My 20 Favorite Albums of 2020

You can't write an intro to an end of 2020 list without paying some lip service to what a tumultuous year it was, but out of the three lists you'll be seeing over the next three days, this music roundup feels like the one that was affected the least by the pandemic.  Back at the beginning of everything, when most people assumed this whole COVID-19 thing would blow over in a few months (oh, how naive we were), there were some albums that got pushed back a few months, but once everyone realized we were going to be in it for the long haul, even those came out.

If anything, we got more music due to the pandemic, not less.  After all, Taylor Swift -- previously known for her rigid gaps between release dates -- put out two albums in the last five months.  And it wasn't just her, all over the map we saw artists dropping more music or putting out projects sooner than we expected.  While some used their newfound time due to canceled tours to supplement their income in creative ways, others simply got to work, and we got to reap the rewards.

Musicians weren't the only people with time on their hands either.  Between working remotely minimizing the amount of interruptions I experience during the day, and the lack of TV programming leading to lots of time needing something to occupy my ears while watching NBA games, I had many more opportunities to listen to music in 2020.  I tried to use that time to expand my horizons and listen to genres I've largely bypassed, like electronic music and emo, because I previously just didn't have the bandwidth to dive into a whole new world.  Naturally, this led to me feeling more overwhelmed than ever by the sheer amount of music there is out there just waiting to be heard.  Every year, there are albums I really want to get to that I don't end up spending time with before the deadline for this list, but it seemed to double this year.  Between the 10 million Griselda albums, the weekly deluge of Detroit rappers dropping Youtube loosies, and all the emo bands Ian Cohen recommends on Twitter, there is so much good stuff that didn't get my full attention.  So think of the list you're about to read as less definitive and more like a snapshot of my favorite things I managed to get to.

The rules: Everything is the same as usual.  The window of eligibility for this list is anything released between January 1, 2020 and now.  This list can include albums, mixtapes, EPs, and anything in between.  As always, I'm praying that nothing substantial comes out in the twilight hours of the year.


Honorable Mentions (25-21)
While Positions may not be as immediate as previous albums from Ariana Grande, it eventually reveals itself to be a rewarding set of slinky, mid-tempo songs of contentment.  Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever's unique lineup makes for excellent guitar-pop on Sideways to New Italy.  Mixing driving post-punk rhythms with mid-2000s UK rock, Silverbacks create a powerful blend on their debut album Fad.  On Magic Oneohtrix Point Never, electronic music darling Oneohtrix Point Never wanted to recreate the feeling of listening to an FM station throughout the day, but its exciting combo of analog and synthetic textures sound more like picking up on extraterrestrial radio.  Fetch the Bolt Cutters is appearing on every end of the year list for a reason -- Fiona Apple's return after eight years away is an excellent reintroduction to her nervy piano rhythms, jazzy vocal phrasings, and exposed-flesh lyricism.

20. Boldy James & The Alchemist - The Price of Tea in China

Detroit rapper Boldy James has been around for over a decade, but 2020 really felt like a coronation for him.  Between signing with Griselda Records, getting a spot on Big Sean's all-star Detroit posse cut "Friday Night Cypher," and his multiple acclaimed albums, everything was coming up Boldy this year.  The Price of Tea in China is a record of cold precision, 39 minutes of densely rhymed lyrics packed with crime fiction specific details, all rapped in James' laconic drawl.  That delivery could easily be mistaken for boredom, but his flat affect only adds to the immersive bleakness of the album.  Meanwhile, The Alchemist's nocturnal production matches him perfectly, providing space for Boldy's raps to snake into.  When the two of them are operating at the peak of their powers on a song like "Slow Roll," it's hard to think of anything more breathtaking.

Highlight songs

1. Speed Demon Freestyle

2. Slow Roll

3. Giant Slide

19. Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake

The idea of Eternal Atake existed in some form since the middle of 2018, after Lil Uzi Vert tweeted that it was coming soon, but after label troubles plagued him and he threatened to retire, it felt like people would never get it.  Though the wait was long, it was well worth it.  Eternal Atake starts like Uzi's been itching to be unleashed.  The first six tracks, which make up the Baby Pluto portion -- the album is broken up into three sections, one for each of his ill-defined alter egos -- are a hyperactive onslaught, from the motormouthed flow of "Silly Watch" to the demonic space gurgle of "POP."  Each of them are brilliant, chaotic gems that would be a mess if they weren't so infectious.  The other two-thirds may be less frenzied, but in exchange they're filled with gooey hooks that display Uzi's deft skill for turning anything into an earworm.  Eternal Atake sounds like a hyperspeed trek to another planet that only speaks in candy-coated melodies, and Lil Uzi Vert is our translator.  In his own words: "I live my life like a cartoon, reality is not the move."  Yeah, sounds about right.

Highlight songs

1. Homecoming

2. You Better Move

3. Silly Watch

18. Against All Logic - 2017 - 2019

There's so much music out there that there are just whole genres I have resolved myself to never get too into, because there isn't enough time.  But this year I decided to dip my toes into electronic music, and 2017 - 2019 was the highlight of my journey.  Nicolas Jaar has had a very prolific 2020, releasing three full-length albums, and while his two mainline records were too ambient for me, his work under the Against All Logic moniker hits the sweet spot.  Opening the album with "Fantasy," a great groove that samples Beyonce & Sean Paul's "Baby Boy," is just one of the many canny musical choices that populate the record.  Jaar simply has the ability to make things sound good.  The hi-hats are so crisp, the drums have that perfect snap, and you can feel some of the synth tones in your chest.  From the title of the album, you'd think these are just odds and ends, and the tonal variation would lend credence to that theory.  It can veer from the complex, smooth drum patterns of "With An Addict" to an abrasive banger like "If You Can't Do It Good, Do It Hard."  But despite that, 2017 - 2019 is surprisingly cohesive, and it comes together for remarkably satisfying listening.

Highlight songs

1. If Loving You Is Wrong

2. If You Can't Do It Good, Do It Hard

3. Fantasy

17. The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers

New Zealand quartet The Beths burst on the scene a couple of years ago with Future Me Hates Me, a head-spinning collection of down-the-middle power-pop fastballs.  They round themselves out on both ends for their sophomore album -- the buzzsaw guitars on opener "I'm Not Getting Excited" tease a harder direction, while they also go softer than they have before with dreamy, downtempo songs like the title track and "Do You Want Me Now."  There's an incredible chemistry in the band's interplay that's only gotten stronger this time around, a locked-in nature that finds itself at the exact midpoint between technical precision and playful spontaneity.  That results in 10 winsome songs with hooks so catchy they're almost annoying.  The Beths are such a well-oiled machine that you'd think Jump Rope Gazers was their fifth album instead of their second.

Highlight songs

1. Dying to Believe

2. I'm Not Getting Excited

3. Acrid

16. Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?

Ever since Jessie Ware broke out with her debut album Devotion in 2012, she's strayed away from the more experimental sounds that made that record so exciting and drifted towards a more buttoned-down, adult contemporary style.  That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as her sultry voice sounds good over pretty much anything, and Tough Love and Glasshouse were still great albums.  Nonetheless, her pivot to making pure dance music on What's Your Pleasure? was not just a delightful surprise, but a welcome change of pace.  It's an album full of throbbing, pulsating, undulating songs, building off of impeccable grooves that are a mix of deep house, disco, soul, and funk.  The production really stands out here, presenting an endless flurry of wild sounds that jump out at you -- those bugged out 80s synths on "Soul Control," that deep bassline on "Adore You," the sweeping strings on "Step Into My Life."  Together, all of these elements make What's Your Pleasure? a party you never want to end.

Highlight songs

1. Step Into My Life

2. Soul Control

3. Read My Lips

15. Samia - The Baby

2020 had some solid debut albums, but it was largely the established acts that dominated the conversation for the year's best records.  The one exception is The Baby, the first full-length from 23 year old singer-songwriter Samia.  One of the first things that pops out when listening to the record is her sharp writing, which is equal parts clever, bruising, and evocative.  The construction of this snippet in "Big Wheel" is a terrific example: "I got a lover in my bedroom / Or the smell of him at least / If he's somewhere getting smarter / On a free man's odyssey / God, I'm really gonna blow with all this empathetic shit / I understand the thing you did / And every reason you did it / But I'm so mad dude, and I wanna cry / I got bad news but I didn't fight."  What's impressive is how well the music keeps pace, wrapping these lyrics in smart, sophisticated sounds and elegant melodies.  This kind of plucky, polished instrumentation is the ideal indie pop that Spotify playlist makers are constantly trying to achieve, but here Samia actually reaches it, and it's all together in one package.  Listening to The Baby feels like the birth of a musician who's going to be exciting for years to come.

Highlight songs

1. Minnesota

2. Fit N Full

3. Stellate

14. Illuminati Hotties - Free I.H.: This is Not the One You've Been Waiting For

Back in July, a mysterious album from an unknown band called Occult Classic caused a stir when a Soundcloud link to it was tweeted out by bunch of different indie musicians.  Who was this band, everyone wondered, and why did the album sound so good?  It was quickly revealed to be the second album from Illuminati Hotties.  The antic energy of its release carries through to the actual album, which starts with a song called "will i get canceled if i write a song called 'if you were a man you would so get canceled'," which in turn starts with the line "let's smash to a podcast."  Free I.H. is big level up from the band's debut; many of the songs rip with attack dog guitars, showing a ferocity unseen before.  And they never stay on one idea for too long, best exemplified by "melatonezone," whose verses have a flamenco tinged energy before giving way to a psych-pop chorus.  Elsewhere, the zany "content//bedtime" throws everything but the kitchen sink at you and the chaos winds up being the most accurate representation of the stress of being terminally online.  From front to back Free I.H. is a total blast -- it may not be the album we've been waiting for, but it sure is fantastic anyway.

Highlight songs

1. content//bedtime

2. b yr own b

3. freequent letdown

13. Charli XCX - how i'm feeling now

Almost every album released towards the end of the year was a "pandemic album," but before we knew how long isolation would last, Charli XCX gave us one of the first albums entirely written and recorded during the lockdown.  how i'm feeling now was quite a bold entry into this new phase of our lives, immediately blasting us with the hyperpop sonic assault of "pink diamond."  Her fourth official album finds her still working with the PC Music collective, but she also opens the doors of her production cadre to new collaborators, most notably 100 gecs' Dylan Brady.  His metallic snares and experimental sensibilities have always felt indebted to PC Music, so he fits right in, contributing two of the best songs in "anthems" and "claws."  And Charli is still able to drop achingly sentimental songs like "forever" and "7 years" amid the synthetic clatter.  This is a restless, anxious album, so even some of the love songs are about the way contentment can curdle into worry if you let your mind stew enough.  In that way, how i'm feeling now felt like the perfect album at the perfect time: a maximalist dispatch that leaves us no room for other thoughts.

Highlight songs

1. anthems

2. claws

3. forever

12. Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter

With seven albums released in a span of 12 years, Laura Marling has already had quite an impressive career even though she's only 30.  You'd think with that kind of output she would be in autopilot mode by now.  But tell that to "Held Down," the second track on Song For Our Daughter and easily in the running for one of the best songs she's ever written.  It's a gorgeous, ambling track with layered background vocals that cascade with a breathtaking beauty.  Then there's the title track in the middle of the record, which serves as the emotional highpoint of the album.  "Lately I've been thinking about our daughter growing old / All of the bullshit that she might be told," she sings with a simple ruefulness.  There's something captivating and moving in every corner of the record, and with the tangled tunings and artful phrasings, her music can often feel like an artifact unearthed from a previous era.  At this point it shouldn't be surprising when Laura Marling pops out another great album, but somehow Song For Our Daughter is still disarmingly beautiful.

Highlight songs

1. Held Down

2. Song For Our Daughter

3. Hope We Meet Again

11. Destroyer - Have We Met

Dan Bejar exists in his own musical universe, and every few years he gives us an invitation into that world in the form of a beguiling and baffling new Destroyer album.  Have We Met finds Bejar as mysterious and experimental as ever, offering up songs that play like late night music for a barely populated lounge.  Most of the album dons a cloak of darkness, with the synths serving as a diffuse gossamer of atmosphere over Bejar's slithery vocals.  Occasionally, an acid-drenched guitar squeal or a deep bass pop will flash through haze.  Even the more upbeat, 80s leaning songs like "Crimson Tide" and "It Just Doesn't Happen" have a seedy, back alley saunter to them.  On top of that, Dan Bejar continues to be one of the best lyricists to ever do it, to the point where this blurb was initially just going to be hilarious, profound soundbites from the album.  Here's just one: "I find the silence unbearable....what does that say about the silence?"  What a joy to have another collection of poetic piss takes from Destroyer.

Highlight songs

1. It Just Doesn't Happen

2. Crimson Tide

3. The Man in Black's Blues

10. Soccer Mommy - color theory

Soccer Mommy's first official album Clean, the best record of 2018, was as good as debuts get, so she wisely took the "if it ain't broke" approach to her follow-up.  She already perfected a replication of the late 90s pop-rock sound on Clean, she's just doing it bigger, bolder and, well, cleaner on color theory, a wonderful HD upgrade on everything that makes Soccer Mommy's music great.  Her strength lies in her ability to lay complicated and painful emotions bare, and she does so beautifully on the opening couple of tracks.  "Bloodstream" takes the long view of her struggles with depression since childhood, while "Circle the Drain" zooms in on the minutiae of feeling depression on a moment-to-moment basis, and they make up two of the best songs about living with mental illness that I've heard.  The album could have been a joyless slog because of this, but Sophie Allison has a habit of writing these simple, beautiful vocal melodies that drill into your brain and make you want to keep returning.  Color Theory doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel, but it continues the momentum for an artist who already came out of the gate fully formed.

Highlight songs

1. Circle the Drain

2. Bloodstream

3. Royal Screw Up

9. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension

The last time Sufjan Stevens made an electronic album was 2010's divisive Age of Adz, which largely dealt with crises of faith and feeling spiritually unwell, made as a response to the intense physical and mental ailments that were plaguing him at the time.  His return to electronic sounds came 10 years later with this year's The Ascension, and it's only natural that it would be circling around those same ideas.  There's a quiet desperation that hangs over the entire album.  It's full of pleas and mantras like "tell me you love me," "I want to die happy, " "make me an offer I cannot refuse," and "run away with me."  Another song is an ode to the drug Ativan.  Needless to say, this is a heavy listen, and at 15 songs and 80 minutes, it's an overwhelming endurance experience.  But a few spins reveal this icy, crystalline collection of songs to be an overwhelming emotional experience as well.  The doe-eyed folk and Broadway-meets-post rock bombast may be the modes that diehards love Sufjan operating in, but his electronic side allows him to mine terrain that's just as rewarding.

Highlight songs

1. Tell Me You Love Me

2. Ursa Major

3. Landslide

8. Fleet Foxes - Shore

I'm not ashamed to admit that sometimes even I get things wrong.  It could have been bad timing or something wrong with my brain, but when Fleet Foxes put out Shore at the end of September, I struggled with it for my first few listens and put it aside in favor of other albums I was immediately vibing with.  At the last minute, I had a major turnaround on this record and completely fell in love with it, forcing me to rework this list.  Maybe it was the simplification of the band's sound after the thick, labyrinthine arrangements of Crack-Up that caught me off guard, but the straightforward beauty of Shore bowls me over now.  In untangling the sound of the previous record they trade density for expansiveness, adding new tools to their baroque folk repertoire.  With a more prominent use of horns and brighter, poppier vocals from Robin Pecknold, some of the songs take on a Philadelphia soul-esque sweep.  And the clear production allows for the ornate instrumentation to ring out so far and loud it's goosebump inducing.  I should not have doubted them.  Fleet Foxes have yet to put out anything that isn't brilliant.

Highlight songs

1. A Long Way Past the Past

2. Sunblind

3. Going-to-the-Sun Road

7. Run the Jewels - RTJ4

Nobody who was around for the early days of the Killer Mike and El-P partnership could have ever imagined that it would be this long and fruitful, but here we are.  Part of their success comes from their ability to meet the moment.  Released shortly after the murder of George Floyd in the middle of the year, RTJ4, like all the duo's albums, felt like exactly what we needed at the time.  How could you hear the teeth-rattling blat of "Yankee and the Brave" and not imagine it soundtracking the apocalypse?  Does the jittery "Goonies vs. E.T." not match the constant anxiety of everyday existence?  And does anybody else feel oddly comforted by the sinister hum of "Never Look Back"?  But the staying power of the album comes from its timelessness.  There's no expiration date on the box cutter sharp, tongue-twisting rhymes Killer Mike and El-P trade over the latter's galaxy-expanding production.  At this point Run the Jewels aren't just a rap group, they're also a brand.  And the brand is strong, people.

Highlight songs

1. ooh la la (feat. Greg Nice & DJ Premier)

2. out of sight (feat. 2 Chainz)

3. holy calamafuck

6. Ratboys - Printer's Devil

After the release of their second album GN, Ratboys toured with alot of rock bands like PUP and Pet Symmetry, which necessitated a beefing up of their live sound to mesh with the acts they opened for.   So when it came time to record their third album, this year's excellent Printer's Devil, the harder and louder approach came naturally to them.  Songs like album opener "Alien With a Sleep Mask On" and its follow up "Look To" snap and crunch accordingly with fuzzy guitars and drums high in the mix.  There are elements in the band's toolkit that set them apart form the rest of the bands in their class though, most notably lead singer Julia Steiner's comforting coo, which wraps around the melody of song-of-the-year contender "Anj" at the midpoint of the album like a heavy blanket.  That voice pairs well with the album's lyrics, which elevate past the genre's now-rote musings on mental health to tell off-kilter stories that bristle with a warmth and aching sense of nostalgia.  The band also allows for some great sonic curveballs, as they do on "Victorian Slumhouse," which swaggers along with an almost honky tonk stomp.  Printer's Devil packs so much surprise in such a small album.  It came out way back in February and has only become more rewarding with each passing month.

Highlight songs

1. Anj

2. Victorian Slumhouse

3. My Hands Grow

5. The Strokes - The New Abnormal

As a band, you never want to get to the "their best since..." phase of your career.  Usually that statement gets reserved for acts whose glory days are behind them and have put out a few duds, then they release something that isn't quite as good as their golden age, but is enough of a reminder of those heights that fans say "This is their best album since...."  It's a little unfair that The Strokes have gotten saddled with this reputation, because all of their albums since 2003's Room on Fire have been pretty good, but The New Abnormal really does feel like a step up from the band's past few offerings.  They move from strength to strength all over the album, with the snaking twin guitar lines of "The Adults Are Talking," the moody Julian Casablancas crooning of "Not the Same Anymore," and some playful nods to rock songs of the past on "Bad Decisions" and "Eternal Summer."  When so many of the tracks sail past the five minute mark, some might call it bloated, but it's hard to be mad at the boys for being indulgent when they're operating at such a high level.  So yes, this is their best since Room on Fire, but that's more about how good The New Abnormal is than it is about The Strokes falling off.

Highlight songs

1. Why Are Sundays So Depressing?

2. Not the Same Anymore

3. The Adults Are Talking

4. Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud

Katie Crutchfield has always been very open about her love of Lucinda Williams, but aside from a few songs on her own albums and her unmistakable Alabama twang, she's never fully embraced her country-loving spirit.  This year she finally greeted it with open arms on her fifth album, complete with a new backing band who load the arrangements with bright, rootsy guitars that really open up her formidable melodic instincts.  Saint Cloud is the product of many life changes from Crutchfield, including getting sober and settling into domesticity, and the songs are laced with a newfound wisdom that comes with getting out of the storm of your 20s.  Even the tracks on here that tackle darker subjects have a bit of a lightness to them.  That's not to say the album is lacking the tension that's always animated Waxahatchee songs, it's just that it's about transitioning to the idea of being happier while still acknowledging that the work to be done on yourself is never over.  To sum it up in her own words: "I'm wiser and slow and attuned."  And she turns that feeling into gorgeous, emotive songs on Saint Cloud.

Highlight songs

1. The Eye

2. War

3. Lilacs

3. Sada Baby's entire 2020 output

Detroit knucklehead sensation Sada Baby has been on a hell of a run. Between January and July, he released three mixtapes (Brolik, Skuba Sada 2, Bartier Bounty 2) that had a combined total of 45 songs, not to mention the dozens of loosies and feature verses he's racked up this year.  And this is all after he released two mixtapes totaling 41 songs last year.  So yes, he's been very prolific, even considering the fact that he exists in a genre where everyone these days is productive.  With that kind of output, it would be easy to get sick of an artist, but thankfully Sada Baby's music is so funny, spasmodic, and relistenable that he hasn't worn out his welcome yet.  Largely unconcerned with the goopy mood music that's overtaken rap music, he just bears down and offers a relentless stream of rapping, tossing a dizzying amount of entertaining bars at the listener.  As long as his heart doesn't give out, let's hope he keeps this pace up for as long as possible.

Highlight songs

1. Funky Kong (Bartier Bounty 2)

2. The Big Red Whoop (Brolik)

3. Off White Whoop (Skuba Sada 2)

2. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

After a promising but repetitive debut in 2017, and then impressive back-to-back collaborative records in 2018 and 2019, Phoebe Bridgers showed enough potential to back up her status as indie rock's new favorite artist. 2020 was a total level up for her though, completely making good on that potential and more.  Punisher finds her in league with some of the best indie artists of the last 20 years.  She channels Elliott Smith on "Punisher" (ironically, a song that's sort of about him).  And she's the only Sufjan Stevens-inspired artist to try her hand at almost all of his styles, from the banjo plucking of Seven Swans on "Graceland Too," to the orchestral bombast of Illinois on "I Know the End," to the haunting starkness of Carrie & Lowell on "Halloween."  But she blends the spot-the-influence moments into something wholly new and of its own, specifically because of the spaciousness of her arrangements and the spark of her lyrics.  Every song is overflowing with witty one-liners and conversational details that feel so invigorating to take in.  She'll follow a bleak musing with a smirking half-joke, and sometimes fit those smirking half-jokes within the bleak musings.  That kind of deft emotional balance is one of the many things that makes Punisher such a killer album.

Highlight songs

1. Halloween

2. Savior Complex

3. Kyoto

1. Taylor Swift - folklore / evermore

2020 was an upside down year in general, so in retrospect it seems only natural that Taylor Swift -- queen of the fall release -- would shake things up and surprise drop an album in the summer.  Ironically, folklore might be her must autumnal release yet.  On her eighth record, the 31 year-old songwriter trades in her signature sticky pop songs for stately and stripped down tunes, most of which were produced by The National's Aaron Dessner.  But it's less of the "Taylor goes indie" moment the announcement and album art made it out to be, and more like another example of the chameleon traits she's always possessed, constantly bending sounds around her strengths.  She's still spinning out canny, mathematical song structures and fragrant lyrics, this time doing so with wise musings on time, lives unlived, and the stories that make up your own personal history.  Now she's just doing it over some of the best sounding instrumentals she's had in her career.  folklore shows that there really is no new or old Taylor Swift, just one musician on a thrilling creative journey.

...And then she went ahead and did it again five months later, releasing evermore just a few weeks ago.  This entry was initially written before Taylor Swift dropped a second 2020 album on us, but it's such a superb record that it deserves a placement on the list as well.  It's only right for folklore and evermore to share a spot on the list because they truly do play like companions to one another, not just in sound but the way the themes feel in conversation with each other and how individual songs on each act as mirrors of one another.  Working almost exclusively with Dessner on this album, the songs on evermore dive deeper into the delicately adorned arrangements and short story format of its predecessor.  The results may not match the euphoric highpoints of folklore but it might be the more consistent, emotionally potent record.  Each of them would individually be the number one album of the year on their own, but together they prove that Taylor Swift was operating on a completely different level than every other musician in 2020.

Highlight songs

1. Invisible String (folklore)

2. August (folklore)

3. Peace (folklore)

4. Dorothea (evermore)

5. Happiness (evermore)

6. 'Tis the Damn Season (evermore)

Well, that wraps things up for my best albums of 2020 list.  I love reading other lists, so feel free to share yours in the comments.  Or if you want to share your thoughts on my list, then you can do that too!  Most of the highlight songs contain Youtube links if you want to listen to them, but I've also created a Spotify playlist if that's your preferred method.  You can find it below.  And if you want a complete ranking of all the albums that were in consideration for this list, along with some other data you might find interesting, you can find them on this Google Doc.

Previous lists
2019

2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013