Friday, December 11, 2020

Best albums of 2020

KISS OFF 2020, PISS OFF 2020

A rather stunning year in general made for a rather year in music. Surprisingly, the holding back of a lot of potential releases didn't take away from the wealth of artists that had something to offer amongst the isolation self imposed or they just had the stuff in the can already. At the start of the year we saw relevance from a 79 year old man and two surprise releases, the first in over 20 years, from a couple staple of early 80's bands and the best album from Guided By Voices in their last 20 or so releases (that's like the last 5 years). More importantly, the volume of new artists was higher than usual. 

2020's dumpster fire was a mess of good. 




50. The Nude Party-Midnight Manor




49. Drive-By Truckers-The Unraveling




48. Lake-Roundalay




47. Blowout- Redux




46. H.C. MacIntyre- Eno Axis




45. Floodlights-From a View




44. Nat Vazer- Is This Offensive and Loud?




43. Baybs- Introvertigo




42. Rose City Band- Summerlong




41. Psychedelic Furs- Made Of Rain




40. Bambara- Stray




39. The Cowboys- Room of Clons




38. FACS- Void Moments




37. Nap Eyes- Snapshot of a Beginner




36. Las Kellies-Suck This Tangerine




35. Death Valley Girls- Under the Spell of Joy




34. Catholic Action-Celebrated by Strangers




33. Vintage Crop- Serve to Serve Again




32. Guided By Voices- Mirrored Aztec




31. Destroyer- Have We Met




30. Fontaine D.C.- A Hero's Death




29. Cloud Nothings -The Black Hole Understands




28. Virginia Trance-Vincent's Playlist




27. BC Camplight- Shortly After Takeoff




26. X-Alphabetland




25. Boat-Tread Lightly



24. Sault- Untitled (Black Is)





23. Primo- Sogni




22. Soccer Mommy- Color Theory




21. Lucinda Williams- Good Souls Better Angels




20. Empty Country-Empty Country




19. Cornershop- England is a Garden



18. Basic Shapes- Clockwork Organs




17. Bob Dylan- Rough and Rowdy Ways




16. Arbor Labor Union- New Petal Instants




15. Protomartyr- Ultimate Success Today




14. Cut Worms- No One Lives Here Anymore




13. Waxahatchee- St Cloud




12. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- Sideways to New Italy




11. Close Lobsters- Post Neo Anti




10. Tobin Sprout- Empty Horses




09. En Attentent Ana- Juillet




08. Pool Halograph- Love Touched Time and Time Began to Sweat




07. Country Westerns-Country Westerns




06. Dexter Fury- The Night Chancers




05. Sweeping Promises- Hunger For a Way Out



04. Bill Callahan- Gold Record 





03. RVG- Feral




02. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit- Reunion




01. Porridge Radio- Every Bad