Album of the year 2020

[dr lopez]

Against All Logic, anyone?

it was in my list

[thumbass]

Westside gunn's pray for paris was an amazing hip hop record

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, thumbass said:

Westside gunn's pray for paris was an amazing hip hop record

I really like griselda too but I kind of prefer Benny. He made an album this year called Burden of Proof that was awesome.

[thumbass]

8 minutes ago, bupkis said:

I really like griselda too but I kind of prefer Benny. He made an album this year called Burden of Proof that was awesome.

Yeah all of them Griselda boys are great, bennys record was really good as well.

[kuniklo]

Now that Bleep's top 50 is out and I can compare it to Boomkat's I have to say I'm just not aligned with Boomkat's tastes much anymore. They seem to be trying way too hard to identify music they think is important by the ever changing standard of the day than they are to find music that's just enjoyable to listen to. Too cool for school but not fun.

[dr lopez]

yeah boomkat sucks lol

[oldenjon]

Microphones in 2020

[xox]

SIGN

[Extralife]

https://www.normanrecords.com/features/albums-of-the-year-2020?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Albums of the Year 2020&utm_content=Albums of the Year 2020+CID_9232152cb6b20c0b33e883cf6323359a&utm_source=EmailMarketingSoftware&utm_term=The best albums of 2020 guaranteed
 

Norman always puts out a unique list. Tons of stuff on here I haven’t heard.

[T3551ER]

Before I post, wanted to ask - did anyone do a Song of the Year thread yet? I remember last year someone did that and I ended up making a WATMM SOTY playlist that has helped carry me through this year...

Anyway, here's my picks: 

The Strokes - The New Abnormal  - Never been a massive Strokes fan but when they dropped At The Door I was supremely moved and then the whole album totally bowled me over. Timely title. Christ

Melted Self - Spectral Disorder - A bit hard to choose between this and One.Line. I think One.Line is probably the more immediately accessible, but SD rewards great dividends on repeat listening. Go buy it. 

Spillage Village - Spilligion 

 I gotta link this one because holy FUCK did this album come out of nowhere (and I imagine it may not be on most people's radar here) and just totally rock my world. A totally strange mix of gospel, rap, shades of Fuggees, Pharcyde, I hear some Arrested Development in there, maybe some Eryka Baduh (sp?), some Kendrick... Anyway, if you are a hip hop fan (or just a music fan) check this one out.  

Gorillaz - Song Machine Volume 1 - While somewhat uneven, a great, bubbling, sunshine drenched cesspool of creativity. A good reminder in a shit year that there is still joy out there. 

[ ]< = BUAH. Duh.

Busta Rhymes - ELE2 - Good timing bro. Though this sat on the shelf since ~2014 as the stories go, the release this year was perfect. A rock solid album with a few filler-ish tracks, but a good general flow and Busta performing at the top of his game, shitting all over other MC's. Look Over your Shoulder w/ Kendrick is a standout, but a ton of good content here (Slow Flow with Old Dirty Bastard, also amazing). 

Eminem - Music to be Murdered By. With the caveat that Em should probably sing less on his own tracks and cut out at least 2/3 of the tracks talking about his problems with women, this is a stellar record, proving (like the Busta Rhymes album) that some things just get better with age. I love that he's still honing his craft, still improving, still fire. 

Honorable Mention: Billie Eyelash When We All Fall Asleep Do We Fart and if We Do Does it Smell Bad - It's not a 2020 album but I discovered it earlier this year and played it to death. Unabashedly love it. 

[kuniklo]

2 hours ago, Extralife said:

Norman always puts out a unique list. Tons of stuff on here I haven’t heard.

Yeah Norman is my go to for non electronic music and even their electronic music picks are usually worth a listen. 

[toaoaoad]

3 hours ago, Extralife said:

https://www.normanrecords.com/features/albums-of-the-year-2020?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Albums of the Year 2020&utm_content=Albums of the Year 2020+CID_9232152cb6b20c0b33e883cf6323359a&utm_source=EmailMarketingSoftware&utm_term=The best albums of 2020 guaranteed
 

Norman always puts out a unique list. Tons of stuff on here I haven’t heard.

Interesting list, tons to check out here. It seems he might have made the list a little early tho - he says in the SIGN review: 

"However, according to some things they have said on online, this looks like it’s the first of two new albums they have completed in recent months. Keep yer eyes peeled!"

[kuniklo]

5 hours ago, Extralife said:

Norman always puts out a unique list. Tons of stuff on here I haven’t heard.

Their #1 pick, Craven Faults, is something I completely missed. Listening now. Sounds interesting.

[Nil]

https://buymusic.club/list/nilhartman-202020

[ncrtx]

https://karelvo.com/2020-music/

[Scaramouche]

 

19 hours ago, Extralife said:

https://www.normanrecords.com/features/albums-of-the-year-2020?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Albums of the Year 2020&utm_content=Albums of the Year 2020+CID_9232152cb6b20c0b33e883cf6323359a&utm_source=EmailMarketingSoftware&utm_term=The best albums of 2020 guaranteed
 

Norman always puts out a unique list. Tons of stuff on here I haven’t heard.

Norman Records are great. They seem to genuinely love a wide range of music. A nice and diverse selection of genres. Bonus points for not having any prattling reviews like some sites... 

So much good music and new artists discovered this year, been spending a lot of time with the below. Not all 2020, but so what. 

Autechre - SIGN / PLUS 

Tiombé Lockhart - The Aquarius Years

Actress - Karma + Desire 

Terrence Dixon - FTFF3 

Kate NV - Room for the Moon

Cinder Well - No Summer

MJ Guider - Sour Cherry Bell

Jessy Lanza - All the Time

Millsart - Every Dog Has Its Day (5 through 13)

輕描淡寫 x Kuroi Ame - 眼泪含泪 (on Pure Life)

Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full

Galya Bisengalieva - Aralkum

HTRK (some wicked Bandcamp releases, and I'm still listening to Venus in Leo on the regular)

MoMA Ready (Will be picking up a lot more from him next year) 

Jeannine Schulz (All releases this year, worth checking out if you like your tape hiss ambient warmth https://jeannineschulz.bandcamp.com/music) 

Joanne Robertson (only discovered her this year, been picking up stuff where possible, love Black Moon Days)

Barbra Streisand (I'd have laughed if someone told me I'd add her to my record collection, but the 60's run of albums make for some relaxing listening)   

Edited December 31, 2020 by Shimon_Shimon

[kuniklo]

1 hour ago, ncrtx said:

https://karelvo.com/2020-music/

Nice layout!

[kuniklo]

1 hour ago, ncrtx said:

https://karelvo.com/2020-music/

There's a bunch of stuff in here I haven't heard but so far I'm liking a lot of these on a first skip through.

[auxien]

rough and dirty mix of (most of ) my best of selections.

Spoiler

my top album of the year is almost certainly Hum - Inlet tho.

 

[Scaramouche]

 

On 11/30/2020 at 8:46 PM, danshoebridge said:

There's been some really good late additions recently...
Pole - Fading

I need to pick this up, it's been on my bandcamp list, but have yet to pull the trigger. 

On 12/1/2020 at 12:48 AM, xyrofen said:

• Yaeji - What We Drew -- I'm really enjoying all of her output. There's something really down-to-Earth about it all, feels personal and human.

A good reminder to check the album out. I really liked EP2. 

On 12/19/2020 at 7:33 PM, malaria said:

3.  Julianna Barwick - Healing Is A Miracle

I really liked this album, but it dropped off of rotation. Need to get this back on again, I love all of her albums, she's very much in the insta buy category. 

On 12/21/2020 at 3:23 AM, joshuatxuk said:

Favorite albums, alphabetical order by title and not ranked:

Windy & Carl - Allegiance and Conviction

Soccer Mommy - color theory

Daniel Avery & Alessandro Cortini - Illusion of Time AND Love + Light

White Poppy - Paradise Gardens

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

Nice list, will take a listen to your playlist today. Soccer Mommy is on by want list, really liked the actress remix of Crawling Under My Skin. The Avery + Cortini is an awesome album, picked up a really cheap copy recently, as I made the mistake of only getting the digitals first time round. Need to check out the other albums, especially White Poppy. 

On 12/25/2020 at 8:57 AM, manmower said:

I have another late entry that I don't think has been mentioned in here:

Yawning Man - Live at Giant Rock

 

Purchased. Never heard of them before, but this really clicked. Thanks for posting. I really love this track. 

2 hours ago, ncrtx said:

https://karelvo.com/2020-music/

Nice layout and list. 

[WurstPLUS]

My album of the year is not in the IDM genre. I just love them.

IC3PEAK - до свидания

https://ic3peak.bandcamp.com/album/goodbye

Edited January 2, 2021 by WurstPLUS

[dcom]

Igloo Magazine :: Best of 2020

[Braintree]

Going to add SLUGBUG -'0xBAADF00D' to my list. Fucking weird album.

 

It snuck in at the last minute.

[Extralife]

46 minutes ago, Braintree said:

Going to add SLUGBUG -'0xBAADF00D' to my list. Fucking weird album.

 

It snuck in at the last minute.

The dude who made this is Paul D. Millar.  Almost same name as DJ Spooky the illbient kid?

[zkom]

Ok, let's see.. This has some EPs also but I guess there's no separate thread for them.

Lol, I guess Ctrl-Enter automatically posts. List coming in the next post.

Edited January 3, 2021 by zkom