It feels downright wrong to team “best” and 2019 in the one sentence when it was a hellscape of a year for so many. Especially if you were:

1. Wildlife living in the firegrounds of Australia.

2. Someone who lost their home / farm / livestock through fire or drought.

3. In the emergency services or a volunteer and helping people, wildlife and livestock survive the impossible.

4. A banker. Really a low year for them after having their balls dragged through the royal commission for charging dead people fees on their accounts along with other “creative” charging practices.

And yet….proving the worst of times brings out the creative best in artists, here’s my high points in a year that was marked with the stupid (Barnaby Joyce on…anything really), the unhinged (Trump on a twitter bender) and the mediocre (Side eye to Star Wars the…whatever that last instalment was).

Best Song – “Final Form” Sampa The Great

Straight up, this song was not written for me. I’m a white, middle age, middle class, middle everything (except middle-of-the-road music) and yet the power of this song moved me every time I hear it. And isn’t that the true power of a timeless song than it can transcend class, race, socio-economic backgrounds so that some 48-year white woman can strut like a boss whenever she hears this song?

This song is a loving shout out to Sampa’s Zambian roots and her commitment to transformation. And holy cats, that lady can spit rhymes!

I’m out of shame

Been passed it

Trying to fit a circle ’cause I don’t know how to act shit

Half of y’all is steady insecure don’t try to back flip

Songwriters: Sampa Tembo / Alejandro John Abapo

It’s AUDACIOUS. Audacity often gets bad press as in, “she had the AUDACITY to ask for that promotion”.  Sampa, in this song, claims ALL the audacity to ask for the promotion, turn its fortunes around, buys the damn company and then rams the point home with a steely-eyed call to arms with “Black Power” in the close out.  This is big picture thinking done with the absolute skill of someone solid and in a total control of their massive talent. Honestly, this song was a continual GIFT in 2019.

Best Video “Final Form” Sampa The Great

Yes, again and yes, it’s that ball tearingly good.  You need to stop everything, watch the video and then attempt to go on with your life as it was before.  This lady is 27.  TWENTY-FUCKING-SEVEN!!!!  Sampa create a visually stunning masterpiece that weaves her Zambian heritage and futuristic set pieces that an instant classic. My god, when I was 27 when the best I could do at that same age was organise my CD and tape collection into alphabetical order and make focaccia (it was the 90’s…don’t judge).

I love this so hard.  I watch it when I’m blue. I watch it over breakfast. I watch it when I’m vibing high. I watch it to cleanse myself of the rage I feel towards Trump. I watch it to kick my own arse into creation and not consumption.

This video will want you living in the world of Sampa The Great.  And fuck, did she get the name right.  She really is “The great”.

Best book I read: “Something to Believe In” Andrew Stafford

I have the most awesome library near me.  The best part is when you get to stride purposefully towards one of the round reading rings with such determination it scares the kids, so they leg it and you get the round reading ring to luxuriate in all by yourself.  After spotting “Something to Believe In” on the new releases shelf, I evicted the ankle biters and settled in for a light read.

Well thank fuck I bought snacks because I ended up commandeering the round reading ring for the remainder of the afternoon and late into evening. The book’s siren song took me into the sweaty music scene of Brisbane of the 90’s, interspersing background stories to some of the most seminal Australian music with personal stories from Andrew of heartbreak, exhilaration and never quite making it stick.  It’s so full of music love and has a beautiful, generous heart beating at its centre. Everyday I’m doing the prayer hands emoji thing for rock and roll. It’s saved my life and sanity many times over and is better than bullshit a life couch could give you in those soft, breathy slowly spoken tones they all seem so enamored with.  Ditch the Tony Robbins nonsense and go here for the real self-help: rock and roll. Harlan Howard in the 1950’s once described country music as “three cords and the truth”.  I suspect that he was misquoted, and he was in fact referencing rock and roll.

Do yourself a favor and all that, grab a copy of this book and seek out the songs and artists referenced in the book, cancel everything and dive into some of the best music writing I’ve ever enjoyed.

Best concert: The Cure @ The Opera House / Underworld @ The Opera House / U2 x 2 for the Joshua Tree Anniversary Concert

So, I’m an idiot, and I really didn’t get into The Cure until I saw them with my friend Becca at the opera house. Good news lovers, you can also see the concert as a live link here: https://youtu.be/z9uSPf9WDbw

And now I’m a total The Cure tragic. You know how you know a band and you make an assessment of them and then fucking BOOM! You come at them from a different angle – in this case the live performance of Disintegration – and then you totally understand the hype.  Same with Jonny Cash. I never saw the appeal and then one hot night in summer with a heart broken and driving to a friend’s place on the Victorian surf coast I scratched around in the glove box, emerged with Johnny’s CD, flipped it on and then yes, finally I was finally at a place in my life I was ready for Jonny and his clear eyed wisdom.

I don’t normally enjoy seeing music with people.  They want to talk or scroll on the socials, complain about the seats or bemoan that the band has not played the hit song they’re famous for.  For me, it’s a religious experience attending a concert. It’s church without the collection plate and the dude nailed to a cross – except at Slipknot or Rammstein concerts where yeah, actual dude nailed to the cross is part of the opening act. But Becca made the cut of people I’d see a concert with under any and all circumstances and I’m so glad she was there so I could keep looking at her to make sure that this was a real life milestone moment and not something I’d conjured up. And now I’m making up lost The Cure time by devouring their back catalogue.

Underworld I always knew off and loved their EDM smarts – their recent collaboration with Iggy Pop is a trip with Iggy’s stream of consciousness about smoking on airplanes and sunshine on his wings overlaid to a pulsating beat!  I was sick the initial night I’d booked to see them at the Opera House and having read the effusive reviews the next day, I dosed myself on all sorts of pharmaceuticals, necked a 600ml of Black Doctor (Coke Zero), put on the heels and got my tail along to the following night’s concert.  What an uproarious celebration of life and music it was!  A bunch of middle age ravers tearing the Opera House apart. Everyone was on their feet; the light show was incredible and the sight of Karl and Rick genuinely enjoying themselves and rocking out was all the ingredients needed for a best concert ever nomination.

And then there was U2’s anniversary concerts of The Joshua Tree.  So awesome, I saw it twice AND with Shirley and Andrea which made the cut of people who I’m able to enjoy a concert with and are not dicks.  Look stadium shows are not my favorite forum as the noise can be patchy and it’s difficult to make a connection to the audience in such a vast space but U2 delivered on all this and more.  Their incredible LED screen that displayed video content that married visuals to the songs being played.  U2 are still one of the few bands than can play a stadium but make you feel like you had an intimate audience with them.

Rapidfire round!

The question that bent my brain: What are you walls made of?

The rediscovery of a much-loved song: “Got Sold on Heaven” by Snout

The *best thing I saw: The Holocaust Museum and the Museum of the African American History and Culture.  And by *best I mean life altering. It’ll knock the stuffing out of you.

Best Yoga: Sarah Wadsworth.  Spark your hands!!!!  She’s a funny, wise, insanely talented yogi.  Her mantra “Get it whilst you can” as you suck in a final breath while holding warrior 2 while the sun rises over Hilo is pure magic. Check her out on Insta.

Best website to sooth your spirit: https://www.mindymeiering.com (for lovingkindness to others, yourself, but not the USA republican party…you stand for an administration that separate kids from their families who are seeking refuge, you get no lovingkindness) and www.gofugyourself.com (whip smart, witty writing)

This life will grind you down if you let it – seek out the moments of joy, transcendence that are readily available through art and music and cheesecake.

Horns up!