The 50 Best Albums of 2020 for Real
My favorite records that came out this year, when I apparently listened to Spotify for roughly 35% of waking hours, for real:
1. Waxahatchee :: Saint Cloud -- Forty years from now there will be a viral video of a man coasting on a longboard with an interesting head tattoo and a large bottle of cranberry juice. He’ll be singing along to this Waxahatchee album, and the song will probably be “Fire.”
2. The War on Drugs :: LIVE DRUGS -- A live compilation of my favorite band of the past several years doing the best versions of their finest songs.
3. Neil Young :: Homegrown -- The lost Neil Young record that was recorded between On the Beach and Zuma. Classic sounds.
4. Run the Jewels :: RTJ4 -- The soundtrack of June 2020. Listen to their episode of Song Exploder.
5. Fleet Foxes :: Shore -- The sound of quarantine, working from home and walking around with nowhere to go.
6. My Morning Jacket :: The Waterfall II -- Somehow better than the Waterfall I. My second favorite Jacket record since Z (2005).
7. Tom Petty :: Wildflowers & All the Rest -- Two words: more Wildflowers.
8. Sturgill Simpson :: Cuttin’ Grass - Vol. 1 and 2 -- Basically Sturgill’s Greatest Hits, bluegrass-style. A welcome turn.
9. Rose City Band :: Summerlong -- My favorite new band of the past year or two. (Check out their 2019 s/t debut, too.)
10. Hiss Golden Messenger :: Forward, Children -- HGM was the last concert I saw before COVID, and this show was within a month of that, when we could be in a room together.
Nos. 11-50, in no particular order:
Kevin Morby :: Sundowner
Kurt Vile :: Speed, Sound, Lonely KV
Taylor Swift :: folklore and evermore
Khruangbin :: Mordecai
Israel Nash :: Across the Water
Israel Nash :: Topaz
Michael Nau :: Demo Versions, 2014 to 2017
Dehd :: Flower of Devotion
Tame Impala :: The Slow Rush
Hamilton Leithauser :: The Lights of Your Life
Futurebirds :: Teamwork
Mac Miller :: Circles
Jeff Parker :: Suite for Max Brown
Bonnie “Prince” Billy :: I Made A Place
John Moreland :: LP5
Donovan Quinn :: Absolom
Real Estate :: The Main Thing
Soccer Mommy :: color theory
Stephen Malkmus :: Traditional Techniques
Jay Electronica :: A Written Testimony
Strokes :: The New Abnormal
Nap Eyes :: Snapshot of a Beginner
Damien Jurado :: What’s New, Tomboy?
Shabazz Palaces :: The Don of Diamond Dreams
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit :: Reunions
Future :: High Off Life
Woods :: Strange to Explain
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever :: Sideways to New Italy
Muzz :: Muzz
Freddie Gibbs :: Alfredo
HAIM :: Women in Music Pt. III
Trummors :: Dropout City
Chris Stapleton :: Starting Over
Cut Worms :: Nobody Lives Here Anymore
Jeff Tweedy :: Love Is King
Matt Berninger :: Serpentine Prison
Future Islands :: As Long As You Are
Bill Callahan :: Gold Record
The Flaming Lips :: American Head
The Avett Brothers :: The Third Gleam
Playlist on Spotify
Past years: The Best Albums of 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013