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You are here: Home / Music / 2019 Music Discovery

2019 Music Discovery

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What’s your favorite band or performer that you discovered in 2019? It doesn’t have to be music made in 2019 – just something you found last year. Here’s mine – Cigarettes After Sex. Their new album, Cry, dropped last Fall, but they’ve been around for a while. Honorable mention – Big Thief.

Also, whoever gave KEXP a bunch of money for their new performance space, and the money to make really good performance videos, is showing other rich people how rich people ought to spend a little bit of their money, even after we institute higher taxes.

Reader Interactions

83Comments

  2. 2.

    Martin

    Kawehi.

    I was pretty late to the party on this one, but she does hands down the best Creep cover (of which there is no shortage of covers) I’ve ever heard.

  3. 3.

    BGinCHI

    Big Thief is excellent, and released two records in 2019 I think. Or at least they came out like 6 months apart.

    I’m embarrassed to say I only started listening to Wussy in 2019. I’d heard of them, but the name put me off.

    They are, for me, the best American band of the last 10-12 years, with an amazingly strong catalogue all the way across their recordings. Start with Funeral Dress and work your way in any direction.

  4. 4.

    Marcopolo

    Slightly OT but I exchanged brief emails with SteveinATL yesterday. So I can verify that he is alive. Or that someone has access to his email account and is pretending he is alive :).

    Off to hear music in the form of a symphony orchestra. Everyone have a lovely rest of the weekend.

  5. 5.

    BGinCHI

    Before this thread gets too crazy crowded, a hearty RIP for David Berman, late of the Silver Jews and, as of 2019, Purple Mountains.

    The latter a masterpiece.

  6. 6.

    Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.

    This year I discovered Vessels, a band that makes EDM-type music using live instruments. It often veers in really cool unexpected directions, synthesized and cool one minute, then at some point you end up in a 3 minute long hand drum riff and are not sure how you got there. Largely instrumental though they now work with some vocalists.

    Here’s 2 good examples:
    https://youtu.be/wPjN5GNpCTI

    https://youtu.be/_T0pid_iOg4

  7. 7.

    hells littlest angel

    Kokoko!, industrial funk from Congo. A bit like Einsturzende Neubauten, but you can dance to it.

  8. 8.

    Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.

    @Martin: the best cover of Creep I ever saw was the one Prince did at Coachella. Eager to compare. Fun trivia: Prince actually had it taken down from YouTube and most of the Internet, and Thom Yorke loved his version so much he publicly pleaded for Prince to let it back up (His Purple Badness eventually did).

  10. 10.

    HRH mistermix, Lord Bombay Sapphire, Duke of Schweppes

    @Martin: Wow. What a talent.

    @BGinCHI:

    It was a Thursday / Like Any Other Thursday / Except we were through

    I’m in.

    Thanks for the other suggestions, I’m going to listen.

  11. 11.

    Joey Maloney

    Gillian Welch. Can you believe I never listened to her before last year? And discovered that half the great songs I thought were traditional were in fact written by her.

    And thirding Big Thief. After they were on Live From Here I was a convert. Come to think of it, most of my discoveries came from LFH. Chris Thile has really made that show into something special.

  15. 15.

    BGinCHI

    @Joey Maloney: If you like Big Thief, give Girlpool and Remember Sports a try. Also, Tiny Ruins.

    Hard to believe you missed the Welch/Rawlings period of awesomeness.

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    @Joey Maloney:

    It’s never too late for some Gillian Welch. You probably encountered her in movies and just didn’t know it.

    On my must-see list; she and David Rawlings have some amazing live performance videos on YouTube. Some juicer once posted a selfie taken with Gillian who, as it turns out, is quite tall.

  19. 19.

    MattF

    @Joey Maloney: Yup. Welch tells the story of being approached after a concert by a little old lady, who asked ‘Were those real songs or did you just make them up?’

  20. 20.

    WhatsMyNym

    whoever gave KEXP a bunch of money for their new performance space

    Paul Allen gave them $500,000 towards the end of the $15 million fundraising campaign, but otherwise many folks contributed.

    ETA: Allen has been a long term supporter and was the one who got them setup off the UW campus in their old space (IIRC, the old space was owned by his real estate company).

  22. 22.

    Jacel

    As a clarinet player, my 2019 belated discovery was Wilbur Sweatman. He was doing the playing several reed instruments at once technique decades before Rasaan Roland Kirk.

  23. 23.

    Peter

    If you enjoy Moroccan-flavored jazz/trance/dub played by an ever-changing roster of top tier musicians, check out Club d’Elf. They hardly ever play outside of Boston, but Archive.org has over 20 years of shows. It’s a jam band for people who think most jam bands lack skill and taste.

    I saw Big Thief when they came through town a couple of years ago. Good stuff, though I think I’m allergic to the guitar player.

  25. 25.

    trollhattan

    @WhatsMyNym:

    Just last week I watched a Neko Case performance-interview recorded there. Looks like a really nice space.

    As much as people enjoy shitting on NPR, public radio stations hold tight to the last FCC licenses not grabbed up by “entertainment” monstrosities like Clear Channel (whatever the hell they’re calling themselves these days). They’re the only true form of local broadcast most of us have.

  29. 29.

    laura

    Grace Potter. She opened the Love Rocks NYC 2019 and blew us right out our seats in a mere 2 songs! Wowza.

    Worth you time and attention.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    My favorite live show last year was Jenny Lewis. Tedeschi-Trucks Band with Los Lobos opening were great performances, but the sightlines and acoustics weren’t up to the task.

  36. 36.

    Gin & Tonic

    Not generally a fan of hip-hop in any of its forms, but this was a breakout year for a Ukrainian rapper named Alyona Alyona – a former kindergarten teacher who’s quite a star now, not least because she raps in Ukrainian and not Russian.

  37. 37.

    DanaW

    I have two. My son introduced me to Idles by giving me “Joy As an Act of Resistance”. As an album probably NSFW. Loud, brash, cathartic, relevant.

    The other I discovered only last month, The Machine (not the Pink Floyd tribute band). A power trio from Rotterdam. Most of what i’ve heard is instrumental.

  40. 40.

    spudgun

    So grateful to an anonymous commenter on LGM or somewhere else (can’t remember) who introduced me to The Current in Minneapolis – thanks to them, I’ve discovered so many artists I would never have heard of otherwise. It’s the only thing I stream now because NorCal radio stations generally suck.

    I can’t narrow down to just one – the few that come to mind immediately are Angelique Kidjo (cover of Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime”), Yola (“Ride Out In The Country”), Chastity Brown (everything!), Preservation Hall Jazz Band (“Keep Your Head Up”) and Kamasi Washington (again, everything!).

  43. 43.

    spudgun

    @trollhattan: This – The Current is part of Minneapolis Public Radio and one of the reasons I think they’re able to have such a diverse playlist. I used to be a member until I got laid off and had to cut my discretionary spending – I can’t wait to be able to contribute again once I’m gainfully employed.

    And I’m a huge fan of Neko Case – another artist I wouldn’t have known about if it weren’t for my new favorite radio station.

  46. 46.

    mad citizen

    Big music fan, but scrambling to answer this.  I see some new to things on youtube.  How about a band called the Trueloves, and a related band the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio.

    I continue to appreciate the heck out of the american music geek funksters Vulfpeck.  They sold out MSG this past fall.

  47. 47.

    spudgun

    I think I killed this thread…I always seem to do that here.

    Oop, thought of two more – Foals (“Exits”, “The Runner”). The Bad Plus (everything).

  49. 49.

    karensky

    Lucy Dacus, Historian (2018).  Lovely voice and terrific lyrics and a killer band.  You can sample her in archives at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts in Music.  She has a new album out in late Spring of 2020.  See her live if you can!

  50. 50.

    zhena gogolia

    I pay no attention to current music. I’m grateful to BJ for introducing me to Neil Innes after all these years. And the NYT had an intriguing article about a fellow named Bill Fay whom I’d never heard of but who seems to be an interesting musician.

  52. 52.

    Brainiologist

    Tedeschi Trucks- a great combination of two musicians Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks and a large backing band that has two (2) drummers as well as a wonderful brass section and backup singers.  Apparently better live than recorded, which is saying something.

    https://www.tedeschitrucksband.com

    Discovered them on Tiny Desk at NPR, which is a great place to find all sorts of music talent.

    https://http://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts

  53. 53.

    Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937

    So many great suggestions. I’ll add ‘Billy Strings’ and ‘Birds of Chicago’. My favorite concert this yearvwas ‘Our Native Daughters’. It may be a one off but what a tremendous collection of talent, a Rhiannon Giddens led folk super group.

  57. 57.

    Feathers

    @Leto: Thanks for the head’s up. Full Frontal is where I first heard Lizzo (she played Good as Hell the first show after the 2016 election), so maybe Margo will be huge in three years.

  60. 60.

    TheronWare

    Just listening to a lot of Indie and discovering a lot of good music that’s typically under the radar. It feels refreshingly less commercialized .

  65. 65.

    RSA

    Most of what I listen to can be heard on my local college radio station, but for what it’s worth…

    My favorite discovery this year was the Beths. They’re a guitar band out of New Zealand; their 2018 album, Future Me Hates Me, sounds much more polished than you’d expect from a debut. They have a pop-y sound with obvious retro roots.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVImwSb4EYU

  71. 71.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    A duo nobody has heard of called The Weepies. My wife fell in love with a song by a guy named Josh Radin. We went to a live show here in Philly and The Weepies were one of the warm-up acts. We liked them better than the headliner.

    They’ve apparently had a fair amount of their songs used in movie soundtracks, so you may have heard them that way.

  73. 73.

    PIGL

    My big discovery of 2019 was Marissa Paternoster and Screaming Females. She is Staggeringly talented.

  74. 74.

    Drdavechemist

    A friend who teaches music and spends a lot of time in his home studio recommended that I check out Snarky Puppy, and if you like instrumental jazz I heartily approve.

  75. 75.

    Leto

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Avalune and I are big Weepies fans.

    So apparently the kids are just releasing all their stuff to YouTube, bypassing labels and such. A friend passed along this young man’s stuff and I’ve listened to most of his stuff.Josh Turner Guitar. Started out with a lot of covers, but has since started publishing his own stuff.

  78. 78.

    burnspbesq

    I knew of Cyrille Aimee before 2019, but she went supernova with her album of Sondheim songs.

  79. 79.

    burnspbesq

    @spudgun:

    TBP are a very different band with Orrin Evans than they were with Ethan Iverson. Not sure it’s a change for the better.

  83. 83.

    Jay P.

    B. Dolan and Epic Beard Men were ones for me. (“Which Side Are You On?” Being an amazing protest song and “Pistol Dave” being a great story-telling rap song.). Also Mitski and her albums Puberty 2 and Be the Cowboy.

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