Photo by Adrian Korte on Unsplash
By Miles De Rosa, Contributing Writer
This article aims to highlight the best and most exciting releases of 2020. Let’s get into it.
“Manger on McNichols” is not for the faint of heart. A sprawling jazz rap album crafted by Detroit rapper Boldy James and producer Sterling Toles, it is perhaps the most experimental album of the year. Toles’ work is a mix of jazz, psychedelia, electronica and hip hop. His beats are sporadic (often recorded with a live jazz band), but James skates over them with ease, his deep voice and cold flow slicing through the instrumental fray. James uses this erratic backdrop to paint a vivid and chilling lyrical picture of his often violent experience in Detroit. It is a poignant release and potentially a signpost for the future of jazz rap.
Essential Tracks: “Detroit River Rock,” “The Middle Of Next Month” and “Requiem”
It is an old cliche that an artist’s sophomore album is often their weakest. Phoebe Bridgers never got the memo. “Punisher” is an intimate and progressive piece of indie-folk chalked full of beautiful imagery and deft, reverb-heavy production all punctuated by her plucky guitar.
The way her vocals are mixed makes this album feel inviting despite its often-grim subject matter. On the track “Moon Song,” when she sings, “You’re sick and you’re married/And you might be dying/But you are holding me like water in your hands,” she is right in your ear. You can hear every inflection and lyrical quirk. Her songwriting is reminiscent of Elliot Smith’s 1998 album “Either/Or,” but not in a way that feels derivative. Instead, Bridgers builds on this blueprint in an exciting way that feels fresh at every turn.
Essential Tracks: “Chinese Satellite,” “Moon Song” and “ICU”
Nestled somewhere between a beat tape and a Frank Ocean album, “Crater Speak” is boundary-pushing, sparse and exceptionally evocative. It is glitchy and lyrical. A true gem, “My Feets Tired (see page 108),” sits at the heart of the album. “Imagine light without darkness/Or the mind without solace/This what mama promised?” Malone croons over a haunting piano, his voice somewhere between a whisper and a drunken drawl. This vocal style coupled with the raw production makes this album feel like walking into a room you aren’t supposed to be in; you see something you aren’t supposed to and once you do it becomes impossible to look away.
Essential Tracks: “Smile #5 (see page 103 and 107),” “My Feets Tired (see page 108) and” “The Wake Pt. 3 & 2 (see page 87, 58, and 48)”
“No Dream” is one of the most infectious pop-punk albums in recent memory, despite it’s overwhelming cynicism. The title track lays out the album’s thesis. Beginning as a critique of Trump-era politics, it quickly explodes into a broader assault on late-stage capitalism. The second half of the album features stories about coming of age in this dystopian context. The final song, “Ohio Tpike,” offers a glimmer of hope as Rosenstock sings of coming home to a loved one after being on the road, though this hope is short lived. The back half details a painful breakup.
Rosenstock’s music can be crushingly bleak despite its poppy exterior, but he is at his best when he reminds us how to carry on, even when the good moments come few and far between.
Essential Tracks: “f a m e,” “Honeymoon Ashtray” and “Ohio Tpike”
Quelle Chris and Chris Keyes’ follow-up to 2012’s “Innocent Country” is a lush record populated by jazzy piano loops, soulful harmonies, and subtle percussion. Chris uses this instrumental landscape to deliver a lyrically dense, introspective exploration of the Black experience in America, both currently and looking to the future. This album features an explosion of textures, from the glimmering “Black Twitter”—a celebration of internet culture pioneered by Black voices as well as a critique of white people appropriating and exploiting that culture—to the heavily distorted bass on “Horizon.” This album’s laidback production invites a degree of easy listening, but to ignore the messages Chris and his collaborators deliver is to do a great disservice to the album. Listen carefully.
Essential Tracks: “Sacred Safe,” “Sudden Death” and “Mirage”
Possibly the most critically acclaimed hip-hop duo since OutKast, Armandhammer followed up their celebrated 2018 release “Paraffin” with a much more eclectic project. What “Shrines” lacks in sonic consistency it more than makes up for with visionary production and imaginative song writing. These songs are full of abstract imagery, dense concepts, and complex rhythms. It can be difficult to break into but with each listen it becomes clearer—their flows slipping between rhythmic nooks and crannies, creating a musical collage. If you try to view these songs as building to a single message it will make little sense. Instead, take a step back and appreciate the scope of the world these two artists create.
Essential tracks: “Pommelhorse,” “Leopards,” “Frida,” “Slew Foot” and “Dead Cars”
“Miles” is a celebration of everything that helped shape who Blu is today. Miles Davis and jazz clearly influence both the MC Blu and producer Exile, who wields a series of jazz samples to create an exuberant sonic landscape that balances catchy loops and improvisational passages.
Despite the record’s upbeat tone, Blu isn’t afraid to tackle tough subjects. On “You Ain’t Never Been Blue,” he details his experience living in poverty over a crisp vocal loop. Blu is optimistic but not naïve, weaving in critiques of America, capitalism and the current state of hip-hop. All in all, this is a celebratory and uplifting album held down by soulful production and Blu’s rhyme-heavy, accessible lyricism.
Essential Tracks: “True & Livin’,” “Music Is My Everything,” “You Ain’t Never Been Blue,” “Troubled Water” and “The End”
Japanese-English pop singer Rina Sawayama’s first full length album is simultaneously a blast from the past and a massive leap forward. At times reminiscent of the hard-rocking early-ought’s pop Avril Lavigne churned out, “SAWAYAMA” possesses better songwriting and more dynamic production than those projects ever did. The pitch-bent 808s on “Akasaka Sad” and the driving guitars on “STFU!” are just a few of the production touches that make this record tick. The best lyrical moment comes on “XS,” where Sawayama pens a tongue-in-cheek pop banger about the environmental pitfalls of a world that constantly demands more. The first five songs of this album burst forth with stunning power and Sawayama takes a well-deserved victory lap on the B side, toning down to explore some lighter textures and subjects.
Essential Tracks: “Dynasty,” “XS,” “STFU!,” “Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)” and “Akasaka Sad”
“Every Bad” is an emotional outpouring. A fearless, punk-inspired breakup record spear-headed by a transcendent vocal performance from lead singer songwriter Dana Mangolin, “Every Bad” delivers a rare modern rock classic. When Mangolin repeats refrains, as she does on the opening track “Born Confused,” she doesn’t just sing—she embodies, imbuing each passing line with powerful emotion. Her performance is incredibly dynamic, ranging from a low rumble, to broken wails, to the smooth soaring tone she finds during the chorus of “Don’t Ask Me Twice.” The band behind her compliments this perfectly. Most songs swell slowly to a breaking point before bursting forth in cascading explosions of sound. The percussion heavy style and choppy guitar work over the verses may be challenging at first, but this tension is undeniably evocative and put to good use—most songs using that tension to jumpstart exceptionally cathartic choruses behind Mangolin’s soaring vocals.
“Every Bad” is a breakup album through and through. It is angry, lonesome and confrontational as Mangolin demands answers she knows she will never get, delivering a beautiful and impactful album in the process.
Essential Tracks: “Born Confused,” “Don’t Ask Me Twice,” “Long,” “Pop Song” and “Give/Take”
“Fetch The Bolt Cutters” is the act of an artist coming into herself in a way few ever do. Pulling together a wide range of influences—from Tom Waits to Kate Bush to Bob Dylan—Fiona Apple fully realizes a style that has been brewing since 2005’s “Extraordinary Machine.” This is a rare album that sounds like almost nothing else. Tying elements of jazz, folk and art-rock, the clattering, heavily syncopated instrumentals provide the perfect backdrop for Apple’s lyrical style. She weaves together a series of brilliantly written and performed ballads about love, womanhood and the often-painful place those two intersect. Apple is bold. She does not shy away from speaking clearly about the painful realities of domestic and sexual abuse. These songs are nuanced, expressing both crushing vulnerability and undeniable strength.
The title track is the type of song most artists only dream of writing. It is painfully intimate and cuttingly honest, chronicling the experience of seeing too much of someone to continue loving them and the journey of coming into one’s own. There is so much about this album that deserves to be celebrated and so little space to do it. If you listen to nothing else on this list, listen to this.
Essential Tracks: “I Want You To Love Me,” “Fetch The Bolt Cutters,” “Under The Table,” “Ladies,” “For Her” and “Drumset”
