Under normal circumstances, this is where I'd take the opportunity to point out that the year has sucked and the world is garbage and we're all gonna die. However, it's gonna take decades of work from the world's best minds -- scientists, political theorists, philosophers, and artists -- to BEGIN to understand what happened this year. Thus, I'm not even gonna try here, no matter how flippantly. What I do know is: 2020 turned me back into a complete sad-sack. I listened to
Pink Moon,
Time Out of Mind, and
From a Basement on the Hill a lot, and instead of listening to new records, I mostly just ate ice cream, drank tequila, and stared at the TV, pausing only to cry softly into my ice cream. So there'll be just one list this year, and you're looking at it. May it help to put your ennui on hold briefly.
#20
Gleemer
Down Through
Dream pop/emo hybrid with a twist of
early Red House Painters. Some of the richest guitar tones in recent memory. First time I listened to this was by myself, in a gentle rain, and that's probably the best way to hear it.
#19
Terje Rypdal
Conspiracy
Atmospheric, icy beauty courtesy of my favorite Norwegian jazz guitarist. Conspiracy is a welcome return to Rypdal's classic sound, and holds up next to the best of his catalogue.
#18
Fluids
Ignorance Exalted
Put on your mesh shorts, rip the sleeves off your shirt, and get ready to blast your bis, tris, and guacs, 'cause this shit is fucking heavy. Take
Mortician, flip the blastbeat-to-breakdown ratio, and you get
Ignorance Exalted.
#17
Bruce Hornsby
Non-Secure Connection
People think it's a joke when I say I love Bruce Hornsby, but it's not. At all. This year, he continued the creative renaissance that began last year with Absolute Zero, leaning further into his abstract tendencies while steering them back towards generally more melodic ground. Whoever thought we'd live to see a Bruce Hornsby album with songs called "Shit's Crazy Out Here" and "Porn Hour"?
#16
The Goners
Good Mourning
70s throwback, horror-themed hard psych in the vein of Uncle Acid, but punk-er. Dueling guitar solos, songs about death, evil, and murder, plus a Dead Moon cover. Total summer backyard beer-drinking tunes.
#15
Asofy
Amusia
Asofy are still one of the most singular black metal (-adjacent) projects going. The generally extremely slow tempos suggest doom metal, and the vocals are all black metal, but there's very little in terms of 'heavy' riffing, and the overall feel is more anxious and expressive than the all-out depressive vibes that blackened doom generally brings.
#14
Green / Blue
Green / Blue
An excellent addition to the Jay Reatard/Marked Men school of catchy but sharp-edged punk, that occasionally touches down in sludge-y, grunge-y territory. My homie who first played this for me would want me to mention that half of Green / Blue used to play in The Soviettes, who I still haven't heard.
#13
Boris
NO
I'm so glad that Boris wants to be heavy again, because they are so much better at this kinda thing. NO merges the full-tilt hardcore of (the hardcore version of) Vein with the shoegaze-y textures that they've explored over the past decade or so, and throws in some of the heaviest, most pissed-off sludge they've put together since Amplifier Worship.
#12
Rose City Band
Summerlong
The lazily named Rose City Band is Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo, and it essentially sounds like Moon Duo reimagined as an extremely chill country rock band. Listening to this in the sun with a few friends (safely distanced, of course) with the misters on was one of the few bright spots of my year.
#11
Kate NV
Room for the Moon
Weird, disjointed art pop grooves built on staccato synths and a whole bunch of other elements. Had I made this list before the winter blues began to sink in, this record would surely have placed higher.
#10
Hachiku
I'll Probably Be Asleep
A lush, wondrously constructed sound-world of downtempo, slacker-friendly dream pop. Truly, a wonder of production, and a low-key masterpiece of a debut.
#9
Cloud Nothings
The Black Hole Understands
In which Cloud Nothings drop their harsher tendencies in favor of warm, homespun power-pop, resulting in their most compelling album since Attack on Memory.
#8
Brigid Mae Power
Head Above the Water
Mae Power's previous record, The Two Worlds, was one of my favorite records of 2017, and Head Above the Water represents an undeniable step up. It retains the base sound of jazzy, melancholic folk rock, but leans hard into gorgeous, kaleidoscopic psychedelia.
#7
Imperial Triumphant
Metropolis
Imperial Triumphant's most effective, seamless synthesis of black metal and dark/free jazz yet. They've entered fully uncharted territory, and it's absolutely thrilling to behold.
#6
Destroyer
Have We Met
My favorite Destroyer record since Kaputt. Creaky vocals intoning poetically awkward lyrics against a widescreen 80s instrumental backdrop. It's beautiful and sad, without taking itself completely seriously.
#5
Hum
Inlet
One of the best surprises of 2020, and pretty much a best-case scenario for a reunion album. It's a throwback to their classic sound but with spacious, modern production and the perfect amount of stylistic expansion -- it's both airier and heavier than their old stuff, and shows an awareness of post-metal while never really sounding anything like it.
#4
Oranssi Pazuzu
Mestarin kynsi
The reigning kings of psychedelic black metal are still operating at an absolutely dizzying creative peak. Mestarin kynsi is maybe the furthest out they've ever ventured into their krautrock, prog, Italo-horror, and other non-metal tendencies, but it also feels like a refinement -- every song is meticulously composed and realized, and every payoff is exactly where it should be. It's a tall order, but it's probably my favorite Oranssi Pazuzu record.
#3
Moses Sumney
græ
A double album exploring the multitudes that make up one Mr. Moses Sumney, via a fusion of art pop/rock, experimental neosoul, and much more. Sumney is clearly operating at a genius level, so writing about his music legit makes me feel dumb, especially because it's impossible to even say what kind of music it really is. But if you like experimental yet accessible music and haven't heard it, you really should.
#2
Andy Shauf
The Neon Skyline
My most listened-to album of the year. A voice like Paul Simon with a Canadian accent over simple but hooky folk rock, and a concept album about a relatively uneventful night out overshadowed by a not-so-long-lost love. Each song is a vignette set either in the present (at the bar) or in our narrator's memory, reliving the dissolution of a relationship. The whole thing gives me kind of an Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind vibe, and it's just so sweet and sad and human and easy to love.
#1
Westerman
Your Hero Is Not Dead
Heavenly sophisti-pop that reminds me of some of my all-time favorite artists -- Arthur Russell,
John Martyn, The Blue Nile -- while retaining an undeniable sense of self. Deft, fluid guitar work; smooth, honey-sweet, understated vocals; and stripped-down, synth and drum machine bases. Alternately playful and downcast, knotty and beautiful, with a sense of constant exploration and questioning that ultimately lands on an answer in the album-closing title track.
Your Hero Is Not Dead has already helped me through some of the darkest times of 2020, and I expect it to be a reliable companion for years to come.
