Last call for the Tildes best music of 2020 roundup
The first roundup thread is right here.
This is the last thread before I make the playlists. If you've got any 2020 albums to share that didn't end up in the last roundup, please share them here in the new thread. Any album you like enough to spin repeatedly or buy released in 2020 should make this list. We're not collecting enough votes to matter on the albums, so don't worry about sharing multiple albums in a single comment this time. Plug as many as you like.
Since we're past Jan 1st, all the other music publications have their bestofs out there, and many forums and websites have long threads with people sharing their favorite records. I'd also appreciate links to any of those lists or threads you've found where people are sharing their favorite albums. Just leave them in the comments and don't worry if it gets messy, I'm quite used to it. :)
I'll let this float for a week to collect any late submissions and then build the final list with links for easy listening.
The final set will look something like this.
My personal favorites of 2020:
(off the top of my head, so I will likely be forgetting a bunch. in no particular order):
Orville Peck - Show Pony
Amazing oldschool country ballads. Awesome to see Shania join him for a track too. I ❤️ me my gay, Canadian, masked, fabulously dressed, cowboy troubadour. :)
Fleet Foxes - Shore
Their self-titled debut album is at the very tippy top of my all-time favorite albums list. Their next two albums were a bit hit or miss for me though. However, Shore finally hit me the same way their debut did, and I have listened to it numerous times, all the way through, since release.
Stone Temple Pilots - Perdida
My God it's been a rough, rocky road for STP the past decade. First Scott Weiland, then Chester Bennington. RIP both. Jeff Gutt has taken up the reigns admirably though. Their last self-titled album, and now Perdida were both great.
AnnenMayKantereit - 12
I have been a massive fan of AMK since I first saw a busking video of them improvising a song on the fly 8 years ago. Since then they have released amazing coversong after amazing coversong, single after single, and album after album. And despite not knowing a lick of German, I still love listening to everything they put out. Henning May's voice is just so. fucking. sexy!
Sa-Roc - The Sharecropper's Daughter
Brilliant. Banger after banger. Sa-Roc is easily my favorite female MC these days.
(p.s. Her recent NPR Tiny Desk was fucking amazing too!)
Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Cliche to pick this, I know, but it really is brilliant and I have listened to it more times than I can count since release.
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Politically relevant, solid as ever. RTJ is seemingly incapable of making a bad album.
Mac Miller - Circles
I had not listened to anything from Mac Miller until I saw his amazing NPR Tiny desk which totally blew me away, and immediately had me binging all his previous albums. Sadly, he then died a month after that NPR performance, which broke my heart to hear. Circles is an absolutely wonderful posthumous album, and fitting final release though, IMO.
Hayley Williams - Petals For Armor
I have always had a soft spot for Hayley, starting in her early Paramore days, but this solo album is just so much better than anything she has ever put out before, IMO. It's mature, beautiful, and perfectly showcases just how amazing a musician she has developed into.
Edit: Will add more here if I think of any.
The Songs of Supergiant Games: The 10th Anniversary Orchestral Collection
Supergiant games' soundtracks were already some of my absolute favorites, but this new orchestral album just takes it to the next level. It's genuinely beautiful.
DakhaBrakha - Alambari
Ukrainian folk fused with a bizarre mix of dark cabaret, jazz, and blues. Pure genius! I fell in love with them when they appeared on Tiny Desk quite a few years ago, and I have been a fan ever since. I was only made aware of this new album thanks to them appearing on Tiny Desk again yesterday, but I have already listened to the album in its entirety twice since then, and it will probably get many more plays from me over the coming years.
Hi, DAE jazz?
Bill Laurance Trio - Live At Ronnie Scott's - Snarky Puppy pianist goes acoustic with a trio at the famous jazz club in London.
Tracks: The Pines, Chia
Dezron Douglas and Brandee Younger - Force Majeure - perhaps the definitive jazz album of the COVID era. These harp and bass duets were recorded during weekly livestreams in the spring and summer. The set list includes a couple of originals and covers of John Coltrane, Gil Scott-Heron, the Jackson 5 and more. The performances are deeply spiritual and soothing.
tracks: Toilet Paper Romance, Sing
Stein Urheim - Downhill Uplift - expansive Norwegian jazz with an Americana vibe and lots of twangy guitar.
tracks: Brave New World Revisited Again, Poor Moon
Aaron Parks - Little Big II: Dreams Of A Mechanical Man
From the description on Bandcamp: This new music continues the band’s cultivation of a musical language that marries creative improvised music to more groove-centered music—electronica, indie-rock, hip-hop, and psychedelia—but without a trace of mannered “fusion” or a sense that the music is cobbled together from disparate styles."
tracks: Here, Friendo
Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra - If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours - big band from Norway that can peel the paint of the walls. Perfectly controlled jazz chaos with hints of Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Ellis, Ornette Coleman, and an overall huge and wild sound.
tracks: Premium Processing Fee, Battleknott Elastic Circle, Teppen Dance (note: this album rewards a full listen more than sampling short stretches)
Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad with Roy Ayers - Jazz Is Dead 2 - producers Younge and Shaheed Muhammad (of A Tribe Called Quest) released a series of "Jazz Is Dead" albums in 2020 with some all star collaborators. I have heard three of the five; the second installment with vibraphonist and jazz/funk legend Roy Ayers is my favorite so far. Deep acid jazz, r&b and funk.
tracks: Synchronize Vibration, Hey Lover, Sunflowers
Circles Around the Sun (self-titled) - groovadelic instrumental jazz/rock from California based supergroup. Lots of synths and guitar with some electronic flourishes, as the songs are constructed over programmed drum loops. Fitting with the California origin, these songs exude sunshine. These are the final recordings of guitarist Neal Casal, who died by suicide shortly after recording his tracks in 2019.
tracks: Money's No Option, Babyman, You Gotta Start Somewhere
honorable mentions:
Vinny Golia, Henry Kaiser, Mike Watt, Wayne Peet, John Hanrahan - A Love Supreme Electric
Irreversible Entaglements - Who Sent You?
New Orleans Nightcrawlers - Atmosphere
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Just Coolin'
Lakecia Benjamin - Pursuance: The Coltranes
Jeff Parker - Suite For Max Brown
Roots Magic - Take Root Among The Stars
Stephane Wrembel - The Django Experiment V
Shabaka and the Ancestors - We Are Sent Here By History
I've been waiting for your list, it's always a treat. Thanks again old friend. <3