B&C's 2020 Albums of the Year Thread

[cobl04]

I'll have a list coming through as well.

 

[gump]

B&C's 2020 Albums of the Year Thread

For whatever reason I neglected Torres' new album until today, which is a shame because it is really good.

Oh yes. Her consistency has been incredible in the past two albums. I slightly prefer Three Futures but both are great. I think that much like everything from Jan-Feb 2020, Silver Tongue fell in the pre-pandemic black hole that made people overlook it. Which is a shame, as she certainly needs the support. I remember her getting stuck on tour in Europe in March when everything shut down and having to fundraiser to get last minute tickets back to the States.

 

[U2ME3]

Not sure what y'all think about Sturgill Simpson but Cutting Grass Vol. 1 and 2 are great.

 

[LemonMelon]

Here is my longlist for the year, with reviews for each album:

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Trav...ll-always-love-you-the-top-50-albums-of-2020/

 

[cobl04]

I shall read, if you read and comment on my Madvillainy post

Listened to a few more records of late, still pushing through 2020 records, god it was a good year. Lianne La Havas' self-titled is fucking fantastic, and not only because of the incredible Weird Fishes cover (2020's other Weird Fishes cover, Jenny Lee Owens' instrumental Arpeggi, is also great).

The Perfume Genius record didn't really capture me though. I might try it again but I didn't love it. The first track he does an incredible job of sounding like music that was made like 50 years ago. Nothing At All was the track that stood out to me.

An aside, Thelma Plum is an Aboriginal Australian artist and she put out a record last year that I just heard for the first time, and it's terrific. It's quite simple, but pretty much all the songs range from good to great. The highlight is the eponymous track:

 

[lazarus]

Folks, allow me to thank Cobbler publicly for the recco of A Girl Called Eddy.

Solid fucking stuff.

Wasn’t aware of her story but she sure has a lot of prominent admirers:

Few singers can claim a queue of illustrious fans as stellar and varied as hers. Burt Bacharach once emailed her manager: “Send her my compliments. She’s GOOD.” Chrissie Hynde, Don Henley (who declared her debut his favourite album of the year ) the Wall Street Journal citing it among their top ten, Jarvis Cocker, Jane Birkin, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Nina Persson and Ron Sexsmith (with whom she’s sung, as she has with french indie star Katerine, and Francis Dunnery) are all converts. Robert Smith of The Cure hailed her “elegant, beautiful, melodic” music and asked her to open for his band in 2007; Tracey Thorn included “Somebody Hurt You” in a list of her favourite vocal performances of all time in her book.

Guess I need to check out her first album too now.

This will def be high on my 2020 list.

 

[LemonMelon]

If you had listened to any DI lists, you would have heard about her sooner

 

[lazarus]

How dare you

 

[bono_212]

I'm going to just sit here and wait for all of you to thank me for bringing Girl Called Eddy to your collective conscience.

 

[iron yuppie]

I said before I couldn't really get into Phoebe Bridgers' Punisher. A big part of that was hearing Kyoto over and over again on Sirius XMU and thinking the lyrics were just a nondescript expression of disaffection. Today I happened upon an interview with her where she describes the genesis of the song and its meaning, followed by a beautiful acoustic performance, and it totally changed my perception of it to something much more positive. I've never really had such a sudden shift in my attitude toward a song before.

 

[gump]

The New Yorker profile of her earlier this year was pretty good too in elucidating some of her lyrical choices. I find her quite an interesting lyricist.

 

[lazarus]

I said before I couldn't really get into Phoebe Bridgers' Punisher. A big part of that was hearing Kyoto over and over again on Sirius XMU and thinking the lyrics were just a nondescript expression of disaffection. Today I happened upon an interview with her where she describes the genesis of the song and its meaning, followed by a beautiful acoustic performance, and it totally changed my perception of it to something much more positive. I've never really had such a sudden shift in my attitude toward a song before.

Glad to hear about your turnaround, but I'm confused as to why someone with a diverse music taste is listening to the radio in 2020, where you're going to be subjected to something like a song being overplayed.

 

[iron yuppie]

I will stand by Sirius XMU. There's a dozen or so songs that they run into the ground at any given time, but they also play a lot of diverse stuff, especially in the guest shows and weekly new music countdowns, and have introduced me to a ton of stuff I haven't heard elsewhere.

 

[gump]

I’m curious about who will get #2 in our end of year list. Seems like Fiona should be a lock for #1, but other than her I think our tastes seem to be all over the place - especially with few B&C darlings releasing music this year (well except for Sufjan, but we were all a bit down on it).

 

[cobl04]

I'm hopeful for Have We Met, it will likely be my #1. Punisher could be right up there too.

 

[gump]

Yeah, Punisher sounds like the best bet for a #2. I'm thinking Destroyer might make it in the back end of the top 10.

 

[lazarus]

Destroyer might make it in the back end

Lance's Mom will be pleased.

 

[namkcuR]

Still working my way to the end of the list of albums I wanted to listen to before making my list. Nearly done. Question though...

If one wants to include both of Swift's albums, do they need to be separate entries on the list, or could they be included as one entry, seeing as they are very much cut from the same cloth and released only months apart?

 

[the tourist]

If I participate, I’ll be entering them separately.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, if it was a same day thing you could make a Use Your Illusion argument to put them together but they’re not even from the same sessions; she wrote a whole new batch of songs after Folklore.

 

[bono_212]

Yes, separate entries on the list, please.

I am also wrapping up some of my listening over the next few days, but I think we're looking pretty good for the 15th to be the final day, I'll tabulate results over the weekend (and allow for any stragglers) and then we can do the unveiling Monday night at around 9e/6p. My only fear about that is if my work is very busy, but I think as long as I have everything ready (like, the posts already written out), we shouldn't have any issues.

Unless you all would prefer the unveiling to happen earlier in the day, which works better for my schedule .

 

[lazarus]

I don't think anyone else has mentioned it yet, but if you're a fan of 90's British band Cornershop, they put out a great album earlier this year, England is a Garden. I'd call it a return to form but they never really fell that far off, to be honest. Probably their best since 2009's Judy Sucks Lemon For Breakfast. Another great mix of 60s-style rock with the occasional Indian music elements. Not as much dance/beats material as on some previous albums.

Anyway, worth checking out:

 

[cobl04]

This might sound weird, but Fleet Foxes' Young Man's Game sounds like The Who to me.

 

[cobl04]

It's such a pretty album. I think "Wading in Waist-High Water" is my favourite song though. I want more music like that, if anyone knows of any.

 

[Salome]

1. Redman, Mehldau, McBride, Blade: RoundAgain - 14
2. Tobin Sprout: Empty Horses - 13
3. Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio: Angels Around - 10
4. Endless Field: Alive in the Wilderness - 9
5. Thurston Moore : By the Fire - 7
6. Marcin Wasilewski Trio & Joe Lovano: Arctic Riff - 7
7. Kacy & Clayton & Marlon Williams: Plastic Bouquet - 7
8. Mr. Bungle: The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo - 6
9. The Haden Triplets: The Family Songbook - 6
10. Joel Ross: Who Are You? - 5
11. Vladislav Delay: Rakka - 5
12. Anna von Hauswolff: All Thoughts Fly - 4
13. Robby Krieger: The Ritual Begins at Sundown - 3
14. Mary Halvorson's Code Girl: Artlessly Falling - 2
15. Hedvig Mollestad: Ekhidna - 2

H/M
Jahari Massamba Unit (Madlib & Karriem Riggins): Pardon My French
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile: Not Our First Goat Rodeo
Boris & Merzbow: 2R0I2P0
The Hermes Experiment: Here We Are
Bebel Gilberto: Agora
Takuya Kuroda: Fly Moon Die Soon
Lorelei Ensemble: David Lang: Love Fail
Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra: Dimensional Stardust
Boldy James / Sterling Toles: Manger on McNichols
Guided By Voices: Styles We Paid For
Steve Earle & The Dukes: Ghosts of West Virginia
Pat Metheny: From This Place
Noveller : Arrow
Kaki King: Modern Yesterdays
Ryan Adams: Wednesdays (Adams might be a bag of sleaze, but this is a great album)
Christian Sands: Be Water
Agnes Obel: Myopia
Fatma Said: El Nour
Katia & Marielle Labèque: Less enfants terrible

 

[bono_212]

Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile: Not Our First Goat Rodeo

Well this album title is amazing when combined with the name Yo-Yo Ma. What is HE up to?

 

[the tourist]

B&C's 2020 Albums of the Year Thread

ALBUM RANKINGS

TOP 15
Deep Sea Diver “Impossible Weight” [15]
Taylor Swift “folklore” [14]
Tame Impala “The Slow Rush” [9]
Taylor Swift “evermore” [9]
Childish Gambino “3.15.20” [8]
COIN “Dreamland” [8]
Dua Lipa “Future Nostalgia” [7]
Purity Ring “Womb” [6]
A Girl Called Eddy “Been Around” [6]
Fleet Foxes “Shore” [5]
The Weeknd “After Hours” [4]
HAIM “Women In Music pt. III” [3]
Unwed Sailor “Look Alive” [3]
Tomo Nakayama “Melonday” [2]
Phoebe Ryan “How It Used To Feel” [1]

Honorable Mentions, alphabetically
Carly Rae Jepsen “Dedicated Side B”
Charli XCX “How I’m Feeling Now”
The Flaming Lips “American Head”
lovelytheband “conversations with myself about you”
Matt Berninger “Serpentine Prison”
Monophonics “It’s Only Us”
Soccer Mommy “color theory”
Undercover Dream Lovers “It’s All In Your Head”

Albums I think I was supposed to like but was indifferent toward
Phoebe Bridgers “Punisher”
Fiona Apple “Fetch The Bolt Cutters”
The Avalanches “We Will Always Love You”
Jessie Ware “What’s Your Pleasure”
Deftones “Ohm”
Washed Out “Purple Noon”
The Strokes “The New Abnormal”
Paul McCartney “III”

Album I think I’m not supposed to like but thought was ok
Ryan Adams “Wednesdays”

Spoiler

Album you all should have put on your list because it’s my damn album and I’m an attention whore sometimes
The American Frontier “Memories”

I’ll probably add my thoughts on some of these later when I have time.

 

[LemonMelon]

A Girl Called Eddy cracking the top 10-15 would be awesome. Looks like she's got a shot.

 

[iron yuppie]

Ryan Adams put out an album in 2020?

 

[iron yuppie]

Another thing I forgot about from 2020 is Angel Olsen's Whole New Mess. A lot of those skeletal versions of All Mirrors tracks are really haunting in the lo-fi acoustic setting.