SDE’s Best New Albums of 2020
Six of the best from this year
Who has time to listen to new music? That might be a weird question from a music fan who edits a music website, but it’s a serious one. I work from home (so no commute to get those headphones on) and this year, in particular, has offered a million distractions, on top of all the usual ones (like the kids being at home for long periods, pretending to do their schoolwork and saying “can you make me some lunch” at 11.50am) and the obvious health concerns.
I remember working in an office of about 12 people in the early ’90s (the company was video/music industry related) and music was on all the time, often very loud! We’d take turns putting tapes or CDs on. It was like a badge of honour: “Yes, I may be on the phone to a client, but I can still do my job with that racket blaring in the background”. These days I tend to need a bit more peace and quiet if I’m trying to concentrate, especially with writing. It’s hard to choose words to write when someone else is singing other words into your earhole. I often opt for instrumental music to listen to, such as soundtracks and even some jazz (man).
Given that my main ‘job’ (after ten years, I’m still getting accustomed to the concept) is to focus on reissues and box sets, that’s another impediment to getting into new albums – I’m often just listening to old ones.
Despite all of that, I am of course still very interested in new music, although the fuddy-duddy truth of the matter is that I’m no John Peel, spending hours discovering and seeking out new artists. Probably like many of you, my new music consumption is largely anchored around familiar artists, with the odd exception. So with all the provisos and excuses out of the way… Here’s the SDE pick of 2020: Six new albums from six very different artists.
I really look forward to reading about what you have enjoyed this year, in the comments section (by the way, SDE reissues of the year will follow later this week).
Pet Shop Boys: Hotspot
Such were the trials and tribulations of 2020, Hotspot feels like it came out a lifetime ago, but it was actually released at the end of January, with a couple of physical singles extending its lifespan, like in the old days.
While I hadn’t exactly given up on the Pet Shop Boys, if pushed, I’ll admit I got to a point where I was still dutifully collecting and buying their albums and singles but not necessarily enjoying their output too much anymore. Perhaps I was not trying hard enough (although how ‘hard’ should it be?). I was just not overly engaged by albums like Electric and Super and the love affair that had started way back in 1985 was seriously waning. But along came Hotspot and, for reasons I’m still not entirely sure of, I was excited by their music, again
Lyrically, the record is very strong and lyrically, Neil is on top form. I like all the references to Berlin (where much of the album was recorded) and a relatively simple song like ‘You Are The One’ is lifted enormously by the verses and Tennant’s evocative narrative and delivery. ‘Hoping For A Miracle’ is Behaviour quality in virtually every respect, other than the production, with Stuart Price’s slightly compressed and ‘fuzzy’ sound lacking the purity and crispness of Harold Faltermeyer’s analogue beats. But that’s ultimately a moot point, since with Hotspot, the songs are largely great, especially the singles ‘I Don’t Wanna’, ‘Monkey Business’ and ‘Burning The Heather’ (all of which were issued physically and had excellent non-album B-sides).
Only the dubby, dumbed down final track ‘Wedding in Berlin’ is a serious misstep, but they’ve won you over by that point so all is forgiven and you can just leave the party early.
Read the full SDE review of Hotspot
Matt Berry: Phantom Birds
Better known by the wider public for his voiceover and TV work, Matt Berry is a fine musician and songwriter, and has been issuing albums on Eddie Piller’s Acid Jazz Records label for the best part of a decade.
2018’s Television Themes was a brilliantly executed nostalgia trip, but had the significant advantage of being full of music its target market was already very familiar with. Phantom Birds has to keep us interested via 13 original songs, all composed by Berry himself. Previous band, The Maypoles, are appear to have been handed their P45s, and on this record Matt takes care of all the instrumentation, other than BJ Cole’s pedal steel guitar and Craig Blundell’s drums. You might call the sound country-folk-pop.
There’s lots of acoustic rhythm guitar to accompany Cole’s pedal steel, along with unobtrusive drums and bass, and plenty of weird and wonderful opening lines such as “Like the tethered eagle, let me go free” (‘In My Mind’) or “The man who mows the field, take a bow” (‘Take A Bow’). With the possible exception of ‘Waving Goodbye’ – which stands out because it wears its late-Sixties, Byrds influence on its sleeve – the tracks do have a tendency to blend into one another, thanks to a consistency of sound and tone, but I actually quite like that. It simply makes Phantom Birds a true album listening experience; these songs feel like they belong together, almost need to be together to work individually. Their charms creep up on you slowly, in a controlled and steady manner.
Phantom Birds feels like music from another time. Something you might have found in your parents’ record collection in the late-Seventies. Many of the songs clock in at under three minutes and indeed the whole 13-track album is over in a tad over half an hour. Wonderful stuff.
Alanis Morissette: Such Pretty Forks in the Road
Eight years since her last record, Alanis Morissette returned with a wonderful and deeply moving album. No celebrity collaborations, no marketing declarations along the lines of ‘this might be my last’ (see Sheryl Crow) , just a highly focussed record full of great songs with heartfelt lyrics.
‘Diagnosis’ is as honest and raw as Plastic Ono Band Lennon as it addresses postpartum depression, set to simple piano and strings. It’s not all about self pity either, as Alanis recognises how such a situation affects friends and family [“All of you are so frustrated / And everyone around me is trying to help as much as they can”]. In ‘Losing the Plot’ Morissette decrees that she is “grieving the end of superwoman-ing” and the brilliant ‘Reasons I Drink’ adds some big hooks to proceedings.
An album that spends much of its time concerned with mental health issues such as self-loathing, despair, depression and bitterness might sound a bit bleak, but it’s not. These are remain accessible pop songs elevated by lyrics of truth and meaning, not weighed down by them. The melodies and arrangements are all of the highest order and the reliance on piano accompaniment gives Such Pretty Forks in the Road a classic, timeless appeal. Highly recommended.
Read the full SDE review of Such Pretty Forks in the Road
Paul Weller: On Sunset
Paul Weller just doesn’t do ‘bad’ albums these days (if he ever did). On Sunset leaves behind the autumnal, acoustic vibe of 2018’s True Meanings and opts for more variety and fun, as if someone has shouted ‘lighten up!’. Old Father Tyme has an almost hip-hop beat, the title track shuffles along a feel-good summer’s breeze (punctuated by horns and strings), while ‘Walkin” is a stompy, Beatles-y piano-driven number.
There’s a joyful everything-but-the-kitchen sink approach combined with a pick-and-mix variety, but, ultimately, it doesn’t matter too much which clothes these songs wear, since the writing and the arrangements are so strong.Many tracks evoke the best of Weller’s early solo career and the cream of The Style Council. Even slightly ludicrous deluxe bonus track ‘Ploughman’ (“I am a ploughman and I plough my earth!”) raises a smile and would have made a fine B-side.
Ultimately, I think True Meanings is slightly better (I’m a sucker for the uniformity of style that album delivered) but now in his early sixties, the prolific Weller deservedly got to number one with this, his fifteenth studio solo album.
Psychedelic Furs
Like many albums this year, the Psychedelic Furs Made of Rain was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That in turn then scuppered the big comeback show at the Royal Albert Hall and like virtually every artist out there (except maybe Kate Bush, who probably bumbled along, unaffected) plans for 2020 were in tatters. It was particularly unfortunate for the Furs, because they had recorded their first studio album in 30 years and it’s an absolute corker.
Richard Fortus and Tim Palmer did a fantastic job crafting the sound of the record. Every song has that satisfyingly dark underbelly and is enhanced by the rich gritty vocals of Richard Butler. Tracks like ‘Don’t Believe’ and ‘No-One’ are somehow both very immediate while having enough depth and creases to reveal hidden pleasures and reward repeated playings.
There’s just so many good songs on show, including the dark, frantic and slightly dreamy opener ‘The Boy Who Invented Rock & Roll’, the knowing ‘Wrong Train’ (Butler sings of “A wife that hates me / So does her boyfriend”) and my personal favourite the superb, regretful Ash Wednesday which is the album’s centre point.
A fantastic album, full of atmosphere and intrigue. It’s all wonderfully executed. Why did they wait so long?
Fiona Apple: Fetch The Bolt Cutters
The cover of Fiona Apple‘s fifth studio album does a pretty good job of conveying the music within. Dense, quirky, ‘homemade’, a bit mad in places.
Despite all the US critical acclaim and Grammy nominations in the last 20 odd years, Apple has not enjoyed much profile or success in the UK (Fetch The Bolt Cutters was a UK career high, peaking at 33 in the albums charts) and my very late introduction came via ‘Container’, her brilliant theme tune to Showtime’s TV series The Affair.
The fact that Fiona Apple chose not to benefit from that show’s high ratings during its five-year run, by commercially releasing the theme song (or even allowing it on streaming services), tells us a great deal. She’s clearly focused on creative, not commercial success, something underlined by Fetch The Bolt Cutters.
The album is Apple doing exactly what she pleases and can be a pretty challenging listen. The rhythms are at times a right old racket, but rather endearing, and Apple’s voice is quite ‘dry’ in sound, seemingly deliberately under-produced and even mumbly at times. The whole individualistic approach evokes the mindset of that other female contrarian Kate Bush, and in particular her 1982 album The Dreaming, which people seem to absolutely love or not like at all (Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ gets a namecheck on the title track of Fetch The Bolt Cutters).
For all the dogs barking in the background and general clatter, the homemade feel belies a certain precision; there are a lot of layers, including vocal lines intertwining. The songs feel like they’ve been worked on endlessly. Elements added, taken away, reworked until everything is exactly as Apple requires.
The best tracks on the album are the ones that pair the rambling verses with a ‘proper chorus’, such as the title track and ‘Under The Table’. The former has a very funny lyric (“I would beg to disagree / but begging disagrees with me”) and the album generally has a defiant ‘I’m not gonna take any more shit’ feel to it, from a lyrical standpoint.
‘Ladies’ offers some respite from the din, driven largely by double bass, drums and Apple’s piano but I’ll be honest, this is a record that requires you to put the work in. But the rewards are there and at this point I’m still exploring and enjoying.
Read more about Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Bubbling under: Elvis Costello: Hey Clockface, Bob Dylan: Rough and Rowdy Ways, Haim: Women in Music Pt III, The Lickerish Quartet: Threesome Vol 1 (not an album, I know), Taylor Swift: Folklore.
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Here are my 2020 and early 2021 Faves for what it’s worth –
Opeth – In Cauda Venenum
Taylor Swift – Folklore
Steve Howe – Love is
Fleetwood Mac – 1969-1974 Box
The Who Sell Out – Reissue SDE
Anneke van Giersbergen – The Darkest Skies are the Brightest
Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You
Tom Petty – Wildflowers SDE
CSN&Y – Déjà vu SDE
John Prine – Crooked Piece of Time Box
Rolling Stones – Goat’s Head Soup 2-CD set
Paul McCartney – Flaming Pie SDE ( I think this was 2020?)
Clannad – In a Lifetime Box
Myrkur – Folkesange
Alanis Morrisette – Such Pretty Forks in the Road
ELP – Fanfare Box Set
John Lennon – Gimme Some Truth Box
Jethro Tull – “A” SDE
….and many other older titles across many genres….
Quite a burst of quarantine buying was needed..! Many Thanks to Paul + SDE for keeping me well informed!
Don’t know why I never posted this back in January (I think last night’s Grammy show must have triggered my memory on this). I think 2020 was a good year for music. Anyway…
My Top 10 (alphabetically)
Roger Eno & Brian Eno- Mixing Colours
Jayhawks – XOXO
Nik Kershaw – Oxymoron
Ray LaMontagne – Monovision
Morrissey – I Am Not A Dog On A Chain
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
Psychedelic Furs – Made of Rain
Ron Sexsmith – Hermitage
Bruce Springsteen – Letter To You
Taylor Swift – Evermore
My Next 11 (alphabetically)
Matt Berninger – Serpentine Prison
Elvis Costello – Hey Clockface
The Killers – Imploding the Mirage
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Paul McCartney – McCartney III
Pretenders – Hate For Sale
The Strokes – The New Abnormal
Teddy Thompson – Heartbreaker Please
Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure
Charlie XCX – How I’m Feeling Now
Yello – Point
Nik Kershaws new album ‘Oxymoron’ is my album of the year.
From first listens to the teaser EP These Little Things it was evident Nik’s New music was especially strong.
Anyone thinking of dabbling in some new Nik, I strongly recommend this album…which contains orchestration on a number of tracks and some stunning use of tenor saxophone and other instrumentation from the Audio Network stable edited at Abbey Road studios as well as a broad variety of musical styles across 16 songs…(I can only find one I’d have relegated to beside status) and Nik is singing in fine voice…consistently great vocals, his best recorded vox imho
A few highlights…
From Cloudy Bay to Malibu….super catchy (won’t let sun go down on me vibes) pop song about a bloke traveling the world vicariously through his various alcoholic drinks as he drowns his sorrows from a relationship breakup.
Can’t Go On…..superb reggae style track with stunning tenor sax which progresses from ‘sure, leave me, you’ll never manage without me’ to ‘I can’t live without you’ over 3 choruses….
Lets Get Lost….this gem is pure joy and abandonment culminating in a jazz and classical fusion crescendo outro and ending
Little Star…sublimely moving song from father to child,one of Nik’s best
The Smallest Soul….dark track about a powerful persons downfall bringing others down with them…..with intense choruses and string ending
The Wind Will Blow…like a modern day ‘Riddle’ melody in chorus about encroaching climate change .,.
These Little Things.,..super poignant song about appreciating the little moments in life .,warm and life affirming with a melancholic edge and choruses to give you goosebumps.
happy new year!
Should read….’and other instrumentation from the Audio Network stable RECORDed at Abbey Road studios…’
I gave ‘Hotspot’ a few listens since last week and I understand everyone’s aversion to “Wedding in Berlin”. As an instrumental it’s passable but, with vocals, it has a kitschy/corny vibe to it akin to some of the stuff on ‘Bilingual’.
Eek. oO
It’s hardly the PSB’s worst song, but it’s a good thing that the album isn’t all like this. That said, this one side, I very much like ‘Hotspot’. I still think that PSB are faring much better than their peers have in the last two decades.
Hello Paul,
Thank you for this review of your favorite new records of 2020. Very honest and illuminating, as always. I will have to check out Matt Berry. Didn’t know him.
I own eight of the eleven albums you mention (counting the ones « bubbling under »), but I’m ashamed to say Hotspot is the only one of these I listened to regularly during the year. It’s definitely a grower, and maybe I’m not enough of a PSB expert, but I really don’t understand what the bitching towards I Don’t Wanna, Monkey Business or Happy People is all about. Me, I love every track on it, including the Wedding song. I also listened to Rough and Rowdy Ways a few times. I like it a lot, actually. Dylan’s lyrics are better than ever, funny and full of strokes of inspiration (though the dylanologists & scholars on the Net have long ago established they’re all based on the Bible or some Shakespeare’s sonnets), and this is perhaps his best album since Time Out of Mind or Love and Theft, but, I don’t know… Sometimes, I get tired of the mental contortions I must impose on myself in order to create a parallel universe in which I can safely pretend Bob’s voice, or Paul McCartney voice for that matter, is not totally f**ked up and dead, but just « superbly weathered », to quote Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone magazine’s official Beatles/Taylor Swift cheerleader. And speaking of Taylor Swift, am I the only one to find her two Covid-19 albums a little bit boring and soporific, in the « indie beige » style she kind of borrowed from the National and/or Bon Iver (besides being waaaaay too long, at 67 minutes [Folklore] and 69 minutes [Evermore])? Well, I guess I am, since everybody else seem to love them. Sorry to be so negative. Didn’t intend to rain on anybody’s parade, I swear.
As for Costello and Fiona Apple, there’s no denying Clockface and Fetch the Bolt Cutters are both admirable and wildly daring albums. I long for the day I will be brave and sophisticate enough to listen to them a second time.
Anyway, here are, in no particular order, the new albums that contributed to keeping me awake and half-alive in 2020 :
– Shopping : All or Nothing
– Drive-By Truckers : The Unraveling and The New OK
– Lori McKenna : The Balladeer
– Guided By Voices : Surrender Your Poppy Field and Mirrored Aztec
– Mara Tremblay : Uniquement pour toi
– Rolling Blackouts C.F. : Sideways to New Italy
– Brendan Benson : Dear Life
– The Strokes : The New Abnormal
– Bob Mould : Blue Hearts
– Old 97’s : Twelfth
But to be frank, I mostly listened to old and not-so-old power pop albums : Sloan, Dwight Twilley Band, Nada Surf, Pernice Brothers, Teenage Fanclub, Shoes, World Party, Material Issue, the Records, Paul Collins, anything with melodies and harmonies and a good beat. (It was not exactly the kind of year in which one felt compelled to immerse himself or herself in Leonard Cohen or Nick Cave’s catalogue, was it?) And thanks to the Armed Forces 33 1/3 section of Elvis Costello’s web site (where he talks about the influences behind every song on that record), I rediscovered Cheap Trick’s second long-player, In Color. What a great pop album it was. Sounds as good today as in 1977 IMHO.
And Reggae, too. Reggae never fails to put a smile on my face. My current fave is Arkology, Lee Scratch Perry’s 3-discs retrospective from 1997. And the Beach Boys, of course. I almost consider their music as therapeutic. Four years ago, after my wife died, I couldn’t listen to anything else. Every night, I loaded my multi-disc CD player with the Good Vibrations box set and I watched the NHL play-offs on TV with the sound off. It was no miracle cure, but it helped chasing the black clouds away. I hope the long-awaited compilation of their early seventies stuff will finally be released in 2021.
Going through the Comments section of your site, Paul, is often an instructive ride, and I was really surprised to learn Ryan Adams has a new album out. I know the guy has a (probably well deserved) bad reputation and has been facing abuse allegations from his ex-wife, but I think he’s made some great records in the past, such as Heartbreaker, Gold, Love Is Hell Parts I & II and Cold Roses. So, that’s another thing to look forward to… And I had no idea Close Lobsters still existed. I have Foxheads Stalk This Land on vinyl and Headache Rhetoric on cassette, and if their new one is half as good as these, I can’t wait to hear it.
O.K., I’ll stop babbling now. Here’s hoping 2021 will be a good one for everybody and his sister.
I bought oldies but goldies in 2020. Only newer one was Joel Paterson’s cd which was released 2019. New cd’s that was released in 2020 AC/DC is the only one that i may buy . Here’s the cd’s i bought in 2020:
Ronnie Lane: Just For A Moment (6 discs)
Focus: 50 Years Anthology 1970-76 (11 discs)
Michael Nesmith: Songs (12 discs)
Fleetwood Mac: 1969 To 1974 (8 discs)
Whitesnake: Little Box ‘O’ Snakes (8 discs)
Bachman-Turner Overdrive: Classic Album Set (8 discs)
Bob Marley & The Wailers: The Complete Island Recordings (11 discs)
John Mayall: The Diary Of A Band (2 discs)
Rico: Man From Wareika (2 discs)
Joel Paterson: Let It Be Guitar
I’ve not purchased many new albums over 2020. Possibly only Nothing But Theives Moral Panic, but if it wasn’t for SDE Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters would have passed me by! What an album that requires attention when listening. I’ve only listened via YouTube, but I’m going to purchase this when finances, (and wife), allow it! Thanks for pointing me to it!
My Top 5 ( I admit that all of my new music purchases are from older established artists). I believe the “newest” artist I have in my collection is Alabama Shakes, and its been years since they put out anything.
1) Bruce Springsteen – Letters To You
2) Pearl Jam – Gigaton
3) Pretenders – Hate For Sale
4) Bob Dylan – Rough And Rowdy Ways
5) AC/DC – Pwr Up
1. Róisín Murphy – Róisín Machine
2. The Jacques – The four five three
3. Marc Almond – Chaos and a dancing star
4. Azucar Moreno – El Secreto
5. Sebastien Tellier – Domesticated
6. KEiiNO – OKTA
7. Shirley Bassey – I owe it all to you
8. Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
9. Kylie Minogue – Disco
10. Bettye Lavette – Blackbirds
It’s a list.
Thought Dylan’s album was the clearly the one masterpiece of 2020. As much as I dig Weller, On Sunset was the biggest disappointment of the year. Macca’s album is quite atrocious and a lot of people are going to start admitting the same soon after the initial enthusiasm wears off. My top albums of the year are:
1.Dylan’s.
2.Jeff Tweedy.Love is the King
3.Rose City Band. Summerlong
4.Jack Name.Magic Touch
5.Fuzz….111
My two favourite albums for 2020 are Paul Weller “On Sunset,” and most recently, Taylor Swift “Evermore.”
I was hoping McCartney III would also be included in my list. And although I’m happy for Paul McCartney gaining the number one spot in the U.K., I was wishing McCartney III as a whole, would surprise listeners with a more ambitious and emotionally revealing set of songs that ventured beyond sweet contentment and life-on-the-farm. Then again, maybe that’s exactly where Sir Paul McCartney is at during this stage of his life. Well, God bless him.
Anyway, Happy New Year to you and your family, Paul. Hope 2021 is better for everyone!
Have enjoyed building my vinyl and CD collections over the course of 2020, visiting the brilliant SDE site and listening to a huge amount of music (mostly from yesteryear).
My 2020 nominations:
–New Category–
Richard Norris “Elements”
Eartheater “Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin”
–Archive Category–
Bowie “I’m only Dancing Soul Tour” and the “Is It Any Wonder?” EP
–Boxset Category–
Ultravox “Vienna”
Clannad “In a Lifetime”
Richard/Linda Thompson “Hard Luck Stories”
I really enjoyed new albums by Fish,Its Immaterial,Nik Kershaw,Pretenders,John Foxx,Pure Reason Revolution ,Deacon Blue,Blancmange ,Tim Bowness,Bruce Springsteen and Mark Kelly(Marillion).But my two faves are by Empathy Test and Tiny Magnetic Pets both could be described as Electronic Pop . Monsters by Empathy Test has real emotional depth and some truly outstanding songs .While Blue Wave by Tiny Magnetic Pets is a refined mood piece playing to the band’s strengths and further enchancing their sound.Both can be found on BandCamp and are worthy of any post Christmas money you may still be in possession off !!
Old Men First – my top list:
1 Bruce Springsteen
2 Bob Dylan
3 Paul McCartney
4 Pet Shop Boys
5 The Weeknd
6 AC/DC
7 Taylor Swift (both albums)
8 Beck
9 Gorillaz
10 Haim
11 Pretenders
12 Marilyn Manson
Best re issue
1 PRINCE
2 Tom Petty
3 TFF
Best wishes for 2021 – Rock On
In no particular order:
On Sunset-Paul Weller
A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip-Sparks
Songs for the General Public-The Lemon Twigs
Disco-Kylie Minogue
McCartney III-Paul McCartney
The New Abnormal-The Strokes
The Slow Rush-Tame Impala
Rough and Rowdy Ways-Bob Dylan
Pick Me Up Off the Floor-Norah Jonep
I Am Not a Dog On Your Chain-Morrissey
Beyond the Pale-Jarv Is
Bubbling under:
The Song Machine-Gorillaz
Shadow of Fear-Cabaret Voltaire
I don’t thi k it has been a classic year for new releases or special editions as Covid issues clearly affected output in many areas.
However there were some very good 2020 releases.
New albums:
Nobody Lives Here Anymore – Cut Worms
Rough and Rowdy Ways – Bob Dylan
Bare as Bone, Bright as Blood – The Pretty Things
XOXO – The Jayhawks
SDEs:
Lola… – The Kinks
The Focus 50th Anniversary set
New York – Lou Reed
The Secret Migration – Mercury Rev
Gimme Some Truth – John Lennon
Flaming Pie – Paul McCartney, while nicely produced dropped out of the awards because of greed. I think marketing shenanigans also adversely affected the reception of the new album too with its ridiculous number of formats. Not cool. I am glad he got a number 1 album but this was not the way to achieve it.
SuperDeluxeEdition bargain of the year:
Bob Marley box set
Reissues:
A Place In The Sun – Jason Crest
How Sweet To Be An Idiot – Neil Innes
July – Complete Recordings
Hotrats
My personal Top 10 for 2020:
1. Rumer “Nashville Tears”
2. Lara Marling “Song For Our Daughter”
3. Pet Shop Boys “Hotspot”
4. Jeanne Added “Air”
5. Agnes Obel “Myopia”
6. Shirley Collins “Heart’s Ease”
7. Sparks “A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip”
8. Lana Del Rey “Violets Bent Backwards”
9. Bill Fay “Countless Branches”
10. Jonathan Wilson “Dixie Blur”
Ring out the old, ring in the new!
A happy new year to all SDE obsessives and especially to Paul who feeds us daily with our drug of choice!
Here’s my pick of the pops 2020:
Biffy Clyro – A Celebration of Endings
JARV IS… – Beyond The Pale
Willie J Healey – Twin Heavy
Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club
Laura Marling – Song For Our Daughter
Pure Reason Revolution – Eupnea
Field Music – Making A New World
Macca – McCartney III
The Waterboys – Good Luck, Seeker
EOB – Earth
Some of my favorite new releases/music of 2020 were:
David Bowie – i’monlydancing(thesoultour74)
Christine and the Queens – La Vita Nuova
Elvis Costello – Hey Clockface
Cults – Host
Day Wave – Crush
Destroyer – Have We Met
Men I Trust – Forever Live Sessions
Morrissey – I Am Not a Dog On a Chain
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
Sylvan Esso – Free Love
Tycho – Simulcast
Paul Weller – On Sunset
Washed Out – Purple Noon
Wild Nothing – Laughing Gas
Wolf Parade – Thin Mind
Young Ejecta – Ride Lonesome
NEW:
Psychedelic Furs – Made of Rain
Loma – Don’t Shy Away
Yaeji – What We Drew
Fotocrime – South of Heaven
Too Free – Love In High Demand
Working Men’s Club – Self titled
Greg Dulli – Random Desires
Beabadoobee – Fake It Flowers
Depeche Mode – Live Spirits
L.A. Witch – Play With Fire
REISSUES:
Masumi Hara – 4 x A Dream
Rowland S. Howard – Teenage Snuff Film
The Beloved – Where It Is AND Happiness
Momoko Kikuchi – Adventure
Tom Petty – Wildflowers and All the Rest
Prince – Sign o’ the Times
OXZ – Along ago: 1981-1989
Tears for Fears – The Seeds of Love
The Fall – The Frenz Experiment
The Pogues – BBC Sessions 84-86
BUBBLING UNDER:
Tim Burgess – I Love the New Sky
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
David Bowie – ChangesNowBowie
V/A – Bob Stanley presents 76 in the Shade
A Certain Ratio – Loco
DISAPPOINTMENT:
Bob Mould – Blue Hearts (sorry, lifelong fan and it’s not a bad album but: the production is so muddy, there’s too many three chord thrashers and surely I’m not the only person to notice that “Racing to the End” is identical to “Argos” from 2009’s excellent Life and Times album?)
THINGS THAT OCCUR TO ME READING THIS THREAD:
Only, I think, one mention of Khraungbin despite the press / sales they’ve had this year.
Roísín Murphy – Roísín Machine.
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot.
Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song.
Various Artists: Total 20 (Kompakt label).
JARV IS: Beyond The Pale.
Also worth mentioning were albums by The Orielles, Foals (3LP of remixes), Travis, GoGo Penguin, Tame Impala and the Working Men’s Club.
Guided by Voices – Surrender Your Poppy Field
Field Music – Making a New World
AngelHeaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan and T. Rex (various artists, produced by Hal Wilner)
Elvis Costello – Hey Clockface
Bob Mould Band – Blue Hearts
Anthony Pirog – Pocket Poem
Terry Allen – Just Like Moby Dick
Lees of Memory – Moon Shot
Bebopalula – s/t
Tim Motzer – Inside
My favourite albums of 2020:
1. Working Men’s Club “Working Men’s Club”
2. Jóhann Jóhannsson “Last and First Men”
3. Bdrmm “Bedroom”
4. Morphology “Horta Proxima”
5. The Orb “Abolition of The Royal Familia”
6. The Residents “Metal, Meat & Bone”
7. Max Richter “Voices”
Happy New Year everyone
Here are some albums worth mentioning.
Best in 2020:
Khruangbin: Mordechai
Alanis Morissette: Such Pretty Forks In The Road
Bob Dylan: Rough And Rowdy Ways
Frank Zappa: The Mothers 1970
Joe Satriani: Shapeshifting
Bubbling under:
Frank Zappa: Halloween ’81 Live At The Palladium
Deep Purple: Whoosh!
Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets: Live At The Roundhouse
Ozric Tentacles: Space For The Earth
Hadn’t bought a Deep purple album since 1984 but heard Whoosh! And couldn’t believe it.
One of the best albums they have ever done (and without Mr Blackmore ).
It’s funny… it seems that, unlike a lot of people here, and unlike their peers, I find that the Pet Shop Boys have only gotten more appealing in recent years.
I loved their early output (‘Behaviour’ remains my favourite!), but there was a period where they weren’t doing anything for me (ex: ‘Release’ bores me to tears).
They’re far more consistent now and, aside for ‘Elyzium’ (which I never took to, with or without vocals), I’m always enjoying their new offerings.
‘Electric’ was stunning – I got so much replay value out of that one. And, ‘Super’, though a bit ironic (like ‘Exciter’ for Depeche Mode) has a stellar second half.
I’m only now getting to ‘Hotspot’ and, unsurprisingly, I very much like what I hear. :)
I’d go for (in no particular order):
1. I Am Not a Dog…. Morrissey
2. Mindset – Blancmange
3. Revel in the Drama – Rene Harvieu
4. The Universal Want – Doves
5. A Steady Drip, Drip – Sparks
6. Manchester Calling – Paul Heaton & Jackie Abbott
Reissue of the year has to be Sheep Farming in Barnet – Toyah
Boxset of the year – Our History – Shakespears Sister
Biggest disappointment of the year – ongoing delay to new Abba album!
I’m at that stage/age where I don’t buy new music much anymore, just old stuff I never got to begin with and reissues. Happily accepting my old man curmudgeon status. Of the four (!) new records I bought this year, only two really stand out:
Luke Haines and Peter Buck, Beat Poetry for Survivalists
Jar Is, Beyond The Pale
Sorry Jarvis, make that Jarv Is. Typing on phone, not enough coffee, senility setting in?
This has been a tough year in so many ways, but there was a lot of great music released this year! Here are my top 22. These are in no particular order, except for the top 3. Those are my absolute favorites that I can’t stop listening to.
1) Something for Kate – The Modern Medieval (Australian trio’s first new album in 8 years is a new masterpiece!)
2) Eyelids – The Accidental Falls (Gorgeous album from Portland heroes with lyrics by Larry Beckett)
3)Psychedelic Furs – Made of Rain (Long anticipated album that does not disappoint)
4) We Are Who We Are (Orig HBO Series Soundtrack includes Prince, Klaus Nomi, Blood Orange, Radiohead, …)
5) Faithless – All Blessed
6) Nothing – The Great Dismal
7) Sparks – A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
8) Roisin Murphy – Roisin Machine
9) Nada Surf – Never Not Together
10) Pylon – Box (Amazing new box set!!)
11) Fontaines DC – A Hero’s Death
12) James – Live in Extraordinary Times
13) The Twilight Sad – It Won’t Be Like This All the Time Live
14) Washed Out – Purple Noon
15) X – Alphabetland
16) Jarv Is – Jarv Is (Jarvis Cocker)
17) Pure Reason Revolution – Eupnea
18) Nina – Synthian
19) Cheap Trick – Out to Get You! Live 1977
20) Kelly Jones – Don’t Let the Devil Take Another Day
21) Love Tractor – Love Tractor (debut album remastered)
22) Magic Shoppe – Live in London
Five of my best from 2020:
JEHNNY BETH – TO LOVE IS TO LIVE
All the energy of Savages and then some crammed into less than 39 powerful, fat-free minutes. By turns pulverisingly brutal and heartstoppingly tender (sometimes in the same song). She’s one of those artists who still carries a torch for the the album as a thoughtfully structured, holistic experience and not just a random selection of tracks. And I get the distinct impression her best is yet to come.
NADINE SHAH – KITCHEN SINK
Four albums in and her musical partnership with Ben Hillier is really hitting its stride. Confident, slinky, defiant and angry; to these ears a journey that carries traces of territories marked ‘Siouxsie’ and ‘Tom Waits’… by way of Tyneside.
KEELEY FORSYTHE – DEBRIS
An intimate, brooding grower that repays time spent. She seems to channel the dark, despairing energy of late-period Scott Walker but still finds some light in the dark. Just about. How very 2020, eh?
BIBIO – SLEEP ON THE WING
Handmade, pastoral and largely instrumental, this little gem was a welcome, soothing soundtrack for lockdown gardens and clear summer skies eerily devoid of aircraft. Pandemic hauntology, anyone?
IT’S IMMATERIAL – ‘HOUSE FOR SALE’
Outrageously neglected in end of year polls (‘Uncut’ mag: you’re fired) this one arrived a mere 29 years later than planned. The obstacle-strewn tale of its gestation is worthy of that Greek bloke Sisyphus but thankfully messrs Jarvis and Whitehead persevered. The result is subtly ravishing from beginning to end; beautifully recorded and standing proud in their small but perfectly formed catalogue. Blue Nile fans are advised to check out ‘Up On The Roof’ immediately – a swooning tribute to a lost love and lost times. Their next LP should arrive just as my kids dump me in a nursing home in 2050. Hurrah.
‘Up On The Roof’ could be my track of the year. Like a bar of Galaxy in music form. I wonder if they don’t have enough record company support to get the press to pay attention anymore. A shame as it’s such a great album with a good backstory to its creation.
Thanks for the reviews and all your fine work throughout the year Paul.
I lost my hearing for the last 3 months of the year , so I read reviews and hungered for music but stopped buying anything …..there seemed little point , it was rather depressing.
Fortunately it has all but returned in the last 2 days ……I won’t ever take it for granted again.
I have a lot of catching up to do , started today with the Psychedlic Furs .
Blimey, glad your hearing is okay! I suffer a bit from tinnitus, which isn’t a lot of fun.
Only one choice for me:
Camelphat – Dark Matter Triple vinyl
Breathe, Panic Room, Cola and Be Someone already released plus collaborations with Noel Gallagher
Sadly (?) most of the stuff I have bought this year has been reissues, but mostly of stuff I didn’t already have before, so it’s new to me or not something I originally had.
New stuff would be mostly synth stuff:
Empath Test – Monsters
Linea Aspera – II
Battery Operated Orchestra – Yesterday Tomorrow And You
Krakow Loves Adana – Darkest Dreams
Tiny Magnetic Pets – Blue Wave
I’m not biased but my personal highlights of 2020 are
album: Bob Mould “Blue Hearts”
boxset: Bob Mould “Distortion 1989-2019”
Cheers,
Michael
Happy new year to you Paul and all readers of SDE. It’s been a truly horrible year, and I dearly hope we all have a better year ahead of us.
Like Paul, and others who have mentioned it, I too work at home but while working find it impossible to listen to music which has people singing. It’s a huge distraction. Instead I listen to a lot of instrumental music, which seems to do the job.
Here are my six most enjoyed new albums of 2020 [no particular order]:
– Applied Music Vol. 3 Land + Sea – Jon Brooks
– Healing is a Miracle – Julianna Barwick
– Music for Healing – Richard Norris (12 x 20 minute instrumental ambient pieces, which are just wonderful)
– Made of Rain – Psychedelic Furs
– Yarmouth – David Boulter
– Got To Be Tough – Toots and the Maytals
Happy new year everyone.
My favourite albums are
1. Fish – Weltschmerz
2. Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You
3. Die Ärzte – Hell (german Fun-Punk band)
4. Booka Shade – Dear future self
5. Taylor Swift – Folklore
6. Alicia Keys – ALICIA
Best Live albums
Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets
Best Re-Issue/Box
Prince – Sign ‘o’ the times
The Lovely Eggs – I Am Moron
No time to actively seek out new music and have a lot to listen to already. Often very disappointed at the music that Uncut/Mojo magazines are raving over so ignore it but I know what I like-
Loved It:
Harold Budd/Robin Guthrie Another Flower
Rush Permanent Waves 40th Anniversary
Tom Petty Wildflowers And All The Rest
Steve Roach A Soul Ascends
Joe Satriani Shapeshifting
Springsteen Letter to You
Pearl Jam Gigaton
Blue Oyster Cult The Symbol Remains
Terje Rypdal Conspiracy
Porcupine Tree Delerium Years Set
Buckethead The Sea Remembers Its Own
Tangerine Dream Pilots of Purple Twilight set
UFO Strangers In The NightBox set
Disappointments:
Bob Dylan Rough And Rowdy Ways (I have listened to the 1970 Copyright Collection which is perfect Dylan- roll on the official release)
Pat Metheny From This Place
Bob Mould Blue Hearts
RIP and missed: Harold Budd, Eddie Van Halen, Pete Way, Neil Peart
Happy New Year
A somewhat different selection of discs is welcome than what appears in all the magazines (which is more or less the same disc up disc down).
Hi everyone here : )
This is my Top 6 for 2020
(perfectly balanced through Goth, New Wave, Pop):
1) Rosetta Stone – Cryptology
2) Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
3) Pet Shop Boys – Hot Spot
4) Psychedelic Furs – Made of Rain
5) The Wake – Perfumes And Fripperies
6) Lady Gaga – Chromatica
I wish you a better new year : )
Thank you Paul for the great site and thank you all for the great listings, I got several new ideas what to buy next.
Here’s my list:
1) Levellers: Peace
2) Hawkwind Light Orchestra: Carnivorous
3) Alanis Morrissette: Such Pretty Forks in the Road
4) Roger Eno and Brian Eno: Mixing Colours
5) Delain: Apocalypse & Chill
Plenty of downtime this year to enjoy new music… this is my Top 10 list, the albums I find myself returning to time and again. Many others I’ve enjoyed, but more so in a fleeting moment.
1) Tiña – Positive Mental Health Music
2) James Leonard Hewitson – Only The Noise Will Save Me
3) Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
4) Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club
5) Juniore – Un Deux Trois
6) Keeley Forsyth – Debris
7) BDRMM – Bedroom
8) Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
9) Gilroy Mere – Adlestrop
10) Willie J Healey – Twin Heavy
Thank you Paul for all the ‘tip-offs’ this year, my most prized bargain purchases were the Ronnie Lane and Bob Marley boxsets.
Not being home and having a 53 year old brain that can’t remember a thing, I just read through everyone else’s lists to see if there was anything I bought myself in 2020.
Yours caught my eye, Kevin, because of the Moses Boyd entry. An excellent album.
I rely heavily on end of year lists to find out the best new/recent music. I found myself listening to the PSB album much more than Super. It’s reassuring that they can still manage the odd killer track. Others this year- Jarv Is, Everything Everything and Bowness/Chilvers.
Album of the year: ‘Even In Exile’ – James Dean Bradfield
Long time faves with albums I liked:
Autechre
Deftones
Fiona Apple
Smashing Pumpkins
This year was pretty amazing for great K-Pop, with Jay Park’s label ‘H1GER MUSIC’ going off with the double compilation The Red Tape & The Blue Tape. The track ‘The Purge’ being my song of the year.
Also Black Pink dropped their 1st self titled album, Itzy killed with their 4th mini album called ‘Not Shy’, Red Velvet’s Irene & Seulgi gave us ‘Monster’ and new rookie group Aespa ended the year with ‘Black Mamba’ – over 89 million views on YouTube since November 17th with their 1st ever song!
Only major bummer was Tears For Fears – not enough copies of STSOL were made and allocated copies never showed up to where they were supposed to go – and I missed out.
Prince’s SOTT’s was everything I could have ever dreamed of and more.
Thanks Mate. Your website is my music buying guide! My 2020 list:
NEW ALBUMS
1 TAYLOR SWIFT forklore
2 THE AVALANCHES We Will Always Love You
3 DEACON BLUE City of Love
4 PERFUME GENIUS Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
5 RUUSUT Kevätuhri
6 SCHOOL OF X Armlock
7 STEPS What the Future Holds
8 DISCO Kylie Minogue
9 PET SHOP BOYS Hotspot
10 THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS Made of Rain
Tie ROISIN MURPHY Machine
REISSUES ON VINYL
1 U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind
2 BANANARAMA Ultraviolet
3 NEW ORDER Music Complete (Limited Edition Orange Vinyl)
4 DURAN DURAN Eponymus
5 JOY DIVISION Still
6 SHAKESPEARS SISTER #3
7 ALPHAVILLE Forever Young
8 KEVIN ROWLAND My Beauty
9 SMASH HITS The ’80s
10 ULTRAVOX Vienna
BOX SETS
1 SHAKESPEARS SISTER Our History
2 ROXETTE Bag of Trix
3 THE STYLE COUNCIL The Long Hot Summers / The Story
4 ACE OF BASE The Classic Albums
Nice to see DEACON BLUE’s City of Love get a mention on one list – the follow up isn’t bad either – Riding On The Tide Of Love (I’ve heard a stream of it for reviewers) – the only pity as a fan of the band is that it looks as if they have decided against doing more deluxe versions of new albums (A New House and Believers both had nice bonus discs and also a 1988 soundboard recording on cassette and download!)
Off the top of my head.
On sunset, Paul Weller.
Presently looking into his impressive back catalogue.
Finally bought Other aspects, really enjoyed that album.
This year feels like it’s been at least three or four years long. I actually had to look up a list 2020 releases to remember what actually came out this year, and some of them definitely surprised me, because I was certain I had owned them for several years. Like many people, I’ve been spending a ton of time with old favorites for the comfort factor in a year where everything has been upside-down.
In no particular order, my favorites for new albums in 2020:
Kylie Minogue: Disco (OK, this one is deliberately at the top, but the rest aren’t in a specific order)
Bright Light, Bright Light: Fun City
Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia
Adam Lambert: Velvet
Niall Horan: Heartbreak Weather
The Vamps: Cherry Blossom
Hurts: Faith
Troye Sivan: In a Dream (EP)
Erasure: The Neon
Lady Gaga: Chromatica
5 Seconds of Summer: Calm
Sophie Ellis Bextor: Songs from the Kitchen Disco (I know it’s a greatest hits, but I’ve been playing it non-stop, and I can’t leave it off this list)
The two new albums from 2020 that I went back to the most were
“Hurricane Riders” by Snake Oil And Harmony (which is Dan Reed and Danny Vaughn working together)
“No Weapon But Love” by Icecream Hands.
In no particular order…. A Certain Ratio, Doves, Paul Weller, Pet Shop Boys, Sault (both), Avalanches, Roisin Murphy. And for reissues the New Order Power, Corruption & Lies box.
I’d go for:
1. Pet shop boys – hotspot
2. Erasure – the neon
3. Lady gaga – chromatica
4. Jarv is – beyond the pale
5. Doves – the universal want
6. Rustin man – clockdust
Lots of great suggestions. I definitely agree with those who loved the Dylan and Roisin Murphy albums and I’ve just started listening to the AC/DC and it is as great as everyone says it is. Thanks for this amazing site Paul and the community you’ve built. Happy New Year all.
ALBUMS
1 Appalling Human – Wesley Gonzalez
2 Gold Record – Bill Callahan
3 Miss Anthropocene – Grimes
4 Beyond The Pale – Jarv Is…
5 Fetch The Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple
6 Song For Our Daughter – Laura Marling
7 The Night Chancers – Baxter Dury
8 A Hero’s Death – Fontaines DC
9 Unfollow The Rules – Rufus Wainwright
10 Women In Music Part III – Haim
SONGS
1 Did You Get What You Paid For? – Wesley Gonzalez
2 Acid – Jockstrap
3 Cry – Ashnikko feat. Grimes
4 House Music All Night Long – Jarv Is…
5 I Don’t Wanna – Pet Shop Boys
6 Fortune – Laura Marling
7 Nuns – Seamus Fogarty
8 Kyoto – Phoebe Bridgers
9 You Can’t Hurt A Fool – The Pretenders
10 Eternal Summer – The Strokes
1-Rough And Rowdy Ways-Bob Dylan
2-The Unraveling-Drive-By Truckers
3-Song For Our Daughter-Laura Marling
4-Gigaton-Pearl Jam
5-Live Drugs-The War On Drugs
6-On Sunset-Paul Weller
7-Punisher-Phoebe Bridgers
8-Reunions-Jason Isbell
9-Letter To You-Bruce Springsteen
There are 2 new albums released digitally in 2020 but with physical release in 2021 that are good enough to make the list-Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams.In the spirit of this site I will consider them for my 2021 list.
Best 2020 New Studio Album Releases (in no particular order & excluding Live Albums).
1. McCartney III – Paul McCartney
2. Secrets & Lies – Jakko Jakzyk
3. Weltschmerz – Fish
4. On Sunset – Paul Weller
5. Versions of the Truth – The Pineapple Thief
6. Homegrown – Neil Young
7. American Standard – James Taylor
8. Valor – The Opium Cartel
9. Earth – Ed O’Brien
10. Love Is – Steve Howe
I highly recommend the Eddie Chacon (formerly of Charles & Eddie) album Pleasure, Joy & Happiness – my 2020 highlight. The best pop/soul album of the year – it’s very Love Deluxe. Otherwise, the Jessie Ware and Kylie albums were very consistent, as was Erasure’s The Neon. I also think I’m one of 5 people that loved the new Morrissey album – his best for some time. Hey, it even has a Thelma Houston duet!
1.the weeknd -after hours
2.kylie minogue-disco
3.miley cyrus-plastic hearts
4.sam smith-love goes
5.petshopboys-hotspot
6.mccartney iii
In no particular order…
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Sault – Untitled (Black Is)
Roisin Murphy – Roisin Machine
Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure?
Faithless – So Blessed
Active Child – In Another Life
Black Devil Disco Club – Lucifer Is A Flower
Woodkid – S16
Thundercat – It Is What It Is
The Irrepressibles – Superheroes
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot (Enough on there to warrant its inclusion but I could’ve done without I Don’t Wanna, Monkey Business, Happy People, that damn Wedding mess, and I wish they’d used the PSB mix of Dreamland, much more euphoric. As was the case with Super, there were enough b-sides for me to reorganise the album into something better. At Rock Bottom, Decide, No Boundaries, and An Open Mind all outclassed those misses for me. I converted it into a sort of Very 2.0)
Best reissue
Prince Sign O’ The Times
Best Compilation
Late Night Tales – Hot Chip
Happy New Year Paul. Thanks for all your hard work throughout 2020. SDE is still the best music reference site.
wow no idea black devil disco club released a new album! i thought he he was dead actually. will check it out!
Two things I learn from this post and the input from all the people who visit SDE:
1- I pay very little attention to new music (shame on me)
2- The taste for music that we all have is so diverse that it makes this world a great place.
Happy New Year to all
(Very anxious to read Paul’s SDE pre-view for 2021, What else besides Let It Be?)
Rodolfo
My favorite album of 2020 is “Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera In The Forest Of Symbols” by Close Lobsters. Every track is amazing! Warning, do not judge this record by the cover artwork (which features a skull holding a knife in its teeth). The music is melodic, modern, guitar pop! Check it out. I am so glad that someone turned me on to this band, otherwise I would never have had them on my radar screen. Some folks might remember them from being featured on C86.
Thank you for introducing me to Close Lobsters! Fantastic!!
Great list Paul and good to see two of my favourites there.
2020 for me
TOP 10 ALBUMS
01 Paul Weller – On Sunset
02 Morrissey – I Am Not A Dog On A Chain
03 Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
04 Taylor Swift – Folklore
05 Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
06 Shirley Collins – Heart’s Ease
07 Daniel Avery – Love + Light
08 Guided By Voices – Mirrored Aztec
09 Blancmange – Mindset
10 The Monkees – Live: The Mike & Micky Show
TOP 10 REISSUES
01 Prince – Sign Of The Times
02 Neil Young – Archives II: 1972-1976
03 The Divine Comedy – Venus, Cupid, Folly & Time
04 Thin Lizzy – Rock Legends
05 Tears For Fears – The Seeds Of Love
06 Elton John – Jewel Box
07 Shakin’ Stevens – Fire In The Blood: The Definitive Collection
08 U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
09 Richard & Linda Thompson – Hard Luck Stories
10 Fleetwood Mac – 1969-1974
TOP 10 COMPILATIONS
01 Bob Stanley Presents 76 In The Shade
02 Eddie Piller Presents The Mod Revival
03 Shellshock Rock: Alternative Blasts From Northern Ireland 1977-1984
04 Bubblerock Is Here To Stay! The British Pop Explosion 1970-1973
05 Martin Green Presents Super Sonics: 40 Junkshop Britpop Greats
06 Musik Music Musique 1980: The Dawn Of Synth Pop
07 Make More Noise: Women In Independent Music 1977-1987
08 1978: The Year The UK Turned Day-Glo
09 Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present Occasional Rain
10 The Hits Album ’80s Pop
Love looking through people’s lists, especially the eclectic ones! For what it’s worth, here’s my choices, in no particular order:
Albums of the year:
1. Cornershop – England is a Garden
2. Sault – Untitled (Black is…)
3. Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club
4. Idles – Ultra Mono
5. Kylie – Disco
Reissues of the Year:
1. Kraftwerk – Trans Europe Express (+ the 7 other coloured vinyl reissues!)
2. Bob Mould – Distortion
Rediscovered during lockdown:
1. Ramones
2. Dire Straits
3. Seal’s first album
4. The The
5. New Order – Complete Music (Extended remixes version)
Discovered during lockdown:
1. Saint Etienne (how have I missed them all these years?)
2. Cristone Ingram – Kingfish
3. Soul II Soul’s back catalogue
Miss of the Year:
1. Bob Dylan – Rough & Rowdy Ways (sorry all!).
I hardly bought any new albums this year. Kinda took my eye off the ball with everything going on. I did buy the Fiona Apple but it left me cold and ended up on eBay. Did enjoy Doves, Weller, PSBs and Westermann. My favourite album this year – and I’ve played it at least twice a week since release- is the Sparks one. Wasn’t expecting much but it is actually fantastic.
Happy New Year to all
Totally agree sparkswise.
It’s interesting how wide and varied everyone’s best of 2020 lists are. Enjoyed reading them, even the one’s I completely disagree with! Mine is:
1 Laura Marling – Song for Our Daughter
2 Christine and the Queens – La Vita Nuova
3 Nadine Shah – Kitchen Sink
4 Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death
5 Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club
6 Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways
7 Agnes Obel – Myopia
8 Bright Eyes – Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
9 Keleketla – Keleketla!
10 Lanterns on the Lake – Spook The Herd
Honourable mentions for RTJ, Sault, Jehnny Beth, Adrianne Lenker, Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela, B.C. Camplight.
SDE of the year – Prince SOTT – I cannot wait to see what the Prince Estate has lined up for 2021.
Re: Prince, apparently next up is Diamonds and Pearls, because supposedly the bulk of what was in the vault is from this era (also, it’s a great album IMHO), so expect this one to be even bigger than SOTT and start saving now…
Here’s my top 5 (not in order):
Kylie Minogue: DISCO
Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia
Mandy Moore: Silver Landings
Lisa Loeb: A Simple Trick To Happiness
Megan Thee Stallion: Good News
Honorable mention: Fiona Apple: Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Like many people, I found myself frequently seeking refuge from 2020 in nostalgia – old films, old TV etc. (Honestly, I could write a book now on ITC shows, British movies of the 70s and Doctor Who…).
And it was the same with music. Even though I read rave reviews of everything from Fiona Apple to The Weeknd, I just wasn’t in the mood for ‘challenges’. Below are the only 2020 releases I really listened to with any regularity. All offered some shelter from the storm…
01. Shortly After Takeoff – BC Camplight
02. Rose in the Dark – Cleo Sol
03. Shore – Fleet Foxes
04. Countless Branches – Bill Fay
05. Song For Our Daughter – Laura Marling
06. Phantom Birds – Matt Berry
07. Color Theory – Soccer Mommy
08. Your Hero Is Not Dead – Westerman
09. Mixing Colors – Roger Eno, Brian Eno
10. Rough and Rowdy Ways – Bob Dylan
Wishing you Paul, and all the SDE readers, a happy, loving and much improved new year!
Dreadful day here in the UK(and in many other places I imagine) NYE officially cancelled on the whole of the mainland pub wise (with due respect to those who have suffered and lost).
You are not the only writer that cannot listen to music while working. I believe Ian Rankin said he only listens to instrumentals as well while working.
I work from home and tend to just play my Amazon Music on shuffle( Amazon autorips and music uploaded before they closed their digital locker a couple of years ago), A very enjoyable way to dig into the less visited corners of my collection.
Marc Riley does a similar thing on his BBC 6 show called “Rusholme Roulette”
I did not realise SDE.com was your main job now, but all power to your elbow. It isn’t easy running a record shop as well!
Best Bargains (through the site) this year
John Lennon Imagine Super Deluxe Edition (4DVD/2Blu-Ray) £26 WH Smith
Bob Marley & The Wailers The Complete Island Recordings (11CD) £17 Amazon.de
Barry White Love Unlimited Orchestra The 20th Century Records Albums (1973-1979) (7CD) £13 Amazon.de
Tangerine Dream In Search Of Hades – The Virgin Recordings 1973 1979 (18CD) £53 Amazon.de
The Small Faces The Small Faces, The Small Faces From The Beginning and The Jam In The City (3LP) £16 3 for 2! Amazon.de
Best LOL moment describing The Flaming Pie ultra box set as “flaming expensive”
Best Video Armed Forces (I don’t need it!) and John Lennon Gimme Some Truth (Sean Lennon no less said so)
Most Looking Forward to The Beatles Let It Be Film and George Harrison All Thing Must Pass and a better year for everyone.
Happy New Year Paul and to all the SDE.com readers around the world.
Mine have been:
Róisín Machine – Róisín Murphy
Hotspot – Pet Shop Boys
The Slow Rush – Tame Impala
What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down – Public Enemy
On Sunset (deluxe CD) – Paul Weller (although the Equanimity and Ploughman tracks are awful!)
Song Machine Volume 1 -Gorillaz
I also bought After Hours by The Weeknd – the singles are great especially In Your Eyes, but the rest of the album, not so much.
Happy new year!
Might I be so bold as to suggest the following ?
1. Blue Hearts – Bob Mould
2. London 11/24/1975 – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
3. The Ascension – Sufjan Stevens
4. Earth to Dora – The Eels
5. Miss Anthropocene – Grimes
6. Rough and Rowdy Ways – Bob Dylan
7. Ghosts of West Virginia – Steve Earle and The Dukes
I didn’t listen to a lot of new albums this year but top of my head, here are the albums (in no particular order) I liked the most :
Taylor Swift – Folklore
Pefume Genius- Set my heart on fire immediatly
Fiona Apple – Fetch the bolt culters
Grimes – Miss Anthropocene
Dua Lipa- Nostalgia
Protomartyr – Ultimate success today
Run the jewels – RTJ4
Back in my teens, 20s, 30s and even into my 40s, my year end lists were huge. No longer! It’s hard to come up with 10. Ouch. Is it my advanced age or the lack of quality releases? This is my favorite SDE post of the year as it gives me a huge list of bands to check out, but the list is pretty sparse so far…
2020
Sault – Rise
Sault – Black Is
Tennis – Swimmer
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
Roisin Murphy- Roisin Machine
Yello – Point
The Orb – Abolition of The Royal Family
Louis Philippe & The Night Mail – Thunderclouds
ACR – Loco (just added, thanks SDE readers)
But the year belonged to the TFF and Divine Comedy reissues. Superb!
In no particular order…
Grimes – “Miss Anthropocene”.
By a whisker, not quite the peak of “Art Angels”, more an extension of the sound to my ears, but still a very strong release & a great title & artist-created album cover to boot.
Morrissey – “I Am Not A Dog On A Chain”.
His best in many, many years. His current lineup are ploughing new fields musically & reaping great rewards for doing so. Many of Moz’s melodies & vocals are up there with his very best, Smiths or otherwise. Unexpectedly joyous (!) and free (!) Who knew? Listen without prejudice!
Steve Kilbey & Gareth Koch – “Music From Antiquity”.
The Church (“Under The Milky Way”) leader Kilbey teams up with classical guitarist Koch and they come up with something not too dissimilar to Brendan Perry’s output. A wonderful release. Also worth checking out is “The Dangerous Age”, his collaborative release with Kate Ceberano & Sean Sennett, also released this year.
Sevdaliza – “Shabrang”.
Dutch/Iranian Artist (with a deliberate capital”A”) genuinely pushing boundaries. She is an amazing artist, sonically, lyrically, visually, you name it. Type in Sevdaliza into YouTube and enter her incredible world. For me, Sevdaliza is the best new music discovery I’ve made, probably this last decade. Highly recommended! Explore! You won’t regret it!
Nick Cave – “Idiot Prayer”.
Cave bare bones at the top of his game. Voice & piano is all you need from the man as he bares his authentic soul and generously lights the darkness of 2020 over two discs.
Midnight Oil – “The Makarrata Project”.
Sometimes bands unexpectedly reform after years away (twenty in the Oil’s case) and release music equal to or better than their best, rediscovering the very essence of what made them great & adding something new (indigenous collaborations). Hard to imagine how this release could have been any better.
The Who – “WHO”.
Roger Daltrey had his vocal chords injected in specialised surgery, plumping them up and returning them to(wards) their former glory (maybe Paul McCartney should phone his old mate! ;)) Pete Townshend delivers some top flight material here. No, it’s not Tommy, Quadrophenia or Who’s Next, but this late in the game, it’s very bloody decent & well above expectations.
Bonus mentions: Stevie Wonder’s two new songs were both freakin’ brilliant! Best from him in 40 years. Bob Dylan. Could true fans have ever hoped for more than what he delivered with “Rough And Rowdy Ways”? I strongly doubt it. I think he knows he’s giving them just what they want.
Alas new Music never finds me or it me. Not a lot a lot really holds much interest & my life is Time poor I’m afraid. Now & again the odd thing will seep through & I end up loving it, like Sharon Von Etton’s album last year. This year though, I was bowled over by Ed O’Brien’s “ Earth” album. An album for all Seasons & so many good songs on there. It has a really good feel to it & I’m surprised it’s not mentioned elsewhere here. I’m going to have another listen tomorrow. Also, the Moz album is really really good. He’s very inconsistent so I lost interest for a number of years, a good album will be followed by 2 duds etc etc. This one though is superb. A total joy from the lead single “Bobby…” to “Jim JimFalls”. The only slightly duff track for me is the title track. I am intrigued to hear the Haim album, just to dip my feet in 2020 before it’s too late.
Working on my lists currently, but in no particular order, my Top 10 so far are…
Taylor Swift…evermore/folklore
Reckless Kelly…American Jackpot/American Girls
Jaime Wyatt…Neon Cross
The Beths…Jump Rope Gazers
Supercrush…SODO Pop
Fiona Apple…Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Dua Lipa…Future Nostalgia
Jessie Ware… What’s Your Pleasure??
Lady Gaga…Chromatica
Alanis Morissette…Such Pretty Forks In The Road…
May change in the end, but will have rankings & will be expanded…but this feels pretty good so far…all in all, 2020, shitty year, great music…
Best Albums.
Bob Dylan: “Rough and Rowdy Ways”
Taylor Swift: “Folklore”
Taylor Swift: “Evermore”
Dua Lipa: “Future Nostalgia”
AC/DC: “Power Up”
Best Single.
Rolling Stones: “Living in a Ghost Town”
Most stuff I buy is reissues, but there were some new goodies this year too:
Morrissey – I am not a dog…
Puscifer – Existential Reckoning
Pearl Jam – Gigaton
Eels – Earth to Dora
Elvis Costello – Hey Clockface
Paul McCartney – McCartney III
Paul Weller – On Sunset
Yello – Point
Ed O‘Brian – Earth
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
Been loving the UFO Strangers In The Night deluxe set, it really shows what a great live, working band they were in their heyday! Phil Mogg doesn’t always hit the notes (and night in night out, who would expect anyone to?) and Schenkers solos aren’t always note perfect but this box shows a bands’ development towards what would be a much lauded live release and the track listing reads as good as any rock band since. Songs such as Rock Bottom, Too Hot To Handle, Shoot Shoot, Doctor Doctor all feature in the climatic run in to what is a fantastic live set that is balanced and paced to perfection from a group of young musicians on the cusp of greatness that for the most part eluded them. Truly wonderful stuff from a band who will be sadly missed.
I think I discovered Made Of Rain on SDE and definitely my favourite new album of the year. Other honourable mentions for,
Kylie – Disco
Nik Kershaw – Oxymoron
only Idiot Prayer by Nick Cave this year.
Mine:
1) The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You
2) A Girl Called Eddy – Been Around
3) Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure
4) Roisin Murphy – Roisin Machine
5) Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
6) Gorillaz – Song Machine Vol. 1
7) Woodkid – S16
8) Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension
9) Sondre Lerche – Patience
10) Sparks – A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
Bubbling under: Albums from Doves, Baxter Dury, Jarvis, Pet Shop Boys, Destroyer, Working Men’s Club, Magnetic Fields, Marc Almond, Kylie Minogue, Charli XCX.
Was happy to see Emma Swift mentioned — Blonde on the Tracks, her new album of Bob Dylan songs, is quite lovely and well worth a listen!
2020 Albums. New Releases.
Erland Cooper Hether Blether
Taylor Swift Folklore/ Evermore
Kelly Lee Owens Inner Song
Nadia Reid Out Of My Province
Lucinda Williams Good Souls Better Angels
Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne
Rose City Band Summerlong
Isobel Campbell There Is No Other…
Rumer Nashville Tears
Squirrel Flower I Was Born Swimming
Excellent year and another continuation of my must buy new music / new artists more approach.
Couple of sterling albums from old favorites and a “new” discovery Erland Cooper, which has led to buying the back catalogue plus Magnetic North and Hannah Peel. Still don’t know this Simon Tong bloke lol
Great year for music and the Taylor Swift out doing Ryan Adams using her own material Genius. Ryan’s cover of 1989 made sense but Taylor has taken it a step further.
Ended up with 3 Top 20 lists, new music, re-releases and things I bought this year that were not re-issue or new. Plus discovered the advantage of purchasing collectable vinyl from Japan
Thanks Paul, even with the new music focus, your site provided plenty of opportunities and heads-up to buy some top-quality re-releases.
Working men’s club – Working men’s club
Black Devil Disco Club – Lucifer is a Flower
Porridge Radio – Porridge Radio
Psychedelic Furs – Made of Rain
Doves – The Universal Want
Whilst I was surprised I like Folklore (Evermore is not so immediate for me) by Taylor Swift (isn’t it abhorrent for a man in his 50’s to say he likes Taylor Swift!?), the Psychedelic Furs album is a fantastic comeback (a pity the faithful couldn’t come due to COVID) and AC/DC, who I can normally take or leave, did release one of their strongest albums in years: “Mists of Time” is a great song for me although I know many “standard” fans turn up their noses at that song.
For me, the standout album of the year is Marilyn Manson’s “We Are Chaos”. I think many are put off just because it is Mr. B.H. Warner, but that album is so strong – once you get past Track 1. “We Are Chaos” is Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” for the gothically depressed, Don’t Chase the Dead starts off with AC/DC’s “Touch Too Much” (thank you Norman Reedus), and then the album swings into full tilt Marc Bolan / T.Rex and Depeche Mode. It has got off scot free on the number of variants though. If you think Paul McCartney’s album has many editions, check out the variations for this album…
Oh – and an honourable mention because it’s a re-release not a new release: “Odyssey No. 5 – Powderfinger”. Never been off my CD player in 20 years. How this group weren’t massive off the back of this album is beyond me. If there has ever been a better start to Side 2 of an album, I have yet to find it.
Hurrah, another Powderfinger fan!! Agree that between this album and follow-up Vulture Street, they shoulda been huge! Technically, they did release new music this year, too, which brings me to my picks this year (no particular amount or order)…..
AC/DC – Power Up (their best effort in decades)
Fish – Weltschmerz (what a swansong to an epic career)
Powderfinger – Unreleased 1998 – 2010 (a new album of old songs, from a criminally underrated band, at least outside Australia)
The Waterboys – Good Luck, Seeker (the hot streak continues)
Bruce Springsteen – Letter To You (is there a better band out there?)
Rumer – Nashville Tears: The Songs Of Hugh Prestwood (great songs, fantastic voice)
Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts V/VI (love the Ghosts series and these are worthy additions)
Great to see the well deserved accolades for The Psychedelic Furs, Made of Rain!
Here here, ‘Made Of Rain’ is one of my top new albums this year, sad it hasn’t gotten more attention for them as it’s such a nice continuation of what they’ve done and hopefully will do more of! Also, they’re still such a good live band, once live music is up & running again for all of us I highly recommend people go see them, especially now that they’ll have some new songs to mix into their sets!!
Badly Drawn Boy-Banana Skin Shoes-Best thing heard this year…(Jesse Ware,Springsteen,Doves,Weller,Pet Shop Boys,Morrissey,Jarv-is,Killers not far behind)
As long a we’re sharing…
1. Taylor Swift – folklore/evermore
2. Bright Light Bright Light – Fun City
3. Kylie Minogue – Disco
4. Cornershop – England is a Garden
5. Clint Mansell – Berlin
6. Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One
7. Tim Burgess – I Love the New Sky
8. Jason Isbell – Reunions
9. Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot
10. Thunder Jackson – Thunder Jackson
Lots of comments here, but whenever I see mention made of Matt Berry, I just think of that one scene from the IT Crowd where he shouts, “Father!!!”
For me the following stood out:
Dub Pistols – Addict
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
Caribou – Suddenly
Paul Weller – On Sunset
Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
Also loved (reissues/old)
Tears For Fears – Seeds Of Love
Style Council – Long Hot Summers
Bowie – The Metrobolist
Nick Mason Saucerful Of Secrets
Arctic Monkeys – Live at RAH
My faves:
– Yello: Point (with extra points for production and sound quality which vastle exceeds anything else released in 2020)
– Roisin Murphy: ROisin Machine (great dystopian disco album. one negative point for excessive loudness)
– Bright Light Bright Light: Fun City (completely perfect – both packaging and music)
– Charli xcx: how i’m feeling now (because it doesn’t sound like anything else)
– Taylor Swift: Evermore (even better than folklore and mccartney (sorry ) )
Reading through all these comments, as well as your list, Paul, makes me realise how many I haven’t got round to buying for some reason.
Of the ones I have got, Dylan and Fontaines DC stand out for me. But the biggest surprise was ‘Live Drugs’ by War on Drugs. I have previously bought one of their studio albums, and wasn’t over impressed, but their new live album is a stunner.
My album of the year was…
Laura Marling – Song for my Daughter
…followed by these nine albums, listed in alphabetical order and completing my top ten:
Ben Watt – Storm Damage
Bill Callahan – Gold Record
Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death
Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
Porridge Radio – Every Bad
Soccer Mommy – Color Theory
Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud
Last year I found CARBON BASED LIFEFORMS. This year and helping me through lockdown I found NOTHING BUT THIEVES & IMAGINE DRAGONS. Box sets of Underworld drift series and Global Communication’s transmissions need a mention. Can I say Future Sound Of London are long overdue an outstanding contribution to music from the BRITS.
Not to mention the bonkers new release from their other project, Amorphous Androgynous.
Cascade 2020 was a nice addition. Wish they would go back and redo LIFEFORMS single in a similar way.
Although like most people here, I’ve mainly listened to reissues this year, I was happy to see many of my old favourites showing that they still had what it takes. My Top 10 new releases:
1. Bruce Springsteen: Letter to You
2. Bob Dylan: Rough and Rowdy Ways
3. Paul McCartney: McCartney III
4. Travis: 10 Songs
5. Kansas: The Absence of Presence
6. Fish: Weltschmerz
7. Rufus Wainwright: Unfollow the Rules
8. Taylor Swift: Folklore
9. The Killers: Imploding the Mirage
10. Fleet Foxes: Shore
Agreed that the Pet Shop Boys album is excellent. Not a bad song, well, maybe that last wedding song. The rest are 5 star songs. With all the reissues I buy, I haven’t had much time to listen to new stuff. The Dua Lippa “Future Nostalgia” is a great album too. Very commercial of course but not a bad song and great sound.
Paul, I do hope you will post an article on best 2020 box sets so we can all post our top 10 in the comment section. Can’t wait to read people’s top 10 choices. Prince and TFF of course in everyone’s top 10!!!!
No new albums for me this year as I had to watch the pennies in case I no longer had a job (I work for an airline and it’s been brutal), so I’ve been listening to a lot of radio, mostly 6music as well as Simon Le Bon’s podcast “Whooosh!” (with 3 “O”s). He’s so far clocked up 35 episodes, playing over 350 tracks, and a lot of it is really good stuff. Quite eclectic. New songs I’ve like have been by Dua Lipa, Pearl Jam and some of Fiona Apple’s new material. Most recently I have revisited The Maccabees last album, Marks To Prove It and Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool (both are winter albums for me). I lied! I have bought one album, or rather downloaded Chris Cornell’s album of covers “No-one Sings Like You Anymore” which is a bit poppy and lasts for only 38 mins, which suits me fine (albums can be overlong nowadays). Happy New Year all!
My joint favourite LP’s for 2020 were Rival Consoles and The Orielles.
I also enjoyed Four Tet, Spinning Coin, Jetstream Pony & The Luxembourg Signal.
I also thought that the OMD Enola Gay 40th edition was a jolly good purchase, nice to hear a different version too.
Nothing valid to add except was Television Themes REALLY three years ago? WTF?
I think the only *new* music I bought this year was Kylie’s Disco and the featured PSB album. Just shows what a dinosaur I am as I bought a stack of boxsets by artists who were celebrating anniversaries etc.
I’ll save that for a later feature if Paul allows us to.
Best wishes all for the new year – and a big ‘up’ to Paul for keeping us informed from his respected position within the industry. What a fantastic job he has! Haha.
An absolutely magnificent year for pop albums. Here’s my favourites:
(1) Folklore: Taylor Swift
(2) love goes – Sam Smith
(3) Future Nostalgia: Dua Lipa
(4) What’s Your Pleasure ? – Jessie Ware
(5) Rare: Selena Gomez
(6) Ungodly Hour – Chloe X Halle
(7) Carly Rae Jepsen – Dedicated Side B
(8) Plastic Hearts: Miley Cyrus
(9) Euphoric Sad Songs – Raye
(10) Positions: Ariana Grande
Not got to know evermore yet but sounds like it’s cut from the same cloth as folklore.
The two Sault albums have been my absolute musical highlight of the year.
I’ve also loved rediscovering Joni Mitchell, partly thanks to that new box set.
Best new Albums for me – both Sault LP’s and Dua Lipa
Best Reissue – ill save for the specific thread
Happy New Year to you Paul – keep up the great work !
With all the physical sales information around the McCartney III UK no. 1, which when it is all added up comes to bugger all, then the outlook for new albums is equally bleak. Do artists make enough money from streaming to make it worth their while recording albums? In recent years it seems that new music was created to help sell a tour, so 2020 put the kibosh on that model.
There were only two stand out albums for me this year, although I still have a list of things I haven’t heard yet, so I’m sure there are many more decent albums out there. The problem with not buying things when they are released is that they continually get overlooked, and some old favourite album is so much easier to plonk on and enjoy. I know I’ll enjoy Alanis and Taylor Swift, but they’ll have to get played another year. I have most of Sufjan Stevens and Bill Callaghan albums, thoroughly enjoy them both, but have yet to get their latest albums. Hell, I love Norah Jones and still didn’t get her new album. Jon Anderson and Fish are also on the ‘must buy one day soon’ list.
As I write this, Kandace Springs latest album is getting its first play and it’s a classy set of covers. Jamie Cullum’s new Christmas album will get plenty of plays in future Christmases.
So well done to The Lanterns On The Lake for Spook The Herd. They put out a great album, and I loved the LP sleeve with the lyrics printed inside the gatefold. You know when someone has put a lot of thought and effort into their release when you see the sleeve done like this. To top off the release they put out a limited signed print, free with the album, and played live in the local record shop. They’ve just released The Realist, a vinyl EP / streaming (sadly no cd) of additional tracks that didn’t make Spook The Herd.
Laura Marling has yet to do anything other than make brilliant albums, and her latest, Song For Our Daughter, is yet another. Her performance on the BBC Live at the Proms from The Royal Albert Hall was superb. Watch it if you can.
Happy 2021 – where are you Joanna Newsom?
“where ever I go, I want to leave” by Love Fame Tragedy, solo album by the The Wombats lead singer is my No1 go to album this year. Plenty of re-issues bought this year but this is on constant rotation :)
To me, the best new album of 2020 is “Hate for Sale”, by (the) Pretenders. Outstanding album that cements Chrissie Hynde as one of the best rockers of all time.
Definitely Fiona Apple for me. It’s a somewhat tough listen in one sitting, but there are at least 3 sublime tracks and nothing dull on it.
Other notable albums have also been mentioned in the comments, so I’ll throw in KG by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, as it’s the one that I keep coming back to this year.
On Sunset – Paul Weller
ACR LOCO – A Certain Ratio
Wu Hen – Kamaal Williams
People Get Ready – James Taylor Quartet
It Is What It Is – Thundercat
Shortly After Takeoff – BC Camplight
These are the best 10 of 2020:
1. Sault: Untitled (black is)
2. European sun: European sun
3. Aksak Maboul: Figures
4. Steve Kilbey & Gareth Koch: music of antiquity
5. Julien Gasc: L’appel de la forêt
6. Baxter Dury: The night chancers
7. Juniore: Un, deux, trois
8. Raymond van het Groenewoud: Speel
9. Rolling Blackouts C.F. : Sideways to new Italy
10. Dead famous people: Harry
1. The Moons – Pocket Melodies
2. Maria McKee – La Vita Nuova
3. Paul Weller – On Sunset
4. The Dirty Knobs – Wreckless Abandon
5. Andy Bell – The View From Halfway Down
6. Travis – 10 Songs
7. EOB – Earth
8. Steve Kilbey – Eleven Women
9. The Flaming Lips – American Head
10. The Jayhawks – XOXO
Bubbling Under – Steve Howe’s Love Is, The Pretty Things’ Bare as Bone Bright as Blood & Mark Olson and Ingunn Ringvold’s Magdalen Accepts the Invitation
Love the Matt Berry tune Paul. I will give that a listen over the coming days. I lost touch with Alanis about 15 years ago but will also give her new album a spin (or should I say stream).
Must admit to losing touch with new music in the main and the new music I listen to tends to be from artists I like rather than new finds. My New Years resolution is going to be to seek out new music and not stay within my comfort zone.
This years highlights (old and new), include;
Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You. His best since…err the last one!
Paul Weller – on Sunset. Mining a rich vein this late in his career.
The Divine Comedy – best box of the year for me plus the chance to own them all on vinyl
Chuck Prophet – Land That Time Forgot. Americana at its best with another great set.
Katie Melua – No 8. My favourite late night relaxing music. Love that voice.
Wilco – Summerteeth. New box is great. Haven’t heard this in perhaps 10 years and my rediscovery of the year.
Looking forward to Plastic Ono and All Things sets next year plus more from Paul Weller and getting some gigs in when we are all vaccinated. Oh….and let’s have a full Nick Lowe album please rather than 2 or 3 tracks at a time.
Nothing but thieves – Moral Panic is the standout for me, I would also mention mindset by Blancmange which was excellent, been slim pickings this year for real quality though
Bought lots of releases this year – quite a number were made public on this here site.
Actual new stuff was Haim that I had not come across before. All the others, while new, are by “old” artists.
Weller, The Furs, AC/DC and Alanis M. were definite highlights. Thought Morrissey did a good job with his record, but not as a public figure.
There are several releases like It’s Immaterial and Pretenders that I picked up for collecting reasons but have yet to get to. My bad.
As to reissues the most weighty in more ways than one must be Mansun- getting there slowly.
Then there were also those deal alerts like all the Marley Island stuff that was a steal and an absolute joy.
Thank you to Mr. Paul S. and all who participate in making this site an essential daily visit – several times.
Every year, when I see the dozens of Top 10, Top 20, Top 50 lists I get a touch more cynical. I think a lot of the critics and writers (SDE excepted, of course) are just looking for cool points by trying to be the first to shout up some indie release. When you track it down, you find it might be a good effort, but is not exceptional or singular. And you can’t imagine how it will be remembered. That’s the criteria I wish some list-makers would use: Will I ever, considering the constant bombardment of new music (even though the industry does not pay most artists enough to buy a sandwich), listen to these albums again? It’s one thing to like an album, but it’s another to add it to your collection, even if only virtually. Let’s say you had to buy the record, or you could never ever hear it again… Would you?
I looked through my streaming playlists and faves and sticky notes for 2020, and I was pleased to find almost 40 studio albums that were worth hanging onto, and I also loved about a dozen singles and 3 live albums. If we lived in a world where we could only sample music online for a week, then we would have to buy the record to ever have on-demand access, those are the records I would try to purchase – A little over 50 titles, not counting box sets and reissues.
One great new release per week, on average, has to count as a great year, and I have seen several albums listed here today that I’d like to check out. But of the three-dozen-plus albums I tagged, it looks like I only bought six. That’s because it is becoming very, very hard to justify buying new releases that can be streamed in top quality versus deluxe editions and box sets which might have content not found on Tidal, plus the book, etc. That’s where my dough went, on the shelf-warping Neil Young, Prince, Crimson, and Bob Mould sets… Things that demand attention, offer some reading, create an evening on their own. I’m sure I am not alone here, and I don’t see that changing, do you? Money ain’t cheap. If you splash out for a $250 dollar Elvis Costello reissue (not me, but somebody must have), you just might very well have to settle for streaming Hey Clockface, McCartney III, Rough And Rowdy Ways and so on… All just two clicks away all the time. Especially with box sets in such limited pressings. The Richard and Linda Thompson set was extinct in a month, so good thing I grabbed it. But AC/DC and Jeff Tweedy? On the web forever.
I’m not going to spend your time with a long list from 2020 (though SAULT, Catholic Action, Destroyer, and Pineapple Thief would be in there), but I would like to pimp my favorite of the year. Check out Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? by Fantastic Negrito. It’s a timely vaccine that takes just one injection and will never go away. Khruangbin and Leon Bridges had my favorite single, “Texas Sun”, though the recent Todd Rundgren/Rivers Cuomo song, “Down With The Ship” is coming up fast on the rail. The live album I loved the most was Nick Mason’s Live At The Roundhouse. That was also one of the best shows I saw in the year before such things became a memory, so all the more reason to treasure it.
Despite what was a really an above-average music year this past 12 months, here’s to a much better 2021 for everyone. And thanks to Chairman Sinclair and all the other contributors for giving us something nice to hang on to while our train was stalled in hell.
Musically a great year:
1. Fates Warning – “Long Day Good Night”
2. Ulver – “Flowers Of Evil”
3. Body Count – “Carnivore”
4. Arroganz – “Morsus”
5. Napalm Death – “Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism”
6.Disbelief – The Ground Collapses
7. The Ocean – Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic – Cenozoic
8. Karg – Traktat
9. Riverside – Lost ‘N’ Found – Live in Tilburg
10. Ihsahn – Telemark
I played the new Fates Warning earlier today. Fantastic album.
Paul, thanks for your wonderful website that I have thoroughly enjoyed throughout 2020. All the best to you and your family for a fantastic 2021. And the same goes to all the great folks who post messages on this site. Cheers from North Carolina, USA.
In a year with hardly any new music that I enjoyed, my favorite 2020 release is “Angry Monk” by Ty Tabor (guitarist of King’s X).
I’d hoped that King’s X would release their highly-anticipated new album this year, which was the plan coming into 2020, but I’ll have to wait and hope that it comes out in 2021.
For 2020, by far the best “new” album I discovered (something I’d never heard before, nor even knew of) is definitely the wonderful 2005 11-CD “Blue Guitars” earbook by Chris Rea. It’s definitely been my favorite “new” release of this year.
Best 10 for me:
10. The Slow Readers Club – 91 Days In Isolation
9. Biffy Clyro – A Celebration Of Endings
8. Ist Ist – Architecture
7. Airbag – A Day At The Beach
6. Katatonia – City Burials
5. Gazpacho – Fireworker
4. Lunatic Soul – Through Shaded Woods
3. The Pineapple Thief – Versions Of The Truth
2. Mattt Berninger – Serpentine Prison
1. Christian Kjellvander – About Love And Loving Again
Quite a good year for new music I think.
Favourite reissues:
A Swarm Of The Sun – Zenith (redux)
Porcupine Tree – In Absentia box set
Mansun – Closed For Business box set
My absolute number one of the year is the wonderful and moving ULVER album entitled “Flowers of Evil”. How such a fine pop-électro album “à la Depeche Mode” (yet 100 times better than the very good “Spirit”) can be so underrated is a mystery to me. This is no metal/hard rock album, just take a listen at “Machine guns and Peacock feathers” or “One Last Dance” will convert you to this album.
Being French, I put two French artists as number two and three.
1- Ulver “Flowers of Evil”
2 – Alain Souchon “Âme Fifties”
3- Julien Doré “Aimée”
4- The Pineapple Thief “Versions of the Truth”
5-Ozzy Osborne “Ordinary Man”
6 – Paradise Lost “Obsidian”
7 – Alanis Morissette “Such Pretty Forks in the Road”
8- Fish – “Weltschmerz”
9 – AC/DC – “Power Up”
10 – Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets
yep, that Ulver album…again a great one!
Francois, checked out Ulver based on your post – I was not familiar with them. Wow, what a great album. “Machine Guns and Peacock Feathers” is a killer track. Thanks for the heads up!
My Top 10 Albums Of 2020:
(1) folklore: Taylor Swift
(2) Gaslighter: The (Dixie) Chicks
(3) Future Nostalgia: Dua Lipa
(4) Fetch The Bolt Cutters: Fiona Apple
(5) Rare: Selena Gomez
(6) Plastic Hearts: Miley Cyrus
(7) evermore: Taylor Swift
(8) Letter To You: Bruce Springsteen
(9) Manic: Halsey
(10) Positions: Ariana Grande
Great list
Completely agree re: Fiona Apple. Other favourites:
Autechre: SIGN/PLUS
Katie Dey – mydata
Nurse With Wound – Barren
Charli XCX – How I’m Feeling Now
Blóm – Flower Violence
Duma – Duma
Taylor Swift – folklore
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Nkisi – BLK SPLLS
ARCA – Kick-i
Heather Leigh – Glory Days
Such Small Hands – Carousel
Black Dresses – Peaceful As Hell
Moor Mother – Circuit City
Molly Joyce – Breaking And Entering
The Wedding Present And Friends – Not From Where I’m Standing
…and, of course, loads more but I need to stop somewhere
I realize that clubbing and dancing haven’t exactly been a big feature of 2020 for most people, but despite that it’s worth noting that Kylie Minogue, Carly Rae Jepsen, and especially Dua Lipa, all produced top-of-the-class new albums this year. I think only Kylie got much attention on this forum.
Agree on PSB, and whoever mentioned John Foxx and the Maths, Howl is great.
I loved the Stuart Price collabs with PSB, all three of them, can’t wait to see them live, hopefully next year (last year’s concert was obviously cancelled).
But as a Bowie nut, I’m happy with a year that saw I’m only Dancing, soul tour live -74, ChangesNowBowie, BBC acoustic -97, and two Outside shows, all released on CD.
And yes, I did get Nina’s Synthian, once a new romantic synth freak, always a new romantic synth freak.
My top 5:
1. Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa
2. The New Abnormal – The Strokes
3. Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams
4. Alphabetland – X
5. Superbloom – Misterwives
Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song
Where’s DISCO by Kylie Minogue?
My favourite 2020 Album releases
Stone Foundation – Is Love Enough?
Hey Clockface – Elvis Costello
Self Made Man – Larkin Poe
Whoosh! – Deep Purple
On Sunset – Paul Weller
Bob Dylan – Rough & Rowdy Ways
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – K.G.
Busta Rhymes – Extinction Level Event 2
Gutted that the latter album isn’t available on vinyl until “early 2021,” but at least I have something to look forward to.
Here my 2020 Top10 list, I mostly listen to post-punk, gothic and dark synthpop:
1) Love, Ecstasy and Terror – Love, Ecstasy and Terror
2) The Howl & The Hum – Human Contact
3) Soft Kill – Dead Kids, R.I.P. City
4) The Smashing Pumpkins – Cyr
5) Then Comes Silence – Machine
6) Korine – The Night We Rise
7) House of Harm – Vicious Pastimes
8) Sure – 20 Years
9) Marilyn Manson – We Are Chaos
10) Empathy Test – Monsters
Thanks for mentioning Soft Kill, was unaware they had a new album, it’s excellent!
I’m still loving the new AC/DC album. Does exactly what it says on the tin
I enjoyed the first couple of tracks. Pure signature ACDC – I think they were initially the ‘free’ ones on streaming services. They really knocked my socks off. However, when the album dropped it just lost momentum for me and it became a blur of ‘standard’ ACDC. Back in Black it ain’t – a shame as I was primed to buy the silver, yellow and red vinyls. I didn’t bother in the end. But I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
I’ve spent a good part of 2020 consuming NY Archives. I signed up last year and went through most of the music and videos during these last months. Well done and extremely informative, but also a lot to take in. For $19,99 a year, unbeatable! Other than that, I went through a lot of box sets. My personal highlights were the Motörhead reissues and Lennon’s Gimme Some Truth.
Many greetings from Hamburg, Germany.
Stay healthy
I had never heard of Matt Berry. I love the album cover and the song ‘In my mind’ is great.
Not a great year for new releases, but these I liked…
Muscle Memory – Kevin Godley
We Will Always Love You – The Avalanches
The Night Chancer – Baxter Dury
You’ve Always Been Here – The Jaded Hearts Club
American Utopia On Broadway – David Byrne (memories of one the best gigs ever)
Threesome Vol.1 EP – The Lickerish Quartert
Revelations – Daphne Guiness
Lay It On Me EP – Nick Lowe
You Make Me Feel – Don BryantModesty Forbids – Graham Gouldman
Citizens Of Boomtown – The Boomtown Rats
Jojo Rabbit OST
Live From London – Gary Moore
May be wrong but I recall getting my copy of American Utopia on Broadway in 2019, which would exclude it from a 2020 best of.
Folklore and Evermore- Taylor Swift
I mainly concentrate on prog so here’s my prog list for 2020:
1. WOBBLER – Dwellers Of The Deep
2. ELLESMERE – Wyrd
3. GÖSTA BERLINGS SAGA – Konkret Musik
4. PYMLICO – On This Day
5. PIXIE NINJA – Colours Out Of Space
6. THE FLOWER KINGS – Islands
7. LA MASCHERA DI CERA – S.E.I.
8. MILDLIFE – Automatic
9. MINIMUM VITAL – Air Caravan
10. RING VAN MÖBIUS – The 3rd Majesty
I respect a list that’s so obscure (to me) that I don’t know which are the band names and which are the album titles.
Good one
Great list!
Especially Alanis. I discovered this site and since then I have visited very often for your great reviews and a matter of fact, I have buy music because of your input.
My 2020 list:
Alanis
Taylor Swift
Ozzy Osbourne
Pearl Jam
Bunbury
Who is Bunbury? For god’s sake??!!
Bunbury is a musician from Zaragoza (Spain) that years ago was the leader of Heroes Del Silencio, a spanish rock band very succesful at time that even got a big name on Germany or Southamerica and now goes alone from more of 20 years ago.
Btw also was shortly member of another group called Niños Del Brasil, a techno pop group from same city not very known here but that they sure deserve a listen if you’re fan of Gary Numan style…
Hi Paul, used 2020 to work my way through piles of stuff accumulated over the last few years begging to finally be explored. I would however not be listening to Ronnie Lane while typing this if SDE hadn’t done its usual, and phenomenal, job of adding some new (old) names to this. For all things new I let myself typically be guided by what I see live, for obvious reasons that was a very shallow well this year. I did however find lots to enjoy in
– Chubby and the Gang : Speed Kills
– Danalouge: I was not sleeping
– Fiona Apple : Fetch the bolt cutters
Hors Catégorie , Arctic Monkeys’ Live at the Royal Albert Hall should get a mention and for the sheer (novelty) pleasure to hear Marc Almond work his way through Black Night we all should finish the year given The Loveless at least one spin – if you have to listen to a covers album, make it a fun one. Best wishes for 2021 during which your website will undoubtedly remain a trusted anchor in my day. Take care, Dirk
I 100% agree with PSB, Alanis and Fiona Apple, they made my top 5 too.
To these 3 I’d add Folklore from Taylor Swift as my ‘surprise of the year’ – it’s become my totally unexpected No 1 favourite album of the year, backed up by the excellent Long Pond Studio Sessions she did for Disney+. If you subscribe its definitely worth watching as it is a fantastic insight into how she built the songs during lockdown with her co-writers and for me showcases their craft and the visible joy they all got from the songwriting process. And the music sessions are pretty good too!
The final album in my top 5 was Album No. 8 by Katie Melua, which I found myself coming back to as my ‘play while doing other stuff” album, as opposed to the Alanis Morrissette and Fiona Apple albums that definitely need me to focus on them for me to enjoy at their best.
3 keepers for me this year:
1. Morrissey – I Am Not A Dog On A Chain (his best since ‘Southpaw Grammar’ for me).
2. Its Immaterial – House For Sale (had pretty much given up on seeing this so it came as a nice surprise).
3. Taylor Swift – Evermore (just a great mood piece of autumnal/winter songs)
Happy new year, all!
Albums of the year for me:
1. Blue Oyster Cult – The Symbol Remains. Big reservations when I found out about this release as they are my favourite band and there was such a gap from the last new one. Could they still pull it off? No need to have worried, a bit like how Paul S. described WHO, it’s like the BOC formula was put into a computer and out came this.
2. The Flaming Lips – American Head. Their best since TSB.
3. Paul McCartney – Mc111. Okay it’s a bit uneven, quirky even, but there’s enough to love on here by the man who has soundtracked most of our lives. Even with the nostalgia goggles off, it’s a worthy indie album.
4. Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension. A couple on here that I can’t get into, mainly when he’s more techno, but at around eighty minutes there’s still plenty to love from one of the best song writers to have emerged in the last twenty years. Never afraid to push the boundaries either.
5. Thurston Moore – By the Fire. Sonic Youth still run deep with me and this has plenty of what I like.
6. Jonathan Wilson – Dixie Blur. Great Americana. Also loving his vocals on Roger Waters Us + Them.
Lockdown rediscoveries from the past (been on a prog / new age trip).
Vangelis (Jon and Vangelis as well)
Jean Michel Jarre
Mike Oldfield
Nice. I walked past Thurston Moore two days ago. He lives quite near me :)
Did you ask him for an interview?
I had a brief chat with him at the beginning of the year about his ‘pop up’ record shop in Hackney with a view to arranging a proper interview, but then COVID came along…
A real pity, would’ve been interesting. Hopefully you’ll get chance to ask him again.
He used to live near me in Western Massachusetts before the break up and I would see him at other people’s shows around there and in NYC. J. Mascis is still here.
Hi Dave
Like your Blue Oyster Cult comments, loved this band for so many years, saw them many times even got the tattoo 12 years back
The new album is so much better than expected… Buck is on top form
Was playing On your Feet Or On Your Knees only yesterday and it still got me there.
Happy New Year
Hi Mad Earwig,
Thanks. I haven’t got a tattoo, but have seen them nineteen times, the last time being in 2019. As you say Buck is on top form. Met him a couple of times and he’s a really nice guy. Frontiers Music has done a sterling job this year with the reissues, the new live albums and TSR.
Happy New Year to you, fellow BOC fan.
Ok here goes my 6 of the best for the godawful 2020
* Doves ‘The Universal Want’ – worth the 11 year wait and truly remain one of the most engaging bands out there.
* Jimbob ‘Pop Up’ – like PSB I had largely given up on any decent output from my much younger selfs fave Carter USM but Jimbob’s latest must be heard by anyone and everyone who can as it is a lyrical and melodic masterpiece and easily the best thing he has ever committed to vinyl. Listen to it Paul!
* Nik Kershaw ‘Oxymoron’ – Another one I’ve waited a long time for (only the 8 years here). It contains some of his greatest songs since the 80’s and would’ve been an absolute classic had he trimmed it down to 11 or 12 tracks but I’m nitpicking.
* Biffy Clyro ‘A Celebration of Endings’ – An album that fits together perfectly, something I think this band previously lacked, and of all the albums in the list this is the one which suffered from the lack of live gigs. Best Biffy yet.
* Travis ‘10 Songs’ – How did this miss your list Paul? The album they should have made years ago, beautiful in every way and I have played it endlessly ever since it was released. A Ghost is the stand out track of the year.
* Deacon Blue ‘City of Love’ – A band that have never stopped releasing quality albums, as consistent as you like and this album is simply beautiful.
I know what you mean about the length of the Kershaw album. (Hardly unusual and who thought we’d complain about having too much (good) music?) I simply play it in two halves. Just like them old days.
I thought I was going to wing in with definite album of the year….until I realised that Kiwanuka was released in 2019.. :-)
And the Matt berry album is great and grows more each time I listen to tracks.
Dear Paul et al,
Hope you’re all enjoying the in between days.
I’ll add The Flower Kings, Islands to the list.
A band that makes making brilliant prog albums seem easy. This album sounds fresh and contemporary and original and yet has a feel of Genesis and Yes about it. The Flower Kings deserve more success than they’ve had over the years.
For me, however, the best hard copy release of this year has to be something I heard on a ‘my cousin ray’ podcast, nudirections:just jazz 2.(he’s a very good jazz selector)
And what was it?
Elton john, come down in time (jazz version) released only as a limited 12″ (annoyingly no cd version).
Over seven minutes of sublime Elton and Bernie. It was recorded before the version that appears on tumbleweed collection and I can’t believe that it was not released until now.
Give it a listen folks. You’ll agree.
And Elton’s folks, get on with recording a “jazz versions” cd.
Give it a listen folks. You’ll join my campaign.
Porridge Radio – Every Bad
Throwing Muses – Sun Racket
Denise Sherwood – This Road
Bob Mould – Blue Hearts
Slingbaum – Slingbaum One
A Certain Ratio – ACR Loco
The Psychedelic Furs – Made Of Rain
Denise Johnson – Where Does It Go
It’s Immaterial – House For Sale
The Strokes – The New Abnormal
Einstürzende Neubauten – Alles In Allem
Wonderful to see the ever brilliant Neubauten get a mention!!
My top three: 1. Bob Dylan ” Rough and rowdy ways “, 2. Bruce Springsteen & E Street ” Letter to you ” and AC/DC ” Power Up “.
My quick Top 10 (in no particular order);
Bob Dylan – Rough n Rowdy Ways
Bruce Springsteen-Letter To You
AC/DC-Power Up
Morrissey – I Am Not A Dog On A Chain
The Killers-Imploding The Mirage
Gerry Cinnamon-The Bonny
Sparks-A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
DMAs-The Glow
Matt Berninger-Serpentine Prison
John Foxx-Howl
Honourable Mention; Vistas-Everything Changes
Favourite reissue-Lou Reed/John Cale-Songs For Drella
Many thanks to Paul at SDE for a superb & informative year in these difficult times. Have learnt abt lots of things musical through reading this site. I think and feel it has been a near amazing year in music aided by some musicians making new music in trying circumstances; but just as importantly lots of new, striking and leftfield music has found a space and got more noticed due to the lack of noise and less corporate claptrap.
Here are my top new albums:
1.Billy Nomates, Billy Nomates
2. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately, Perfume Genius
3. Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?, The Soft Pink Truth
4. Untitled (Black Is), SAULT
5. Róisín Machine, Róisín Murphy
6. Rough and Rowdy Ways, Bob Dylan
7. Italian Ice, Nicola Aitkens
8. Heaven to a Tortured Mind, Yves Tumor
9. Last Night From Glasgow: Isolation Sessions, Various Artists
10. The Universe Inside, The Dream Syndicate
11. Rejoice, Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela
12. Return to Y’hup: The World of Ivor Cutler, Various Artists
Special mentions for:
Drive-By Truckers, The New OK; Sparks; Céu; Cornershop; Nadine Shah; Sault, Untitled (Rise is); Stephen Malkmus; Moses Sumney; Jaga Jazzist; Rustin Man; Paul McCartney, McCartney III completing an unlikely trio.
Best Compilation/Reissue:
You Brought the Sunshine: The Sound of Gospel Recordings 1976-1981, Clark Sisters
Best Older Album Revisited:
Walking in Space, Quincy Jones (1969)
Keep up the good work at SDE.
My best of 2020
Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave Idiot Prayer
ACDC Power Up
Flowet Kings Islands
Crippled Black Phoenix Ellangaest
Deep Purple Whoosh
Nick Masons Saucerful Of Secrets Live At The Roundhouse
Hi
Not many on that list for me I’m afraid – Would def agree with Fiona Apple which still souns as fresh as when first played
Mine would be –
US Girls – Heavy Light
ACDC – Power Up (Stunning return to form)
Shirley Collins – Hearts Ease (Astounding)
Haim – Women In Music Pt. 3
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
Taylor Swift – Folklore (Totally surprised and overwhelmed by this one to be fair)
DC Fontaines – A Hero’s Death
Run for The Jewels – RTJ4 (A surprise one for me)
I always try to stretch out and find new artists or ones never tried before and each year never surprises
Good list and nice reviews, Paul. Totally with you on Fiona Apple. Have you heard these gems?
• Pretenders – Hate for Sale
• Cornershop – England Is a Garden
• Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
• Jarv Is… – Beyond the Pale
• Nick Cave – Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace
• Innocence Mission – See You Tomorrow
All unreservedly recommended!
Cheers. I have JARV IS and Pretenders but haven’t yet dived in! Will make an effort to do so…
The best album I heard this year is Introduction, Presence by Nation Of Language. If You like synthpop ala 1981 this is absolutely thrilling. Check out the song Automobile. Its a lot like The best parts of OMD.
While it was released in 2019, I have been playing the Quieter Than Spiders album “Signs of Life” almost constantly since I got it last summer. It is a synthpop tour de force, “as if OMD started in the 21st Century” said one review. Can listen or buy a download on Bandcamp or vinyl and CDs from the label, Annalogue Records in Germany, though they can only send small parcels out by surface mail at the moment which takes two months to reach the US.
@Staale Venstad – can’t thank you enough for putting Nation of Language on my listening radar! I previewed their album and all their singles on BandCamp and instantly purchased everything they had available! I’m only disappointed that I couldn’t buy a physical copy on CD. (That Pixies “Gouge Away” cover is on another level!)
I always appreciate SDE reader suggestions and certainly know we all travel down different paths at times…yours made my day.
This is my favourite of 2020 too, Staale. It’s gone under the radar and as you say if you like the early synth pop of OMD, New Order and Depeche Mode I’d highly recommend this.
1 Nation Of Language – Introduction, Presence
2 Doves – The Universal Want
3 Gorillaz – Song Machine
4 Fontaines DC – A Hero’s Death
5 The Strokes – The New Abnormal
6 Blancmange – Mindset
7 EOB – Earth
8 The Psychedelic Furs – Made Of Rain
9 Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
10 Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club
Many thanks for all your hard work and keeping us entertained in 2020, Paul. It’s a great read. Let’s face it we actually got The Seeds Of Love box this year so who knows the new TFF album could surface in 2021.
OK, so I might be an old fart but I love Nick Mason’s Live at the Roundhouse, great live versions of songs from the psychedelic past of Pink Floyd, played with freshness, energy and enthusiasm.
Laura Marling – Song for Our Daughter
Truly beautiful album
Six of the best album 2020
Made of rain-psychedelic furs
X,the godless void-trail of dead
Down in the weeds, where the world once was-bright eyes
Warnings-i break horses
Gigaton-pearl jam
The universal want-doves
My favourite new albums were split between familiar singer-songwriters I love and dance pop music which helped cope and escape from this maddening year:
Suzanne Vega – An Evening of New York Songs and Stories
Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Norah Jones – Pick Me Up Off The Floor
Taylor Swift – Folklore
Kylie Minogue – Disco
Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure
Morrissey’s LP was the best this year in my opinion. My Hurling Days are Done and Once I Saw the River Clean were up there with his very best. Bobbins cover though.
This year I very much enjoyed ‘England is a Garden’ by Cornershop – a breath of Spring air, loose without being careless. You can hear the joy in the performances. Even the song that addresses racial profiling by the police sparkles with humour, and arguably has more impact than any number of shouty Rage Against the Machine-style songs on the same subject.
It is easy to take Mark Lanegan for granted’ given his ‘at least one album a year’ output, however ‘Straight Songs of Sorrow’ is another fine album. I have been listening to his music more closely recently after reading his harrowing biography, which I strongly recommend.
Hachiku’s ‘I’ll Probably Be Asleep’ is a promising debut. It only came out recently, however I have been playing it a lot after stumbling across the title track on 4chan.
There is much to admire in the Fiona Apple album, however I can’t get past the ‘me me me’ undertones in the lyrics. Of course, popular music was built on narcissism, but this was too much for me. It reminded of the second Counting Crows album ‘Recovering the Satellites’ which I also feel didn’t leave enough space for the listener.
In all these lists I see these days I fruitlessly search for my own favourite: Monument by Keaton Henson.
Emotionally loaded, written and recorded while Keaton’s father, actor Nicky Henson, was slowly slipping away.
Songs like “Prayer” and “The Grand Old Reason” cut right through my soul.
Send everyone away, dim the lights, have a whisky and let Keaton take you by the hand.
Will check out the Furs based on your comments!
My own favourites this year are:
Ruston Kelly – Shape & Destroy
The Strokes – The New Abnormal
Jason Isbell – Reunions
Haim – Women In Music Pt. 3
Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure?
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
Taylor Swift – Folklore
The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You
Ryan Adams – Wednesdays
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Though I’ve still got a backlog I’m working my way through for this year!
Weller is really the only new album l bought. Very good it is too. Now, if you are talking old stuff l bought tons!
I was digging the Firs and Weller albums too.
My favorite album of the year I discovered entirely by accident as it is from a pretty unknown artist by the name of Matthew Grimm. The album “Dumpster Fire Days” is gritty, angry American roots-rock. Protest music for 2020.
Some other lesser known artists with great albums this year:
Chris Trapper (formerly of the Push Stars): “Cold Water Waltz”
Rob Fetters (formerly of the bears): “Ship Shake”
The Nines: “Reflections”
Plus I was also loving the latest from Pat Metheny, Pretenders, Low Cut Connie, Drive By Truckers, Cowboy Junkies, Sparks, Dawes, Emma Swift, Jakko M. Jakszyk, Pineapple Thief, Galileo 7. Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen.
And then there were some great one off singles from Stevie Wonder, David Ford, Neil Finn (solo and with Crowded House) and Van Duren.
My 6 of the best from 2020 are;
Bruce Springsteen – Letter To You; the boss’s best since The Rising
Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways; Bob takes his ‘American songbook’ voice which has recently served him well and applies it to a great set off original tunes.
Fish – Weltschmerz: The big man bows out of studio work with an absolute career high.
AC/DC – Power Up: an album made up of off cuts that surpass the tunes on the original album (Rock or Bust)! Just when they seemed finished they come back with a cracker.
The Pineapple Thief – Versions of the Truth: They just don’t make bad records and this continues a very strong run.
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot: Their most consistent set of songs since Yes imho.
The only downside to my list is that I think the first 4 artists mentioned have released their swan songs in 2020 (Fish definitely has and I’d be amazed if AC/DC or Dylan release anymore original material)
As I haven’t bought any new music this year I can’t choose. The last “new” albums I got were last Xmas, by the Who and Liam Gallagher. My local Hmv and Fopp have been closed most of the year so no browsing. After SOTT, I spent most of my time collecting Prince cds I didn’t have. I will be buying the new Steve Wilson album though.
Surprised not to see McCartney III on your list Paul as you’ve said before that you’re a big fan. I thought it was his most impressive album since Tug Of War made even better by the knowledge that he played every single note on it himself.
I stand by my three star review!
I think your rating matched mine. We may not have necessarily have matched opinions track by track but I think it was an OK album, just not a great one. I think other things raised its profile and while I understand both the problems involved in its creation and the wish for some good news I think you do need to filter out the external influences when forming an opinion.
Sparks – A Steady Drip Drip Drip
Nick Cave – Idiot Prayer
Fish – Weltschmerz
Midnight oil – Makarrata Project
Future Islands – As Long As You Are
The best of 2020 for me!
Loved the Psychedelic Furs Cd.
Alanis Morissette CD is terrific. Not a bad song on it. Beautifully sung and produced.
Waterboys’ Good Luck, Seeker is likely polarizing as it is half spoken but I find Mikes voice compelling.
New Killers is miles better than the last one
New Sigur Ros is pleasant but doesn’t grab you
Happy New Year to you and yours, Paul! :-)
Because I’m involved in various ‘old music’ projects, my listening is generally taken up with intense bouts of time with the music of the projects in question (there was an awful lot of merciless listening to hours of BBC Colosseum 1969-71 recordings in pre-, mid- and post-mastered form during Sept/October, for instance! The resulting 6CD box set is just out…).
My other (non-music-related) work requires concentration, and – as you’ve said yourself, Paul – vocal music in the background just doesn’t work. Hence, it’s mostly 60s British (instrumental) jazz reissues or Robert Fripp’s ambient music or silence.
But I did buy one ‘new music’ album this year – Fay Hield’s ‘Wrackline’ (Topic Records). I knew nothing of Fay beforehand but clicked on a video for the lead track, ‘Hare Spell’, via a Topic email newsletter. It was a few minutes well spent. The notion of an album of mystical songs – witches, talking animals, etc. – from the English tradition and songs on a similar theme written by Fay was intriguing. I find it an intoxicating, absorbing and at times moving piece of work – something that really works as a ‘body of work’ in album form and repays listens. I don’t think you have to be a ‘folk buff’ to appreciate it.
Fay and her band did an online concert during lockdown and thus film clips of most of the songs can be found on YouTube, as can the ‘Hare Spell’ video. In fact, why not… here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asc0-mXdB9U
I saw Fay Hield with The Hurricane in concert in what feels like two minutes ago. Turns out it was 2012. Life is literally zooming on by so quickly.
Seemingly so.
I have had the Pet Shops, Psychedelic Furs and Paul Weller on heavy rotation this year. I really liked Berry’s Television Themes album so I should check out Phantom Birds (although whenever I hear him sing I expect him to burst into his comedy voice with it’s weird emphases and inflections…).
Other albums I have enjoyed this year:
Tim Bowness – Late Night Laments
A Certain Ratio – LOCO
McCartney III – despite all the negative comments I’m actually really enjoying this -much better than NEW and slightly better than Egypt Station (which I also quite like).
Gary Daly – Luna Landings
Happy New Year everyone.
And thanks for all your work in 2020 Paul!
P.S. Hoping this year we will finally see some Scritti Politti reissues…
Too early for anyone to consider McCartney III? I can’t comment as I’ve not heard all of it, but where do people think it comes on the strength of other 2020 releases? Not seen anyone who has outright given it Album of the Year yet? Was it “good but not THAT good?” perhaps?
Haven’t really played it enough and not sure it would have made the grade, anyway.
@Peter Muscutt:
I listened to it twice so far and currently think it’s okay, but nothing i’d listen to very often.
Nice choices Paul.
I really loved the album Return by Katy J Pearson too.
Was that close to making your top six,?
Surprised there’s no love so far for the new it’s Immaterial album ‘House for Sale’ which was a fantastic comeback.
I haven’t listened to it. I’m sure it’s really good.
Happy New Year Paul and SDE!
My personal 2020 favorites:
Bob Dylan – “Rough and Rowdy Ways”
PSB – “Hotspot”
Erasure – “The Neon”
Fish – “Weltschmerz”
Grant Lee Philips – “Lightning Show Us Your Stuff”
Taylor Swift – “Folklore”
Lissie – “Thank You to the Flowers”
The Killers – “Imploding the Mirage”
Jimmy Buffett – “Songs You Don’t Know by Heart”
Dyble Longdon – “Between a Breath and a Breath”
Gustavo Santoaolalla – “The Last of Us Part II”
No ‘Synthian’ by Nina?
Madness.
Never heard of her, or it. Next! :)
@Marcel Rijs:
Madness had a new album out in 2020 too?
Must search on Spitify later… :-))
My 2020 Top 10:
AOTY: Doves – The Universal Want
…followed by the other nine, in no particular order:
Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts V / VI
Sparks – A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip
Haim – Women In Music Pt. III
Paul Weller – On Sunset
Rufus Wainwright – Unfollow The Rules
Everything Everything – Re-Animator
Elvis Costello – Hey Clockface
Mr. Bungle – The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo
Fish – Weltschmerz
Good list. Of these I own Berry, Weller, Psychedelic Furs, Costello and Dylan. I streamed the Fiona Apple album and understood why it made so many year-end lists but as Paul says, it’s challenging and tough as a casual listen.
Here’s my 5:
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher; The Cribs – Night Network; Courteeners – More. Again. Forever; Basia Bulat – Are You In Love; Bruce Springsteen – Letter to You
Pet Shop Boys – Hotspot. Tottaly agrre with you Paul. This is surprise of the year 2020! Perfect album in classic PSB style with 4 perfect singles available in physical format with various versions like the good old times! Great production!
My album of the year is Madison Cunningham‘s „Who Are You Now“. It is from 2019, I must admit, but I didn‘t discover it until this year – and it absolutely blew me away.
The 2020 albums I like most are „World On The Ground“ by Sarah Jarosz and The Strokes‘ „The New Abnormal“.
Happy new year to all SDE readers and to Paul!
Sault – Untitled (Black Is)
Sault – Untitled (Rise)
Sven Wunder – Wabi Sabi
Surprise Chef – Daylight Savings
The Flaming Lips – American Head
Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways
Cavern of Anti-Matter – In Fabric OST
Thanks for your recommendations Paul, I always check out what you like, for me best records were
Punisher- Phoebe Bridges
Universal Want- Doves
Total Freedom- Kathleen Edwards
Shore- Fleet Foxes
Blue Hearts- Bob Mould
I have found I’m not listening to Hotspot anymore. It’s very hit and miss with three or four very good tracks and a fair bit of filler. I don’t wanna is possibly the worst single they’ve ever released and though I hate to say it Wedding in Berlin pretty much ruins the album. It has not a single redeeming feature.
I’ve only listened to Bob’s twice and am still processing it. It’s rather hypnotic and dream-like in parts and has some good moments. Not sure about the 17 minute long history of the Western world since Kennedy though. Billy Joel did something like that 30 years ago to much punchier effect!
There’s been a few good albums this year agree with pet shop boys, but for me my album of the year has been Taylor Swift Folklore.
Yes, I really enjoyed Taylor Swift as well.
Never gave Taylor Swift the time of day. To me her material was poor to average. BUT “Folklore” is staggeringly good. and deserves all the accolades its received. My biggest musical shock of the year (and that includes losing John Prine, Bill Withers and Michael Smith)
My two albums of the year are Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers and saint Cloud by Waxahatchee. The former was a new discovery and I quickly bought her first album which is also excellent.
Bubbling under would be The Secret Sisters album and the BC Camplight album.
I usually use the end of year best of lists to try and discover stuff that I missed during the year and then have a splurge at Fopp in Covent Garden in early January but that isn’t likely to happen this year and I’m trying to ween myself off Amazon
Nobody should be allowed to argue with anyone’s list however here’s mine !
Bright Eyes : Down in the weeds, where the world once was.
Phoebe Bridgers : Punisher
Badly Drawn Boy : Banana skin shoes
Tears For Fears : Seeds of love (don’t care about the rules it’s going on)
Agree re the Furs, Ash Wednesday in particular is fantastic. Have nice seats for the RAH, maybe it will happen…
Good year, if only for music….
Fontaines DC
James Dean Bradfield
Carly Rae Jepsen
Roisin Murphy
Morrissey
Jessie Ware
Pet Shop Boys
Fiona Apple
“After Dark 3” ( IDIB)
Krakow Loves Adana
I love that all I had to do to get a signed Pet Shop Boys print was to buy a cassette. No minimum purchase of a bundle of vinyl, CD, t-shirt, logo cap etc etc. was necessary.
Loved the Matt Berry album, he is always consistent with what he puts out. I also played the hell out of ‘Barbarians’ by Young Knives. Best box set for me was the mammoth Mansun effort – still wading through it now! I enjoyed the new JARV IS album, which was quality over quantity in terms of tracks, but it’s always nice to have Mr Cocker back doing what he does best.
Out of al of those albums only Dylan will figure in my Top 20 from 2020.
Paul Weller made a fine album and as tu say Paul The Lickerish Quartet ain’t an album but it is very good.
The rest of your selections are too ‘Pop’ for me but that is just my opinion.