šŸŽ§ Albums/songs of the year lists 2020 šŸŽµ

Really think itā€™s Little Simzā€™s to lose. I think the post punk candidates will split votes and that Self Esteem is not the critical success that the reception on here would have you believe. FP/PS got the midyear hype but expect it to lose steam.

Edit:

Tyler for 2nd place.

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Not sure if thereā€™s been a break out artist this year.

Self Esteem is great and deserves all the plaudits. Sheā€™s a favourite on sites like this as is Cassandra Jenkins but yā€™know thereā€™s a different view out there.

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Olivia Rodrigo maybe?

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Yeah. Good call. Sheā€™s got a good balance between commercial and artistic success.

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Be interested in how Billie Eilish does as well. Seemed critically well received but a bit mixed? Maybe appreciated more now than on release?

I donā€™t see it in many top 3s. Itā€™s long without bangers. Itā€™s a grab to be taken seriously without being an essential album. I like it and her but donā€™t see it troubling the top of the lists.

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I always tend to think that loads of reviewers for big sites and also on here pick their 4thā€™s and 5th spots for a safe pair of hands like The War On Drugs or Wolf Alice and so they get boosted a bit higher but wouldnā€™t top too many individualā€™s pick of the year.

I think thatā€™s where my album of the month thread was born out of.

I think I started it in 2013. Fuck me. I really have nothing better to do with my time.

I remember really enjoying scrolling through various usersā€™ top five of the year to see the variety of their picks but when all the votes were counted some dull band won as so many users had it as their top 4 or 5.

Not sure how that made me start an AOTM thread but thatā€™s how it was born I think.

(And apologies for over using the word ā€œthinkā€.)

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Huge fan of your threads. Donā€™t think Iā€™d be here now if it wasnā€™t for them. Iā€™ve discovered lots of great music through them and I hope perhaps helped others discover some through those threads too.

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Thanks. I appreciate that more than you know.

Itā€™s become my thing for almost a decadeā€¦on the last Thursday of the month post the thread and on the first Sunday of the month, count the votes up.

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Think the Rough Trade one is out next Tuesday, Iā€™ve spotted a few of their year end exclusives with a release date of 16/12/21.

Weā€™re looking at:
Bicep
Black Country, New Road
Cassandra Jenkins
Dry Cleaning
Jane Weaver
Japanese Breakfast
Squid

Iā€™ve been enamoured with Cassandra Jenkins, think thatā€™s got a good shot this year. Think I saw some Pitchfork bigwig tweet that they could imagine Jazmine Sullivan taking the top spot.

Thanks, I saw a bit of them at Mutations festival last weekend, but it didnā€™t work for me that much. Partly because they were playing in a big room with not too fee people in it, and I was also eyeing my watch to decide when I would have to change venues to see my next band. But also because it was just two guys stood behind some electronic devices, twiddling and sliding bits about. It sounded nice, but without having any singers to watch it didnā€™t end up being the most enjoyable set of the weekend for me unfortunately. Maybe in a different setting it might have been better!

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Uncut top 20

  1. THE WEATHER STATION Ignorance
  2. FLOATING POINTS, PHAROAH SANDERS &THE LONDON SYMPHONY Promises
  3. NICK CAVE & WARREN ELLIS Carnage
  4. LOW HeyWhat
  5. SAULT Nine
  6. AROOJ AFTAB Vulture
  7. CASSANDRA JENKINS An Overview On Phenomenal Nature
  8. THE WAR ON DRUGS Donā€™t Live Here Anymore
  9. BLACK COUNTRY, NEWROAD For The First Time
  10. RICHARD DAWSON & CIRCLE Henki
  11. LANA DEL REY Chemtrails Over The Country Club
  12. SONS OF KEMET Black To The Future
  13. MDOU MOCTAR Afrique Victime
  14. SAINT ETIENNE Iā€™ve Been Trying To Tell You
  15. MOGWAI As The Love Continues
  16. SLEAFORD MODS Spare Ribs
  17. DRY CLEANING New Long Leg
  18. HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER Quietly Blowing It
  19. JOHN GRANT Boy From Michigan
  20. MODERN NATURE Island Of Noise

(@moderators - change year in thread title to 2021?)

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Just couldnā€™t get into that Weather Station album. Donā€™t think Iā€™ll be revisiting it either.

My main reaction on seeing it at no. 1 was ā€˜well one publication still remembers it existed!ā€™

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is bliss with that album.

Seems to be way more big releases in November than usual, I guess cos of the schedule disruption in the past year and a half. Wonder if this will have an impact on when lists are published or what they might contain?

Donā€™t you think a new thread would be better?

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Thereā€™s one here

https://community.drownedinsound.com/t/2021-albums-of-the-year-lists-rolling-thread/61717?u=sean

Thanks, this will do just fine. Itā€™s even got the traditional ā€œold man moaning about it being to earlyā€ post as first reply.

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