TOP 10 FAVOURITE TV SHOWS OF 2019...

While we are all trying to forget the aftertaste of Game of Thrones' final season, we also had a ton of great, fun-filled shows in the year and these warmed my heart the most:









BREXIT (TV MOVIE):

two words: Benedict Cumberbatch!






GOOD OMENS (TV SERIES):

when the nervy angel and suave devil get along on Earth.






POSE (SEASON 2):

built an even better season, claws and all.






SILICON VALLEY (SEASON 6):

still on but always quick to find its beat.






THE CROWN (SEASON 3):

can we just hand Olivia Colman all the awards from now please?






THE GOOD PLACE (SEASON 4):

the final season and, by the look of it, the best season. Devilishly innovative.






THE OTHER TWO (SEASON 1):

fame-whore brother and sister realise the actual talent is the kid brother and things get complicated.






VEEP (SEASON 7):

long live Selina, the second worst President of America!






WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (SEASON 1):

now this is how you turn a quirky yet fun film into a stunning tv series.






WHEN THEY SEE US (TV SERIES):

Ava DuVernay retells the tragic circumstance of the Central Park Five and leaves no dry eye around.

2019: Top 10 Most Overrated Albums...

Another year's batch of overblown praise on albums that are not that great:












1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Ghosteen:

yet another ghost record that the media just falls allover. METACRITIC 9.6/10





2. Tyler, the Creator Igor:

the base is there for a higher level of art but he’s done better before. METACRITIC 8.1/10





3. Lana del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell!!!:

as I tweeted a few months before, Lana will never get back to that peak 2011-2012 era but this was a return to something close but no dice. METACRITIC 8.7/10





4. Blood Incantation Hidden History of the Human Race:

the consensus metal pick being hyped to death. METACRITIC 9.1/10





5. Purple Mountains Purple Mountains:

ode from the dearly departed but let’s not kid ourselves. METACRITIC 8.7/10





6. Black Midi Schlagenheim:

well, it is noisy. METACRITIC 8.2/10





7. Angel Olsen All Mirrors:

I still can’t believe how dull this is. METACRITIC 8.9/10





8. Big Thief Two Hands:

ordinary at best. METACRITIC 8.5/10





9. (Sandy) Alex G House of Sugar:

not sure why everyone has caught on to this so positively. METACRITIC 8.6/10





10. Billie Eilish When We All Fall Asleep…:

it’s great that Billie is getting all the attention but she has much more left to give that will, surely, one day blow this album out of the water. METACRITIC 8.2/10

2019: Top 10 Most Disappointing Albums...

Another year of records that should have been on my best albums list. Alas, here we are:









1. Panda Bear Buoys:

when the most creative artist releases an album that finds no footing or spots of joy, the world becomes a darker place.






2. Kanye West Jesus Is King:

it could have actually been worse but that’s not saying much.






3. Divino Nino Foam:

I’m actually foaming at the mouth at this aimless lump.






4. Chance the Rapper The Big Day:

if ever an album title got it dead wrong then it was this one.






5. Blood Orange Angel’s Pulse:

a mixtape but an unspectacular one.






6. Brother Ali Secrets & Escapes:

weary braggadocio.






7. Schoolboy Q Crash Talk:

the sound of Q finally flailing around.






8. Vampire Weekend Father Of The Bride:

still baffled that this boring album took so long.






9. Solange When I Get Home:

it’s as if she forgot the actual songs this time around.






10. Jesca Hoop Stonechild:

decent effort but a little plain.

2019: THE BEST NEW/EMERGING ARTISTS...

This year was a rare occurrence: all of the artists that made the list have albums on my top 30 albums list. This means the year was stacked with talent and it was awesome to see that women lead the way.

Here goes:




TOP OF THE CLASS:


Jamila Woods:

been around a while and with acclaim but all that has been deservedly dwarfed by her fierce project this year Legacy! Legacy! Here
we have the great tribute to pioneering black men and women.







The best of the rest:






Weyes Blood:

it takes courage to slowly find the inner voice that carries you to the direction where others in the genre are scared from going to. That's what Weyes Blood is doing right now.





Lizzo:

while some cite Lizzo-fatigue, I can't get enough of it now. No matter how you feel about her it's undeniable that her album this year deserves every plaudit and award it's getting.





Nilufer Yanya:

confidently carving out her own unique space in pop.





Koffee:

a much needed shot in the arm for how women can defy reggae/dancehall odds to provide great quality music.





Nakhane:

proving that even though forces around him tried to keep him down, with that angelic voice, he is simply soaring.





Lafawndah:

giving an otherworldly spin on pop.





King Princess:

the way she harnesses her gender fluidity into the spaces of her lyrical expression is totally for the moment.





Michael Kiwanuka:

now he'll be able to get out from under being only known as the guy who sings the intro to Big Little Lies.





Marika Hackman:

finally, a young woman singing about her unabashed queer experiences.

Top 10 Worst Films of 2019 (That I Saw):

I don't watch a lot of bad films on purpose and neither tarry on this list so here goes:








1. Child’s Play (directed by Lars Klevberg):

a decidedly unfunny sorta reboot that must grate on the nerve of the original series.





2. Good Boys (directed by Gene Stupnitsky):

very unfunny and offensive.





3. Isn’t It Romantic? (directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson):

a literal walking cliché in every frame.





4. The Dead Don't Die (directed by Jim Jarmusch):

this horrible film needed to die while in its conception stage.





5. The Intruder (directed by Deon Taylor):

cliché and ridiculously acted.





6. A Madea Family Funeral (directed by Tyler Perry):

hopefully we’re at the end of all this.





7. The Final Wish (directed by Timothy Woodward Jr,):

oy vey.





8. Shazam (directed by David Sandberg):

how did this clear marketing?





9. Brightburn (directed by David Yarovesky):

incomplete and rather pointless.





10. Don’t Let Go (directed by Jacob Aaron Estes):

a hugely problematic film that mixes time loops so bizarrely that you wish they’d all just remain dead.