Honourable Mentions 2020

With just my favourite songs and albums left to go, as per usual we'll be taking a brief pause to look through some albums that didn't make it onto my final Top 50, highlighting what makes them special and what they needed to achieve that next level of quality. This is, as usual, nothing more than a brief look, a prelude to more significant lists, so don't expect the usual level of detail. So, in no particular order...

"Workaround"

Beatrice Dillon

PAN

The atmosphere of this thing is everything, the disjointed, somewhat uncommon instrumentation helping to build a peculiar vibe thread through fourteen tracks, with highlights like "Workaround Seven" and "Workaround Two" proving just how great this could be, particularly with the slight Middle Eastern influences, but if there's one element that holds this back it's repetition, some songs dragging far more than they should.

"Darker Places"

Tower Of The Sun幽霊の次元

No Problema Tapes

When I stumbled across this on Bandcamp, I thought this would be just another vaporwave album, another Luxury Elite or 2814 wannabe with some great atmospherics but little else to offer. That was not the case. What this album is, what this album strives and succeeds to be, is a grand, ambient statement, the dark aesthetic of the cover transcending into a beautiful yet cacophonous wall of noise, some tracks boasting more memorable melodies and rhythms whilst others are devoured by the very atmosphere they create, and I say this all as a compliment.

"Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez"

Gorillaz

Parlophone

After a decade of absence and misfires, the diminishing returns of the once-great Gorillaz has been thankfully interrupted, their latest album marking a phenomenal return to the bizarre and catchy, guest-studded synthpop and hip hop of Plastic Beach, perhaps not quite reaching the heights of that record but certainly proving itself a more concise collection of songs that share the same DNA as previous works, but also move their sound forward, the trap and contemporary grime influences integrated surprisingly well. The only real dud comes in the form of an Elton John feature that felt poorly placed and poorly executed.

"Fetch the Bolt Cutters"

Fiona Apple

Epic Records

Ah yes, the most critically acclaimed album of the year, popular consensus on this scale coming once about every decade, the last record to have left such a mark being Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy... and yet this isn't an album I've actually talked about on my blog yet, mainly for the reason that I don't have anything to say. Yes, the writing is genius, yes Fiona is a fantastic presence, laying waste to these tracks and absolutely dominating everything in her path - and that's exactly the problem. The instrumentals feel underequipped to compliment Fiona, the experimentation only occasionally paying off, never matching the lyrical or vocal mastery she brings to the table.

"how i'm feeling now"

Charli XCX

Warner

If you know me, it probably surprises you that this didn't make it onto my Top 50, but for as much as I love this album there's a part of me that wishes Charli didn't restrict herself to a month to make this album, as cool of a challenge as that seemed at the time. Instrumentally, this album is about as engaging and boundary-pushing as Charli's got, but outside of a few core tracks it's the writing that can come across as rushed and, dare I say it, uncompelling, the fiery charge of "anthems" and the sentiment of "forever" being the exceptions, incredible standouts as they are.

"What's Your Pleasure?"

Jessie Ware

Universal

I've followed Jessie's career for a while now, and I can confidently say this is her best album, the lush disco instrumentals capturing the thrills of the 70s and 80s that pop music is currently so infatuated with perfectly, I'd argue to a more precise degree than pop behemoths like The Weeknd and Dua Lipa, despite both of their albums having moments that push to the future, whilst Jessie's does not. That said, What's Your Pleasure is easily my favourite of the three, the enthralling execution keeping this on top. I do hope that when it comes to the next album Jessie chooses to challenge herself a little more, but we'll just have to wait and see.

"Shrapknel"

ShrapKnel

Backwoodz

If you're looking for some hip hop that takes a more atmospheric, noise-influenced approach to tension (as opposed to the forcedly unsettling elements of Eminem's Music To Be Murdered By, a record that utterly fails to achieve the edge-of-your-seat suspense that ShrapKnel handles with ease), look no further.

"21"

Hila

Underdog Records

The debut album from Los Angeles jazz duo Hila may be a little short, but this is an electrifying experience, with the Tricky-influenced opener to the jumbled chaos of "Khouanlepins", this record has variety, novelty and originality on its side, even if there are moments when it loses itself. If anything, this is a jazz album in spirit more than in reality, but I'd argue it earns a badge as one of the genre's most groundbreaking, choosing a path far removed from more typical fusion artists for something more electronic and diverse.

"Peripeteia"
Rafael Anton Irisarri

Dais Records

Across eight tracks, Rafael twists his usual ambient and drone music into a more open spectrum of genres, essentially feeding the noise with distorted metal elements and the scale of more orchestral measures, resulting in an album that sounds ginormous, but for the number of tracks is also a much shorter album than we're used to from Rafael, once more reflecting the difference between this and previous releases.

"The Weather Up There"

Jeremy Cunningham

Northern Spy

This album isn't for the faint of heart, as Jeremy assembles an ambitious drum choir in order to create a polyrhythmic exploration of death and loss through his own experiences of losing his brother. With passages of speech from friends and family discussing their experience and perspective on the situation, this album proves to be a developed and fascinating venture into themes often tackled but rarely so openly and personally, the record's ability to keep it intimate even with something of an outsider perspective and with so many names involved its biggest achievement.

"Have We Met"

Destroyer

Dead Oceans

For as captivated as I was by Destroyer brand of existential fear and dread, the strong writing allowing this album to stand out and stay relevant throughout the year, arguably increasingly so as the months ticked by, and yet the one thing this album has failed to do is connect with me. It doesn't make much sense why, each individual element appealing to me and exceeding what Destroyer has done, from the dark indie rock instrumentals to the vocals of Dan Bejar, and especially the themes of disassociation, loneliness and self-critique that, delivered with some fantastic lyrics, it should be checking all the boxes, and yet... When I rated this, the score I gave would indicate a much higher placement for my year end, but here we are. It's an album I hugely appreciate, but an album that I just didn't get. It happens.

"SAVAGE MODE II"

21 Savage, Metro Boomin

Epic Records

This production, both in terms of quality and detail, is far and away the highlight of this album, although 21 Savage becoming an increasingly interesting rapper helps ensure that this is a great album, rising above Savage's peers and previous works (well, most of them). Moreover, Morgan Freeman's narrations only enhance the experience, providing a cinematic quality to the record that helps to frame its story, the cohesion between tracks surprisingly adept for such an inconsistent rapper.

"333"

Bladee

YEAR0001

It may not be his strongest project, but it's certainly his most ambitious, the cloud trap stylings of his drain gang peers partially ditched in favour of a surreal, almost heavenly quality, perhaps not reinventing the wheel but certainly setting down a new, exciting course. Whilst I don't think this is the masterpiece Bladee was born to make, with any luck this is a big step towards it, moving into ambient pop territory without losing his trademark aesthetics.

"Man Alive!"

King Krule

XL Recordings

Archie Marshall returning to the King Krule moniker with such a jazzy take on his lofi sound has got to be one of the highlights of the year, an album that simmers with frustration, anger and dissatisfaction, blending sounds of trip hop, post-punk, psychedelia and jazz to create a soundscape that's as ominous as it is rich, brooding and self-critical. The best way I can describe Archie's presence over these instrumentals is like a cat, poised and ready to strike, exploding only in brief moments but being no less captivating in his more laidback moments. A great addition to the year's music, and probably my favourite of these honourable mentions. Well, almost...

"Tunes 2011-2019"

Burial

Hyperdub

If this qualified for my albums of the year list, this would easily have a place in my Top 10. Unfortunately, this release from Burial is classified as a compilation album, making it ineligible for the list, but I'm not about to sideline one of the greatest musical experiences I had all year. This record sprawls over two-and-a-half hours of music, beginning slow and ambient but building into the more fast paced garage and two-step that characterise songs like "Claustro" and "Kindred", explosive and danceable without sacrificing the atmosphere built up over the more unusual and experimental moments that begin the album. Not only this, but Burial is able to achieve an emotional connection and delve into mental health and loneliness, despite the vocals of this album being limited to brief samples. This is easily their most ambitious album to date, and I'm really looking forward to where they go next.

---

Thanks for reading, hope you're looking forward to my Top 50 albums list - although I'm still working on the order I'm aiming to have it done within the next few days, so you shouldn't have to wait long!

---

Follow me on Twitter

Follow me on AOTY