Guest List: Gareth Funka-Lea

Gareth's Favorite Albums of 2019

By Gareth Funka-Lea

[Here's our first "Guest List" post of 2019. Gareth is a frequent, familiar face at local shows and a much-appreciated supporter of this site. He's also an avid music listener whose varied taste is sure to turn you onto something you missed this past year. You can follow Gareth on Instagram at @gfunkalea.]

Hello everyone, I'm Gareth. Thanks to CoodDadMusic for the chance to share with you some of the albums I have really enjoyed this year. 

First, here's a little about me. I grew up in Edison NJ. I spent my adolescence listening to The Who, The Clash, Talking Heads, and Bruce Springsteen. I now live in Princeton NJ. Now that my four kids are raised and out of the house, I have been listening to more music and once again going to shows. I consider this period in my life to be my second adolescence before I slip into second childhood.

There were some incredible albums released in 2019:

Kate Tempest, The Book of Traps and Lessons. Best listened to in one shot on a long highway drive. Captures the zeitgeist of the time and provides a path to salvation. The most important album of the year. Yes, music can sometimes still be important.

Sharon Van Etten, Remind Me Tomorrow. My favorite album of the year. Every song resonates with me, and I never get tired of hearing them. Sharon Van Etten returns 4 years after her last album with a richer sound for her insightful song writing.

Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride. This album doesn't wrestle with the big issues of faith and politics of their previous album. Instead it is filled with songs about relationships. But all 18 songs are really good songs.

Viagra Boys, Street Worms. Darkly funny music to encourage wild abandon on the dance floor.

The following are not quite in the same category, but all are albums I really enjoyed this year. They are presented in alphabetical order by artist.

Laurie Anderson, Tenzin Choegyal, Jesse Paris Smith, Songs From the Bardo. Maybe not for everybody, but you might enjoy this more than you think you will. Somewhere between a guided meditation and surreal atmospheric music. It's a contemporary telling of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which turns out to be advice to the recently dead not to sweat the small stuff (and yes it's all small stuff). Best enjoyed during a walk in the woods, but a long car ride is good too.

Better Oblivion Community Center. None of the songs are perfect, but I listened to this album a lot during the year. Singer songwriters Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers are better together than on their own.

Charly Bliss, Young Enough. Almost made my list of incredible albums. Fun rock music, often with humor or clever comments, and about mostly dark topics. 

Lana Del Rey, Norman Fucking Rockwell! Dreamy songs that are surprisingly twisted beneath their glossy exterior.

Empath, Active Listening: Night on Earth. Each band member seems to have originated in a different genre but somehow it all works together on its own terms. You get bird sounds, heavy metal drumming, ephemeral singing, and fuzzed out guitars.

Rhiannon Giddens, There is No Other. Really exciting folk music. An amazing voice backed by some impressive percussion and strings.

Palehound, Black Friday. Ellen Kempner's best song writing yet. Personal songs of failings and redemption.

Purple Mountains. Frequently amusing songs of despair.

My favorite album from a central New Jersey band was Lowlight's Endless Bummer.