Top 50 Albums of 2020

 Ok. Breathe. This is a long time coming. What did 2020 have to offer? Well, quite frankly way too much. Way too much pain, way too much chaos, way too much uncertainty. Never has the saying "change is the only constant" meant so much. For me though, there was another constant, and that came in the form of music. Now, for as much as I enjoy listening to music of great varieties in quality, taking a certain twisted pleasure in listening to bad music, that was never going to be a foundation to keep me strong through a year as bleak and endless as 2020. No, comfort came from the best...

For this list of my Top 50 albums, you should be aware of two rules. 1) I count December releases for the following year, meaning albums from December 2019 are eligible for a placement, and 2) this is my list, and if your favourite album isn't here then I urge you to make your own list. Now, let's indulge ourselves in...

50

"Trickles Into Gravity's Maw"

Sunset Wrecks

Independent

For the longest time this was among my absolute favourites of the year, and just because I've slightly fallen out of love with it doesn't mean I don't consider this an insanely impressive album, a unique mixture of doom, ambient and shoegaze that deserves more exposure.

49

"The Cycle"

Mourning [A] BLKstar

Don Giovanni Records

A dark, forward thinking jazz album that boasts a cavernous atmosphere and grounded, chanted vocals, laying raw the struggles and becoming one of many voices of the frustrations of black artists on this list.

48

"HiRUDiN"

Austra

Domino

Austra proves her identity and longevity as a key artist pushing pop forward over the last decade, and what this album lacks in contemporary experimentation it makes up for in strong hooks, great writing and some fantastic synths making up both the melodies and the soundscapes, both of which are huge assets on this record.

47

"Arrow"

Noveller

Ba Da Bing!

Given the option, I would willingly drown in this album's ambience, the surprising prominence of swampy, effect-laden guitars of all instruments acting as the driving force in the music, and you might never notice for how cinematic and absorbing this is.

46

"Stray"

BAMBARA

Wharf Cat Records

Whilst Fontaines D.C. may be the preferred post-punk act, I prefer my post-punk contemporary, and for as much as they're praised Fontaines is undeniably stuck in the past, whilst BAMBARA has incorporated lofi and ambient techniques to add more depth to the sound, moving it forward and impressing with women on the backing vocals for more than JUST ONE TRACK (yep, still looking at you Fontaines).

45

"925"

Sorry

Domino

One of my championed rising stars, Sorry make a splash with their debut album, perhaps lacking the diversity of their earlier mixtapes but integrating their ever-oddball approach to production, the details making this album worth a listen before you even get to the sharp, witty writing and infectious choruses.

44

"Infinity Of Now"

The Heliocentrics

Madlib Invazion

 Gnarly, psychedelic-funk meets African jazz in this explosive record. Sales pitch over, this is amazing.

43

"Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cain & Abel"

Black Thought

Passyunk Productions / Republic

How does Black Thought stand out from other rappers? There are a multitude of reasons you could give, from his earnest delivery; the rich, full instrumentals; the diversity of his collaborators... however, I'd argue it's his observations of both the past and present that make him so fascinating, and his optimism towards the future.

42

"Riki"

Riki

Dais

Ready for a plunge into the chilly depths of the 80s? Ready to submerge yourself in the galloping rhythms, the haunting keys and the resonant vocals? Then Riki's take on darkwave, synthpop and disco is here for you, ripe for the taking.

41

"Ghetto Kumbé"

Ghetto Kumbé

ZZK

The meeting of musical styles with more in common than you might think, this album is built on its rhythmic foundations, taking inspiration as much from Caribbean house beats to Colombian drumming with roots in West Africa and with a producer immersed in UK Bass music, this is truly something to behold.

40

"NEGRO"

Pink Siifu

Field-Left

If this list was based purely on the quality I perceive each album to have, this would be a lot higher up. What this is is a headache, a pain-fuelled, anger-channelling exploration of the systematic racism, discrimination and torture of black people, and that's exactly what it sounds like, more noise than music, news clips than lyrics. It's a statement and it is phenomenal, but this is not an experience you want to indulge in regularly, and not one that exerts the kind of joy or feel that most albums do.

39

"Peaceful As Hell"

Black Dresses

Blacksquares

Explosive emotional fragility from one of the most promising duos of the last few years, this album is what I like to call psychedelia for the new decade, and as abrasive and crowded as it can feel at times, you have to remember the same was true of the original psychedelia of the 60s, the only difference is the artist responsible here is a cult favourite and not the biggest band on the planet, and there's a certain intimacy that comes with that fact, the tracks here connecting far too well at a time when there are too many opportunities to be left alone with your thoughts.

38

"Yes Doctor"

Horatio Luna

La Sape

Coming through with one of the year's most complete sounding albums, Horatio Luna offers a taste of everything with his interesting blend of dub, house, jazz and afrobeat that calls back to 90s trip hop and downtempo music like Massive Attack, Tosca and Emancipator. It's chilled, summery, and endlessly fun, and I really needed something this easy-going in 2020.

37

"What We Drew"

Yaeji

XL

I love deep house. The problem? As with most dance music, it's a style of music that lends itself far better to singles than albums, and the majority of artists within the style don't have what it takes to make an album's worth of material with consistent quality. Here on What We Drew? Yaeji makes it feel like a breeze, twelve catchy tracks that deviate wonderfully from the formula, bridging the gap between the more poppy side of the genre with its experimental pioneers.

36

"Photosynthesis"
Botanist

The Flenser

Yes, this is metal music that deals with themes of photosynthesis. Yes, the combination is incredibly nerdy, but none of that matters when the sound and lyrics so expertly explore these themes, the drums easily being the highlight of their invigorating black metal sound.

35

"Warnings"

I Break Horses

Bella Union

Storming in at #35 with swirling, maximalist dreampop, I Break Horses adds a monolithic spin on the genre whilst also helping to heave it along to the new decade with contemporary percussion and a heavy eighties influence, reminding me of artists like Desire, My Bloody Valentine and the Cocteau Twins.

34

"Circuit City"

Moor Mother

Don Giovanni Records

Ready for some free jazz like you've never heard before?

Probably, you're not. This is not exactly a record for a casual listen, but if you choose to immerse yourself in the poet's Afrofuturist song cycle I promise you'll be rewarded, the chaotic noise serving as a backdrop for a strange but provocative story.

33

"Miles"
Blu & Exile

Dirty Science

The Return of the Kings.

After eight years, Blu & Exile have reunited to make a hip hop album that might not differ much from the norm, but succeeds in outclassing its peers purely based on the content, much of the album paying homage to their individual struggles, that of greater causes and of Miles Davis, an interesting combination executed to near perfection.

32

"sin miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞"

Kali Uchis

Interscope

A fantastic followup that seems to have left some fans disappointed, I'm personally really excited by this new direction for Kali and the implications on future songs that the jazz influence will have, along with the incredible Rico Nasty collaboration that's easily the biggest tune here... it's just a shame that a couple of the songs ran a little short, feeling like successful experiments that with any luck indicate the incredible future Kali is sure to have.

31

"me&you"

rook&nomie

RAN

My personal favourite project Ada Rook was a member of this year, me&you takes synthpop in a fierce and angular direction with some signature sharp writing, awe inspiring genre fusions and the all around combination of fun and emotional torment that makes their work so inspiring. This served me well over the course of the year, and the amount of songs I could have chosen to make my best list from here is insane... more on that in a few days.

30

"Art of the Descarga"

The John Santos Sextet

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

This Latin jazz record really crept up on me, being the fourth of six jazz albums to have made this list, and one of my favourites to listen to in the evening, the beachside chill and communal warmth evoked from these complex rhythms and cross-cultural influences creating an appeal that many jazz records share, but few excelled in to this degree.

29

"Unreality"

Daktyl

Independent

Sometimes, you don't have to look in the deepest, darkest corners to find music that blows your mind whilst simultaneously forming a deep connection with you, and for all the hype surrounding acts like 100 gecs and Dorian Electra at the moment, it was with Daktyl that I ultimately resonated the most with this year, the sounds he was experimenting with not particularly challenging or new but the outcome was no less bold, dramatic or impressive, creating some of my favourite electronic music of the year and each song coming with its own soundscape to adore.

28

"Descendants of Cain"

Ka

Iron Works

Exploring Biblical themes of sin, sacrifice and suffering, Ka delivers yet another landmark record with Descendants of Cain, an experience like no other that will suck you in from the very first track. Over the course of this record, Ka does away with the inessentials, creating minimal tracks that present Ka's rapping at the forefront of a mix with rarely more than a few elements, no drums, and passages where it is vocals and nothing else, yet another choice that manages to be bold without falling in line with typical definitions of "boundary-pushing". Regardless, this is one of the most immersive releases of the year, of course it was getting a place this high.

27

"Brave Faces Everyone"

Spanish Love Songs

Pure Noise

One of the most acclaimed albums within the YouTube critics' sphere, Brave Faces Everyone is probably the equivalent of some great genre fiction - the snobbier critics aren't going to take it seriously because it's pop punk, but it exceeds the vast majority of more typically, "objectively" good music. I love just how bleak this album is, without the optimistic undertones that the majority of other socially relevant records have (needed to) have this year, and because of this it's been easily one of 2020's soundtrack albums.

26

"Gathering Swans"

Choir Boy

Dais

Sometimes, we can get too caught up in nostalgia, so desperate to escape our current situation that we idealise, romanticise and glorify the past, submit to the pretence of "better times". And sometimes, nostalgia is sweet like candy. This album personifies my love for the less electronic side of the eighties, and Choir Boy continue to be one of the most underrated bands contributing to our current nostalgia high.

25

"Love"

Kid Fourteen

Independent

Khodor Ellaik's latest venture is a thrilling, synth-heavy exploration of all forms of love, proving the potency of the Middle Eastern underground scene that I'm thrilled to have come across in 2020, with Kid Fourteen standing out as one of the most entertaining, their lyrics offering some fascinating insights into the experiences that he and others have, of the euphoric rush, of unhealthy obsession and of the cruelty of love's impermanence.

24

"Magic Oneohtrix Point Never"

Oneohtrix Point Never

Warp

Daniel Lopatin has had many a moniker over the years, but it's here as Oneohtrix that I find myself enjoying his output the most, and this latest release is surprisingly one of his most accessible, rarely moving forwards but serving as a kind of retrospective over his career so far, pulling from the past and keeping to his usual themes of fractured memory, but providing nothing short of his usual bizarre charm.

23

"Lamentations"

William Basinski

Musex International

Speaking of memory, William Basinski's latest album is a dour patchwork woven from his huge archive of ambient recordings, and the atmosphere here is undeniable, unsettling and I can't think of another "un" word to use, so I'll leave it at that.

22

"Bebey"

Theophilus London

My Bebey Records

Sometimes an album doesn't need to say a lot to be a lot, and no I'm not talking about the lyrics, which this album isn't exactly lacking in. This is not some big statement, but the power it has comes purely from how fun it is, the irresistible choruses flowing one after the other whilst the beats and production steal the show, the lack of cohesion overshadowed by the incredible richness that each sound provides, from the tense hip hop of "Whoop Tang Flow" to the lush throwback Caribbean R&B of "Only You".

 
21

"God Had Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It"

Backxwash

Independent

And other times, a big statement can be it's on prize, this new Backxwash album thrilling with its angry, slow path to forgiveness across ten monolithic tracks, with the scale of metal, the grooves of stoner rock and the lyrics and flows of hip hop, this never failed to be a rewarding listen.

20

"Cha Cha Palace"

Angelica Garcia

Spacenbomb

And into the Top 20 we go with one of the most exciting pop albums of the year, Angelica blending her indie pop stylings with her Mexican-Salvadoran heritage and resulting in a varied, often frustrated album that deals with identity and being a second generation immigrant in the US, all with fantastic production akin to her bedroom pop side that successfully encapsulates the personal yet probably relatable lyrics and themes of the record. Too many people gave this a miss, don't make that mistake.

19

"Alfredo"

Freddie Gibbs, The Alchemist

ESGN / ALC / EMPIRE

In terms of sound alone, this is far and away the best rap album of the year, The Alchemist shining brighter than ever with his production work, evoking sounds that predate rap and creating an atmosphere that's utterly unique despite being at once comfortingly familiar, whilst Gibbs and the numerous guest features do their thing, never surpassing the instrumentals but never failing to deliver on the star power you'd expect from artists like Tyler, The Creator and Rick Ross.

18

"Suite for Max Brown"

Jeff Parker

International Anthem

The second highest jazz album and an unsurprisingly unusual one, Jeff Parker continues to prove his versatility by pulling from many of his influences to create an album that prioritises the synthesiser as much as the saxophone, but one that's subtle enough that instrumental choice doesn't really matter so long as each instrument playing contributes to the Afro-Caribbean vibe, coming across like a forgotten gemstone of much older jazz whilst moving forwards with a kind of abstract form of fusion jazz that's far more atmospheric than it is pulsating or overwhelming.

17

"Innocent Country 2"

Quelle Chris, Chris Keys

Mello Music Group

The sequel is here superior.

In a year so (rightfully) saturated with black voices telling their stories, standing out in the world of hip hop became something I think artists struggled to do, those who listened being awarded so much choice, I wouldn't be surprised to see each and everyone having their own favourites of the year, but that wasn't really the case, more people connecting with the same few records above the majority of others. Here with Innocent Country 2, I totally get why, the detailed narratives offering more than almost all other rap albums this year, the interplay between producer and performer never better as Chris Keys and Quelle Chris truly understand one another and reflect each others' strengths. 

16

"Draining Love Story"

Seweslvt
Independent

Ambient meets drum and bass, vaporwave meets breakcore in this transcended experience, delving into the grand heights of love and its downfall into toxicity, depression and self destruction, being a truly complete concept album from an artist who singlehandedly breathes new life into the genres they seize into a cesspit of the most extreme emotions, the insanity of earlier singles given more space to breathe with the increased emphasis on its ambient influence, to tremendous effect.

15

"Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin"

Eartheater

PAN

This is a... strange cover art, and arguably an ill-fitting one considering the ambient folk sound that this delves into as an umbrella term I'm using in a futile attempt to pin down this record, which I'll confess is a crime in of itself - Eartheater defy the boxes and lines drawn by genre, making music purely based on emotion and doing whatever they can instrumentally to support the sentiment of each song, their limitless aesthetic resulting in records that feel huge and intimate all at once, a trend you may have noticed reading through these albums as a fact that seems to greatly bias me towards an album.

14

"Un Canto por México, Vol. 1"

Natalia Lafourcade

Sony

Exploring the various local folk music styles across her native Mexico, Natalia Lafourcade is an artist I can understand and appreciate even before I read the transcriptions for the lyrics, her gorgeous songwriting transcending language barriers and hopefully proving to whoever still needs it proving to them that you should listen to music from outside of the country you were born.

13

"RTJ4"

Run the Jewels

Independent

So, I said with Innocent Country 2 that the interplay between production and performance were phenomenal... and yeah that's true here too, perhaps to an even greater extent and lining itself with guest features who, in the case of Pharrell, gives his best performance in years. More than anything though, this album embodies the Black Lives Matter movement, its release at the beginning of June an incredibly prescient one for the sense of social justice that gripped the world over the next few months, the impact of which I sincerely hope continues to persist as we move into 2021. In fact, I'd go as far as saying this is the most important album on the list.

12

"Alphaville"

Imperial Triumphant

Century Media

Yes, I do like metal actually, and just because this is only one of two metal albums on the list doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about, particularly with how uncompelling the genre was for the most part in 2020. This album here though? If you go into this thing expecting some kind of modern Black Sabbath, some Metallica maybe... well let's just say you aren't ready for what's about to hit you. Across just seven tracks, this band delivers wild yet measured compositions, the size of this thing coming from (you guessed it) the genre fusions it possesses, from black and death metal to jazz and avant-garde, the result sounding more like a wild beast struggling against its leash than a tamed poodle, and I can assure you that's a compliment, and exactly what this band needed to be. 

11

"West Of Eden"

HMLTD
Lucky Number Music Ltd

Lots of artists bend genre. What HMLTD do is the equivalent of musical parkour, grappling at the edge of a building they jumped to whilst simultaneously cooking up a cross-genre stew in a potion in their other hand. In their own words, they did "Old Town Road" before "Old Town Road" (although I'd argue their fusion is more of country-rock, punk and trap), and here on their debut they prove just how versatile they are, not just at ticking genres off a list but switching and flowing between them, and that's not even the most impressive aspect of the record, dealing with themes of gun control, transgenderism, dysphoria, sin and revolution, within a tracklist with just one dud, and an abundance of successes.

10

"We Are Sent Here By History"

Shabaka & The Ancestors

UMG

THE best jazz record of the year, Shabaka & The Ancestors deliver one of the most ominous, culturally confident and spiritual albums of the year, their exploration of masculinity in an album of mostly instruments proving itself to be incredibly intelligent, highlighting my belief that for as potent as lyrics are, they're not the only way to make you feel. Although...

9

"Feel Feelings"

Soko

Babycat

This is, somewhat obviously due to the title, an album all about emotions, and an album that is something of an opposite to the last with an overwhelmingly lyrical focus, and a relatively simple instrumental palette to back. In fact, I'd go as far as saying this is one of the most accessible, easy to listen to albums on this list, just so long as you're ready for an exposé on Soko's part, the toxic relationships and abuse she's experienced put front and centre on an album as vulnerable as it is pretty, and one that manages to pack a bigger punch than either of the metal albums on this list because of that fact.

8

"White Magic"

Damn The Witch Siren

Independent

I adore this duo, and discovering them right around the turn of 2019/2020 was about the best possible kind, their explosively fun discography helping me to get through the year. When this album came out in May however, it offered a new kind of comfort, toning down the bombast, the melodrama, the party sounds in favour of something far more reserved and emotionally mature, a step into new territory for the band that is far less immediate, but no less potent, and doesn't lack their usual pop experimentation. 

7

"Starz"

Yung Lean

YEAR00001

Like I said with Theophilus London's Bebey, it doesn't all have to be serious, and that's where I introduce probably my most listened to album of the second half of the year, Yung Lean's masterpiece Starz. This music is shallow. It's never not been shallow, BUT - (pause) - this is another artist making strides forward when it comes to emotional maturity, the empty drugs and flexing replaced with more introspection than I thought Yung Lean capable of, combined with some of the best production that Whitearmor has offered on a more straightforward cloud trap release, bringing the more adventurous sounds and stylings of his peers Bladee and Ecco2k to create Lean's best album, and my favourite album from the Drain Gang this year.

6

"Agalma"

Drew McDowall

Dais

Drew McDowall's collaborations have spanned the globe, and this latest record of his seems to bring the bleakest, most quietly spine-tingling moments from all of them, creating an incredibly slow-burning (stop mocking me drone music fans) and unsettling experience, the modular synths helping to retain such an off-putting atmosphere that's morbidly intriguing, almost addictive. It's my favourite ambient album of the year, hands down. Or should I say hands pulling down on whatever that weird fleshy thing in the artwork is? Eurgh.

5

"SAWAYAMA"

Rina Sawayama

Dirty Hit

Pop. Album. Of. The. Year.

Rina is a queen, and for as much as everyone has their own pop preferences, it shouldn't surprise anyone that mine makes music that lands somewhere between Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit, and as not-exactly-great as either of those artists are, Rina takes the best of both worlds and smashes them together in a collision that's surprisingly seamless, the huge hooks and nu metal instrumentals fusing with ease, and honestly that description holds true for just about a fraction of the album, as she elsewhere explores just about every other popular genre from the last twenty years. As I said, queen.

4

"Set My Heart On Fire Immediately"

Perfume Genius

Matador

Managing to come through with probably the second most critically acclaimed album of the year, well y'all know I like silver better anyway right? Look, there's not much left to be said about this album, but to surmise this is (in my own proud words) Michael Hadreas channelling his oblique creativity into more acute avenues of experimentation, with songs that defy conventionality in subtler ways than before, eschewing traditional structure to highlight his powerful songwriting, but also layering up the instrumentals with some unusual elements here and there like the harpsichord on "Without You". It's gorgeous, full to the brim of emotion... but I prefer my albums with a bit of an edge...

3

"Visions Of Bodies Being Burned"

clipping.

Sub Pop

NO! Not edgy! When I said "edge", I DID NOT mean edgy, and clipping. are about the best possible band to demonstrate just what it is that I mean, their music being so thrillingly unique, it remains a wonder that more people don't hold it in such regard and, perhaps more relevantly, such high curiosity. No that isn't a phrase, but maybe it should be, as the horrorcore that clipping. have returned to has only become more wild and more weird. Horrorcore? I hear you ask, well, horrorcore is the pretty exclusive fusion of industrial hip hop and noise music, with themes that can only be described as existing within the "horror" genre, and there is really very little here that doesn't make me uneasy and grin at the same time, which I'd just about say means this album has achieved every goal, surpassing the trio's last album in this lane with less interruptive interludes, and more songs that blow me away for their incredible pacing, stronger hooks and broader variety of sounds.

2

"Little Dominiques Nosebleed"

The Koreatown Oddity

Stones Throw

My favourite rap album of the year, The Koreatown Oddity (emphasis on the odd) lives up to his name in making a record that's singular in his unique experience growing up, the car accidents that shaped his life as much as his neighbourhood and family, this record acting as an autobiography in which he focuses on all these relationships, community and experiences and the impact they have on him throughout his life. The jazz-rap instrumentals that back him have their own merit too, feeling just about as free spirited and peculiar as he is and standing out from every other album in this subgenre I've heard, especially this year, totally unconstrained by what the genre has been, focused only on complimenting the stories The Koreatown Oddity has to tell.

1

"To Love Is To Live"

Jehnny Beth

Independent

Why is this my favourite album of the year? Why this album, out of the fifty on this list, out of the hundreds of albums I rated and reviewed over the course of 2020? Well, it has everything.

Social relevance? Check. This album deals with what it's like to be a woman in a world controlled by men. A revolutionary spirit? Check. Jehnny proclaims her dissatisfaction with the world and the influences that have tried to shape her, to force her to fit a mould. Intimacy and instability? Check. For as confident as Jehnny is, she bears her soul to us, portrays her feelings as naked and pure, exposes her largest vulnerabilities and insecurities. Genre-bending? Ha, check. This album explodes whether it's channelling its anger into the raw noise punk of tracks like "I'm The Man" and "How Could You", whilst she delves into industrial, anguished pop on "Flower" and "Innocence", even thriving with a simple ballad in the form of "French Countryside" and jazz on the closing track "Human".

This is an album that spoke to me like no other, but it took me until making this list to realise it, my surprise when it beat out the albums at 2 through 5 perplexing me at first given how consistently I've loved all those releases, but I suppose it makes sense. What Jehnny Beth has done is stand out among so many albums that did similar things, and just by doing everything isn't what achieved that, if anything doing everything is what accounts for it being such a messy, scattered record. No, what makes this album special is how well it does all of those things, and the most important aspect to me is just how personal it is to her, and I suppose to me.

Anyway, thank you so much for making you way through all 50 of these albums, believe me if I could have chosen less I would have, but the amount of music I listened to this year gave me no choice, and in fact in my notes folder I actually have an (unordered) Top 100, I think showing just how ridiculous the amount of music I consumed over the year was. Regardless, I'm stoked to just have one list to go, I'll see you soon with my favourite songs of the year...

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