane. It’s in the deadpan delivery and the pounding, relentless movement of the songs.’
2. Clipping – There Existed An Addiction to Blood
We said ‘It is the best rap album I have heard for a long long time. There’s no boasting here, there’s no posturing that doesn’t end in the inevitable finishing blow. The music descends into beautiful static and you think it’s broken. It’s not, you are, you dead. The sound of emptiness and lack of hope. This is harsh and this is harsh noise. It ends, the silence hits you and then it’s back to bass, strange noises and a vital, hard voice, talking about that Gangsta shit. This isn’t Gangsta Rap. This is just rap, not holding back and not playing for the crowd.’
3. Rainbow Grave – No You
We said ‘ Rainbow Grave understand all too well the disappointment of broken dreams, lost promises and growing old. They are those bleak thoughts that keep you wide awake night after night after night. They are the sound of disappointment, heartbreak and emptiness. The essence of regret and oblivion. The record is like sludge flowing through a sewer, slow, suffocating and dark. It’s a breath of fetid air, a ray of cancer growing sunshine, a slow collapse after a punch in the face.’
4. The Total Rejection – Everybody Knows What You Don’t Know
We said ‘The Total Rejection have a treble wobble running through the record that sounds better the louder it is, and the nearer to the speakers you are. If The Barracudas and The Monkees formed a spin off band, dressed in leather with switchblades and riding dangerously old motorbikes then this is the music they would be playing. It’s for delinquents, for the oddballs and the forgotten. It’s timeless, there’s a sixties slant to it but then it’s just as relevant right now. Makes me want to get up and dance and shake my head around in a dark room with other like minded fools.’
5. Black Mekon – Destroy Nostalgia
We said ‘There’s a dirty white Cadillac outside, no roof, rust scuffs and dents all up one side and a single headlight blazing as the other hangs free swinging from corroded cables. Inside sit three men. All in black suits with scuffed shoes, black ties loose at the neck and black superhero masks sitting on their faces. They appear to be in the last stages of severe inebriation, there’s bottles crashing around in the foot wells and smoke billowing back from behind the windscreen. The sound they are making is indescribable, shouting, yelling, bellowing and coughing all delivered in a whiskey soaked gravel drawl. Underneath this at earsplitting volume play forgotten rockabilly missives to fast girls, fast cars and short lives. Black Mekon have come back around and Jesus, I didn’t realise just how much I was missing them.’
6. The Coathangers – The Devil You Know
We said ‘The Coathangers still have their jagged bloody nosed edge but are coming out of the shadows and blinking into the light. It’s a great thing to watch and hear. Can’t wait for the tour.’
7. FKA Twigs – Magdalene
FKA Twigs make music that sounds alien, lost and alone. It’s pop music but broken.
8. Gum Takes Tooth – Arrow
We Said ‘The air’s vibrating, it’s the volume you need to have to experience this album to it’s full potential. The glass in the windows is shaking and there is dust floating down from the lampshades. It’s giving me a feeling of dislocation and tripping out. The record does not fit into any categories, it’s apart, out on the edge and making you try and catch your breath. It’s not fast, not overpowering, it just takes over and makes your brain concentrate on the music and sound coming from the speakers.’
9. Holy Moly and the Crackers – Take a Bite
We said ‘
10. DEAFKIDS – Metaprogramação
We said ‘The last time I heard layered sounds like this is way back when Public Enemy build their monstrous backing tracks. This is that good and that complex. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on the thing another bassline kicks in, or drums from a deep wet jungle appear from the drones and noises. A guitar riff will grab your attention and then you realise your listening to vocals too but so buried and distorted you lost them. It feels like being immersed in emotion, noise and static. It is intense. But the key is volume. As loud as it gets, it still needs just a nudge more.’
Special Mentions
Imperial Wax – Gastwerk Saboteurs
Storm The Palace – Delicious Monster
Billie Eilish – When We Fall Asleep Where Do We Go
Bob Mould – Sunshine Rock
A New International – The Dark Carnival
Carter Tutti Void – Triumvirate
Haram – Where Were You on 9/11?
Best Compilation
The Longest Summer on Record – Raving Pop Blast Records
Best Live Show of the Year
Unanimously by both photographer and writer..
Melt Banana – Birmingham
