Some 2019 favorites (part 1)

January 2020 is coming to a close in a couple of days and I have barely scratched the surface of the plethora of end-of-the-year wrap-ups, top of year lists, best of the decade rundowns and others mixtapes popping up everywhere in my social feeds: So much good music came out last year and it feels like I have missed most of it!

In good faith, I can't sum up a top 10 or even a top 5 of 2019 but I can try to give you some quick pointers toward some great LPs in this first pass through my favorites releases of 2019 :

Bersarin Quartett - Methoden und Maschinen (Denovali)

2019 was the release year of the 4th album of the famous Münster-born, one-man-band: Bersarin Quartett. Still the same mix of minimalist electronic and energetic cinematic soundtrack and very much perfection of their sound. It could easily have felt tired but this album is very much full of surprises and new genre-melting directions. It's the most daring, confident and aesthetically pleasing they have ever sound. I hope to see them live shortly.

2 highlight of the LP : Wenn wir nur wollen, one of the most beautiful tracks of 2019 and Ursache und Wirkung a very twisty, trip-hop like and glitchy. A whispering miracle of a track that could very much be some kind of tribute to Amon Tobin :)

Mikron - Severance (CPU)

I did not know the Irish duo Mikron before February 2019 and I can't tell you if their previous releases sound as good as Severance (I may have some catch-up to do) but boy, do this album delivers! From the first listen where it sounds like a familiar yet unknown 90s IDM classic, to the hundredth, that continues to reveal nuggets of brilliance in track like Ghost Node, Aldegrove or Sunken Paths So referential yet so fresh, I could no get enough of this album in 2019 (and I'm still listening to it in 2020)