50% of 2019 is gone...Where were you when these hit the shelf?

2019 rolls along like a freight train and a lot of music was released.  In some ways, it has felt like a lot of records with a few that stick out as great and several that are very good.  Behind that, a mountain of stuff that's fair to middling, but of course, that's just an opinion.  There's always new music we're discovering every day, so those lists are always mutating somehow.  It's a quiet week in the shop with the holiday that we thought it was a good time to reminisce about the first half of the year, wrapping up our favorites so far in an effort to get a good year end list together once the release schedule lets up.  It has actually been a more active June than usual, as it seems record companies are starting to focus more on the summer months than before, with most of March sometimes problematic depending on weather situations up north.  Maybe this isn't the case, but it sure feels that way.  Big recent releases from The Black Keys, The Raconteurs, Bruce Springsteen, and a mountain of archival material from everyone Neil Young and Grateful Dead to Prince and The Rolling Stones show what an active period it's been.

Without further ado, here are our favorite albums in 2019 so far (We would write descriptions, but there's a ton of info out there already about these albums through the power of Google, so we'll save that part for the year end list)...What were your choices?:



1)  WEYES BLOOD--Titanic Rising





2)  PRINCE--Originals





3)  THOM YORKE--Anima





4)  DIVINE COMEDY--Office Politics





5)  THESE NEW PURITANS--Inside the Rose





6)  THE NATIONAL--I Am Easy to Find





7)  JENNY LEWIS--On the Line





8)  SHARON VAN ETTEN--Remind Me Tomorrow





9)  HOT CHIP--A Bathfull of Ecstasy





10)  VAMPIRE WEEKEND--Father of the Bride





11)  PIROSHKA--Brickbat





12)  AMERICAN FOOTBALL--American Football 3





13)  LIZZO--Cuz I Love You





14)  BILLIE EILISH--When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?





15)  BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN--Western Stars





16)  BETTER OBLIVION COMMUNITY CENTER--Better Oblivion Community Center





17)  BLACK KEYS--Let's Rock!






18)  BOB MOULD--Sunshine Rock





19)  JOE JACKSON--Fool





20)  CRANBERRIES--In the End







HONORABLE MENTION:

BIG THIEF--U.F.O.F.
THE RACONTEURS--Help Us Stranger
THE SPECIALS--Encore
CAGE THE ELEPHANT--Social Cues
CATE LE BON--Reward
STRAND OF OAKS--Eraserland
MOUNTAIN GOATS--In League With Dragons
CRAIG FINN--I Need a New War
SWERVEDRIVER--Future Ruins
BARONESS--Gold & Grey
PURE BATHING CULTURE--Night Pass
FOALS--Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost
ANDREW BIRD--My Finest Work Yet
HOWARD JONES--Transform
POND--Tasmania
OCEAN BLUE--Kings & Queens/Knaves & Thieves
LADYTRON--Ladytron
EDWYN COLLINS--Badbea
MARK RONSON--Late Night Feelings
RUSTIN MAN--Drift Code
BILL CALLAHAN--Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest
PEDRO THE LION--Phoenix
CARLY RAE JEPSEN--Dedicated
TOY--Happy in the Hollow