Topic: The Music Thread

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Guess it’s time to rank my favourite albums and songs of 2020!

Albums:

5: Anna Von Hausswolff - All Thoughts Fly
43 minutes of organ. Played with good headphones it’s revelatory. Granted, I was somewhat off my face and this album seems engineered to make you see visions of Leonardo Da Vinci snorting lines off Jesus’ torso.

4: Yves Tumour - Heaven to a Tortured Mind
This album oozes sex appeal. It’s a mishmash of so many sounds, genres and feelings that it’s hard to define but it’s a brilliant ride if you can keep up with it. Again, the production’s fantastic so listen to this one with a good pair of cans.

3: Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure?
This was such a good year that the top 3 could take each other’s place given my current mood. The fact Charli XCX and clipping didn’t make the list says a lot about how good this year was for music. This album however, it’s a masterclass in disco-infused pop. This year saw a mini-revival of sorts with Kylie and Roisin Murphy also releasing really quite good disco albums. This rises to the top because every single track on here is a hit. It doesn’t let up and is sheer unadulterated fun from start to finish.

2: The Microphones - Microphones in 2020
I went as far as to say that this album was one of the best albums I’d ever listened to when it came out. It incorporates many motifs from across Phil Elverum’s life and career to create a layered canvas on which he tells his life story. It’s painful at times, euphoric in others. It’s a genuine masterpiece. But not my number one for just the one reason - I loved another album more and felt it defined the year slightly better.

1: Black Dresses - Peaceful as Hell
For the average listener, this album will sound like a headache waiting to happen. In many ways, it is. However, the catchy lyrics, insane production and overarching themes and message beat out all the rest for me this year. With the world falling apart, the duo essentially created a record that’s summed up by one of the track’s titles - Please Be Nice. It might be naïve in many respects but they just ask us to be nice and respect each other for who we are, even if we’re different. It’s a shame to see that despite some influential reviewers actually really enjoying this record, the amount of hate seen surrounding it by people who listen to their voices for 2 seconds and turn it off is staggering. In fact, the attitude seen by TikTok users who appropriated one of Black Dresses’ songs for jokey videos when it was about their childhood sexual abuse went a way towards them breaking up, along with widespread invasions of privacy and harassment by fans. It’s one of the most pure records out there, free from studio interference, commercialism or external pressures. They created the record they wanted to make and it’s a force of nature.

Tracks:

A special mention to Mac Miller’s Good News, which very narrowly misses out on the top 5 but is fantastic regardless.

5: Black Dresses - Damage Suppressor
It’s all over the place, harsh and noisy but through all the static is an extremely catchy pop song, with one of the best choruses of the year.

4: Jessie Ware - Save A Kiss
Jessie Ware produced a lockdown banger to compete with the best of them, which keeps the energy throughout the song, never going too far or not far enough. She actually lets the beats shine too, which is really important for club music and something that’s missing from quite a lot of especially female solo artists in recent years.

3: Yves Tumour - Kerosene
If the album oozes sex appeal, this is sex appeal distilled in a bathtub for months until it’s as pure and valuable as liquid gold. It’s a superb track, with both Yves and the featured artist putting in a masterclass of a duet. The result is a truly sensual track which swirls all around and threatens to engulf you at any point.

2: Terrace Martin + lots of artists - Pig Feet
Probably the best of the protest songs released post-George Floyd. No song captured the incredulousness and sheer rage that these events were still happening despite everything going on in 2020 and the slow progress being made. Kamasi Washington kills it with his particular blend of uneasy sax capturing the rising tensions throughout the song. It holds up even this long after the original wave of protests, although I’d say that there have been so many other events that it will unfortunately be relevant for years to come at this rate.

1: Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion - WAP
Yeah, I’m putting this top. In a year without much fun, this song was a breath of fresh air. The lyrics are absolutely ridiculous and extremely fun, it never fails to make me laugh. Both their flow would give the most prolific of rappers a run for their money too. It’s also my number one for the wider impact it’s had on the industry and culture throughout this year. Porno Rap is nothing new, however it’s always from a male perspective, from Kanye to OutKast. The reaction from people like Ben Shapiro only cemented that it was something truly special.

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I've not listened to all that much new stuff this year but here's a handful of albums I've enjoyed;

Daniel Avery - Love + Light

A mixed bag of electronic music from some proper choons through to more chilled out tracks. I had heard a few tracks by him on 6music and this is the first of his albums I have. He also released an album this year with Alessandro Cortini which was much more ambient/noise than this album which was quite good too.

Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans

This guy has been around for years and I love his stuff and this album is no different. It loses it's way a little towards the end but still has some excellent tracks on it. I love this video too. He also dropped another album just before new year on bandcamp which I quite liked on first listen.

Hot Mulligan - you'll be fine

This is just a great, fun album which I've only been listening to for a couple of weeks but already love. Proper old school emo pop punk.

Martha Hill - Summer Up North

This is the second EP from her and all five tracks are great. I first heard this track on 6music but this EP wasn't out so I had to make do with her first one which is also well worth a listen. She has a fantastic voice and uses it amazingly with each track being quite different to each other. This track sounds like some sort of mashup between Jamie T and Kings of Leon while my other favourite, Before I Go, being some beautiful tragic pop song. Highly recommended.

The Menzingers - From Exile

I was a bit sceptical of an acoustic reworking of a punk album, particularly as it was one of my least favourite albums by them. But I really love this and probably prefer it to the original (although I Can't Stop Drinking remains a very long, boring track). The vocals really shine through on the stripped back tracks and the infrequent use of strings etc really take it up a level too.

Rival Consoles - Articulation

His previous album Persona was absolutely fantastic and originally I didn't think this lived up to it but it has massively grown on me. It's a fairly stripped back electronic album but goes for it on some tracks and all weaves together beautifully with the final track being a BANGER.

Slotface - Sorry For the Late Reply

I hadn't listened to this for a while and had forgotten it was even a 2020 release until Hector mentioned it but it's a great pop punk album that isn't quite as good as their first album but still well worth a listen.

The Smith Street Band - Don't Waste Your Anger

This album is another great one from them. While I don't think it's their best, it's still well worth your time as they are so great lyrically and backed up by big angry guitars. The addition of some female backing vocals add to their sound but the simple acoustic track "It's OK" is still the standout track for me (but I've gone for one more representative of the album here).

Full playlist if you want that instead (sadly my 10+ year old laptop goes to ***** if I try and use spotify these days);