My 25 of ’20 — Best of Music Last Year
With the long and undoubtedly eventful year behind us I found myself reminiscing on my favorite musical memories of the past 12 months. An unhealthy amount of musical indulgence and a few weeks later, I made it my goal to find my own top picks of the year. Now, I want to share them, as well as my thoughts and reasonings on each of my picks in the form of this list. Among the roughly 250 new releases I had the pleasure to peruse this year, the following have been my favorites. Please give them a listen, and if you have, feel free to share your piece of mind as well. Let us celebrate the beautiful world of artistic creativity we leave behind in the dumpster fire we call 2020.
A quick note: the order of this list is at least to a degree arbitrary. What do I mean by that? While an album ranked in the top 10 will undoubtedly be better than one outside of the top 20, this may not be entire true for albums closer together. A particular album at, say, number 12 does not necessarily have to be much better than one at 13, though in comparison to other albums, it would generally be better. Yadda yadda you get the point. Without further ado:
25. SAULT — Untitled (Rise)
The anonymous British collaborative effort emerged on the musical scene with little fanfare but with two hugely significant albums in rapid succession which made a real splash upon release. The funky and jazzy downtempo pieces on their fourth full album are a vivid and powerful commentary on blackness and racial identity ‘coincidentally’ launched at a time of unrest and widespread debate on the modern state and place of race within society. Full of novel and interesting ideas, it’s one of the more politicized, yet most creatively enjoyable releases this year.
24. Kahil El’Zabar — Kahil El’Zabar’s America the Beautiful
The Chicagoan jazz composer produces an imaginative and rich interpretation of American nationalism interwoven with influences from numerous distant cultures. A worthwhile moment of celebration, meditation, and introspection.
23. Deftones — Ohms
In all honesty, I am not exactly a Deftones fan, but Ohms easily managed to embed itself as my favorite album by the band so far. Harrowing and dystopian tracks on this record speak of sin, emotional agony, and a world of empty affection and a vision of hollow, destitute love and bonding. 46 minutes of self-loathing and internal anguish reminiscent of a more dynamic and louder version of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures in the themes it explores.
22. The Strokes — The New Abnormal
The legendary New York band, which nearly two decades wowed the world with a new vision of upbeat, dynamic rock on Is This It, has since smoothly transitioned to new sounds and artistic avenues culminating with The New Abnormal, which aptly brings the band to new depths in their search for sonic refinement with strong influences of electronic music and hard-hitting lyrics and themes. It manages to come off surprisingly fresh and innovative, while playing strongly with a whole range of emotions.
21. Dua Lipa — Future Nostalgia
This record was engineered from the grounds-up for surgically catchy beats and pop perfection, fusing truly futuristic synths with clear 70s and 80s heritage. Sexually ferocious and full of earworms, Future Nostalgia is filled to the brim with hit potential, even if lyrically it is far from original and its themes of romanticism and gender relations seem ever-so-slightly outdated and shallow.
20. Kakkmaddafakka — Ontas?
My favorite indie find of the year by a Norwegian band coming through with a short but very sweet summertime EP which is a pure embodiment of good fun and lighthearted yet well-crafted poprock snippets with which it is impossible to sit still. Far from creatively engaging or demanding, yet distilling all the best elements of a great EP.
19. Bob Dylan — Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nearly six decades on, Dylan proves his unmatched worth as folk superstar and mastermind with a record which rediscovers many themes and hallmarks of American culture and society, yet managing to sound surprisingly modern and powerful. On Rough and Rowdy Ways, the mystical and unimaginably wise musician becomes the voice of America for new generations that we didn’t know we needed.
18. Lianne La Havas — Lianne La Havas
The eponymous album of the rising British star is a beautiful, sunny and soft collection of songs which sees her exploring various aspects of relationships, interpersonal contacts and intimacy, at a particular time when these things seem as elusive as ever. Lianne’s exceptional voice plays wonderfully all throughout the record against the instrumental background. sharply exposed and contrasting the simple yet richly produced tones, creating one of the most atmospheric albums of the year.
17. Bright Eyes — Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
At times grim and dark, yet at others poignant and airy, Bright Eyes return with a record much more refined and stylized than their previous adventures. Mostly orbiting themes of faux sentimentality and presenting nostalgia-inducing, disconnected vignettes of various memories, it seems to be a statement of the complexity of the world we inhabit and the evanescence of our collective experiences. And while these topics aren’t exactly novel for Bright Eyes, the form they convey them has never sounded this good before — and Conor Obrest delivers one of his best performances all throughout.
16. Other Lives — For Their Love
Atmospheric, richly produced and magnificently varied in its instrumentation, Other Lives’ newest album feels almost like a modern classic. Presenting a spacious, airy sonic scene upon which Jesse Tabish’s imposing and resounding voice breaks through, For Their Love quickly became one of the most enjoyable, if perhaps lesser known, moments of the year for me.
15. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — K.G.
After the great Infest the Rats’ Nest from last year the Australian group’s new album is yet another remarkable departure from the heavy and loud sound of their previous record, which is anything but abnormal for King Gizzard. But the Australians find a new psychedelic, slightly abstract, yet at all times engrossing groove. Though perhaps not polished as some of the band’s efforts, K.G. more than makes up for it for wild, energetic sounds and trashumanist worship which makes tracks such as Intrasport or Automation some of the most bizarre yet amusing rock pieces to come out last year.
14. clipping. — Visions of Bodies Being Burned
clipping. continues its tradition of Halloween-themed releases with an album as beautifully creative and horrifically gruesome as their past releases, but it’s hard not to sense a tinge of déjà vu as the group fails to introduce anything their fans would not expect. But regardless, Visions of Bodies is one of the most hardcore, perfectly structured and imaginative modern horrorcore albums, and among the best rap records of the entire year.
13. Laura Marling — Song For Our Daughter
No doubt the most serene yet strikingly personal record of 2020, Song For Our Daughter is a collection of beautiful, yet at times harrowing stories of unfulfilled love, disappointment and resentment, as well as lifelong bonding. Marling masterfully presents whole lifetimes of emotional distress on the course of this relatively brief album, backed by melancholic guitar and featuring the author’s gorgeous, yet at times deeply sad vocal abilities on full display. The album fulfills its conceptual role — a letter to a future generation, warning of the complexities of relationships and human psychology — just about perfectly.
12. J A Y E L E C T R O N I C A — Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn)
The long-awaited record comes busting out with pompous energy and surprising amount of self-introspectiveness of its elusive author, at each step shocking with its rich and exotic instrumentation and wide palette of inspiration and sampling. Jay manages to put King Crimson, French singer Serge Gainsbourg and Ronald Reagan himself on here — and that is just within the very first 10 minutes. Consistently inspired by religious themes, overflowing with character and confidence and featuring some of Jay’s wildest, most unrestrained flows, Patents of Nobility is a true breakthrough. Coming shortly after A Written Testimony, Jay’s second album this year is leagues better than its predecessor and genuinely sounds like a very competent bridge between bling era and modern, politically and socially involved side of rap, giving great hopes for the future of this mysterious artist.
11. Fiona Apple — Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple, the ever-so-prominent singer from New York City has pulled no stops for her 2020 album, which stuns from its very first track with its unrestrained creative flow and ambition. Wildly experimental and sounding almost weirdly unrehearsed and raw, it is nevertheless thoroughly enjoyable and down-to-earth, constituting Apple’s exploration of her troubled past in relationships and interpersonal relations. Where other albums this year were attempts to pour emotions into musical form, Fetch The Bolt Cutters is more of a sudden expulsion of decades of repressed emotions, escaping the artist with every breath and word sung, spoken and shouted on this record — and all this in a form which tends to be surprisingly catchy and sonically refined. Though it is true at many points lyrically Apple tries to sound a lot cleverer and more creative than the lyrics actually are, it is nevertheless a powerful statement of body and mind independence and individuality.
10. Land Of Talk — Indistinct Conversations
In a genre where it is exceptionally difficult to sound dissimilar from other bands, Land Of Talk manages to forge a real, unique identity, helped by a record which comes through with songs of troubled love, uncertainty and hope. Breezy, powerful, and sporting a deep, voluminous sound, Indistinct Conversations is beautifully crafted all throughout, both at its loudest and most boisterous, and its most quaint and intimate. I absolutely love the soft, yet moving energy of this entire album.
9. Against All Logic — 2017–2019
Under the recently introduced moniker Against All Logic, Nicolas Jaar, the Chilean experimental electronic musician drops a collection of loosely connected tracks from the previous few years of his work, which straddle somewhere in between low-fi techno, ambient and drum and bass, even touching upon hints of industrial and glitch, fully showcasing Jaar’s masterclass in production and mixing. At times wild and exotic, while at others overflowing with transcendental grooves and trippy, heavily modified vocals, it’s a 45-minute journey through some of the artist’s most hard-hitting and adventurous repertoire, which enthralls from the first seconds of its opening track.
8. Run The Jewels — RTJ4
Surely one of the most anticipated releases of the year, the Run The Jewels duo come back in style, with a record that’s more political and conscious than ever before, but on the sonic side feeling like more of the same rather than true evolution. Though by themselves the track are of undeniable RTJ trademark quality, both lyrically and in beats, none of them truly feel like hit potential when removed from the rest. RTJ spoiled us with their previous releases, which served as benchmarks for rap quality and no-bullshit, all fire creativity. By this standard, RTJ4 seems to slightly underdeliver. By no means a step down from the genius Run The Jewels 3, but not exactly a huge improvement, neither lyrically or sonically — which is a shame, because Mike and EI-P prove to be in top shape, but this time around perhaps lacked a bit of oversight.
7. Algiers — There Is No Year
After The Underside of Power from 2017, it seemed nigh on impossible to improve on the band’s rough, gritty, apocalyptic sound. Yet when in January of 2020 There Is No Year dropped, I was enamored. And though a lot of my enthusiasm for this record has slowly waned, I must admit I still adore it and consider it one of the years’ best releases.
With this new album, the band most definitely moved away from its experimental and heavy post-punk style towards a sound more approachable, more mainstream, in a way even funkier and more groovy. And though these words for many might sound like betrayal of their creative soul and an act of ‘shilling out’, I have to say, I dig these changes. Not because accessibility is something Algiers necessarily needed. But because with There Is No Year they came out with a record that maintains the band’s grim and shadowy style, blending it perfectly with dynamic and almost dance-happy rhythms on the year’s darkest yet most enjoyable release.
6. Nicolas Jaar — Cenizas
What a year Jaar has had. Following 2017–2019 up with Cenizas, the artist dominated the electronic world, with back-to-back, superbly imaginative records. Clearly overflowing with deeply rooted South American influences, Cenizas feels mystical and dark, utilizing sprawling, deep synthy sounds and harmonious vocal performances to craft a record which sounds as if recorded in the depths of the catacombs, yet inspired thoroughly with indigenous, folk sounds in ritualistic, almost savage rhythms. Every track on this release has an uncanny depth and quality to it, landing somewhere between entrancing and almost unsettling. Cenizas is a soundtrack of inner-peace, of meditation and of healing, a wonderous musical journey through the surreal and serene, and serving as a stark contrast to the earlier 2017–2019.
5. Aesop Rock — Spirit World Field Guide
The underground rap legend, one half of Malibu Ken, Portland, OR rapper comes back with a highly anticipated release with real potential to be among the best rap albums of the past few years. Why?
Spirit World seems Aesop Rock invent and document an entire creative and surreal world; one of perils, dangers, countless adventures and supernatural occurrences abound. Though not exactly a concept album, Aesop sticks to the theme entire well throughout the entire hour-long journey, envisioning an entire universe, styled after South American influences and countless other references, wherein everything and anything is beyond reason or comprehension, and he himself is both in the privileged and vulnerable position of mapping out and surviving the environment of his own imagination. But what’s truly remarkable is just how tightly packed this thing is with clever wordplays, deeply-rooted allusions and pseudo-biographical elements of its author’s life, while remaining so laser-focused on its overall thematic structure.
Sonically, SWFG is undeniably one of the best produced and sounding records of the year, featuring great beat after great beat, oscillating between loud and immediate and slower and intimate, yet through and through managing to strike a great creative balance. If it wasn’t for muddled mixing, with which Aesop’s voice sounds as if recorded through a mobile phone and sent through a free file hosting service, this would likely be a top candidate for my favorite album of the year.
4. Sufjan Stevens — The Ascension
Sufjan Stevens is a one-in-a-generation artist whose deeply emotional and closely personal musical repertoire through his successive albums established him as one of the most influential and creatively powerful singer-songwriters of the modern era. Coming off of Carrie & Lowell, a beautiful low-fi tearjerker of an album in 2015 one would have been incredibly curious — and reasonably anxious — as to where Sufjan would take his music next. And both the interest and anxiety have paid off with the release of The Ascension.
Sufjan was never an artist to stick to one musical style, constantly utilizing a wide range of unusual instruments and inspirations to craft albums wealthy with sonic landscapes and serene, folksy or experimental sounds. This is further supported by The Ascension, an album unusually extensive and maximalist, coming through with energy and depth not found before in any release by this author, not even his previous electronic venture The Age of Adz from 2010.
The turn from his quaint and serene previous solo work to this new record is a striking contrast, though somehow it might not be a stretch of imagination to visualize The Ascension as an extension of the emotional, psychological aura of Carrie & Lowell, wherein Sufjan seems to be pushing his brand of personal and emotionally unbound creativity to newfound heights. This album feels as though this has been the record Sufjan has meant to produce this entire time, an ultimate expression of the feelings deep inside him finding an outlet in grandiose, electronic, sweeping beats, layered, high register vocals and harmonious synths.
The Ascension trades the lyrical genius the artist has displayed on his previous records for imposing sonic depth, which feels as though it has the power of an angry ocean wave crashing against the scene in slow, repetitive bursts. And there is a lot of repetition heard all throughout — at times, Sufjan feels like he is in an incantation trance, as the music progressively shifts between moods and various stages of immediacy, such as with Die Happy or Tell Me You Love Me.
My first time hearing The Ascension was spent somewhere in between uneasiness and odd fascination. It took me a few times relistening to decide that this record deserves the spot on this list, and yet many more to place it this high on my list. Yet after an ungodly amount of time with this album, I still cannot decide if I am in awe of the creativity and technical masterwork behind it, or disappointed with the direction Sufjan has taken. But my suspicion is that this exactly is the driving force behind its undeniable magnetism.
3. Quebonafide — ROMANTIC PSYCHO
Though I realize the pointlessness of including a non-English album on an English-language list, given that it is meant to document my top choices of the past year I do not believe it would be truly complete without ROMANTIC PSYCHO.
Looking back at it, I could not have possibly imagined that I would enjoy this album this much. Quebonafide, perhaps best known as one half of the Polish rap power duo Taconafide with Taco Hemingway, has long been an important face on the scene, but his discography up until 2020 was rather unremarkable, and the artist seemed destined to forever be penned as Taco’s sideman and to live off the fame accrued from his collaborative efforts rather than personal projects.
Nevertheless, the impending release of his newest album was a large media event in the country, and for a time before its premiere it seemed inevitable to stumble upon highly anticipatory articles, posts, ads and all the sort. I finally took the plunge. And damn am I happy I did so.
ROMANTIC PSYCHO is not merely a good Polish rap album. Though I realize the following words would likely warrant great ire and derision among the commentators from my homeland — or at least a good portion of them — I feel fairly confident in saying Quebo’s new album is good by international standards. Which, in the modern landscape of Polish music industry, is not only high, but also incredibly rare praise.
RP strikes from its very first tracks. The production on here is all around world class. Amazingly detailed and engineered to perfection, rich in textures and timbres, mixing a whole plethora of contrasting ambiances and tempos, of which all feel on-point thematically, ROMANTIC PSYCHO is a true feast to the ears, especially with Quebo’s thick, deep and slightly raspy voice cutting through the beats clearly, sharply, taking the center stage and powering through.
Though the record is not just sweet beats and heavy atmosphere. Lyrically too Quebonafide delivers in a huge way. To be fair, no ground is broken at any point in the 60 minutes of its runtime, but the rapper at no point slows down or stumbles, orienting the album around a healthy mix of typical hip-hop braggadocio, lamentations on his newfound fame and celebrity status, internal struggles and mental health, current mainstream drama and gossip and his rise through the ranks of the rap scene. All this with some genuinely decent verses, funny jabs and an enjoyable flow which all combined bring ROMANTIC PSYCHO to instant Polish classic heights.
From moody, low-key and ethereal JESIEŃ, through head-bangingly heavy and aggressive GAZPROM, to futuristic and remarkably non-Polish TOKYO2020 and finally to latino-infused and amazingly original ŁAJZA, Quebo managed to strike an impeccable balance all throughout the album between novelty and familiarity. Yet undoubtedly in doing so, he managed to achieve creative levels seldom seen in this part of Europe. ROMANTIC PSYCHO is not a masterpiece. It doesn’t do anything you wouldn’t find in Western music or say anything nobody has said before. But the things it does, it managed to truly master, in a way few Polish albums in history have managed. And it made for one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable musical memories of the entire year.
2. Ka — Descendants of Cain
Full-time FDNY fireman, part-time rapper, and all-time creative mastermind Ka is perhaps not a household name just yet. But it very well deserves to be — especially after 2020’s Descendants of Cain.
Ka is far from your usual rapper, and DoC is not a typical rap album either. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the music on this record is about as grim as its recognizable, black-and-white cover art — depressive, unyielding, gloomy and dreadful, Descendants of Cain packages stories straight from the streets. Stories of loss, pain, depression, loss of faith, despair, hardship, rough formative environments, the finicky and unpredictable nature of life. But most importantly — the undying desire to live, the bravery in the face of everlasting defeats and the inevitability of the aforementioned miseries.
Descendants of Cain has everything a demanding ear seeks — truly unique, hard-hitting, beautiful yet eerily mysterious and climactic beats accompanied by wonderfully arranged string instruments and lined with synths imitating vocal harmonies. But what stands out the most is Ka’s low-pitched, steady and powerful voice narrating the biographical stories of sadness and pain in a monotone, yet emotion-filled light rap, almost akin to a spoken word piece, occasionally sounding as though cracking under the heavy weight of his own words.
Did I mention the entire record also follows a theme of strong Biblical influences, incorporating interludes directly referencing or quoting the story of Cain and Abel, and fluently weaving in religious elements in the lyrics? The result is an album which feels more like spiritual meditation on the life on the streets delivered by a supernatural poet in a form of musical prayer. Descendants of Cain is alternative hip-hop in its truest, most vivid and tangible form. Thoroughly emotional, unbelievably creative and gorgeously dark, it deserves a spot among the best of rap, and elevates Ka to legendary status.
1. Mac Miller — Circles
It is impossible to divorce the newest release in Mac’s name from the events surrounding it, and thus have any semblance of an unbiased look at it. Mac Miller’s untimely death made Circles. It made the content of the album, it made the release of the album, and it made the reception it has received. There is no doubt that there would be no Circles without the events preceding and proceeding Mac’s death, which came not long after the release of Swimming, a record some enjoyed but most disliked, and likely for good reasons. I will not attempt to critique this record as anything but a posthumous look into the months before his demise. But I will praise it for the undoubtful quality it presents despite my — and ultimately, everyone else’s — clear bias caused by the mentioned events.
Circles shows great potential from the very start. The title track’s soft, quiet strings and synths gently leading the listener through, until Mac’s tired, low-energy delivery cuts through the middle of the track. From the get-go it is clear what kind of album we are in for: depressive, sad, self-defeating. Mac divagations on the inevitable flow of time and his state of mind set a definitive tone for the rest of the record.
Complicated, the following track, while a lot more bouncy, is not much reprieve — continuing the trend of describing the difficulties he faces in his life and the troubles of moving ahead. It’s moments like these that shed light on the life of the artist in the months before his death — burdening, beyond reach, messy.
It isn’t until the third track on here that Mac finally starts to truly rap, feeling like he warms up over time. And when he starts, he really goes hard, with a lovely flow and laser-like focus and witty lines. And all this against buttery-smooth production and mixing on the highest level, which fit Mac’s whole spectrum of moods on Circles.
On Good News the rapper goes fully emotionally naked, spilling his entire stream of consciousness, showcasing exactly how he felt during the working of this album. Mac isn’t whitewashing anything — the track is openly depressive, at times even dipping into suicidal mood. Speaking of the outside pressure and expectations, his peace of mind, his suicidal ideation and his feelings on death and the afterlife, it makes for a beautiful climax of the emotional side of this record and a snapshot of the entire idea behind it.
Every track on Circles touches upon, or revolves around, the idea of fleetingness of life, the pain of living, Mac’s boredom and tiredness with life. Viewed through the lens of his passing, it is a striking piece serving as an intimate peek into his mind, his thoughts and emotions surrounding the entire production of this record. But even more than that, it is an excellent, moody, quiet rap record which is not afraid to show its vulnerable side; which openly talks about depression and the difficulties each one of us faces at some point in life.
The pairing of beautiful, comforting, mellow instrumentation and Mac Miller’s painful yet powerful delivery make this a musical adventure that’s truly awe-inspiring and unique. It is impossible to divorce Circles from the death of its author. Does it matter? Probably. Had Mac lived to see this album released, it would probably be welcomed a lot differently than it has. But Circles is what it is because of Mac’s death. And in an odd, yet charming and intimate way, it made it the best musical experience I’ve had all year long.
