To the extent that these lists mean much of anything, here are our favorite recordings of 2019. Many of these albums have been reviewed here at AMN, and such reviews have been linked in the list below.
This year, our list is so lengthy that we broke it into two separate postings. The “best of” is today, and the honorable mentions were yesterday. Let me add the usual disclaimer that this list is incomplete, I have not heard all 2019 releases, and have probably missed a few really good ones. Enjoy.
Like this list? Feel free to peruse previous years’ lists.
Albums of the Year
Gropper, Philipp / Philm – Consequences
Jack O’ The Clock – Witness
Mitchell, Matt – Phalanx Ambassadors
Noice, Alexander – Noice
theBABAorchestra – Marigold
Webber, Anna – Clockwise
Magma – Zess
Best of 2019
Abrams, Joshua / Natural Information Society – Mandatory Reality
Baars, Mariska & Rutger Zuydervelt – Eau
Barber, Mike – Duets for Saw and Deviated Septum
Bassett, Marcia & Bob Bellerue – Endless Parabolas
Bassett, Marcia / Margarida Garcia / Manuel Mota – Here They Rest Immobile
Bertoni, Martina – All the Ghosts are Gone
Bertoni, Martina – The Green EP
Biota – Fragment for Balance
Biota – Counterbalance (EP)
Branciforte, Joseph / Theo Bleckmann – LP1
Buck, Tony & Massimo Pupillo – Unseen
Cape Willoughby Road & Blear Moon – Split
Carter, Daniel / S.Mihas / I.Nejando / F.Ughi – Radical Invisibility
Catatonic Effigy – Putrid Tendency
Caustic Reverie – Splinter
Danketsu 9 – Towards a Walk in the Sun
Dickey, Whit – Tao Quartets – Box of Light
Dickey, Whit – Tao Quartets – Peace Planet
Earth Tongues – Atem
Edén, Mats / Stefan Klaverdal – Annual Growth Rings
Eisenstadt, Harris / Canada Day Quartet – Live
Fujii, Satoko / Tatsuya Yoshida (Toh-Kichi) – Baikamo
Gate, The – House of Snuzz
Golia, Vinny / Steuart Liebig / Nathan Hubbard – Next Outpost
Grdina, Gordon / Nomad Trio – Nomad
Green Dome (Z.Parkins / R.Sawyer / R.Smith) – Thinking in Stitches
Grey Frequency – Ufology
Haino, Keiji / SUMAC – Even for Just the Briefest Moment
Hezaliel – Inferno
Hinton, Colin – Simulcra
Karris, Reid – Rainbow Monolith
Karris, Reid / Alexander Adams Duo – Nothing Stays Buried (la la la la)
Kelly, Elizabeth Joan – Farewell, Doomed Planet!
Kitamura / Bynum / Morris / Reid – Geometry Of Distance
Komeshi Trio – The Master Speaks Thrice
Kozumplik, Thomas – Child of the Earth
Krock, Brian – Liddle
Lewis, James Brandon – An UnRuly Manifesto
Llyn Y Cwn – Twll Du
Lumley, Aaron – Plays the Doghouse Bass
Makan, Keeril – Dream Lightly
Mattson, Roy – Music of the Smoky Rainbow
McGuire, Ryan – Drukkna
Merzbow / Keiji Haino / Balazs Pandi – Become the Discovered, Not the Discoverer
Metcalf, Byron / Mark Seelig – Persistent Visions
Moljebka Pvlse – Komoku
Moloch Conpiracy – Baclou
Monocube – Substratum
Motl, Kyle / Zach Rowden – Gristle
Mount Meander – Live in Berlin
Ni – Pantophobie
NUM – False Awakening
O’Reilly, Pat – Three Sheets to the Wind
Parker, Evan / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton – Concert in Vilnius
Peuker8 – Radiance
Phillips, Dan / Quartet – Light at Depth
Pita – 20190316 Lampo @ The Graham Foundation, Chicago, IL
Pita – 20190319 Knockdown Center, Mespeth, NY
PoiL – Sus
Preminger, Noah – Zigsaw: Music of Steve Lampert
Ranaldo / Jarmusch / Urselli / Pándi – Ranaldo / Jarmusch / Urselli / Pándi
Rask, Casper Nyvang – Slow Evolution Ensemble
Reid, Tomeka / Quartet – Old New
Rempel, Ben – Desert Music (EP)
Rosales, Eliana – Trazar Líneas Rectas, Curvas
Ruth, Kelly – Forms
Sádon & Treha Sektori – Symphony of Dying
Silt Ensemble / Michael Zerang – Follow the Light
Sly & the Family Drone – Gentle Persuaders
Sly Horizon – The Anatomy of Light
Sonar / David Torn – Tranceportation Vol. 1
Spence, Alister & Satoko Fujii – Imagine Meeting You Here
Steidle, Oli & The Killing Popes – Ego Pills
Sunn0))) – Life Metal
Sunn0))) – Pyroclasts
SUSS – High Line
Thompson, Robert Scott – Pluviophilia
Torn, David / Tim Berne / Ches Smth – Sun of Goldfinger
Various Artists – Witchcraft & Black Magic in the United Kingdom
Various Artists – Anthology of Contemporary Music from Middle East
Visions – Temples
Walters, Tim – Neither Here Nor There
Wesseltoft, John / Balasz Pandi – Terreng
Whitman, Keith Fullerton – STS
Zerang, Michael – The Shuddering Cherub
Avant Music News 
One reply on “Avant Music News Best of 2019: Part II – Albums of the Year”
[…] A huge thank you to Avant Music News for including Farewell, Doomed Planet! on their Best of 2019 list. Lots to peruse here; see the full list, plus their Albums of the Year, over on the blog. […]