Iām going to really struggle to come up with a five. No clear winner but loads that are pretty level, to include:
Protomartyr
Waxahatchee
Denzel Curry/Kenny Beats
Phoebe Bridgers
Clint Mansell
Autechre
Nick Cave
BC Camplight
Fiona Apple
Going to hold off for a bit, partly to wait for The Avalanches record (the singles have been superb) and partly to give myself more time with Saultās Black isā¦which I was ludicrously late to but suspect might be the best album of the year (canāt 100% make my mind up about it at the moment)
By this stage I usually have one, or possibly up to three albums that I think are clear classics and way ahead of everything else. Hasnāt really worked like that for me this year but maybe it would if Iād been listening to the Sault album since it came out.
I need to listen to the Kali Uchis album some more before decidingā¦
Iāve got a clear top 3 all equal first, then a bunch so competing for slots 4 and 5.
The top three:
Shackleton & Waclaw Zimpel - Primal Forms
Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase
DJ Python - Mas Amble
And the rest competing for 4/5:
Crack Cloud
Deftones
Jacob Nico
Sevdaliza
Nicolas Jaar
AAL
Autechre
Craven Vaults
Mood Taeg
Sunbane (probably excluded because I wrote it)
Sarmism
Field Lines Cartographer
Daniel Avery
Very interesting to see people saying it has been a dire year. I think it has been a very strong year without maybe many exceptional albums. I keep a running list throughout the year of albums I have liked and it is currently at 190 (that is separate from my jazz list). Of those 190 there are albums Iāve really liked sitting as low down as number 60. Lockdown has meant Iāve had much more time to listen than before.
The next few weeks will be spent relistening to the top batch, plus any that crop up on lists that I missed, and getting them into some order. Given the quality in there I am looking forward to it a lot.
I think itās been a good year. Will be picking from: (bolded are my favourites currently)
Adrienne Lenker - Songs
Caribou - Suddenly
Daniel Avery - Love + Light
The Beths - jump rope gazers
Deftones - ohms
Dogleg - melee
Electric soft parade - stages
Four tet - sixteen oceans
Hamilton Leithauser - the loves of your life
Jeff Parker - suite for Max Brown
Kelly lee Owens - inner song
Laura Marling - song for our daughter
Makaya McCraven - weāre new again
Matt berninger - serpentine prison
Owen pallet - island
Phoebe bridgers - punisher
The strokes - the new abnormal
Sufjan Stevens - the ascension
Sufjan Stevens and Lowell brams - aporia
touchƩ amore - Lament
Lots of good music this year but I donāt think thereās been any 10/10ās
In terms of genres though I think itās been a good year for Hip-Hop: Open Mike Eagle, Armand Hammer, RTJ, Ka, Freddie Gibbs and Aesop Rock
Heavy music isnāt particularly one of my favourite sounds usually but thereās been loads of good stuff there too: Envy, Deftones, Kvelertak, Pigsx7, Pallbearer, Metz and Dogleg
I think my number one choice is a three way battle between Armand Hammer, Protomartyr and Crack Cloud
That Ariana Grande album was only a couple tracks shy of reaching mine. Underrated.
Forgot about Soft Pink Truth might have to rethink the bottom 5 of my list.
Might have bought the gold vinyl on bandcamp due to this.
Iāll do some catching up over the next few weeks, but itās going to be tough to beat Waxahatchee. Really helped me get through a terrible year, especially that first lockdown. Still listen to it all the time and it hasnāt lost itās shine at all.
It really has been a great year though. Iāve been completely obsessed with Adrienne Lenker the past few weeks, but before that I have obsessed over both Sault records, Nubya Garcia, DJ Python, Charli XCX, Protomartyrā¦ loads more.
Would also agree itās been an amazing year for hip-hop - Armand Hammerās last two albums have been in my top 5 of the year and I think this one might be their best yet. have also loved Boldy James, Benny the Butcher, Freddie Gibbs, Navy Blue.
Pretty great year imo, considering there was a global pandemic. Still a couple of things Iām looking forward to in December (most notably @ericIX ), but yeah itās been quite solid.
Biggest disappointment - Sufjanās album being a ābitā overlong and repetitive.
Top 10 are looking like/ maybe
Exhalants
LOATHE
Huntsmen
Paradise Lost
Bow Church
RTJ
Phoxjaw
Kelly Lee Owens
Bound
Panzerfaust
Itās been a very good year for heavy music
Did you dig Ohms?
I did, itās the first Deftones album that Iāve really gotten into since White Pony.
Disappointments:
Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
Jessy Lanza - All The Time
Totally agree with this sadly.
Intrigued by that because for me Oh No is a clear refinement of the ideas on Pull My Hair Back, and is as good if not better. This one just felt a little underbaked.
almost certainly in my top 10
another one for the āgood year, lots of enjoyable albums, not masterpiecesā train. Doing my monthly top 5s has been really good to give me a base to work from for AOTY, but got to make sure I donāt forget the things lower down those months which have got wayyy better with time
Fontaines have a real shot at winning it for me, which I wouldnāt have believed after their first album
Kelly Lee Owens seems to be this years Jon Hopkins aka techno for people who donāt listen to techno
When I first saw her she had this quite interesting Bjork-sequel thing going on, but this last record is fairly middling techno pop