2020 was an unusual year for album releases. While some musicians chose to hold back releases due to the pandemic (e.g. Kanye & Adele), others took the chance to write and release multiple records (e.g. Taylor Swift – but don’t expect her in this list). I was personally astounded by some of the albums released this year. In fact, the quality was much higher than in 2019 or even 2018. Below are just some of my favourite albums from the year.
Every year there are a few noteworthy albums that I plan to review - but never get round to reviewing. Here are a few mini-reviews of the records I missed.
This year's annual album catch-up includes: Circles by Mac Miller, Eternal Atake by Lil Uzi Vert, Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa, Chromatica by Lady Gaga, Positions by Ariana Grande, I Disagree by Poppy, Spirituality and Distortion by Igorrr, My Agenda by Dorian Electra and Visions of Bodies Being Burned by Clipping.
Killer virus and political mayhem aside, 2020 wasn’t all that bad. There was some phenomenal music released this year. In fact, whittling this list down to just 20 tracks was a real challenge. Below are some of the tracks that I kept returning to this year.
(P.S. Don’t forget to also check out my worst songs of 2020 if you like lists. If you're a hardcore listophile, feel free to also check out my favourite songs from '19, '18, '17 and '16.)
IT’S LIST TIME!!! I’ve already started working on my favourite tracks and favourite albums lists. But before we embrace the best of 2020, let’s remind ourselves of some of the most terrible songs from this terrible year. Compared to my previous lists, this year's annual music horror show is particularly ghastly. In fact, it's so ghastly that 6ix9ine didn’t even make the cut. Proceed at your own risk...
We're now into December. I can't decide whether this year has gone incredibly fast or whether it's been the slowest year ever,
Tunes to listen to while buying shit you don’t need in the Black Friday sale. FIFTY QUID FOR A PORTABLE SINGING TOASTER?! BARGAIN!!!!!