Vic Galloway – A Festive Fifty

As each year goes by and the musical landscape changes it’s great to see that the ‘album’ endures as an art-form for music fans across the globe. Every year I like to point you towards a ‘Festive 50’ – some you’ll know already, a few you might not. Lots of them are homegrown and stand tall next to all the others. There’s pop, indie, punk, R’n’B, soul, electronica, hip-hop, reggae, rock and a whole heap more in there… Please investigate and enjoy!

There’s pop, indie, punk, R’n’B, soul, electronica, hip-hop, reggae, rock and a whole heap more in there…

Albums of the year:

Sault – 5 & 7 (Forever Living Originals)

Actually 2 albums but hey… both released in 2019.

Then in alphabetical order:

Andrew Wasylyk – The Paralian (Athens of the North)

Anna Meredith – Fibs (Moshi Moshi)

Avalanche Party – 24 Carat Diamond Trephine (So Knee)

Bis – Slight Disconnects (Last Night from Glasgow)

C Duncan – Health (Fatcat)

Callum Easter – Here or Nowhere (Lost Map)

Cate Le Bon – Reward (Mexican Summer)

Cloth – Cloth (Last Night From Glasgow)

Declan Welsh & The Decadent West– Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold (Modern Sky)

Deerhunter– Why hasn’t everything already disappeared? (4AD)

Edwyn Collins – Badbea (AED)

Fat White Family– Serf’s Up (Domino)

Flamingods – Levitation (Moshi Moshi)

George McFall – XIV Surrounder (Tenement)

Ibibio Sound Machine – Doko Mein (Merge)

Idlewild – Interview Music (Empty Words)

Jaakko Eino Kalevi– Dissolution (Weird World)

James Blake– Assume form (Polydor)

James Yorkston – The route to the Harmonium (Domino)

Kaputt – Carnage Hall (Upset the Rhythm)

Karen O & Dangermouse – Lux Prima (BMG)

Lee Scratch Perry – Rainford (On U Sound)

Les Bof! – Voila (Dirty Water)

Mermaidens – Looks me in the Eye (Flying Nun)

Meursault – Crow Hill (Common Grounds)

Mungos Hifi & Eva Lazarus – More Fyah (Scotch Bonnet)

Nick Waterhouse – Nick Waterhouse (Innovative Leisure)

Oceans of the Moon – Oceans of the Moon (Castle Face)

Oh Sees – Face Stabber (Castle Face)

Out of the Ordinary– Stranger Things Have Happened (Ramrock)

Pom Poko – Birthday (Bella Union)

Sacred Paws – Run around the sun (Rock Action)

Sarathy Korwar– More Arriving (Leaf)

Savage Mansion – Revision Ballads (Lost Map)

SHHE – SHHE (One Little Indian)

Show Me The Body – Dog Whistle (Loma Vista)

Siobhan Wilson – The Departure (Suffering Fools)

Sleaford Mods – Eton Alive (Extreme Eating)

Snapped Ankles – Stunning Luxury (Leaf)

Stillhound – Stillhound (Lost Oscillation)

Sudan Archives – Athens (Stones Throw)

The Membranes – What nature gives… nature takes away (Cherry Red)

The Ninth Wave– Infancy (Distiller)

The Twilight Sad – It won’t be like this all the time (Rock Action)

The Vegan Leather– Poor girls broken boys (Midnight Pink)

The Visual – Moments of being (Mink)

Thom Yorke – ANIMA (XL)

Unloved – Heartbreak (Heavenly)

Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising (Sub Pop)

And here’s the disclaimer before the shouting starts… this is my list, and you can make your own if you like. I hope you get some inspiration from it though... Buy, borrow or stream them all.

Track of the Year: The Twilight Sad – I/m not here [missing face] (Rock Action)

Compilation album: Tiny Changes – A Celebration of Frightened Rabbit’s ‘Midnight Organ Fight’(Atlantic)

Live Act of the Year: Oh Sees

Merry Christmas, Happy Hogmanay - all the best for 2020… and the new decade ahead!

Cheers,

Vic xxx