Top 20 Albums of 2020

Welcome to my sixth annual Album Of The Year ranking. Last year we left off on listening to 300 records and deciding this is way too fucking much and I should never do it again. After that I basically didn’t listen to any new music for a few months and only started checking out stuff mid-autumn… And now we’re less than a year later (since I only finished 2019 aoty in May and it’s Feb now) and my docket is saying that I’ve reached 366, exactly one album per day of 2020.

You might think this is because of pandemic and spending more time at home and thus more time for music, but I actually used to do most of my listening on mobile devices, while on walks or in transit, so I’d wager that I’ve spent less overall minutes listening to music this year than before. Rather, there’s been a noticeable change in my listening habit - I’ve started skimming through records if they fail to grab my attention, jumping around tracks looking for interesting musical ideas, trying to get an overview of timbres and atmosphere rather than patiently sitting through them entirely. So while the number is larger, it’s a number of albums I’ve checked out, rather than the number of albums I’ve listened to fully. I’m perfectly fine with this because I’m not really trying to accurately evaluate all these albums, but rather trying to look for music I’ll like. And as I search as wide as I can for it, it naturally means that I’ll also encounter a ton of stuff that won’t connect with me, and I don’t want to waste too much time on that. This has worked out a lot better than previous year’s grind and I’ll likely be sticking with that for the near future.

I’ve decided to keep my ranking at 20 albums because I think realistically this is as many as I can find something interesting about to say. As usual I will also include Honorable Mentions, but in addition to that, I’ve also decided to highlight some of my favorite songs of the year from the albums that didn’t make it to this ranking - you can check out the playlist on YouTube, where no music ever disappears.

2022 update: Miraculously nothing has disappeared from the playlist, but I've decided I wanna preserve it after all. In no particular order:

Hanna's Little Sister - Anywhere
Courteeners - Better Man
Dirt Poor Robins - Stronger
Everything Everything - Violent Sun
Tired Lion - Lie To Me
The Chats - Better Than You
2nd Grade - Velodrome
Sault - You Know It Ain't
1 800 PAIN - HURT
Don Bryant - Your Love Is To Blame
Algiers - Dispossession
Samia - Winnebago
Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison
Mick Jenkins - Different Scales
Nada Surf - So Much Love
PVRIS - Gimme a Minute
Stephen Dale Petit - The Ending of the End
SLIFT - Son Dong's Cavern
Songhoy Blues - Badala
The Wonder Years - The Ghost Of Right Now

And with that out of the way, we shall commence:

30. Damu the Fudgemunk - Ocean Bridges
29. Days N Daze - Show Me the Blueprints.
28. tricot - 真っ黒 (Makkuro)
27. Ka - Descendants of Cain
26. Mogwai - ZEROZEROZERO
25. Anjimile - Giver Taker
24. Ciśnienie - Brass Album
23. clipping - Visions of Bodies Being Burned
22. The Buttertones - Jazzhound
21. Nick Cave - Idiot Prayer (Alone at Alexandra Palace)

And now onto the list proper.

20. Moses Sumney - græ

Perhaps the most artistic and high brow piece on this whole list. Moses Sumney (along with an extensive list of contributors) crafted a very eclectic and serene collection of songs that I’m still not entirely sure what to make of. I find it to be a challenging piece that requires a bit of patience and attention to truly appreciate without any really attention-grabbing musical ideas or conventionally beautiful melodies, but something about it is just really intriguing. It is centered around the idea of “exploring the space in-between” of where we might traditionally only see binaries, a pretty vague idea and I’m not exactly sure how it translated to music, but my confusion about what it means is akin to my confusion about what is it that I like about this record. It’s weird and hard to talk about but definitely worth checking out.

19. Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM

Perhaps my least favorite of Jeff’s albums, it only serves to prove in just how high esteem I hold his work that it still makes the cut. I find it to be an uneven record with many tracks just failing to hold my attention at all, but others are among my favorites of the year. For me the record could’ve very well started on N O D R E A M as it’s a fantastic song which I’ve used to start my playlists with, and I think the preceding tracks are probably the most skippable. Leave It in the Sun is another one I love, a classic Rosenstock brand of indie punk rock that transitions fantastically into The Beauty of Breathing. But the real star of the album is Old Crap, perhaps my favorite track of the year, a beautiful composition that feels like it conveys so much more musicality than it has any right to within its 3:24 runtime. I love those long extensions of vowels as well as the ska yell accentuating the transition into the second part of the song, I love the simplicity and tempo of the drumming, I love the straightforward honesty of lyrics. It might be Jeff’s most quintessential song yet, and it almost carried the album to this place alone.

18. Lianne La Havas - s/t

On her third LP, the neo soul singer songwriter focuses the music around her beautiful voice. The creative freedom coming from self-production resulted in a very singular vision for music that makes the album flow really well from start to finish, even managing to gracefully shove a Radiohead cover in there. There are interesting melodies and instrumentation throughout the album, but for me it’s really Lianne’s singing that captures my attention and doesn’t let go whenever I put this on, a strong expression of self that one can’t pass by indifferently.

17. the Microphones - Microphones in 2020

Really glad to see Phil Elverum releasing under the Microphones moniker again, I think the creative idea behind Mount Eerie just couldn’t connect with me on the same level, and the Mark Kozelek-style of music that he seemed to be exploring in his latest records was not my preferred direction. Microphones in 2020 is still a pretty simple record compromising of just acoustic guitars and singing for a lot of its runtime, but the eventual inclusion of other instruments, the tone of music, sound mixing, something about it is just much better at grabbing my interest and forming a  stronger connection to his work. It’s a very thought-provoking record about all the prior messages in Phil’s work as well as the creative direction he’s planning to take now as he’s once again re-reflecting on his life and career. But for me it’s also just a “pretty timbres go brrr” type of music, the exact kind that I’d put in my top20.

16. Chubby and The Gang - Speed Kills

Another punk record, a much rawer and more traditional one - but its adherence to the classics works really well. Chubby Charlie is a veteran of the British hardcore punk scene and its very apparent in the music that it was crafted by someone who generally knows what sounds to put where and at what tempo. It’s a really fast and energetic record, but it doesn’t sacrifice any musicality in pursuit of speed, it’s really well balanced and exhilarating as a result. It’s a debut record and hopefully a sneak peek at a long and exciting career of chubs and the boys as they explore punk, rock’n’roll, surf rock and who knows what else.

15. Porridge Radio - Every Bad

Every Bad to me seems like a very passionate record, with song structures facilitating emotional singing and moments of crescendo that really drive a peculiar feeling home, such as at the end of Liliac or choruses of Sweet. To me those were the moments when the album was the strongest, the ones that stood out the most - otherwise it oscillates between conventionally pleasant music and pretty unnerving sections, such as on the song (Something). It’s a dark, grungy record filled with screaming and repeated mantras and you’re never exactly sure where it’s going to take you.

14. Gum Country - Somewhere

A masterful post-punk record that catches one’s attention from the first sounds of the first track and never lets go. It hits those very peculiar emotional tones that are hard to describe, some sort of twisted melancholy, simultaneously warm and cold reminiscence. It’s achieved mostly through singing and mixing, with voice and drums being kinda buried beneath the thick texture of guitars, it creates that feeling of being snuggled in a warm blanket on a cold autumn evening. The record has a very singular consistent sound, but there’s enough variance in melodies and song structures to maintain one's interest, but it’s equally able to just blend into the background. On the other hand it has almost psychedelic qualities at times, allowing the listener to zone out to the droning sounds. It achieves everything I expect from a new wave record.

13. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - K.G.

For me this record feels like a sequel to Flying Microtonal Banana - not only does the art cover feature a similar combination of colors, but more importantly, microtonal sounds make a return, assisting the band in once again creating this simultaneously oriental and wild-west-movie-soundtrack-like sound. And something about this combination works extremely well for me, as much as I respect King Gizzard’s output in general, this style just hits differently. Now if there’s one thing I could hold against this album, is that it feels a little too duplicative of FMB and unfortunately loses in direct comparison - there’s no standout tracks that would wow me like Billabong Valley or Nuclear Fusion did. Moreover, some experimentation like the track Intrasport feels unnecessary and doesn’t hit the mark. So I feel like there’s definitely a lot of room to grow with this sound and I hope the crazy aussies will continue returning to it, though I’m sure they’ll jump in a bunch of different directions before that happens.

12. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - BAD BOYS OF JAZZ

It finally happened, a jazz record on my AOTY list! Hypnotic Brass Ensemble has been on my radar since I’ve heard their self-titled record a few years ago and this record might just be my favorite of theirs yet. Featuring a great funk inspired fusion song structures with a bunch of horns, afrobeat-style percussion, r&b singing and some rapped verses, it’s a very concentrated record that borrows only the best from these adjacent styles. As it combines them together it feels like a very complete package, like something that is just right, “correct” even. It perfectly fits a niche in my tastes and I don’t see this eight-brothers-outfit leaving it any time soon.

11. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall II

A really intriguing prog record that takes a couple of interesting jumps throughout its run - starts with these mellow and inspired pieces before intercutting to a jolly lively song, followed by a properly epic and technical prog piece. It makes similar shifts with almost every song, it almost feels like two or three entirely different records intertwined. And to be perfectly honest, only one of these styles is responsible for the album's high placement, those guitar-noodling-driven pieces like Feel You and Wasted. And I can get the rationale for those lighter tracks and how this album is structured overall and there’s nothing wrong with them, they play their role and I think it’s a good record overall. But man, if the entire album was like these two tracks. Boy would I have loved it.

10. Caspian - On Circles

This is just a very good post rock record, which is simply one of my favorite genres. I wish I had something more specific to say but I don’t have a particular affection for this band or some explicit reason for loving this record, but this is perhaps the purest form of appreciation I’ve felt this year music-wise. Just a really nice collection of songs that sound very pleasant and can perhaps take one on an emotional journey if you let them, but if you don’t that’s okay, they can just make your time a little better. There’s all the classic post rock qualities of long buildups and equally long crescendos that drone on any interesting sound they can find for as long as they can, there’s some nice singing on top of overall excellent instrument playing, it’s just a really solid album.

9. Kevin Morby - Sundowner

My first encounter with Kevin Morby but I think I might fall in love - a sensitive yet confident and passionate voice, subtle but very on-point instrumentation, songs built on repeating melodies, very honest lyricism. It has these slow, personal ballads like Don’t Underestimate Midwest American Sun or biographical Jamie as the author tries to come to terms with a bunch of stuff that has happened to him, processing his relationships to people and places. On the other hand you have these straight up fun songs like Brother, Sister that made me think of Jack White’s songwriting, with a great repeating motif that made me want to sing along. It’s a very nourishing record and Kevin has certainly got my attention.

8. Boston Manor - Glue

A very loud and visceral record, something I didn’t have enough of this year. I like its sudden attack and how it feels like singing and instruments are fighting for attention in the mix. I like how unassuming it feels, it doesn’t give off any pretense of being particularly honest or artistic, but neither of trying to be popular, rather it feels very pure in its form and what it’s trying to achieve. There’s a decent variance in sounds and melodies, every song stands out and has something memorable about it. It provides the kind of sensory overload that might seem easy to achieve, but doing it while remaining melodic and pleasant is another story. A surprisingly rich record that has only grown on me with each listen and I’m not sure if I’ve even reached the peak of appreciation yet.

7. Fontaines D.C. - A Hero’s Death

After the disappointing Dogleg, Fontaines bounced back really quickly with their second record. It feels like a natural continuation of the sound from the previous one - a bit more solemn, but with equally strong spirit underneath. Both loud and quiet songs are kept in a very similar tone, but there’s enough difference between them to make the juxtaposition have an effect. Each track stands out on its own but they also blend really well together into one coherent piece that sets up this very peculiar mood that I find hard to describe, it’s like that pent up anger that you can never release so you just keep building it until it just dissolves into nothing, leaving you feeling empty? *cough* Anyway, I particularly love the final track No. It’s the softest one on the record and the most conventionally pretty one, with simple chord sequences and riffs and a very peculiar style of singing that is borderline whiny, as Grian holds high note vowels with his deadpan voice. Something about this track is really evocative and choosing it as an ender may have done a huge job in making me like this record as much as I did. Good job boys, can’t wait to hear some of these songs live.

6. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - X: The Godless Void and Other Stories

Trail of Dead occupies a similar niche to post rock in my head, creating very melodic songs that sound much fuller than a five-person-outfit has any right to achieve. Guitars and pianos build these thick layers of sound that create a warm, celebratory and hypnotizing sound, somehow merging pop and classical sensibilities with a dash of power metal thrown in. It’s another record that I wish I had more to say about but my enjoyment of it is very primal, it’s the beats and the hooks and beautiful melodies and the melancholic atmosphere and moments of triumph. I’ve listened to it over and over for what felt like months and I think I’ll be returning to it in the future.

5. Dogleg - Melee

Another record that has grown on me quite a bit over the year, not doing much on the first listen but thoroughly hooking me when I returned to it after a while. A debut album of a hardcore punk band that really nailed down what’s important about this sound, with just the right timbre of guitars, just clean enough mixing and just loud enough songs to make me feel at home right away, but without trying to push the boundaries of abbrassiveness like so many others do. Listening to it feels very liberating, all those screamed lyrics and exciting choruses do wonders at releasing tension. The drumming on tracks like Hotlines really makes one want to get up and jump and stomp, while songs like Wartortle have a very melancholic feeling to them, and this mix is everything I could ever ask of a rock album. It’s an exhilarating LP all the way to the fantastic emotional Ender and it really makes me wish that I’ll get to see this band live someday.

4. The Strokes - The New Abnormal

Between The Strokes and The Voidz, Julian Casablancas has been an artist to watch for a long time now. His knack for songwriting and the talent of people he surrounds himself with almost never fail to produce some of the most intriguing and earworm-y songs of the year. Stuff like how the album opens with this dry, mechanical beat, and just two seconds in the guitars join it to transform it into something very lively and beautiful. Stopping the instrumentation for just a moment to give spotlight to first words of Julian on the record before returning with a different riff that once again recontextualizes the very same beat. Julian alternating between a more reserved, nonchalant delivery and his characteristic falsetto. There’s so much variance to the track despite using the same beat for its entire runtime, only joining it by live drums on a short section. Almost every track is fascinating, though there’s two that really stand out - drumless At The Door with some really interesting synth textures and the closer Ode To The Mets which is just beautiful, I can’t think of any other word to describe it. Once more it opens with this really intricate melody with guitars and synths each playing something seemingly different, but it all comes together into one beautiful whole. Again you get Julian alternating between nonchalant and passionate singing, even throwing a little vocable and asking for “drums please” at the appropriate moment, giving the song this feeling of something coming together at the spot, which makes its melodic complexity hit so much better. Definitely not a record to skip.

3. Frances Quinlan - Likewise

Hop Along first got my attention two years ago with their peculiar record Bark Your Head Off, Dog and now their leader released a record under her own name. And it’s a very personal one, with Frances going quite into detail about her different experiences and what types of thoughts and feelings came with them. I found it to be an album about coming to terms with things, about retrospection and acceptance. Instrumentation serves to facilitate this honest, emotional tone, mostly guitars with a reserved amount of synth and drums, that kind of middleground between a solo singer-songwriter venture and an indie rock album. Iit all serves to support Frances’ singing her heart out, some words barely getting out of her mouth, others ferociously screamed out. It’s the type of record that gets under one’s skin and refuses to get out - the lyrics drag you on a journey with intriguing themes, interesting word choices and surprising non sequiturs. And it ends on a very intriguing cover of Built To Spill’s seminal track Carry The Zero that trades original’s simple beauty for a really confused, almost schizophrenic sound that nevertheless carries the same message, but with a much different energy. It’s a curious choice to make for the album ender and it definitely made the record stick out to me early on, but it’s far from the most noteworthy thing about it, each track tells its own story and they come together into something beautiful.

2. ЯeaL - Light Up Ambivalenz

Why the fuck is no one talking about this band? Is it because of the weird Я that makes it hard to look them up? It’s not like they are that underground - their songs were used as openings and endings for Gintama, Pokemon and Boruto. It’s that last one, Tsuyogari Loser that first made me aware of the band, but as soon as I checked out their debut 19., it retroactively became my 2017 AOTY and I became obsessed with the band. They are absolutely infectious, producing the most exhilarating sound on the planet that makes the listener feel the pure energy of being alive like nothing else. The frantic drumming, loud mixes, just the right amount of reverb and tasteful voice effects. I’d wager that percussion does the lion’s share of work here, but the band works incredibly well together.

I won’t lie - this album is nowhere as good as 19., so if you haven’t checked them out yet then I’d point you in that direction first. One of their guitarists left since then and while I wouldn’t say it changed their sound in a noticeable way, I wonder how much it did to the songwriting capabilities. But you still get absolutely captivating tracks like Dead or Alive or their cover of XY&Z that are just straight fire and will have me returning to this album at least until their next one.

1. We Are Only Human Once - Misanthrope

I can’t believe two teenagers from Delaware, Ohio have somehow read my mind and decided to make music appealing to my exact taste specifically. That’s the only way I can explain this album - its lo-fi and slightly abrasive but never truly unpleasant mixing, its simple but effective instrumentation full of heavily distorted guitars. Vocalist’s emotional howls as they scream their heart out. Lyrics that lay their very being completely bare with a level of primal honesty that not many people can achieve, expressing themselves in simple yet poignant words. The band wears their influences on the sleeve - The Microphones, Radiohead, probably Neutral Milk Hotel and Have A Nice Life, there’s even an open shoutout to Car Seat Headrest’s Twin Fantasy in one of the tracks. That song, Me & You, is especially emblematic of WAOHO’s strengths, the 9-minute post-breakup ballad that accentuates all the aforementioned qualities of mixing, instrumentation, song structures and emotional honesty of lyrics that read like something straight out of a teenager’s diary. It captures the essence of the record and it’s the one I return to most often, although the rest of the record does a fantastic job of building it up, so I was truly floored when it first came up. I’ve started checking out the rest of WAOHO’s output and I’m just constantly impressed with their artistry, savviness and talent. I really hope they blow up on the indie scene in the years to come.