The 2020 end of year music lists thread

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.

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

― pomenitul, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 17:41 (twenty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

scrolled through it and my eyebrows flickered precisely once, for Ka

that doesn't really answer the question

them going to bat for that massive-step-down mediocre and cloying us girls album while forgetting that, say, katie gately did an album this year is extremely on brand

i do my 'pitchfork isn't avant-garde enough' spiel every year though and it is important to note that it is first and foremost a pop lifestyle magazine nowadays so zero expectations rly

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

I don't generally find their classical taste that reliable, although tbh I don't know the albums they picked for this year.

but why are you surprised they picked the ka album? they've been covering him very positively for over a decade.

xp

I genuinely hadn't noticed! Good that they did obv, it's a really good album

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

Same. I found her other albums worthy but wispy. This one has a thickness and precision I appreciated.

I think the Waxahatchee is great, though I've been pretty invested since American Weekend

One I'm mildly surprised I haven't noticed having any presence (although I haven't been ctrl+f-ing all lists or anything): Selena Gomez's Rare. Curse of early-January release?

Listening to some of the high albums I've not heard on The Wire list. The Duma record is wild and will definitely revisit. Amongst the razor wire vocal there's a strange, calming and pretty ambience.

But I LOVE the Still House Plants record. How did I not know this before? It's absolutely fantastic and I can't really place why I love it so much on first listen. Just bought the vinyl.

Went to look at The Quietus metal list and the website is down. :(

vice list always includes some great overlooked albums along with many head-scratchers

https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7a7xa/the-100-best-albums-of-2020-noisey

yeah that's a real good list

Feels very similar in spirit to p4k's, which is to be expected, I suppose.

Made in Lagos at 74 and Twice as Tall at 21 (the reverse would have been more accurate), slim Afropop pickings on an otherwise interesting list.

agree with that, hopefully they'll include some more african inclusions in their tracks list.

That list reminded me I need to check out that Jeremy Cunningham record.

featuring some honest-to-god imagocore in Machine Girl!

they also included many of the rap albums i liked a lot this year (was kind of a weak year for rap albums overall tbh, much stronger for singles)

ctrl + f 'armand hammer'

no results

shame on u, vice

xp
Hey NYCNative: if the Quietus metal list is still currently down, this Cryptic Shift album was my big new-to-me discovery from it, FWIW
(a slightly more tech take on the sci-fi, slightly prog death angle that Death Incantation and Tomb Mold are perhaps best known for running with over the past 3-4 yrs,
but this release impresses me a fair bit more than either of those bands have, TBH):

https://cryptic-shift.bandcamp.com/album/visitations-from-enceladus

(^ Blood Incantation, whoops)

I, too, was impressed by Visitations from Enceladus but its formlessness is a bug rather than a feature imo. I look forward to their next couple of releases.