A Year in Music | 2020
Lists are often approached with a certain sense of cynicism and for good reason—things are left out, biases are exposed, varying pressures assumed. For me, list making has always been a way in which to understand my vantage point within a complex media landscape and as a way to take in and appreciate each year as it goes by with intention. It’s also a very effective way to account for the obsessive amount of music I take in each year. As a graphic designer a lot of my time is spent at the computer and during that time I am usually listening to music. The lists that follow are albums that came out in 2020 that I spent the most time with, enjoyed the most, and/or thought were the most compelling/groundbreaking. The albums in these lists are considered to be personal favorites, as opposed to what I think is the best. There’s nothing definitive here. I try not to repeat any artist in order to include more variety. I don’t use streaming services. The links for these albums will go directly to their Bandcamp pages. If the artist doesn’t have a Bandcamp page, you can search for the music yourself. I hope you enjoy!
50 ALBUMS | YEAR END MIXES | ETC
50 ALBUMS
1.
Sufjan Stevens
The Ascension
Asthmatic Kitty
2.
U.S. Girls
Heavy Light
4AD
3.
Oneohtrix Point Never
Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
Warp
4.
Hum
Inlet
Polyvinyl
5.
Run the Jewels
RTJ4
Jewel Runners
6.
the Microphones
the Microphones in 2020
P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.
7.
Liv.e
Couldn’t Wait to Tell You…
In Real Life Records
8.
Bob Dylan
Rough and Rowdy Ways
Columbia
9.
Moor Mother & Olof Melander
ANTHOLOGIA 01
self-released
10.
Boris
NO
Fangs Anal Satan
11.
Fiona Apple
Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Epic
12.
Quelle Chris & Chris Keys
Innocent Country 2
Mello Music Group
13.
Paysage d’Hiver
Im Wald
Kunsthall Produktionen
14.
Moses Sumney
græ
Jagjaguwar
15.
Phoebe Bridgers
Punisher
Dead Oceans
16.
Destroyer
Have We Met
Merge
17.
Protomartyr
Ultimate Success Today
Domino
18.
Perfume Genius
Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Matador
19.
The Weeknd
After Hours
XO
20.
Autechre
SIGN / PLUS
Warp
21.
Thundercat
It is What it is
Brainfeeder
22.
Uniform
Shame
Sacred Bones
23.
Dua Lipa
Future Nostalgia
Warner
24.
Quin Kirchner
The Shadows and The Light
Astral Spirits
25.
Yves Tumor
Heaven to a Tortured Mind
Warp
26.
A.G. Cook
Apple / 7G
PC Music
27.
Jehnny Beth
To Love is to Live
Caroline Records
28.
Sumac
May You Be Held
Thrill Jockey
29.
Armand Hammer
Shrines
Backwoodz Studioz
30.
Pyrrhon
Abscess Time
Willowtip
31.
Arca
KiCK i
XL
32.
Infant Island
Beneath
Dog Knights Productions
33.
Charli XCX
how i’m feeling now
Atlantic
34.
The Mountain Goats
Songs for Pierre Chuvin
Merge
35.
The Necks
Three
Northern Spy
36.
Sparkle Division
To Feel Embraced
Temporary Residence
37.
Eartheater
Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin
PAN
38.
Botanist
Photosynthesis
Avantgarde Music
39.
Actress
Karma & Desire
Ninja Tune
40.
Julianna Barwick
Healing is a Miracle
Ninja Tune
41.
Against All Logic
2017–2019
Other People
42.
Beatrice Dillon
Workaround
PAN
43.
Adrianne Lenker
songs and instrumentals
4AD
44.
No Age
Goons Be Gone
Drag City
45.
Angel Olsen
Whole New Mess
Jagjaguwar
46.
Yaeji
WHAT WE DREW
XL
47.
Oranssi Pazuzu
Mestarin Kynsi
Nuclear Blast
48.
Nine Inch Nails
Ghosts V: Together
Ghosts VI: Locusts
self-released
49.
Bartees Strange
Live Forever
Memory Music
50.
Ulthar
Providence
20 Buck Spin
YEAR END MIXES
0:00:00 - Angel Olsen “What it is (What it is)”
0:02:18 - Bartees Strange “Mustang”
0:06:11 - Seth Bogart “Oh Bondage Up Yours!” [X-Ray Specks cover f- Kate Nash, Kathleen Hanna & Swirly]
0:10:23 - Hypoluxo “Seth Meyers”
0:12:51 - No Age “Feeler”
0:15:23 - Protomartyr “June 21” [f- Nandi Rose]
0:19:49 - Destroyer “The Raven”
0:23:19 - Bob Dylan “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You”
0:29:49 - Fiona Apple “Under the Table”
0:33:09 - U.S. Girls “Overtime”
0:36:03 - Lana Del Rey “Let Me Love You Like a Woman”
0:39:22 - Sufjan Stevens “Tell Me You Love Me”
0:43:42 - Blake Mills “Vanishing Twin”
0:49:52 - Bill Callahan “Pigeons”
0:55:02 - Phoebe Bridgers “Savior Complex” [f- Blake Mills]
0:59:02 - Bright Eyes “Tilt-A-Whirl”
1:01:19 - The Mountain Goats “Harbor Me”
1:05:19 - Fleet Foxes “Cradling Mother, Cradling Woman” [f- Beatriz Artola, Daniel Rossen & Christopher Bear]
1:10:18 - Hum “Shapeshifter”
2020 Year End Summations, Pt. 1
Before there was love there was silence
0:00:00 - Anna von Hausswolff “Sacro Bosco”
0:04:59 - Old Man Gloom “EMF”
0:08:53 - Uniform “Delco”
0:13:27 - Pig Destroyer “Cameraman”
0:16:46 - Napalm Death “Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism”
0:19:40 - Jesu “Disintegrating Wings”
0:25:15 - Infant Island “Unspoken”
0:30:29 - Paysage d’Hiver “Stimmen Im Wald”
0:40:23 - Botanist “Chlorophyll”
0:44:08 - Pyrrhon “Another Day in Paradise”
0:49:58 - Ulthar “Undying Spear”
0:55:20 - Mr. Bungle “Sudden Death”
1:02:48 - Boris “Loveless”
1:09:25 - Sunrot “Molt (This Feels Like Death)”
1:14:19 - Sumac “A Prayer for Your Path”
2020 Year End Summations, Pt. 2
Distorted Perspectives
0:00:00 - Moor Mother & Yatta “We”
0:02:28 - Yves Tumor “Super Stars” [f- Hirakish]
0:05:29 - Perfume Genius “Nothing at All”
0:09:51 - Sparkle Division “Oh Henry!”
0:14:09 - Boldy James & Sterling Toles “Welcome to 76”
0:18:03 - Run the Jewels “Ju$t” [f- Pharrell Williams & Zach De La Rocha]
0:21:28 - Yaeji “Money Can’t Buy” [f- Nappy Nina]
0:24:16 - Kool A.D. “BLOCKCHAIN”
0:28:33 - Earl Sweatshirt “Ghost” [f- Navy Blue]
0:30:14 - Liv.e “Lessons From My Mistakes...But I Lost Your Number”
0:32:52 - JPEGMAFIA “BALD! Remix”
0:35:24 - Moor Mother & Olof Melander “Oleander”
0:38:35 - Deftones “Teenager (Robert Smith Remix)”
0:41:41 - serpentwithfeet “A Comma”
0:44:26 - Thundercat “Dragonball Durag”
0:47:26 - Quin Kirchner “Moon Vision”
0:51:29 - Kehlani “Hate the Club” [f- Masego]
0:56:07 - Yves Tumor “Asteroid Blues”
0:58:05 - Frank Ocean “Cayendo (Acoustic)”
1:01:22 - Sparkle Division “Oh No You Did Not!”
1:05:18 - Armand Hammer “Ramesses” [f- Earl Sweatshirt, Fielded & Moor Mother]
1:09:28 - knxwledge “watchwhoukalllyourhomie”
1:10:58 - Quelle Chris & Chris Keys “Living Happy”[f- Joseph Chilliams & Cavalier]
1:15:26 - Moses Sumney “Me in 20 Years” [f- Matthew Otto & Daniel Lopatin]
2020 Year End Summations, Pt. 3
Saxophone Polemics
0:00:00 - Amnesia Scanner “AS Enter”
0:02:34 - Grimes “Before the fever”
0:06:07 - illuminati hotties “content//bedtime”
0:10:21 - Against All Odds “Alarm”
0:12:13 - Miley Cyrus “Prisoner” [f- Dua Lipa]
0:15:01 - Kelly Lee Owens “Melt!”
0:18:29 - Lady Gaga “Sine From Above” [f- Elton John]
0:22:34 - Charli XCX “anthems”
0:25:25 - A. G. Cook “Xxoplex”
0:27:56 - Billie Eilish “my future”
0:31:08 - Dua Lipa “Love Again”
0:35:23 - The Weeknd “Blinding Lights” [Chromatics Remix]
0:39:43 - St. Vincent “Piggy” [Nine Inch Nails cover]
0:42:51 - Beatrice Dillon “Workaround Two” [f- Laurel Halo]
0:47:10 - Julianna Barwick “Inspirit”
0:51:15 - Eartheater “Below the Clavicle”
0:55:05 - Actress “Save”
1:00:02 - Nine Inch Nails “Your New Normal”
1:03:46 - Lyra Pramuk “Gossip”
1:07:52 - Arca “Afterwards” [f- Björk]
1:11:52 - Autechre “gr4”
1:15:05 - Oneohtrix Point Never “Lost But Never Alone” [f- Nate Boyce]
2020 Year End Summations, Pt. 4
Bedroom Euphoria
COMPILATIONS, LIVE ALBUMS, REISSUES, REMIX ALBUMS
Boris Archive — Volume 0 "Early Demo" [self-released]
Boris Archive — Volume 1 "Live 96-98" [self-released]
Boris Archive — Volume 2 "Drumless Shows" [self-released]
Boris Archive — Volume 3 “2 Long Songs" [self-released]
Boris Archive — Volume 4 “Evil Stack Live" [self-released]
Boris Archive — Volume 5 “Pink Days" [self-released]
Clams Casino Instrumental Relics [Clams Casino Productions LLC]
Dean Blunt Roaches 2012-2019 [World Music]
Deerhoof Surprise Symphonies [Joyful Noise]
Deerhoof & Wadada Leo Smith To Be Surrounded By Beautiful, Curious, Breathing, Laughing Flesh Is Enough [Joyful Noise] *
Dua Lipa & The Blessed Madonna Club Future Nostalgia (DJ Mix) [Warner Records]
Engine Kid Astronaut EP [2020 Remaster] [self-released]
Engine Kid Bear Catching Fish [2020 Remaster] [self-released]
Engine Kid Angel Wings [2020 Remaster] [self-released]
Engine Kid Heater Sweats Nails 7” [2020 Remaster] [self-released]
Father John Misty & The Neue Philharmonic Frankfurt Off-Key in Hamburg — Live at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie on August 8, 2019 [self-released]
Mort Garson Music from Patch Cord Productions [Sacred Bones] *
The Mountain Goats The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 & 2 [self-released]
Mr. Bungle The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny [Ipecac] *
Nick Cave Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace [Bad Seed Ltd]
Pig Destroyer The Octagonal Stairway [Relapse] *
Prince Sign O' The Times [2020 Super Deluxe Edition] [Warner]
Sumac St Vitus 09/07/2018 [SIGE]
Sunn O))) Life Metal Rehearsal 230518 [self-released]
Sunn O))) Life Metal Rehearsal 250518 [self-released]
Sunn O))) Life Metal Rehearsal 260518 [self-released]
Sunn O))) 606_LM preproduction 270618 [self-released]
Sunn O))) 606_LM preproduction 280618 [self-released]
Sunn O))) 606_LM preproduction 290618 [self-released]
Thelonious Monk Palo Alto [Impulse!] *
Yo La Tengo Electr-o-pura [2020 Reissue] [Matador]
100 Gecs 1000 gecs and The Tree of Clues [Dog Show Records]
VA A Litany of Failures: Volume III [self-released]
VA Mindfulness For Jerk-Offs [WFMU]
VA Passport to Shakesville: 24 Exotica-Infused Instros of Voodoo Surf, Mambo Soul, and Zebra-Striped Grooves [WFMU]
VA The Song is Coming from Inside the House [Strange Ranger]
VA Three Lobed Recordings at 20: An Overview [Three Lobed Recordings]
Tools used
digital
Adobe Photoshop
Apple Pages
Apple Music app