Top 5 New Albums 2020

Despite the weird year of 2020, here's my top lists for the year. Methodology is the same as it's been for the last few years. Surprisingly, there are very few live-on-zoom home-recorded releases on this year's list. Either that means I'm typically several months behind the curve anyways, or it means that not very much of the zoom stuff was any good. Anyway, keep 6 feet away and check out this year's list:

5. Eyelids - The Accidental Falls (Lyrics of Larry Beckett)

Jealous Butcher Records, 02/2020

Portland's Eyelids team up with former Tim Buckley lyricist Larry Beckett...

I don't understand the 60s. I don't listen to Tim Buckley. I don't understand why perfectly good bands in the 60s would keep somebody around just to write words. It seems so.. inefficient... insincere... not punk.

Anyway, while I'm nonplussed with Larry Beckett, and find his lyrics far more pretentious than Slusarenko/Moen, the words work OK, and this is a fine album. The songs are sublime pop songs that are re-re-re-listenable. So, I shouldn't complain about who's writing the words, right? It's great.

 

4. Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged

Recorded 03/1992.
Sony Music, 11/2019

They reran this stuff all the time on MTV in 1993... but until now, it was never actually released on CD. So, this is the first time since about 1993 we get to hear this session. This is a reminder why Pearl Jam was so important in 1992. Despite the  nature of the performance, these 7 songs crackle with electricity. 

 

3. Hum - Inlet

Polyvinyl Records, 06/2020

The return of Hum.

This album is heavy-- in many senses of the word. (180g vinyl!)  Since I think 1997's Downward Is Heavenward is about as close to perfect as an album can be, of course this album can't be quite as good. But it makes an attempt. This one is more somber. Heavier on the DAD chords. Thick, like Disintegration is thick. Worth immersing yourself in with some good headphones.

2. The Lowest Pair - The Perfect Plan

 Delicata Records, 04/2020

The Lowest Pair have reappeared on this list with regularity since their debut album took the top spot back in 2014. I'm not sure there's much more I can say about them, except that this album is in their top two albums. This one's a little more polished-sounding. Great songs. Haunting. Definitely a classic. "We Are Bleeding" was the theme song for the great 2020 Quarantine.

 

1. Giants Chair - Prefabylon

Spartan Records, 12/2019

Sometime back in about 1996, I picked up Giants Chair's Purity and Control 7" from a distro kid at a show [bring back distro kids. they were the best!].

Fast forward to 2019. Over the course of 20+ years, I have downloaded the first two Giants Chair albums (1995 and 1996), plus picked up their split 7" with Boys Life... but I hadn't GOT it yet.

Videos kept popping up among my facebook circles of Giants Chair crowdsourcing their new album (first in over 20 years). I listened, I liked. I ordered the pretty red dot vinyl...

I put it on the turntable, and I GOT it. This is top-notch rock and roll. One of my favorite pure rock albums. Angular, driving, and intriguing.

...and I haven't stopped listening to it all year. During the quarantine, Giants Chair did some really clever acoustic renditions live from home that deconstruct these angular rock songs into angry, backwoods folk.

Also, they released a 2-song cassette of extra songs from the Prefabylon sessions, and it's really good too.

So I'm totally stoked about this band that I've been listening to for 24 years, yet finally GOT this year. Hope you have a similar experience.

Top 5 New Discoveries 2020

5. Death - ...For the Whole World to See

Drag City Records
Recorded 1975, Released 02/2009 

A Band Called Death is one of my favorite rockumentaries/documentaries of all time. If you haven't seen it, you need to. If you have, this entry is superfluous.

This band is the missing link between early 70s Detroit garage rock and the beginnings of punk in New York in the later 70s. These three brothers who never saw any fame, who sold less than 100 records, made sounds that prefigured everything to follow in rock and roll. 

I finally picked this up, and it's as good as I imagined. This is a great rock album with great rock tunes.

4. Indian Summer - Giving Birth to Thunder

The Numero Group, 09/2019

I wasn't sure whether this should belong in the new albums or new discoveries. It's a reissue of the band's discography, which was all recorded 1992-1993. One track was unreleased. I think it belongs in this list.

Indian Summer wore their heart on their sleeve and were simultaneously more vulnerable and more abrasive than other bands of their era. They seemed to have a song on every compilation, and the quality of the music was uneven. This compilation pulls all the disparate songs together into what sounds like a cohesive whole.

It's still a difficult listen. If you don't turn the volume up, you miss the quiet parts, and the loud parts come as unpleasant surprises. If you actively listen, though, it's rewarding.

3. Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors

RCA Records 10/1971

My family loves this record. It's my 4-year-old's favorite thing in the world. She asks to hear "Travelin' Man" and "Coat of Many Colors" whenever she gets in the car.

Me, I'm a fan of "The Early Morning Breeze" and several other songs as well.

The only reason this album isn't #1 is that some of the tracks feel like filler. I blame Porter Wagoner.  Dolly Parton is a heckuva songwriter. Plus, she cured Coronavirus. And she wrote the best song about it. Dolly Parton is a national treasure.

2. American Analog Set - Promise of Love

Tigerstyle Records, 06/2003

This year, I finally filled in the gaps in my American Analog Set collection. This album (along with Know By Heart) was their high water mark. These songs groove for days. I could write a lot of words about this album and this band, but the groove is the thing. Groove. 

 You can pick up a bunch of their old CDs direct from the band for decent prices.

1. Pink Floyd - Obscured by Clouds

Harvest Records, 06/1972

Growing up and getting into Pink Floyd, there were a series of albums (More, Ummagumma, Obscured, Relics) that were always in the bin at the record store, but any friend in the know said "don't worry about those. They're not very good". I think the band has gone on record saying much the same thing.

This year, I took the time to listen to a bunch of those also-rans, and discovered this one. Obscured By Clouds now ranks in my top 5 Pink Floyd albums, well above more proper releases. This is a great collection of eclectic stuff-- some atmospheric, some poppy, capturing the band right at their technical and songwriting zenith [Live at Pompeii-era]. This album came out 9 months after Meddle and 9 months before Dark Side of the Moon.

My favorite song, The Gold It's in the... sounds like Pink Floyd doing Big Star. Just the best 70s pop you can imagine.

Anyway, if you are into Pink Floyd (and it's okay if you're not), check this one out. Also check out Ummagumma and Saucerful of Secrets. All these are worth your time.

Top 5 Miscellaneous Songs 2020

(Five songs, new to me [but not necessarily new], that didn't end up on either of the other top 5 lists)

5. June of 44 - Post-Modern Hereditary Dance Steps

From the album "Revisionist: Adaptations & Future Histories In The Time Of Love And Survival"
Broken Clover Records, 08/2020

June of 44 return after 20 years of dormancy with a remix album. As remix albums go, this one was... alright, but the bright spot was this track-- an update with vocals of a tossed-off instrumental rocker from June of 44's final EP called Modern Hereditary Dance Steps. Here's hoping for more rock in 2021.

4. Jeff Rosenstock - Scram!

From the album "No Dream""
Polyvinyl Records 05/2020

So, I actually haven't heard this whole album. I have a couple of Jeff Rosenstock's albums (solo and with Antarctico Vespucci), and I'm not a huge fan. This song, on a sampler, however, with its 100-foot hooks and Weezer worship really caught my ear. The video is... well, in a few years we can show this video to our kids to remind them how embarrassing living in 2020 was.

3. This White Light - Vows

From the digital EP "Josh Homme / Pink Duck Session"
Self-Released, 12/2020

An LA supergroup of the kind that can only happen in LA-- this is Greg Anderson of Sunn O))) , Goatsnake, and Engine Kid, plus a drummer and bassist with similar heavy cred, featuring indie pop siren Jen Wood on vocals.

This EP was released because the band broke up, leaving precious few (3?) recorded songs. It's a shame.  They recorded this with Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age. Southern Lord Records had a contract waiting in the wings. In the alternate universe where the band didn't break up, this would be HUGE.

More music should sound like this-- well, not exactly like this, but Indiepop should rock way more, and Metal should be this beautiful.

PS. Highly recommended is Jen Wood's most recent solo album, Wilderness (although it would have sounded better with heavy guitars)

2. They Might Be Giants - The Mesopotamians

From the album "The Else"
Idlewild Records, 05/2007

I've been going through the later works of They Might Be Giants. To be honest, They have released about one good album's worth of material in the 21st century (and many many albums' worth of sorta-funny filler). This is one of the highlights. Somehow juxtaposing ancient history, being in a punk band, and 60s pop (a-la Hey Hey We're the Monkees)-- This song works on so many levels. Don't be a Mohenjo-Daron. Give it a listen.

1. Kristin Bell - The Next Right Thing

From the Frozen 2 Soundtrack
Walt Disney Records 11/2019

Indie cred? Begone. Decorum? Forget it.

This song slays me. Every single time.

I've been listening to so-called "Emo" music for 25 years, and this throws it all aside.

My kids, who listen to the Frozen 2 soundtrack on the regular, think this song is sort of a bummer. I think it's a masterpiece. There is so much despair, so much emotion, and just a trickle of hope

Tears. Every time.

Don't watch this video of Kristin Bell recording the song if you (like me) have (surprisingly?) leaky eyes.