Abir’s Favs of 2019
Welcome to the 16th annual “Abir’s Favs”. The last of the twenty-teens!
In the early years of the Favs, it was easy to pick 20 songs from albums I listened to. The hard part was narrowing it down to 20 songs! In the last few years, I’ve relied on old favorites, and have used year-end-lists to find songs I might have missed. I just don’t listen to full albums as much as I used to. If I listen to full albums they tend to be beloved artists (see The National).
When reviewing best-of lists I tend to gravitate toward songs that stand out on first listen and even the first minute. Then I make the playlist, and “beta test” it for a complete of weeks, tweaking, removing, and adding. Each year I wrestle with balancing the old and the new, the mainstream and the weird, and try putting in as many genres I can. My goal is to share my favorites, but I also want to share music people might have not heard before. I know most of my friends don’t have the time to discover music like they used to.
This year the playlist order alternates between an artist you may have heard (maybe on one of my previous mixes) and someone new. The pairs tend to have some common thread. As per usual, the singers in the mix skew more female. This year, there’s more international flair with Burna Boy and Domino.
If you wanna discuss these songs or just like them please let me know! This really is a labor of love, and it’s my favorite annual tradition. I know it’s got a small but dedicated following, but it means the world to me. Thanks for listening!
I know many of my listeners are parents now, and they listen to my mix in the car. Be forewarned! Tracks contain explicit language. After all the links before, you’ll see a track listing with a little blurb about each song.
1. Lizzo — Juice [Explicit]
It was definitely Year of Lizzo and for good reason. She just makes everyone happy including me.
2. Rapsody -Ibtihaj (feat. D’Angelo & GZA) [Explicit]
This was a late entry but I just love the vibe. It gets major bonus points for mentioning afro puffs and Rage.
3. Billie Eilish — bad guy
I’ve got to give credit to Eilish. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of music she puts out in a decade.
4. Control Top — Office Rage [Explicit]
This one will get the adrenaline pumping *raises fist*. This is my shout out to everyone working in an office. Control Top is one of my favorite discoveries of the year. Every song is fantastic.
5. Lana Del Rey — Doin’ Time
The new Lana Del Rey deserves the acclaim, but I just can’t pass up this cover. It’s like Lana doing karaoke, and I love that.
6. Jade Bird — Lottery
Jade Bird was one of my favorite discoveries this year. She happened to be playing in Portland when we were visiting. I had no real idea of who she was except for one song, and her show was such a fun pleasant surprise.
7. HAIM — Summer Girl
I was disappointed by HAIM’s second album, but I love the minimal vibe of Summer Girl. Du-du, du-du-du-du Du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du-du
8. Big Thief — Not
Get Abir Majumdar’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
File this under my second most played song of the year. The guitar solo at end of the song elevates it from good to great.
9. Jenny Lewis — Wasted Youth
Jenny Lewis is a favorite from way back, but none of her solo work really clicked with me until this song. When I first heard the song I thought it was a tongue-in-cheek look at her early days as a kid actress, but then I read that the song is about addiction (whether it be heroin poppies or Candy Crush).
10. Better Oblivion Community Center — Sleepwalkin’ (Daydreamin’ Version)
I liked this Conor Oberst offshoot well enough, but this 80’s synthy remix with the vocals switched is just fantastic.
11. Sharon Van Etten — Seventeen
Sharon Van Etten is almost a gimme in the world of Abir’s Favs. I also had to include it as an homage to the series The OA.
12. Julia Jacklin — Don’t Know How to Keep Loving You
This song about falling out of love just feels cut from the same cloth of classic Jason Molina. It’s a bummer and a humdinger.
13. Wilco — Love is Everywhere (Beware)
This low key song is one of my favorite more recent Wilco songs. It has such warmth, and the beginning of the song is fantastic.
14. Clairo — Sofia
“Bags” by Clairo seems to be the critical favorite, but I just love Sofia because the beginning makes you feel like you’re about to hear a song by The Strokes.
15. The National — I Am Easy to Find
The National is a perennial favorite, but this latest album felt different. It’s practically an album of duets. There’s plenty of great songs on the album, but “I’m still waiting for you every night with ticker tape” wins for my favorite lyric of the year.
16. Burna Boy — Anybody
I found this song on a few year-end lists and I was hooked right away.
17. Vampire Weekend — Harmony Hall
I listened to this song a billion times before realizing Ezra Koening had written a Grateful Dead song. Just listen to that final guitar solo. Is this a gateway drug?
18. Corridor — Domino
This is one rocking French Canadian indie rock song. I’m surprised I didn’t hear it all over Sirius XM radio. It sucked me in on the first listen.
19. Lil Nas X — Old Town Road (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) [Remix]
While this song was pretty inescapable this year, I just had to include it. It feels like how weird 2019 was in a nutshell: tik tok rapper, a Nine Inch Nails sample (that won Trent a country music award!), and Billy Ray Fucking Cyrus. I think how long it stayed on top of the charts is a real inditement of pop music today. We need more Lil Nas X’s and Billie Eilish’s int he word.
20. Li’l Andy — All the Love Songs Lied to Us
This was my final musical discovery of the year (another French Canadian), and I thought it would be a great counterpoint to Old Town Road. Hilarious and heartfelt.
