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January 16, 2020 - Image 8

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2B — Thursday, January 16, 2020
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

1. Tyler The Creator,
IGOR
IGOR is the soundtrack to falling out of
love after an emotionally turbulent period
of denial, as Tyler desperately tries to hold
on to a romance he knows is fading away.
The raw feeling imparted in IGOR is
almost palpable: the rough textures of
retro synths combine with peculiar drum
patterns and distorted, pitch — shifted
vocals to build up emotional tension. This
tension is released with beautiful, fleeting
flashes of weightlessness, such as the bridge
of “I THINK” and the soulful sample in “A
BOY IS A GUN*.” Early in the album, this
harmonic unsteadiness creates an ironic
contrast with lyrics such as “I think I’m
falling in love,” this tension suggesting that
Tyler is lying either to you or to himself
as he struggles to free himself from the
obsessive limerence that ties him, almost
involuntarily, to this other person.
“But at some point you come to your
senses”
“GONE, GONE / THANK YOU” is the
emotional centerpiece of IGOR as Tyler
finally accepts that his “love’s gone” after
trying to fight back against the inevitable
for most of the album. To my ears, IGOR
functions as a warped, almost mocking
companion piece to the more optimistic
and lush Flower Boy up until the second
half of that track, when a beautiful, fleeting
flash of melody (“Thank you for the love”)
unexpectedly and powerfully reaffirms the
value of love in the face of disillusionment,
albeit from a more mature and cautious
perspective (“Now I’m scarred for life”).
It’s better to have loved and lost, according
to Tyler, even if he doesn’t feel ready to go
through it all again at the moment (“But
I don’t ever want to love again”). That last
line might seem awfully pessimistic, but
in context, melodic and lyrical, it becomes
clear that there’s more here than meets the
eye. Acceptance is not the end of the story.
The final two tracks show Tyler questioning
what the future holds. Where does he go
from here? What does his relationship with
this person look like now that they are no
longer romantically involved? Has he truly
accepted the loss, or is he still hanging on?
Maybe if we’re lucky, one day he’ll let us
know.
— Jonah Mendelson, Senior Arts Editor

2. Lana Del Rey, Norman
Fucking Rockwell!
“Maybe the way that I’m living is killing
me,” sings Lana Del Rey in her 2019 album
Norman Fucking Rockwell!, and if anything
better summarizes the ethos of this past
year, this writer is at a loss. It’s Del Rey’s
undeniable, bone-cutting relevance that
earns her such a high placement on our
“Best Of” roundout. Norman Fucking
Rockwell! is more than an album, more
than Del Rey, more than any of us — it’s
a musical transcription of the glory and
gore of modern America. This album is
both a love letter to and a condemnation
of the “American Dream,” a once shining
gold-standard that has now rusted. Maybe
it is better to compare Norman Fucking
Rockwell! to a time capsule: Del Rey weaves
together an eon of America culture, from
50’s Doris Day to contemporary pop, from
artist Norman Rockwell to the icon herself,
Lana Del Rey.
Allow me to make a bold claim: Del Rey
has never written a pointless song. Every
lyric is carefully constructed to add layers
of thematic depth and imagery to her songs.
A wordsmith and master of her craft, Del
Rey proves her chops not just from the
sociopolitical insight of her music, but also
in her razor-sharp skills that never dull.
I said it once, and I’ll say it again, to round
out the year: Listen to Norman Fucking
Rockwell!. Consider it a mandatory exercise
of patriotism.
— Maddie Gannon, Daily Arts Writer

3. Freddie Gibbs and
Madlib, Bandana
Bandana is the long awaited follow-up
to 2014’s Pinata. A seemingly unlikely duo
in 2014, the collaborators curated a tour-
de-force with a blaxploitation inspired
album that perfectly bridged Gibbs’ street
rap with Madlib’s throwback G-Funk

flair. The result was a nostalgic, genre-
defiant throwback that was gritty and well
developed enough to feel contemporary.
This is not the case with Bandana, an album
that is just as provocative as its predecessor
but more unhinged and in the now. Gibbs
is all over the lyricism with Black activism
and freedom at the very core. He paints the
album in historical references that harken
back to major Black figures and moments
in history while still keeping it personal.
This is nothing new to Gibbs, it’s a quality
he’s had since his mixtape days — but
here, he’s less assured of how to approach
activism. “I can’t move the same/ I gotta
readjust how I maneuver,” he raps on “Gat
Damn.” Madlib’s production is robust and
maximized, a significant departure from his
signature lo-fi beats. Different elements and
instruments develop the background from
twinkling bells and spazzed-out cymbals
on “Half Manne Half Cocaine” to “Flat
Tummy Tea’s” jerky, warped riff. Through
Bandana, Madlib and Gibbs further the
strength of their teamwork, their individual
styles bouncing off one another’s seamlessly
for a powerful rap album.
— Diana Yassin, Daily Arts Writer

4.
slowthai,
Nothing
Great About Britain
Despite
countless
British
culture
references going over my head, this album’s
cleverness and excellence has not been
lost on me. Nothing Great About Britain is
stacked with genuinely terrifying beats
beneath slowthai’s grim tales of growing
up in Northampton. The title is defiant
by nature, a challenge to the prevailing
mindset of patriotism, but slowthai shows
love and pride for Britain through his
storytelling. This is his story set in his home
and slowthai doesn’t hold back one bit. On
the rage-fueled “Doorman,” he critiques
the wealthy through his characterization
of a relationship with a higher-class
woman: “I pour my heart out, she laps up
my blood.” Then on “Gorgeous,” slowthai
is nostalgic for the time him and the boys
first got arrested — “Five man deep and we
all in cuffs” — the experience made fond
by the presence of his friends. Every word
slowthai spits, he gives it raw. And if the
main album wasn’t enough, slowthai’s got
all his bases covered with six bonus tracks
that bang even harder than the album cuts.
“Drug Dealer” and “Polaroid” are easily the
most scream-along-able tracks of 2019. But
Nothing Great About Britain has a greater
accolade: This is the punkest rap album of
the decade.
— Dylan Yono, Daily Arts Writer

5. Purple Mountains,
Purple Mountains
Purple Mountains, the project of former
Silver Jews frontman and author of the
acclaimed poetry collection Actual Air
David Berman, is best summed up by
this line from “Storyline Fever”: “Got a
comb over cut circa Abscam sting / Make
a better Larry than Lizard King.” It’s
simple yet complex, chock-full of witty,
self-referential anecdotes and esoteric
blurbs and comparisons, all tinged with
melancholy. Berman is strictly himself on
Purple Mountains. He is always truthful and
has nothing to hide, even when it hurts.
Unfortunately, Purple Mountains is the
last album that Berman will ever release. A
few weeks after the album’s release, he was
found dead in an apartment in Brooklyn,
having committed suicide.
To be blunt, this album is deeply sad,
but Berman expertly circumvents the
sadness by writing captivating, catchy and,
most importantly, congenial songs. He
incorporates humor with all the sadness, as
if to say it’s the only way to overcome. It is
simultaneously and accessible, infused with
Berman’s essence.
Purple Mountains was Berman’s swan
song. A beautiful, bleary-eyed, poignant
swan song.
— Jim Wilson, Daily Arts Writer

6. Harry Styles, Fine Line
Masculine and feminine, moody but
cheeky, former boyband member turned
current sex symbol, Harry Styles knows
a thing or two about fine lines. That’s why
Styles’s second solo album sounds like a drive
up the California coast, a burst of sunshine
turned torrential downpour and a dance

between darkness and light — sometimes
all at once. In fact, the atmosphere Fine Line
builds is such a distinct mixture of pop and
rock that Styles and his promotion team
created an imaginary island, “Eroda,” just
to market it.
Songs like “Golden” and “Watermelon
Sugar” shimmer whereas stripped back
“Falling” and “Cherry” burst. On the latter
Styles can’t help but wonder, “Does he
take you walking in his parents’ gallery?”,
achingly holding onto the final syllable until
he’s forced to rip back into the chorus.
The lyrics on Fine Line are often sparse
and simple, but always packed with a punch.
“Put a price on emotion,” Styles pleads on
the title track, “I’m looking for something
to buy.” When the song is taken over by
building horns and military drumming, he
is left to insist that, “We’ll be alright.” And
the listener wants to believe him. Maybe
it is that easy to be everything at once. If
anyone can do it, Styles can.
— Katie Beekman, Daily Arts Writer

7. Danny Brown,
uknowhatimsayin¿
The man, the myth, the legend. Danny
Brown. After a relatively quiet three
years mostly spent streaming on Twitch,
Danny Brown has finally returned to the
scene, bringing with him a new album,
uknowhatimsayin¿, executive produced by
none other than Q-Tip, and he’s embracing
his elder statesman status.
A
new
sheriff
is
in
town
on
uknowhatimsayin¿. Gone is the old, strung-
out, yelping Danny Brown. The new
Danny Brown is almost a different person
— happy, relaxed and loving life. Almost.
uknowhatimsayin¿ may have a heavy focus
on pure rapping, but Danny is still Danny.
He’s still experimental, but he’s more subtle
about it. He selected beats that sound more
traditional on the surface, but a deeper
look into songs like “Best Life” shows that
they are anything but. His set-ups are
crisp, and his punchlines are executed
flawlessly throughout the entire album.
There are bars aplenty as Danny Brown
raps his ass off for the entire thirty-three
minute runtime over art-house boom-bap
beats. uknowhatimsayin¿ is the perfect
introduction to this new stage of Danny
Brown’s career.
— Jim Wilson, Daily Arts Writer

8. FKA Twigs,
MAGDALENE
FKA twigs and her airy, seraphic vocals
come to life in the most godly of ways on
her second studio album, MAGDALENE.
It is fair to say that, five years following her
last release, twigs has created what could
be considered a masterpiece. Without a
doubt her most impressive and deep work
to date, the album encapsulates all of what
makes FKA twigs special in ways that her
listeners haven’t heard before. She dives
into sounds she hasn’t tried on her past
projects with grace, taking on a variety
of instruments and background vocals
that she hasn’t before. She effortlessly
tackles the concepts of religion and
heartbreak, introducing pain and solving
it with healing. The album completes
itself perfectly; it doesn’t feel like any song
doesn’t belong exactly where it is.

FKA twigs did not need to make more of
a presence for herself. Her initial full-length
release, LP1, brought her to the attention
of the mainstream public. Through doing
a feature on A$AP Rocky’s album, Testing,
she got even more exposure. Despite her rise
over the years, twigs has stayed extremely
true to the sound that gave her a name.
While MAGDALENE is clearly her most
well-rounded and outstanding release, it
still sounds exactly like what an FKA twigs
album should sound like; otherworldly. One
of the most obvious choices for a top album
of the year, MAGDALENE was exactly what
the progression of FKA twigs’ discography
should be and so much more.
— Gigi Ciulla, Daily Arts Writer

9. JPEGMAFIA, All My
Heroes Are Cornballs
On All My Heroes Are Cornballs,
JPEGMAFIA takes the aggressive and
industrial spirit of his 2018 record Veteran
and injects it with more singing and ethereal
warmth than on any of his past projects.

This is an album that’s jarringly discordant
yet harmoniously smooth, outrageously
grimy yet polished to near-perfection. In
one moment, Peggy is singing a beautiful
chorus, like on “Free The Frail” — “Don’t
rely on the strength of my image, hey / If
it’s good, then it’s good / Break it down,
the shit is outta my hands, whoa.” Next
thing you know, he’s spitting hilarious and
hard raps like on “Post Verified Lifestyle”
— “I’m treatin’ this bitch like a cuck, brrt,
MAC, loadin’ it up.” He’s here to piss people
off and make them uncomfortable; lines
like “I’m not a rapper, I’m white trash
in a mocha body” are on the gentle side.
So many disparate elements meld into a
genuinely experimental album. How many
people were making music anything close
to what JPEGMAFIA was making in 2019?
Next to none.
— Dylan Yono, Daily Arts Writer

10. Billie Eilish, When We
Fall Asleep, Where Do We
Go?
At just eighteen years old, Billie Eilish
can play into your fears and masterfully
manipulate them into a chart-topping
hit. Despite the album’s chilling nature,
its heavy bass riffs and exotic lyrical
approach sucks you in; Eilish’s dark yet
beautiful world of monsters and “bad guys”
hypnotizes listeners. In a string of songs
loaded with haunting vocals and heavy,
reverberating bass, Eilish transports you to
your worst nightmares while also feeding
you with the satisfying electro beats you
didn’t know you needed. While Eilish
sticks to the spooky motif throughout the
entire album, it contains brief moments of
arbitrary elements — Eilish giggling, audio
clips from “The Office,” and Eilish removing
her Invisalign — slightly resembling the
cluttered mind of a teenage girl. The most
notable aspect of the album is the way
Eilish boldly disassociates herself from the
modern pop scene, giving a more mature
and controlled style as compared to her
teen-idol counterparts. Her distance from
the status quo is the most defining element
of the album and has certainly rewarded
her in 2019.
— Kaitlyn Fox, Daily Arts Writer

11. (Sandy) Alex G, House
of Sugar
House of Sugar sets up the euphoric
highs and dark pitfalls of a haunted gamble,
except it places your 10-year-old self in front
of the dealer. With a loose connection to the
Philadelphia Casino “SugarHouse,” (Sandy)
Alex G tackles indulgence and sweet facades
with an eerie twist on what it means to be a
kid in a candy shop.
House of Sugar calls your bluff. The
production distorts reality and then swings
intermittently to moments of earnest
acoustic chords that seem to snap us back
to a discernible and disarming reality
(perhaps when the candy is less addictive).
The constancy of the acoustic chords offer
a sober shoulder to lean upon, grounding
his
cosmic
launches
into
electronic
instrumentation.
(Sandy) Alex G skews vocals and plays
with repetition to expose youth throughout
the record — tracks like “Taking” launch
me back to a time when the most prominent
lesson to learn was how to share. He’ll
take a synth and turn the knob on it, with
tracks like “Crime” and “Gretel,” like taking
the pitch of a wolf’s howl and watching
it deepen. You can physically feel the
downward parabolic projection. The forest
is haunted, the candy turns sour. Then
we’re back to the sugar rush of his sweet
upper register.
House of Sugar seamlessly dips into
southern folk, electronic,and psychedelic
rock (to name a few), all while resting under
this umbrella of assiduous DIY. It’s sincere
and homey but takes immense, professional
risks in a production that makes you feel
like the entire animation team at Pixar
could be behind this. But yet it’s still a DIY
vibe. Baffling.
— Samantha Cantie, Daily Music Editor

12. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You
Let’s make one thing clear from the get-
go: Cuz I Love You is a fantastic album. That’s
it. Yes, we can talk — and will — about how
Lizzo is exhilarating, powerful and bold,
how she breaks barriers we didn’t realize we
still had. But Lizzo isn’t on this list because
she’s Black, or plus-size or explicit (I prefer
free) with her words and actions. Lizzo is on
our list because her album is good; Because
her music is foot-stomping, hip-swinging,
booty-shaking great. The bottom line is her
music, and everything else that’s amazing
about her can come after. I won’t cheapen
Lizzo’s victory by suggesting Cuz I Love You
is printed here for anything other than it’s

own merits.
Why is Cuz I Love You so good? The album
is like a cannon blast: Lizzo’s powerful
singing, the colorful, energizing lyrics, the
diversity of sound in every track; because
“Truth Hurts” is the anthem not just of
the year, but of a coming generation. Lizzo,
while undeniably a feminist powerhouse,
speaks for the masses of the fed-up and
taken for granted. Regardless of gender,
age or race, Cuz I Love You speaks a little
bit to everyone. Any album that can reach
the hearts, minds, and souls of so many
deserves
profound
acknowledgement.
Because no one can hear Lizzo call out “I
just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100%
that bitch” and not crow in joyful chorus.
— Maddie Gannon, Daily Arts Writer

13. Solange, When I Get
Home
In a conversation with Antwuan Sargent
about her new project When I Get Home,
Solange said “with this album I had so much
to feel. Words would have been reductive to
what I needed to feel and express. It’s in the
sonics for me.”
This
impressionistic
philosophy
is
executed to blissful effect on the project.
Listening to When I Get Home feels as
though you’ve been transported directly
into Solange’s reveries. She’s aware of your
presence, but pays it no mind. She’s not
singing for you. The project is the sound
of memories, curiosity and longing. The
high concentration of dreamy interludes
makes this album feel more like a singular,
forty-minute experience than a collection
of individual tracks. This is not to say that
no songs stand out: “Stay Flo,” “Almeda”
and “Binz” seem to break through the haze
that hovers over most of the project, yet
they are still rooted in the same sense of
mellow curiosity as the rest of the album.
And on top of it all, Playboi Carti’s feature
on “Almeda” is life-changing.
On When I Get Home, Solange sounds
comfortable and confident, drifting over
lush keys and sleepy grooves. While
certainly less lyrically profound than A
Seat at the Table, it is no less impactful or
entrancing.
— Jonah Mendelson, Senior Arts Editor

14. Liturgy, H.A.Q.Q.
Liturgy’s last release, The Ark Work, was
a step in the wrong direction with regard to
the band’s mission to create “transcendent
black metal.” It featured too much hip-
hop, too much glitchy weirdness and too
much non-black metal music. It looked like
the band was doomed to abandon their
black metal roots and try something new,
something that wasn’t black metal.
Not the case. Liturgy proves that The Ark
Work was a misfire by reloading with the
release of H.A.Q.Q. It took four years, but it
was well worth the wait. H.A.Q.Q. presents
a band one step closer to the realization of
transcendent black metal. Sure, it doesn’t
all work. The series of “EXACO” interludes
aren’t quite necessary nor are they black
metal, but songs like “PASAQALIA” and
“GOD OF LOVE” more than make up for
them. These songs breathe and adapt,
almost like the music is alive. The glitchy
elements are still present, but they augment
the songs. It seems that with H.A.Q.Q.,
Liturgy has righted their course on the long
road to the discovery of transcendence in
black metal.
— Jim Wilson, Daily Arts Writer

15. 100 gecs, 1000 gecs
1000 gecs is a carnivorous approach
to every music trend that’s spanned the
last decade. None of this is new, none of
this hasn’t been heard before, but the way
everything comes together feels exciting
and fresh. 100 gecs duo Laura Les and
Dylan Brady take a maximalist approach to
music that combines almost every trend of
digital age and it feels right. Do not be fooled
though; this almost abrasive mishmash
never feels contrived or overwhelming.
The grimy dubstep mix that thrashes at the
end of “745 Sticky” is a departure from the
song’s initial distorted, plinking synths but
they transition into one another with ease.
As is the case with the EDM emo blend
that wraps incoherent “hand crushed by a
mallet,” the perfect bridge between Brady
and Les’ distinct production styles. Maybe
it’s the creaky, pitched vocals that stand
out amid the chaos or the sparse, almost
incoherent lyricism that keep this project
from feeling like an incomprehensible
catastrophe — in theory, this project
shouldn’t have worked. Whatever the case
may be, Les and Brady brilliantly, dare I
say meticulously, curate an energetic mix
of short tracks that deftly display different
forms of music all at once.
— Diana Yassin, Daily Arts Writer

B-SIDE: MUSIC NOTEBOOK
The fifteen best albums of 2019

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