The 2020 David Music Poll Results
1) Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters (39 votes)
2) Taylor Swift, Folklore (36)
3) Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia (23)
4) Taylor Swift, Evermore (17)
5) The Chicks, Gaslighter (16)
6) HAIM, Women in Music Part III (13)
Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher (13)
8) Lady Gaga, Chromatica (11)
9) Jessie Ware, What’s Your Pleasure? (9)
10) Run the Jewels, RTJ4 (8)
Carly Rae Jepsen, Dedicated Side B (8)
Honorable mention: Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud (7); Kylie Minogue, Disco (6); Sufjan Stevens, The Ascension (6); Chloe x Halle, The Ungodly Hour (5); Perfume Genius, Set Me Heart on Fire Immediately (5)
Notes: This was one of the tightest races we’ve had in years, with Fiona Apple narrowly pulling past Taylor Swift. But Taylor Swift is still the first artist to have two albums in the top 10 in one year. And Dua Lipa placed strong, as well. In total, 71 people participated in this year’s poll.
If you’re curious, this year’s list also had a larger number of acts that had hit the top ten before. The all time roster of acts that have hit the top ten more than two times:
5 times: The National, Radiohead
4 times: Fiona Apple, Taylor Swift, Vampire Weekend, Beach House, Arcade Fire
3 times: The Chicks, Carly Rae Jepsen, Lana Del Rey, Janelle Monae, Bon Iver, Ryan Adams, Beck, TV on the Radio, Kanye West, Death Cab for Cutie, Jack White/The White Stripes, Lady Gaga
My List, In Which I Think Fiona is So Good It’s Criminal
Even though I tend to listen to a lot of female artists, this is, I think, my first all-female list. The Fiona Apple transfixed me from the first listen. The Chicks were exactly what I needed in 2020. Phoebe Bridgers became a force – a bootleg of all the covers she’s performed during her pandemic shows would easily make this list, too. The HAIM album took a few spins for me to get into its groove, but once I was there, I was there (with the fascinating-to-me footnote that the bonus tracks might be my favorites on the album). If I could take my favorite five songs from Folklore and my favorite five songs from Evermore and put them on one album, it would have made this list. Carly Rae Jepsen gave more of the same – which pretty much means pop perfection. And Sufjan’s new album was the one I was sure would be on this list (based on the first two songs released)…but I didn’t really jibe with it. Honorable mention to Miley Cyrus (if her album had come out earlier in the year, it would probably be on the list, but I’m still getting into it), Jessie Ware, Alicia Keys, Declan McKenna, and Laura Marling. Also honorable mention to Harry Styles, whose album came out too late in 2019 for me to appreciate it enough to put on my list –it, too, probably has five songs I love and the rest I could live without. (Those five songs, though, are pure gold.)
Now, what I just said in list form:
1. Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
2. The Chicks, Gaslighter
3. Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
4. HAIM, Women in Music Part III
5. Carly Rae Jepsen, Dedicated Side B
And ten songs I love:
1. The Chicks, Gaslighter
2. Fiona Apple, Shameika
3. Jonsi with Robyn, Salt Licorice
4. Annie, The Streets Where I Belong
5. Alanis Morissette, Reasons I Drink
6. Alicia Keys, Good Job
7. Overcoats, Fire and Fury
8. Sufjan Stevens, America
9. Jack Garratt, Time
10. The Staves, Home Alone Too (from 2018, but so be it)
Anna Q Makes Fetch Happen
Fiona Apple, fetch the bolt cutters
Taylor Swift, folklore.
Chris K, As Nasties As He Wants To Be
Let's do this!
Album of the Year: Video Nasties, Dominion
2. Carnation, Where Death Lies
3. Malokarpatan, Krupinské ohne
4. The Black Dahlia Murder, Verminous
5. Tombs, Under Sullen Skies
6. Temple of Void, The World That Was
7. Wayfarer, A Romance With Violence
8. Revolting, The Shadow at the End of the World
9. Laser Dracul, Hagridden
10. Vampire, Rex
Singles of 2020:
Ozzy Osbourne, "Under the Graveyard"
Carpenter Brut feat. Yann Ligner, "Maniac"
Avatar, "Colossus"
Big discoveries that didn't come out this year:
That Handsome Devil, The Heart Goes to Heaven, The Head Goes to Hell
Terrortron, Orgy of the Vampires
Sarah L’s Maines Event
One answer:
The Chicks, Gaslighter
Michael T, Taylor-Made
Taylor Swift, Folklore
End of list
Jessica S Finds Ore in These Hills
1. Taylor Swift, Folklore
2. Taylor Swift, Evermore
3. The Chicks, Gaslighter
Bryant P, In the Swift Boat
Here's my most essential album of 2020:
Taylor Swift, folklore
And here are the rest:
Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud
Lady Gaga, Chromatica
The Chicks, Gaslighter
Taylor Swift, evermore
Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Fleet Foxes, Shore
HAIM, Women in Music Part III
Dedicated to Jack M
Albums
Carly Rae Jepsen, Dedicated Side B
Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Boy Meets Girl, New Dream
Delta Rae, The Light
Kylie Minogue, Disco
The Chicks, Gaslighter
Singles / EPs
Erasure, Hey Now (I Think I've Got A Feeling)
Jonas Brothers, What A Man Gotta Do
Doja Cat, Boss Bitch
Griff, The Mirror Talk EP
Genesis, Invisible Touch
Fountains Of Wayne, '92 Subaru
La Roux, Sexotheque
Swing Out Sister, Breakout
Debbie Harry/Blondie, Rush, Rush
David A’s Big Apple
Most Essential Album of 2020:
FIONA APPLE, Fetch the Bold Cutters
Runner-up:
ANDY SHAUF, The Neon Skyline
Other Great 2020 records:
NOVO AMOR, Cannot Be, Whatsoever
SUFJAN STEVENS, The Ascension
BLEACHERS, 45 (single)
Roberto R Has a Ball with Disco
I'm going to live my truth and go for:
Kylie Minogue, DISCO
But those PJ Harvey re-issues and Demo album releases, DRY-THE DEMOS, TO BRING YOU MY LOVE- THE DEMOS were the highlight of 2020.
Dan E Runs the Jewels
Run The Jewels, RTJ 4
The Avalanches, We Will Always Love You
Mike R Cried Lore More Lore
I've had this ready to go for WEEKS:
MY (PERSONAL, SUBJECTIVE) TOP 15 ALBUMS
1. Taylor Swift, folklore / evermore
3. Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
4. Fiona Apple, Fetch The Bolt Cutters
5. Carly Rae Jepsen, Dedicated Side B
6. Delta Rae, The Light
7. Kylie Minogue, DISCO / HAIM, Women In Music, Pt. III
9. The Killers, Imploding The Mirage / The Chicks, Gaslighter
11. Eerie Gaits, Holopaw
12. Jack Garratt, Love, Death & Dancing
13. Charli XCX, how i'm feeling now
14. Softee, Keep On / Shamir, Shamir
NOTES: This was an incredible year for new music, so I couldn't keep it to a top 10. There's a lot of obvious, massively popular albums on this list, but guess what? Massively popular artists really stepped up this year, and I am grateful that they did! If I could encourage people to check out an album they might not know about, I would say that "The Light" by Delta Rae is truly an all-killer, no-filler, Fleetwood-Mac-meets-CCR album full of jumping jams and beautiful harmonies, and I wish more people were giving them their money and attention.
MY (PERSONAL, SUBJECTIVE) TOP 15 SINGLES:
1. Beyonce, "Black Parade"
2. OK Go, "All Together Now"
3. Orville Peck, "Fancy"
4. Kiesza, "Crave"
5. Tove Lo, "Bikini Porn"
6. Phoenix, "Identical"
7. BLACKPINK & Selena Gomez, "Ice Cream"
8. Bartees Strange, "Boomer"
9. 5 Seconds of Summer, "Wildflower"
10. Jake Speikers, "in case i never see you again"
11. Jonas Brothers, "What A Man Gotta Do"
12. Brandy Clark ft. Brandi Carlile, "Same Devil"
13. Goodnight, Texas, "Hypothermic"
14. Miley Cyrus, "Midnight Sky"
15. AJR, "Bang!"
NOTES: Just a damn good year for new music.
Jordan H, Grande Dame
This year was truly a year of MUSIC. One of the only positives of 2020.
Fav Albums in no particular order bc they are ALL so great:
Ariana Grande, Positions (I think she has been my #1 3 years in a row)
Harry Styles, Fine Line (came out at the end of 2019, but listened in 2020)
Lady Gaga, Chromatica
Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Jojo, Good To Know
Miley Cyrus, Plastic Hearts (Came out recently but I think I love every song)
Jessie Ware, What's your pleasure?
Fav Songs that got me through IT:
Katy Perry -Cry About It Later (My Aunt died due to COVID so I didn't want to cry all the time)
Melanie Martinez- The Bakery
Ariana Grande- 34+35 & POV
Miley Cyrus- Gimme What I Want & Bad Karma (very HOT songs)
Lady Gaga- Free Woman & Fun Tonight
Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, WAP (duh)
Marina- Man's World
Jojo- So Bad (also a hot song)
SZA- Good Days & Hot Different
Zak G Shines Bright
1. Bright Eyes, Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was
2. The Strokes, The New Abnormal
3. Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
4. Boris, No
5. The Microphones, Microphones in 2020
6. Touche Amore, Lament
7. Animal Collective, Bridge to Quiet
8. La Dispute, Fifteen
9. Dirty Projectors, 5EPs
10. Sufjan Stevens, The Ascension
Kristen K Back to the Future
1. Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
2. Lady Gaga, Chromatica
3. Taylor Swift, Folklore
4. Halsey, Manic
Elizabeth W, RT place, RT time
Most Essential Album
Run The Jewels, RTJ4
(2020 required serious motivation)
Honorable Mention:
Let it Be, The Beatles
(also serious comfort)
Single:
Kygo & Chainsmokers, Family
Zach F’s Frank Oceans
Four Tet, Sixteen Oceans
Tame Impala, The Slow Rush
Taylor Swift, Folklore
Haim, Women in Music Pt. III
Run the Jewels, RTJ4
David G, Apple-Jacked
I'm so grateful for the abundance of good music this year!
1. Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
2. The Strokes, The New Abnormal
3. Jessie Ware, What's Your Pleasure?
4. Ryan Beatty, Dreaming of David
5. _BY.ALEXANDER, 000 Channel Black
Despite a decade of disdain for Taylor Swift, I liked half of folklore and half of evermore. I wish I could piece together the parts I like as folkmore.
Outside of the music from those albums, I valued these tracks:
1. "Cut Me" by Moses Sumney
2. "Broken Sleep" by Agnes Obel
3. "Mountain Baby" by Austra
4. "I'm Not My Season" by Fleet Foxes
5. "Run Away With Me" by Sufjan Stevens
6. "Easy" (with Kacey Musgraves feat. Mark Ronsom) by Troye Sivan
7. "Love is Back" by Celeste
8. "Something More" by Roisin Murphy
9. "Smalltown Boy" by Orville Peck
10. "4 American Dollars" by U.S. Girls
Phil B’s Halle of Fame
Essential Album
Chloe X Halle -- Ungodly Hour
Other Excellent Ones
Bad Bunny -- YHLQMDLG
BTS -- Map of the Soul: 7- The Journey
Taylor Swift -- Folklore (which will win for the year)
Singles
The Weeknd -- Blinding Lights
BTS -- Dynamite
Lil Nas X -- Holiday
Alex L Gives a Folk
It's obvious at this point but
- Taylor Swift, Folklore
And, I'm probably gonna be the only to add a new children's album:
- Pierce Freelon, D.A.D
and for the Holidays and because she helped fund a world-saving vaccine:
- Dolly Parton, A Holly Dolly Christmas
Charlie O Says King’s Queen Reigns
1. Cheap Queen (Deluxe), King Princess
2. Texas Sun, Leon Bridges
3. Pony, Orville Peck
4. After Hours, The Weeknd
5. Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can't We, The Cranberries
Local Philly artist that I spent the latter part of 2020 vibing to:
Hold Space For Me, Orion Sun
And the old James Bon record that I picked up for two good American dollars that spent a surprising amount of time on the turntable:
You Only Live Twice, John Barry i.e. the Bond movie that Roald Dahl wrote with the Nancy Sinatra title theme
And the album that found new meaning during the pandemic
What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
Sam P Builds Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Fleet Foxes – Shore
Thundercat – It is what it is
And I’m including Death Cab for Cutie – The Georgia EP 😊
Collin R, Glutton for Punisher
essential album of 2020
Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher (yes, I'm sad! Yes, I'm gay!)
other essential albums, in no particular order
Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters (neck and neck with Phoebe)
Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Baths, Pop Music / False B-Sides II
Sylvan Esso, Free Love
Ungodly Hour, Chloe x Halle
Andy Shauf, The Neon Skyline
Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud
Carly Rae Jepsen, Dedicated Side B
Owen Pallett, Island
Adrianne Lenker, songs
Rina Sawayama, SAWAYAMA
(not a full album, but deserves mention) Christine and the Queens, La vita nuova
essential singles
Charli XCX, claws
Perfume Genius, describe
Jensen McRae, Wolves
Rico Nasty, IPHONE
Christine and the Queens, People, I've been sad
Jack Garratt, Mara
Carly Rae Jepsen, It's Not Christmas Till Somebody Cries
Kevin K Surfs the Year
Below are my Top Albums of 2020.
- Nada Surf – Never Not Together
- The Jayhawks – Xoxo
- The Front Bottoms – In Sickness & In Flames
- Old 97’s – Twelfth
- Clem Snide – Forever Just Beyond
- Brendan Benson – Dear Life
- Thao & The Get Down Stay Down – Temple
- Various Artists – Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987
- John Wesley Harding – The Man with No Shadow
- Thelonius Monk – Palo Alto
Link to my Spotify Top 40 Favorite Tracks of 2020 - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0QDQeDMAfiNNOk3BDop8aa?si=YYkiTppeTRq5eUtxx_jtwQ
Lucy C is Marling’s Darling
1. Laura Marling, Songs for Our Daughter
2. Taylor Swift, Folklore
3. Mary Lattimore, Silver Ladders
Shelly R’s Grand Horizon
Best Album of 2020:
Bring Me The Horizon, Post Human: Survival Horror
Post Human: Survival Horror is the BMTH album of my dreams. Inspired by its namesake video game genre, this a no-skip album for me. Each song is just incredible, angsty, and everything I needed for the trashfire year that was 2020.
More importantly, the album gifted me with “Parasite Eve.” My ultimate top 2020 song. With lyrics such as “It's the Parasite Eve / Got a feeling in your stomach 'cause you know that it's coming for ya…When we forget the infection / Will we remember the lesson?” that hauntingly echo the pandemic, despite being written in late 2019, I found the perfect song to get me through the year. So much so, that I’m definitely planning a themed tattoo inspired by the music video’s visuals.
Top 3 2020 Singles/Songs:
Tonight is the Night I Die by Palaye Royale
Paparazzi (cover) by Kim Dracula
no body, no crime by Taylor Swift feat. Haim
Top 3 2020 Best Discoveries:
Babooshka by Kate Bush (40 years late, I know)
Ruh by She Past Away (Amazing goth goodness)
peachy by Saint Slumber (A whole bop)
Josh L Knows the End
1. Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher. Was the iconic image of the pandemic year a middle-aged white guy banging out "I Know the End" on an old piano while his children alternately rolled their eyes and sung along? Perhaps not. But in my house it was. Me and Emma wouldn't have made it through the summer without Punisher; best album by anyone in years...
2. Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud.
3. Mountain Goats, Songs for Pierre Chuvin/Getting into Knives. Two good albums in six months is par for the course for Darnielle, but these are both quite good.
4. If an EP counts, then Neil Young, The Times, which was a release of his home-shot lockdown concerts from the spring, and counts, with Homegrown, as a double re-release of classics. Old man still has it.
5. I didn't like the Fiona Apple as much as everyone else, but it's powerful, so let's put Fetch the Bolt Cutters here, ahead of...
6. ...the other essential old man. Bob Dylan, Rough and Rowdy Ways.
To Andrew F, Bolt is Lightning
Most Essential:
1) Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Other:
2) Chris Stapleton, Starting Over
3) The Chicks, Gaslighter
Daniel H Searches for Destroyer
Destroyer - Have We Met
The Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go on Singing So That Grace Shall Increase?
songs:
A Girl Called Eddy - “Big Mouth”
Sufjan Stevens - “Video Game”
Prince - “Blanche”
Avalon Emerson - “Long Forgotten Fairy Tale"
No Need to Counter Brian J’s Pick
What a strange year. One where nothing felt right, except for the music of course:
1. Liar Flower, Geiger Counter
2. Jason Molina, Eight Gates
3. Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
4. Big Blood, Do You Wanna Have a Skeleton Dream
5. Cut Worms, Nobody LIves Here Anymore
6. Flaming Lips, American Head
7. Man Man, Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between
8. Elvis Perkins, Creation Myths
9. The Sonic Dawn, Enter the Mirage
10. Matt Berry, Phantom Birds
11. Three Queens in Mourning, Hello Sorrow
Bands that I’ve fallen in love with during the pandemic, either for the first time or simply back in love:
Swans
Big Blood
Cut Worms
Czarface
Fugazi
RHCP
and “JAZZ”.... my jazz collection is getting quite extensive, but especially Art Pepper, Art Blakey, Sonny Criss.
Bill K's (very short) list, as he listened mostly to 70s and 80s stuff this year
Most essential:
Taylor Swift, Folklore
Others
HAIM, Women in Music Pt. III
The Chicks, Gaslighter
The Weeknd, After Hours
Brandy, B7
Bruce Springsteen, Letter to You
Alanis Morissette, Such Pretty Forks in the Road
Rufus Wainwright, Unfollow the Rules
Cecil C Cuts to the Feeling
Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Taylor Swift, Folklore
Apple of Joel P’s Eye
1. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
2. Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
3. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush
4. Lady Gaga - Chromatica
5. Haim - Women in Music Part III
6. Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
7. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
8. Disclosure - Energy
9. James Blake - Not an album but everything from Before to Godspeed to Are You Even Real he released this year
10. Bombay Bicycle Club - Everything Else Has Gone Wrong
Lucas K, Free to B
Hi! My music consumption dropped significantly in 2020, due to being trapped inside with small children at all times. But I emerged with a list nevertheless. Special mention goes to Andrew Bird's Christmas album.
1. Carly Rae Jepsen, Dedicated Side B
2. Soccer Mommy, color theory
3. Brandy Clark, Your Life is a Record
4. The Midnight, Monsters
5. LANY, Malibu Nights
6. Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
7. Haim, Women in Music Pt. III
8. Real Estate, The Main Thing
9. Rufus Wainwright, Unfollow the Rules
10. Erlend Øye, et al, Quarantine at El Ganzo
Josh W Brings Joy to the World
Been going through my spotify and very disappointed to find that I really didn’t discover a whole lot of music that made me excited last year. Not that it’s not out there - - it surely is. It’s just hard to find new stuff, when there’s no organic discovery - live shows, listening to stuff in coffee shops, all the things that make this city a special place.
Boooooo!
For all that, have you heard the album THIS JOY by the Resistance Revival Chorus? I’ll go with that as essential-esque.
Keirsten G’s Days of Thunder(cat)
Last year my only song was the Rachel Maddow Show podcast and it's mostly true of this year but there were a few exceptions. Hoping now that Joe and Kamala are in office, I’ll have less insane news and more music in my life again.
Essential Album 2020
It Is What It Is by Thundercat (Dragonball Durag!!!)
Other music that got me through this crazy year:
PeteStrumentasls by Pete Rock
Not an album but Pipe Dreams (radio show) Sunday evenings on WQXR Don’t laugh before you listen. It’s good.
Ben L’s 2020 was Good Until it Wasn’t
Top 5 are locked in and ranked. Rest are just ones that I quite enjoyed.
1. Kehlani, It Was Good Until it Wasn't
2. The Chicks, Gaslighter
3. Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
4. Troye Sivan, In a Dream
5. Jessie Ware, What's Your Pleasure?
Kylie Minogue, Disco
Fletcher, The S(ex) Tapes
Miley Cyrus, Plastic Hearts
Carly Pearce, Carly Pearce
Teyana Taylor, The Album
Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
Lady Gaga, Chromatica
Carly Rae Jepsen, Dedicated Side B
Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Hayley Williams, Petals for Armor
JoJo, Good to Know
Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Purity Ring, Womb
Conan Gray, Kid Krow
King Princess, Cheap Queen
Kesha, High Road
Selena Gomez, Rare
Lizette S’s Golden Hour
Chloe x Halle, Ungodly Hour
Ariana Grande, Positions
Tame Impala, The Slow Rush
Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG
Beyonce, Black is King
Jon S’s Big Bully
Favorite Albums with Vocals
- Bully, Sugaregg
- Arianne Lenker, songs
- Svalbard, When I Die, Will I Get Better?
- Teenage Halloween, Teenage Halloween
- Eyesore & the Jinx, The Exile Parlour
- Glorious, Unashamed
- Preservation, Eastern Medicine, Western Illness
- Grimes, Miss Anthropocene
- Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
- Porridge Radio, Every Bad
- Ratboys, Printer’s Devil
- Lomelda, Hannah
- Amnesia Scanner, Tearless
- Coriky, Coriky
- Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Temple
- Khruangbin, Mordechai
- Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
Favorite Instrumental Albums
- This Will Destroy You, Vespertine
- Rebecca Foon, Waxing Moon
- Adrianne Lenker, instrumentals
- Ólafur Arnalds, some kind of peace
- Robin Schlochtermeier, Spectral
- Unreqvited, Empathica
- Nils Frahm, Empty
- Yoshimi & ninomiya tatsuki, 優しい時間
- Eli Tausen á Lava, Impressions
- Julia Kent, Green and Grey
Singles
These are songs I loved that were either released on their own or the album may not have grabbed me but these individual songs did:
- Yaeji, “WAKING UP DOWN”
- Dioganhdih, “Native New Yorker”
- Anton Belov, “Grandmother”
- Andy Shauf, “Try Again”
- Birthh, “WHOA”
- Bee Bee Sea, Daily Jobs
- Arca, KLK (feat. ROSALÍA)
- Laura Jane Grace, “The Swimming Pool Song”
- Hinds, “Riding Solo”
- A Winged Victory for the Sullen, “Desires Are Already Memories”
Teri Y’s Good Nostalgia
What is time?!? I found it way more difficult to remember what came out this year and what was just blending in.
Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Ava Max, Heaven & Hell
Declan McKenna, Zeros
Taylor Swift, Folklore/Evermore
Lady Gaga, Chromatica
I've found myself listening to a lot of HAIM, Walk the Moon and Bleachers as well. That rounds out most of my playlists these days (other than random singles).
Cassandra P Walks the Line
My most essential album, though it was released at the end of 2019:
Harry Styles, Fine Line
Other essential albums actually released in 2020:
1. Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
2. BTS, Be
3. Bad Bunny, El Último Tour Del Mundo
4. Beyoncé, The Lion King: The Gift
5. Chloe x Halle, Ungodly Hour
Maggie S’s Heart of Glass
This actually IS winnowed down, even though it probably doesn't look like it. I swear this is 1/10th of what I found and loved this year.
In no particular order, a bunch of minor key albums for a very minor key year.
1. Glass Animals, Dreamland
2. Principleasure, I
3. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Blue Moon Rising
4. The Sweet Serenades, City Lights
5. PLGRMS, Chapter I
6. Giant Rooks, ROOKERY
7. Declan McKenna, Zeroes
8. The Franklin Electric, In Your Heart
9. Cosmo Sheldrake, Nightingale Wake Up Calls
10. Half Moon Run, Look Me in the Eyes (this 2 song EP is the saddest, hugest thing)
11. Mating Ritual, The Bungalow
And because I still mostly scavenge a la carte, some highlights:
"Ferris Wheels" - Sylvan Esso (and basically every remix that came out after)
"Stranger," Jacob Banks (this one hit hard after all the BLM marches)
"The Great Divide," The Shins (thank you for saving 2020 for me, Shins)
"My Rajneesh," Sufjan Stevens
"Catch Me Falling," Cold War Kids
"Arch Enemy," Everything Everything (at least someone's more bitter than I am)
"Color Me," Active Child
"Take Some Time," Wilderado (I cannot BELIEVE how sad the transition is at 2'12 is, O M G)
"Dopamine," Barns Courtney
"Guillotine," Mansionar & NoMBe
"Who's Gonna Stop Me (feat. Weird Al)," Portugal the Man
"Numb," Elderbrook (the video on this is so good)
"A Good Song Never Dies," Saint Motel
"Chlorine," XYLO
"Low," Chet Faker (who remarkably decided to no longer go by Chet Faker but his real name after 10 years because he decided it was time to grow up, a thing that seemed nice in 2020)
"Carry On," Martin Jensen & Molow (this song is ridiculous, why have I listened to it 86 times this year)
"Like This Like That," BEGINNERS & Night Panda (oh right probably the same reason I blew out a speaker on this one)
"Radio Silence," Samsaruh
"Unity," Paul Mounsey & Czarina Russell
"I Can Hardly Speak," Bombay Bicycle Club
"Goliath," Woodkid (not loving the rest of this album was crushing)
"Bulletproof," Dotter (this song is a Tardis, bigger on the inside than outside)
"Hits Different," Astrid S
"Unchained Melody" Cold Weather Company
"Roses (Imanbek Remix)," SAINt JHN (I'm so unhappy to admit I got this song after watching this video: https://twitter.com/mstiefvater/status/1250817360535093254)
"Why," The Big Moon
"Hate the World," Gordi
Bonus, not from 2020, but found in 2020:
"Grizzly Man" by Rockettothesky (this song makes me feel like I'm dying and I want to keep on doing it)
"Purple Hat" by Sofi Tukker (what the hell, what has happened to my impeccable music taste)
Sara F’s Fetching Choices
My favorite albums of 2020:
1) Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple
2) Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa
3) Neon Skyline by Andy Shauf
4) Good to Know by JoJo
To be honest, I mostly listened to a lot of 80's music and vintage tiki tunes. Here is a playlist if you have absolutely nothing else to listen to haha: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6mNR83WZrmCMB5WfsqJ0Zl?si=gIx7aM0lS7a77ap78oBf5Q
Théo M’s Dua Linga
From 2020:
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Lady Gaga - Chromatica
Kylie Minogue - Disco
Megan Thee Stallion - Suga
Troye Sivan - In A Dream
Best single:
Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande - Rain on Me
Not from 2020 but I have gone back to a lot this year:
Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor
Ariana Grande - thank u, next
Charli XCX - Charli
Kim Petras - Clarity
Melissa W’s Spirits are Lighter
Essential Album:
The Chicks, Gaslighter
Joseph H’s Hymn to HAIM
Here are my top albums of 2020:
Top – Haim, Women in Music Part III
Other favourites:
Lianne la Havas - Lianne la Havas
Grimes - Miss Anthropocene
Taylor Swift - Evermore (interesting to see proportion of Folklore/Evermore)
Roisin Murphy - Roisin Machine
Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Disclosure - Energy
Sufjan Stevens - Ascension
Jeffrey L Loves the Lore
It must be 12 or 14 years since I've given you any titles for this. I made a lot of effort (well, for me) last year to buy new music. Much of it was "new for me" but not actually new in 2020 -- several albums from the National, pretty much the entire Jason Isbell back catalog, John Prine's 2019 album "The Tree of Foregiveness" (this got lots and lots of play after he died and the song Summer's End is really just beautiful).
The new Barry Gibb Greenfields album is an early candidate for a 2021 list but I'll get back to you about that in a year.
Here's what I (a) got last year that (b) actually came out last year and (c) I've loved.
1. Taylor Swift -- Folklore
2. the Chicks -- Gaslighter
3. Thundercat -- It is what it is
4. RTJ4 -- Run the Jewels
I got the Indigo Girls album, which is really good in the context of what they've put out in the past 15 years but I don't think I would put it on a top list. Mary Chapin Carpenter's album is, I suppose, in that same vein.
Maya M’s Swift-ly Tilting Planet
I didn’t listen to that much new music this year but I was reminded that no one should ever waste a vote so here’s my pick:
Taylor Swift, Folklore
Ben A’s Future is Bright
The most essential:
Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
The other essentials:
Little Mix, Confetti
Lady Gaga, Chromatica
Taylor Swift, Folklore
Taylor Swift, Evermore
Miley Cyrus, Plastic Hearts
Andrea R, Forever and Ever
My favorite album of 2020 was Evermore and favorite single Seven.
Emmauel H’s Taylor-made List
1. taylor swift, folklore
2. taylor swift, evermore
3. grimes, miss anthropocene
4. fiona apple, fetch the bolt cutters
5. dua lipa, future nostalgia
Anna C’s Queen Fiona
1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Fiona Apple
2. Saint Cloud, Waxahatchee
3. Silver Tongue, Torres
4. Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa
5. Country Westerns, Country Westerns
6. LP2, Lo Tom
7. Every Bad, Porridge Radio
8. Teenage Halloween, Teenage Halloween
9. Gold Record - Bill Callahan
10. Letter To You - Bruce Springsteen
Matthue R’s Just Plain Folk
Taylor Swift, Folklore [sic]
Taylor Swift, Evermore [sic]
Rami Wolf, I'm Allergic to Dogs
Sun Ra Arkestra, Swirling
Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud
Sufjan Stevens, The Ascension
Adrianne Lenker, songs
Dan P’s Fresh Tay-ke
1. Taylor Swift, folklore
2. Taylor Swift, evermore
3. Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
4. The Chicks, Gaslighter
5. Philip Glass & Paul Leonard- Morgan, Tales From the Loop (Original Soundtrack)
6. Sara Bareilles, More Love
7. Lady Gaga, Chromatica
8. Sufjan Stevens, The Ascension
9. Haim, Women in Music Pt. III
Future favorites (recent discoveries from 2020 I wish I’d heard earlier):
Moses Sumney, grae
The Weeknd, After Hours
Jonas R’s Lips Are Sealed
Top Albums for 2020
Deap Lips, Deap Lips
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Temple
Dirty Projectors, Super João
Chuck Prophet, The Land that Time Forgot
Rilo Kiley, Rilo Kiley
Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, All the Good Times
Charlie Hunter, Patton in Percussion
Top Songs for 2020
US Girls, 4 American Dollars
Deap Lips, Home Through Hell
Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Temple
Chuck Prophet, Best Shirt On
Deap Lips, Motherfuckers Got to Go
Jeramey K Wares it Well
Essential Album: Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
There are no skips on this album but "Spotlight" was my most-played track of the year, the background to countless nights of cape/kaftan grooving around my home (martini in one hand optional but encouraged).
Other Standouts:
Orville Peck - Show Pony
Best live performer I've seen in years/the man my loving partner understands I would leave him for (and that was before he covered "Fancy" on this EP).
Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters
I mean, come on. Obviously.
The Gaga-Kylie-Dua-Roisin neo-disco onslaught that helped give me the energy to get out of my house and say hi to the neighborhood cats.
Song I can't wait to pretend I can dance to in a club one day: Megan Thee Stallion - Body
Anime song made solely of curse words that expressed a lot of 2020 feelings in the cheeriest barbershop quartet way possible: "Galactic Mermaid" from Carole and Tuesday.
Brant R, By George!
My Essential Albums of 2020:
George Clanton and Nick Hexum, George Clanton and Nick Hexum
Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Cut Worms, Nobody Lives Here Anymore
Dehd, Flower of Devotion
L.A. Takedown, Our Feeling of Natural High
Destroyer, Have We Met
Mike Polizze, Long Lost Solace Find
Real Estate, The Main Thing
The Strokes, The New Abnormal
Haim, Women In Music Pt. III
Tame Impala, The Slow Rush
Dave + Sam, No Shade
Bob Dylan, Murder Most Foul
Belle and Sebastian, What to Look for in Summer
Some of My Essential Tracks of 2020:
Dua Lipa, “Future Nostalgia”
George Clanton and Nick Hexum, “Out of the Blue”
Jayda G, “Both of Us”
Cut Worms, “Sold My Soul”
Destroyer, “Cue Synthesizer”
Yaeji, “Waking Up Down”
Georgia, “About Work the Dancefloor”
Haim, “Now I’m in It”
Dave + Sam, “Facts”
Hoops, “Don’t Panic” (Coldplay cover)
Death Cab for Cutie, “Waterfalls” (TLC cover)
Helado Negro with Flock of Dimes, “Lotta Love” (Neil Young cover)
Tame Impala, “One More Year”
Elder Albums I Found Essential in 2020:
Labi Siffre, Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying
Brockbeats, Easy Listening
Panchiko, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L
The Pointer Sisters, Break Out
Benny Carter, Jazz Giant
Horace Silver, Serenade to a Soul Sister
Miles Davis, L'ascenseur pour l'échafaud
Dave Brubeck, Jazz Impressions of Japan
The Crusaders, Southern Comfort
Glen Campbell, Rhinestone Cowboy
Cal Tjader, Soul Sauce
Bob James, Touchdown
Tom Lehrer, That Was The Year That Was
Danielle P, Saved by Swift
I might not have made it but Folklore and Evermore! Taylor helped us through the #2020 trash fire!!
Giles G, Fetch As Fetch Can
Here a few things that made 2020 slightly less of a turd. Slightly.
1. Fiona Apple, Fetch The Bolt Cutters
2. Jay Electronica, A Written Testimony
3. Hayley Williams, Petals For Armor
4. Run The Jewels, RTJ4
5. HAIM, Women In Music, Pt.III
6. Nas, King's Disease
7. Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
8. Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud
9. Jessie Ware, What's Your Pleasure?
10. Chloe Lilac, DOUCHEBAG
Scott T, Faithless . . .and Blessed
Ok, I know I'm 10 hours late but I decided what the heck. Rather than use my normally high "essential" standard for albums that some years has left me unable to vote for any, this year I thought I'd just recognize a couple of albums I enjoyed, merely because they came out.
Faithless - All Blessed
You know when a group says its done but then surprises you by coming back together and releasing a new album after 10 years? Such was the case here.
Freezepop - Fantasizer
A Boston band I gave money to years ago as part of a GoFundMe campaign. They sent adorable emails for years as they worked on this, apologizing for the delays. And then to my surprise it finally came out for real and all was good.
Brendan Perry - Songs of Disenchantment - Music from the Greek Underground
Another fave artist (half of Dead Can Dance) who releases one album a decade. Again, had no idea this was in the works or coming out. This one you might even like yourself.
Assemblage 23 - Mourn
Another artist (one guy actually, who makes industrial synth-pop) I contributed money to sometime in the past. Unlike Freezepop he delivered his autographed album right on time. And it was great.
Rodg - Evocations
The world of electronic dance music is now huge (yay!) and Spotify puts me onto so many artists I never would have found otherwise. Rodg is one of my favorites and unlike the other artists on this list, is in the midst of his youthful, prolific peak. And he's at his upbeat best here.
So as usual I doubt a single one of my choices will get another vote but it was still fun to give them their due.
Andrew E’s Ever-lasting Love
Top albums of 2020:
1. Taylor Swift, Evermore (with an MVP nod to "Marjorie")
2. Alanis Morisette, Such Pretty Forks in the Road
3. Taylor Swift, Folklore
4. Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Pandemic single that deserves a shout-out:
Florence + the Machine, "Light of Love"
Veronica, Dunking for Apple
Most essential: Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Additional albums on repeat as I sat alone at my desk refreshing the news or Twitter, pretending like I was working:
Run the Jewels, RT4
Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud
Haim, Women in Music Pt. III
rina sawayama, SAWAYAMA
Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
Perfume Genuis, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
The Chicks, Gaslighter
Nick E Wears His Choice Like a Cardigan
A short list for me this year, as I’ve mostly been listening to older stuff! (Lots of Air and Slowdive and Trembling Blue Stars, all of which I can have on while writing.) There are several 2020 releases that I’ve meant to make time for and just haven’t yet.
- Taylor Swift, Folklore
- Alanis Morissette, Such Pretty Forks in the Road
- Taylor Swift, Evermore
- The Magnetic Fields, Quickies
- Belle & Sebastian, What to Look for in Summer
Bill C’s Paris Match
- Paris Jackson, Wilted
- Noa Cyrus, The End of Everything
- Taylor Swift, Folklore
- Taylor Swift, Evermore
- Max Berninger, Serpentine Prison
- Lady Gaga, Chromatica
- Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
- Megan Thee Stallion, Suga
- Kathleen Edwards, Total Freedom
- Rickie Lee Jones, Kicks
Billy M Goes for a Taylor, But Not That Taylor
My year has been more nostalgia-based than in the past. Goes with the theme of inner rather than outward exploration. But some new favorites took hold as well.
1. The Album - Teyana Taylor
2. Fetch the Boltcutters - Fiona Apple
3. The Ascension - Sufjan Stevens
Otherwise, I discovered Frank Ocean and had him and Soul Coughing on heavy rotation. :)
Jonathan V’s Killers Instinct
One thing that really made the awfulness of 2020 stand out was all the incongruously good music that came out in it! Here are some albums that matched the uniqueness of their infamous release year—but thankfully, not its quality.
1. The Killers, Imploding the Mirage
It's inspiring in its own right for a nearly-two-decade-old band to release an album as good as "Imploding the Mirage"—but for them to have done so in 2020 calls for a toast.
https://www.thekillersmusic.com/music/imploding-mirage
2. Lane 8, Brightest Lights
I first listened to Lane 8's masterful "Brightest Lights" back in February, and I never really stopped. He knows how to craft his music into an experience, and it's one that still surprises meat every turn.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6EdbqQvOCialJuOjEEUlsL
3. Khruangbin, Mordechai
This was my official stand-in for being up too late at a dive bar. It's a modern classic, and we'll be talking about it for a long time…but we should really just be listening to it again.
https://khruangbin.bandcamp.com/album/mordechai
4. Various Artists, After Dark Volume 3
Johnny Jewel scored another hit with "After Dark Volume 3"—and when he commandeered the album's entire synth rogue's gallery for an international livestream, it made my virtual year.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2BDus8vAdWDkrq027uTks9
5. Future Islands, As Long as You Are
Samuel Herring got personal with the new Future Islands album, and the result was unlike anything the band has done before. (Except for its being great, natch.)
https://futureislands.bandcamp.com/album/as-long-as-you-are
6. Tycho, Simulcast
This instrumental reinterpretation of 2019's "Weather" really is a whole new album—and a new album from Tycho is always cause for celebration.
https://twitter.com/ISO50/status/1222546596618887169?s=20
7. Destroyer, Have We Met
Dan Bejar's latest Destroyer album is so wicked, and so witty, and ugh, so well-timed. He truly is the Henny Youngman of existential dread. "Just look at the world around you—actually no, don't look."
https://destroyer.bandcamp.com/album/have-we-met
8. OTR, Lost at Midnight
This debut came out of nowhere and swept me away.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0oeUdHJ3cy1oveb8WguJJt?si=4MFAniXFSu2ZBpGbet1A5g
11. Bronson, Bronson
The debut album from Bronson was a dimensional, precision-crafted journey.
https://bronson.lnk.to/bronson?utm_source=Microsite&utm_medium=Artist_Site&utm_campaign=Bronson
9. Doves, The Universal Want
After their long absence from the scene, I thought @dovesmusicblog's new album was just an iTunes store mirage—but this was the rare instance when that shimmering oasis in the distance is really there.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6Te4QI3zfiqePHm4tViGzq
12. Caribou, Suddenly
Dan Snaith's latest Caribou album added still new lands to the universe of his sound, and I will never stop revisiting them. Plus, fun fact: the track "New Jade" was my #1 source for writing-fuel self-hypnosis in 2020.
https://caribouband.bandcamp.com/album/suddenly
I also did my best to backtrack during 2020, and "re" visit bands I had never actually visited to begin with. This year's new-to-me albums of note were:
Devo - Q: ARE WE NOT MEN? A: WE ARE DEVO!
A rite of passage for geeks of a certain age.
https://open.spotify.com/album/1u2Qni8cVRptDTaA00fmBC
Pulp - HIS N HERS
This is one of those albums you could have told me was the band's greatest hits, it's that good.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2HyDLO6tHAOx2QiQr9RLCf
Talking Heads - FEAR OF MUSIC
I have long been a fan of the band, but I've only ever heard a selection of hits, and the "Stop Making Sense" soundtrack. Diving into their back catalog was like finding buried treasure, and I think this album is my favorite one of all.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4OLsnJQPTX0S6lODXw1MqC
Goldy M’s Lore-y Days
Essential:
Taylor Swift, Folklore
Others:
The Chicks, Gaslighter
Troye Sivan, In A Dream
Nada Surf, Never Not Together
Taylor Swift, Evermore
Beabadoobee, Fake It Flowers
And finally, Louis Tomlinson had the best post 1D album with Walls and I am not ashamed (a little ashamed...) to admit that!
Nico M’s Lipa Suction
Hands-down #1 and maybe my favorite pop album since Madonna’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor” (2005) ...
Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia
I will love this album forfuckingever, no joke, and when karaoke bars reopen, get out of my way, because I call dibs on “Love Again.”
It really was a damn good year for music—and getting to listen to so much of it during work-at-home life was a true bright spot—so I have some honorable mentions to round out a Top 5:
Roísín Murphy: Roísín Machine
Jessie Ware: What’s Your Pleasure?
Georgia: Seeking Thrills
Caribou: Suddenly
Top Track from non-Top 5 Album:
- Lady Gaga: Babylon
Surprises of the Year:
- Kylie’s “Disco” not making my Top 5 list (Who am I? Maybe I just couldn’t take ALL that escapism? That was some aggro-disco)
- Marilyn Manson’s “WE ARE CHAOS” was actually GOOD (my favorite in 20 years)
Favorite Newly Discovered Bands:
- Drab Majesty (a true and moody Depeche Mode-y throwback I couldn’t stop listening to in the early lockdown days)
- Cabaret Nocturne (when I just needed a break from lyrics and to zone TF
Would Have Been Top If 9 Songs Constituted an Album...
- Raye: Euphoric Sad Songs
Kristin E Has Potential (According to Shameika)
Not sure where the year went. I wonder. Here are some that are essential if only because I somehow remember hearing them amongst all the cacophony of life and what passed as such in 2020:
Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Belle and Sebastian, What to Look for in Summer
Haim, Women in Music Pt. III
All Lawrence U Needs is Lauv
Here is a list of my top played tracks from 2020:
1. Modern Loneliness by Lauv
2. i don't wanna know by GOLDHOUSE, Mokita
3. Healing by Arlissa
4. It's Alright by Motel 7
5. I'll Wait by Kygo, Sasha Sloan
6. Feel Alive by Red Red Lips
7. i don't want to watch the world end with someone else by Clinton Kane
8. About Love by Marina
9. All My Friends Are Falling In Love by Jack Newsome
10. fuck, i'm lonely by Lauv, Ann-Marie
11. Blinding Lights by The Weekend
12. I Got to Live by Sam Fischer
13. Mine by Felix Cartal, Sophie Simmons
14. Break My Heart by Dua Lipa
15. A Little Bit Yours by JP Saxe
16. lonliness for love by lovelytheband
17. To Die For by Sam Smith
18. The Road by Faouzia
Bach Strikes for Jinny W
Most essential album of 2020:
Shirley Hunt, J.S. Bach Suites & Sonatas, Volume 3. Letterbox Arts, October 2020. The radiant culmination of Shirley Hunt’s virtuosic exploration of Bach's low-voiced glories features her playing viola da gamba, as well as a rare 18th-century 5-string cello from the collection of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. Harpsichordist Ian Pritchard joins her in the rich Sonata in D Major, BWV 1028.
And on YouTube: Jennifer Koh, violinist, Alone Together. Early in the pandemic, Koh established a collaborative composing project. A group of composers each donated a 30-second solo violin piece, and each recommended a freelance composer to create a commissioned work of the same length. The non-profit ARCO Collaborative paid the commissions. Jennifer Koh recorded the results between April and June, 2020. YouTube /jenniferkohviolin has archived the Alone Together recordings, new music from beginning to end.
About Beethoven’s 250th birthday and the memorial concerts we didn’t get to go to or play in: Deutsche Grammophon brought out a set: 123 CDs, 175 hours of music, weighing nearly 18 pounds. $421.02 at Amazon. Apparently DG took a casual approach to editing and labeling but gave out with a lot of Beethoven. Deaf to the clamor, he probably would have liked the good intentions.
Other essential albums:
Because 2020 was the kind of year it was, I sought the past. A few of the Found Treasures:
Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer, Bach Trios. Nonesuch 2017. Inexhaustible Bach again. Playing cello, mandolin, and double bass, with bluegrass skills and crazy-good dexterity and joyful appetites for collaboration, these three find the sweet spots and the boisterousness that had been hiding in plain view all these centuries.
Bill Evans, You Must Believe in Spring. Warner Brothers Records, remastered 1981 and 2003. Evans’ piano, with drummer Eliot Zigmund and Eddie Gomez on bass. Sink into misery and find it a redemptive experience. A reminder that we’ll never know all the secrets but for whole moments at a time we can be fully alive.
And on YouTube: Michel Petrucciani Trio at the Philharmonie Im Gasteig, Munich 1997. French pianist Michel Petrucciani (1962-1999); Miroslav Vitous on bass; Steve Gadd on drums. Petrucciani listened to Bill Evans, beginning at age 10, and wrought his own enchantments at the keyboard with captivating impatience and élan.
And Happy New Year:
Annelle Gregory, YouTube, Antonio Vivaldi: Winter from The Four Seasons for violin/viola/piano. This YouTube performance appeared on January 19, 2021. But it deserves at least Very Honorable Mention (we’ve been missing Honor for so long). Believe your eyes as Annelle Gregory turns into quintuplets to blanket us in zesty Vivaldi.
