Sunday, January 3, 2021

2020 Melse: It Could Have Been Better...

Well, there isn't much to say about the year that hasn't already been said, but for me personally, it definitely took its toll on my music consumption.  With that said, I was still able to get a preliminary list of 24 albums I enjoyed enough to jot down, and here are my top 15 plus a few honorable mentions.  Interesting note:  4 bands that previously made albums that I had as my album of the year put out releases this year and NONE made it higher than number 8!  That's both depressing and exciting that I found better shit.  Onto the goods...

Honorable Mentions:

My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall II

Peach Pit - You & Your Friends

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The best of 2020:

15. Real Estate - The Main Thing

An indie rock band that’s been going for more than 10 years finally made something that hit me hard with 2017’s In Mind (my album of the year) because it was catchy and poppy but also sort of dark and cool and even a little psych-y, with some great guitar work.  This one mostly goes back to the older formula, with a pinch of In Mind, and it doesn’t nearly hit as hard for me.  I still enjoyed it, but I’m certain if In Mind didn’t exist I would’ve blown right by it. 

14. Gum - Out in the World

Jay Watson is like Ty Segall light in the sense that nary a year goes by that he isn’t releasing music.  Long since separating himself from Kevin Parker in almost all recording/songwriting endeavors (they’re still butt buddies), his sound is still borne of that classic Tame Impala vibe.  It seems like every other album he makes, whether it be from POND or GUM, really hits me in the right zone.  This is one of them.  It’s very catchy in all the right synth-psych ways.

13. Car Seat Headrest - Making a Door Less Open

As is the case with any CSH release, there are about 134 different genres and different styles wedged into any given album.  Here, Will Toledo and Company continue that trend.  The album lacks cohesiveness in my opinion, but broken down song by song it’s really great.  Their last album, 2018’s Twin Fantasy, was largely a let down so it’s nice to see a rebound here.  There’s a lot of electronica-esque stuff with enough guitar to satisfy.  I can’t help but notice every time I listen to this how much he sounds like Beck.


12. Kevin Krauter - Full Hand

My taste for the occasional shoegaze offering is common knowledge at this point and this is the latest installment.  Some admittedly rough vocals are laid over some very good musical arrangements, sometimes synthy and sometimes guitar-driven but always catchy and warm.  Some albums sound better with certain weather and this one pairs nicely with full sun.


11. Trace Mountains - Lost in the Country

A pure indie rock album if I ever did hear one, this thing runs uptempo-ish songs with borderline emo vocals and some catchy ass guitar at all the right times.  Released during my work-related stress peak, I probably didn’t properly appreciate this and maybe still don’t, but it’s really great front to back. 


10. White Denim - World as a Waiting Room

One of my favorite all-time bands embarked on quite the endeavor:  write, record, mix, produce, and release an album in just 30 days during the quarantine.  The result is good, not great.  This is easily the worst album they’ve released out of the last 6 but I still enjoyed it enough to include it here; a significant accomplishment considering the self-imposed challenge.  


9. Bahamas - Sad Hunk

Afie is back with another great album.  I really wish he’d lean more on his (excellent) guitar skills eventually but for now, I’ll have to settle for his songwriting.  It’s all so introspective and personal, relying very much on his vocals with instrumentation taking a slight step to the background frequently.  I really feel like I just took a long car ride and heard about his life, but not in a bad way. 


8. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

I enjoy this album quite a bit but it’s easily my least favorite of his 4. Album #3, Currents, was my album of the year in 2015.  It was a significant departure from the earlier guitar-driven psych-rock sound that I LOVED, mixing in a really trippy psych-pop/electronica element.  The Slow Rush is even deeper in that vein but it comes off feeling watered down.  Here’s to hoping there’s another level coming...


7. Brendan Benson - Dear Life

Wow, what an upset!  After making some truly great stuff early in his career, as well as two excellent Raconteurs albums, he sort of fizzled out with his last few releases and then literally released nothing for 6 years.  Maybe the Raconteurs' comeback energized him because he followed that up with his first solo album in 7 years and it is quite good!  Not on the same level, in my opinion, as his early stuff but very, very close.  Every year something unexpected comes along for me musically and this year, it's Dear Life


6. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Sideways to New Italy

This is more or less a sequel to 2018’s Hope Downs, which was also featured on my list.  Uptempo guitar-driven rock with catchy vocals.  Riffy as all hell with timely solos.  A true head-nodder. 


5. Mayer Hawthorne - Rare Changes

My favorite R&B/retro soul singer is back with his first album since 2016’s Man About Town.  That one landed in my top 10 and now here we are again.  He’s taken the falsetto soul thing and wannabe-Jimmy-Conway appearance to another level in recent years and I couldn’t be a bigger fan. Most striking to me is how far his voice has come.  Way back when he couldn’t really sing and got by on swagger and uniqueness.  He sounds legitimately great now.   I’ve been enjoying these songs all year, as he released them all individually, but now as a collection and a formal album they can be properly ranked.


4. Mamalarky - Mamalarky

This is one of my favorite discoveries this year.  A pure indie-pop group with a trippy female vocalist and probably an even 50/50 split on synthy pop songs and straight-up guitar-driven goodness.  I’ve been describing them as Crumb if they didn’t smoke as much weed.  This is a very special catchy ass album; highly recommended. 


3. Cafe Racer - Shadow Talk

This album is supperrrrr, super good.   Just some real trippy fuzzed-out rock meant to be played in a dark room high as hell on weed.  If you aren’t nodding your head 30 seconds into the first song I’m worried for you.  Guitar driven psychedelia is my personal honey hole and that is exactly where this lands.  I imagine these guys play every live show at 3am with sunglasses on.


2. Country Westerns - Country Westerns

Oh shit, this one hit me really good too.  I somehow missed that Jake suggested it, discovered it on my own, had that “holy shit the boys are gonna love this!” moment, and then my proudness was crushed into smithereens.  No matter, the end result is that we have it!  Just some sludgy ass rock-n-roll with the most unique voice leading the way (Joel Plunkett). I have particular respect for 3 piece bands because it means someone is really doing a lot of heavy lifting with the vocals plus whatever else they're responsible for. If Cafe Racer is the headlining band coming on at 3am, Country Westerns are the opener at 1:30 in the same dark small ass bar.  


1. Kyle Forester - Hearts in Gardens

This top 5 is really crossing off all my personal musical boxes.  Let's see...we hit pop psychedelia, sludgy garage rock, r&b/soul, hmmm what else?? Ahhhh yes, we didn't include a solo singer-songwriter yet.  And here we are at my album of the year.  A Murn recommendation, this thing is stellar as hell.  Tempo changes, mood changes, style changes, lots of fitting-but-not-overbearing guitar work, and some catchy vocals make the perfect stew for my ears.  I played this on repeat for quite a while and re-listening now to write this it hits just as hard.  


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