ILM's Top 77 Albums of 2020

ok real talk, should i listen to this album?

Wow, only 2 #1s to Evermore's 5.

*sigh* I'm guessing only Sault, Roisin and Fiona are going to be the things I feel deserve to be in the top 10. Very anticlimactic rollout given quality and surprises above

*absolute gritted teeth mode*

the Taylor Swift albums really weren't bad. in fact they were almost pretty good and probably worth hearing?

*resume normality*

I would have enjoyed seeing Evermore and Folklore tied for 78 like Annie in the tracks poll

I feel like the Grinch, my heart is several sizes too small to ever appreciate her

yeah I detest her but her music's okay haha

xxp you should!

Taylor mirroring Big Thief's placements from last year.

Really happy to see Haim so high. I'd written them off after that drab second album. Could well be better than Days Are Gone.

haim album is a little loose in the second half for me, but i do appreciate that they made a record that functions very similarly to the 1975 album, thereby fulfilling a prophecy i made in 2013

What's the history of Taylor on the ilxor album poll? This her highest? I think she got a #1 on the tracks poll.

I think 1989 came in at #2 from memory.

Yeah, she came second to D'angelo.

can't believe gigi masin and bufiman are number one and two, gj ilxors

Has the same artist ever won albums and tracks in the same year?

I'm nervous for the reveal. I do love the Sault album but I've never had my number one as the actual number one. Could be fun!

I guess this is payback for last year

didn't we just have Taylor Swift?

Of course SAULT will be number one

i love this guy

Don’t know what’s my favourite on this album, maybe this is me trying is the one that hits my emotional core the most

https://i.imgur.com/Jhd6z94.jpg
#02: SAULT - Untitled (Rise) - 932 points - 31 votes - 3 Nº1 votes

Sault - What's the story?

https://saultglobal.bandcamp.com/album/untitled-rise

“It manages to be as lyrically unflinching as the music is compelling – not the easiest balance to achieve, as acres of terrible protest songs historically attest. You’d call it the album of the year if its predecessor wasn’t just as good.”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/sep/17/sault-untitled-rise-review

“More than writing simple protest songs, they are creating what is arguably some of the most life-affirming and confrontational music released in recent years – and all of it comes at a much-needed time.”
https://beatsperminute.com/album-review-sault-untitled-rise/

https://i.imgur.com/4aSb5NO.jpg
#01: Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? - 1343 points - 39 votes - 8 Nº1 votes

Jessie Ware - 110% (and everything else she's done)
Jessie Ware: What's Your POLLeasure? (2020)

“Without the burden of reinvention, Ware’s fourth album of defiantly sexy, plush post-disco is a flirtatious joy.”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/04/jessie-ware-whats-your-pleasure-review

“She’s never sounded this bold and carefree before, and it’s a revelation. All these factors make What’s Your Pleasure an exceptional and life-affirming album that could keep company with 21st century disco pop classics such as Discovery, Fever, Overpowered, Honey, Hercules & Love Affair and Anniemal.”
http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2020/07/01/jessie-ware-whats-your-pleasure-pmr/

I’ve been assuming Ware will win it for months.

ayyyyy

yikes

Wow blowout

wow quite the point score

Sault were robbed

welp, guess i'm gonna have to listen to this Jessie Ware album

wow shocker

Wow. not even close

I don’t get Ware. What is the deal? Is it catchy?

SAULT to me feel like a successful marketing campaign. just find them so utterly bland

Ware otoh is merely basic

I voted for it lol

Tight one!

i think i took out jessie to give points to albums i thought needed the points more but it's a super record

That jump in points!

A well deserved win!

Sault were robbed

I haven’t tried much tbf

#01: Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? - 1343 points - 39 votes - 8 Nº1 votes
#02: SAULT - Untitled (Rise) - 932 points - 31 votes - 3 Nº1 votes
#03: Taylor Swift - Folklore - 919 points - 25 votes - 2 Nº1 votes
#04: Haim - Women In Music Pt. III - 906 points - 28 votes
#05: Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters - 830 points - 30 votes
#06: Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia - 721 points - 24 votes
#07: The 1975 - Notes on a Conditional Form - 716 points - 22 votes - 3 Nº1 vote
#08: Róisín Murphy - Róisín Machine - 715 points - 20 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#09: Taylor Swift - Evermore - 682 points - 18 votes - 5 Nº1 votes
#10: SAULT - Untitled (Black Is) - 612 points - 21 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#11: Charli XCX - How I'm Feeling Now - 587 points - 18 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#12: Owen Pallett - Island - 531 points - 17 votes - 2 Nº1 votes
#13: Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour - 464 points - 14 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#14: Wizkid - Made in Lagos - 448 points - 12 votes - 2 Nº1 votes
#15: Kate NV - Room for the Moon - 446 points - 14 votes- 2 Nº1 votes
#16: Autechre - SIGN - 440 points - 16 votes
#17: Azana - Ingoma - 440 points - 15 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#18: Horse Lords - The Common Task - 438 points - 16 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#19: Beatrice Dillon - Workaround - 432 points - 16 votes- 1 Nº1 vote
#20: Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 - 432 points - 13 vote - 3 Nº1 votes
#21: Tiwa Savage - Celia - 431 points - 16 votes
#22: J Hus - Big Conspiracy - 423 points - 14 votes
#23: The Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? - 415 points - 16 votes
#24: CS + Kreme - Snoopy /howwouldyoufeelwithoutthatthought 412 points - 13 votes - 3 Nº1 votes
#25: playboi carti - whole lotta red - 406 points - 15 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#26: Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher - 405 points - 14 votes
#27: Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song - 391 points - 15 votes
#28: Katie Pruitt - Expectations - 388 points - 12 votes
#29: Destroyer - Have We Met? - 361 points - 12 votes- 1 Nº1 vote
#30: The Microphones - Microphones in 2020 - 356 points - 14 votes
#31: The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers - 354 points - 10 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#32: Ariana Grande - Positions - 353 points - 14 votes- 1 Nº1 vote
#33: Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA - 342 points - 9 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#34: Pa Salieu - Send Them to Coventry - 330 points - 10 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#35: Grimes - Miss Anthropocene - 329 points - 15 votes
#36: Hum - Inlet - 324 points - 11 votes - 2 Nº1 votes
#37: Slum of Legs - Slum of Legs - 321 points - 14 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#38: Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi - 317 points - 9 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#39: clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned - 314 points - 12 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#40: Vladislav Delay - Rakka - 302 points - 10 votes- 1 Nº1 vote
#41: Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor - 300 points - 14 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#42: Actress - Karma & Desire - 299 points - 14 votes
#43: Stephen Malkmus - Traditional Techniques - 298 points - 10 votes
#44: Yves Tumor - Heaven to a Tortured Mind - 297 points - 10 votes
#45: Simmy - Tugela Fairy (Made Of Stars) - 291 points - 13 votes
#46: KeiyaA - Forever, Ya Girl - 285 points - 14 votes
#47: Cleo Sol - Rose in the Dark - 280 points - 10 votes
#48: Soccer Mommy - Color Theory - 267 points - 11 votes
#49: Julianna Barwick - Healing Is a Miracle - 262 points - 8 votes
#50: Theo Parrish - Wuddaji - 255 points - 12 votes
#51: Westerman - Your Hero is Not Dead - 254 points - 8 votes
#52: Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways - 251 points - 8 votes
#53: Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud - 250 points - 7 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#54: Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan - 249 points - 8 votes
#55: Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders - 248 points - 11 votes
#56: K-LONE - Cape Cira - 247 points - 8 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#57: Annie - Dark Hearts - 246 points - 8 votes
#58: Victoria Monét - Jaguar - 240 points - 9 votes
#59: Brandy - b7 - 239 points - 12 votes
#60: Pharaoh Overlord - 6 - 232 points - 7 votes
#61: Brandy Clark - Your Life Is a Record - 230 points - 10 votes
#62: DJ Python - Mas Amable - 216 points - 7 votes
#63: Lido Pimienta - Miss Colombia - 210 points - 6 votes
#64: Run The Jewels - RTJ4 - 204 points - 8 votes
#65: Adrianne Lenker - Songs - 200 points - 9 votes
#66: Autechre - Plus - 200 points - 8 votes
#67: Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately - 199 points - 8 votes
#68: Moodymann - Taken Away - 192 points - 10 votes
#69: Ana Roxanne - Because of a Flower - 190 points - 7 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#70: Ulla - Tumbling Towards a Wall - 190 points - 7 votes
#71: Charles Webster - Decision Time - 190 points - 6 votes
#72: Nubya García - Source - 190 points - 5 votes
#73: Deftones - Ohms - 188 points - 6 votes
#74: Kairon; IRSE! - Polysomn - 188 points - 5 votes
#75: Poppy - I Disagree - 187 points - 6 votes - 1 Nº1 vote
#76: Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown - 184 points - 10 votes
#77: Selena Gomez - Rare (Deluxe) - 184 points - 8 votes

this album really caught me by surprise. I had never listened to Jessie Ware before, and didn't really have any interest in a disco revival, did not connect at all with some of the others like Murphy, Dua Lipa. But I kept coming back to this one, so many catchy songs, such immaculate production, not a single dud, just perfect from beginning to end. My #1, Sault - Rise was my #2.

I don’t get Ware. What is the deal? Is it catchy?

― abcfsk, Friday, February 5, 2021 11:21 AM (thirty-nine seconds ago)

It's ilm catnip.

That’s it folks! 2020 is officially over.

thanks forks, moka, sean! great list this

#00: Gigi Masin - Calypso ...you bastards - 1344 bones to pick - not enough votes

https://masin.bandcamp.com/album/calypso

yes, thanks pollrunners, job well done as ever and extra well done for the sick graphics!

i saw it got below 7 on pitchfork so binned it off xp

thankig u pollrunners! great ride, fab graphics, excellent roll out fun was had <3

Caribou was our #78.
Shabaka #79 and Gigi Masin was our #80