First Quarter Review 2019

My Top 20 Albums from January through March

6 min readMay 27, 2019

Bellows — The Rose Gardener

Bellows is the musical project of Oliver Kalb, a slender man with a calming presence and a restless spirit. The release of his new album The Rose Gardener in late February has led me down a rabbit-hole of self-reflection and, at times, emotional catharsis. I have discovered a great deal of comfort, validation, hope, and inspiration in Bellows’ music — in the ambition and sincerity of his lyrics, in the democracy and humility of his live performance, in the ways he conveys his love for humanity.

The Rose Gardener is an exploration of watering something thorny until it turns into something beautiful, and, although it might be about Kalb’s life, it was put into the world for you. Kalb makes this clear in the very first moments of the first track: “Before you leave the house today / In your paltry New York way / Would you close your eyes and think, ‘How’d I get here? / Through a trillion human lives / To this very body in which I’m alive?’” Mindfulness, gratefulness, and reflective silence counter and destroy self-importance throughout the album; and although the messages are lofty and philosophical, Kalb always brings them down to earth and reminds you that the purpose of reflection is towards real action in the world.

2. Nilüfer Yanya — Miss Universe

Nilüfer Yanya bursts forth with an unsettling portrait of mental health and technology-induced isolation on Miss Universe. Set in the future but neatly about the present, her debut concept album showcases impressive versatility of lyrical tone, clarity of artistic vision, and deep but fluid understanding of genre. Yanya fits an entire universe of sound into a finite human hour and rules with a compassionate, vulnerable, and darkly humorous hand.

3. Little Simz — GREY Area

I said it with my chest and I don’t care who I offend — uhhuh! That’s the chorus of “Offence,” the first track of GREY Area, and it’s a beautifully fitting intro to an empowering album. Refreshing candor is not the least force carrying the album through its ten victorious tracks, and neither is the fact that Little Simz is one of the best rappers alive. (That’s right, “best” — I said it with my chest.) Little Simz’s rhythmic versatility and lyrical efficiency is stunning in literally every song, and Inflo’s bare, acoustic-heavy production gives her frequently intricate flow a satisfying snap, like the last corner of a fresh Tupperware lid.

4. Better Oblivion Community Center

Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and Phoebe Bridgers (boygenius) love working together. You can see it in the body language in their Tiny Desk concert, you can hear it the unedited comfort of lyrics like, “You like beer and chocolate / I like setting off those bottle rockets,” and, if you’re a Bright Eyes fan, you can also feel it that fact that Conor was willing to try harmonizing in his weird but deservingly iconic half-sung groan. I guess that’s why the album’s lack of precision, which made me feel tepid on first listen, is now precisely what I find most charming about it. When you’re with a real friend you don’t have to be perfect — you just have to be yourself.

5. 2 Chainz — Rap or Go To The League

Although the title of 2 Chainz’s most recent album is basically a rap cliché, he actually was really good at basketball in high school. And when you learn that the album was A&R’ed by LeBron James, the best player to ever play in the league straight out of high school, it makes you think: 2 Chainz took the other option… wait, is kind of he saying he’s the LeBron of rap? This is what’s always been so special about 2 Chainz: on the surface he is basically a cheesy goofball, but if you pay closer attention he rewards you with some of the smartest, funniest brag lines in the game.

In “Threat 2 Society,” he agrees — I never get the credit I deserve / I don’t know if you hearin’ every word — over gorgeous, infectious chopped-up soul. Yep, LeBron put some 90’s-ass production on here in addition to the contemporary trap beats we all know and love. In fact, every single track has a different production team, and this diversity of beats creates a freshness that, among artists who have been rapping for over two decades, is frankly as rare as Mr. Clean with hair. Which leads me to my next point: Lil Wayne is on this album, as are about 8 other legends past and present, including E-40, Kendrick, and Young Thug, and it turns they all bring a lot of energy off the bench. Which leads me to my next point: there are so many cheesy basketball metaphors and references on here, and I love it. In summary, this album is 2 Chainz at his best: sometimes hilarious, always smart, genuinely weird, and, as a combined result of all of these factors, fun as hell.

6. Jenny Lewis — On The Line