The 2020 end of year music lists thread

22. Aksak Maboul - Figures

Massively satisfying slab of systemspop aceness - totally approachable and glorious fun

Glad to see the Anna Högberg Attack and Neptunian Maximalism on your list, unperson.

That performance of For John Cage is predictably superlative, but I've been totally burnt-out on Feldman for a long time now, especially his 1980s stuff.

Really glad to see the JD Allen album show up

Listening to this now, it's really good!

I'm a Wire voter and I'm surprised someone else voted for Éons to get it into the top 50

The person who complied the 'avant rock' top ten (Antonio Poscic) included Neptunian Maximalism in there too, so i guess that's the other voter. Also in that list: Duma, ONO, Imperial Triumphant, OOIOO, Bloodmist, Bill Nace, tetema, Faucet, Expander

NickB, do they still run the 'critical beats' list? if so, could you post it?

sure, here you go...

Wire Critical Beats 10 (compiled by Joe Muggs)

Anz - Loos In Twos
Andrew Weatherall - Unkown Plunderer
Nazar - Territorial EP
Azu Tiwaline - Magnetic Service EP
Krust - TEOE Remixes #1
KG - Sensei EP
Robert Hood / Floorplan - The Struggle / Save The Children
Uj Bala - Grey Gardens
Lila Tirando A Violeta - Tungsten Tears
Hard Ton - Beats For Straight Boys

many thanks!

good call on Kassa VC; i thought this was his breakout year

― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Sunday, 6 December 2020 21:50 (yesterday) link

got an honorable mention slot on Carl Wilson’s list for slate, that’s something I guess!

https://slate.com/culture/2020/12/best-albums-2020-plus-best-songs.html

Textura's lists are up:
https://www.textura.org/archives/articles/2020top10s.htm

The NPR individual lists haven’t been shared yet have they?

Liking this a lot better.

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/04/942133359/the-best-music-of-2020-npr-staff-picks

Oh the Textura reps for:

Christian Löffler: Parallels (Beethoven): Shellac Reworks

That’s a great one! Love it.

And that’s about the only record I know from that list...

That Burial comp is frankly depressing. The more recent material on disc 1 pales in comparison with the 'classics' on disc 2.

though rival dealer is on the first disc and that's his very best release

Title track is good and serves as an appetizer for disc 2, but I've never been too keen on 'Hiders' and 'Come Down to Us'.

Anyway, Textura's EOY picks are always welcome but that classical list couldn't be any further from my own tastes.

Damn, Wire's list was about the only hope I had for Zeroh's 'BLQLYTE' to get its due, so bummer to see it come in only at #14.

I listened to the Rebecca Hennessy album once when Textura reviewed it the first time and it was p good iirc. I still don't completely know how I manage to have so little overlap with any of these lists, even Wire and Textura, although I feel like I listen to and enjoy a decent amount of music.

I mean, there is probably is stuff I would like on those lists.

I've been writing for The Wire since 2002 and I've only heard 15 of those albums:

2. Moor Mother - Circuit City
5. Duma - Duma
6. Jeff Parker & The New Breed - Suite for Max Brown

11. Backxwash - God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It

21. Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You?
24. Ellen Fulman & Theresa Wong - Harbors
27. Sun Ra Arkestra - Swirling
28. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters
29. Autechre - SIGN

31. Mary Halvorson's Code Girl - Artlessly Falling
34. Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brotherhood - Live

42. Thundercat - It Is What It Is
43. Anna Von Hausswolff - All Thoughts Fly
44. Neptunian Maximalism - Eons
48. Asher Gamedze - Dialectic Soul

I just listened to the Jeff Parker and tbh I was a little surprised they would pick this as the best jazz album of the year. I did like the last track quite a bit. A lot is likeable, though, and it may well benefit from more listens.

xp heard 16:

1. Beatrice Dillon - Workaround
4. Bob Dylan - Rough And Rowdy Ways
11. Backxwash - God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
12. Armand Hammer - Shrines
13. Sarah Davachi - Cantus, Descant
15. Bill Nace - Both
16. William Basinski - Lamentations
24. Ellen Fulman & Theresa Wong - Harbors
28. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters
29. Autechre - SIGN
33. PRAED! Orchestra - Live In Sharjah
38. Clipping - Visions Of Bodies Being Burned
39. Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders
43. Anna Von Hausswolff - All Thoughts Fly
44. Neptunian Maximalism - Eons
48. Asher Gamedze - Dialectic Soul

Armand Hammer, Sarah Davachi, Ellen Fulman & Theresa Wong, Autechre, Anna von Hausswolff and Neptunian Maximalism are the ones I'd stan for.

Re: Textura, Causa Sui sounds pretty cool – laid-back fusion-y psych rock jamming.

I also enjoyed track 1 of the Douglas MacGregor. Simple yet emotionally effective solo guitar work.

The Moor Mother album at #2 is kinda the highest ranking jazz record on the list, as it’s pretty much a stealth Irreversible Entanglements record with more electronics than usual and some guest vocalists.

Anna Högberg Attack sounds good so far.

I saw this Lewsberg album show up a few places. At first they just seemed like V.U. fetishists to me, but they've got their own thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61P-0bAuqTM

The Quietus's metal sub-list, which is better than most imo, although I'm not sold on the rankings:

https://thequietus.com/articles/29321-the-best-heavy-metal-2020

The Rambler (aka ex-ILXor Tim Rutherford-Johnson) published an excellent list of mostly contemporary classical EOY picks:

https://johnsonsrambler.wordpress.com/2020/12/08/rambler-releases-of-2020/

The Liza Lim is a no-brainer and the Clara Iannotta is amazing as well.

been revisiting this year's code orange record and it's like.... so amazing, and apparently way too cool to be on a metal list

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/best-albums-2020/

oh genuinely surprised waxahatchee is #2? amaarae and burna boy are indeed the token afro picks

Metalcore isn't my jam, but does the Code Orange top the Gulch?

xp

imo it's a computer program that splices together metalcore, nu-metal, and straight up linkin park pop-alt-metal and it's glitching really intensely

Re: 1975 not showing on EOY lists

the music critic establishment rallied together two years too late to anoint the 1975's worst album their best and then turned on them arbitrarily after they made a far better record. this is how you know they're an incredible band.

— jordan (@jordansarge) August 10, 2020

digidoom metal xp

Waxahatchee at #2 is a joke.

j0rd otm as usual

I can't recall the last time p4k's EOY list was this divorced from my own preferences, possibly because I was more intent than usual on staying abreast of new releases this year. Not even a token metal record lol.

Happy to see Ka in the top 40, though.

I pushed hard for Ka.

Waxahatchee's album is their best, but I know nothing.

the waxahatchee album was pleasant enough when i listened to it but never stood out as something particularly special and i haven't really come back to it at all this year

i hate having a "their debut is the best" opinion bc i rarely think any artist debuts at their best, but no katie crutchfield project has resonated for me quite as much as the first p.s. eliot record. i assume this is a problem with me and not with her albums

ufo that is the reaction I have to every waxahatchee thing

some pleasant surprises on the p4k list, like duval timothy, kate nv, choosing act ii as their jay electronica pick instead of that ponderous jay-z collab

One thing I'm really happy about this year is that these music sites have finally figured out how to publish their lists on a single page.

the Pitchfork is actually far better than I was expecting. Great to see the Yves Tumor and Moses Sumney both getting good placements in various places. Also pleasantly surprised to see the Bartees Strange in a few of them - it's really a fantastic debut.

Agreed - personally think the P4k list is far more interesting than it has been in years past, especially the first half. Notably elevated Jessie Ware, Haim, and Roisin Murphy in the rankings compared to a lot of other outlets. Some of their favs (OPN, Sufjan, Caribou) are also absent. I, too, think the Moses Sumney album is quite good, and had been surprised it was not landing in more top 10s. Still don't get the complete absence of Sault, and the top of their tracks and albums list have a lot of overlap.

chipping in to add my 'j0rdan otm' to all the others

Hadn't listened to the Mary Lattimore album at the top of their list. Lovely.

p4k list is surely a narrower concentration of their brand than ever

Last time I listened to Waxahatchee was probably her second album, years ago. I don't recall her having any country leanings back then. Anyway I've been listening to the new one for a week now and it is definitely growing on me. I don't begrudge anyone rating it highly.

p4k list is surely a narrower concentration of their brand than ever

Not saying this isn't true, but how so, exactly?

I haven't played Saint Cloud much since the weather cooled, but it had a rock-solid spot in my rotation back when the lockdown madness was first setting in, when I began taking long drives to nowhere in particular and going through automatic carwashes several times a month (the most exciting instant-gratification purchase you can make without human interaction!)

"Fire" would probably be in my top 10 songs of the year, and it loses none of its appeal when you slide it into a tracklist surrounded by her other excellent songs, so I'm fine with the #2 placement.