Best Music of 2020

blenoxsmith said:
If you were slow to get to this song (and new album it's on), does that mean you haven't listened to their previous album Willowbank? Because that album is incredible. Atm Willowbank is better than the new one for me, but that could change with more listens to the new one, time will tell.
Click to expand...
wokeupnew said:
So, yesterday when I downloaded their new album, I was syncing the mp3s to my phone (I refuse to stream), when I saw that I also had Willowbank in my iTunes library. I must have downloaded it and listened to it maybe only once. I don’t remember downloading it but that was 3 years ago. I plan on listening to it today, if you think it’s better that has me pretty excited!
Click to expand...
Coming back in here to say I've been obsessing over Willowbank and Yoncalla. Both are amazing albums. Yoncalla is a little more sparse, lighter, Willowbank is incredibly lush and bright. They're in this sweet spot between pop and indie pop. It reminds me a little of Hatchie. Right in that area where it can attract indie fans like myself and get the attention of mainstream pop listeners too.

"Persephone" is an absolute JAM
 
I don’t have a Top 10 yet, but this is my current Favorite Five:

1) Rina Sawayama - Sawayama
2) Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
3) Beatrice Dillon - Workaround
4) Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
5) Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman
 
Something like this. Though the I Break Horses could easily land higher after a couple more listens: Borrowing from others, bold = new entry.

Tier 1:
1) Fiona Apple: Get the Bolt Cutters [singer / songwriter]
2) Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia (pop)
3) Grimes- Miss Anthroposcene [indie electronica / indie pop]

Tier 2:
4) Car Seat Headrest- Making a Door Less Open (indie rock / electronica)
5) Porridge Radio- Every Bad [post-punk]
6) Moses Boyd- Dark Matter [nu-jazz / acid house]
7 Caribou- Suddenly [electronic]
8) Yves Tumor: Heaven to a Tortured Mind [psychedelic rock]
9) Yaeji: What We Drew [hip-house]
10) R.A.P. Ferreria: Purple Moonlit Pages [hip-hop]

Tier 3:
11) Nicolas Jaar- Cenizas [downtempo, ambient]
12) Katie Pruitt: Expectations [indie rock]
13) Moses Sumney- grae: Part 1[experimental r&b]
14) Haley Williams: Petals for Armor (art pop, new-wave)
15) Shabaka and the Ancestors: We are Sent Here By History [nu-jazz]
16) A.A.L: 2017-19 [techno]
17) Westside Gunn: Pray for Paris (rap)
18) Allie X: Cape God [pop]

Tier 4:
19) I Break Horses: Warnings [dream pop]
20) Jay Electronica: A Written Testimony [hip-hop]
21) Four Tet: Sixteen Oceans [downtempo, ambient techno]
22) Soccer Mommy: Color Theory (indie rock)
23) NNAMDI: Brat [electro pop, experimental hip-hop]
24) U.S. Girls: Heavy Light [psychedelic pop, indie rock]
25) Somni: Home [downtempo electronic]

Thanks as always for the contributions of this thread. Boyd, Somni and Pruit specifically would have passed me by otherwise.

Also- it's been a very good year overall, but a pretty damn weak year for hip-hop. Or maybe I'm just getting old and less in touch with the genre than 10 years ago when it (and indie rock) was my bread and butter.
 
Last edited:
DownIsTheNewUp said:
Something like this. Though the I Break Horses could easily land higher after a couple more listens: Borrowing from others, bold = new entry.

Tier 1:
1) Fiona Apple: Get the Bolt Cutters [singer / songwriter]
2) Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia (pop)
3) Grimes- Miss Anthroposcene [indie electronica / indie pop]

Tier 2:
4) Car Seat Headrest- Making a Door Less Open (indie rock / electronica)
5) Porridge Radio- Every Bad [post-punk]
6) Moses Boyd- Dark Matter [jazz / acid house]
7) Caribou- Suddenly [electronic]
8) Shabaka and the Ancestors: We are Sent Here By History [jazz]
9) Yaeji: What We Drew [hip-house]
10) Yves Tumor: Heaven to a Tortured Mind [impossible to put a genre on]
11) R.A.P. Ferreria: Purple Moonlit Pages [hip-hop]

Tier 3:
12) Nicolas Jaar- Cenizas [downtempo electronica]
13) Katie Pruitt: Expectations [indie rock]
14) Moses Sumney- grae: Part 1[experimental r&b]
15) Jay Electronica: A Written Testimony [hip-hop]
16) A.A.L: 2017-19 [techno]
17) Allie X: Cape God [pop]
18) Westside Gunn: Pray for Paris (rap)

Tier 4:
19) I Break Horses: Warnings [dream pop]
20) Four Tet: Sixteen Oceans [electronic]
21) Somni: Home [downtempo electronic]
22) U.S. Girls: Heavy Light (singer / songwriter)
23) NNAMDI: Brat (electro pop)
24) Soccer Mommy: Color Theory (indie rock)
25) Chris Crack: White People Love Algorithms (rap)

Thanks as always for the contributions of this thread. Boyd, Somni and Pruit specifically would have passed me by otherwise.

Also- it's been a very good year overall, but a pretty damn weak year for hip-hop. Or maybe I'm just getting old and less in touch with the genre than 10 years ago when it (and indie rock) was my bread and butter.
Click to expand...
Been seeing a lot of chatter about the horse breaking album. And I literally never heard of them before recently. But the fact you labeled them as dream pop has me intrigued, what would you say it’s similar to?
 
wokeupnew said:
Been seeing a lot of chatter about the horse breaking album. And I literally never heard of them before recently. But the fact you labeled them as dream pop has me intrigued, what would you say it’s similar to?
Click to expand...

I've only listened to it once- but the easy, easy answer is the Cocteau Twins. Like there are less vocal harmonies, but it really is a modern take on their sound- point blank.
 
wokeupnew said:
Been seeing a lot of chatter about the horse breaking album. And I literally never heard of them before recently. But the fact you labeled them as dream pop has me intrigued, what would you say it’s similar to?
Click to expand...

Dream pop is a great answer. With a touch of darkness and a splash of M83. Their last album is what got me into them.
 
wokeupnew said:
Been seeing a lot of chatter about the horse breaking album. And I literally never heard of them before recently. But the fact you labeled them as dream pop has me intrigued, what would you say it’s similar to?
Click to expand...
DownIsTheNewUp said:
I've only listened to it once- but the easy, easy answer is the Cocteau Twins. Like there are less vocal harmonies, but it really is a modern take on their sound- point blank.
Click to expand...
I Break Horses is a Swedish indie rock duo who originally made shoegaze-esque music (Hearts) but with subsequent releases (Chiaroscuro and their new album Warnings) they've evolved into a more micro-electronic pop sound with cinematic atmospherics. I think they're closer in sound to Beach House's last album "7" then Cocteau Twins but yeah you could label them dream pop but with a more expansive sound.
 
Hollywood said:
I Break Horses is a Swedish indie rock duo who originally made shoegaze-esque music (Hearts) but with subsequent releases (Chiaroscuro and their new album Warnings) they've evolved into a more micro-electronic pop sound with cinematic atmospherics. I think they're closer in sound to Beach House's last album "7" then Cocteau Twins but yeah you could label them dream pop but with a more expansive sound.
Click to expand...

The Beach House reference occurred to me but A) I didn't feel comfortable making the reference because they never fully clicked with me and so I stopped paying attention to them post-Bloom (and I know how revered they are around these parts) and B) Warnings is far more drugged out and layered in it's production that I ever remember Beach House being.

But yeah- somewhere in between Beach House, M83 and Cocteau Twins feels about right.
 
DownIsTheNewUp said:
The Beach House reference occurred to me but A) I didn't feel comfortable making the reference because they never fully clicked with me and so I stopped paying attention to them post-Bloom (and I know how revered they are around these parts) and B) Warnings is far more drugged out and layered in it's production that I ever remember Beach House being.

But yeah- somewhere in between Beach House, M83 and Cocteau Twins feels about right.
Click to expand...
I feel the same but I never recall Beach House having straight up electronic ambient tracks.
 
Teeeee said:
Dream pop is a great answer. With a touch of darkness and a splash of M83. Their last album is what got me into them.
Click to expand...
Hollywood said:
I Break Horses is a Swedish indie rock duo who originally made shoegaze-esque music (Hearts) but with subsequent releases (Chiaroscuro and their new album Warnings) they've evolved into a more micro-electronic pop sound with cinematic atmospherics. I think they're closer in sound to Beach House's last album "7" then Cocteau Twins but yeah you could label them dream pop but with a more expansive sound.
Click to expand...
DownIsTheNewUp said:
The Beach House reference occurred to me but A) I didn't feel comfortable making the reference because they never fully clicked with me and so I stopped paying attention to them post-Bloom (and I know how revered they are around these parts) and B) Warnings is far more drugged out and layered in it's production that I ever remember Beach House being.

But yeah- somewhere in between Beach House, M83 and Cocteau Twins feels about right.
Click to expand...
Okay I’m in!!!!!!
 
So I've never been a Paramore fan (pop punk has rarely been my jam), but Hayley Williams solo album just came out to strong reviews, and I'm very much enjoying it.

Those of you who were into Paramore (you know who you are) should definitely check it out. It's got some early-Sia vibes to it in places, new-wave or disco in others.

Also, this music video is DOPE.



And this one is pretty cool too.

 
Last edited:
DownIsTheNewUp said:
So I've never been a Paramore fan (pop punk has rarely been my jam), but Hayley Williams solo album just came out to strong reviews, and I'm very much enjoying it.

Those of you who were into Paramore (you know who you are) should definitely check it out. It's got some early-Sia vibes to it in places, new-wave in others.

Also, this music video is DOPE.



And this one is pretty cool too.

Click to expand...


I haven't given Petals For Armor a whirl yet, but based on your genre classification of it in your modified list, you might like Paramore's previous effort After Laughter. I would say that it most closely resembles a new wave/80s-inspired pop sound that you'd probably appreciate.

In the past year, I've come around to it being my second favorite Paramore album (just behind Brand New Eyes).
 
Rip_City said:
I haven't given Petals For Armor a whirl yet, but based on your genre classification of it in your modified list, you might like Paramore's previous effort After Laughter. I would say that it most closely resembles a new wave/80s-inspired pop sound that you'd probably appreciate.

In the past year, I've come around to it being my second favorite Paramore album (just behind Brand New Eyes).
Click to expand...

We have serious overlap in our tastes. I'll probably check it out.

Out of curiosity, how old are you? I'm 33. So Manson / Nails / Smashing Pumpkins / Modest Mouse colored my depressive side in high school instead of Emo. I do remember Bright Eyes blowing up near the very end of High School and enjoying them. They were my first exposure to that scene via the kids who were freshman / sophomores when I was a senior. But most the rest of it passed me completely by.
 
DownIsTheNewUp said:
We have serious overlap in our tastes. I'll probably check it out.

Out of curiosity, how old are you? I'm 33. So Manson / Nails / Smashing Pumpkins / Modest Mouse colored my depressive side in high school instead of Emo. I do remember Bright Eyes blowing up near the very end of High School and enjoying them. They were my first exposure to that scene via the kids who were freshman / sophomores when I was a senior. But most the rest of it passed me completely by.
Click to expand...

I turned 27 last month.

Yes, I've noticed that your best-of list is very similar in likeness to my own. Although with different upbringings. Early in life, my tastes were centered more towards 70s/80s soft rock and (unfortunately) dad rock/classic rock. I came onto metal, thrash in particular, in high school. Hip-hop and indie rock later in college. Now much more pop-centered, with a hint of electronic. But overall, everything up to this point has come full circle and I enjoy components of each.

EDIT: I have throughout my life been exposed to jazz, but only came onto the 50s-late 60s era jazz in my 20s. I have been gravitating towards female (indie?) singer-songwriters in the past 5 years.
 
Last edited:
Rip_City said:
I turned 27 last month.

Yes, I've noticed that your best-of list is very similar is likeness to my own. Although with different upbringings. Early in life, my tastes were centered more towards 70s/80s soft rock and (unfortunately) dad rock/classic rock. I came onto metal, thrash in particular, in high school. Hip-hop and indie rock later in college. Now much more pop-centered, with a hint of electronic. But overall, everything up to this point has come full circle and I enjoy components of each.
Click to expand...

Not too dissimilar. Grew up with parents who worshiped singer / songwriter (which bored me for the most part) while ignoring most everything else. Alt and Classic Rock in all their variants defined HS. Discovered Modest Mouse and Sonic Youth near the end of HS and my best friend in college was from the Twin Cities so I went down a indie rock / under ground hip-hop rabbit hole in college. Electronica slowly worked its way into my pallet (via Radiohead, Infected Mushroom among others) and then became ingrained via Grimes: Visions + Nicholas Jaar. Similarly, Art Angeles got me into pop while Malibu / Freetown Sound finally got me interested in R&B.

Anyways...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top