2019 preamble

Sometimes the good ones aren't quite good as you had recalled.

Last year when I sat down with the intention of writing something insightful about me, I just didn't feel comfortable in doing so, but now I kind of do so here we go. You don't have to read all of this.

Near the end of 2017 I was at my wit's end with my job, went through some very difficult periods coming to terms with it and decided that I simply had to keep trying to find a way out. Luckily I found a job, which being three hours from home forced me to move out. The job may not have been as exciting but it was stable, still in my industry, and the lifestyle of having my own place was incredible. Unfortunately towards the end of 2018, things back home took a very bad turn medically in my family. I had to quit my job, move back home, went through months of utter hell that put the previous year in perspective. But just in time for Christmas things returned to somewhat normality and we're all doing okay now. Recovering from all this was difficult because I wasn't used to being not busy with work all of a sudden, and I found myself slipping into my old 2017 ways. I was so mad at myself for it. But about a year ago I convinced myself to pick up some post-grad study to fill up the time (I was eventually going to do it some day so why not now) until I was able to regain some employment. Shortly after I also got an offer at my old work on a temporary basis, which I was careful to accept, but it was all on my terms and was able to do the things that I wanted. It felt redeeming because while the place was a shadow of its former self, I was instantly out of my own head and started to have fun again. Eventually, I started to tire of it and it was driving me up the wall somewhat, so I managed to get a permanent job half an hour from home which I started back in August. The only shit thing really is now being stuck with that degree. I would only be able to defer it for so long, and what would be the point given that I clearly can't be out of work long enough to get it out of the way? So I'm still doing the course, it's online and I will be finished in just over a year's time, but it's a royal pain in the ass so I just want to scrape through without having to waste too much time on it. Other things have happened that have been good though. I have a new favourite local soccer team which is fun, we're getting a second family dog next week, and of course for an entire hour the country had to put up with my votes being played on national radio and me fumbling my way through explaining why I picked this tune over that tune. So, perhaps to foreshadow my 2020 EOY, life is good.

One area that I also keep unexplained is what I do outside of charts and voting games and hanging shit on my fellow aus-chartians. Ever since primary school I've been massively interested in playing out my own sports leagues. Initially it was predominantly AFL, however more recently soccer. In about 2011 or 2012, I started to create a SimCity region, making cities usually with unlimited money and other cheats turned on, all the while adding sports grounds in each suburb and slowly building a list. I initially started a 6-team soccer league from 6 of the first cities I had built, allocated real players to each club and created the logos and kits on Pro Evolution Soccer 2011. I played out the first season (i.e. use both controllers and literally play the match as both teams), expanded to 12, then to 18 and then to 20. A few seasons in I also reproduced all the teams into a handy mod program I have for FIFA 16, which appears to be the most recent FIFA that supports the ability to edit the game data en masse if you have the right software. Every year I have a promotion-relegation system where teams move up and down the structure (583 teams in 46 leagues), all 583 teams also play off in a cup tournament and I simulate every league below the top league on FIFA's own tournament mode. It sounds more daunting when I lay it all out like that, but it literally takes me about 20 minutes to simulate thousands of matches for one season and most of my time is playing 19 rounds of the top league and occasionally tweeting about it. I started the 12th season earlier this month, on the odd occasion I get bored with it and the gameplay is starting to date slightly, but I love it so much and still can't fully comprehend why.

Music music music. One of the biggest things music-wise for me is that I clocked 10 years of doing personal charts. It's a pretty big deal for me to be honest. If you had told me I'd last even a fraction of that time I would have laughed at you, but I don't feel any urge to stop any time soon. In 2019 I feel that I didn't listen to full albums as much, and I didn't listen to as many albums as the previous year too. But a positive sign was that I scrobbled roughly 25% more than 2018 and also the most that I have done since 2015 which was just a year after I finished my under-grad, and of course I will probably never get to those uni year levels of listening again :P The year was truly fascinating though, plenty of big discoveries but also artists that I hadn't thought much of before that really burst through the congestion. Lucy was a little dismissive to say that hip hop dominated my year, but then again she hasn't memorised every single chart position of every chart last year like y'all obviously have. It was a good year for rock and there were plenty of genres that melted together to create some amazing results at times too. I listened to 66 albums and 2 EPs front to back released in 2019, and they are all listed at the bottom.

As far as 2018 stuff goes, the only 2018-released songs that would have stood any chance for top 200 were "Going Bad" by Meek Mill feat. Drake and "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi and neither would have been extremely high, so not quite as dramatic as last year.

tl;dr I'm back at home, relatively happy, another doggo on the way, I'm still a big soccer geek, music was varied but v good, Lewis Capaldi got robbed, hope you enjoy the list, respect and love to all :-)


!!! - Wallop
100 gecs - 1000 gecs
2 Chainz - Rap or Go to the League
Ariana Grande - thank u, next
Bench Press - Not The Past, Can't Be The Future
Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
black midi - Schlagenheim
Blarf - Cease & Desist
Brittany Howard - Jaime
Cage the Elephant - Social Cues
Caroline Polachek - Pang
Cherry Glazerr - Stuffed & Ready
Clairo - Immunity
Cub Sport - Cub Sport
Danny Brown - uknowhatimsayin¿
Denzel Curry - ZUU
Ed Sheeran - No.6 Collaborations Project
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - All In Good Time
Fat White Family - Serfs Up!
FEWS - Into Red
FIDLAR - Almost Free
Flume - Hi This Is Flume
Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1
Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 2
FONTAINES D.C. - Dogrel
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana
Gesaffelstein - Hyperion
GoldLink - Diaspora
James Blake - Assume Form
Kanye West - JESUS IS KING
Karen O & Danger Mouse - Lux Prima
KAYTRANADA - BUBBA
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Fishing for Fishies
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Infest The Rats' Nest
Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
Le Butcherettes - bi/MENTAL
Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA
Mustard - Perfect Ten
NAV - Bad Habits
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
Norah Jones - Begin Again
Offset - FATHER OF 4
Olympia - Flamingo
Post Malone - Hollywood's Bleeding
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - And Now For The Whatchamacallit
PUP - Morbid Stuff
Rich Brian - The Sailor
Richard Dawson - 2020
ScHoolboy Q - CrasH Talk
Shana Cleveland - Night of the Worm Moon
Slaughter Beach, Dog - Safe and Also No Fear
Stella Donnelly - Beware of the Dogs
Stormzy - Heavy Is The Head
Sunbeam Sound Machine - Goodness Gracious
Taylor Swift - Lover
Temples - Hot Motion
The Cranberries - In the End
The National - I Am Easy to Find
Two People - First Body
Tyler, The Creator - IGOR
Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride
WAAX - Big Grief
Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
Winston Surfshirt - Apple Crumble
Yeasayer - Erotic Reruns
YG - 4REAL 4REAL

A$AP Ferg - Floor Seats [EP]
Squid - Town Centre [EP]