Chorus.fm Members EOTY Lists 2020 • Page 14

I thought both their tour mates (Phoebe and beabadoobee) put out better records honestly which is kind of funny, but in a year where some artists put out their best work (Taylor, Fiona, Waxahatchee, etc.) I thought this was just okay. I’ll have to revisit it again though, it’s been a little while.

 

The album was polarizing. It's one that. I was extremely disappointed with for the longest time, but it grew me tremendously. There's still a few songs I'd cut, but it's a nice summary of the chaotic mess of 2020.

 

I thought it was a very good album. Overlong, but has some of their best stuff. Definitely grew on me. Am a bit shocked that it didn’t place


With that being said, I didn’t rank it on my list either because I think Matty’s a bit of a dork and didn’t think they needed any publicity that could go to a lesser known artist. Part of the reason I didn’t rank Phoebe either, although I liked 1975 more

 

I still think Notes is probably my second favorite 1975 album after Brief Inquiry. But, it’s not something I found myself going back to that much this year. If I hadn’t stalled out on listening to new albums in the last quarter of the year, I think it would’ve been bumped out of my top 10, surprisingly enough.

Really think the length was a big factor. There’s not really anything I don’t like on it, & the few times around its release that I listened to it all the way through I really liked how it all flowed. But, I ain’t gonna wanna listen to something that long that often, lol. And, that much material that’s roughly equal to each other in quality (to me) doesn’t help me go back to many individual tracks when I’m, like, driving around or whatever. Remember criticizing the length in the thread before the release & people not liking that, but it definitely made a difference for me.

 

It’s definitely an album you have to listen to all the way through, like the Sufjan record from this year, which also I was just so so on. There’s nothing wrong with long records, but it’s hard to gravitate towards records that require a sit down full play through.

 

Notes for me is an album that has great songs but is not a great album. So much of it I just have no interest in revisiting. And all their prior records made my lists!

 

I'm with Craig, lots of great songs but not a great album

 

It’s a achievement of an album. Though like others have said I also had them in my top 2, and 3 with their last two albums. Wanted to give props to other artists. Also didn’t go back to Notes as much compared to ABI.

 

Not sure I agree on either. I think the Sufjan record works a lot better in patches. The sound palette is too similar throughout the whole album but I can listen to individual songs.

Not sure any of the stuff on the 1975 record works better "in context".

 

The 1975 placed pretty low on my list because it’s not an album I really ever returned to outside of stray singles. It’s weird bc I think they nailed basically all of the tracks individually, but as an album I just don’t see it. It’s lengthy, all over the place, and doesn’t flow well imo

 

I listened to Notes once, thought it was fine, and moved on. Idk. I've been a big fan of the 1975 in the past, but something about the timing of this one just didn't do it for me.

 

Listened to Notes a lot when it came out but was really just getting through the "other" tracks to hear the 7-8 songs I really loved. Haven't listened to it months. Sucks because Brief Inquiry is far and away my favorite of theirs and I had high hopes but oh well

 

Did a little writing here, but here's the list:

Albums of 2020

20. The Krueggers - Hysterical Cold Side and Dark Memories - Eclipse Records
19. Slick Shoes - Rotations & Frequency - Tooth and Nail Records
18. Deadliner - Red - self-released
17. Barrels - self-titled EP - Arctic Rodeo Recordings
16. Ani Glass - Mirores - Recordiau Neb
15. Midwife - Forever - The Flenser
14. Sarah and the Safe Word - Good Gracious! Bad People. - Take This To Heart Records
13. Statiqbloom - Beneath The Whelm - Metropolis Records
12. Sprain - As Lost Through Collision - The Flenser
11. Yves Tumor - Heaven to a Tortured Mind - Warp
10. Tallah - Matriphagy - Earache Records
9. Assemblage 23 - Mourn - Metropolis Records
8. Es - Less Of Everything - Upset The Rhythm
7. Hum - Inlet - Earth Analog Records
6. Unknown Motives - Lag - self-released
5. Botanist - Photosynthesis - The Flenser
4. Riki - self-titled album - Dais Records
3. No Thank You - Embroidered Foliage - Lame-O Records
2. Code Orange - Underneath - Roadrunner Records
1. Enter Shikari - Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible - Ambush Reality


Songs of 2020


10. Pony - "WebMD" - Take This To Heart Records
9. No Thank You - "Enough" - Lame-O Records
8. Gutcheck - "iMatter"
7. Hopesfall - "Hall of the Sky" - Equal Vision Records
6. Assemblage 23 - “Epiphany” - Metropolis Records
5. Oceans Ate Alaska - "Metamorph" - Fearless Records
4. Ashbury Heights - "Spectres From The Black Moss" - Out of Line Music
3. Made Up Music - "Out For Delivery"
2. Jukio Kallo and Daniel Hagström - "Everybody Falls (Fall Guys Theme)"
1. Hundredth - "Bottle It Up"

 

This was honestly such a good year for music. I had lots of trouble making my list, but this is what I'm sticking with today.

1. Nothing - The Great Dismal
2. The Front Bottoms - In Sickness and In Flames
3. Touche Amore - Lament
4. All Time Low - Wake Up Sunshine
5. Gleemer - Down Through
6. Movements - No Good Left to Give
7. Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone
8. Code Orange - Underneath
9. Taylor Swift - folklore
10. Soccer Mommy - Color Theory
11. Stand Atlantic - Pink Elephant
12. Seahaven - Halo of Hurt
13. ManDancing - The Good Sweat
14. Hum - Intlet
15. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
16. Deftones - Ohms
17. PVRIS - Use Me
18. Dogleg - Melee
19. Bartees Strange - Live Forever
20. Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM
21. In Glad It's You - Every Sun Every Moon
22. Hot Mulligan - You'll Be Fine
23. Black Foxxes - Black Foxxes
24. I'm Glad It's You - Every Sun Every Moon
25. Hundredth - Somewhere Nowhere

 

Me & You Together song was one of my most played songs of the year (partly due to its position on a playlist), but aside from that I couldn’t care less about that band. It’s always funny to me when something like that happens.

 

Took me a lot longer this year to get my list together, but here ya'll go. Decided to list alphabetically, number ranking was just too difficult for me this time around. Enjoy all these records a lot!

Best Music of 2020:

Adrianne Lenker - Songs
Aesop Rock - Spirit World Field Guide
Allie X - Cape God
Backxwash - God Has Nothing to Do With It
Bartees Strange - Live Forever
Boneflower - Armour
Bright Eyes - Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
The Casket Lottery - Short Songs for End Times
Chester Watson - A Japanese Horror Film
clipping. - Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Code Orange - Underneath
Dikembe - Muck
Dogleg - Melee
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Envy - The Fallen Crimson
Fleet Foxes - Shore
The Front Bottoms - In Sickness & In Flames
Gleemer - Down Through
Gorillaz - Song Machine Vol 1
Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor
Hot Mulligan - You'll Be Fine
Hum - Inlet
I'm Glad It's You - Every Sun, Every Moon
Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM
Loathe - I Let It in and It Took Everything
Mac Miller - Circles
ManDancing - The Good Sweat
Mansions - Big Bad
Moses Sumney - grae
Movements - No Good Left To Give
Nothing - The Great Dismal
Oliver Tree - Ugly is Beautiful
Open Mike Eagle - Anime Trauma and Divorce
Owen - The Avalanche
Perfume Genius - Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
PVRIS - Use Me
R.A.P. Ferriera - Purple Moonlight Pages
Ratboys - Printer's Devil
Record Setter - I Owe You Nothing
Run the Jewels - RTJ4
Sad13 - Haunted Painting
Soccer Mommy - Color Theory
Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone
Stay Inside - Viewing
Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension
Touche Amore - Lament
Rina Sawayama - Sawayama
The Used - Heartwork
Yves Tumor - Heaven To a Tortured Mind

EPs:

Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR
Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats - Unlocked
JPEGMAFIA - EP!
Pup - This Place Sucks Ass
Worst Party Ever - here, online

Honorable Mentions:

beabadoobee - Fake It Flowers
Charmer - Ivy
Dance Gavin Dance - Afterburner
Enter Shikari - Nothing is True & Everything is Possible
Higher Power - 27 Miles Underwater
Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon III
Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison
Retirement Party - Runaway Dog
Sinai Vessel - Ground Aswim
Viva Belgrado - Bellavista

Also made a Spotify playlist with one of my favorite songs from each album, if anyone is interested: Best of 2020, a playlist by Sean Shelton on Spotify

 

Top 10 Albums

1. Caspian - On Circles
2. Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone
3. Acceptance - Wild, Free
4. Abby Gundersen - Sleep Comes Then I Wake
5. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
6. Protest the Hero - Palimpsest
7. Coldbones - The Cataclysm
8. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
9. Dogleg - Melee
10. Creeper - Sex, Death & The Infinite Void

Best of 2020, a playlist by Richard Toner on Spotify

I made this list a couple of weeks ago, but have naturally made a few more discoveries while checking out all the end of year lists. This week I've been spending a lot of time with Katie Malco and Redwood and those are both looking to push their way in. Katie Malco in particular is 2020's best kept secret.

Honorable Mentions

It still stings a bit that these didn't make my top 10 as I adore all of these albums:

• Bright Eyes - Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
• The Killers - Imploding the Mirage
• Touché Amoré - Lament
• Gareth Coker - Ori and the Will of the Wisps OST
• pg.lost - Oscillate

Late to the Party

These are some older albums I discovered and learned to love last year:

• Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington - The Great Reunion and Together Again (1961)
• Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald - Ella and Louis (1956)
• Andrew Prahlow - Outer Wilds OST (2019)
• Charli XCX - Charli (2019)
  
• Old Solar - SEE (2019)
• From Monument to Masses - On Little Known Frequencies (2009)

The Song That Encapsulated 2020 for Me

Paramore - Hard Times

I started a playlist diary when we first began quarantine here in London, where I added one song a day until some semblance of normality returned. The playlist opened with this song and it never got old for me. Always got our bums shaking and singing along and lifted our spirits.

Gently Down the Quarantstream, a playlist by Richard Toner on Spotify

 

Here's my top 30, more or less in a preferential order:



There are so many missing releases because I haven't taken the time to revisit them that much yet. Hayley Williams, Chloe x Halle, Soccer Mommy, Allie X, Victoria Monét... Like each year around that time, I intend to catch up on these.

 

1. Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone
2. Dance Gavin Dance - Afterburner
3. Katie Pruitt - Expectations
4. The Weeknd - After Hours
5. Beach Bunny - Honeymoon
6. Cloudkicker - Solitude
7. 070 Shake - Modus Vivendi
8. Heaven Shall Burn - Of Truth and Sacrifice
9. Run The Jewels - RTJ4
10. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

 

Yeah?

 

Latest I've ever finished one of these, but it's finally done:

(t)1. Taylor Swift - folklore
(t)1. Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Dirt and the Stars
3. Taylor Swift - Evermore
4. Mandy Moore - Silver Landings
5. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher
6. Bruce Springstseen - Letter to You
7. The 1975 - Notes on a Conditional Form
8. Dawes - Good Luck with Whatever
9. Donovan Woods - Without People
10. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - Reunions
11. Jenny Dee - Dancing from a Distance
12. Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedication Side B
13. Chris Stapleton - Starting Over
14. Haim - Women in Music Part III
15. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
16. Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways
17. Gabrielle Aplin - Dear Happy
18. The Chicks - Gaslighter
19. Lydia Loveless - Daughter
20. Pinegrove - Marigold
21. NEEDTOBREATHE - Out of Body
22. Rina Sawayama - SAWAYAMA
23. The Mountain Goats - Getting Into Knives
24. Hayley Williams - Petals for Armor
25. Lianne La Havas - Lianne La Havas
26. Katie Pruitt - Expectations
27. Lindsey Ell - Heart Theory
28. Butch Walker - American Love Story
29. Ruston Kelly - Shape and Destroy
30. Richard Edwards and The Velvet Ocean - The Soft Ache and the Moon
31. Natalie Duncan - Free
32. Selena Gomez - Rare
33. Molly Tuttle - ...But I'd Rather Be with You
34. Victoria Monet - Jaguar
35. dvsn - A Muse in Her Feelings
36. Kylie Minogue - Disco
37. Paul McCartney - McCartney III
38. Trevor Hall - In and Through the Body
39. Vasudeva - Generator
40. Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison

Just Missed:

Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter
Lori McKenna - The Balladeer
Bruce Hornsby - Non-Secure Connection
Ray Lamontagne - MONOVISION
Dogleg - Melee
Tyson Motsenbocker - Someday I'll Make It All Up to You
SAULT - Untitled (Rise)
Mansions - Big Bad
Acceptance - Wild, Free
Fiona Apple - Get the Bolt Cutters

Honorable Mentions:
AC/DC, BABERS, Beabadoobee, Black Thought, Chamberlain, Charli XCX, Chloe x Hallie, Elvis Costello,
Miley Cyrus, Brian Fallon, Nubya Garcia, Freddie Gibbs + The Alchemist, Ariana Grande, Sarah Harmer, The Jayhawks, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, The Killers, John Legend, Adrianne Lenker, Lil Uzi Vert, Maddie and Tae, Alanis Morissette, Siti Muharam, Oh Wonder, Waylon Payne, Plini, Margo Price, Red City Radio, Caitlyn Smith, Bartees Strange, Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings

Top 10 EPs (Unranked):

Phoebe Bridgers - Copycat Killer EP
Leon Bridges and Khruangbin - Texas Sun EP
Christine and the Queens - La Vita Nuova EP
The Dangerous Summer - All That Is Left of the Blue Sky EP
Everette - Queen of the Dairy Queen Parking Lot - Side A EP
Noah Gundersen - Acoustic Selections from Lover EP
Jason Lancaster - Say I'm What You Want EP
Mree - Bloom EP
Oh Wonder - Home Tapes EP
Violent Joy - Violent Joy EP

@Craig Manning @ghostedaway you expressed interest in when it was done. @George curious what you think, too, of course.

 

Lots of overlap here with mine, especially our top 10s. How’d you pick between Taylor albums?

I’ll have to go through and flag what I haven’t heard, but I know just from a cursory glance that I somehow forgot Lydia Loveless released something.

 

The difference in Taylor albums isn't huge but Evermore has the least exceptional track on either album "Dorothea", the weaker closer, the weaker opener, etc. Little things like that decide #1 vs #3.

I'll be very curious what you have and haven't. I feel like Natalie Duncan might be one of them?

 

I think I like "dorothea" better than "mad woman," but that might just be because I can't get "mouthfuck" out of my head when I listen to that song. I also like "evermore" the song better as a closer than "hoax," but I know how much you love the latter.

I have not heard Natalie Duncan. Highest ranked one I haven't heard is Jenny Dee.