Sarah Hennies is an independent composer and performer of experimental music based in Ithaca, NY, and a recipient of the 2019 foundation for contemporary arts grants to artists award. Her new album, Reservoir 1: Preservation, is out now on Black Truffle Records.
1
DANIEL ROMANO, FINALLY FREE (New West)
The absurdly prolific chameleonic songwriter—and self-proclaimed “gardener of the landfill”—returns with his ninth album in as many years. Romano recorded Finally Free after a long stint of listening to the Incredible String Band. Check out the breathtaking opening track, “Empty Husk.”
2
PANCRACE, THE FLUID HAMMER (Penultimate Press)
Pancrace appeared suddenly two years ago with a unique, fully formed vision that combined improvisation, composition, eclectic instrumentation, and a church’s massive pipe organ. The Fluid Hammer finds the quintet working in a less improvisatory, more inscrutable area—and features instrument builder and band member Léo Maurel’s “Organous,” a portable pipe organ built specially for the group.
3
MARTHA, LOVE KEEPS KICKING (Dirtnap)
Martha is the perfect queer band: a quartet of well-read, sentimental, and self-loathing charmers from Pity Me (the actual name of a town in Northern England). After two perfect albums of deeply touching anthems, they’ve managed to deliver yet again.
4
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS, GHOSTEEN (Ghosteen Ltd.)
Cave certainly doesn’t need the attention, but it feels impossible not to mention this year’s stunning rumination on love and grief. Ghosteen, which concludes a trilogy begun with Push the Sky Away (2013) and Skeleton Tree (2016), carries itself slowly and plaintively, proceeding serenely from one beautiful moment to the next.
5
ISRAËL QUELLET, INSTRUMENTAL (Sub Rosa)
The mysterious Swiss musician continues his exploration of his tiny village church’s pipe organ. Quellet records and assembles his rhythmic music with shocking vibrancy and clarity.
6
MATMOS, PLASTIC ANNIVERSARY (Thrill Jockey)
The long-running husband-husband duo responds musically to the pervasiveness of plastic on our planet. They construct each song from samples taken from a wide array of plastic products, resulting in a weirdly fun record about planetary destruction.
7
DOUG TIELLI, TRUTH AND ELSENESS (ur audio visual)
Tielli is part of a cadre of idiosyncratic Toronto songwriters loosely based around the now-defunct label Rat-Drifting. His third and least subdued solo album features his smart, somewhat unhinged, and often very funny vocal performances.
8
MARJA AHTI, VEGETAL NEGATIVES (Hallow Ground)
Swedish-Finnish electronic musician Ahti’s masterpiece occupies a slow, expansive space all its own. Vegetal Negatives seamlessly blends synthesizers, field recordings, and acoustic sounds to create a surreal alien landscape.
9
TOSHIYA TSUNODA, EXTRACT FROM FIELD RECORDING ARCHIVE (Erstwhile)
This five-disc set, which pulls from Tsunoda’s massive personal archive, is an outstanding argument for that Cagean Zen adage “There are always sounds to be heard and all of them are excellent.”
10
JULIA REIDY, IN REAL LIFE (Black Truffle)
The Berlin-based Australian guitarist’s expertly crafted second album of 2019 situates her deft twelve-string-guitar playing within an immense electroacoustic environment.