Jeff's Top Ten Albums of 2019

Well, it should be obvious by now that the Top 50 Songs of the Decade series won't be finished before year's end, unless I was talking about 2020 (which I wasn't).  So we'll take a brief break from the countdown to focus on the best albums of 2019.  You can see which albums I bought over on the side of the blog - and there were a lot of good ones this year, which made this chore way more difficult than I originally anticipated.  I'm comfortable with this list, but no doubt over time the sands will shift here and there - they always do.

I'm indulging in a bit of fantasy by allotting points on the Pazz and Jop scale, 100 points among ten albums with no album being awarded more than 30 or fewer than 5.  I have no idea how much thought Robert Christgau put into that scale when he invented the poll...dear lord, almost fifty years ago now...but it makes as much sense as anything.  Without further ado...

1. Vampire Weekend: Father of the Bride  16
2. The Highwomen: The Highwomen   14
3. The National: I Am Easy to Find  12
4. Purple Mountains: Purple Mountains   12
5. Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi: There Is No Other  11
6. Lana del Rey: Norman Fucking Rockwell     10
7. Billie Eilish: When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?  8
8. Bruce Springsteen: Western Stars   7
9. Black Pumas: Black Pumas  5
10. Neil Young and Crazy Horse: Colorado  5

After making an incredibly strong first impression, I thought for quite a while that Father of the Bride was a little on the long side, but after repeated listens, it's impossible to deny it the top spot.  It's almost as if Ezra Koenig is showing off here - the influences he's channeling are remarkably diverse, and he pulls it all off while barely breaking a sweat.

In the days (and maybe weeks) to come, I'll have a little more to say about the other albums, as well as throw out a few "Honorable Mention" candidates.