Albums of 2020

[Higgs]

Bdrmm are a shoegazey, indie pop crew from Yorkshire who's debut Bedroom opens with the very cool instrumental 'Mono'. But I think I like track 2 'Push / Pull' even better.


Great album start to end. Really recommend.

[ridleybradout]

Thanks for the recommendations team

Really enjoying Bdrmm Higgs - immediately familiar and giving me all the required feels right now

[Brett]

Whoops, forgot to update about Constellation's Corona Borealis series again. The 8th and final release of 2020 is Je Vois/Non-Dit" by Joni Void and N. Nao, a collage of two live recordings of the artists collaborating with some extra contributions from flautist Eddie Wagner. The video is by Sonya Stefan. Corona Borealis picks up again on January 15 with T. Griffin.

Video:


Bandcamp:


By the by, if anyone else is a Constellation fan, they're doing a holiday sale through December 18. But any four or more releases and get 25% off the whole order.

[psychobain]

Death Cab For Cutie new covers ep

Code: Select all

The Georgia EP Tracklist

1. “Waterfalls” — TLC
2. “The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1” — Neutral Milk Hote
3. “Fall On Me” — R.E.M.
4. “Flirted With You All My Life” — Vic Chesnutt
5. “Metal Heart” — Cat Power

[daft twat]

Goldfinger - Never Look Back
I used to love this band. Haven’t enjoyed an album since the one with the 99 Red Balloons cover on it twenty or so years ago. This album, though, is perfect Goldfinger. 4 stars!

[Norah]

Only a few songs in but I'm really digging this Future Islands record that came out this year.

[Jorge]

Hey, the new Awakening Orchestra album volume ii: to call her to a higher plain is really incredible the whole way through. I bought it on Bandcamp Friday and it's really blowing me away

https://awakeningorchestra.bandcamp.com ... gher-plain

This beautiful album is now available to stream on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/1bu3aBxy ... x0xRrQD_HQ

[VinylGuy]

Best of 2020

1- Pearl Jam, Gigaton.
2- Fiona Apple, Fetch The Bolt Cutters
3- Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
4- Taylor Swift, folklore
5- Matt Berninger, Serpentine Prison
6- Marilyn Manson, WE ARE CHAOS
7- Painted Shield, Painted Shield
8- Deftones, Ohms
9- Mark Lanegan, Straight Songs Of Sorrow

I think those are my favs. Another stuff like Run The Jewels or Waxahatchee was super cool, but faded into oblivion for me. Another stuff like the new pumpkins albums im still digesting. Havent listened to a lot of stuff i want to yet.

[Brett]

Couple new things as the year winds down:

Earlier this year, Aidan Girt put out a new EP under his OSB (formerly 1-Speed Bike) moniker, Lets Go Fast. This past Bandcamp Friday, he put a companion to it, SuperSpreaderEvent EP, under another pseudonym, Bottleskup Flenkenkenmike, which hasn't seen use since about 2004. This new EP is in a similar style to the former, a kind of homemade, Casio-beat fueled electronic music.

Bandcamp:


Castle If is a Toronto musician known privately as Jess Forrest. She makes what she calls cosmic space disco, a kind of electronic music that draws heavy influence from '60s/'70s era library music. She's been focusing more on soundtrack music the last few years, but got back into making more pop-oriented stuff with this new release, Beyond!

Bandcamp:

[Kevin Davis]

This was a weird year for me in that the overwhelming majority of records I really found myself returning to, and flagging in my mind as "favorites of the year," were all instrumental/jazz albums. 2020 was a really bizarre year, both nationally/globally and personally, and in a lot of ways I found pure music articulating my feelings better than words and voices. Records I probably normally would have made more of an effort to get to know (Phoebe Bridgers, Taylor Swift, etc.), I enjoyed on the surface but found didn't really speak to me in the way I needed.

Favorites so far:
Avishai Cohen - Big Vicious
Wolfgang Muthspiel - Angular Blues
Joshua Redman - RoundAgain
Ambrose Akinmusire - On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment
Gregoire Maret - Americana
Bill Frisell - Valentine
Bill Callahan - Gold Record

I also find it increasingly difficult to know how to incorporate new albums by longtime/sentimental favorite artists into exercises like this, but I played these a fair amount this year too:

Pearl Jam - Gigaton (some of the initial luster of this has worn off, but the best tracks have really held up well and overall it's a welcome addition to their catalog)
Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways (I didn't find this to be the masterpiece some claimed it was, but again, probably half of it at least is superb and I listened to it a lot)
Elvis Costello - Hey Clockface (wonderful album, of this group it's probably the one I would feel most comfortable calling one of the best of the year hands down, not just a personal/emotional favorite)
Brad Mehldau - Suite: April 2020 (recorded immediately in response to the COVID-19 pandemic -- a bit rushed and not his best solo piano release, but solid, and genuine)

Record I enjoyed the least by an established favorite artist:
Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You

Favorite archival releases:
Thelonious Monk - Palo Alto
Neil Young - Homegrown/Archives Volume II

Still need to check out:
Jeff Parker
Nels Cline

[tragabigzanda]

[i got bugs]

Every list i see everywhere has Fiona a and Phoebe b as 1 and 2

I'll give them credit as having nice voices n all, but I just don't get it.. like what is the target demographic that listens to this on the regular??

I mean life is kinda depressing the way it is..

[tragabigzanda]

[surfndestroy]

Every list i see everywhere has Fiona a and Phoebe b as 1 and 2

I'll give them credit as having nice voices n all, but I just don't get it.. like what is the target demographic that listens to this on the regular??

I mean life is kinda depressing the way it is..

I don't find it depressing at all. I find it to be a very beautiful mix of musical styles, very affected vocal stylings and amazing percussion and other background instrumentation. It is by far my record of the year.

[i got bugs]

I thought that motion sickness song was ok but I couldn't imagine listening to it on the regular

[epilogue]

Every list i see everywhere has Fiona a and Phoebe b as 1 and 2

I'll give them credit as having nice voices n all, but I just don't get it.. like what is the target demographic that listens to this on the regular??

I mean life is kinda depressing the way it is..

I don't find it depressing at all. I find it to be a very beautiful mix of musical styles, very affected vocal stylings and amazing percussion and other background instrumentation. It is by far my record of the year.

100%

Great post.

[bodysnatcher]

I haven’t listened to it since it came out.

[epilogue]

I haven’t listened to it since it came out.

What's wrong with you?!

[Jorge]

I love the album but I can't listen to it very often. It's very emotionally intense, which I like, but it takes a very specific mood

[i got bugs]

I love the album but I can't listen to it very often. It's very emotionally intense, which I like, but it takes a very specific mood

Right like I appreciate that its good from a musicians standpoint but I can't figure out a situation in which I'd be pumped to listen to it