Throughout a year like the one we’ve had, it’s things like this that kept us going, motivating to the end and providing a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Hey everyone. This is David, interim editor-in-chief, welcoming you to Everything Is Noise‘s Top 70 albums of 2020, the thing we’ve looked forward to all year when everything else was taken from us.
I don’t want to treat anything too lightly – some of us have lost family and friends to the pandemic, most have had to at least lead a lonely life of isolation in the name of staying alive and keeping loved ones and strangers alive. Mental health was of great concern in addition to our physical health, missing out on valuable connections with people. A lot have lost jobs and other sources of income leaving them to scramble to survive while our governments and leaders meander for months to end on paltry offerings we’re supposed to be grateful for. A lot of shit changed for so many of us. Those that stuck to it in the name of safety, thank you.
For us at EIN, it was also a year of great change with many people leaving the site for personal reasons. We lost veteran writers that had been with us since before I joined in mid-2017, promising newcomers left us much sooner than we had hoped – everyone had to re-evaluate their relationship to writing, or even music, and plan accordingly whether it was taking extended breaks from work here or stepping down entirely. We lost a couple editors even, including our editor-in-chief who had to step back for a while to tend to some important stuff. The last few months, we’ve been operating with only two regular editors including myself, something we weren’t exactly prepared for, but still made it through above all odds with some good planning, rhythm, and communication. Although the stakes were much lower than they were for most people, even this very site is a monument to 2020’s black hole of productivity, adaptation, and perseverance. Not everyone made it, but we pushed through for them as much as for us.
If you remember our top albums article from last year, you may remember that me, Inter, and Jake were the jury for our final top albums list. We listened to albums of all kinds all year, met several times through the magic of the internet, debated, realized we had a lot of catching up to do, and eventually pared it down to a tasty 75 albums. This year… was different. Jake had to leave EIN in the middle of the year which left me and Inter to think of a plan B. We decided to have the rest of the team be our third jury member as it were, pitching albums they loved from the year for consideration for the final list. Why 70? It just made sense, allowing us to showcase the best of the best without us feeling like we were adding albums just to achieve a certain number.
Me and Inter still managed the list making itself, but at the end, every member of the site who had participated got to assign numerical points (1 to 10) to ten of their favorites among this top 70 list and influence the ranking itself. Inter and I did the same thing, but with every single album – after all, expecting everyone on our team to be familiar with all 70 of these albums in order to rank them is a bit absurd. Not everyone is that wild. What you see before you is the fruit of that labor, and I want to thank everyone that helped out because instead of just the jury writing about the albums here, almost everyone on the EIN team is present here with at least one blurb contributed. It was truly a team effort this year and so many stepped up to help in a great way.
If you’re reading this, you made it, even if only barely. I’m proud of you – we’re proud of you. If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you love music like we do. It likely got you through this year, just like it did through all previous obstacles overcame. If you’re reading this, thank you. I’m done now. Let’s get to the good stuff, and here’s to a more stable 2021.
–David Rodriguez
While Time Disappears encompasses sadness, anger, resentment, loneliness, and love, and displays them in a gorgeous tapestry of heavy prog riffs, harrowing chord progressions, blooming bass lines, and daintily poetic lyrics. Ever since I heard it, I haven’t been able to get it off my mind or its sweeping melodies out of my head. It’s executed with such sincerity that, if you let it, it’ll grip you and pull you all the way in. This album has been an absolute highlight of my year – I hope it will be for you, too.
-Hanna Ott
Post-hardcore really does not get better than this. After a five-year gap, Japanese outfit Envy unleash their seventh full-length record The Fallen Crimson, letting the world know why their particular brand of post-hardcore is exhilarating and needed. The passion emanating from each of the tracks is second to none, and the contrast between frantic post-hardcore and soaring post-rock is truly mesmerizing. The Fallen Crimson is artistic expression at its finest, and most definitely a catharsis for the times.
-Carlos Vélez-Cancel
Thisquietarmy’s Kesselhaus is to music what Brutalism is to architecture; it’s the sonic equivalent of something massive, monolithic, and industrialised, that might appear cold and insurmountable at first, but once your eye (/ear) gets used to it, you’ll start to notice all of its varied details and simplistic beauty hidden in plain sight. Kesselhaus is a meditative and mesmerizingly captivating rhythm’n’drone epic, shining bright through all of its intricacies. Thisquietarmy paints an immersive mechanic landscape with wide strokes, yet managing to keep the pulse, and therefore movement, alive at all times. The album isn’t only just a fitting continuation to the act’s vivacious oeuvre, but an exquisite example of where this unstinted genre is heading to in the future. The drone is dead – long live the drone.
-Eeli Helin
The orchestral post-everything collective enriches our lives with a colossal musical offering. Black Line follows a more screamo leaning with a little less of the band’s blackened hardcore element. It is a heavily emotionally charged album with despair, anger, and sadness foaming at its seams. This only adds to its uncanny beauty and tenderness, which surfaces with finesse through the softer parts and its orchestral elements. The density and variety of this trip does not have an equivalent in words and as such, it almost feels otherworldly in its wholeness.
-Robert Miklos
Don’t let me start how good jazz was in 2020. I could easily do a Top 50 with just jazz records for 2020. So naturally, you can be sure that those ones which made it onto our final list are quite something. Matthew Halsall‘s Salute To The Sun is coming with the commendation of Gondwana Records (home of acts like Mammal Hands, Allysha Joy, Portico Quartet and Hania Rani, just to name a few), so there is a first sign of quality here. Beyond that, Salute To The Sun is a meditative, yet exciting adventure through organic soundscapes, perfectly balanced, full of mesmerizing details and warmth. An incredibly rich and moving offering for the modern jazz fan, and certainly for every fan of instrumental music in general.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
Undoubtedly one of experimental rock’s most prismatic bouquets, not just of this year but in recent memory. Extinct is an album that surprises and dumbfounds at every single turn, blending ear-splitting psychedelia and frenzied, mathy, post-heavy noise. The instrumental Swiss quartet embrace the sonic capacity of clarinets, violins, and electronics as voices that defy any semblance of expectation. Truly this is an album that rejects definition, existing as an explosion of haze one can only liken to the effects of exposure to discord in its truest form. Do not experience this album with anything but your undivided attention – it deserves it.
-Nick Gosling
SAWAYAMA is a debut full-length unparalleled to others. Rina takes great care in crafting a record that is exciting, defiant, thorough, and overall genuine. Each track brims with excellent pop vocal chops, catering to the nostalgia for the arena rock experience and the nu-metal angst, and paired with one of the most pristine and unique productions this year has to offer. Coupled with social criticisms that are insightful, accessible, and compelling, SAWAYAMA is a force to be reckoned with in this current generation of pop music.
-Carlos Vélez-Cancel
Easily one of the most abrasive, uncompromising, demolishing, and unforgiving albums of 2020. The band has perfected their heavily jazz-infused and weirdly organic take on avant-garde metal to an amazing degree of finesse. Alphaville is also one of the freshest and most forward-thinking albums in recent history in the extreme metal niche. Chaos is a cruel mistress in music and it is a titanic task to make it bend even somewhat sensically to your will. Imperial Triumphant achieve this as if they were born to do it.
-Robert Miklos
#62
Viva Belgrado – Bellavista
April 30 // Aloud Music Ltd/Walking Is Still Honest/Tokyo Jupiter Record
Spanish screamo/post-hardcore quartet Viva Belgrado leave their confines of the genre to deliver their most comprehensive work to date in Bellavista, their third album and first in four years. Infusing indie, alternative rock, and even rap influences into a post-rock/post-hardcore foundation, there is an unstoppable rhythm to Bellavista that drags the listener into its flow. Additionally, Cándido Gálvez delivers some of the most charged vocal melodies you will hear in 2020, which ensures that even if you do not understand what the Spanish band is singing, you will find yourself moved by Viva Belgrado‘s emotional intensity.
-Vidur Paliwal
Tkay – Ms. Maidza – let me ask you something: if last year was weird, and the year before that, then what the hell is this year? Please do tell me in your next project which, if it’s anything like this, will be a tour de force of pop, rap, and dance music fit for this increasingly rowdy world where you indulge your inhibitions to numb the pain or die trying. Short but sweet, this was some of the most fun I had with music in 2020, and I feel we’re just seeing the beginning of something greater with her.
-David Rodriguez
Jeff Parker is primarily known for his involvement with experimental post-rock band Tortoise, but managed to make a name of his own with his countless collaborations and his solo work, Suite For Max Brown being the latest of them. With an impressive catalogue behind him, Parker easily managed to turn heads with his newest album. Suite For Max Brown is the essential spirit of jazz, put into eleven songs, each of them feeling fresh, pulsating, and compelling. Primarily, the album manages to be contemporary, futuristic, and nostalgic at the same time, balancing a nod to hip-hop, a fancy grin of ’60s/’70s jazz, and modern experimental music with ease. An experience.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
If Georgia Anne Muldrow doesn’t ring a bell for you, you should quickly change that. As one of the most interesting figures in modern soul, Muldrow graced us with a multitude of solo records, having worked with artists like Madlib, Erykah Badu, and Blood Orange. Mama, You Can Bet!, released under her moniker Jyoti, marks a shift in her style, leaving her soul roots behind and embracing a more experimental, more jazzy approach to her music. The decision to make a less vocal-centric album is also a surprise, but a welcoming one in the context of the album, and her music feels fresher and more free in the process. Highly underappreciated, Mama, You Can Bet! marries jazz and soul in a delicate, wonderful fashion.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
Tom Misch released a bunch of cool stuff, during the last years, proving himself to be an integral part of UK’s neo soul/jazz/r’n’b scene, but for me, something was always missing. His second full-length album What Kinda Music shows that this missing component was in fact percussionist Yussef Dayes, lifting both artists to be their very best with incredible smoothness. Dialing back the prominence of vocals, and focusing heavily on distinctive beats, dreamy soundscapes and a relaxed pulse. Misch and Dayes managed to create a timeless classic, and one can be very excited for what the future holds for both of them.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
There is a certain level of chaos happening on Contact, but is always an enjoyable one. The way Greg Fox shifts something you might expect towards something surprisingly, nearly unnerving with such brilliance and elegance is baffling even after months listening to this album. Most known for his work with Liturgy and as the drummer for Colin Stetson’s Ex Eye, Fox blossoms into new territory with his third solo record, showing the listener what percussion can mean if you push it far beyond the convenient and familiar. A truly outstanding and rewarding experience.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
Right when Flaw‘s first song “Shamed” starts crushing, waving over you, Michelle Malley’s angelic gaze opens up a world full of darkness, gloom, and beauty, you know you are in for something very special. The band really plays out their strengths within each song, a sonic world which could be easily described as doomgaze. With its dismal soundscapes, cracked by moments of true grace, Iress will lead you into their own world, capturing you until released by the last notes of “Hand Tremor”. Unforgettable, unforgiving, and ultimately healing.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
I love PYRE’s dedication to fun-ass heavy music. The Gainesville trio do everything in their power to stay as melodic, catchy, and driving as possible throughout Come Home, a conceptual hero’s journey fated from the start. With flecks of punk, thrash, and death metal, every song is a blast – never stopping, always going. It’s an album that stayed with me from 2020’s hopeful January to its dejected, beat down December, motivating me along the way for better or worse. Simply put: they deserve more attention, so crank up “The Bummer of ‘69” and act like we have a future.
-David Rodriguez
If we argued on the most important point of this album, it’s probably the emotionality. A.A. Williams created a dense, emotionally arousing, and incredibly touching album that needs its time and dedication to fall in love with. In between post-metal, dark singer-songwriter ballads, and ethereal post-rock, there’s a load of melancholy and hope hidden in the instrumentals and lyrics of Forever Blue. The album’s variety and dynamics really make it an interesting one to discover and might help discovering yourself too. The dark, beautiful, and fragile nature of Forever Blue made me feel something deep within myself – and let me tell you, this barely happens at all.
-Rodney Fuchs
Elegance is a very appealing quality in music, and elegance is one of Marrow‘s key qualities. Interesting jazz arrangements, some of them with a fascinating sense for rhythm resembling Tigran Hamasyan, know when to step back and let Brenda Nicole Moorer‘s vocals shine. It’s never a fight for attention, always a sensual dance, sometimes overlapping, often a step back if the opposite takes a step forward. Marrow delicately flows from classic smooth jazz to challenging neo soul in a blink, creating a cohesive, romantic, and magical album with enough warmth and focus to bring you through every storm.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
#52
The Giving Shapes – Earth Leaps Up
February 28 // Elsewhere Music
Harpist/vocalist Elisa Thorn and pianist/vocalist Robyn Jacob are the duo The Giving Shapes, and this is all you’ll hear. A piano, a harp, and two vocals. The richness and beauty the two artists create with a rather limited palette of elements is nothing short of a miracle. Sophisticated and compelling arrangements, and wonderful vocal harmonies show an imaginative vision of the musical world one can find in Earth Leaps Up. An inimitable journey through mythical realms.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
An absolutely stellar post-hardcore album that is anything but predictable. NORD really showed off their songwriting capabilities with this incredibly diverse offering. Chock full of catchy riffs and soaring moments, there is also an emotional weight that will drag you into this album. The absolute kicker has to be the mammoth title track, spanning fifteen minutes and taking you on a ride from jazz to groove metal and a dozen other places between.
-Billie Helton
For anyone caught in a drought when it comes to genuinely entertaining and well-written cosmic technical metal, just hit play and thank me later. For those that need a little more convincing, Cryptic Shift come in peace, but will still vivisect you into pieces if you’re not careful. Visitations From Enceladus is a whirlwind of riffs, progressive movements, and a science-fiction premise that rewards a lyric read along. Every instrument came to play – fast, hard, and efficiently. This is four tracks and 46 minutes of unadulterated metal-ass metal, and one of the best progressive death/thrash albums of the year.
-David Rodriguez
When I started The Killing Of Eugene Peeps months ago, I expected nothing. Maybe a solid folk record. But then you hit play, and Bastien Keb unfolds the magic right away. You immediately know that you are in for an intense narrative experience, and as the record progresses, the elegant notes of noir and mystery keep you captured throughout the narration. It’s rare that an album feels like a very good movie, but this album is so much more than the sum of its parts, balancing elements of folk, jazz, and classical music, creating a delicate play in your head. One of the most intense storytelling experiences in 2020.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
I stumbled upon (or rather, was graced with) Morning Matters while exploring music for my autumn playlist. I’d never heard of Yazmin Lacey before, but as soon as “Own Your Own” kicked in I knew I’d found something special. There’s a unique tone to London nu jazz that never fails to lift me up, but Lacey’s music is that feeling taken to a higher plane. Listening to Morning Matters gave me the same feeling I had listening to Morcheeba’s “The Sea” for the first time as a kid, and therein lies the EP’s magic: it’s a piece of music that’s quintessentially modern London, but with the charm of a bygone era.
-Faisal Binzagr
With the first notes of this album, I instantly knew that this is going to be my jam! Echolot manages to play incredibly good and dynamic doom, which features slight psychedelic elements and sometimes breaks out in raw power. This energetic, powerful, and crushing music is everything I needed due this fall. Destrudo is easily one of the best albums of its genres, and if you don’t start listening to it right now, you’re missing out! The only bad thing is that it’s only three songs long, but that 19 minutes of “Wind Up North” is absolutely worth every single second and will leave you absolutely devastated, or let’s say: Destrudo-ed!
-Rodney Fuchs
Atlanta’s been on hip-hop’s leaderboards for some time now, passing the torch from the eclectic trailblazers in the ‘90s, to the trap lords of the ‘00s, to the youthful new guard looking to make their own way. Spillage Village isn’t just an artistic collective – they’re a group of friends that could easily have the world if they wanted it. Given the themes of Spilligion though, if that’s the goal, it’ll be achieved with love and understanding rather than an iron fist. This is an altruistic, spiritual journey of how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go. It’s a long ride, but with music like this, it’s definitely a lot more enjoyable.
-David Rodriguez
Poppy’s I Disagree got a lot of attention in 2020 and deservedly so. In a year filled to the brim with stellar nu-metal releases, the album stands out for its more uninhibited take – one that takes its arrangements seriously, but not its identity. This is a record of pure showmanship, and while musically cohesive, there is also variety here. From the metallic flourishes of tracks like “BLOODMONEY”, to industrial action set-pieces such as “Sit/Stay”, and reflective moments that hold the album together like the excellent “Sick of the Sun”, everything serves a purpose. I Disagree is a milestone for the band, marking their biggest stylistic growth to date while providing an array of promising jumping-off points for them to continue surprising us with in the future.
-Faisal Binzagr
Black Thought’s one of those ‘your favorite rapper’s rapper’ type of… well, rappers. Since leading The Roots, he’s become one of the most prolific and unfairly talented artists in the game with a growing solo career that doesn’t show signs of faltering. With prominent assistance from Portugal. The Man (???) and features from faves like Pusha T, Killer Mike, and ScHoolboy Q (!!!), Cane & Able is a setpiece packed with more gold bars than the US Treasury that further cements his GOAT status.
-David Rodriguez
#43
Green-House – Six Songs for Invisible Gardens
January 15 // Leaving Records
Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Where are you? You can hear the water moving, but is it a stream or is someone running his hands through it? You can’t say for sure. A comforting buzzing underlays the vibraphone melodies, the kind of sub-bass buzz which makes your jaw clench. A pinch of color in the concrete jungle of your urban environment. Now the water feels like the sound of the sea. Birds are singing, insects are flying around, accompanying the playful melodies, contemplating, creating your invisible garden. Green-House‘s Six Songs for Invisible Gardens is easily one of the most vibrant and beautiful ambient records of the recent years.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
The more I think about Fake It Flowers, the more I realize that it shouldn’t work as well as it does. It does though – beabadoobee made damn sure of that. What could have been a simple, but still effective episode of teen angst filtered through tropes of heartbreak and self-esteem became a lovely, affecting exploration of the nuances surrounding those things. Her confidence in herself and who she is is palpable, utilizing a candid attitude and a healthy dose of ‘90s indie pop rock nostalgia to reel in those like me. It worked! She doesn’t have any regrets about it, neither do I.
-David Rodriguez
Heeeey, this album is fucking great. Its inclusion on this list obviously implies that, but let’s get into why. The jazzy neo-soul project of Miles Shannon, Cassowary has a decisive Californian heart, warm to the touch and imbued with the feel of a lazy Sunday afternoon, sunglasses sat on your nose and a mind absent of care. It’s a very delicate album sporting vulnerable lyrics and glassy, West Coast synths in addition to endearing saxophone, groovy bass, and playful piano. It’s also named after a cool-ass bird. What more do you need in life? A drink? Sure, and it’s on the house.
-David Rodriguez
Xythlia is the atom-tearing, irradiated technical deathgrind project of Nick Stanger (Ashbringer) who does everything on here – and I mean everything – short of the album’s art. All instruments, mixing, and mastering brought into the expansive fold by them, all to show us the true meaning of pain. Immortality Through Quantum Suicide is a maximalist story of galactic death told from the perspective of someone doomed to not die themselves. It’s absolutely menacing, infinitely nightmarish, and haunting in a way that could only manifest from a reality such as ours. This is what happens when every single dial is turned up enough to snap it off its fucking stem.
-David Rodriguez
We’ve seen mythology pop up throughout a lot of records, however it feels like no one does it better as the concept of an album than hubris. Metempsychosis is a scintillating display of ingenious songwriting and compositional savvy. More so for imbuing freshness in a heavily explored territory as post-rock. It also successfully teleports us in the magic world it seeks to conjure via its concept. The music is deep, riveting, and cinematic in character offering us a journey that will not be forgotten anytime soon.
-Robert Miklos
In the eight years since the release of Sorrow and Extinction, Pallbearer have crafted a legacy of unrivalled brilliance and perhaps just released their magnum opus. Forgotten Days is simultaneously their simplest and most evolved work yet, extracting the vital essence of what makes them one of doom’s essential bands, and ousting any needless excess. From the title track’s opening dead march which could confidently lay claim to the epithet of ‘riff of the year’, to the mournful closing epitaph of “Caledonia”, the Arkansas quartet have bookended an album of arresting, bewitching sorrow. As the decade comes to an aberrant close, this is a truly bittersweet reflection on the vulnerability of humankind.
-Nick Gosling
Iaras isn’t flashy. Maybe that’s the reason why I feel that basically no one listened to this record. It’s kinda hard to sell it to others, though. You like the more the dreamy, spacey side of Radiohead? The term ‘art rock’ makes you curious? You have an open ear for neo psychedelia? Still not convinced? Well, I don’t blame you. Cmpny of Anmls are special for impalpable reasons, for the famous ‘something extra special’. It needs to hit you in the right moment, but if it does, it will click. Intensely so.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
Jessie Ware was always good, but What’s Your Pleasure? was her first foray into greatness. Much like a decadent dessert, this album is a wonder of sweetness, as alluring and love-struck as it is comfortable and poised. It’s a mature take on dance pop with rivulets of neo-disco running through it and Ware coasting on top with her sensual voice and relatable lyrics. The music videos also center queerness in a way that’s not tokenized or fetishized which is always appreciated. This album is a glossy stunner, and I hope she can carry this momentum forward.
-David Rodriguez
There’s something magical about the music of this record. KOJ are a band that could easily compete with modern pop music, but decided to go a dark way without making any compromise at all. Home is a very intimate listening experience and shows many different facets that sum up as deep indie with lots of poppy elements, but also prog rock touches that shimmer through in tiny little details. That being said, KOJ are absolutely glorious in writing songs, finding the right sounds and mesmerizing our minds with their ambiance. Synths as well as well-sung vocal melodies and great guitar work make this album a secret tip for every music enthusiast!
-Rodney Fuchs
Few – if any – albums this year have done such a convincing job of rescuing me from 2020’s unwelcome realities as Cinder Well‘s No Summer, a rustic folk gem that both warms and pierces the soul in equal measure. Weaving acoustic patchworks of fingerpicking and bare-bodied chords that meander beneath heartfelt vocals, its Irish-inspired ambience (reflecting songwriter Amelia Baker’s relocation from California to County Clare) incorporates wistful strings that beautify bold lyrics. Best experienced with undivided attention, seek (voluntary) isolation and fully absorb No Summer, and you’ll soon appreciate why it made this list – for its hauntingly beautiful character, brimming campfire vibes, and incredible raw performances.
-Shaun Milligan
REZN had fierce competition in the psychedelic metal arena this year, yet their new album Chaotic Divine stood head and shoulders above the rest. The whole record is a tantric experience, rending you from your mortal form and guiding your form through event horizons for its hour duration. REZN cleverly utilise world music and their profound skills for ambience in order to create an enveloping blanket of sound, yet this time threw in an extra curveball. Whilst many artists use saxophones and horns in metal now, Chaotic Divine features them fully integrated into the music. The result is a disorienting and profoundly psychedelic experience that you simply must try out.
-Pete Overell
D Smoke dropped a hell of an album early this year and just hasn’t stopped since. Leading with his best foot forward, the Inglewood native lovingly nods to classic G-funk-era hip-hop while keeping things moving forward with his coming-of-age tale of family, survival, and disenfranchisement. He embodies the lover and the fighter on Black Habits, a fierce defender of self and community, wildly confident in execution whether he’s rapping in his native English or fluent Spanish. This is a name you need to keep an eye on – hell, even the Grammys recognized. Regardless, Smoke knows he’s a winner because of who he is and what he represents.
-David Rodriguez
Well, to be fair, this is technically cheating. For the most part, We Can Never Not Be All Of Us is considered an EP, but in the end, who cares? Those six songs are some of the most impressive displays in forward-thinking sound design, challenging songwriting, and outworldly soundscapes. Poisonous Birds‘s impalpable mix of industrial pop, IDM, and experimental rock is bursting with creativity and vibrance, progressing paths which were started by bands like Radiohead or Muse. A vibe which could be straight out of a new Blade Runner movie, and with one of 2020’s best songs in “Mood Stabiliser”, We Can Never Not Be All Of Us is a masterpiece of futuristic, yet contemporary music, juxtaposed between those worlds with impressive comfort.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
On the first glance, Drama are your typical indie pop act. There is nothing particularly extraordinary about Dance Without Me‘s chorus-focused songs and a pleasant voice. But once you start actually paying attention, you notice the magic. Dance Without Me does not only consist of one of the best collections of pop songs in 2020, each and every one of those tunes have a distinct identity, and the duo acknowledge that with different sound ideas, like the variety from organic, analog drums to electronic beats, or their sense for sampling. Influenced by trip hop, soul, and r’n’b, Drama created an album for every fan of just good pop songs. Like, really good ones.
-Toni ‘Inter’ Meese
Loathe has released one of the most gorgeous alternative metal albums of recent years. The sheer volume and power behind each song is massive, and the dynamic shifts bring on an energy that is rare to experience. The brutality of a track like “Gored” can be juxtaposed with an ethereal and catchy song like “Two-Way Mirror”, creating an engaging listening experience that mimics the peaks and troughs of life. Loathe deserves all the praise they receive, especially because I Let It In and It Took Everything showcases the best that modern metal has to offer.
-Tyler Kollinok
#28
illuminati hotties – FREE IH: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For
July 17 // Independent
Like many other albums on this list, illuminati hotties made a huge impression on people for being real as hell. Band leader Sarah Tudzin comes across so genuine whether she’s dishing out some snark and spite toward the industry that’d seek to end her (read up on the release of this ‘mixtape’ – a veritable fucking mess), basking in joy where it can be found, or pouring her heart out. Their indie tenderpunk sound is equal parts punchy and poppy, able to orchestrate some dancing in the pit of a show or power intimacy itself with more somber and reflective offerings. No matter your taste, there’s a lot to love here – FREE I.H. may not have been the one we were waiting for, but it’s the one we deserved.
-David Rodriguez
In a suppressed tone, John Rossiter asks, ‘Show me how you relax/Or rather, tell me how’d you’d live/If you could live like that‘ on “Pattern Doubt,” setting the stage for the entire album. Young Jesus‘ fourth full-length album sees them in a very relaxed state – as the quartet meanders on their imaginary shore, playing post-rock, indie, and improv jazz. With the lyrics providing a philosophical touch and the melodies adding an emotional depth, Welcome to Conceptual Beach makes you ponder over your own life while the entire world is in a mess.
-Vidur Paliwal
Ben Sharp is the King of the DIY culture in post-rock/metal. Not only does Solitude sound wonderful for his already developed standards, but there’s also a leap forward in compositional quality. We’re used to talking beauties of Cloudkicker’s material, but we shouldn’t take any of his work for granted. Solitude is a dark-mooded instrumental record that dealt us a journey that we just couldn’t afford this year. So, grab your best pair of headphones and thank him later (I’m still trying to figure out the time signature on “94 Days” – Hit me up if you do, plz.)
-Rodrigo Torres Pinelli
Odd Cure will forever describe the hardships of 2020. Not only is it memorable, fun, and charming, but it dives deeply into the impact that COVID-19 had over all of us. Because Oddisee wrote and produced the album during his weeks in complete isolation, it truly captures the experiences, emotions, and uncertainties that much of the world’s population has been facing. The record also proves that music can continue to connect us globally and represent that many of us are more alike than we might believe.
-Tyler Kollinok
Immoto feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience presenting itself in the context of an album. The Italian quartet took their already quite unique and impactful songwriting to rather impressive lengths, managing to compose an effort that is unlike anything I – or a good chunk of the global population – have ever heard. The rich atmosphere is fueled by profound dynamics that effortlessly conjoins abrasive and loud moods with the most delicate and fragile ones, pushing them to work in unison for an incredible effect. All the nuances within Immoto’s scope dance together like there’s no tomorrow; a sentiment that simultaneously echoes the topmost ominous hunch we’ve lived with throughout the most of this year. But hey, at least Nero Di Marte provided us with one hell of a soundtrack for it early on.
-Eeli Helin
What a moving album. Look, full disclosure: my Spanish ain’t shit, but even so you can feel the emotion that María José Llergo packed her debut album with. Hailing from Spain, her flamenco-enriched pop music feels very rich and generational, like folktales given new legs with fluttering guitar, atmospheric and transcendental synths, and Llergo’s own voice – an instrument itself – is so magnificent. The way her singing dances up and down her vocal register is entrancing. I’m so in love with this album – give it a try and I’m sure you will be too. “Niña De Las Dunas” and “El Péndulo” will floor you.
-David Rodriguez
There is a captivating beauty to Spanish emo-screamo act Boneflower‘s sophomore album Armour that is hard to put into words. Behind a façade of simple, enjoyable music and warm, fuzzy production lie hypnotic rhythms, captivating bass lines, and soothing leads that pass Boneflower‘s energy and emotions on to the audience from the very first listen. From dissonant and heavy moments to mellow and ethereal segments, Armour is a bubbling pot, mixing the very best of screamo and post-hardcore with black metal and post-rock sounds. A benchmark for the skramz genre in the new decade.
-Vidur Paliwal
#21
Svalbard – When I Die, Will I Get Better?
September 25 // Church Road Records/Translation Loss Records
Svalbard have always championed empathy and understanding above all, courting us all with post-hardcore flair and lashing out against violent misogyny, abuse, mental health, and rape culture. It’s something I can easily get behind, made sweeter (in spite of its tough themes) with albums like When I Die, Will I Get Better?. This is a bit heavier and more melodic than previous works, but doesn’t neglect the atmosphere they’re known for. The lyrics are searing and raw, instrumentation is fierce and lovely, and it all adds up to a supreme package full of fight and something important to say.
-David Rodriguez
From the barking dogs and homemade percussion tools on “Fetch The Bolt Cutters” to handclaps and foot-stomping on “For Her”, Fiona Apple and her band recorded Fetch The Bolt Cutters over the last five years, mostly at her home in California. The coincidence that it came out in 2020 feels apt. Fiona Apple has never been afraid to wear her emotions, but feels entirely free of any shackles for the first time. The resulting rawness of the lyrics can make Fetch The Bolt Cutters an uncomfortable listen for some, but one that offers a much needed introspection to all.
-Vidur Paliwal
Hands down, 2020’s premier psychedelic/progressive rock experience. Motorpsycho laid it on thick with The All Is One, shifting the very ground under our feet before uplifting us to otherworldly realms. This is the most apparent with the album’s five-song “N.O.X.” suite which is utterly spellbinding and unrealistically great. I feel like Owen Wilson listening to this record because all I can say is ‘wow’ at every turn. It’s long, but rewarding – like a road trip through kaleidoscopic space.
-David Rodriguez
Nothing I’ve heard this year comes close to how Obsidian Kingdom blended sounds together on MEAT MACHINE. Plenty of great bands mixed and matched styles, or paid homage to scenes past, but there is something different here. It feels less like a series of tributes or reinterpretations than something legitimately new being fashioned out of the old. One need look no further than album highlight “VOGUE” where Mastodon-esque bellowing, Dirt-era Alice in Chains screeching riffs, and female vocals – artificially warped into a melody straight off of Super Mario 64’s OST (!) – come together with urgency to create a new frontier for metal!
-Faisal Binzagr
Baikal is an album I truly look forward to listening to each spin because you know behind every subtle ambient post-rock section, there is a gargantuan monster riff waiting to pounce on you. No matter how many times you heard these megalithic chords play out over your sonic receptors, they get you grooving and moving. Asian Death Crustacean has through years of labour, landed on a formula which combines their jazz expertise with extreme and post-metal, leaving us with an incredible prototype progressive-doom sound. By contrasting sudden silences with thundering riffs and smooth post- & jazz guitar licks, Asian Death Crustacean has released one of the best metal albums of the year.
-Pete Overell
Nick Kreuger is still always finding ways to impress with his absolutely baffling outpouring of music. The Chemical Mind is probably my favorite project of his, and That Benign Terror really elevates the project to new levels. It feels more mature and refined than his album from just last year and it’s amazing to think of the possibilities for a continuation. A lot of the moments are slower and more brooding, calculated precisely to cause those spikes in horror while listening.
-Billie Helton
I’ve formally written over 5,000 words on Melted Bodies and Enjoy Yourself this year, and as I add another hundred to that total, I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface. Here’s a Frankenstein’s monster made up of hardcore alt-metal that came out of nowhere, did things their own way, and became anthemic for those of us racked with anxiety about living in a malignant capitalist society that would rather sweep problems under the rug than address them. The feral energy, the smaller details within, the eclecticism, the audacity of it all smacks of a band with a meteoric rise ahead of them.
-David Rodriguez
A bitter and pensive coronach for a year of palpable mass grief. Solar Ships is a bleak concentration of salient gloom, marked by a harrowing four-part journey of expansive post-metal and funereal ambience. Melbourne’s Sundr are purveyors of rumination, glissading between corrosive sludge torrents and ambient percussive motifs that flow in waves of steam-blooded liberation. Through delicate passages of clean ether through to numbingly heavy sludge, this album collates a mass spectrum of dejected feelings into one of this year’s most epic hidden gems.
-Nick Gosling
Looking for a good time? Busty and the Bass put out one of the grooviest records of 2020, and, if you ask me, it can put a smile on anyone’s face. It contains one of my favorite songs of the year, “Baggy Eyed Dopeman” (which features the legendary George Clinton! How awesome is that?). The songs are lively and show just how important the spirit of music can be to lift someone’s mood. Feeling down from the crushing weight of the year? Put on Eddie and let your worries drift away.
-Tyler Kollinok
An unlikely collaboration on paper, the respective individual territories of ERR and Thou are contorted and meshed into a staggering cacophony here that works so effortlessly it would seem universally preordained. Dense, reverberating walls of guitar enshroud ERR‘s folksy vocal nuances throughout MOCBF, while the expansive, crushing weight of Thou’s doom intertwines with string flourishes to gift us a finely balanced record that is as graceful as it is gnashing. Subsequently, MOCBF sucks you in with a sense of brooding that feels both elegant and evil at the same time. All I can say is thank the stars there’s more from this prolific partnership on the way next month.
-Shaun Milligan
Bolstering the raucous releases from the UK this year, Palm Reader are a band you possibly aren’t – but definitely should be – familiar with, and latest outing Sleepless slithered into view right at the year’s end to cause utter carnage to my 2020 album rankings. Primed and worthy of more widespread infiltration, this heartfelt barrage traverses between the grittily unstable and unerringly beautiful in just under 50 minutes. Rich vocals complement powerful instrumentation that gives due reverence to post-hardcore’s heritage while retaining an impressive freshness in its execution. Underrated, but by no means underwhelming, Sleepless is the perfect title; if there’s one thing you shouldn’t do, it’s sleep on this one.
-Shaun Milligan
It’s really hard to talk about an album like this. I wasn’t familiar with Yves Tumor prior, but their extravagant take on electrified rock and soul (is that a genre name yet?) is massively liberating and validating. Along with an album further down this list, Heaven To A Tortured Mind helped me explore things within myself, a priceless experience that’s hard to even qualify. Even taken at surface level, Tumor’s musings on love and life feel thoughtful and precise, swinging like our moods often do when saturated in the love of another, or seeking it. It’s an amazing thing to witness.
-David Rodriguez
I have two words: absolute chaos. The title of supergroups gets thrown around a lot these days, but END (featuring current and old members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Fit For An Autopsy, Misery Signals, and others) destroy the ground with such brutality that no other title seems apt. The eleven tracks on Splinters From An Ever-Changing Face are delivered with an uncurbed fury and outright savagery, that one cannot help but take pleasure in the band’s anger and pain. END have released a cathartic debut album, which feels much needed in 2020.
-Vidur Paliwal
Shabrang is an album I raved about at length already, and by my estimation, it’s only improved with time. Sevdaliza’s sophomore album not only managed to avoid the dreaded slump, but crucially marked the moment she fully came into her own as an artist. While 2017’s brilliant ISON showcased her personality and unique interpretation of trip-hop and r’n’b, Shabrang weaves in everything from classical music, folk, and the ‘90s alternative with results that are truly grand. Most crucially, any remaining vestiges of imitation are cast aside, leaving only Sevdaliza.
-Faisal Binzagr
Lianne La Havas adheres to reflecting and putting her heart on her sleeves on her newest self-titled record. La Havas eloquently and effortlessly captures the nuances of falling in love with a level of maturity uncommon in popular music. There is a tact and openness to her down-to-earth songwriting that will inevitably strike some chords, only to be graced with the warmth of the soulful and organic grooves placed throughout. Indeed, this is La Havas at her most personal and a crowning achievement for her already stellar repertoire.
-Carlos Veléz-Cancel
‘chill but kinda sad’ is how the Bandcamp bio reads for Nashville’s Soccer Mommy, indie/bedroom pop project of Sophie Allison. It’s pretty dead-on as color theory makes profound efforts to convey her experiences with depression (“circle the drain” is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard on the subject), loss, and familial illness, but does so with a filter of ‘90s nostalgia and a songwriting mood that doesn’t so much drag you down as it does meet you on your level. Lay on your bed with headphones on and tell me her voice doesn’t speak to your soul like a close friend.
-David Rodriguez
Mountaineer produced one of the most impressive metal record this year. Bloodletting is all about the conjunction of heavy emotional atmospheres with crushing tones. Far away from being another post-metal act, this band effectively captures everything this genre – if we can call it that way – needs to have. Out of all the outstanding records that came out this year, Bloodletting gets my personal album of the year. I just can’t get enough of its brilliance. Check it out ASAP!
-Rodrigo Torres Pinelli
Déluge have dropped one of the best metal records of 2020, there is no debate. Ægo Templo expands upon Déluge’s black metal foundation by incorporating post-rock/post-hardcore influences into their music in a seamless manner, as well as heavily capitalizing on the negative space created in their slightly doomy tendencies. There is never a dull moment and each song is as striking as the one before it. This is one of those records where everyone has a different favorite track because each song is stellar in its own way and that is a testament to the pristine quality heard throughout Ægo Templo.
-JP Pallais
This album right here, y’all. Holy shit. I hope to personally thank Moses Sumney someday for what he’s done to affect acceptance and understanding about myself and others with his music. Relationships, masculinity, isolation – Sumney’s silky falsetto touches on a lot within this double album. He is unfairly good at expressing himself, even when the thoughts carry an air of uncertainty. One thing græ is for certain is monumental, embiggening itself to grand scales when appropriate, but shrinking down to emotive minimalism elsewhere. With this, I’m convinced Moses can do no wrong artistically. Easily music’s most exciting person right now.
-David Rodriguez
Their newest effort, Visions of Bodies Being Burned, shows clipping. doing a horror-styled narration in their unique brand of experimental hip-hop/rap. The hypnotic vocal rhythms coupled with the thrilling narrative and the eerie noise/industrial-based beats only cements the fact that clipping. has a special way of making their music feel truly real. Listening to this record makes you feel as if you’re part of this story, only to experience the nightmare yourself. If you’re upset that this record is ranked where it is on this list, then ‘you gon’ have to die about it’.
-JP Pallais
This was inevitable – it makes perfect sense for RTJ4 to be our number one album of the year. Aside from being their most concise, vigorous, insightful album yet, the hip-hop duo spoke more truth to power than before, captured the anger and hope alike of the plebeian, and gave us all bars upon bars to dedicate to memory and aloud alike. Stellar production, poignant themes, searing quotables, all delivered with heaps of attitude and humor as is their wont. In a year that caused so much pain and misfortune for millions, Mike and El led a charge that showed we’re capable of bucking back at those who would do us wrong – tenfold.
-David Rodriguez
