Album of the year 2020

[Boxus]

another one of my favorites is Deena Abdelwahed - Dhakar. just an EP but all the songs are great - she is massively talented and underrated

 

[Extralife]

Bandcamp Day bump. Tons of good releases to buy in these AOTY lists.

[cear]

on that note, here are some "quintessential idiosyncratic excursions" I haven't seen itt

Asa Tone - Temporary Music (Leaving Records, Plancha)
Atom™ & Jacek Sienkiewicz - STAL (More Music Agency, Recognition, NN) NN bandcamp url with alternative bonus track
Bryce Hackford - Safe (Exits) (Spring Theory)
Celia Hollander - Recent Futures (Leaving Records)
D.K. - Live At The Edge (12th Isle)
Phillip Sollmann - Monophonie (A-TON)
Jon Hassell - Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two) (Ndeya)
Keith Fullerton Whitman - Resonators (1) (Hi-Res Audio, Self-Released)
Pontiac Streator - Triz (Motion Ward)
Primitive World - The Revolt Of Aphrodite (Ecstatic)
TASE - TASE (Film)
Thomas Köner - Motus (Mille Plateaux)
Vladislav Delay & Max Loderbauer - Roadblocks (Detroit Underground, Self-Released) Vladislav Delay subscriber exclusive url

[Richie Sombrero]

Forgot two I just have on digital:

 

AceMo- Mind Jungle

Bantou Mentale - Congo Animal

[Extralife]

How could I forget the new Nuron ep.

https://www.discogs.com/Nuron-As-One-La-Source/release/15245648

 

[chenGOD]

Man thanks to whoever recommended that deerhoof mash-up/cover thingy. Great piece of music.

[species8472]

@Extralife new domenique dumont slipped by me - and damn its pretty. like the best thing they've done for sure. great recco!

[Boxus]

I think my second favorite this year after SIGN/PLUS is Pole - Fading. Four Tet is close too

[Rubin Farr]

https://spunoutofcontrol.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-dark-speaks

[Extralife]

28 minutes ago, Rubin Farr said:

https://spunoutofcontrol.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-dark-speaks

Thanks for the reminder to check that out. Huge Stephen King fan.

[ascdi]

Here’s some stuff I haven’t seen mentioned yet!

 

Sault — Untitled (Black Is)

Coppice Halifax — Pharmlands [Complete Sessions]

Jung Deejay — 7 Sketches For Akai Sampler

Light In The Attic — Pacific Breeze 2: Japanese City Pop, AOR, & Boogie

Onont Kombar — Epitaph Of Ego

“Various Artists” — Erotique New Beat

Il Quadro Di Troisi — Il Quadro Di Troisi

Mute City — Wooden Sword (this is my friend Mike’s album, but he killed it, check it out)

[Hi Guys]

Nullptr-Future World on cpu should be on this list if it already isnt. 

[Enthusiast]

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never

[Atop]

As Extralife mentioned, 

 

KILN - Astral Welder 

 

So perfect....

[species8472]

i thought it was a ridiculous year for music. my list is large - but thats a good thing. no particular order.

Andrea - Ritorno (Ilian Tape)
Morphology - Horta Proxima (Firescope Records)
dgoHn - Undesignated Proxmiate (Love Love Records)
Autechre - SIGN / PLUS (Warp Records)
Romeo Poirier - Hotel Nota (sferic)
K-LONE - Cape Cira (Wisdom Teeth)
Pretty Sneaky - Pretty Sneaky (Mana Records)
DJ Python - Mas Amable (Incienso)
DJ Metatron - Loops Of Infinity (A Rave Loveletter) (All Possible Worlds)
Ulla - Tumbling Towards A Wall (Experiences Ltd.)
Zenker Brothers - Cosmic Transmission (Ilian Tape)
Minor Science - Second Language (Whities)
Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never (Warp Records)
Patricia - Non Zero Sum (Self Released)
Quiet Places - Volume 1 (A Strangely Isolated Place)
Pontiac Streator - Triz (Motion Ward)
INTe*ra ‎– Aqueduct (Acting Press)
Low Budget Aliens - Junk DNA (xpq?)
Special Guest DJ - Spring / Summer 2020
Volruptus - First Contact (bbbbbb)

sick!

[scumtron]

I started using rateyourmusic last year. List of favs and above average so far:

 

4,5/5 stars

Motorpsycho-The All Is One

The Microphones-Microphones in 2020

 

4/5

Ae-Sign

Nils Frahm-Tripping (live)

Steve Roach-Tomorrow

Nick Cave-Idiot Prayer (live)

The War on Drugs-Live Drugs (live)

Nicolas Jaar-Telas

Phoebe Bridgers-Punisher

Rafael Anton Irissari-Peripeteia

Alva Noto-A forest (single)

Yves Tumor-Heaven to a tortured mind

Waxahatchee-Saint Cloud

Blanck Mass-Live Stream #1 Mind Killer (mix. Not available online atm. Would like to get my hands on it)

Arca-@@@@ (mix)

Against All Logic - 2017-2019

Susanne Sundfør-Self portrait OST

 

 

3,5/5

William Basinski-Lamentations

K+D-1995

Pole-Fading

Ae-Plus

Actress-Karma and Desire

Actress-88

Adrianne Lenker-Songs

Taylor Deupree-Canoe

Deftones-Ohms

Fleet Foxes-Shore

Sarah Davachi-Cantus, Descant

2814-Voyage/Embrace (EP)

Rival Consoles-Articulation

Taylor Swift-Folklore

Scanner-An Ascent

The Jayhawks-XOXO

Atli Örvarsson-You are here

Alva Noto-Xerrox vol 4

Perfume Genious-Set my heart on fire immediately

Amulets-Severed seas

Damien Jurado-What's new, Tomboy?

Nils Frahm-Empty

The Fear Ratio-They can't be saved

LEYA-Flood dream

Tame Impala-The slow rush

Squarepusher - Be up a hello

HKE-Essence (EP)

 

 

 

 

[Extralife]

2 minutes ago, scumtron said:

I started using rateyourmusic last year. List of favs and above average so far:

 

4,5/5 stars

Motorpsycho-The All Is One

The Microphones-Microphones in 2020

 

4/5

Ae-Sign

Nils Frahm-Tripping (live)

Steve Roach-Tomorrow

Nick Cave-Idiot Prayer (live)

The War on Drugs-Live Drugs (live)

Nicolas Jaar-Telas

Phoebe Bridgers-Punisher

Rafael Anton Irissari-Peripeteia

Alva Noto-A forest (single)

Yves Tumor-Heaven to a tortured mind

Waxahatchee-Saint Cloud

Blanck Mass-Live Stream #1 Mind Killer (mix. Not available online atm. Would like to get my hands on it)

Arca-@@@@ (mix)

Against All Logic - 2017-2019

Susanne Sundfør-Self portrait OST

 

 

3,5/5

William Basinski-Lamentations

K+D-1995

Pole-Fading

Ae-Plus

Actress-Karma and Desire

Actress-88

Adrianne Lenker-Songs

Taylor Deupree-Canoe

Deftones-Ohms

Fleet Foxes-Shore

Sarah Davachi-Cantus, Descant

2814-Voyage/Embrace (EP)

Rival Consoles-Articulation

Taylor Swift-Folklore

Scanner-An Ascent

The Jayhawks-XOXO

Atli Örvarsson-You are here

Alva Noto-Xerrox vol 4

Perfume Genious-Set my heart on fire immediately

Amulets-Severed seas

Damien Jurado-What's new, Tomboy?

Nils Frahm-Empty

The Fear Ratio-They can't be saved

LEYA-Flood dream

Tame Impala-The slow rush

Squarepusher - Be up a hello

HKE-Essence (EP)

 

 

 

 

Good list. Didn’t know Motorpsycho had a new album out. Will give it a spin later.

[purlieu]

Albums:
Haim - Women in Music Pt. III
The Future Sound of London - Cascade 2020
Charli XCX - How I'm Feeling Now
Roddy Woomble - Everyday Sun
HOLOVR - Eternal Flow
Off Land - Welkin Paths
Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B
Wire - Mind Hive
The Future Sound of London - A Controlled Vista 5.6
Off Land & Specta Ciera - Continental Drift
Morphology - Horta Proxima
Autechre - PLUS
The Amorphous Androgynous - We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal
Taylor Swift - Folklore
Mario Verandi - Remansum
Autechre - SIGN
Lady Gaga - Chromatica
Cleaners From Venus - Dolly Birds and Spies
Lorenzo Senni - Scacco Matto
Nurse With Wound - Barren
Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
36 & zaké - Stasis Sounds for Long-Distance Space Travel
 

Boxsets & reissues:
The Divine Comedy - Venus, Cupid, Folly & Time
Tears for Fears - The Seeds of Love
Tangerine Dream - Pilots of Purple Twilight
Mansun - Closed for Business
Current 93 - Horsey
Current 93 - Sleep Has His House
Global Communication - Transmissions
The Idle Race - The Birthday Party
Manics - Gold Against the Soul
36 - Revisionist History (Compilation Works)

EPs:
Yage - Pygmy
Gyrowyre - Grene
Humanoid - KAAGE EP
Humanoid - Future: Turned
Off Land - Travelogue 1 & 2
Cleaners from Venus - July

Live Recording Collections:
Autechre - AE_LIVE 2016/2018

[auxien]

Autechre’s all caps album pair SIGN & PLUS with Taylor Swift’s all lower caps album pair folklore & evermore is a slightly interesting juxtaposition

[zero]

A few I don't think have been mentioned yet:

George Clanton & Nick Hexum - S/T. when I first saw this pairing I was like wtf, but this is a really solid chillwave/pop/'90s album. never been a big fan of George's vocals, but here Nick's syrupy croon fits perfectly. this was my album of the summer as I hung out in the backyard solo.

Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown. guitarist from Tortoise releases another outstanding solo album. there are a few tracks on here that sound very much Tortoise TNT.

Pallbearer - Forgotten Days. I can't stop listening to the track "Silver Wings" on here. so incredibly good. attn: Tool - this is how you do a 13 minute prog/metal track. the first few minutes of the track sound like some of Mogwai's heavier stuff.

Jaga Jazzist - Pyramid. never been able to really get into them before this. their previous stuff I'd find had some great moments, but would get boring after awhile. this new one is the best I've heard from them, if you like spacy, jazzy, psych stuff.

William Tyler - New Vanitas. I think it's technically an ep, but it's like 33 minutes, so enough to just about consider it an album. more gorgeous guitar work from him, a lot more ambient than indie/country sounding.

 

A few that have already been mentioned:

Hum - Inlet. can't believe how good this is. not very often does a band come back after a 20 year hiatus and release their best album yet. 

Autechre - Sign. I'm in no way an Ae fanboy, they lost me a long time ago. hell, I still love Incunabula. this one blew me away. the first thing I've bought from them since Untilted.

Wagon Christ - Recepticon. IMO the best thing Luke's done in a long, long time. so many classic WC sounds here, and very well produced.

Real Estate - The Main Thing. these guys are the best when it comes to making laidback, catchy, indie rock. they've hardly had a bad album since they started.

Kruder & Dorfmeister - 1995. I still cannot believe that despite the fact these guys are legends in the downtempo/trip-hop/chill out-whatever scene, that this is in fact their first proper album release. when I first heard about it I was worried it would sound dated as hell, but this is top notch. 

 

comps:

Clams Casino - Instrumental Relics. some of my favorite tracks by him are on here. mostly stuff from the instrumental mixtapes 1 &2 and the Rainforest ep. 

Casino vs. Japan - Echo Counting. this just recently came out, but I haven't been able to stop listening to it daily. just like with K&D, so awesome when one of those long ago artists you haven't listened to in ages pops up out of nowhere and puts out an excellent release. I'd never heard any of these tracks before, so like a brand new album for me.

 

 

[neurone]

just to say : nice to see that "ignatius - bundle drift e.p." has been mentioned several times in your toplists,

I think this boy really deserves attention.  very very good stuff from this watmmer.  been listening to his whole stuff quite often this year.

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by neurone

[neurone]

@Stickfigger Mozex ?  ok I'll check it out

otherwise,  I won't make my toplist because what I would put on have already been quoted in your lists.,

I might just add this one : "forest drive west - terminus e.p.  (R&S records)"

[ManjuShri]

SEMATARY - RAINBOW BRIDGE 2

In particular, Funeral, legit earworm of the year for me for any genre.

 

[Extralife]

Just found out about this guy last week. Instantly risen to my top AOTYs.

[scumtron]

18 hours ago, zero said:

William Tyler - New Vanitas. I think it's technically an ep, but it's like 33 minutes, so enough to just about consider it an album. more gorgeous guitar work from him, a lot more ambient than indie/country sounding.

Wow. For us with one foot in pop/rock and one foot in electronic music, and...well...the crotch in ambient, this is really nice stuff. How does his other albums compare? I recently discovered Durutti Column, and I need more of that dreamy guitar-ambient music.