It’s that time of year again where I look back at the past year to share with you not only the albums that resonated with me most but also a journey through an incredible year of music. My policy at Folk Radio has always been to only feature the music we enjoy or are challenged by in a rewarding way. I’ve never quite understood why someone would want to spend their time and energy writing about what to avoid when they could be adding value. With this in mind, all the albums featured throughout 2019 (nearly 400 of them) have strong merits and this time around there was a large number left off which I still consider to be strong albums. Despite the temptation to extend the list I have stuck to my guns and kept to 100 as I did in 2018.
The albums below are listed alphabetically and not by merit. As well as the Best 100 albums of 2019 there are separate lists at the end for Live Albums, Reissues (including previously unreleased) and Compilations (various artists).
To make things easy for you to dig a little deeper, the title of each album is linked to our album review.
We have a great team of writers, some of whom you will also be hearing from with their personal Top 10 album lists between now and the end of the year so keep an eye out for them as well.
Before you delve in, I have one favour to ask. If Folk Radio has brought you any enjoyment this year; if you’ve been introduced to any new music; or you just appreciate our representing a niche genre of music, then please consider making a donation or setting up a regular monthly sub. We genuinely rely on those donations to continue doing what we do and we are struggling. These are challenging times, so please consider supporting us now when we most need that help.
Best 100 Albums of 2019
Aidan O’Rourke – 365: Volume 2
With the release of 365: Volume Two Aidan continues to present highlights from both his music and Robertson’s stories; and again collaborates with Mercury Prize-nominated piano and harmonium player Kit Downes. His musical responses provide yet another fascinating, detailed and perfectly executed musical miscellany.
On Joy, AKA Trio combine their very different disciplines with outstanding skill. However, there’s far more on offer here than technical ability. Joy seems to channel some sort of telepathic craft where the music, artistry, influences and life experience of three virtuoso musicians form a single, perfectly balanced, and fascinating entity. A thing of beauty, a thing of Joy.
Alasdair Roberts: The Fiery Margin
Roberts is fluent in the language of enchantment and curse. Few artists can so effectively use the strangeness of the old to pin down the strangeness of the new. The Fiery Margin achieves this with the vigour and surefootedness of an artist fully engaged with the world and yet never fully at peace with it.
Otterburn is still recognisably – and brilliantly – part of Neilson’s impressive and growing catalogue of work, but these are songs hacked out of the rock of grief and raw emotion, and they are something quite special.
Alex Seel: Spell on a Tin Drum
…what impresses and resonates most is how these nine songs all hang together to create a satisfying whole. It is confident work and a lesson in meticulous craftsmanship resulting in a concise and lean set of songs that are bursting with creative ideas and performed with the utmost care and ability. His best yet.
…an impassioned piece of music, with a real contemporary edge. Deliberate, challenging and endlessly creative, you’d be hard pushed to handpick a dozen multi-instrumentalist that could do such a fine job with the broad palate of the ‘chameleon poet’s’ life work as the Band of Burns.
Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni ba – Miri
This is an album imbued with extraordinary and at times beautiful music. The intricate sound of Kouyaté‘s cascading runs and virtuoso picking, augmented by the plucked or strummed medium and bass ngonis, underpinned with exhilarating percussion makes for an enervating listen.
Belinda Kempster & Fran Foote: On Clay Hill
Fran Foote of Stick in the Wheel and her mother Belinda Kempster, make their own contribution to the folk tradition with this album of songs mostly collected from Essex and learned from Fran’s great uncle, Ernie Austin who was recorded by Topic for the 1974 album Flash Company.
Ben Walker has said that “Making this album has felt a bit like a treasure hunt”. On the evidence presented here, there is no question that the treasure has well and truly been found. Ben’s reputation for melding tradition with ground-breaking, innovative, indeed passionate, music, is truly enhanced with this exceptional release.
Bill Callahan: Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest
…since Callahan first invited us in with new material have been something of a whirlwind romance, though rest assured this isn’t just the honeymoon infatuation talking; Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest handles the vicissitudes of love and life with inimitable tact and charm as only Callahan can, resulting in a career-high that listeners are sure to return to for sanctum and solace for many years to come.