Transmission's Top Tracks of 2019
by Jake Rudh
January 16, 2020
Transmission's roots are in the worlds of punk, post-punk, new wave, dark wave, synth, power and dream pop, shoegaze, psych, mod, space and Krautrock. Here are 120 songs released in 2019 that fit that mold. Outside of the top five featured tracks, they are listed in alphabetical order and accompanied by a very simple description of genre or feel (not including local Twin Cities artists).
Johnny Marr "Armatopia"
The Ocean Blue "All the Way Blue"
Reptaliens "Sunrise, Sunset"
Drab Majesty "Oxytocin"
Vagabon "Water Me Down"
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds "Bright Horses"
More Top Tracks
ACTORS "Mining For Heart" (post-punk)
Alec Bailey "Grip" (pop)
Alex Lilly "Firefly" (synth/downtempo)
Alice Boman "Don't Forget About Me" (synth/dream pop)
Anemone "Sunshine (Back to the Start)" (indie/dream pop)
Angel Olsen "Spring" (indie/art pop)
Ariel Pink "Stray Here with You" (indie/art/experimental pop)
ASHRR "Don't Wait Too Long" (synth)
Automatic "Signal" (post-punk)
Automelodi "Angoisses d'Oeleac" (synth)
Bat For Lashes "Feel For You" (art/synth/dance)
A Beacon School "I Don't Believe It" (indie/dream pop)
Black Marble "One Eye Open" (synth)
Black Midi "Talking Heads" (indie/experimental)
Blushing "The Last Time" (synth/dream pop)
Body of Light "Time to Kill" (synth)
Bodywash "Reverie" (synth/dream pop)
Boy Harsher "Country Girl" (synth)
Cate le Bon "Home to You" (indie/art pop)
Caterina Barbieri "Pinnacles of You" (synth)
Chain Wallet "No Ritual" (synth/dream pop)
Choir Boy "Nites Like This" (synth)
Chris Gohen "Green Eyes" (indie/art pop)
Chromatics "Closer to Grey" (synth)
Cold Cave "The Laurels of Erotomania" (synth)
Cold Colors "The Horizon & Beyond" (synth)
Domino "Corridor" (post-punk)
Crumb "Part III" (indie)
Death and Vanilla "Nothing of Real" (psych/art pop)
Deeper "Bennington" (post-punk)
Deerhunter "Futurism" (indie)
Destroyer "It Just Doesn't Happen" (synth)
DIIV "Taker" (shoegaze)
DJ Shadow (featuring Samuel T. Herring of Future Islands) (indie)
Drahla "Stimulus For Living" (post-punk)
The Drums "626 Bedford Avenue" (indie/pop)
Dry Cleaning "Sit Down Meal" (indie)
Fawns of Love "Permanent" (synth/pysch)
Fenella "Triangular Journey" (synth)
FEWS "Anything Else" (post-punk)
Film School "Go (But Not Too Far) (indie)
FM Attack "Ultraviolet" (synth wave)
FONTAINES D.C. "Boys in the Better Land" (post-punk)
Frankie Rose "A Forest" (indie) (The Cure cover)
French Vanilla "Friendly Fire" (post-punk)
Future Unlimited "Falling" (post-punk)
Glass Candy "Rise" (synth) (Herb Alpert cover)
The Hecks "Flash" (post-punk)
Hoops "They Say" (laid back indie)
Horsebeach "Unlucky Strike" (indie)
Howard Jones "The One to Love You" (synthpop legend)
Interpol "The Weekend" (post-punk)
Jacco Gardner "Fading Cosmos" (psych)
Jay Som "Superbike" (indie/dream pop)
JE T'AIME "The Sound" (post-punk)
Jouis "Sinking Statues" (psych)
Juliper Sky "Waves" (psych/dream pop)
The KVB "Submersion" (post-punk/synth)
Ladytron "Far From Home" (synth)
Lake Ruth "Extended Leave" (synth/psych)
LIPS "Sunken" (indie/dream pop)
Lloyd Cole "Night Sweats" (synth)
Lower Dens "I Drive" (synth)
M83 "Temple of Sorrow" (ambient/synth)
Meg Myers "Running Up That Hill" (synth) (Kate Bush cover)
Mike Haunted / Gillian NoVa "Hope" (synth/dream pop)
Molly Burch "Holiday Dreaming" (indie)
Moon Duo "Lost Heads" (psych)
No Sister "My New Career" (post-punk)
Omni "Present Tense" (post-punk)
Operators "Faithless" (synth)
Pastel Dream "Tuesday" (synth/dream pop)
Patience "White of an Eye" (synth)
Patio "Legacy Continued" (post-punk)
Penelope Isles "Round" (laid back indie)
Piroshka "Everlastingly Yours" (UK dreampop/shoegaze supergroup)
Pixel Group "Diamonds" (synth)
Pottery "Hank Williams" (indie/post-punk)
Prince Innocence "Noches" (synth)
Private World "Crisis Era" (art pop)
A Projection "Lucy Shrine" (post-punk)
The Radio Dept. "Pulling Our Weight" (remaster)
Ride "Future Love" (indie/dream pop)
Rocketship "Outer Otherness" (synth)
Sacred Paws "Brush Your Hair" (indie pop)
Second Still "Double Negative" (post-punk/synth)
Silent Age "World on Fire" (post-punk)
Sleeper "Cellophane" (brit pop)
Slow Pulp "New Media" (indie)
Soft Kill "Tin Foil Drip" (synth/indie)
Star Horse "Albatross" (dream pop/shoegaze)
Stella Donnelly "Tricks" (indie pop)
Sunflower Bean "Fear City" (indie)
Surf Curse "Disco" (indie)
Tallies "Midnight" (indie/dream pop)
Tamaryn "Angels of Sweat" (synth/art pop)
Tame Impala "Borderline" (indie)
Temples "Hot Motion" (pysch)
Thom Yorke "I Am a Very Rude Person" (indie)
Toro y Moi "Freelance" (indie pop)
TOY "Follow Me" (synth/psych)
Turquoise "Chat Noir" (synth/dream pop)
TVAM "Psychic Data" (synth)
The Twilight Sad "VTr" (indie) (One of Robert Smith's favorite bands)
Twin Tribes "Shadows" (post-punk)
Tycho "Easy" (synth)
Vanishing Twin "Magician's Success" (art pop/psych)
Vivian Girls "Sick" (indie)
VR SEX "Facts Without Faces" (synth/dark psych)
White Lies "Time To Give" (indie/synth)
Wild Nothing "Blue Wings" (indie)
William Doyle / Brain Eno "Design Guide" (indie)
Working Men's Club "Bad Blood" (post-punk)
Xeno & Oaklander "Insomnia" (synth)
