Top 50 Albums of 2020 (10-1)

 And now, my top 10 albums of 2020:

10.

Purity Ring - WOMB

The synthpop duo combined the more visceral parts of their first record with the maximalist tendencies of their second to create an album that maintains a marvelous tension throughout.

9.

Tricky - Falls to Pieces

Recorded after the death of his daughter, Tricky's Fall to Pieces is an album born from grief and is one of Tricky's most haunting and beautiful works.  

8.

HEALTH - DISCO4::Part 1

An album of collaborations with artists as disparate as Soccer Mommy, 100 gecs, JPEGMAFIA, and The Soft Moon. Despite no real thematic continuity with the different styles of music, HEALTH always finds a way to make them work as a whole.  

7.

Bob Moses - Desire

Spectral synthpop with an edge, Desire is Bob Moses' taking risks and having them pay off.

6. 

Taylor Swift - folklore

One of two surprise albums this year, Taylor Swift's folklore found her working with The National's Aaron Dessner, Jack Antonoff, and Bon Iver on this masterful collection of intimate stories. Swift works best in this format, allowing her imagination to wander and wonder.

5.

Future Islands - As Long As You Are

Another immaculate collection of heartsick synthpop from the Baltimore quartet.  Samuel T. Herring's lyrics have gotten even more intimate and complex.

4.

Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension 

After the hushed brilliance of Carrie & Lowell, Sufjan returned with his dark, synth-heavy opus of songs that dig deep into subjects as heady as faith and hopelessness. 

3. 

Ólafur Arnalds - some kind of peace

Starkly beautiful set of songs that haunt you long after you listen.  

2.

PVRIS - Use Me

The best pop-rock album belonged to PVRIS.  Use Me is a muscular record that shows the band embracing a more mature sound and lyrical refinement.  Plus, it has some of the catchiest melodies.

1.

Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?

Her last two records found her being directed to a more adult-contemporary style. While she has the chops for it, Ware is much more suited for dance music, as her debut made abundantly clear. Ware even thought about quitting music but, in working with producer James Ford, she found her calling again and the results are dazzling.  What's Your Pleasure? is a supremely confident set of songs that put a fresh take on house, synthpop, R&B, and disco. It's a record that makes you dance and makes you smile and is my album of the year, no question.

Top 50 Albums of 2020 (20-11)

 One more day away from my top albums of 2020, so the countdown continues:

20.

Empress Of - I Am Your Empress Of

After the slight misstep of her sophomore record, Empress Of hits it out of the park with I Am Your Empress Of.  It's chock full of dancefloor bangers that show off her innovative production skills.

19.

Roisin Murphy - Roisin Machine

As I always say, in a perfect world, Roisin Murphy would be the biggest pop star. She's just a little too quirky to be mainstream, but the mainstream should appreciate and honor her. On her remarkable record Roisin Machine she goes dark and dirty for a disco-inspired extravaganza that pushes you to the limits of satisfaction and keeps you wanting more.

18. 

Bearcubs - Early Hours

Although Bearcubs has a similar croon to British producer James Blake it is wrong to say that he is just aping Blake's style.  Early Hours sounds like its title, lots of downtempo tracks with melodies drowned in aquatic effects with vague hints of Caribbean instrumentation.  It's a mysterious record that envelops you deep in its luxurious atmosphere.

17.

Moaning - Uneasy Laughter

Post-punk acolytes follow the usual Joy Division, New Order, Cure, and Echo and the Bunnymen blueprints but somehow make it their own sound.  What helps is that the songwriting it so solid and brings the emotion to the forefront.

16.

The New Division - Hidden Memories

This year's best dance-rock record goes to The New Division.  It is all hooks and no filler.

15. 

Darkstar - Civic Jams

Hymns and mantras to the abyss.  Sublime perfection.

14. 

I Break Horses - Warning

Swedish dream pop/shoegaze band came back this year with their most incredible record yet. It simultaneously sounds old and lived in and also fresh and new.  The album leans heavily on synths this time around but their monolithic sound adds so much weight and grandness to the songs.  

13.

Shygirl - ALIAS EP

Over thunderous beats and twisted synths, South London singer Shygirl's sly vocals slip, slide, and tease. It's an EP about fucking, pure and simple.  Shygirl is always in command.

12.

Charli XCX - how i'm feeling now

Created during the quarantine, how i'm feeling how is a record of and for its time, but such a great album that it stands on its own for any time period.  The songs touch on love, loss, and loneliness during these unreal times.  The production is pure Charli, future pop, bright and sparkly, and turned up to 11.

11. 

Autechre - SIGN

The experimental UK duo has been quite prolific lately with several new series of music being released, each one being almost more inscrutable than the last.  With SIGN, however, there are flashes back to their earlier production; haunting melodies, defined drum programming, and a sense of purpose.  This is also one of their prettiest records.

Top 50 Albums of 2020 (50-41)

2020 what a year.  I don't really have anything to say other that, despite all the shit we've endured, there was so much amazing music to get us through.  And this was definitely the year of women.  24 of my top 50 was either a solo female artist or fronted by a woman.  They caught my ear, my head, and my heart.  Here is to better times and even better music.  Here is my top 50 albums of 2020: 

50.  

No Joy - Motherhood

No Joy is one of the best shoegaze revivalists in recent years and what makes them good is that don't stay in one place but keep restlessly toying with their sound.  On Motherhood they take an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach that oddly enough works, mixing their signature sound with nu-metal, funk, synthpop, new wave, and trip-hop into something bizarre and gorgeous.

49. 

Lewis Del Mar - AUGUST

Structured in three chapters like a novella, AUGUST finds the duo of Danny Miller and Max Harwood musing on identity and circumstances.  Each song is like a detailed short story, providing tension, catharsis, and release.  The music is restless and inventive, using layered beats, folky guitars, and synths to create an atmosphere for Miller's stunningly nuanced vocals.

48. 

Muzz - Muzz

Muzz is a supergroup consisting of Paul Banks of Interpol, Matt Barrick, of The Walkmen, and Josh Kaufman of Bonny Light Horsemen. The album is a deceptively low-key batch of moody rock and folk-leaning songs, but there is a lightness of touch that makes this more than a simple vanity project.  

47. 

Molchat Doma - Monument

Belarusian band Molchat Doma jumped from Tik Tok phenoms to the top of the goth-rock heap on their third album, the hook-heavy Doomer manifesto Monument.  The band expertly mixes 80s like industrial drum machines, raging synths, atmospheric guitars, and Egor Shkutko's moody Ian Curtis baritone.  

46. 

Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour

One of the best R&B/pop records this year comes from these Beyonce proteges.  Leaping well past their debut record, they fully embrace a more mature sound.  Not to say the record sounds stuffy, on the contrary, maturity, in this case, means confident and bold. It's an exciting record that makes these women ones to watch.

45. 

William Basinski - Lamentations

Lamentations is pretty much the record for these times, full of foreboding, melancholic drones that somehow show rays of light through the darkness.  It's a tough listen at times, but its stark beauty is palpable.

44. 

Rina Sawaymama - SAWAYAMA

If you mixed up early Britney Spears, J-Pop, and Linkin Park into a blender you would come up with Rina Sawaymama.  The Japanese-British singer takes so many chances on her debut, and while sometimes she comes up a little short, the majority of these songs are just stunning mashups of incongruent styles.

43. 

Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind

Majesterial art-rock masterpiece from Yves Tumor finds their restless experimentation reigned in but not overwhelmed. They draw from styles as varied as Prince-ian funk workouts, motorik kraurock explorations, cut and paste sampling, Brit-pop, 60s psychedelia, trip-hop, and a go-for-broke enthusiasm that is stunningly realized.

42. 

Machine Girl - U-Void Synthesizer

Hyperactive mix of industrial, death metal, grindcore, emo, synthpop, and rave from the Pittsburgh dup Machine Girl.  Each song is like a whiplash of 20 genres at once.  It's electrifying in its pure audacity.

41. 

When Saints Go Machine - SO DEEP

Honestly, there is no other electronic act that sounds quite like Danish trio When Saints Go Machine.  Each album has the same elements, complicated beats and programming, twisted and skewed basslines, and otherworldly synths and samples, however, each sounds distinct.  The only grounded element is the bizarre falsetto of vocalist Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild who, in turn, molds and contorts his instrument with a variety of effects and filters.  SO DEEP feels like an alien transmission from millions of miles away.

Top 50 Albums of 2020 (30-21)

 Continuing my countdown of top albums of 2020:

30. 

Half Waif - The Caretaker

Noni Rose, a.k.a. Half Waif, creates miniature worlds in her synthpop tracks.  The Caretaker has her looking more inwards at people who need outside help but lack the self-awareness to accept it.  Her almost operatic voice ties all these songs together with haunting melodies.

29. 

Hayley Williams - Petals For Armor

Made during a time of emotional upheaval (depression, the divorce from her partner of 10 years), Petals for Armor is a raw record that isn't afraid to analyze the depths of despair.  While this sounds really heavy, it is a testament to Williams' songwriting that it never feels heavy.

28. 

Kllo - Maybe We Could

Melbourne duo Kllo returned this year with a new set of, as I call it, introverted club music.  They take dance music but dial it down to a downtempo level, with hushed, muted vocals.  Music for people that go to the club and stay in the background, watching yet not being involved.

27.

Jessy Lanza - All The Time

While most solo women looked back to the past with disco and disco-inspired records, singer Jessy Lanza looked forward to dark synthpop, footwork, deep house, and future R&B.  Working again with Junior Boys' Jeremy Greenspan, they have put together a sparkling set of songs that move the head and the heart.

26.

DRAMA - Dance Without Me

Chicago duo DRAMA mine the ups and downs of love on their sophomore album.  The music is austere and regal, with Via Rosa's smokey vocals floating effortlessly on top.  

25.

Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia

Dua Lipa storms into the upper ranks of pop stars on Future Nostalgia, probably the most fun pop album this year, in a year where fun was direly needed. Mixing house, pop, and disco into a frenzied rush of dancefloor bangers, Dua Lipa lets her best instincts take over.

24.

Run the Jewels - RTJ4

If Dua Lipa gave us the fun record we desperately needed, Run the Jewels brought us the political record we wanted.  Never letting down, RTJ spit trenchant raps over a Bomb Squad-esque fury of beats and samples.

23.

Fiona Apple - Fetch The Boltcutters

Fiona Apple returned with one of her most striking records.  Using an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to songwriting, the album breathes with ecstatic life.  Her voice is gruff, soaring, intimate, and never boring.  She viscerally hits her piano keys and percussion with animalistic fervor, creating a masterful fever dream.

22.

The Psychedelic Furs - Made of Rain

With their first album in 29 years, The Psychedelic Furs roar back with an album that doesn't sound like a rehash of their old records, but a natural progression.  Richard Butler's voice is still perfection in its nicotine rasp and the music is still deep, dark, and lush.

21. 

Jhenny Beth - TO LIVE IS TO LOVE

The Savages' frontwoman borrows from industrial and experimental music on her debut solo album.  It is furious in its approach with Beth's vocals always in control of the musical narrative.

Top 50 Albums of 2020 (40-31)

 Here are more of my favorite albums of 2020:

40. 

Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song

Starting with a wordless cover of Radiohead's "Arpeggi" and moving through house, techno, and synthpop, Welsh electronic producer Kelly Lee Owens' Inner Song was her leap forward into the top echelon of producers.  

39. 

Arca - KICk i

Venezuelan- born, Barcelone-based producer Arca released her most accessible album yet while still maintaining her restless inventiveness and experimentation. KICk i shows that she is one of the most gifted producers out there.

38. 

Deftones - Ohms

What makes Deftones great is this push and pull between heavy metal riffs and more atmospheric guitar lines.  On their 9th album Ohmns, Deftones really hit the sweet spot between those competing styles to create both their loudest album and most nuanced.

37. 

OTTO - Clam Day

This record is so weird (and delightful) it is almost too difficult to describe to someone.  My best approximation is if Animal Collective, Aphex Twin, and Boards of Canada got together and made music for a child's animated series.  It's relentlessly catchy, fun, and goofy.

36. 

Sorry - 925

An irresistibly quirky art-pop record that careens from pop to jazz to post-punk and back again.  

35. 

The Weeknd - After Hours

After Hours is finally the perfect distillation of the promise set out by his mixtape trilogy.  It mixes pop, R&B, and new wave together as a seamless whole.

34. 

Porridge Radio - Every Bad

Porridge Radio's second album is a revelation, a decidedly assured set of songs by a band coming into their own sound.  The lyrics are wry and full of offhand asides that catch you off guard. There is a fury and sense of purpose that reminds me a lot of PJ Harvey.  It's a stunning album.

33. 

Cubicolor - Hardly A Day, Hardly A Night

Listening to Amsterdam trio Cubicolor, one cannot ever say that their electronic songs are cold.  They seem to find the warmth and humanity in computers and relay that so easily to the listener.  Hardly A Day, Hardly A Night conveys so much emotion that it takes your breath away.

32. 

Douglas Greed  - Angst

The tracks on this album have a very formal quality to them, a solemnity that makes them feel slightly off and chilly at first.  But each listen draws an unexpected element that makes the songs come to life, a forlorn trumpet, the odd sample, vocals from Odd Beholder and Joy Wellboy.  By record's end, the stone is cracking and light is pouring through.

31. 

Yppah - Sunset in the Deep End

Long Beach musician Yppah, a.k.a. Joe Corrales, Jr., luxuriates in ambient excursions like Tycho, flying off into gorgeous flights of fancy.  Unlike Tycho, these electronic pieces have a darker edge, pulling from new wave, post-punk, and goth artists.