2020 has been a strange year. We all know that. Live music hasn’t really been a thing since March, and so many more people get to listen to music throughout the day thanks to working from home being much more common than it was before March. I think both of these things have probably influenced my list of favourite albums this year, and so I’m going to split it into two lists – one of traditional albums that are best listened to in sequence, and one of the music that soundtracked my working days during those rare few moments when I was not in Zoom or Teams meetings.
Looking down the lists I can see I’ve very much been influenced by the live music I did get to encounter this year (at the 6 Music Festival mainly), and also by the 130+ listening parties I did since live music dried up in March (which I wrote about here and here). I do hope I’ll be able to experience live music again next year, but I also very much hope that listening parties are still something that artists see as a valuable way of connecting with their fans.
In all cases the links below are to somewhere you can listen to and/or buy the record in question (Bandcamp or the artist’s own website). There’s a lot of music here, but hopefully some of it will appeal to someone.
First off we have my list of albums. It’s quite an angry list but I think that’s a fair comment on this year:
A few months ago I wrote about how I had started attending a few listening parties to replace the lack of live music in my life. As I’ve got an automation (via IFTTT) that outputs everything from my calendar to a spreadsheet then it’s fairly easy for me to know how many “a few” actually is.
Open Season (British Sea Power)
The 3 EPs (The Beta Band)
Different Class (Pulp)
Power Corruption & Lies (New Order)
Boat to Bolivia (Martin Stephenson & The Daintees)
Dog Man Star (Suede)
Architecture and Morality (OMD)
1977 (Ash)
Divide & Exit (Sleeper)
Dogrel (Fontaines DC)
Do You Like Rock Music? (British Sea Power)
Rattlesnakes (Lloyd Cole & The Commotions)
IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME LIVE (The Twilight Sad)
Figure 8 (Elliott Smith)
I Should Coco (Supergrass)
The Coral (The Coral)
Love (The Cult)
Real life (Joan As Policewoman)
Before Today (Ariel Pink)
Rum, Sodomy & The Lash (The Pogues)
Hand. Cannot. Erase. (Steven Wilson)
Be Here Now (Oasis)
Infected (The The)
Man of Aran (British Sea Power)
Dig Your Own Hole (Chemical Brothers)
Revel in the Drama (Ren Harvieu)
Trials of Van Occupanther (Midlake)
Last Splash (The Breeders)
The Boy with the Arab Strap (Belle & Sebastian)
Shortly After Takeoff (BC Camplight)
Cafe Bleu (The Style Council)
A Maximum High (Shed Seven)
Bandwagonesque (Teenage Fanclub)
Low Life (New Order)
Machineries of Joy (British Sea Power)
Boat (Pip Blom)
Foolish Loving Spaces (Blossoms)
Up to Our Hips (Charlatans)
West Kirby County Primary (Bill Ryder Jones)
When I Have Fears (The Murder Capital)
The It Girl (Sleeper)
High Land, Hard Rain (Aztec Camera)
Moonshine Freeze (This is the Kit)
Glasvegas (Glasvegas)
I’ve Seen Everything (Trashcan Sinatras)
Attack of the Grey Lantern (Mansun)
I Believe (Tim Burgess)
Eton Alive (Tim Burgess)
Six (Mansun)
Valhalla Dancehall (British Sea Power)
Brutalism (IDLES)
The Raven (The Stranglers)
Joy as an Act of Resistance (IDLES)
Separation Sunday (The Hold Steady)
Source Tags & Codes (…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead)
Sea of Brass (British Sea Power)
University (Throwing Muses)
Let the Dancers Inherit the Party (British Sea Power)
Magic & Medicine (The Coral)
Unknown Pleasures (Joy Division)
Pale Green Ghosts (John Grant)
Oh, Inverted World (The Shins)
Nixon (Lambchop)
Feast of Wire (Calexico)
Don’t Get Weird On Me, Babe (Lloyd Cole)
Deserter’s Songs (Mercury Rev)
Want One (Rufus Wainwright)
I Love The New Sky (Tim Burgess)
Giant Steps (The Boo Radleys)
From the Sea to the Land Beyond (British Sea Power)
Faith (The Cure)
Fibs (Anna Meredith)
Force (A Certain Ratio)
Insurgentes (Steven Wilson)
Holiday Destination (Nadine Shah)
The Decline of British Sea Power (British Sea Power)
Let’s get out of this Country (Camera Obscura)
Harcore Can Never Die But You Will (Mogwai)
Stranger (Our Girl)
Seamosters (The Wedding Present)
The Crackdown (Caberet Voltaire)
Dazzle Ships (OMD)
Philophobia (The Arab Strap)
Source Tags & Codes (..And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead)
Costello Music (The Fratellis)
Aviary (Julia Holter)
Leave Me Alone (Hinds)
Beauty Stab (ABC)
A Certain Trigger (Maximo Park)
Red Roses For Me (The Pogues)
Aladdin Sane (David Bowie)
Fisherman’s Blues (Waterboys)
Underwater Moonlight (The Soft Boys)
Kitchen Sink (Nadine Shah)
Levelling the Land (The Levellers)
If I Should Fall From Grace With God (The Pogues)
Diamond Dogs (David Bowie)
Troublegum (Therapy?)
Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (The Dandy Warhols)
All Things Being Equal (Sonic Boom)
101 Damnations (Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine)
Grand Prix (Teenage Fanclub)
Fear Of Music (Talking Heads)
Closer (Joy Division)
Young Americans (David Bowie)
This Is The Sea (The Waterboys)
Soul Mining (The The)
Yuck (Yuck)
All Is Dream (Mercury Rev)
Technique (New Order)
Pin Ups (David Bowie)
Have You In My Wilderness (Julia Holter)
Kaleidoscope (Siouxsie and the Banshees)
A Pagan Place (The Waterboys)
The Don of Diamond Dreams (Shabazz Palaces)
Mind Bomb (The The)
Bizarro (The Wedding Present)
Doolittle (Pixies)
Good Luck, Seeker (The Waterboys)
Movement (New Order)
Fibs (Anna Meredith)
Hours (David Bowie)
Surfer Rosa (Pixies)
Dusk (The The)
Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters (Twilight Sad)
The Queen Is Dead (The Smiths)
Mainstream (Lloyd Cole and the Commotions)
Seventeen Seconds (The Cure)
Strangeways Here We Come (The Smiths)
ACR Loco (A Certain Ratio)
Pornography (The Cure)
Jet Plane and Oxbow (Shearwater)
Hex Enduction Hour (The Fall)
Grotesque (After The Gramme) (The Fall)
Slates (The Fall)
Four-Calendar Café (The Cocteau Twins)
New Facts Emerge (The Fall)
All Blessed (Faithless)
Nobody Wants to Be Here & Nobody Wants to Leave (Twilight Sad)
Songs From Northern Britain (Teenage Fanclub)
Gladsome, Humour & Blue (Martin Stephenson And The Daintees)
Room To Roam (The Waterboys)
Music In A Foreign Language (Lloyd Cole)
Heaven Is Whenever (The Hold Steady)
Songs From The Big Chair (Tears For Fears)
Kiss Ass, Godhead! (Membranes)
This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This! (Pop Will Eat Itself)
This is everything I’ve listened to that I actually put in my calendar. There may be a few more ad-hoc ones that I didn’t record, but it’s still quite a lot. One day I might go through them and work out how many were new-to-me albums, but that day is not today.
I’ve been talking and writing about music a lot over the last week, and am part way through writing up my thoughts on what live music might look like when we all emerge from lock down. In the meantime, my response to Jehnny Beth on how I listen to albums. Jehnny’s question was:
What’s your favourite way of listening to an album? Do you still take time to immerse yourself? What do you think an album represents in 2020? I’d love to read your thoughts.
My response was:
I love to immerse myself in it. I tend to buy albums I really love on vinyl and listen to them when I can fully concentrate on the music. I also prefer to listen to them in the order they were sequenced. I also have playlists on shuffle, but that’s a different type of listening.
I think there is still a place for the album in the world of streaming. A proper album is as different to a load of songs in a playlist as a novel is to a tweet or a short blog post, and I think we still have room for both.
One of the last social things I did before lockdown was the 6 Music Festival (and an excellent non-festival Jehnny Beth concert that is probably the musical highlight of my year so far). I’ve been trying to do more live music (combined with cycling adventures) and this sort of event really works for me as it takes me to a different city and builds in enough time to properly explore.
Obviously more adventures of this type are not possible now, but over the last week I’ve been participating in Tim Burgess’ Twitter listening parties where people all listen to the same record at the same time, and the people who made the record in the first place commentate. I’ve never consumed music in quite this way before, but I now think it’s something I’d like to continue doing after lockdown. I’ve rediscovered some old music that required hunting down CDs and MP3 backups, connected with people who share my love of some of my current favourites, and generally added a bit of structure to my evenings.
This is my calendar for this week. I’ve been off work so I’ve had a lot of free time, but even next week I think I’ll tune in for a few as well as nothing actually eats into work time.
My new social life
I know this is making things easier for a lot of people, and also that this is introducing people to new music that they can buy, and thus support the artists who are really struggling right now without the revenue from gigs. It’s a good thing, and I’m glad I’m part of it.
I realised this week that I have a single blog post for all my other Album of the year lists, and would probably regret doing 2019 in sections at some point. This blog post addresses this issue, and also has undergone some light editing to preserve the narrative.
I’ve been compiling a list of my favourite records of each year for a decade or more. This year I’ve listened to music slightly differently; with monthly Spotify playlists on shuffle during train journeys and walks, but otherwise by putting a record on my record player and listening to the songs in the order they were sequenced. These are my top 10, starting with something that came out during a surprisingly warm February.
Ex:Re – Ex:Re
Ex:Re is the solo project of Elena Tonra (from Daughter), and this record is touched by heartbreak, but also by the realisation that you sometimes need to pick the pieces of other people out of your skin before you can start to heal. It’s sparse and beautiful, and one of the most emotionally raw collections of songs I’ve heard this year.
The Twilight Sad – It Won/t Be Like This All the Time
The second selection from my list of my favourite records from 2019 takes me back to the very start of the year.
Anyone who has known me for a while will know that The Twilight Sad are one of my favourite bands, and that their music often soundtracks the winter months for me. This year they delivered an excellent new record in January, which got me in the right head space for a couple of weeks of sub-zero cycling and an extremely challenging month at work (but it’s good to get the worst month out of the way at the start of the year, right?).
Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising
Part 3 of my list of my favourite records from 2019.
At this point I realise there are very few cheery records on this year’s list. This one is probably the most uplifting musically, although lyrically it deals with climate change, and the growing sense that if we don’t do something to avert the climate catastrophe then it doesn’t really matter what else we do because we are underwater. This one is a grower, and nothing like what I usually listen to, but it’s one I keep coming back to.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
I said previously that there are very few cheery records on this list, and this one doesn’t help. It is however one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard (this year or any other year), and it’s a million miles away from where Nick Cave started all those years ago (check out Release the Bats by The Birthday Party for something a lot angrier). This reminds me of one of those books where you just have to read it all in one go. Partly to find out what happened and partly because it deserves your full attention until you have consumed it completely. I would be surprised if there is an album of the year list that doesn’t include this record; it really is that good.
Kate Tempest – The Book of Traps & Lessons
This is a record that definitely needs to be listened to in the order it is sequenced. It’s also probably my favourite record by an artist who is responsible for at least one of my favourite records already (2016’s Let Them Eat Chaos). Kate Tempest is a writer who also performs, and The Book of Traps & Lessons is a single long poem put to music that demands to be listened to in one go. The music is much sparser than anything she has done before, but it allows the words to take centre stage as they should do. This record has probably provoked the most extreme emotional reaction of anything I’ve listened to this year, and I suspect I’ll listen to it for many years to come.
Belle & Sebastian – Days of the Bagnold Summer
This next record takes me back to September. I spent about half of September in Japan, and as a result couldn’t buy this record until it had been out a couple of weeks. It was my soundtrack to that trip though (thanks to Spotify), and also to the desolate weather and subsequent mood crash that followed my return to the UK. Many people will know that Belle & Sebastian are one of my favourite bands, and this record serves as a great introduction to them, from the re-recordings of two old favourites to the newer songs that may themselves become old favourites in the years to come. They managed to provide at least two of my favourite songs of last year (Cornflakes and Best Friend) and in This Letter and Safety Valve they have added two more songs that just seemed to perfectly sum up how I was feeling at the time I first listened to them. They have made better records, but for now this one will do nicely.
The Delines – The Imperial
My seventh record of the year is from January, when 2019 was only a few days old. I loved the soulful gin-soaked vibe of the first Delines record (Colfax), and this one picks up very much where the last one left off. It’s very much an album of stories, with clear narratives, believable characters (with names – which reminds me a bit of The Hold Steady), and songs that sound like they could have been written at any time since the early 70s. This isn’t a fashionable record, and I suspect it won’t be in many end of year lists, but it’s one that is well worth giving a chance to if you are interested in well-written songs performed to perfection.
Cigarettes After Sex – Cry
My 8th record of the year is much newer than most of the rest, but definitely deserves a place on this list. The first Cigarettes After Sex record was on my list in 2017, and I was wondering what direction they would go in next. The answer is very much that they are going in exactly the same direction, but are much closer to getting there. It’s very much still all about crooning falsetto, shimmering guitars, and lyrics that don’t look like anything special when written down, but which still manage to blend perfectly with the music; but if anything there are even more great songs this time around. This record sound-tracked most of November and December for me, and if the year started in November it would easily be my record of the year.
Durand Jones & The Indications – American Love Call
This is a record that I got as part of my Rough Trade Club membership, and I don’t think I would have given it a chance otherwise. From the cover I had it pegged as retro American soul, and while that’s not too far off the mark there is something about this record that transcends genre and just transports me to America in the sunshine instead (not bad considering I’ve only ever been to America in December). Both vocalists can really sing, there isn’t a bad song on the record, and it has very quickly become the record I put on if I just want to feel better about myself and the world for a little while.
William Doyle – Your Wilderness Revisited
For my 10th selection I’m going to pick something that I’ve only owned for a few days, but which I’ve loved since the first time I’ve heard it. William Doyle used to record as East India Youth, but this record is very different than anything that has gone before, and swaps electronic music for something more organic and breathable. It still does a fair bit of genre-switching, but is on the whole a collection of excellent songs with clever and thoughtful lyrics. Words are important to me, and these words are perfect.
The Best of the Rest
There is more though (there always is), and there are some records that I’ve really enjoyed but I don’t really have anything to say about. These are the rest:
She Makes War – And Peace
DIIV – Deceiver
Lost Crowns – Every Night Something Happens
Fontaines DC – Dogrel
Pip Blom – Boat
Mark Kozelek and Petra Haden – Joey Always Smiled
Sudan Archives – Athena
FKA Twigs – Magdalene
Maps – Colours. Reflect. Time. loss.
The National – I Am Easy to Find
Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
Viagra Boys – Street Worms
Big Thief – UFOF
Big Thief – Two Hands
Richard Dawson 2020
Kim Gordon – No Home Record
Pixies – Beneath The Eyrie
The Comet is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
I’ve posted writeups of 10 records I really loved this year on Facebook and in a couple of previous blog posts (part 1 and part 2). There is more though (there always is), and there are some records that I’ve really enjoyed but I don’t really have anything to say about. This is the full list:
Ex:Re – Ex:Re
The Twilight Sad – It Won/t Be Like This All the Time
Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
Kate Tempest – The Book of Traps & Lessons
Belle & Sebastian – Days of the Bagnold Summer
The Delines – The Imperial
Cigarettes After Sex – Cry
Durand Jones & The Indications – American Love Call
William Doyle – Your Wilderness Revisited
She Makes War – And Peace
DIIV – Deceiver
Lost Crowns – Every Night Something Happens
Fontaines DC – Dogrel
Pip Blom – Boat
Mark Kozelek and Petra Haden – Joey Always Smiled
Sudan Archives – Athena
FKA Twigs – Magdalene
Maps – Colours. Reflect. Time. loss.
The National – I Am Easy to Find
Angel Olsen – All Mirrors
Viagra Boys – Street Worms
Big Thief – UFOF
Big Thief – Two Hands
Richard Dawson 2020
Kim Gordon – No Home Record
Pixies – Beneath The Eyrie
The Comet is Coming – Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
I’ve been compiling a list of my favourite records of each year for a decade or more. This year I’ve listened to music slightly differently; with monthly Spotify playlists on shuffle during train journeys and walks, but otherwise by putting a record on my record player and listening to the songs in the order they were sequenced. This is the second half of the list (the first half can be found here).
Belle & Sebastian – Days of the Bagnold Summer
Part 6 of my review of music from 2019 takes me back to September. I spent about half of September in Japan, and as a result couldn’t buy this record until it had been out a couple of weeks. It was my soundtrack to that trip though (thanks to Spotify), and also to the desolate weather and subsequent mood crash that followed my return to the UK. Many people will know that Belle & Sebastian are one of my favourite bands, and this record serves as a great introduction to them, from the re-recordings of two old favourites to the newer songs that may themselves become old favourites in the years to come. They managed to provide at least two of my favourite songs of last year (Cornflakes and Best Friend) and in This Letter and Safety Valve they have added two more songs that just seemed to perfectly sum up how I was feeling at the time I first listened to them. They have made better records, but for now this one will do nicely.
The Delines – The Imperial
My seventh record of the year is from January, when 2019 was only a few days old. I loved the soulful gin-soaked vibe of the first Delines record (Colfax), and this one picks up very much where the last one left off. It’s very much an album of stories, with clear narratives, believable characters (with names – which reminds me a bit of The Hold Steady), and songs that sound like they could have been written at any time since the early 70s. This isn’t a fashionable record, and I suspect it won’t be in many end of year lists, but it’s one that is well worth giving a chance to if you are interested in well-written songs performed to perfection.
Cigarettes After Sex – Cry
My 8th record of the year is much newer than most of the rest, but definitely deserves a place on this list. The first Cigarettes After Sex record was on my list in 2017, and I was wondering what direction they would go in next. The answer is very much that they are going in exactly the same direction, but are much closer to getting there. It’s very much still all about crooning falsetto, shimmering guitars, and lyrics that don’t look like anything special when written down, but which still manage to blend perfectly with the music; but if anything there are even more great songs this time around. This record sound-tracked most of November and December for me, and if the year started in November it would easily be my record of the year.
Durand Jones & The Indications – American Love Call
This is a record that I got as part of my Rough Trade Club membership, and I don’t think I would have given it a chance otherwise. From the cover I had it pegged as retro American soul, and while that’s not too far off the mark there is something about this record that transcends genre and just transports me to America in the sunshine instead (not bad considering I’ve only ever been to America in December). Both vocalists can really sing, there isn’t a bad song on the record, and it has very quickly become the record I put on if I just want to feel better about myself and the world for a little while.
William Doyle – Your Wilderness Revisited
For my 10th selection I’m going to pick something that I’ve only owned for a few days, but which I’ve loved since the first time I’ve heard it. William Doyle used to record as East India Youth, but this record is very different than anything that has gone before, and swaps electronic music for something more organic and breathable. It still does a fair bit of genre-switching, but is on the whole a collection of excellent songs with clever and thoughtful lyrics. Words are important to me, and these words are perfect.
I’ve been compiling a list of my favourite records of each year for a decade or more. This year I’ve listened to music slightly differently; with monthly Spotify playlists on shuffle during train journeys and walks, but otherwise by putting a record on my record player and listening to the songs in the order they were sequenced. I’ll share a few of my favourites over the next few days just in case anyone is looking for new music to get them through the Christmas period, starting with something that came out during a surprisingly warm February.
Ex:Re – Ex:Re
Ex:Re is the solo project of Elena Tonra (from Daughter), and this record is touched by heartbreak, but also by the realisation that you sometimes need to pick the pieces of other people out of your skin before you can start to heal. It’s sparse and beautiful, and one of the most emotionally raw collections of songs I’ve heard this year.
The Twilight Sad – It Won/t Be Like This All the Time
Anyone who has known me for a while will know that The Twilight Sad are one of my favourite bands, and that their music often soundtracks the winter months for me. This year they delivered an excellent new record in January, which got me in the right head space for a couple of weeks of sub-zero cycling and an extremely challenging month at work (but it’s good to get the worst month out of the way at the start of the year, right?).
Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising
At this point I realise there are very few cheery records on this year’s list. This one is probably the most uplifting musically, although lyrically it deals with climate change, and the growing sense that if we don’t do something to avert the climate catastrophe then it doesn’t really matter what else we do because we are underwater. This one is a grower, and nothing like what I usually listen to, but it’s one I keep coming back to.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen
I said yesterday that there are very few cheery records on this list, and this one doesn’t help. It is however one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard (this year or any other year), and it’s a million miles away from where Nick Cave started all those years ago (check out Release the Bats by The Birthday Party for something a lot angrier). This reminds me of one of those books where you just have to read it all in one go. Partly to find out what happened and partly because it deserves your full attention until you have consumed it completely. I would be surprised if there is an album of the year list that doesn’t include this record; it really is that good.
Kate Tempest – The Book of Traps & Lessons
This is a record that definitely needs to be listened to in the order it is sequenced. It’s also probably my favourite record by an artist who is responsible for at least one of my favourite records already (2016’s Let Them Eat Chaos). Kate Tempest is a writer who also performs, and The Book of Traps & Lessons is a single long poem put to music that demands to be listened to in one go. The music is much sparser than anything she has done before, but it allows the words to take centre stage as they should do. This record has probably provoked the most extreme emotional reaction of anything I’ve listened to this year, and I suspect I’ll listen to it for many years to come.
It’s national album day, and as is traditional I’ve spent today playing some records that mean a lot to me, and also some that are new. This is today’s selection.
Richard Dawson – 2020 (2019)
Kim Gordon – No Home Record (2019)
Big Thief – Two Hands (2019)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen (2019)
Black Francis/Frank Black – Frank Black Francis (2004)
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Big Thief – Capacity (2017)
DIIV – Deceiver (2019)
Belle & Sebastian – Days of the Bagnold Summer (2019)
Kate Tempest – The Book of Traps and Lessons (2019)
Nick Drake – Bryter Layter (1970)
Julian Cope – Skellington 3 (2018)
Nick Drake – Pink Moon (1971)
It’s all different than last year but there is a lot on that list that I wish I’d had the time to play today.
2018 has been a strange year in so many ways. I always said that I would try and buy less music this year, and instead, spend more time with the music I did buy. This has very much happened, but there is also very little on this list that wasn’t chosen by someone else (either as part of the Rough Trade club, or as a birthday/Christmas gift). That said, I love all of these records, and I think they represent an accurate summary of my journey through 2018.
Shame – Songs of Praise
Nils Frahm – All Melody
Belle & Sebastian – How to Solve our Human Problems
The Shacks – Haze
Daniel Blumberg – Minus
LUMP – LUMP
Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth
Father John Misty – God’s Favourite Customer
Here Lies Man – You Will Know Nothing
Bodega – Endless Scroll
Melody’s Echo Chamber – Bon Voyage
She Makes War – Brace for Impact
IDLES – Joy as an Act of Resistance.
Adrianne Lenker – abyskiss
Paul Smith – Diagrams
John Grant – Love is Magic
Smashing Pumpkins – Shiny and Oh So Bright (volume 1)
