It was a year unlike any other, that’s for sure. In alphabetical order, here are some of my favourite albums, mixtapes, and EPs from 2020.
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ADULT. – Perception is/as/of Deception
To record this album, ADULT set up in a windowless basement they painted completely black to “deprive their senses, question their perceptions, and witness the resulting ramifications”. From this environment lacking in sensory input, the duo constructed an album focused around the act of seeing and being/not being seen.
Mechanical and movement-inducing rhythms are cut up by razor sharp synthesizers as Nicola Kruperus calls into question the dull and absented-minded consumerism pushed in this alienating reality.This is an album that is powerful on multiple levels, inspiring both dancing and a deeper look at one’s relationship to the ignorant and indifferent consumer ideology that has fed into a fractured society and dying planet.
Anachnid – Dreamweaver
Anachnid uses the contemporary sound of sparse trap-tinged electropop as the vehicle through which to share the messages and stories of her Oji-Cree and Mi’kmaq identity. At times things get dark, such as during the stark depiction of persistence in the face of forced cultural assimilation on “America”. But largely, the record is an expression of unapologetic pride, especially apparent with the saxophone-driven dance-house celebration of wearing one’s hair long on “Braids” and the rejection of stereotypes and denouncing of settler colonialism on the chilling trip hop of “Windigo”. About the album’s merger of current sounds and traditional customs, Anachnid explained in an interview:
“Indigenous people survive without a Bible, without a Koran or any book to keep the tradition alive. How they survived was by trusting their legacy to keep their language and keep their storytelling alive. And what I’m doing right now is just recycling that aspect of storytelling but I’m mixing it with technology so it can survive through time.”
Archie Sagers – Happy New Year
When I look at the cover of Happy New Year, the debut album by Archie Sagers, the multicolored holiday lights suspended in a jet black sky remind me of the cover of The Clientele’s Suburban Light, one of my all-time favorite albums. And with both, the nocturnal location is reflected in the warm and intimate dream-jangle sound.
Chiming and brightly reverbed guitar notes may be a staple in amongst artists that intersect the lines of post-punk and dream pop, and they are a musical characteristic that I always appreciate. What separates Sagers from his contemporaries is his distinctly rich vocal tones that weave through the ricocheting riffs with an air of romanticism that is especially apparent on tracks like “Blue and Green”.
Sagers says that the album is about “the period between childhood and adulthood. Questioning yourself, meeting new people and finding a purpose all impose looming challenges. It is about accepting change around you and enjoying experiences for what they are.”
cевер – надлом
From the beginning of надлом, cевер pour every inch of their body and soul into these performances. The vocal delivery suggests a desperation from which to unload their heart onto the table, whether through throat-shredding howls or roaring gang vocals. Pummeling drums and ringing guitars thrash in a frenzy, then give way to tense and melancholic soundscapes before the next throng of chaos blows through. Nothing is held back in these 25 minutes, with little time to breathe, if any, between each heart-racing song. It’s a raw and visceral experience, at times breathtakingly beautiful, with an emotional weight that transcends any possible language barriers between the band and listener.
CGI Dog – Replacer
It’s been really exciting to follow CGI Dog over this past year.. Pulling from a seriously diverse group of influences, he has continued to surprise with each single that eventually culminated in the release of Replacer in November. Whether it’s letting loose with breakbeats on “Kitchen (Crown Mix” or “Hypo”, sampling a power drill on the hyperpop-Psychocandy hybrid “Wish 2”, or carving gritty whirring synthesizers over the feels-too-real-in-the-current-zeitgeist lyrics of “Livin’ in Delay”, CGI Dog sounds playfully unique with a versatility more befitting chameleon than canine.
Deserta – Black Aura My Sun
Black Aura My Sun conjures up feelings of flying above a city lit up by the night sky. Sweeping synths and bliss-outed riffs carry you to a heavenly state of mind, with a strong sense of romance permeating through the blurry hiss of Matthew Doty’s vocals. The shoegazey state of euphoria makes the hushed requests to “show me the place where you hide” and “hold me in your arms” feel colossal in their emotional weight. It’s a vast and cinematic, yet affectionate and intimate, escape into the clouds.
Dreamcrusher – Another Country
Although I haven’t dived too far into Dreamcrusher’s massive discography, on what I have heard so far they have demonstrated a knack for fitting catchy melodies within dense walls of ear-splittinh of distortion.The Another Country mixtape is a particular highlight, with a shadowy ethereal atmosphere constructed by its blown-out in-the-red sound.
In a world ravaged by capitalist violence, having the ability to imagine alternate futures is of utmost importance right now. Like how Dreamcrusher has transformed an array of sampled tracks into this surreal suite of buzzsaw symphonies, the potential lies to take aspects of the old world and create a new one that sustains the planet and all of its inhabitants. The intention of imagining new futures is reflected in the title and the tagline posted with the mixtape: “Building your own world is essential. Don’t deny yourself the ability to dream.”
Fly Anakin and Pink Siifu – FlySiifu’s
Fly Anakin and Pink Siifu join forces on an album built around the imagined concept of running a record store. Business is slow, without any in-person customers due to pandemic-related restrictions. The two head off to the staff room with beat tapes in tow, and start trading immaculate flows over smooth simmering jazz-sampling beats that give off the muggy haze of a late summer afternoon.
Meanwhile, the phone at the shop is ringing off the hook, with a cast of animated characters growing impatient with the lack of service. Maybe these two aren’t cut out for the record-selling business, but their talents as MCs suggest that quitting their day jobs could be a worthwhile venture.
Gold Cage – Social Crutch
If you told me to describe Social Crutch in one word, the word I would use is space. Not outer space, but rather space in between. The expansive space evoked by the record’s reverberating sound, texturized by the warbling hiss of tape loops. The space in between each strike of the drums on slower tracks like “What is Left”. The space created by the guitar riffs that stick on one note or spread them far away from each other, allowing the listener to hang on and take the full impact of the sound. The space for your introspective thoughts to meander around, directed momentarily by one of the poignant and evocative lines that emerges from the haze. One that particularly hits hard is Cole Devine’s sigh of “wish I was somewhere else, greatest accomplishment” on “Spaghettify.” In a turbulent year where it hasn’t always been easy to stay hopeful, this pensive post-punk record provides a warm enclosure to wallow inside.
Karolinski – for akasha
Like the frozen tundra Karoline Hegrenes sits upon in the cover art, for akasha is an iced-out plain. Techno beats softly crunch like footprints in the snow as the reverb-heavy keys and pads echo off the walls of the surrounding mountains. A northern wind blows in and I feel the chill.
RIYL: Basic Channel, Seb Wildblood
KeyDaIntro – Fleeting Thoughts
Fleeting Thoughts gives off the feel of being in your bedroom on a hot summer evening, with pink light from the setting sun peaking in through the blinds as a fan whirs to combat the unrelenting heat. The songs melt over slowly and smoothly, with unhurried beats knocking to dripping key melodies as KeyDaIntro’s rich vocals pour over in lush layers. A lyrical focus pointed at the self and a lover contributes to the conjuring of the intimate bedroom setting.
While fleeting thoughts tend to come in and go in a moment’s notice, these ones hang around long enough to slow heart rates and leave you feeling calm and restored on the other side.
культодиночества – Истлеть
Истлеть is a tight yet atmospheric offering that dips in and out of dark gloom and lighter heavens. Punchy drums beat through the heavy moods painted by cloudy and melancholic guitar lines as Nari Yegova and Vova Antonov trade vocal duties. Yegova takes a more subtle and contemplative approach, as if gazing longingly into the distance, while Antonov is more theatrical, howling at the moon on “Этой весной” and dropping down into a guttural growl on the sinister closer “Атмосфера”. The band conjures an enthralling atmosphere with energetic playing and anthemic songwriting on a record that feels as appropriate on headphones during a lonesome walk at night as it would from a stage to a crowd adorning in black and gyrating along with the grooves.
Matthew Cardinal – Asterisms
Given Matthew Cardinal’s explanation of this album being an audio journal recorded in his bedroom that contains “captured moments of experimentation and expression… drawing attention to where I was musically, mentally and emotionally at very brief passages of my life,” you may be inclined to believe that this record would have an intimate and confessional sound that would replicate the sharing of secrets in a confined space.
Instead, this album often feels like laying in a wide open field, staring up at a star-filled sky. The grass is cool, the stars are bright, and you are alone replaying episodes from your past in your head. It’s these outward sights of extraterrestrial beauty that inspire an inward look, and the distance between stars provides lots of room for your thoughts to float around wherever they may. Which is what Cardinal would want, as he explains “I would like it if people listened and interpreted the music anyway they want to. I don’t think these songs need a narrative, and I think certain moods come through some of the tracks, while other moods might only be heard by individual listeners.”
What does this record conjure for you?
Midwife – Forever
On the devastating yet beautiful Forever, Madeline Johnston chronicles the process of dealing with the passing of her close friend Colin Ward. Droning guitar textures create a heavy atmosphere through which Johnston’s hushed whispers depict coming to terms with the reality of loss, the challenges in finding the words to express it and honour a loved one after their passing, and forever living with the pain of losing them. The centerpiece of the album occurs on “C.R.F.W.” when we hear Colin recite a beautiful piece of spoken word poetry covering themes of imagination, nature, collaboration, love, and then finally death.
MJ Guider – Sour Cherry Bell
MJ Guider’s music is a slow-moving storm, with swirling vortexes of cloudy guitars like foreboding winds. The glooming and looming atmosphere feels heavy like a drop in air pressure, as Melissa Guion’s distant and disembodied siren’s call sails through the fog.
Molly Punch – A Monster A Day
Molly Punch check all the boxes you could ask for from a band operating at the intersection of grunge and riot-grrl-spirited punk. Over and over on A Monster A Day, their ripping riffs, pummelling drums, and shouted vocals beat me over the head in the most delightful way. It’s the perfect harmony of melody and energy, and one of the funnest albums I’ve heard this year.
Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
Jazz drummer-turned-producer and dance music enthusiast Moses Boyd had this thought while recording Dark Matter:
“I was like, ‘Man, I’ve never walked into a club and heard a drum solo, I wonder what that might sound like. How could I get one track that has both of those world[s] well-represented on it?’”
Dark Matter has several of those tracks and they go hard, fusing jazz instrumentation with the club rhythms of UK bass, garage, and grime. Floor-ready highlights including the booming opener “Stranger Than Fiction”, the anthemic “Shades of You” with its infectious hook and top-notch vocal performance provided by Poppy Ajudha, and the dark garage grooves overlaid with Boyd’s stylish drumming and the gorgeous piano-playing of Joe Armon Jones on “2 Far Gone.”
Nailah Hunter – Spells
The worlds Nailah Hunter creates on Spells are incredibly vivid and the album artwork, painted by Ianna Vasale, is a fitting depiction of these fantasy-like soundscapes cloaked in a bluish hue of nightfall. Verdant keyboard gardens are the space in which Hunter’s harp and voice float through. Birds, frogs, insects, and water sounds pop into earshot occasionally, making this conjured space even more evocative.
The transportive experience of listening to Spells has a way of bringing the mind to peace, which reflects the healing intentions behind Hunter’s work. She explained in an interview, “My art is about creating safe and lovely places for the mind, body, and soul to rest. My art is about reminding others of their capacity to be soft in a world that encourages & rewards the opposite.”
PLAYYTIME – The Fun Never Ends
On The Fun Never Ends, PLAYYTIME sinks into the murk of gloomy blues and launches into sludgy and pummeling hardcore punk, sometimes doing both on the same song. Obi Ugonna’s vocal performances are powerful throughout, taking on a downtrodden moan on the slower cuts, and erupting into explosive shouts that cut through the chugging riffs as their tempo increases.
Queen Sophie’s VCR and the Bright Side of Hemisphere 5 – pale blue family van (disc one)
Queen Sophie takes us on a breakneck exploration of the sensation of having eyes on you. In the first half, the gaze comes from the larger social eye, with paranoia setting and the clammering breakbeats and rapid-fire synths evoking a frantic escape from the crowd’s glare. Time alone is found in the interlude before the eyes come from a closer place: first from the self on the existentially questioning “Why am I Here” and from a prospective partner and whether their cues and intentions are to be trusted on “Truth.”
While pale blue family van is less outwardly confrontational in sound than the abrasive and aggressive fuck you i fucking hate you so fucking much (sorry) EP released earlier this year, it feels incredibly cohesive in its union of anxious lyrics with energetic and propulsive electropop while managing to stuff it all into a run-time shorter than ten minutes. And if (disc one) implies more is to come in the series, I look forward to hearing what comes next.
Sea Oleena – Weaving a Basket
Most of the buzz around the release of Weaving a Basket was celebrating the long awaited return of Sea Oleena, who hadn’t released anything since her 2014 album. I think of who I am now and where I was in 2014 and it feels like it is several lifetimes away. The forward march of time is unstoppable and unrelenting, but the power of Weaving a Basket is its ability to slow things down, shut off the outside world and completely consume you. Like the act of weaving a basket, each song feels like a deliberate and careful process full of intention. To the softest synth pads and tenderly picked acoustic guitars, Charlotte Oleena’s voice gently coos, holding onto syllables like a long hug.. This album is so soft, so sincere and incredibly comforting. It was the record I didn’t know I needed the most this year, and it will be one I keep by my side for a long time. I wonder what 2020 will feel like six years from now.
Various Artists – L’Esprit de Nyege 2020
This may be an unorthodox choice for a year-end list since it’s a 48 track label compilation, but I had to include it because it contains some of the most exciting music I’ve heard in a long time. The Uganda-based label Nyege Nyege Tapes has compiled a collection of mindbending trap, techno, deconstructed club, and African dance music genres such as gqom and sengali from “across the continent and the wider African diaspora.” For listeners with tastes rooted mostly in North American and European sounds, plenty of the futuristic and floor-ready stuff on here will be unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.
The compilation is only available for one month on Bandcamp, so act quick if you want to hear it.
Wishbone – Pseudo Planet
Pulling from grunge, shoegaze, and post-rock, Wishbone have masterfully crafted a sound they call “doom pop”. It’s an apt tag for the down-tuned guitars that growl around gloomy songwriting to create a sound that harkens back to the alternative metal of the late-90s and early-00s. While the crushing tone pins things down to a dark place for much of the EP, the soaring ten-minute closer explodes into a life-affirming climax that never fails to bring goosebumps.
Zoe Polanski – Violent Flowers
Across Violent Flowers, Polanski crafts gentle and airy soundscapes, with chiming guitar lines and delicate synths sailing underneath you to carry you off into a place more tranquil than the harsh realities of this Earth.
Zoon – Bleached Wavves
On Bleached Wavves, Daniel Monkman merges shoegaze and the traditional music of his Ojibway heritage to create a massive and majestic sound he calls moccasin-gaze, all the while providing a compellingly truthful look into the experiences of himself and his people. Reversed instrumental loops are recurrent motifs, resembling the exploration of the past that Monkman’s lyrics take us upon through these densely exquisite and textured soundscapes with warbly and rich guitar tones.