2020 might have been a slouching beast of a year in many ways, but I did grab a ton of great music, in large part due to Bandcamp Fridays, which will return in February 2021.
Would it really be the end of the year if I didn't make a list of my favorite 25 albums from 2020? Probably, but I'm not willing to take that chance...
You can find a Mixcloud mix of tracks from these albums here...
25. Tredici Bacci - Fancy Mess
Joyous orchestral pop inspired by the cinema soundscapes of the 1970s. This is an album that feels overstuffed in the best possible way.
Favorite Track: "Earth To FuckFace Feat. Ryan Power (Live At The Owl Music Parlor Oct 27 2017)"
24. Cocksure - Operation C.O.C.K.S.U.R.E.
Distorted bass heavy industrial that drags the best of the RevCo sound of the late 80s and 90s into future. Stomp and chant along with Messrs Connelly and Novak.
Favorite Track: "God Gets Religion"
23. Myrkur - Folkesange
An excellent folk album from Amalie Bruun's Black Metal Myrkur project. With soaring vocals and traditional Scandinavian instrumentation with crisp production that transports you to a land of fjords and forests.
Favorite Track: "Tor i Helheim"
22. Moor Mother and Olof Melander - ANTHOLOGIA 01
There were a bunch of Moor Mother releases that I picked up this year, but this was the one that stood out. With a mixture of post-jazz and noise backing up Moor Mother's spoken word poetry, the album is at times haunting and harrowing, but always gripping.
Favorite Track: "NIGHTSHADE"
21. Schneider TM / NOHE NOSHE / Zappi Diermaier - Indoor Caravan
Legendary Faust drummer Zappi Diermaier provides the percussive, motorik base for this trio of improvised tracks, joined by experimental guitarist Schneider TM and duo NOHE NOSHE who provide harmonium and synthesizer. You can think of this album as experimental Post-Kautrock, which doesn't do it justice in the least.
Favorite Track: "Care B Indoor Caravan"
20. Ulver - Flowers of Evil
Another post-punk album from Norway's Ulver, Flowers of Evil doesn't quite hit the high for me that 2017's The Assassination of Julius Caesar did, but that was a hard album to top. A dark, but still danceable soundtrack for the apocalypse.
Favorite Track: "Little Boy"
19. <PIG> - Pain is God
The Lord of Lard ruled my high school years back in the 90's and it is a delight that he has returned in these last few years to his signature sleaze-industrial-rock. Plenty of nostalgic touches for old fans, without feeling like a dated throwback.
Favorite Track: "Badland"
18. Wretched Empires - Bloom
An atmospheric anti-fascist black metal project from Tom Ballard, the singer of Allfather. While short, this EP is a roar of fury that hides a few melodic touches.
Favorite Track: "Shadows"
17. Helen Money - Atomic
Cellist Alison Chesley delivers a dark experimental album that allows her cello to showcase a range from neo-classical to heavy riffs every bit as powerful as metal guitars.
Favorite Track: "Nemesis"
16. Holy Sons - Raw and Disfigured
Another lush, melancholy and haunting album from Emil Amos, showcasing his virtuosity as a multi-instrumentalist and a songwriter.
Favorite Track: "Four Walls"
15. Oranssi Pazazu - Mestarin kynsi
Intense psychedelic, almost trance-like album from the Finnish black metal group. A dark and deep trip for those who dare it.
Favorite Track: "Oikeamielisten sali"
14. Noveller - Arrow
Experimental guitarist Sarah Lipstate provides another cinematic and dreamlike album. Most of the instrumentation is guitar, but you'd be hard pressed to identify it at any given point given the masterful use of pedals and effects.
Favorite Track: "Canyons"
13. Gerycz / Powers / Rolin - Beacon
The dulcimer is an instrument that I just seem to seek out in my middle age, there is something to a song built on the sounds of its dulcet tones that draw me in. This album is a delight, with percussion and 12 string guitar working harmoniously with dulcimer to provide interesting and often soothing grooves.
Favorite Track: "Black Coffee"
12. Pharaoh Overlord - 6
With their synth-heavy Krautrock by wave of metal sound, Pharaoh Overlord is one of those bands that I cannot get enough of. Despite this album being released in November, it has quickly become one of my favorites of the year with its extended, doom-laden grooves.
Favorite Track: "Blue Light Hum"
11. Allfather - Century Sessions Vol. 1
A fucking delight of a live recording from my favorite sludge metal group. Despite it only having two new songs, I knew it had to be on this list and hearing the live recordings of the three older tracks only makes me hunger more for any chance to see this band live in a post-pandemic world.
Favorite Track: "Poison Soil demo (live)"
10. Elysian Fields - Transience of Life
Inspired largely by 18th century Chinese poetry, the latest album from Elysian Fields has an eerie resonance for 2020 with themes of love, grief and disillusionment. A piri and a few other instrumentation touches give their arty noir rock a distinct feel apart from previous Elysian Fields albums.
Favorite Track: "Spurned by the World"
9. White Boy Scream - Bakunawa
An experimental classical project from an opera singer that combines, voice, noise and other instrumentation into an incredibly affecting melange. The title track is incredible, but for the mixes, I went with the shorter but still excellent "Apolaki"/
Favorite Track: "Bakunawa"
8. Adzes - No One Wants to Speak About it
Doom-laden anti-fascist sludge metal. No One Wants to Speak About It, is an album I revisited again and again this year when I was in the mood for angry riffs.
Favorite Track: "Jesus Built My Death Squads"
7. Tiny Star - Tiny Star EP
The Blasting Company wrote a synth pop song for the Over the Garden Wall soundtrack that was less that two minutes long and from that tiny seed this EP grew. A delight of dark, yet dreamy female fronted post-punk synth pop.
Favorite Track: "Black Hole"
6. Feminazgul - No Dawn for Men
Appalachian touched, feminist and anti-fascist atmospheric black metal. Even with some stiff competition, this ended up being my favorite metal album of 2020.
Favorite Track: "Illa, Mother of Death”
5. Okkyung Lee - Yeo-Neun
Experimental cellist Okkyung Lee released this unexpected delight in May. I have a few of her earlier albums and enjoy them immensely, but they are noise albums, so this album was unexpected. Instead of solo cello with feedback, this was composed fora quartet to create an enchanting, fairytale-esque instrumental chamber album with skillful touches of noise here and there.
Favorite Track: "one bright lazy sunday afternoon (you whispered that name)"
4. JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland - Oscillospira
Legendary No-Wave rocker JG Thirlwell, known lately for his excellent soundtrack work, is joined by multi-insrumentalist and composer Simon Steensland. Very much in the vein of Thirlwell's Manorexia and Steroid Maximus projects, Oscillospira is dramatically cinematic, with a dash of prog and wordless choral and operatic vocals.
Favorite Track: "Heresy Flank"
3. Deradoorian - Find the Sun
Another album that I would call post-Krautrock, Find the Sun, lets Angel Deradoorian's layered vocals glide over motorik rhythms. This is an album that rewards a deep listen to appreciate the many interlocking pieces that weave in and out, as well as how Angel's voice serves as many instruments in and of itself.
Favorite Track: "Saturnine Night"
2. The Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase
A joyful, techno response to the creeping rise of Fascism (with its companion album, Am I Free To Go? providing the righteously furious, yet humorous reaction). It was difficult to pick out a favorite track, since its meant to be one piece with movements. Truly, a fantastic album to have during the darker parts of the year to immerse myself in for a feeling of connection and community.
Favorite Track: "We"
1. Einstürzende Neubauten - Alles in Allem
I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the Supporter program that helped fund this album, so I saw and heard it at various stages of its composition. It turned out to be one of my favorite of the post-2000 EN, on par with Lament. Gentle enough to be accessible to newer fans who might shy away from the full power tool noise of 80's Neubauten, but with flourishes of noise and the same commitment to found instrumentation and creative songwriting that is EN's trademark.
Favorite Track: "Seven Screws"
Even though EN set up a bandcamp in 2020, they don't offer Alles in Allem through bandcamp, so grab it from their webstore or through your favorite corporate MP3 emporium.
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