Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which is impossible to be silent.
— Victor Hugo.
Music has been a huge part of my life since I was a kid, often I find that periods of time in my life can best be highlighted by the music I was exposed to in different cities and places. To me, music connects people in a way that many other things can not especially in today’s day and age. This is the first post for Juke Box Bangerz. This blog will really be a sort of Smörgåsbord of mainly music (obviously), some travel, and whatever else my sleep deprived college student mind can come up with. I’m just getting this blog going, so enjoy and stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.
Some of my personal favorites from this wild year.
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This year saw a lot of great music come out across many genres, these listed below were my personal favorites. So, without further ado, my top albums of 2019.
(In no particular order):
Pep Talks – Judah & the Lion
III – The Lumineers
Carver – Brotherkenzie
tryhard – The Band Camino
Wilder Woods – Wilder Woods
i,i – Bon Iver*
“Let’s Rock” – The Black Keys
CASE STUDY 01 – Daniel Caesar
Living Mirage – The Head and the Heart
I Am Easy to Find – The National
Social Cues – Cage the Elephant**
NATIVE TONGUE – Switchfoot
Rarest of Birds – Grizfolk
Jaime – Brittany Howard*
JESUS IS KING – Kanye West
Now, Not Yet – half.alive
Father of the Bride – Vampire Weekend**
IGOR – Tyler the Creator**
Fuzzybrain – Dayglow
Walk Through Fire – Yola*
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Saint Motel
Dragons – Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors
Demos I & Demos II – Hippo Campus
Deeper Roots: Where the Bluegrass Grows – Steven Curtis Chapman (G.O.A.T)*
*= Nominated for Grammy award
**= Grammy award winner
All of these albums were special enough for me to remember all year but seriously each one of these has incredibly talented musicians behind them so check them out on your favorite streaming service.
To highlight a few of my favorites of the favorites, I decided to do a short summary of what stuck out to me in these favorites of my favorites.
Pep Talks – Judah & the Lion: Long awaited album after a 3 year wait from their most recent record, Folk Hop N’ Roll. Pep Talks speaks on the effects of a divorce of lead singer Judah Akers’ parents. The album has some songs that are very heavy and emotional but also keeps the same goofy energetic personality that the trio is known for. The album boasts some big names such as Kacey Musgraves, Jon Bellion, and former Mutemath drum prodigy Darren King. Overall, a triumphant and inspiring album intent on saying “frick it” or “no matter what you’re going through, you have a reason to move forward” (Judah & the Lion). https://www.pluggedin.com/music-reviews/album/judah-and-the-lion-pep-talks/
Jaime – Brittany Howard: Brittany Howard (formerly of Alabama Shakes) exploded into the solo music scene with what was my favorite album of 2019. Being a huge fan of the Shakes, I was nervously stoked for Howard’s new content. I loved the rock and roll sounds of the Shakes and I honestly was a little worried to see if that would go away now that Howard was working solo. She definitely did not disappoint as you could still feel the influence of her older records such as Sound and Color but she also brought a raw, beautiful transparency to the record herself. Ethically I don’t agree with some of the ideas expressed in this album but, Howard outdid herself in balancing between the rock and roll vibes of her former days and her storytelling and insane musical talent of new. Many reasons why this record was my top album of the year so give this one a listen.
Fuzzybrain – Dayglow: Coming into 2019, I had not heard a whole lot about Sloan Struble or Dayglow as he is known professionally but man oh man did he impress. Not often does a 20 year old solo act surpass so many musical feats especially considering this is his first album… ever. Catchy tracks such as Can I Call You Tonight? instantly make this record an easy listen for a road trip or just chilling at the house. Heavy on synth and reverb, this warm feel good album is so fun to listen to and makes it hard to believe that it was made by a 20 year old from Austin. Big things are to come for Dayglow as this first album was stunningly impressive. https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2019-08-09/dayglow-fuzzybrain/
For the ending of my first blog post, I wanted to highlight some singles from my favorite band that had a full album come out in January of 2020.
As this blog continues, you will notice an extreme bias towards a band called Colony House, warning they are my favorite band of all time and that will most likely never change. They released some mind blowing singles such as Looking for Some Light, Original Material, and Where I’m From. My next blog post will be an album review of their newest album titled Leave What’s Lost Behind which has already become one of my favorite albums of well all time. So, thanks for reading this far, I hope you enjoyed my first ever blog post. Let me know what you thought and don’t forget to enjoy life and you love to see it.
Juke Box Bangerz 