Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2019. Our next list is from Assistant Music Director, DJ, and Softball Team Manager Austin B. Harvey.

Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love 100 gecs

#1   1000 gecs by 100 gecs (Dog Show)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

HEY YOU LITTLE PISSBABY. The year's most inevitable record came from this LA/Chicago-by-way-of-St. Louis duo who took every sound of the decade and turned it on its head. The result is a stunning work of songwriting and sound manipulation that is at once perplexing, catchy, infuriating, and perfect.

#2   Endless Column by Endless Column (Erste Theke Tontraeger)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Chicago band records a killer LP and waits a few years before it gets a release on a small label out of Mannheim, Germany. Sure. Expect 12-string licks, frantic beats, and airtight post-punk rhythms.

#3   Purple Mountains by Purple Mountains (Drag City)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

RIP David Berman. The swan song was immaculate.

#4   Sinner by Moodymann (KDJ)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

The enigmatic Detroit techno master unleashes perhaps his most definitive set yet. House, rock, jazz, the "Praise You" sample, R&B, and more all come together in a sumptuous melange.

#5   5/7/2019 by Sault (Forever Living Originals)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

This mysterious London trio meld ESG, DFA, and The xx into two impeccable dance records that Tony Wilson would have folded himself over to sign to Factory.

#6   LEGACY! LEGACY! by Jamila Woods (Jagjaguwar)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

More groove than one can handle on Woods' funky tribute to her myriad influences.

#7   Westkust by Westkust (Run for Cover/Luxury)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

This reviewer has always been partial to this Swedish noise-gaze collective, and their second album is another set of pensive, ear-destroying jams.

#8   Pre-Sunrise Authority by Clive Tanaka y Su Orquesta (Tall Corn)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

The Chicago-Japan enigma's second full-length is an Avalanches-esque celebration of musical discovery. Pop escapism with just the right amount of fourth-wall-acknowledging artifice.

#9   Nowhere Now Here by Mono (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

The Japanese quartet's most massive record yet melds Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and early M83's penchant for staticky noise into a cohesive whole that is greater than the sum of its parts or influences.

#10   Wallop by !!! (Warp)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

It took a decade, but the Sacramento/Brooklyn dance-punk miscreants made another classic, replete with a pop single that no one knew they had in them with "Serbia Drums".

11. Fire-Toolz - Field Whispers (Into the Crystal Palace) (Orange Milk) This Chicago artist melds vaporwave into death metal and everything in between for an ethereal, mindbreaking experience.
12. Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (Jagjaguwar) In a year full of, and defined by, melodrama, no musician better harnessed it on record than this string-laden LP.
13. Sampa the Great - The Return (Ninja Tune) The Zambian-Australian rapper's debut is soulful, experimental, joyous, and dense.
14. Brittany Howard - Jaime (ATO) I could take or leave Alabama Shakes during their run. Clearly their singer is greater than the sum of the band's parts. "13th Century Metal" alone is a testament to Howard's singular artistic purpose.
15. N0V3L - Novel (Flemish Eye) The Vancouver band's Gang of Four-citing debut should be reason alone to convince you to buy a hi-hat and a chorus pedal.
16. FKA twigs - MAGDALENE (Young Turks) Not something I'd listen to on a regular basis, but the vocal gymnastics and amount of space present in this album recall trip-hop, choral arrangements, and a thousand other signposts.
17. Kim Gordon - No Home Record (Matador) We all know who won the divorce battle and it is not close. Forward-thinking and creative throughout.
18. Mannequin Pu**y - Patience (Epitaph) The Philly emo-punks combine '90s rock and emo for an unforgettable, touching listening experience.
19. Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile (RVNG INTL.) Roberto Carlos Lange explores memory and colonialism to devastating effect on his sixth album under his current moniker.
20. Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race (Dark Descent) Squealing death metal that offers no escape. Yes, please.