Here is the full list of albums and mini albums I've heard and enjoyed in 2019, from the purest pop to the wildest improvisation by way of great songwriting, electronica, spoken word experiments and innovative synthesis. I've provided a link to Bandcamp or Spotify wherever possible so you can investigate and listen. Unfortunately, there are no legitimate streams of the Liam Hayes or Wadada Leo Smith albums (and the former is available only on cassette!). I will be narrowing this down to a shorter list of personal favourites over the next few days.
Thank you to everyone on Twitter who helped me crowdsource new releases throughout the year. I've ended up with much more comprehensive and reliable information this way, and many suggestions have made it into this list.
A few observations by way of introduction:
- There are so many excellent albums released in any given year now that it's hard to keep up. It's also harder to find standout masterpieces.
- We are in a golden age of original film scores and soundtracks - Daniel Lopatin, Hildur Gundnadottir, Mica Levi and Stuart Staples have all produced great work in this field.
- I couldn't decide whether the Jai Paul and Susumu Yokota albums (one essentially a belated official release of a leak, the other a posthumous set of sketches for an earlier album) belonged here or in the reissues selection, but they've ended up here.
- Quite a few artists releasing more than one album this year!
- Bandcamp is an excellent, democratising force for making a wide range of new music accessible and easy to purchase directly from artists or independent labels.
- A couple of albums marked with a * are releases I've hand a role in promoting. They won't be eligible for the shorter list!
- A couple of albums marked with a * are releases I've hand a role in promoting. They won't be eligible for the shorter list!
- No doubt I've still missed or forgotten things - please feel free to make suggestions!
| 75 Dollar Bill | I Was Real | Tak:til |
| A Winged Victory For The Sullen | The Undivided Five | Ninja Tune |
| Abdullah Ibrahim | The Balance | Gearbox |
| Africa Express | EGOLI | Africa Express |
| Adia Victoria | Silences | Atlantic |
| Aderall Canyonly | Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said | Bibliotapes |
| Akasha System | Echo Earth | 100% Silk |
| Aki Takase’s Japanic | Thema Prima | BMC |
| Aki Takase | Hokusai Piano Solo | Intakt |
| Alasdair Roberts | The Fiery Margin | Drag City |
| Aldorande | Aldorande | Favorite Recordings |
| Alejandro Coello | Percussion Theory | Alejandro Coello |
| Alex Rex | Otterburn | Tin Angel |
| Alexander Hawkins | Iron Into Wind | Intakt |
| Alexander Tucker | Guild Of The Asbestos Weaver | Thrill Jockey |
| Alice Zawadzki | Within You Is A World Of Spring | Whirlwind |
| Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom | Glitter Wolf | Royal Potato Family |
| Allison Moorer | Blood | Thirsty Tigers |
| Altin Gun | Gece | Glitterbeat |
| Amelia Courthouse | Ruby Glass | SPINSTER |
| American Football | LP3 | Big Scary Monsters |
| Anderson.Paak | Ventura | Aftermath Entertainment |
| Andres | Andres IV | Mahogani Music |
| Andrew McCormack | Graviton: The Calling | Ubuntu |
| Andrew Wasylyk | The Paralian | Athens Of The North |
| Andy Stott | It Should Be Us | Modern Love |
| Angel Bat Dawid | The Oracle | International Anthem |
| Angel Ho | Death Becomes Her | Hyperdub |
| Angel Olsen | All Mirrors | Jagjaguwar |
| Angelique Kidjo | Celia | Decca France |
| Angles 9 | Beyond Us | Clean Feed |
| Anna Webber | Clockwise | PI Recordings |
| Anton Eger | AE | Edition |
| Arp | Ensemble - Live! | Mexican Summer |
| Art Ensemble Of Chicago | We Are On The Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration | PI Recordings |
| Aziza Brahim | Sahari | Glitterbeat |
| Badge Epoque Ensemble | Badge Epoque Ensemble | Telephone Explosion |
| Bantou Mentale | Bantou Mentale | Glitterbeat |
| Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba | Miri | Out Here |
| Battles | Juice B Crypts | Warp |
| Bedouine | Bird Songs Of A Killjoy | Spacebomb |
| Beirut | Gallipoli | 4AD |
| Ben LaMar Gay | Confetti In The Sky Like Fireworks | International Anthem |
| Ben LaMar Gay | East Of The Ryan | International Anthem |
| Beth Gibbons and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra | Henryk Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) | Domino |
| Better Oblivion Community Centre | Better Oblivion Community Centre | Dead Oceans |
| Beyonce | Homecoming: The Live Album | Columbia |
| Big Thief | U.F.O.F. | 4AD |
| Big Thief | Two Hands | 4AD |
| Bill Callahan | Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest | Drag City |
| Bill Frisell | Harmony | Blue Note/UMG |
| Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan | Epistrophy | ECM |
| Bill Mackay | Fountain Fire | Drag City |
| Bill Mackay and Katinka Klejin | STIR | Drag City |
| Bill Orcutt | Odds Against Tomorrow | Palilalia |
| Billie Eilish | When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? | Interscope |
| Binker Golding | Abstractions of Reality Past and Incredible Feathers | Gearbox |
| black midi | Schlagenheim | Rough Trade |
| Blue Lab Beats | Voyage | Blue Adventure/AllPoints |
| Bon Iver | i, i | Jagjaguwar |
| Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy with Bryce Dessner and Eighth Blackbird | When We Are Inhuman | s/r |
| Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy | I Have Made A Place | Domino |
| Boogarins | Sombrou Duvida | OAR |
| Brad Mehldau | Finding Gabriel | Nonesuch |
| Branford Marsalis | The Secret Between The Shadow and the Soul | Sony |
| Brian Hanretty | Shawnee, Ohio | Karlrecords |
| Brian Krock | liddle | Brian Krock |
| Brighde Chaimbeul | The Reeling | River Lea |
| Bright Dog Red | How’s By You? | Ropeadope |
| Brittany Howard | Jaime | Sony |
| Bruce Hornsby | Absolute Zero | Thirty Tigers |
| Bruce Springsteen | Western Stars | Columbia |
| Bruce Springsteen | Western Stars - Songs From The Film | Columbia |
| Burna Boy | African Giant | Atlantic |
| Burnt Friedman | Musical Traditions in Central Europe - Explorer Series | Nonplace |
| Calexico and Iron Wine | Years To Burn | City Slang |
| Caroline Polachek | Pang | Perpetual Novice |
| Cass McCombs | Tip Of The Sphere | ANTI- |
| Cassius | Dreems | Toilet Paper/Miko Miko/Caroline International |
| Cate Le Bon | Reward | Mexican Summer |
| Cate Le Bon and Bradford Cox | Myths 004 | Mexican Summer |
| Caterina Barbieri | Ecstatic Computation | Editions Mego |
| Chaka Khan | Hello Happiness | Diary/Island |
| Charles Rumback and Ryley Walker | Little Common Twist | Thrill Jockey |
| Chemical Brothers | No Geography | Virgin EMI |
| Chris Brokaw | End Of The Night | Tak:til |
| Chris Forsyth | All Time Present | No Quarter |
| Chris Lightcap | Superbigmouth | Pyroclastic |
| Chris Potter | Circuits | Edition |
| Chris Robinson Brotherhood | Servants Of The Sun | Silver Arrow |
| Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah | Ancestral Recall | Stretch Music/Ropeadope |
| Cinematic Orchestra | To Believe | Ninja Tune |
| Clairo | Immunity | FADER |
| Clever Austin | Pareidolia | Touching Bass |
| Clipping. | There Existed An Addiction To Blood | Sub Pop |
| Cochemea | All My Relations | Daptone |
| Crooked Weather | Are We Lost | s/r |
| Cy Dune | Desert | Lightning |
| Da Lata | Birds | Da Lata Music |
| Damon Locks/Black Monument Ensemble | Where Future Unfolds | International Anthem |
| Daniel Casimir and Tess Hirst | These Days | Jazz Re:freshed |
| Daniel Lopatin | Uncut Gems OST | Warp |
| Danny Brown | unknowhatimsayin? | Warp |
| Datach’i | Bones | Timesig |
| Daughter Of Swords | Dawnbreaker | Bella Union |
| Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Andrew Cyrille | Devotion | Greenleaf |
| Dave Harrington Group | Pure Imagination, No Country | Yeggs |
| Dave O’ Higgins and Rob Luft | O’Higgins and Luft Play Monk and Trane | Ubuntu |
| David Byrne | American Utopia On Broadway | Nonesuch |
| David DeRose’s Agile Experiments | The Ultimate Guide To Avant-Garde-Step | Agile Experiments |
| David Ian Roberts | Travelling Bright | s/r |
| David Torn, Tim Berne, Ches Smith | Son Of Goldfinger | ECM |
| De Lorians | De Lorians | Beyond Beyond Is Beyond |
| Deafkids | Metaprogramacao | Neurot Recordings |
| Death and Vanilla | Are You A Dreamer? | Fire |
| Deathprod | Occulting Disk | Smalltown Supersound |
| Deerhunter | Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? | 4AD |
| Dominic Miller | Absinthe | ECM |
| Duncan Eagles | Citizen | Whirlwind |
| Durand Jones and the Indications | American Love Call | Dead Oceans |
| Duster | Duster | Mudguts |
| Eamon Fogarty | Blue Values | Jealous Butcher |
| Earl Sweatshirt | Feet Of Clay | Warners |
| Earth | Full Upon Her Burning Lips | Sargent House |
| Ebi Soda | Bedroom Tapes | Sola Terra |
| Elbow | Giants Of All Sizes | Polydor |
| Elena Setien | Another Kind Of Revolution | Thrill Jockey |
| Eli Winter | The Time To Come | Blue Hole Recordings |
| Elkhorn | Sun Cycle/Elk Jam | Feeding Tube |
| Ellen Arkbro | Chords | Subtext/Multiverse |
| Elliott Galvin | Modern Times | Edition |
| Elliott Galvin and Binker Golding | Ex Nihilo | Byrd Out |
| Elza Soares | Planeta Fome | Deck |
| Ex Hex | It’s Real | Merge |
| Ezra Collective | You Can’t Steal My Joy | Enter The Jungle |
| Faye Webster | Atlanta Millionaires Club | Secretly Canadian |
| Fennesz | Agora | Editions Mego |
| Filthy Friends | Emerald Valley | Kill Rock Stars |
| Fire! Orchestra | Arrival | Rune Grammofon |
| Firefly Burning | Breathe Shallow | Firefly Burning |
| FKA Twigs | Magdalene | Young Turks |
| Flaming Lips | King’s Mouth | Warner Bros |
| Floating Points | Crush | Pluto/Ninja Tune |
| Floorplan | Supernatural | !K7 |
| Florist | Emily Alone | Double Double Whammy |
| Fly Pan Am | C’est Ca | Constellation |
| Flying Lotus | Flamagra | Warp |
| Forest Management Forest Management | Passageways After Dark | Whited Sepulchre American Dreams |
| Gang Starr | One Of The Best Yet | TTT/Gang Starr Enterprises |
| Garcia Peoples | Natural Facts | Beyond Beyond Is Beyond |
| Garcia Peoples | One Step Behind | Beyond Beyond Is Beyond |
| Georgia Anne Muldrow | VWETO II | Mello Music Group |
| Ghostface Killah | Ghostface Killahs | Now Generation Music |
| Girl Band | The Talkies | Rough Trade |
| Girl Unit | Song Feel | Night Slugs |
| Grace Cummings | Refuge Cove | FLIGHTLESS |
| Guided By Voices | Zeppelin Over China | GBV Inc |
| Guillermo Klein | Los Guachos Cristal | Sunnyside |
| Guillermo Klein and Los Guachos | Carrera | Sunnyside |
| Gwilym Simcock | Near and Now* | ACT |
| Gyedu-Blay Ambolley | 11th Street Sekondi | Agogo |
| Hand Habits | Placeholder | Saddle Creek |
| Hanging Lichen Hanging Lichen | Old Northwest (Rotting) Old Northwest (Growing) | Structures Without Purpose Reserve Matinee |
| Harry Styles | Fine Line | Columbia |
| Hayden Thorpe | Diviner | Domino |
| Heather Woods Broderick | Invitation | Western Vinyl |
| Hedvig Mollestad Trio | Smells Funny | Rune Gramofon |
| Hejira | Thread Of Gold | Lima Limo |
| Helado Negro | This Is How You Smile | RVNG Intl. |
| Helm | Chemical Flowers | PAN |
| Hieroglyphic Being | Synth Expressionism/Rhythmic Cubism | On The Corner |
| High Aura’d and Josh Mason | Lower Yr Voice | s/r |
| Hildur Gudnadottir | Chernobyl (Music From The Original TV Series) | HBO/Touch Music |
| Hildur Gudnadottir | Joker OST | Warner Bros |
| Hiss Golden Messenger | Terms Of Surrender | Merge |
| Holly Herndon | PROTO | 4AD |
| Horse Jumper Of Love | So Divine | Run For Cover |
| Hot Chip | A Bathfull Of Ecstasy | Domino |
| House and Land | Across The Field | Thrill Jockey |
| Hovvdy | Heavy Lifter | Specialist Subject |
| HTRK | Venus In Leo | Ghostly International |
| HTRK | Over The Rainbow | Boomkat Editions |
| Ibibio Sound Machine | Doko Mien | Merge |
| Ingrid Laubrock and Aki Takase | Kasumi | Intakt |
| Ishmael Ensemble | A State Of Flow | Severn Songs |
| Itasca | Spring | Paradise Of Bachelors |
| Jacques Greene | Dawn Chorus | LuckyMe |
| Jai Paul | Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones) | XL |
| Jaimie Branch | Fly Or Die II: Bird Dogs Of Paradise | International Anthem |
| Jake Xerxes Fussell | Out Of Sight | Paradise Of Bachelors |
| Jamael Dean | Black Space Tapes | Stones Throw |
| James Blake | Assume Form | Polydor |
| Jamila Woods | LEGACY! LEGACY! | Jagjaguwar |
| Jay Som | Anak Ko | Lucky Number Music |
| Jeff Ballard | Fairgrounds | Edition |
| Jefre Cantu-Ledesma | Tracing Back The Radiance | Kamado |
| Jenna Sutela | Nimiia Vibie | PAN |
| Jenny Hval | The Practice Of Love | Sacred Bones |
| Jenny Lewis | On The Line | Warner |
| Jeremy Warmsley | A Year | Jeremy Warmsley |
| Jesca Hoop | Stonechild | Memphis Industries |
| Jessica Pratt | Quiet Signs | City Slang |
| Jimmy “Duck” Holmes | Cypress Grove | Easy Eye Sound |
| JJ Cale | Stay Around | Because Music |
| Joan Shelley | Like The River Loves The Sea | No Quarter |
| Joe Jackson | Fool | Earmusic |
| Joel Ross | Kingmaker | UMG |
| John Turville | Head First | Whirlwind |
| Jon Collin | Water and Rock Music Volumes 3 - 6 | Early Music |
| Jonny Mansfield | Elftet | Edition |
| Jonny Nash | Make A Wilderness | Music From Memory |
| Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society | Mandatory Reality | Eremite |
| Joshua Redman Quartet | Come What May | Nonesuch |
| Julia Jacklin | Crushing | Transgressive |
| Julia Kent | Temporal | The Leaf Label |
| Julian Lage | Love Hurts | Mack Avenue |
| Julien Chang | Jules | Transgressive |
| Justin Hopper and Sharon Krauss with the Belbury Poly | Chanctonbury Rings | Ghost Box |
| Kacy and Clayton | Carrying On | New West |
| Kaina | Next To The Sun | Sooper |
| Kali Malone | The Sacrificial Code | iDEAL |
| Kaytranada | Bubba | RCA |
| Kefaya and Elaha Soroor | Songs Of Our Mothers | Bella Union |
| Kehlani | While We Wait | WEA International |
| Kel Assouf | Black Tenere | Glitterbeat |
| Kelly Finnegan | The Tales People Tell | Colemine |
| Kelsey Lu | Blood | Columbia |
| Kevin Morby | Oh My God | Dead Oceans |
| Kim Gordon | No Home Record | Matador |
| King Midas Sound | Solitude | Cosmo Rhythmatic |
| Kit Downes | Dreamlife Of Debris | ECM |
| Klein | Lifetime | ijn inc. |
| Kneebody | Chapters | Edition |
| Kokoko! | Fongola | Transgressive |
| Kris Davis | Diatom Ribbons | Pyroclastic |
| Kyle Bobby Dunn | From Here To Eternity | Past Inside The Present |
| Lafawndah | Ancestor Boy | Concordia |
| Lambchop | This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You) | City Slang |
| Lana Del Rey | Norman Fucking Rockwell! | Polydor |
| Lankum | The Livelong Day | Rough Trade |
| Lau | Midnight and Celebration | Reveal |
| Laura Cannell | The Sky Untuned | Brawl |
| Laura Cannell and Polly Wright | Sing As The Crow Flies | Brawl |
| Laura Jurd | Stepping In, Stepping Out | Edition |
| Laurence Pike | Holy Spring | Leaf |
| L’eclair | Sauropoda | Beyond Beyond Is Beyond |
| Led Bib | It’s Morning | RareNoiseRecords |
| Lee Fields and The Expressions | It Rains Love | Big Crown |
| Leif | Loom Dream | Whities |
| Leonard Cohen Liam Hayes | Thanks For The Dance Mirage Garage | Columbia Weird Vacation |
| Liam Noble | The Long Game | Edition |
| Lightning Bolt | Sonic Citadel | Thrill Jockey |
| Lights Flourescent Little Simz | The Oldest Sons Of The Oldest Son Grey Area | Kingdoms AWAL Recordings |
| Little Steven and The Disciples Of Soul | Summer Of Sorcery | Wicked Cool/Universal |
| Liz Brasher Lizzo | Painted Image Cuz I Love You | Fat Possum Atlantic |
| Loraine James | For You and I | Hyperdub |
| Luke Abbott | Music From The Edge Of An Island | FLOAT |
| M. Grig | Mount Carmel | 12k |
| Mabel | High Expectations | Polydor |
| Madder Rose | To Be Beautiful | Trome |
| Maggie Rogers | Heard It In A Past Life | Polydor |
| Makasi Batoh | Nowhere | Drag City |
| Maria Chiara Argiro | Hidden Seas | Cavalo |
| Mariee Sioux | Grief In Exile | Night Bloom |
| Marilyn Mazur’s Shamania | Marilyn Mazur’s Shamania | RareNoise |
| Mark Korven | The Lighthouse OST | Sony |
| Mark Lockheart | Days On Earth | Edition |
| Mary Halvorson and John Dieterich | A Tangle Of Stars | New Amsterdam |
| Mary Lattimore and Mac McCaughan | New Rain Duets | Three Lobed |
| Matana Roberts | COIN COIN Chapter Four: Memphis | Constellation |
| Matmos | Plastic Anniversary | Thrill Jockey |
| Matthew “Doc” Dunn | Upper Canada Blues | Cosmic Range |
| Matthew Herbert Big Band | The State Between Us | Accidental |
| Matthew J Rolin | Moment | Blue Hole Recordings |
| Matthew J Rolin | Matthew J Rolin | Feeding Tube |
| Maurice Louca | Elephantine | Northern Spy |
| Mavis Staples | Live In London | ANTI- |
| Mavis Staples | We’ll Get By | ANTI- |
| Mdou Moctar | Ilana (The Creator) | Sahel Sounds |
| Mega Bog | Dolphine | Paradise Of Bachelors |
| Mekons | Deserted | Glitterbeat |
| Mercury Rev | Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited | Bella Union |
| Mica Levi Michael Chapman | Monos OST True North | Invada/Lakeshore Paradise Of Bachelors |
| Michael Janisch Michael Kiwanuka | Worlds Collide Kiwanuka | Whirlwind Polydor |
| Miguel Gorodi Nonet | Apophenia | Ubuntu |
| Miho Hazama | Dancer In Nowhere | JamRice |
| Mike Walker | Ropes | Market Square |
| Modern Nature | How To Live | Bella Union |
| Molly Sarle | Karaoke Angel | Partisan |
| Moon Bros. Moon Duo | The Easy Way Is Hard Enough Stars Are The Light | Western Vinyl Sacred Bones |
| Moor Mother | Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes | Don Giovanni |
| Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron | Lost Wisdom Pt. 2 | P.W. Elverum & Sun |
| Mr. Tophat | Dusk To Dawn | Twilight Enterprise |
| Nakhane | You Will Not Die | BMG France |
| Nate Wooley | Columbia Icefield | Northern Spy |
| Neil Young and Crazy Horse | Colorado | Reprise |
| Nerija | Blume | Domino |
| Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds | Ghosteen | Ghosteen Ltd. |
| Nick Walters and Paradox Ensemble | Awakening | 22a |
| Nils Lofgren | Blue With Lou | Cattle Track Road |
| Nivhek | After its own death/walking in a spiral towards house | YELLOWELECTRIC |
| Nkisi | 7 Directions | UIQ/NON Worldwide |
| Nubiyan Twist | Jungle Run | !K7 |
| Octo Octa | Resonant Body | T4T LUV NRG |
| Olden Yolk | Living Theatre | Trouble In Mind |
| Oli XL | Rogue Intruder, Soul Enhancer | Bloom |
| Omni | Networker | Sub Pop |
| One Eleven Heavy | Desire Path | Beyond Beyond Is Beyond |
| Oren Ambarchi, Mark Fell, Will Guthrie, Sam Shalabi | Oglon Day | 33 33 |
| Oren Ambarchi | Simian Angel | Editions Mego |
| Orville Peck | Pony | Sub Pop |
| Oso Oso | Basking In The Glow | Triple Crown |
| Our Native Daughters | Songs Of Our Native Daughters | Smithsonian Folkways |
| Overground Collective | Super Mario | Babel |
| Owen Tromans | Between Stones | Sacred Geometry |
| PP Arnold | The New Adventures of P.P. Arnold | Edel Germany/earMUSIC |
| Padang Food Tigers | Wake Up, Mr. Pancake | Blue Hole Recordings |
| Panda Bear | Buoys | Domino |
| Paper Tiger | Rogue Planet | Wah Wah 45s |
| Park Jiha | Philos | Tak:til |
| Partisans | Nit De Nit | Whirlwind |
| Pat Thomas and Kwashibu Area Band | Obiaa! | !K7 |
| Patchwork Jazz Orchestra | The Adventures of Mr. Pottercakes | Spark |
| Pelican | Nightime Stories | Southern Lord |
| Pile | Green and Gray | Exploding In Sound |
| Plaid | Polymer | Warp |
| Pond | Tasmania | Marathon Artists |
| Pure Bathing Culture | Night Pass | Infinite Companion |
| Purple Mountains | Purple Mountains | Drag City |
| Puto Tito | Carregando A Vida Atras Das Costas | Principe Discos |
| Pye Corner Audio | Hollow Earth | Ghost Box |
| Quelle Chris | Guns | Mello Music Group |
| Rachel Grimes | The Way Forth | Temporary Residence |
| RAP | Export | Jolly Discs |
| Raphael Saadiq | Jimmy Lee | Columbia |
| Rapsody | Eve | Jamla/Roc Nation |
| Rebecca Nash’s Atlas | Peaceful King | Whirlwind |
| Red River Dialect | Abundance Welcoming Ghosts | Paradise Of Bachelors |
| Reid Anderson, Dave King, Craig Taborn Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi | Golden Valley Is Now There Is No Other | Intakt Nonesuch |
| Rian Treanor | Ataxia | Planet Mu |
| Rich Ruth | Calming Signals | General General/Plant Life |
| Richard Dawson | 2020 | Domino |
| Richard Skelton | Border Ballads | Corbel Stone Press |
| Rickie Lee Jones | Kicks | The Other Side Of Desire/Thirty Tigers |
| Ride | This Is Not A Safe Place | Wichita |
| Robert Ellis | Texas Piano Man | New West |
| Robert Forster | Inferno | Tapete |
| Rose City Band | Rose City Band | Thrill Jockey |
| Rosie Lowe | YU | Wolf Tone/Caroline International |
| Roy Montgomery with Emma Johnstone | After Nietzsche | Aguirre |
| Royal Trux | White Stuff | Fat Possum |
| Rustin Man | Drift Code | Domino |
| Saariselka | The Ground Our Sky | Temporary Residence |
| Sacred Paws | Run Around The Sun | Rock Action! |
| Salif Keita | Un Autre Blanc | Naive/Believe |
| Sam Eastmond | Gulgoleth | Chant Records |
| Sampa The Great | The Return | Ninja Tune |
| Sandro Perri | Soft Landing | Constellation |
| Sarah Davachi | Pale Bloom | W. 25th/Superior Viaduct |
| Sarah Louise | Nightime Birds and Morning Stars | Thrill Jockey |
| Sarah Tandy | Inflection In The Sentence | Jazz re:freshed |
| Sarathy Korwar | More Arriving | The Leaf Label |
| School Of Language | 45 | Memphis Industries |
| Scopes | Scopes | Whirlwind |
| Seabuckthorn | Crossing | Eilean |
| Seamus Blake | Guardians of the Heart Machine | Whirlwind |
| Sean O’ Hagan | Radum Calls, Radum Calls | Drag City |
| Sebadoh | Act Surprised | Domino |
| Seed Ensemble | Driftglass | Jazz re:freshed |
| Sessa | Grandeza | Boiled Records |
| Shake Stew | Gris Gris | Traumton |
| Shannon Lay | August | Sub Pop |
| Sharon Van Etten | Remind Me Tomorrow | Jagjaguwar |
| Shiva Feshareki | New Forms | Resist |
| Simon Joyner | Pocket Moon | BB*Island |
| Six By Seven | Das Ist England | SNSM |
| Skyphone | Hildur | Lost Tribe Sound |
| Skyphone | Marsh Drones | Lost Tribe Sound |
| Slauson Malone | A Quiet Farwell, Twenty Sixteen to Twenty Eighteen | Grand Closing |
| Sleater-Kinney | The Centre Won’t Hold | Sub Pop |
| Sloth Racket | Dismantle Yourself | Luminous |
| slowthai | Nothing Great About Britain | Method |
| smileswithteeth | Care | Never Content |
| Sneaks | Highway Hypnosis | Merge |
| Solange Sonar with David Torn | When I Get Home Tranceportation, Vol. 1 | Columbia RareNoise |
| Sote | Parallel Persia | Diagonal |
| Speaker Music | Of Desire, Longing | Planet Mu |
| Spencer Adam Grady | Passive Extremities (For Konrad D.) | Patient Sounds |
| Steve Gunn | The Unseen In Between | Matador |
| Steve Hauschildt | Nonlin | Ghostly International |
| Steve Lacy | Apollo XXI | 3qtr/AWOL |
| Steve Lehman Trio with Craig Taborn | The People I Love | Pi Recordings |
| Stuart A. Staples | Music For Claire Denis’ High Life | Lucky Dog/City Slang |
| Sudan Archives | Athena | Stones Throw |
| Sui Zhen | Losing, Linda | Cascine |
| Sunn O))) | Life Metal | Southern Lord |
| Sunn O))) | Pyroclasts | Southern Lord |
| Sunwatchers | Illegal Moves | Trouble In Mind |
| Susanna and The Brotherhood Of Our Lady | Garden Of Earthly Delights | SusannaSonata |
| Susumu Yokota | Cloud Hidden | Lo Recordings |
| SUSS | High Line | Northern Spy |
| Swervedriver | Future Ruins | Rock Action! |
| Tanya Tucker | While I’m Livin’ | Fantasy Records |
| Taylor Ho Bynum 9-nette | The Ambiguity Manifesto | Firehouse 12 |
| Teeth Of The Sea Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science | Wraith Waiting Game | Rocket Motema |
| The Budos Band | V | Daptone |
| The Comet Is Coming | Trust In The Life Force Of The Deep Mystery | Impulse!/UMG |
| The Comet Is Coming | The Afterlife | Impulse!/UMG |
| The Delines | The Imperial | Decor |
| The Dream Syndicate | These Times | ANTI- |
| The Gloaming | The Gloaming 3 | Real World |
| The Long Ryders | Psychedelic Country Soul | Cherry Red |
| The Mining Co. | Frontier | The Mining Co. |
| The New Pornographers | In The Morse Code Of Brakelights | Concord |
| The O’Jays | The Last Word | S-Curve |
| The Soft Cavalry | The Soft Cavalry | Bella Union |
| The Unthanks | Lines | Rabble Rouser |
| Theodore Cale Schafer | Patience | Students Of Decay |
| Theon Cross | Fyah | Gearbox |
| These New Puritans | Inside The Rose | Infectious/BMG |
| Thom Yorke | Anima | XL |
| Throwing Snow | The Death Of Pragmatism | Houndstooth |
| Tim Hecker | Anoyo | sunblind music |
| Tinariwen | Amadjar | Wedge/PIAS |
| Tindersticks | No Treasure But Hope | City Slang |
| Toby Oler | Carollei | Toby Oler |
| Tom Cawley | Catenaccio | Ubuntu |
| Tomeka Reid Quartet | Old New | Cuneiform |
| Tori Freestone Trio | El Mar de Nubes | Whirlwind |
| Trash Kit | Horizon | Upset The Rhythm |
| Trish Clowes | Ninety Degrees Gravity* | Basho |
| Tropical Fuck Storm | Braindrops | Joyful Noise Recordings |
| Trupa Trupa | Of The Sun | Glitterbeat |
| Tunes Of Negation (Shackleton) | Reach The Endless Sea | Woe To The Septic Heart |
| Underworld | DRIFT Series 1 | Smith Hyde Productions |
| Vagabon | Vagabon | Nonesuch |
| Vampire Weekend | Father Of The Bride | Columbia |
| Van Morrison | Three Chords and The Truth |
Exile Productions
|
| Vanishing Twin | The Age Of Immunology | Fire |
| VEIN Trio | Symphonic Bop | Double Moon |
| Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn | The Transitory Poems | ECM |
| Vula Viel | Do Not Be Afraid | Vula Viel (s/r) |
| Wadada Leo Smith | Rosa Parks: Pure Love | Tum |
| Wet Tuna | Water Weird | Three Lobed |
| Weyes Blood | Titanic Rising | Sub Pop |
| White Denim | Side Effects | City Slang |
| White Denim | In Person | City Slang |
| Whitney | Forever Turned Around | Secretly Canadian |
| William Basinski | On Time Out Of Time | Temporary Residence |
| William Brittelle | Spiritual America | Nonesuch |
| William Doyle | Your Wilderness Revisited | William Doyle |
| William Tyler | Goes West | Merge |
| Willie Nelson | Ride Me Back Home | Sony |
| Wooden Wand | Brooklyn Blizzard (The Thump Sessions) | s/r |
| Xylouris White | The Sisypheans | Drag City |
| Y La Bamba | Mujeres | Tender Loving Empire |
| Yatta | Wahala | Diagonal |
| Yazz Ahmed | Polyhymnia | Ropeadope |
| Yola | Walk Through Fire | Easy Eye Sound/Nonesuch |