what, your Friday night Quaranteam ragers didn’t look like this?
I usually keep a running playlist of my favorite albums each year, but I’ve never stopped to try to write them up, let alone rank them. But I missed music the most in 2020, live music, being on tour, being in the studio, throwing house concerts, all of it, and clung to releases even harder.
This list isn’t “the best albums of 2020.” The year saw some serious FORCES put out really important releases, Fiona Apple to SAULT, but I am no expert in what is “the highest echelon of sound and composition.” This list is the music that was personal to me in 2020, and personally my favorite, for whatever reason. Some from my friends, some I got to be a part of, some I watched side-stage as the world was collapsing…..these are the albums I turned to when my whole being was aching, so far away from these voices, and everyone. Really…. as I am reading this back before posting, I’ve realized that I haven’t really written about the music at all, I’ve just ramble-listed all the ways it makes me feel or the way I pretend it’s a portal to my friends. I’m just a liberal arts grad out in the wild, my friends, on a wordy wine-fueled quest, and this is the best I can do.
Anyway, these are the albums that were my friends this year, and we hung OUT!
Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
Ethan Gruska - En Garde
Motenko - Motenko
Izaak Opatz - Hot & Heavy-Handed
J.E. Sunde - 9 Songs About Love
Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers
Christian Lee Hudson - Beginners
Dougie Poole - The Freelancer’s Blues
Nathaniel Rateliff - And It’s Still Alright
The Still Tide - Between Skies
Jenny O - New Truth
Charlie Whitten - I’m Waiting
Futurebirds - Teamwork
Cut Worms - Nobody Lives Here Anymore
The Dead Tongues - Transmigration Blues
Josiah Johnson - Every Feeling On A Loop
Mr. Sam & The People People - Mr. Sam & The People People
Duff Thompson - Haywire
Pet Dress - Fear of Breakdown and (ha!) Grady Strange - Not Very Strange At All
RIGHT freaking there: Charley Crockett, Orville Peck, Tomo Nakayama, Washed Out, Khruangbin, SAULT
Here they all are on a playlist - and an even bigger playlist
Indeed, I have linked you to Spotify. Mostly for convenience and because you’re probably on your phone, and also you want to save all of these.
If you take a listen and like what you hear, I deeeeeeply encourage you to consider ordering the album straight from the artist’s website or on Bandcamp, or buy merch! Save/Follow on Spotify, follow on Instagram, like on Facebook, and share with a friend!! Consider listing out all the concerts you were hoping to see in 2020, and then finding a way to support that artist. Share your love and give them generosity, they have been wrecked by this pandemic.
I’m not going to write about every single album here, just the ones that I think you might not yet bumped elbows with, haven’t made your own treasured memories yet, so I’ll paint a picture with some of mine.
Ok friends, thank you if you read through all that mess. I know 2021 hasn’t started off much easier than last year, so I hope that maybe this can help you start wading through it all. To you artists, things have been especially terrifying and uncertain for you, and we thank you from the depths of our shattered little bods for helping us get through. I hope that we can all support you for supporting us. Remember to visit websites, follow and share on socials, buy merch, and go support in person when we are able to do that again!!