Best Music of 2020

Captainfog said:
The problem with ranking long lists is how do you say one album is at 38 and another is at 39. I find it almost impossible to order anything outside my top 5 and anything outside my top 10 I find I'm just guessing.
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I agree with this. I look at an album and compare it to another, "do I like this more than this one which is ranked lower?" Ranked 20 or ranked 30 are not that different. Unless it's something much further down at or near the bottom. I spend much more time thinking of my top 10.
 
Not in order, not my final submission, but I shot from the hip last night and wrote down 50 albums I love and made a playlist with one song from each of those albums - no Herman Dune and no Joanna Newsom on Spotify version because they're not on it:

music.youtube.com

All Time Top 50

One song from each of my favourite ever 50 albums.
music.youtube.com music.youtube.com

open.spotify.com

All Time Top 50 Albums

Playlist · Alex Murty · 49 items · 2 likes
open.spotify.com open.spotify.com
 
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Once again another excellent album from Woodkid that will probably be overlooked by the majority of music critics. Shame.
 
Captainfog said:
Not in order, not my final submission, but I shot from the hip last night and wrote down 50 albums I love and made a playlist with one song from each of those albums - no Herman Dune and no Joanna Newsom on Spotify version because they're not on it:

music.youtube.com

All Time Top 50

One song from each of my favourite ever 50 albums.
music.youtube.com music.youtube.com

open.spotify.com

All Time Top 50 Albums

Playlist · Alex Murty · 49 items · 2 likes
open.spotify.com open.spotify.com
Click to expand...
Great list! Wrong thread, though?

I see at least four here that will probably make my list, and a handful more that might be just outside. Graceland, He Has Left Us Alone, Have One on Me, On the Beach, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Slow Riot...
 
Captainfog said:
The problem with ranking long lists is how do you say one album is at 38 and another is at 39. I find it almost impossible to order anything outside my top 5 and anything outside my top 10 I find I'm just guessing.
Click to expand...

Thats why I use tiers. The idea being— this is a loose ranking and albums within tiers tend to be subject to mood or what have you. But if it’s in tier II than it’s a clearly better (to these ears) album than an album in tier III.

And then in regards to points for N&G, I tend to cut it off after tier II or III (depending on the year) and give the same amount of points per tier.
 
cbl said:
so...it probably had an automatic spot in my top 20 anyway, but I really like the new Matt Berniger..."One More Second" and "Loved So Little" the stand-out cuts so far for me
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"All For Nothing" is my favorite track thus far but "One More Second" is a close second.
 
This beabadoobee album is decent but the name is terrible. I honestly thought it was another album similar to 100 gecs but it's far from it. I guess don't judge an album by it's cover?
 
This new CASTLEBEAT album is a nice surprise



Their first two records were much more jangly and upbeat. Best way to describe it would be Day Wave mixed with The Radio Dept. This album takes a beat and is much more chillwave inspired. Still bedroom pop but more relaxing.
 
gaporter said:
um. why in the world was everyone hiding this from me? might be one of the best pop albums this year. and this has been out since JANUARY?!?!
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One of my favorite albums of the year! I don’t think anything has lasted as long in my top five in a long time! I really feel like Covid screwed her up this year, I think she would’ve been lighting it up at festivals.
 
McGlam said:
One of my favorite albums of the year! I don’t think anything has lasted as long in my top five in a long time! I really feel like Covid screwed her up this year, I think she would’ve been lighting it up at festivals.
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yeah, I can see these songs killing live. I was shocked it had gone under my radar, it's right up my alley! it gives me Hot Chip and CRJ thrown in a blender vibes haha

hopefully featuring on that Gorillaz song will help give her a boost in popularity, listening to this album definitely gave me more context for how she added to the sound of that track. i was kind of curious before what her contributions were but i definitely hear her influence now
 
wokeupnew said:
Updated again with some shifting around places... The new Fontaines D.C. and Protomartyr albums are REALLY doing it for me right now.

new additions in bold
  1. Yumi Zouma - Truth or Consequences*
  2. Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death
  3. Owen Pallett - Island
  4. Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today*
  5. Tops - I Feel Alive*
  6. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher*
  7. Caroline Rose - Superstar
  8. Andy Shauf - The Neon Skyline
  9. Fleet Foxes - Shore
  10. Pinegrove - Marigold
  11. Nap Eyes - Snapshot of a Beginner
  12. Hazel English - Wake Up!*
  13. Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers*
  14. Julianna Barwick - Healing is a Miracle*
  15. Anna Burch - If You're Dreaming*
  16. Nadia Reid - Out of My Province*
  17. Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately*
  18. Ratboys - Printer's Devil
  19. Pausal - Melatonia*
  20. Soccer Mommy - Color Theory*
  21. The Mountain Goats - Songs for Pierre Chuvin*
  22. Bully - Suggaregg*
  23. Tennis - Swimmer
  24. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension
  25. Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter
  26. Nation of Language - Introduction, Presence
  27. Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud*
  28. Angel Olsen - Whole New Mess
  29. Caribou - Suddenly
  30. I Break Horses - Warnings
  31. Land of Talk - Indistinct Conversations*
  32. Låpsley - Through Water
  33. Hum - Inlet
  34. M. Ward - Migration Stories
  35. Sylvan Esso - Free Love
  36. Beach Bunny - Honeymoon
  37. Dream Wife - So When You Gonna...
  38. Snarls - Burst
  39. Jonsi - Shiver
  40. Half Waif - The Caretaker
  41. Real Estate - The Main Thing*
  42. Bob Mould - Blue Hearts
  43. Torres - Silver Tongue
  44. The Flaming Lips - American Head
  45. Peach Pit - You and Your Friends
  46. Moses Sumney - græ
  47. Cloud Nothings - The Black Hole Understands
  48. The Killers - Imploding The Mirage
  49. Bright Eyes - Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
  50. U.S. Girls - Heavy Light
  51. Idles - Utra Mono
  52. Roger Eno and Brian Eno - Mixing Colours
Bad
  • Tame Impala - The Slow Rush
  • Car Seat Headrest - Making a Door Less Open
  • The Strokes - The New Abnormal
*= own on vinyl (mostly for my own records)
Click to expand...
Updated

new additions in bold
  1. Yumi Zouma - Truth or Consequences*
  2. Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death
  3. Touché Amoré - Lament*
  4. Owen Pallett - Island
  5. Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today*
  6. Tops - I Feel Alive*
  7. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher*
  8. Caroline Rose - Superstar
  9. Andy Shauf - The Neon Skyline
  10. Fleet Foxes - Shore
  11. Pinegrove - Marigold
  12. Nap Eyes - Snapshot of a Beginner
  13. Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison*
  14. Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers*
  15. Hazel English - Wake Up!*
  16. Julianna Barwick - Healing is a Miracle*
  17. Adrianne Lenker - Songs and Instrumentals
  18. Anna Burch - If You're Dreaming*
  19. Nadia Reid - Out of My Province*
  20. Perfume Genius - Set My Heart on Fire Immediately*
  21. Ratboys - Printer's Devil
  22. Pausal - Melatonia*
  23. Soccer Mommy - Color Theory*
  24. The Mountain Goats - Songs for Pierre Chuvin*
  25. Bully - Suggaregg*
  26. Tennis - Swimmer
  27. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension
  28. Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter
  29. Nation of Language - Introduction, Presence
  30. Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud*
  31. Angel Olsen - Whole New Mess*
  32. Caribou - Suddenly
  33. I Break Horses - Warnings
  34. Land of Talk - Indistinct Conversations*
  35. Låpsley - Through Water
  36. Hum - Inlet
  37. M. Ward - Migration Stories
  38. Sylvan Esso - Free Love
  39. Beach Bunny - Honeymoon
  40. Dream Wife - So When You Gonna...
  41. Snarls - Burst
  42. Jonsi - Shiver
  43. Half Waif - The Caretaker
  44. Real Estate - The Main Thing*
  45. Bob Mould - Blue Hearts
  46. Torres - Silver Tongue
  47. The Flaming Lips - American Head
  48. Peach Pit - You and Your Friends
  49. Kelly
  50. Moses Sumney - græ
  51. Cloud Nothings - The Black Hole Understands
  52. The Killers - Imploding The Mirage
  53. Bright Eyes - Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
  54. U.S. Girls - Heavy Light
  55. Idles - Utra Mono
  56. Roger Eno and Brian Eno - Mixing Colours
Bad
  • Tame Impala - The Slow Rush
  • Car Seat Headrest - Making a Door Less Open
  • The Strokes - The New Abnormal
 
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