Top 40 Albums of 2020

So then, I finally got my act together and finished putting together a list of my favourite albums of 2020. Considering the immense limitations that artists must have been subjected to in terms of recording music this year, there have been a surprising number of brilliant releases. 

Hopefully there's a few on here that you haven't heard before that you can check out. If you're interested in any of them, I've posted the relevant link to buy the album (mostly Bandcamp because they're awesome, but if you're lucky enough to have a record store near you, hit them up first!).

Before I get stuck in to the main list, I'd like to list a few 'honourable mentions':

Honourable  mentions 

Buscabulla - Regresa https://buscabulla.bandcamp.com/album/regresa

Fleet Foxes  - Shore https://fleetfoxes.bandcamp.com/album/shore

Caribou - Suddenly https://caribouband.bandcamp.com/album/suddenly

Taylor Swift - Folklore & Evermore https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/taylor-swift/folklore https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/taylor-swift/evermore

Mura Masa - R.Y.C. https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/mura-masa/r-y-c

William Tyler - New Vanitas https://williamtyler.bandcamp.com/album/new-vanitas

Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today https://protomartyr.bandcamp.com/album/ultimate-success-today

Inventions - Continuous Portrait https://inventions.bandcamp.com/album/continuous-portrait

The Strokes - The New Abnormal https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/the-strokes/the-new-abnormal

Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song https://kellyleeowens.bandcamp.com/album/inner-song

Phoxjaw - Royal Swan https://phoxjaw.bandcamp.com/album/royal-swan

Sufjan Stevens - Ascension https://music.sufjan.com/album/the-ascension

Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/rina-sawayama/sawayama

Black Taffy - Opal Wand https://blacktaffy.bandcamp.com/album/opal-wand

The Top 40

40) Bright Eyes - Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once Was

https://brighteyes.bandcamp.com/album/down-in-the-weeds-where-the-world-once-was

39) The Flaming Lips - American Dream

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/the-flaming-lips/american-head

38) Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death

https://fontainesdc.bandcamp.com/album/a-heros-death

37) Greg Foat - Symphonie Pacifique

https://gregfoat.bandcamp.com/album/symphonie-pacifique

36) Meridian Brothers - Cumbia Siglo XXI

https://meridianbrothers.bandcamp.com/album/cumbia-siglo-xxi

35) Dan Deacon - Mystic Familiar

https://dandeacon.bandcamp.com/album/mystic-familiar

34) Nadine Shah - Kitchen Sink

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/nadine-shah/kitchen-sink

33) Angel Olsen - Whole New Mess

https://angelolsen.bandcamp.com/album/whole-new-mess

32) Moses Boyd - Dark Matter

https://mosesboyd.bandcamp.com/album/dark-matter-2

31) Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Viscerals

https://pigspigspigspigspigspigspigs.bandcamp.com/album/viscerals

30) Marlowe - Marlow 2

https://lorange360.bandcamp.com/album/marlowe-2-2

29) Laura Marling - Songs For Our Daughter

https://lauramarling.bandcamp.com/album/song-for-our-daughter

28) Idles - Ultra Mono

https://idlesband.bandcamp.com/album/ultra-mono

27) Natalie Slade - Control

https://natalie-slade.bandcamp.com/album/control

26) Grimes - Miss Anthropocene

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/grimes/miss-anthropocene

25) Touché Amoré - Lament

https://toucheamore.bandcamp.com/album/lament

24) Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/lianne-la-havas/lianne-la-havas

23) Gorillaz - Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/gorillaz/song-machine-season-one-strange-timez

22) Sports Team - Deep Down Happy

https://sportsteamband.bandcamp.com/album/deep-down-happy

21) R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages

https://afrolab9000.bandcamp.com/album/purple-moonlight-pages

20) Charli XCX - how i'm feeling now

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/charli-xcx/how-i-m-feeling-now

19) Tkay Maidza - Last Year Was Weird Vol. 2

https://soundcloud.com/tkaymaidza/sets/last-year-was-weird-vol-2

18) Julianna Barwick - Healing Is A Miracle

https://juliannabarwick.bandcamp.com/album/healing-is-a-miracle

17) Kevin Morby - Sundowner

https://kevinmorby.bandcamp.com/album/sundowner

16) Jacaszek - Music for Film

https://jacaszek.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-film

15) Eve Owen - Don't Let The Ink Dry

https://eveowen.bandcamp.com/album/dont-let-the-ink-dry

14) Nikitch & Kuna Maze - Débuts

https://nikitchkunamaze.bandcamp.com/album/d-buts

13) Nicolas Jaar - Cenizas

https://nicolasjaar.bandcamp.com/album/cenizas

12) Run The Jewels - RTJ4

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/run-the-jewels/rtj4

11) Santrofi - Alewa

https://outhererecords.bandcamp.com/album/santrofi-alewa

10) North Americans - Roped In

This ambient record with warm guitar tones is the most chilled, serene album I've heard all year, and never fails to relax me. Written by Patrick McDermott and recorded in LA, it also features William Tyler and Mary Lattimore (both included further up this list). This one gets bonus points for the lovely album art too, by Brian Blomerth. 

Fav songs: Rivers That You Cannot See, Furniture in the Valley, Run Down  

https://northamericanszone.bandcamp.com/album/roped-in-2

 9) JAF Trio - JAF Trio

The style of this self-titled experimental jazz (debut) album from Finnish-Danish JAF Trio reminds me a lot of UK jazz band Roller Trio, and not just because of the number of band members! I was drawn in as soon as I heard teaser song 'Ninth Row of the Fifth Floor' earlier this year and finally got around to exploring the rest of the album a few weeks back.

Fav songs:  Ninth Row of the Fifth Floor, Nostalgia, Det Er Dig

https://wejazzrecords.bandcamp.com/album/jaf-trio

 

 

8) Porridge Radio - Every Bad

It feels as though Every Bad has been a bit of a breakout album for Porridge Radio, and I think all the credit they've had for it has been deserved. I was really impressed by the honest and sometimes self-deprecating lyrics on this album, which rightly sit front and centre of most of these songs. The vocal performance of lead singer Dana Margolin, and clever use of backing vocals really adds another dimension to these songs.

Fav songs: Sweet, Long, Pop Song, Lilac, Circling     

https://porridgeradio.bandcamp.com/album/every-bad

 

7) Nubya Garcia - Source

This album shows Nubya Garcia at the peak of her powers, and she seems to be leading the pack of exciting young jazz talent in the UK right now. In terms of its sound, I think the album sits somewhere between the experimental style of a group like JAF Trio (as described above), and the classical tendencies of jazz icons of the past, often moving between these two regions of jazz within the same song.  

Fav songs: Pace, Source, Together Is A Beautiful Place To Be, Inner Game

https://nubyagarcia.bandcamp.com/album/source

 

6) Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders

This is another of what seems to be a long list of ambient albums that I've enjoyed this year. Soft reverb-y, delicate harp playing, which feel like the soundtrack to a walk through a Japanese garden takes you through most of the 40 minute runtime, but well-placed patches of synth and guitar work add a sinister, ominous edge to some of these songs too.

Fav songs:  Pine Trees, Sometimes He's In My Dreams

https://marylattimoreharpist.bandcamp.com/album/silver-ladders 

 

5) Bananagun - True Story of Bananagun

This debut album from Melbourne-based group Bananagun fuses 70's psychedelia, afrobeat and hints of latin music, with each of these styles performed tastefully. They sound like a band having a lot of fun and I would love an opportunity to catch them live at some point, preferably in a sunny late afternoon festival slot with beer in hand.   

Fav songs: Bang Go The Bongos, The Master, People Talk Too Much, Freak Machine, Out of Reach, She Now

https://bananagun.bandcamp.com/album/the-true-story-of-bananagun

4) Ranil - Ranil y su Conjunto Tropical

Ranil (Raúl Llerena Vásquez), is a Peruvian singer, bandleader, record-label entrepreneur and (from Bandcamp) "a larger-than-life personality who swirled the teeming buzz of the Amazonian jungle, the unstoppable rhythms of Colombian and Brazilian dance music, and the psychedelic electricity of guitar-driven rock-and-roll into a knock-out, party-starting concoction". This album was a great surprise for me, and is an immensely fun listen from start to finish, combining a fresh, danceable set of tunes with a vintage quality to them.

Fav songs: Muévete Mi Amor, Lamento, Licenciado, Cumbia En Tu Soledad, La Tuctuructia

https://analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/ranil-y-su-conjunto-tropical-limited-dance-edition

 

 3) Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

This album keeps creeping further and further up my list, probably reflecting the fact that the often dark lyrical content and mood sinks a bit deeper with each listen. The Elliott Smith connection which many others have written about, is definitely noticable (she even appears to subtly reference him in title track 'Punisher'), but never feels distracting, nor does it take anything away from Phoebe's own brilliant songwriting. Even lead single 'Kyoto', which on first listen might sound a like typical run-of-the-mill indie song, really comes into its own in the context of the album. Strings sections naturally weave their way into the album too, and always feel like they compliment the songs they appear on. A Sufjan Stevens-esque segment in closing track 'I Know The End' evolves into to an epic (and slightly harrowing?!) outro in the closing moments of the album and leaves you feeling overwhelmed. I think this is a sizeable step up from Phoebe's debut album.    

Fav songs: Kyoto, Punisher, Halloween, Savior Complex, Graceland Too, I Know The End 

https://phoebebridgers.bandcamp.com/album/punisher 

 

2) Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure

Other than odd songs here and there, I've never been hugely into Jessie Ware's music until now. But this album is a completely irresistable disco throwback from start to finish. And it feels like a fresh take on the era, with plenty of bangers, each packed full of catchy synth lines and vocals brimming with passion and confidence. It just feels like this album was released in the wrong year, because the home environment definitely doesn't do it justice.  

Fav songs: Spotlight, What's Your Pleasure?, Ooh La La, Soul Control, Step Into My Life, Read My Lips, Mirage (Don't Stop)

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/jessie-ware/what-s-your-pleasure

 

1) Adrianne Lenker - songs

Considering this album was recorded in the middle of a global pandemic, this selection of songs from Adrianne Lenker sounds surprisngly uplifting in many ways (even if the lyrical content is far from uplifting at times). I think the location in which this album was recorded (a secluded forest cabin in Western Massachusetts) goes a long way to explain how this album sounds; “I’ve kind of been away from everywhere for a while,” she explained in a recent interview with Loud & Quiet. “I’ve basically been living on the road for the last six years, ever since Big Thief took off when I was 23. I feel like I can develop a relationship with places now, no place more or less than anywhere else, so long as there are natural elements around”. The fact that this album is so understated is what impresses me the most (the title just being 'songs', and the way the album was just dropped out of the blue, shortly after Big Thief's tour was cut short abruptly). And yet the songs themselves sound like something that most artists would spend years slaving over. Adrianne Lenker is a special talent, and this album is yet another triumph to add to her growing list. 

Fav songs: two reverse, anything, heavy focus, come, zombie girl

https://adriannelenker.bandcamp.com/album/songs