The State of the Art: Music 2019

I usually don't write a State of the Art post for music, but am tossing one up this year, because it's not only the end of a year, it's the end of a decade. I've been looking over those retrospective lists about the best songs and albums of 2010-2019, and while music is, as ever, my cultural weak spot, there are definitely some standouts.

If there has been one defining feature of my taste in music, it's that the songs I enjoy the most are the ones that successfully straddle the line between the thoughtfulness of indie music and the catchiness of pop. That said, with the world being in a constant state of bad news recently, I've lately shifted towards the more joyous aspects of pop. When everything sucks, a funky backbeat cures many ills. Let's get to it!

Favorite Song of 2019: "Juice" (Lizzo)

Talk about having a year. Lizzo is on fire, sometimes literally. Her ability to blend modern sensibilities with the funk style of yesteryear is infectious, and I don't want the cure.



Favorite Song of 2010-2019: "Thunder" (Gold Fields)

How do you possibly pick a favorite song over a ten year span? Well, you could pick the song you've listened to the most in that time. You could pick the song special enough to merit a rare individual mention. You could pick a song that exemplifies that bridge between indie and pop perfectly. So I did all three.



Favorite Performer of 2010-2019: Carly Rae Jepsen

I always love when I dismiss someone as a flash-in-the-pan, only for them to stealthily turn into someone with a phenomenal track record. I liked "Call Me Maybe" (2011/2012) a lot as a fluffy pop trifle, but never imagined that the girl singing this flirty little ditty would have such range. Never have I been happier to be wrong. The '80s-inspired Emotion (2015) and Emotion Side B (2016) albums turned me into a true convert, and Jepsen has shown she has a healthy sense of humor, recording one of the tracks in Simlish. Even at the tail end of this ten-year span, she continues to impress, with Dedicated (2019). Here's to another decade of CRJ. Long may she reign.