the top albums/songs of the midyear - 2019 (VIDEO)

Oh, and I did this. And outside of a few editing hiccups (UGGGHHH) this turned out well. Enjoy!

the top albums/songs of the midyear - 2019

So for one of the first times when I'm making this midyear retrospective, I have to introduce a major caveat: I'm putting together this list before listening to the long-awaited return collaboration between Freddie Gibbs and Madlib. Make no mistake, I want to hear it and it'll probably get a ton of praise from me given how much I loved Pinata, but it's also going to be a project I'll need time to process and I don't want to rush a review before the midyear and risk delays, so if you're wondering why that's not here, that's why.

But it's also important to highlight that even if that album is as amazing as I hope it'll be, it would face some stiff competition this year! I highlighted last year how even despite getting a pretty reasonable spread of albums it was easy to put things in position, and I wanted to say it'd be same here... until I truly took a look at how many truly stunning albums we've gotten in the first half of 2019! Country has delivered in spades, underground hip-hop is firing on all cylinders, I've got solid cuts from rock and punk and metal, and even pop and R&B have given me some choice cuts. As such, this is one of those years I've had to make some painful cut to whittle this list down to twelve albums and twenty-four songs outside those albums, and just like last year, I have to stress just because an album didn't make this midyear list is no guarantee it won't make the year-end, or that positions won't evolve or change. Also - and I feel this important to emphasize - if you're expecting to see some big name critical darlings here... well, suffice to say 2019 has been a year where I'm flying down a very different path than many mainstream critics, so if you're looking for certain albums... go check to see if I've reviewed them, that's all I'm saying.

And given that this is the sixth one of these lists I've assembled, I've got twelve albums, twenty four songs not otherwise on those albums, and let's start with...

video review: 'traveling mercies' by emily scott robinson

Okay, so this was absolutely fantastic and you all need to hear it yesterday. Kind of out of nowhere surprise for me, but that's the wonderful thing about it!

Anyway, next up will probably be hip-hop (presuming it all comes through properly), so stay tuned!

album review: 'traveling mercies' by emily scott robinson

So I'll admit this came out of nowhere for me.

And I think that's somewhat important to call out, because everyone loves to say they're ahead of the curve and they found an act from the indie scene that nobody's ever heard of, and while you might get the occasional quote from more traditional outlets, you can quickly tell by traction in other lanes how much people really know about you. But I'll freely admit that wasn't really aware of North Carolina's Emily Scott Robinson from any outlet before recently: I saw the rave review for her newest project from Saving Country Music, I got curious knowing exactly rare said reviews are, and I figured I'd check out her debut to get some perspective...

And I was left blown away. Yes, 2016's Magnolia Queen is very much a spare and acoustic affair, a little rough around the edges both in playing and her vocal delivery - although she does have a great voice - what astonished me was the songwriting. In terms of structured poetry, detail, and nuance to craft vivid and often heartwrenching stories, the closest immediate comparison I made was Lori McKenna - and that's not a comparison I make lightly. And it's not a straightforward imitation either - Robinson's writing is rougher and a lot darker, not flinching away from the small town failures and vices that can consume both her protagonists and their hapless partners - age hasn't sanded back or refined her edges, and considering the dark, challenging moments have always what I've liked the most from McKenna, this spoke volumes. In other words, when I heard that the album this year was more refined and polished - handily making its Kickstarter goal, I should add - I had the feeling we could be in for one of the best country projects of 2019, so what did we get from Traveling Mercies?