I listened to a few hundred albums that came out this year. I thought there were several good ones but, for my tastes, not many great ones. However, following an annual tradition, I’ve compiled this list of records that I enjoyed the most in 2019.
My favourite 10 albums
1. Kitty Kat Fan Club - Dreamy Little You
2. Baby Shakes - Cause A Scene
3. Daddy Long Legs - Lowdown Ways
4. The Resonars - No Exit
5. Tacocat - This Mess Is A Place
6. Geoff Palmer - Pulling Out All The Stops
7. Dehd - Water
8. The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru The Passion
9. Vandoliers - Forever
10. Charlie Faye and the Fayettes - The Whole Shebang
The next 10 albums
11. Bleached - Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough?
12. Michael Franti and Spearhead - Stay Human Vol. II
13. Holiday Ghosts - West Bay Playroom
14. Jason Ringenberg - Stand Tall
15. Chuck Mead - Close To Home
16. Redd Kross - Beyond The Door
17. A Giant Dog - Neon Bible
18. Pernice Brothers - Spread The Feeling
19. Stray Cats - 40
20. K-Man & The 45s - Stand With The Youth
The next 10 albums after that
21. Raygun Cowboys - Bloodied But Unbroken
22. The Discarded - Sound Check And Fury
23. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
24. King Prawn - The Fabulous New Sounds Of …
25. Screamin’ Rebel Angels - Heel Grinder
26. 500 Miles To Memphis - Blessed Be The Damned
27. Graham Parker - Squeezing Out Sparks Solo Acoustic 40th Anniversary
28. Lowest of the Low - Agitpop
29. The Planet Smashers - Too Much Information
30. Bad Religion - Age of Unreason
The next 15 albums after that
31. Olivia Jean - Night Owl
32. The Schizophonics - People In The Sky
33. The Menzingers - Hello Exile
34. Mattiel - Satis Factory
35. Juliana Hatfield - Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police
36. Shovels and Rope - By Blood
37. Ex Hex - It’s Real
38. Chuck Cleaver - Send Aid
39. Frank Turner - No Man’s Land
40. Nervus - Tough Crowd
41. The Tough Shits - Burning In Paradise
42. Have Gun Will Travel - Strange Chemistry
43. Foxhall Stacks - The Coming Collapse
44. David Picco - Out of the Past
45. David Hasselhoff - Open Your Eyes
My favourite EPs
1. Nick Lowe - Love Starvation/Trombone
2. The Hard Toms - Panties Not Included
3. Sunflower Bean - King of the Dudes
4. Los Straitjackets - Channel Surfing
My favourite compilations, reissues and live albums
1. The Specials - Live at La Bataclan and The Troxy (disc two from the deluxe version of Encore)
2. Roger C. Reale and Rue Morgue - The Collection
3. The Beaumonts - This Is Austin
4. Billy Bragg - Best of Billy Bragg at the BBC 1983-2019
5. Alex Chilton - From Memphis to New Orleans
My favourite concerts (chronological order)
I generally try to stick to attending live performances I know I’m going to like. While some don’t live up to expectations, I came home satisfied after these shows:
The ARC Sound - Jan. 26, The Artful Dodger, Toronto
The ARC Sound - Feb. 23, The Artful Dodger, Toronto
The Discarded - March 9, Duggan’s Basement, Toronto
The Supersuckers - March 20, Lee’s Palace, Toronto
The Interruputers - March 22, Danforth Music Hall, Toronto
The Surfrajettes, UIC - March 23, Horseshoe, Toronto
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| The Surfrajettes |
Ten Feet Tall - April 11, The Dakota Tavern, Toronto
The Hilarious House of Hackenstein - April 19, Horseshoe, Toronto
Teenage Head - April 26, Horseshoe, Toronto
The Slackers - April 27, Lee’s Palace, Toronto
The ARC Sound - May 4, The Artful Dodger, Toronto
Television - May 6, The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto
Ferraro - May 11, Cameron House, Toronto
Jon Langford with John Szymanski, The Sadies and Burlington Welsh Male Chorus - May 23, Horseshoe, Toronto
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| Jon Langford |
Jon Langford with John Szymanski - May 25, 419 Brunswick, Toronto
Dave Bookman memorial with Blue Rodeo, Andy Maize, Andrew Cash, Kate Boothman, The Beaches, Sloan, Ben Kowalewicz with Chris Walla, Tim Mech, Stephen Stanley, Damhnait Doyle, The Inbreds, The Rheostatics, Hayden, Billy Talent, Danny Greaves, , Matt Mays, July Talk, Broken Social Scene, Hollerado, UIC - May 30, Horseshoe, Toronto
The Jet Screams, The Cliff Divers, The Champions of Justice, Mark Malibu & The Wasagas, Luau or Die - May 31, Cadillac Lounge, Toronto
The Specials - June 18, Danforth Music Hall, Toronto
Ten Feet Tall - July 18, The Dakota Tavern, Toronto
Odds with Steven Page, Moe Berg, Tom Wilson, Chris Murphy, Jay Ferguson - July 19, Horseshoe, Toronto
The Dreamboats - July 24, Cameron House, Toronto
Zorton & The Cannibals - July 26, Duggan’s Basement, Toronto
Mark Malibu & The Wasagas, The Discarded - July 27, Duggan’s Basement, Toronto
The Fleshtones - July 28, Horseshoe, Toronto
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| Low Cut Connie |
CJ Ramone - Aug. 15, Horseshoe, Toronto
New Swears - Aug.16, Monarch Tavern, Toronto
Ezra Furman - Sept. 9, Lee’s Palace, Toronto
The Quickshifters, Mark Malibu & The Wasagas, The Dreamboats - Sept. 13, Horseshoe, Toronto
The Long Ryders - Sept. 14, Horseshoe, Toronto
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| Steve McLean with Nick Lowe |
Pkew Pkew Pkew - Sept. 19, Goose Island Brewhouse, Toronto
Waterboys - Sept. 25, Danforth Music Hall, Toronto
Ramblin’ Deano and His Enablers - Sept. 28, 419 Brunswick, Toronto
Jesse Dayton - Oct. 2, Horseshoe, Toronto
Doghouse Rose, Kate Clover, Tiger Army - Oct. 7, Mod Club Theatre, Toronto
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls - Oct. 10, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto
The Hard Toms, The Ad-Ventures, The Members - Oct. 18, The Garrison, Toronto
The Sadies - Oct. 26, Lee’s Palace, Toronto
Skinny Lister, The Interrupters - Oct. 30, Rebel, Toronto
Raygun Cowboys, The Creepshow, The Planet Smashers - Nov. 2, Lee’s Palace, Toronto
The Nude Party, White Reaper - Nov. 8, Horseshoe, Toronto
The Surfrajettes, Bloodshot Bill - Nov. 9, Horseshoe, Toronto
The Painkillers, Ichi-Bons, Champions of Justice, Mark Malibu & The Wasagas - Nov. 16, Baby G, Toronto
The Jayhawks - Nov. 20, Horseshoe, Toronto
George Westerholm and His Wild Wildcats, The Cliff Divers, UIC - Nov. 22, Duggan’s Basement, Toronto
Teenage Head - Nov. 23, Lee’s Palace, Toronto
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| Reverend Horton Heat |
The ARC Sound - Dec. 21, The Artful Dodger, Toronto
The Minus 5, The Sadies - Dec. 31, Horseshoe, Toronto
