Albums of 2020

[Dunning1874]

On 11/12/2020 at 00:22, Brilliantdisguise said:

On 08/12/2020 at 17:01, Dunning1874 said:

Seeing a couple of people mention Creeper in here, those who like them probably already know about it but if you haven't already then check out Salem, Will Gould's side project. If I was including EPs in my albums of the year their self-titled would be number one, with Zeal & Ardor's Wake of a Nation second.
However as EPs don't count, here's the 20:
20. Garganjua - Toward The Sun
19. Midnight - Rebirth By Blasphemy
18. Cerebral Desecration - Further Than The Bottom
17. Mr Bungle - The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
16. DRAIN - California Cursed
15. Gaerea - Limbo
14. Annihilator - Ballistic, Sadistic
13. Pallbearer - Forgotten Days
12. Lamb of God - Lamb of God
11. Beneath The Massacre - Fearmonger
10. God Dethroned - Illuminati 
9. Bleed From Within - Fracture
8. Napalm Death - Throes of Joy In The Jaws of Defeatism
7. Sharptooth - Transitional Forms
6. Irist - Order of the Mind
5. Deftones - Ohms
4. Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment
3. Code Orange - Underneath
2. Trivium - What The Dead Men Say
1. Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?
 

You've just made these band names and albums up. Not one have I heard of. Not a fan of mainstream music?

As you'll guess, rock/metal/hardcore is where my taste primarily lies. Discounting the most mainstream band which made it into the list in Deftones, the big artists in that bracket that released albums this year were Ozzy Osbourne - some surprisingly good songs considering his age but also far too many painfully forced efforts at relevance to be considered a good album overall - and AC/DC, who were very much just there and doing songs that sound like a considerably less good version of their heyday.

I do obviously listen to things outwith my comfort zone but of the more notable mainstream things I heard there, RTJ4 was in the category of me understanding why people love it so much and really enjoying some individual songs on it - JU$T and Pulling The Pin especially are incredible -  but not being enough of a modern hip hop fan to enjoy repeat listens of the full album I couldn't say it's one of my favourites, and I will always love Public Enemy for their early material but if we're being honest What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down is as much of a scramble for relevance as AC/DC still trying to make music.

[vikingTON]

On 11/12/2020 at 10:44, Thereisalight.. said:

Sea Girls, Amy MacDonald, Haim, Alanis Morrisette, Taylor Swift would be my top 5 albums this year. Gave Steps a listen the other day and tbf to them it’s pop gold

[Dan Steele]

My two albums of this year:

It's Only Us by Monophonics 

Deleted Scenes by Once and Future Band.

First one is current soul but could be from the 70s, second one also has a bit of a retro thing going on. Both excellent.

 

 

[G-MAN]

Muzz - Muzz
Nation of Language - Introduction, Presence
Bdrmm - Bedroom
A Certain Ratio - ACR Loco
Doves - The Universal Want

[Jimi Shandrix]

Favourite albums of 2020

Keeley Forsyth - Debris

Peel Dream Magazine - Agitprop Alterna

Robert Farrugia - Worn

Favourite Compilation of 2020

Whispers Lounge 

Favourite Reissue of 2020

Robbie Basho - Visions Of The Country

 

[BallochSonsFan]

Just listening to my christmas albums to finalise my 2020 list. Isnt going to be particularly extensive. I havent bought that much music this year, probably driven by a lack of gigs reminding me of the year's new releases. What I have noticed this year is that more of the vinyl I've bought hasn't included MP3 download codes than the albums that have. I try and buy from independent stores when I can (Assai in Dundee and Reflex in Newcastle if I'm down visiting family), but the lack of MP3 downloads may well force me to order from Amazon in the future. We buy vinyl because they sound great but I like the convenience of MP3 as well. I can stick the MP3 version on when I'm on my PC late night/early morning and have headphones on. I like the convenience of being able to stick a playlist together if I'm going out (admittedly not really an issue this year). If Amazon are going to continue to offer an MP3 download with anything ordered via them then unfortunately money will talk. For the cost of downloading MP3s of my Christmas vinyl this year, I could buy another 2 albums. 

Vinyl sales have overtaken CD sales. There's definitely a growing market for vinyl that isnt showing signs of slowing down but I'd hate to see the consideration that record labels gave to vinyl buyers in the early days of the vinyl revival being replaced by blatant profiteering.

[BallochSonsFan]

Alright. Best of 2020.

Stand out album of the year for me was 'Saint Cloud' by Waxahatchee. A really strong album with great lyrics and plenty of hooks. It's a bit of an outlier because it isnt an Americana album despite a load of reviewers commenting that its a return to Waxahatchee's Americana roots. For me she never had Americana roots and her earlier albums were pure lo-fi indie. 

Other albums I've rated this year:

Reunions - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Classy album by a fantastic songwriter and his tight band.

Total Freedom - Kathleen Edwards. A very welcome return from the Canadian singer/songwriter.

Old Flowers - Courtney Marie Andrews. Not an easy listen. It's a very emotionally raw album. If you're in the right frame of mind for it then it's rawness can be really beautiful, but not one to listen to if you're feeling low.

My Echo - Laura Veirs. It's Laura Veirs. She's just an excellent songwriter.

Off Off On - This Is The Kit. Kate Stables and co just can't really do wrong for me. Another set of modern folk music that avoids being twee. 

The Unravelling - Drive By Truckers. Again not much to be said. It's Drive By Truckers. Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley are very good at angry, purposeful, southern rock music.

U Kin B The Sun - Frazey Ford. My vinyl copy is missing my favourite song. For some reason the track 'The Kids Are Having None Of It' is on all the website tracklistings and on the digital download services but isnt on my vinyl copy. That frustration aside, it's a really great album by a musician who is at her best when she can deliver the kind of music that she loves rather than being constrained by the boundaries of her previous band. I loved Be Good Tanyas, but Frazey's solo material feels more personal and benefits hugely from that.

Thats How Rumours Get Started - Margo Price. Another fine album that establishes Price as a modern day Americana heavyweight.

Walking Proof - Lilly Hiatt. Always difficult for the children of musicians to get the credit they deserve without being seen as the son or daughter of so and so. Lilly continues to make great Americana with a sometimes rocky edge.

Un, Deux, Trois - Juniore. Infectious garage rock with a 60s French beat/ye-ye vibe. 

 

I can't have Larkin Poe in my best of. Not a terrible album by any stretch, but not really a stand out. It's good. It's what I've come to expect from them. I'd probably have had the Steve Earle album in my list if I'd got a copy. I'll probably buy it early 2021 along with his tribute album to his son Justin.

Disappointment is probably Homegrown by Neil Young. Some absolutely fantastic songs on the record, but in amongst a fair bit of filler. As many great tracks as duds. I'm also going to put Lucinda Williams' effort 'Good Souls Better Angels' down as a misfire. I love Lucinda but her voice is going. Its a decent enough album but not a great one - and Lucinda Williams used to release great albums.

We've lost a lot of musicians in 2020. Justin Townes Earle was an absolutely tragic loss. Saw him last year and he looked absolutely out of it on stage. Still delivered a very good set in Oran Mor, but he was agitated on stage (admittedly he often was regardless of any chemical assistance). Some of what he was saying suggested that he was struggling with married life and fatherhood. Cause of death was confirmed as an accidental overdose and that there was Fentanyl in his system along with other drugs. Saint of Lost Causes wasn't his strongest album, but it had it's moments. His overall catalogue of work had some absolute gems and at 38 he had so much still ahead of him. He just couldn't beat his demons or his addictions.

Hero of 2020? A lot of artists have done live streams during lockdown. It wasnt entirely altruistic - a lot of people were trying as best they could to earn a little money through donations from fans in a time when their livelihoods were under massive threat. From a personal viewpoint I took an awful lot of enjoyment from the streams of Carter Sampson. She started doing a daily stream monday to friday where she'd combine some music with some poetry and book readings, always featuring a lot of Shel Silverstein. She must have done about 8 weeks worth of those daily shows before easing back over the summer. She still does a few online shows to this day, available for free on Facebook. In the early days of lockdown when there was a lot of uncertainty about when things would start to improve, I absolutely loved my daily dose of Carter Sampson. I've seen her live a load of times so I was always going to enjoy her streamed sets. The shows were really personal to her and whether she had a couple of hundred logged on or a couple of dozen, she gave us a little daily dose of entertainment. It was something to look forward to when there wasnt a whole lot to look forward to at times.

Villains of the year - the record industry. Vinyl sales overtook CD sales. It's clear that we now really have 2 formats for music: Digital and Vinyl. CD sales will continue to dwindle. I dislike streaming services from a point of principle. Musicians don't get anything like the financial rewards that they should from subscription streaming services. Digital download sales aren't great either, so credit should go to Bandcamp for their regular monthly Friday campaign where they took no sales commission and every penny from each sale went to the artists. All of that said, MP3s are still the most convenient way for me to listen to music and I like the flexibility to take my music with me without worrying about data allowances or connections on a mobile. Another point of principle for me is supporting independent stores. I don't think you can beat the service that you get at the likes of Assai in Dundee or Reflex in Newcastle. Unfortunately far more albums I've bought were missing a download code for the MP3 version of an album. It was common in the early days of the vinyl revival for albums to include a  MP3 download. It seems as if it's now the exception. Thats a problem because at £20+ per album, I don't expect to have to pay another £7 or £8 for the convenience of having the album as a set of MP3 files. I want the quality of vinyl and the convenience of MP3. At £20+ an album, I don't think it's too much to expect. Unfortunately it is the kind of thing that'll force me away from independent stores and towards Amazon. Most Amazon purchases come with immediate access to a downloadable copy of the album in MP3 format. Its no longer a question of paying a couple of quid more for the album from an independent store - it's now a couple of quid for the vinyl and then the cost of the MP3 download. Takes you up to near a tenner difference. Add in the convenience of Amazon Prime delivery and the choice of genres that the indies can't match? I'll hate doing it but the MP3 download is worth more to me than an indie-exclusive coloured vinyl version.  Record companies are looking to make more money from fans and it'll be at the cost of independent stores.

Live music? There wasn't a whole lot of it this year, but highlights during Celtic Connections were Tyler Childers and the exceptional Felice Brothers. Frazey Ford and Milk Carton Kids were also very good, but it was Felice Brothers who were absolute stand-outs. Their explosive show at St Lukes was exceptional and would be right up there for me in any year of live music, never mind the horror show that was 2020. Of the support acts I caught at the festival, The Local Honeys were really good and Teilhard Frost was an unexpected highlight. Amanda Ann Platt and the Honeycutters were good and Della Mae were decent. Danni Nichols was a real disappointment and falls foul of a lot of English artists who try and do Americana. She just didnt deliver anything that captured the feel of Americana - it was all just a bit too Radio 2. Bland to the point of being offensive. A stark contrast to the terribly named, but very talented Midnight Skyracer, who could have passed for a genuine American bluegrass band until they chatted between tracks. I was hugely disappointed by Kacy and Clayton. I really like what I've heard of them on record but things just werent right when they played the CCA. Kacy was in an absolute pisser of a mood and I was convinced that she was going to give up and walk off. TBH I'd have respected her a bit more if she had just apologised to the audience and walked. Instead we were subjected to an utterly disinterested performance from Kacy to the point where her cousin Clayton actually looked embarrassed. I get that people have off nights but that was just awful. 

 

Not the 2020 music fans wanted and I'm not convinced that we'll see many improvements in 2021. Best I'm hoping for is a move to something closer to normal around October and hopefully a storming start to 2022 with Celtic Connections returning with a bang.

Edited December 29, 2020 by BallochSonsFan

[Yoss]

4 hours ago, BallochSonsFan said:

Just listening to my christmas albums to finalise my 2020 list. Isnt going to be particularly extensive. I havent bought that much music this year, probably driven by a lack of gigs reminding me of the year's new releases.

Yeah, very much this - it hasn't felt like a vintage year, certainly in comparison to the past couple of years. But then thinking through my favourite records of those previous years, so many of them are bands I gained greater appreciation of by seeing them live, or in a couple of cases only discovered them that way.

Thus year I'm struggling to think of anything that really deserves an album of the year accolade, but I'll probably say Helena Deland and Jerskin Fendrix as the pick of them.

On the plus side, there's a Pom Poko album out in a couple of weeks.

[Academically Deficient]

On 12/12/2020 at 20:35, Dunning1874 said:

 

Quick question: are Bleed From Within Scottish?

I might have been right next door to them at a rehearsal studio once. 

 

[Dunning1874]

2 minutes ago, Academically Deficient said:

Quick question: are Bleed From Within Scottish?

I might have been right next door to them at a rehearsal studio once. 

 

Aye, all from Glasgow.

[Academically Deficient]

29 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

Aye, all from Glasgow.

Ta. I had misheard their name as Bleeding from Within. Just wanted to check.

They're pretty loud either way

[Savage Henry]

My top ten.  Not much I’m really in love with, to be frank, but Cut Worms utterly unoriginal album provided precisely the hooks and to tapping the year was crying out fot.  
 

1. Cut Worms - Nobody Lives Here Anymore
2. Bad Moves - Untenable
3. Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways
4. Lonnie Holley - National Freedom
5. Fontaines D.C - A Hero’s Death
6. Sweet Spirit - Trinidad
7. Mourning (A) Blkstar -  The Cycle
8. Algiers - There Is No Year
9. Drive By Truckers - The Unravelling
10.Paisley Fields - Electric Park Ballroom

[yoda]

Struggling to think of any standout albums this year (certainly compared to last year, where I struggled to narrow down a top five favourites) but I've returned to The Orielles' Disco Volador on a semi-regular basis recently.  So on that basis it's my album of the year, I guess.

It's a strange situation given how the year has panned out but I don't feel like I've listened to much new stuff in 2020.

[Jimi Shandrix]

3 hours ago, Andrew Driver said:

Did you try Ryan Adams - Wednesdays album?   

 

Will he ever make another album that even touches on the greatness of "Strangers Almanac"?

[Nelly78]

Like some others, I've listened to a heck of a lot of older stuff, that's new to me this year - Matt Mys and El Torpedo, David Ramirez's older stuff etc.  My top 10 for this year  I think are:

1. The Airborne Toxic Event - Hollywood Park
2. Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You
3. Jon Snodgrass - Tace
4. Brian Fallon - Local Honey
5. American Aquarium - Lamentations
6. 13 Crowes - Solway Star
7. Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone
8. Northcote - Let Me Roar
9. Will Hoge - Tiny Little Movies
10. Nathan Gray - Working Title

A few just missing out including Cold Years (EP's were so much better than the rather generic rock album), Tide Lines, Sadler Vaden, Andrew Bryant and Kurt Baker.

Think I'll give the Drive-By Truckers and Cut Worms albums a listen to soon, as haven't heard them yet.   

 

[Code-a]

Top 10 albums of last year

DMA's - The Glow

Working Mens Club - Working Mens Club

Red Rum Club - The Hollow Of Humdrum

Man Of Moon - Dark Sea

Medicine Men - A Different Port

Ist Ist - Architecture

Moby - All Visible Objects

The Blinders - Fantasies Of A Stay At Home Psycopath

Tame Impala - The Slow Truth

Doves - The Universal Want

[pozbaird]

16 hours ago, Nelly78 said:

Like some others, I've listened to a heck of a lot of older stuff, that's new to me this year - Matt Mys and El Torpedo, David Ramirez's older stuff etc.  My top 10 for this year  I think are:

1. The Airborne Toxic Event - Hollywood Park
2. Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You
3. Jon Snodgrass - Tace
4. Brian Fallon - Local Honey
5. American Aquarium - Lamentations
6. 13 Crowes - Solway Star
7. Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone
8. Northcote - Let Me Roar
9. Will Hoge - Tiny Little Movies
10. Nathan Gray - Working Title

A few just missing out including Cold Years (EP's were so much better than the rather generic rock album), Tide Lines, Sadler Vaden, Andrew Bryant and Kurt Baker.

Think I'll give the Drive-By Truckers and Cut Worms albums a listen to soon, as haven't heard them yet.   

 

Absolutely love Will Hoge. Have a greeny. I pretty much have a USB in the car with his entire catalogue on it playing on loop.

Albums I have enjoyed in 2020 have included ‘On Sunset’ by Paul Weller, ‘Hey Clockface’ by Elvis Costello, ‘Strange Days’ by The Struts... and a ton more.

[GrahamJags]

Unlike others on here, I listened to more new music in 2020 than any other year, and was impressed at how many albums I loved were released. The only pisser was that I couldn't get to see many/any of them live. Whittling to a top 10 was difficult, but ended up with:

1. Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers

2. Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You

3. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

4. Pottery - Welcome To Bobby's Motel

5. Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways

6. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia

7. Daniel Romano - How Ill Thy World Is Ordered

8. Cut Worms - Nobody Lives Here Anymore

9. Fleet Foxes - Shore

10. Perfume Genius - Set My Heart On Fire Immediately

Special shout out to Daniel Romano who released umpteen albums last year, the majority of which were excellent. Disappointment of the year was the Tame Impala record, which I couldn't get into at all.

[JayCrawford]

Lol, good music still exists? Last time I checked the 80s were the last great decade for music

[Quiet Riot]

On 08/12/2020 at 17:01, Dunning1874 said:

Seeing a couple of people mention Creeper in here, those who like them probably already know about it but if you haven't already then check out Salem, Will Gould's side project. If I was including EPs in my albums of the year their self-titled would be number one, with Zeal & Ardor's Wake of a Nation second.

However as EPs don't count, here's the 20:

20. Garganjua - Toward The Sun
19. Midnight - Rebirth By Blasphemy
18. Cerebral Desecration - Further Than The Bottom
17. Mr Bungle - The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
16. DRAIN - California Cursed
15. Gaerea - Limbo
14. Annihilator - Ballistic, Sadistic
13. Pallbearer - Forgotten Days
12. Lamb of God - Lamb of God
11. Beneath The Massacre - Fearmonger
10. God Dethroned - Illuminati 
9. Bleed From Within - Fracture
8. Napalm Death - Throes of Joy In The Jaws of Defeatism
7. Sharptooth - Transitional Forms
6. Irist - Order of the Mind
5. Deftones - Ohms
4. Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment
3. Code Orange - Underneath
2. Trivium - What The Dead Men Say
1. Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?

 

Are Napalm Death still about?  I was listening to them when I was at school  in the eighties.  How many drummers have they had now?  Sure they were into double figures back then.

On topic, only know of two albums from 2020:

Alestorm - Curse of the Crystal Coconut.  Heard some of it on YouTube.  Won't be buying despite owning all of Alestorm's previous. Nowhere near their usual standard.

Lovebites - Electric Pentagram. The album as a whole isn't great but it has some real stand out tunes, including this one that Lemmy would be proud of.