The 2020 end of year music lists thread

I knew about 15 or so, and had meant to get to another 20 or so.

Glad that Nazar, Duma, Allison Cotton, Memnon Sa, and our own beloved DD made it on, along with some others. Also was happy to see some old friends (Special Interest) get a shout out— their bassist and I used to have a joke about how whenever he'd move out of a punk house in Oakland, I was inevitably the one to move in next, which was kind of true for a few years, before he moved down to New Orleans.

My gripe with the Quietus lists is very personal and small, and that is that for whatever reason, I find the style of rapping associated with a lot of grime and drill music to be irritating in the extreme— I love the beats, and love rap and hip-hop from the US and non-English speaking countries, but something about the accent and plosives or intonation or something just makes me want to press the skip button. That basically winnowed the list down to 90, and throw in the unlistenable experimental grindcore crap that I got over in 10th grade, and I'm at about 80 records that could hold interest.

Some notable records to which they gave good reviews are missing, imho:
Rian Treanor- File Under UK Metaplasm
Ustad Saami- Pakistan is for the Peaceful
Nicholas Bougaïeff- The Upward Spiral
Ambrose Akinmusire- On the Tender Spot...
Nihiloxica- Kaloli
Klara Lewis- Ingrid
Lunch Money Life- Immersion Chamber
fra fra- Funeral Songs

To be honest, kind of disappointed that so little jazz was mentioned— I know that the genre has its own robust journalism culture, but I'm just a lot more interested in jazz than some of the other stuff to which they gave space.

Most excited by seeking out the Dead Meat, Antonina Nowacka, and the Katie Gately.

yeah that Ustad Saami was so great, better than the first one for sure

My gripe with the Quietus lists is very personal and small, and that is that for whatever reason, I find the style of rapping associated with a lot of grime and drill music to be irritating in the extreme— I love the beats, and love rap and hip-hop from the US and non-English speaking countries, but something about the accent and plosives or intonation or something just makes me want to press the skip button. That basically winnowed the list down to 90, and throw in the unlistenable experimental grindcore crap that I got over in 10th grade, and I'm at about 80 records that could hold interest.

you should definitely still check out that pa salieu album which made their top ten and is likely to make my personal one

Oh I didn’t know Ustad Saami had a new one out this year. Nice.

Listening to the Bougaïeff right now, it's really one of the best techno full-lengths of the year, and could certainly hold enough interest for those not normally interested in the genre. And it got a great review!

Will check out the pa salieu record, vc.

Aside from #1, the Paste list was not what I was expecting from them - e.g., would have expected Dylan, Haim, and Bridgers higher.

Also think that's the first list I've seen with both Sault albums in. Seemed to be one or the other so far elsewhere

I know at least one other that did:

The fifty-three months the year of 2020 have been... yeah. But musicians have carried us through.

From the 300 LPs and EPs from 2020 I bought this year, here are my very favorites. I'll link to every album's @Bandcamp page in the thread below.

What were your favorites? pic.twitter.com/7YXjbacQTG

— Musicophilia (@musicophiliamix) November 26, 2020

I figure they'll end up vote-split in publications that poll participants...

Re: Slum of Legs, I was not at all aware, emil.y! Just listened to the first track now, and it’s great – I love the folk song undertones.

xxpost to Indexed, scroll through the bylines of that list and you can probably figure out why that is

(i'm not saying it's a bad thing.)

Revolver’s top 25:

https://www.revolvermag.com/music/25-best-albums-2020

Not my take on metal at all but a worthy #1, considering.

Oh, thank you pom!

xxp

xpost - that Revolver list has a few surprises, can't say I ever would have pegged Imperial Triumphant to show up on their list, and a lot of stuff that is, well, not my thing at all.

the Greg Puciato album is the Petals for Armor of metal

also I didn't know the Killer Be Killed album was out now, and it fucking rips

I keep forgetting about that Killer Be KIlled album, better than the debut?

I like it better so far yes, feels more cohesive to me

paste magazine list is limp as hell, lol

apart from backxwash incongruously sitting there amidst all the polite indie

Wasn't that always Paste's thing? Polite indie?

Oh, I also forgot to mention something about the Quietus list— Magik Markers! Really? Gonna go ahead and say that they're the worst band on record vis-a-vis live performances I've ever come across. They *rip* live, and except for maybe a record or two at their beginnings, it's just miss after miss, for me.

Oh man strong disagree here, the new Magik Markers album is good as hell. I agree that most of their previous albums (at least those I've heard, can't say I've caught 'em all) have been underwhelming, but this new one hits all the spots for me.

Mystery City, Blues for Randy, and I trust my guitar etc. are all pretty good. I just can't get into anything else...and the new one just sounds awful, but I'll give it another go. Might be one of those bands that really only appeals to me live.

Interesting promotional item in Dalston (possibly items, I have seen it in two spots now) for the Pa Salieu record: a traffic diversion sign by the roadside.

the overall paste list is pretty limp, sure, but they did make room for some awesome records that i'd be surprised to see in too many other lists: ela minus, chubby & the gang, young jesus, thanya iyer

young jesus making my list for sure

i liked the slum of legs album a lot btw!

’Tis the season…for Album of the Year lists! Here’s the 2020 spreadsheet, with data wizardry from @jrock16c. Bookmark this link:https://t.co/dzYEyN0V53

— Rob Mitchum (@robmitchum) November 30, 2020

Where the hell is Taylor Swift on the Paste list, or have I totally misjudged where that publication is these days?

xxpost to Indexed, scroll through the bylines of that list and you can probably figure out why that is

(i'm not saying it's a bad thing.)

― alpine static, Monday, November 30, 2020 12:16 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

am i supposed to know these names or is it just the fact that there are like 5?

one of them appears 20+ times, if my ctrl+f is correct. i'm just saying there's a writer there whose taste imprint is on that list, that's all.

indexed, the kind of indie-sphere folk that paste champions, especially considering the contributions from dessner and vernon

*folklore is the kind, etc.

Lol I stopped myself from soft-ripping on the tQ list for snubbing Slum of Legs

emily, really like the Slum of Legs record! listened while working this afternoon

Thank you emily!

Hearing it now! Agree with pom love those folk undertones but the synth really sells it for me, really like the mix of styles, I wasn’t expecting where it went in that opening track (great opener btw)

So far my fav is track 3, kind of reminded of the Sugarcubes (it might not be an influence at all but for me it’s a good thing)

Ah jeez, thanks guys. Now let's get a crew together and picket Quietus HQ.

Sugarcubes not a conscious influence but certainly not a bad thing imo!

Moar lists

https://thefortyfive.com/opinion/best-songs-of-2020/

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/nov/30/the-20-best-songs-of-2020

https://www.gorillavsbear.net/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2020/

Nice whirled music list in Songlines:
https://www.songlines.co.uk/explore/guides-and-lists/top-10-albums-of-2020

Not much love for the Hayley Williams or Killers albums so far

> https://www.gorillavsbear.net/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2020/

nice to Cindy Lee getting a top 10 spot there. both albums! (that second mini-album-y one that's only available via a blinking geocities-page is especially wonderful).

Also, the international perspective. Oor is the Netherlands' Mojo/Q/Rolling Stone: https://oor.nl/news/eefje-de-visser-maakt-het-beste-album-van-2020/

noteworthy in that it’s the first time in their almost 50-year history they’ve chosen an album by a Dutch artist (singing in Dutch to boot) as the year’s best.

Salem brought out an album this year wtf? oh my god loooool

also, is this the year where all the album covers are really dark and deliberately underexposed? the opposite of The Great Millennial Colour Drought

Dog Latin, all I got for a few weeks was suggested videos for Salem. I was like 'WHY'

i gave the opening tracks a quick listen and, yeah, nobody asked for this

Is Gorilla vs. Bear a hipster fashion magazine or...?

basically yes

One of the biggest mp3 blogs that is still standing, also recently founded a record label called Luminelle Recordings with the following acts:

Anemone
Bodywash
Das Body
FADE
Hana Vu
Helena Deland
Jackie Mendoza
Lisel
Magdalena Bay
Morabeza Tobacco
MUNYA

Kind of cheating since his top pick (Helena Deland) is on Luminelle but all of the artists in there are actually good and very “on brand” to the music he likes. Helena Deland in particular is really good, I’d have no problem picking her as a top 20 AOY.

I’ll check out Deland, if only to pretend I’m keeping up with local acts.