TOP ALBUMS OF 2020

This past year was not the one that any of us expected or wanted. And I think that it's safe to say that everyone experienced such a wide range of thought, feels, and emotions as we all moved through it. This was certainly the case for me. Fortunately with each passing month, there were new albums that provided me with outlets to escape...with any hope to my happy place. 

At different times, I reach for each one of these albums again and again. Here are my top albums of 2020!

10. Airbag, A Day At The Beach

I got excited when I first learned that Airbag was back in the studio recording a new album. Since 2009, the band, hailing from Oslo, Norway, had only released four albums. Each one has become favorites of mine. I was ready for more. Almost a year later, A Day At The Beach arrived back in June and I got my Airbag fix.   

One would never say that Airbag has a totally original sound. Influences of bands like Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree have always been present. On A Day At The Beach, the band does move in a bit of a new directly with the addition of electronic elements which they say were inspired by the resurgence of ‘80’s electronica and new wave. In this regard, they have tapped into a bit of The Cure circa Disintegration.

With six songs clocking in at almost fifty minutes, there is plenty of music to consume here. I cannot recommend A Day At The Beach enough. This is a fantastic album. 

9. Creeper, Sex, Death & The Infinite Void

WOW. WOA?! WOW! That was my reaction listing to Creeper's amazingly original, inventive, and over-the-top sophomore  album. Since then, I have been trying to figure out just how to describe this one. Then I read Kerrang!'s perfect review; 'If the coquettish camp of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is your idea of a good time, or you’ve enjoyed the morbid-idiosyncrasies of a John Waters movie, the lovingly-crafted universe evoked by Sex, Death & The Infinite Void might just feel like home. Imbued with endless passion, colour and a carnival of glorious sound, it’s a musical marvel.' A marvel indeed.

8. Glass Animals, Dreamland

Four years after the release of their Mercury Nominated album, How To Be A Human Being, Glass Animals are back and better than ever. A much more personal album, ‘Dreamland is the awakening moment from a turbulent time’ for the band and the ‘nostalgic personal journey of front man and producer Dave Bayley.’ (OMH) 

In the hands of other bands, exploring difficult childhood memories, relationships, and the topic of recovery might weight down an album, but not with Glass Animals. Dreamland’s heavy topics are disguised with psych-pop upbeat tones and by ‘referencing people and/or characters as food.’ Using these tactics, the band creates a dream-like state that allows the reality of Bayley’s past to ‘seem a little less intense’ (MFN). 

7. The Haar, The Haar

The story goes that Irish folk and traditional percussionist Cormac Byrne and fiddler Adam Summerhayes were on holiday in Inis Oírr when they walked into a pub and were silenced along with everyone else as Molly Donnery began to sing unaccompanied. Fast forward some time and the three meet up in a studio along with accordionist Murray Grainer to record some Irish traditional songs. The four made no plans in advance of entering the studio. As they explained, they just let the music create itself. 

What resulted was the creation of a truly stunning collection of songs captured on their first and only takes. As Folk Radio wrote about The Haar, it's 'a very evocative record, bringing senses of the pain and futility of war and the salt of the ocean, as well as the beauty of the land and the strength of human relationships through its works and music. We need more music like this; spontaneous, alive and affecting, The Haar will take you on a journey and have you appreciating the purest of life's pleasures. Wonderful stuff.' I so agree.

6. Eric Hutchinson, Class of 98

In the press release for Class of 98, Eric Hutchinson explains that sometime last year, he came to a strange realization: he kept daydreaming about high school. It had been over 20 years since the singer-songwriter had graduated, yet the adolescent dreams, hopes, fears, anxieties and emotions he faced as a kid began flooding back. Suddenly, he felt transported back into his teenage self and those years filled with the kind of alienation and private angst that is recognizable to most anyone who’s ever been 16. 

Now, years later, he has chronicled those adolescence years. Wrapping them in ’90s inspired alt-rock-pop music from bands like Fountains Of Wayne and Weezer, Hutchinson has crafted a memorable set of songs and album.

5. Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia

Having no idea who Dua Lipa was when I first listened to Future Nostalgia, I got all excited that I had made some great musical discovery that I would share with my kids. The album fits squarely in their musical lane. Turns out that I'm about the only one who doesn't know about Britain's biggest female musical artist. 

I will just say that I love Future Nostalgia. As Variety wrote, "It's an impeccably crafted, gleefully executed half-hour plus of pop perfection that does meet the moment, maybe, in just reminding you how good it feels to be human, And to be in love. And to be in Studio 54." This is modern pop at its best. 

 

4. Siv Jakobsen, A Temporary Smooth 

Gentle and calming, Oslo-based singer-songwriter Siv Jakobsen’s ambient, folky tunes belong in an independent coming of age film, or at very least, a heartbreaking scene in Normal People. Poised with an unhinged rawness, Jakobsen’s sophomore album ‘A Temporary Soothing’ does just as the title says, acting a security blanket to offer shelter during those blue Sunday evenings or summer thunderstorms. Clash Magazine 

I was immediately drawn to this album and have come back to it many times. It's captivating and hard to escape.

3. Lime Cordiale, 14 Steps To A Better You 

What a FUN album! Australian brothers, Oliver and Louis Leimbach, along with their bandmates are back with another gem of an album. With their sound that blends 'summery vibes and harmonies and bouncing melodies' (Billboard), Lime Cordiale's catchy sing-along-songs are second to none. 

Listening to this album will put a smile on your face and bounce in all 14 of your steps...to a better you. This is one of those albums that we all could use a bit more of this year. 

2. Katie Melua, Album No. 8

Katie Melua is one of the UK's best selling artists of all time. Yet, here in the states she is not widely known. It's really ashamed. Melua is that rare artist who's music radiates and captivates while remaining quiet and gentle. These are two qualities that we don't see too much of anymore. Being loud, shocking, and controversial seems to sell more albums these days. 

Now in her mid-thirties and recently divorced, Melua's lyrics go deeper and get more personal than on past albums. Wrapped in a beautiful cinematic melancholy soundscape, Melua reflects on  thoughts and feelings of loss, of heartbreak, and of appreciation for what has been and what is to be. While Album No 8 is Melua's story, passages throughout are recognizable and relatable. It all makes Album No. 8, Melua's most special album to date.   

1. Motorpsycho, The All Is One

I was not familiar with Motorpsycho when I first sat down to listen to The All Is One. I also had no idea of it's running time. Turns out that the album, the last in a trilogy by the Norwegian trio, clocks in at one hour and twenty four minutes. It’s a good thing that I did not know or I probably would have never started listening. But honestly, when I go to the end….I was truly disappointed that it was over. I just wanted more. And I wanted to learn everything that I could about this band that has produced 24 albums over the past 30 years.

 

As Everything Is Noise wrote about The All Is One, ‘Truly, this is an album you give yourself up to. It can be a demanding task to surrender your whole attention and time to just listening to music, no matter how good it is – albums like The All Is One not only make it simple, but incentivize you for doing so. The reward is the experience itself: a swaddling of progressive, psychedelic (called ‘psychodelic‘ by the band) rock that’s equal parts calming and transcendent. It’s a portal to another world or dimension, one with technicolor skies, drinkable air, and tingling currents that prick your corporeal form to remind you that you’re the most alive you’ve ever been, all while floating on a magic carpet.'

Listening to The All Is One, I could not help but reflect on the truly epic albums that I listened to as a kid and absolutely devoured as they transported me someplace that I had never been. It is exactly what I needed this year...or any year. 

DEFTONES, OHMS

As Sputnik Music Wrote about Ohms, it's a wrecking ball from the moment it arrives. It's 'abrasive, destructive, and alluringly beautify - but most of all, there's a profound purpose and longing behind every punch thrown.'  Frankly, I cannot think of another album that not only throws a punch as well as Ohms, but lands it so perfectly placed.  With its 'snarled atmospheric layers and soaring choruses', the Deftones have deliver one of their best albums in nearly twenty years. It is astonishingly good and one of the strongest contenders for album of the year. 

TOP ALBUMS OF THE DECADE - THE 2010's

All year I have been listing my favorite albums by decade....all of those lists working up to this one...my favorite albums of the 2010's. These are the albums that I have come back to and listened to the most over the past ten years.

20. Ulver, The Assassination Of Julius Caesar

I was unfamiliar with the Norwegian band Ulver during their early, dark metal years. I first discovered them with their eleventh album, The Assassination of Julius Caesar. It was one of my favorite albums of 2017 and continues to be a regular listen for me. With influences of Depeche Mode and other pop-synth bands of the late '80's and early '90's, the band officially moved as far away from their earlier music and sound as possible. Yet, they have managed to maintain the dark and doom undercurrent that has always defined their sound and storytelling. 

There are not many bands still together and playing after 27 years let alone pushing the envelope of creativity, but here's Ulver. Fusing rock and electronica sounds into a rich musical soundscape, there is no shortage of music to explore on AOJC. And with each listen you find something new that makes the listening experience that much better. And to me, that's what makes a great album.

19. Alt J, An Awesome Wave

Upon its UK release, the BBC called Alt J's debut album, An Awesome Wave "a stunning and encompassing affair of both innovative and electrifying musicianship and exemplary song writing." The Guardian wrote that "the music is rich and quirky enough to match the imagistic literacy of the lyrics, from the majestic cinematic sweep of 'Intro' onwards." For me, An Awesome Wave hit me like a tidal wave when I first heard it. It's an intelligent, innovative, frisky, and a wildly engrossing album.

18. Hippo Campus, Bambi

Bambi is an album I just can't get out of my head. Marked by a shift in their sound, Hippo Campus embraces a more experimental, synth-driven approach compared to their earlier, guitar-heavy indie rock. The album feels both introspective and restless, with lyrics that explore anxiety, change, and emotional vulnerability. Tracks like Golden highlight the band's willingness to play with unconventional song structures, layering shimmering synths and glitchy beats over heartfelt vocals. There’s a looseness to the record, yet it still carries the sharp melodies and youthful energy that define Hippo Campus. I love how the band continues to evolve, balancing personal reflection with a fresh, dynamic sonic landscape.

   

17. Max Jury, Max Jury

Max Jury’s self-titled debut took me by surprise. Paste magazine wrote that it is 'a winning collection of songs with a lot of heart and swagger that defies his young age." So true. PM added that Jury’s songs bring to mind many classic songwriters of the Laurel Canyon area, as well as musicians such as Billy Joel, Elton John and Carole King." Also true. Most of the songs on this album do have elements of those....dare I say vintage songwriters....yet Jury’s songs feel modern and fresh. This album has been a family favorite since its release in 2016.

16. Noah & The Whale, Last Night On Earth 

Last Night On Earth, Noah & The Whale's third studio album was a loose concept album about....the Last Night On Earth, or not. But as far as concept albums go, this one succeeded by not trying to do too much with it. There is a great mid-'80's rock-anthem feel to these songs, but it never feel like the band was pressing hard to deliver them to be bigger-than-life. Honestly, one song is better than the next and singing along becomes an automatic reflex when the music starts.

                                                            

15. Susanne Sundfør, Music For People In Trouble 

In an interview,Susanne Sundfør talked about living in a time of great changes. "Everything is moving so rapidly, sometimes violently, sometimes dauntingly. I think a lot of people experience anxiety these days."The Irish Times wrote that there is something bewitching about the Scandi brand of sadness. Perhaps it is why I fell so hard for Susanne Sundfør’s sixth album, 'a sweeping, seductive cinematic slice of sorrow.' An album that succeeds at 'reaching out to anxious souls to put them at ease in this turbulent time.'

14. Tool, Fear Inoculum

Tool fans, such as myself, waited 13 long years for the band's follow up to 10,000 days. And now, in 2019, we have Fear Inoculum to consume and ponder. As Sputnik Music wrote, this album is a 'massive, compelling piece of music that unfolds beautifully and balances Tool’s unique style with plenty of rewarding new elements. Any fears that they would not live up to their past can be abated; Fear Inoculum is truly groundbreaking and one of the best albums of the decade.' I agree!

13. Little Cub, Still Life

What a debut album! The Line of Best Fit wrote about Still Life, "Masking our flawed humanity with flawless electro, the South London trio fork over a delicious portion of pessimistic pop, drizzled in scrumptious synths and glorious electronic production, but bypassing a sugarcoating of over-hackneyed hedonism." An album 'brimming with English jest', this is 'a refreshingly honest record that holds a confident consciousness of modern reality.' And while Modern life 'might be rubbish', DIY writes, ' Little Cub makes things seem better.'

12. Barna Howard, Quite A Feelin' 

The songs on Barna Howard’s second album, Quite A Feelin’, ruminate on his relationship with home. Now entrenched in Portland, Oregon, many of the album’s tracks immortalize and reflect on the Eureka he once knew, while others focus on the relationships that define his new home out west. Small town life has long been celebrated in country and folk music, but Barna’s knack for capturing his own deeply personal nostalgia resonates in a rarely universal way. Every track on this album is special and it’s one of the many reasons that I come back to this album over and over again.

11. Arcade Fire, Reflektor

Influenced by Haitian rara music, the 1959 film Black Orpheus, and Søren Kierkegaard's essay Two Ages, Reflektor is an album that 'diverged dramatically from the rock conventions.....and coherent narratives that made the band's 2010, album The Suburbs, so accessible.' (Slant Magazine). That's a good thing. The band takes the listener on an epic journey that Spin wrote, is 'long and weird and indulgent and deeply committed.' But, 'you come to prefer the band's big ideas and grand gestures to almost anyone else's.' From the opener Reflektor to the 11 minute closer Supersymmetry, this album should be savored and celebrated.

10. Arctic Monkeys, AM

When AM arrived in 2013, my son said that it was the band's best album to date. It was hard for me to agree or disagree with him. Comparing AM to the band's earlier albums, especially the first two, was a bit like comparing apples to oranges. I loved the explosive energy and roughness of the band's early albums and I never really wanted their sound to change. Yet as we all know, over time things do change. The great news was that over the years the band's songs and songwriting had grown and matured in all the right ways and with AM they set a new standard for themselves. It is why NME recently named AM the best album of the 2010's.

9. Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Navigator

Alynda Mariposa Segarra, who fronts the band Hurray For The Riff Raff, grew up in the Bronx. Over time, they had become increasingly aware of how gentrification had eroded the Puetro Rican culture which stood in stark contrast to how it continued to flourish in Puerto Rico despite the damage being done to so many communities by the many economic and social challenged that they faced. 

This awareness lead Segarra to conceive of The Navigator, which follow a protagonist named Navita, a 16 year old street kid, who is navigating an over-gentrified city sometime in the near future. With a perfectly formed '70's rock storytelling sensibility, in a similar vain to The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Segarra and the band unfold Navita's story and journey in a wonderful fashion. One which brings understanding to the challenges Navita and community face and inspiration from how they ultimately take back their culture.

8. Jonathan Wilson, Gentle Spirit

Gentle Spirit is an album that completely exudes the groove and warmth that reflects what Wilson described as “that golden late ‘60s, early ‘70s period when rural and urban sensibilities colluded in producing some of rock’s most imperishable recordings.” As a longtime student of Los Angles’ Laurel Canyon, its musical heritage, and its Canyon Culture, Wilson wanted his musical ideas to “echo many of an earlier generation.” Slow burning, mellow, and laidback, Gentle Spirit really does carry you off to another time and place and holds you there through 13 songs that span close to an hour and 20 minutes. 

7. Sandro Perri, In Another Life 

Perri defies logic with In Another Life which he has referred to as an experiment in 'infinite songwriting. The title track, all 24 minutes of it, and the three versions of Everybody's Paris that follow, combine to deliver an ambient pop album that Pitchfork best describes as a masterful, dreamlike world. It's mesmerizing, hypnotic, and absolutely unforgettable.

6. Michael Kiwanuka, Love & Hate

'By any measure, this is an audacious, startlingly mature and powerful album; the kind singer-songwriters aspire to, but seldom deliver....It's an intimate and sprawling, personal and universal, affectionate and daring. It's also not background music. Sit down in front of your largest speakers, turn up the volume, push play, close your eyes and let Michael Kiwanuka's Love & Hate envelop your senses while taking you on a journey to the sonic expanses of your mind.' American Songwriter 

5. Metronomy, The English Riviera

Back in 2011, The English Riviera was nominated for Britain's The Mercury Prize for best album of the year. In an interview, Joseph Mount, the driving force behind the band, described the album as a kind of love letter to both his hometown of Totnes in Devon, and a romantic fantasy of the title's seaside resort he used to drive around in, blasting Ace of Base as a youth. Eccentric, slightly avant-garde leaning British Pop (Drowned In Sound Description) has always been my thing. And this album is, as Allmusic wrote, an unmistakable English Affair, which is perhaps why I was immediately drawn to it. I just love this one.

4. LCD Soundsystem, American Dream

In 2011, James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem played their farewell concert at Madison Square Garden. Seven years later, Murphy had more to say, to share, to question. And so he gave us the gift of American Dream. It's a modern work of art about aging, love, regret, friendship, and ultimately an arduous search for meaning (Paste Magazine). A meticulous sonic architect and exuberant performer (Pretty Much Amazing), Murphy wraps his inner-monologs in "mind-bending knotty, constructs of synth, drum beats, and guitar riffs" that build as the album progresses to epic levels before drifting out in near silence in a fitting tribute to David Bowie (Black Screen). What a return.

3. Damien Rice, My Favorite Faded Fantasy

It had been eight long years between the release of My Favorite Faded Fantasy and Damien Rice's prior album. So where was he? In an interview he did for The Telegraph, he described his self-exile as a time of "transition." One in which he shedded old attitudes to life and explored new ones. "I am really curious about life, about why we are all here. I notice my skin is aging, things are changing, I've seen people dying, so that's the train we are all on. And I would like to figure some shit out before I reach the destination." With this album, Rice takes us into the mind of a man searching and yearning for many answers, but is getting more comfortable with just living the journey.

2. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine

In 2011, Scottish singer-songwriter Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote, and English electro composer and producer Jon Hopkins collaborated to create Diamond Mine, a heartfelt reflection on the town and landscape of Fife, where Anderson lives. This absolutely beautiful and stunning album exemplifies what is possible when two artists marry two very different musical reference points in a cohesive and near perfect way. Together they have created a magnificent and timeless musical space where Anderson's quiet and soulful songs radiate earth, warmth, and richness and perfectly capture his fondness and love for life in this small town. This is a special album.

1. Destroyer, Kaputt

The 9th album from Vancouver, BC native, Daniel Bejar, who records under the name Destroyer, is simply irresistible. Uncompromising, Bejar is one of those artists that seems to change musical direction with each new release. With Kaputt, Bejar creates dreamy-ambient pop songs that pay tribute to the sounds and sensibilities of artists like Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry at their best. The songs here are chalk-full of wonderful musical elements. I love the inclusion of the trumpet, sax, and flute on many of these songs. This album has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it back in 2011. Note: If you can get your hands on it....the European version with the 20 minute The Laziest River is a must! It takes Kaputt to a whole other level.