Hi, I am Kate Siem, Associate Music Supervisor at PlayNetwork and this is my End of an Era: 2019 Deconstructed top picks for the year. I’ve always had two separate relationships with music – the objective and the subjective. The objective operates like an academic immersing themselves in their studies; getting lost enough to discover something too unique to find without genuine searching. Balanced by the subjective, this relationship to music blossoms like a love affair too passionate to ever be fleeting. My top three picks for 2019 reflect each respective approach, with the third being a little blend of the two. Hope you enjoy, and cheers to more great music in 2020.
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Artist: Jessica Pratt
Track: This Time Around
Twitter: @JessicaPrattSF
Quantifiable as an objective pursuit, listening to any of Jessica Pratt’s work reminds one that, at its core, music is too expansive to be labeled and boxed. I’ve been avidly following her work since her self-titled debut LP in 2012, and Quiet Signs sees Pratt both staying true to her raw and ethereal songwriting while also providing a platform to showcase her progressive growth.
Artist: Lizzo
Track: Heaven Help Me
Twitter: @lizzo
Lizzo is good. Listening to Lizzo makes you happy, being happy is good, therefore Lizzo is good. It’s foolproof logic and a belief held by many as Lizzo has exploded upon the transitioning decade’s musical zeitgeist, her trademark flute defining the waning teenage years of the new millennia. She falls into my personal categorization as a subjective love, Cuz I Love You serving as the soundtrack to many of 2019’s memories.
Artist: Fontaines D.C.
Track: Hurricane Laughter
Twitter: @fontainesdublin
Driving with the windows down during the dog days of summer “Boys in the Better Land” by Fontaines D.C. jarred me into a heightened state of awareness as I mentally thanked the DJ on duty at KEXP. Dogrel contains enough of the elements needed to be reminiscent of my intro to the decade spent as a teenager at DIY punk and garage shows, while proving an aged wisdom shown in their fleshed out post-punk sensibilities. A personal sonic love child made where discovery got lost.
