Mid-Year 2020 Lists (Best of 2020 Thus Far) • Page 8

It is, I seen Brad Paisley with a girl I dated once and wasn’t my favorite show ever but he definitely rocked it out, but he definitely isn’t Jason Isbell. I w

for sure and it’s better to me than Comedown Machine but they are all so super talented as individuals. Been fun watching them all grow as artists and humans. Can definitely relate to Albert and now being on the other side of addiction, it’s a whole different perception. I still can’t listen to much hip hop anymore because I would start craving weed.

 

No doubt some of the co-writing credits is skewed I get that just like The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” where they sampled a bell or something that didn’t add enough to say it was a complete rip, but that they didn’t get permission. Super cool and just seen a few months back, The Stones gave Ashcroft and company the rights to the song. That was a great thing to see especially with all the current darkness. I think I owe Jason an apology also. I didn’t take into consideration it’s what he likes and his list and I like what I like and that’s ok also. I’m super appreciative of this site and Absolute Punk covering the off the beaten path artists and the big ones. So many have changed my life and The Gaslight Anthem alone 9 years ago got me through inpatient recovery and on my path to being well again.

 

listen i don't relish talking up mj or anything but this is demonstrably not true if you've listened to any of the demos for thriller

 

performer, songwriter, arranger, all are very mutable categories imo

 

From what I noticed, people who care (too much) about those things as arbiters of quality often have misconceptions about the writing or recording process for those songs or albums.

 

I think the best way to write a song really depends on the artist. Jason Isbell writes everything on his own and has said he’s just not very good at co-writing. But not everyone has his skill with words or story, and some of my favorite artists do really well in that collaborative space where they can bounce ideas off other writers. Like, Lori McKenna is one of the best songwriters on the planet and her songs tend to be written with 1-2 other people. And then some people are just really good at finding and interpreting songs that they didn’t write but absolutely relate to. Not all great songwriters are great singers or performers (and vice versa), so having a system where those artists can connect and work together to achieve something great is really important, and can help give good songwriters exposure and livelihood. Artists like Chris Stapleton or Maren Morris or Natalie Hemby or Kelsea Ballerini, they worked as staff songwriters for years before getting the chance to be in front of the mic, and now they are all super successful artists in their own right. I don’t think that would have happened in an “only people who write their own stuff are taken seriously” economy, not because those artists can’t write (they almost always do), but because they needed that longer road to success.

I definitely cared a lot about the idea of the “solo writer” when I was younger, just because I thought it was the most genuine expression possible in music. I still really value someone like that, if their songs are good. I also definitely think you can have too many cooks in the kitchen and end up with something faceless. I think, for instance, that the pop songwriting machine really ruined bands like Maroon 5, that had something interesting about their music early on and then just started sounding like everyone else. But then there are lots of examples where magic happens when you pair the right song and the right performer. Like, listen to Miranda Lambert sing “The House That Built Me” and tell me she isn’t feeling every single word of that song like it’s her own. It really doesn’t matter that she didn’t write it.

 

1. Nothing is True & Everything is Possible - Enter Shikari
2. Petals for Armour - Hayley Williams
3. Local Honey - Brian Fallon
4. Race Car Blues - Slowly Slowly
5. Wake Up, Sunshine - All Time Low
6. Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa
7. Notes on a Conditional Form - The 1975
8. 3.15.20 - Childish Gambino
9. Fetch the Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple
10. RTJ4 - Run the Jewels

 

Is this the current thread or that other one I just posted in from December 2019??

Well, as I said there, you folks listen to a LOT of music! I've only heard 2 full new albums. Lol

Stabbing Westward Dead and Gone EP
The Used Heartwork

 

It’s... it’s a music site.

 

I’m surprised someone on here has only listened to two albums this year, I feel like there’s been an abundance of great records released this year.

 

No judgement from me. Take a look around though @Mcrx, there's loads of great stuff out this year that I'm sure you'll dig.

 

If you want some recommendations on albums to check out from this year, feel free to ask!

 

Update! I listened to Have a Good Season quite a bit at first and liked it a lot, but once I dove into Snarls I haven't looked back because that album is incredible. I'll get to the last two soon, but just wanted to pop back and say thanks for the recs!

 

Haha "it's a music site". Good point. But I'm like a specialist. I listen to certain artists over and over again and only every once in awhile branch out. Ha! I wasn't always like that, but I just have other things that take up my time these days. I have been going through my old albums from back in the day and like sorting out just when exactly everything came out and all. I'm planning to make a timeline of all of this (plus movies I watched and life events). Maybe I'll tally up the records I listened to too. ;) The thing is though, we didn't have YT or Spotify back in the day, so you'd actually have to buy everything to listen. So I did listen more to the radio hits rather than full albums. I guess I'm kinda catching up on some things. Hehe

Oh, but as for references, I think I'll just keep an eye out on this thread. ;) Thanks though! I will ask if I need to. :)

 

Oh, just to specify, that's 2 NEW 2020 albums. I've caught up on several of the old bands discographies. :D

 

Word! Glad you’re digging those. Yeah that Snarls record really is impressive — they’ve been around a couple of years but the day that came out was my first experience with them. “Falling” was such an immediate stunner

 

Trying to catch up on stuff from the past 8 months. I’ve probably listened to like 1/3 of what I would have listened to in a normal year. Any recs (particularly folk or synth pop/alt pop) from anyone in here? For reference, here’s my list

 

ML Buch - Skinned
Braids - Shadow Offering
Cecile Believe - Made in Heaven
Half Waif - The Caretaker
Thanya Iyer - Kind

maybe Katie Dey's mydata too

 

I Break Horses - Warnings
Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
Christian Lee Hutson - Beginners

seconding Half Waif too

 

Ratboys - Printer's Devil
Skullcrusher - Skullcrusher EP
Lily Konigsberg - It's Just Like all the Clouds
Liza Anne - Bad Vacation
Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers
Cinder Well - No Summer
Jenny O. - New Truth