2019 SHORTLIST

2020... I know, the darkest days are coming and the best way I found to not get into a panic spree and still get inspired to do things is by listening to the modern muses of the apocalypse aka Natalie Mering / Weyes Blood and Claire Elise Boucher / Grimes everyday... you see... even if the world collaps we can be at the end of it with our hearts full of love and some sort of hope.

But before you scroll down the lists I would like to mention some of my all time favourite bands and their recent releases like Salad, Sleeper, Belly, Juliana Hatfield and Pixies dear Pixies... I don't know if it's only me or I'm getting old (ok... we all are!) or what...but I was expecting much more from the amazing bands that shaped my likings and made me who I'm in terms of music nerd that I am. I'm not saying they now suck, they don't, everything from them is cool... but there is something wrong with their new stuff that I can not explain. I wanted them to redefine the music again, that's what I really wanted or wish! can we keep creating any sort of art form and get better and better by collecting years of experience?!? I believe so...

Now this...

Weyes Blood, man! what can I say... Natalie Mering is the perfect example of an artist that is getting better and better without loosing the primal medieval/gothic/dark identity of hers. We can still find notes from the two thousand eleven "The Outside Room" album in the outstanding new album but in a subtle and evolved way, its amazing... so, "Titanic Rising" is my obvious choice for album of 2019, in fact I can assure that this masterpiece is the best album I came across in the last thirty years... is that good!!

BEST ALBUM
01.Titanic Rising - Weyes Blood
02.Miss Universe - Nilüfer Yanya
03.Providence - Shannon Wright
04.Satis Factory [2019] / Mattiel [2017]  - Mattiel
05.Lawn Memory - Wild Firth
06.Small Mercies -  Pixx
07.Stay On Your Mind - Miynt
08.House of Sugar - (Sandy) Alex G
09.U.F.O.F. / Two Hands - Big Thief
10.Any Human Friend - Marika Hackman
11.Amyl and the Sniffers - Amyl and The Sniffers
12.Dust, Fierce, Forever - Kap Bambino

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01.Wild Time - Weyes Blood
02.These Present Arms - Shannon Wright
03.Disgrace - Pixx
04.Nevermind - Wild Firth
05.Keep the Change -  Mattiel
06.Not - Big Thief
07.Paralysed - Nilüfer Yanya
08.Andromeda - Weyes Blood
09.That’s Not My Real Life - Cherry Glazerr
10.Erase - Kap Bambino
11.Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled) - Amyl and the Sniffers
12.L'Hawaïenne - La Femme
13.Gretel - (Sandy) Alex G
14.4ÆM - Grimes
15.Venus - Molina
16.The One - Marika Hackman
17.The Idiot - Miynt
18.Daylight Matters - Cate Le Bon
19.Lark - Angel Olsen
20.In Your Head - Nilüfer Yanya
21.No Trace - Carla dal Forno
22.Can't Go On Like This - Native Harrow
23.Count Your Blessings [2017] - Mattiel
24.Everyday - Weyes Blood
25.Forever - Kap Bambino

BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Every music video by Mattiel I've seen is awesome and stands out from the rest because: 1. is not too much (simple story if any) 2. match the music so well like a 1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue hitting the desert road and finally 3. because Mattiel Brown is cool like Kim Deal just that!... the best music video is "Keep the Change" a clip that glorifies the power of the centre in a 21:9 ratio in such a subtle way that every art student should watch it at least ten times before start any art work envolving composition. The colors on the video are amazing and the editing so natural and effective, beautiful!



Shot and directed by Matthew Addington and Alimzhan Alan Sabir
Produced by Mattiel Brown
First AD and Set Design by Remy Ciuba
Edited by Mattiel Brown

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

2018 SHORTLIST

no time for explanations, just a list, my list... for best album, best song and best music video of 2018.



BEST ALBUM
01. Audiobooks - Now! (in a minute)
02. Red Ribbon - Dark Party
03. The Breeders - All Nerve
04. Loma - Loma
05. Audiobooks - Gothenburg EP
06. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
07. Kristin Hersh - Possible Dust Clouds
08. Lithics - Mating Surfaces
09. Goat Girl - Goat Girl
10. U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
11. Various Artists - The Bedroom Tapes [Compilation (1980-1991)]
12. Eleanor Friedberger - Rebound
13. Wimps - Garbage People
14. Malena Zavala - Aliso
15. Forth Wanderers - Forth Wanderers


BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01. Red Ribbon - Your Car
02. Loma - White Glass
03. Audiobooks - Gothenburg
04. The Breeders - Nervous Mary
05. Forth Wanderers - Not For Me
06. Lithics - Excuse Generator
07. Daughters - The Reason They Hate Me
08. Grimes - We Appreciate Power
09. Kristin Hersh - Lax
10. Red Ribbon - Destroy
11. Courtney Barnett - Nameless, Faceless
12. Audiobooks - Mother Hen
13. U.S. Girls - Pearly Gates
14. Loma - Black Willow
15. Red Ribbon - Idiot Orange
16. Wimps - Mope Around
17. Goat Girl - The Man
18. Buke & Gase - Derby
19. Melody's Echo Chamber - Shirim
20. Malena Zavala - A Vision That's Changed
21. H.C. McEntire - Quartz in the Valley
22. The Breeders - Dawn: Making an Effort
23. Death in Vegas - Honey
24. Nine Inch Nails - Shit Mirror
25. The Breeders - Metagoth
26. Kristin Hersh - Fox Point
27. Audiobooks - Friends In the Bubble Bath
28. Princess Chealsea - The Deer With The Golden Lights
29. Adrianne Lenker - Symbol
30. Audiobooks - Dance Your Life Away


BEST MUSIC VIDEO

ROSALÍA - MALAMENTE (Cap.1: Augurio)


honorable mentions:

Goat Girl - The Man


Loose Tooth - Keep On


Grimes - We Appreciate Power (Lyric Video)


Phantastic Ferniture - Fuckin ‘n’ Rollin


Forth Wanderers - Not For Me

2017 SHORTLIST

Two thousand and seventeen, one more shared first place for two... Marika Hackman and Scandal.

1982, eight years after the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, there wasn't much radio playing in my house. The hipe was on the big TV - Grundig Super Color,  brought by my father on Christmas of '81. At that time the foreign music videos were scarce on portuguese TV: Olivia Newton John, Duran Duran, Kim Wilde, Human League, Donna Summer, ABBA and a few more.

Plus, Portugal was on the verge of something new, a musical scene was finally on but performed by portuguese bands. To be fair, nothing really amazing happened with our local bands but at least we found ourselves - bands like Heróis do Mar, António Variações, Xutos e Pontapés and Madredeus! helped us find a "modern" identity.

Maybe this explain why a song like "Goodbye to You" from Scandal was never broadcast in the Portuguese television in those days. On the other hand, Columbia Records never stopped believing that Portugal was a Spanish province with marginal impact on sales of Vinyls. Also very strange is the fact that this particular EP from Scandal never had the success it should have had at least in Europe.

Once more, the funny part is that I reached the song for the first time on youtube (again) this year, and I can say now: "Goodbye To You" is a underrated masterpiece from the 80's, Patty Smyth a typical American voice, slightly hoarse but unusualy powerful and sweet. And the music video is like a wikipedia of the 80's ...so damn cool.

By knowing my benchmark for the perfect record: "Surfer Rosa" by Pixies and "Pod" by The Breeders, I sometimes imagine what would have been Patty Smyth's career with another kind of band supporting her and her music worked by Steve Albini!

This also helps what can be said about Marika Hackman, her promissing career and the new album. I wonder if her next creative work could be produced by Steve Albini?! ;) ... ok very subjective! Still, "Im Not Your Man", is my choice for best album of the year! all the songs on this album are so beautiful and subtle. Some of her songs have a tiny little bit of a grunge mood in it and that's super cool!

2018, Marika Hackman will be playing live in Portugal on 06/01/2018 supporting alt-J, I bet there are few portuguese fans out there right now but i'm sure this will gonna change soon.

BEST ALBUM
01.(Ex aequo)  Marika Hackman - I'm Not Your Man  /  Scandal - Goodbye To You EP (1982)
03. Melkbelly - Nothing Valley (2017)
04. Sneaks - It's a Myth (2017)
05. Stacian - Person L (2017)
06. Death In Vegas - Transmission (2016)
07. Pale Honey - Devotion (2017)
08. Big Thief - Capacity (2017)
09. The Organ - Grab that Gun (2004)
10. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun (2017)
11. The Weather Station - The Weather Station (2017)
12. Nadine Shah - Holiday Destination (2017)
13. Wolf Alice - Visions of a Life (2017)
14. Twin Peaks: Limited Event Series Soundtrack by Angelo Badalamenti & VA. (2017)
15. Psycho Tropical Berlin - La Femme (2016)
16. Deerhoof - Mountain Moves (2017)
17. Aldous Harding - Party (2017)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01. (Ex aequo) Marika Hackman - Good Intentions / Scandal - Goodbye To You  (1982)
03. Marika Hackman - Round We Go
04. Pale Honey - Why Do I Always Feel This Way
05. Melkbelly - Off the Lot
06. Sneaks - Look Like That
07. Stacian - Volx
08. The Breeders - Wait in the Car
09. U.S. Girls - Mad As Hell
10. Marika Hackman - Boyfriend
11. Buke and Gase - Seam Esteem
12. Aldous Harding - Horizon
13. The Weather Station - Thirty
14. Scandal - Win Some, Lose Some (1982)
15. Marika Hackman - Time's Been Reckless
16. Death In Vegas - You Disco I Freak (2016)
17. Weekend Wolves - You
18. Big Thief - Shark Smile
19. The Organ - I Am Not Surprised (2004)
20. Wolf Alice - Beautifully Unconventional
21. Mourning Sound - Grizzly Bear
22. Chelsea Wolfe - Vex
23. Deerhoof - Slow Motion Detonation (ft. Juana Molina)
24. La Femme - Saisis la corde (2015)
25. Chromatics - Shadow
26. Sleigh Bells - Rainmaker
28. Nadine Shah - 2016
29. Death In Vegas - Consequences of Love (2016)
30. Oddnesse - Somewhere Somehow
31. Stacian - Telephony
32. Wolf Alice - Don't Delete the Kisses
33. Black Marble - Frisk
34. Woods - Love Is Love

BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Nowadays music video directors often forget the essence of a music video, I mean, it should be about the music and the artists who plays it, isn't that right?  Besides that, I do like a fierce editing music video with good lighting that enhances the song and the band... cool, and so the best music video of two thousand and seventeen goes to Wolf Alice - "Yuk Foo" ...punk lives!