My Favorite Albums (#80-61), 2020
Moving right along!
Back again continuing the countdown of my 100 favorite albums of 2020!
Below is a playlist with one standout track from each project on my favorite albums list, that will be updated with each post.
Catch up on previous lists!
My Favorite Albums (#100-81), 2020
80. Dedicated Side B by Carly Rae Jepsen
Released: May 21st, 2020
Features: Bleachers
Producers: Jack Antonoff, Theo Katzman, Tyler Andrew Duncan, John Hill, Jordan Palmer, Jack & Coke, Oak, Ariel Rechtshaid, Buddy Ross, Patrik Berger, Hightower, Pontus Winnberg, James Flannigan,
Genres: Pop
Recommended For Fans Of: Betty Who, Allie X
A great companion piece to the 2019 album Dedicated. Jepsen was one of the earliest pop stars to usher in the wave of nostalgia pop with her 2015 album E•MO•TION, that has now taken over the mainstream. Dedicated and its Side B album both feel like well deserved trend setting victory laps.
Standout track: Window
79. A Written Testimony by Jay Electronica
Released: March 13th, 2020
Features: Jay-Z, Travis Scott, The-Dream
Producers: Jay Electronica, Swizz Beatz, Hit-Boy, AraabMuzik, G. Ry, The Alchemist, No I.D., Khruangbin
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Jay-Z
I knew the end of days was coming in March when a Jay Electronica album actually released. Grant it, this is more of a Jay-Z/Electronica collab album in execution, and a lot of times Jay-Z comes out on top. It may not be quite enough to deliver on 10+ years of hype, but the Jays have great chemistry, and bring out the best of each other.
Standout track: A.P.I.D.T.A.
78. Bugs in a Jar by Morgan Powers
Released: May 22nd, 2020
Genres: Acoustic, Folk, Indie
Recommended For Fans Of: Alex G, Clairo
Morgan Powers makes music that makes you feel close to them. It’s hard to listen to this album of soft present vocals over gentle guitar and think of Powers as anything other than a close friend. My friend Camden and I were recently discussing how much this album sounds like the cover too. The music feels like you’re on the back porch of a rural area on a warm summer night. Alone with nature and your thoughts.
Standout track: Bugs in a Jar
77. Spilligion by Spillage Village
Released: September 25th, 2020
Features: Desi Banks, Country Wayne, Ant Clemons, Chance the Rapper, Buddy, Ari Lennox, Masego, Lucky Daye, Big Rube
Producers: Christo, Olu, Hollywood JB, Nicki Jupiter, Rascal, Benji., Nice Rec, Monte Booker, Mesita, Chelsey Ova, 1500 or Nothin’, Malik, Giszm, Jay Card, Elite, Mike Dean
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap, R&B, Gospel
Recommended For Fans Of: Dreamville, Pivot Gang
After releasing the biggest albums of their respective careers, JID and rap duo Earthgang decided to regroup and release another album as the collective Spillage Village (Hollywood JB and Jurdan Bryant round out the original 5 members of the group, with Mereba, 6lack, & Benji. joining later on). You might be surprised to hear how ranging this album is. The core member’s solo work is primarily rap, but there’s a lot of R&B and gospel influence on this project. Spilligion dropped the same day as Sufjan Stevens’ album The Ascension, and I cued them up to play back to back. When the closing song Jupiter started playing, I thought the Sufjan album had started.
Standout track: Jupiter
76. Home for Now by Babeheaven
Released: November 20th, 2020
Genres: Alternative, Soul, Indie
Recommended For Fans Of: Slow Pulp, TOPS
Babeheaven is a UK duo made up of vocalist Nancy Andersen and producer Jamie Travis, but you would think it’s way more than two people with the rich sound of this debut album. Weaving together dreamlike indie soul music, Home for Now puts you in a trance you won’t want to get out of.
Standout track: Human Nature
75. K.G. by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Released: November 20th, 2020
Producers: Stu Mackenzie, Joey Walker, Cook Craig,
Genres: Rock, Alternative
Recommended For Fans Of: Post Animal, Ty Segall
The band that tries on new genres like teenagers do clothes at the mall found a new style to call home with this 18th project: Turkish Rock. And somehow, as with most of their previous albums, they make it sound like this is the genre they were born to play. I don’t understand how they do it, but they do it.
Standout track: Automation
74. Valley of Life by Zelooperz
Released: November 15th, 2020
Features: YSR Gramz, Kung Fou, Nak
Producers: Dilip, Otxhello, Colegaches
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: $ilkmoney, Chris Crack
Zelooperz has been on a great run going back to 2019’s Wild Card EP. He’s come a long way since his 2014 debut Help, which was a solid project, but he definitely sounded like a Danny Brown protégé on it. In the years since, he’s blossomed into his own sound, culminating in Valley of Life. His best project so far, in my opinion.
Standout track: Arugula
73. COA by Ericdoa
Released: November 6th, 2020
Features: Grandma, Brakence
Producers: Kimj, vvspipes, glasear, ericdoa, delto, dante red, Grandma, fortuneswan, skress
Genres: Pop, Electronic, Hyperpop
Recommended For Fans Of: Brakence, Glaive, SEBii
Ericdoa is part of a new wave of hyperpop that’s been gaining momentum over the last few years. The genre is a mash up of catchy pop music, hard hitting bass, heavy autotune, and fast/glitchy drums and production that draws influence from Hip-Hop and EDM alike. The most exciting part about the genre is that it is rapidly growing and evolving. From what I’ve heard so far, Ericdoa is one of the best. His songs throw a lot at you at once, but it never feels messy or miscalculated. Everything has its purpose.
Standout track: Likewise
72. The Anxiety by WILLOW & Tyler Cole
Released: March 13th, 2020
Producers: WILLOW, Tyler Cole, Zach Brown
Genres: Punk, Pop
Recommended For Fans Of: Jean Dawson, Bakar
I will always appreciate WILLOW’s decisions to take risks with her music when she could have easily used her name and star power to go down a generic pop star route with massive success and little substance. Here she teams with Tyler Cole to vent. Like the cover suggests, this album feels like letting out your anger and frustration. While the most popular cuts (by Spotify metrics) is the poppier tracks (Poolside, Meet Me At Our Spot), there’s a lot of good aggressive tracks that show a side of WILLOW we haven’t seen before.
Standout track: Believe That
71. KIND by Thanya Iyer
Released: July 31st, 2020
Producers: Daniel Gélinas, Alexander Kasirer-Smibert, Thanya Iyer
Genres: R&B, Alternative, Folk Pop, Jazz
Recommended For Fans Of: Raveena, Amber Mark
I wrote about the healing powers of this album in What I’ve Been Listening To, 8/11/20.
Standout track: My Mind Keeps Running
70. It Is What It Is by Thundercat
Released: April 3rd, 2020
Features: Louis Cole, Steve Lacy, Steve Arrington, Childish Gambino, Zach Fox, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil B, Pedro Martins
Producers: Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, Dennis Hamm, BADBADNOTGOOD, Sounwave
Genres: Funk, R&B, Soul, Electronic
Recommended For Fans Of: Mndsgn, The Internet, Flying Lotus
Thundercat has a sound so special, you can almost tell he’s on a track just by listening to the bass tones. Following up the exceptional debut album Drunk, Thundercat is continuing to make seriously good music that still allows his goofy personality to shine through. The music video for Dragonball Durag being a perfect example of that.
Standout track: Dragonball Durag
69. Never Forgotten by MadeinTYO
Released: October 30th, 2020
Features: J Balvin, Young Nudy, Ty Dolla $ign, 24hrs, Toro y Moi, Cam’ron, Chance the Rapper, Smino, BJ the Chicago Kid, Na’KeL, Chynna, Wiz Khalifa, LUCKI
Producers: K Swisha, G Koop, Jake One, MBWAV, MADEINSOUNDS, Bobby Astro, Toro y Moi, Sam Wish
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Playboi Carti, YBN Nahmir
I felt that MadeinTYO had strayed away from the sound that put him on in 2016 with the tape You Are Forgiven and its viral single Uber Everywhere. Never Forgotten is by far his strongest album since that project. It brings MadeinTYO back to K Swisha’s simple (but catchy and fun) loop based beats that he sounds good over, while also making room for some more eclectic beats like this one produced by Toro y Moi.
Standout track: Money Up (Feat. Toro y Moi)
68. 925 by Sorry
Released: March 27th, 2020
Producers: Asha Lorenz, Louis O’Bryen, James Dring, Andrew Savours, Oli Bayston
Genres: Rock, Alternative, Grunge, Post-Punk
Recommended For Fans Of: Porridge Radio, Shame
Following years of singles and build-up, the London rock group finally delivered with the stellar debut album 925. I first tapped into Sorry with their 2018 single Showgirl, and it has been worth the wait to get to this point. This may be their first full length, but the band already sounds too cool to care.
Standout track: Perfect
67. Jump Rope Gazers by The Beths
Released: July 10th, 2020
Producers: Jonathan Pearce
Genres: Alternative, Indie, Rock
Recommended For Fans Of: Beach Bunny, Anna Burch, Soccer Mommy,
The Beths stormed onto many people’s radars with their 2018 debut album Future Me Hates Me. This follow up album sees them taking a more mature sound as they reckon with the change in lifestyle that a well received album can bring. The band members quit their jobs to do music full time, and left their New Zealand homes for multiple long periods of international touring.
Standout track: You Are A Beam of Light
66. If My Sins Could Talk by SAINT LYOR
Released: March 11th, 2020
Features: Luke Bar$
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Baby Keem, JAHMED
Shoutout to Matt Singer for putting me onto Luke Bar$ earlier this year. Luke had just dropped a great tape, and it put me onto more talent in the Brockton scene like Jiles, Lord Felix, and SAINT LYOR. Listening to this project reminds me of listening to some of those early Baby Keem mixtapes, and we all know how huge Keem is right now. So you should get on this tape before it’s too late to say you were early.
Standout track: Finsta
65. Either Light by Vundabar
Released: March 13th, 2020
Producers: Patrick Hyland
Genres: Indie Rock
Recommended For Fans Of: Hippo Campus, Surf Curse, Inner Wave
Initially this is an album that got lost for me when I first listened. Don’t know about you, but there was some other stuff pulling my focus in mid-March when this released. But the more I listen to it, the more I find to enjoy. The catchy guitar riffs and vocals give a lot to come back for.
Standout track: Petty Crime
64. Seeking Thrills by Georgia
Released: January 10th, 2020
Features: Shygirl, Maurice
Producers: Georgia, Sean Oakley, Mark Ralph
Genres: Pop, Dance
Recommended For Fans Of: Robyn, Carly Rae Jepsen, Caroline Polachek
Georgia told Apple Music that she grew up “around the UK rave scene, being taken to raves with [her parents] because they couldn’t afford childcare.” In that case, Seeking Thrills feels like a homecoming. As the cover suggests, this album is stuffed with ear worm dance pop tracks that will make you want to throw your hands up and dance with strangers, in a moment of sweet release.
Standout track: About Work the Dancefloor
63. Hair of the Dog by ARTHUR
Released: May 15th, 2020
Features: Caleb Giles
Genres: Alternative, Electronic, Indie
Recommended For Fans Of: Jerry Paper, Palm
ARTHUR meshes his vocals with the instrumentation so well, it feels like he uses his voice like an instrument at times. I can only really describe the sound of this as lofi Nintendo 64 music. Can’t really say that about anything else I’ve heard this year.
Standout track: I Don’t Want To Talk To You
62. Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa
Released: March 27th, 2020
Producers: Jeff Bhasker, Skylar Mones, Ian Kirkpatrick, Caroline Ailin, TMS, Stuart Price, Lorna Blackwood, Jason Evigan, Koz, Gian Stone, Juan Ariza, SG Lewis, Lauren D'Elia, Andrew Watt, The Monsters & Strangerz, Lindgren, Take a Daytrip, Rupert Christie
Genres: Pop
Recommended For Fans Of: Halsey, Ava Max, Bebe Rexha
The album that you’ve either listened to thoroughly or heard at least half of against your will. This album was massive, and frankly, the follow up to her self-titled debut was too big to fail. I mean, just look at the number of big name producers they threw at this thing. But it all came together to create a great 80s pop album that fits the title perfectly. They pulled it off.
Standout track: Break My Heart
61. No Dream by Jeff Rosenstock
Released: May 20th, 2020
Producers: Jack Shirley
Genres: Rock, Punk
Recommended For Fans Of: PUP, Chris Farren
After nearly two decades of recording music, touring, and giving away all his music for free (seriously, all of it) Jeff Rosenstock is still making fresh and exciting projects. You love to see it. With this album, Rosenstock says “we hope it makes you feel good, but if it doesn't, that's on you sorry.”
Standout track: State Line
Come back tomorrow for the next part of the list!