Once again you all are subjugated to my top music of 2020! I didn't force you to click the link, you can leave! Full disclosure, I honestly just listened to Punisher on repeat so my list isn't as passionate as usual.
1) Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
This album ruined me!!! Like, in the top .05% of her spotify listeners ruined me! Her voice is so singular, her music so sad! Chinese Satellite is about a lack of faith, yet a desperate desire for a sense of belonging, of home, and the wish that you could believe. Her friend gets in a fight with Evangelicals and she sings "I'd stand on the corner, embarrassed with a picket sign, if it meant I could see you when I die." That's ME and it's HEARTBREAKING.
There is TRULY nothing better than I Know the End. The mid-song tempo change, the crescendo, all of her friends joining in the chorus, welcoming and accepting the End, the SCREAMING catharsis at the end!! Ruined me forever, thanks!
And then she had to go and do just her voice + strings with Rob Moose. Again, rude.
2) Daft Punk, Tron: Legacy Soundtrack, Deluxe Edition
This has been my go-to study soundtrack for ten years now. And at the end of 2020, the final stretch, Daft Punk decides to bless us with the extra tracks out of nowhere? Merry Christmas to me, and me only.
3) Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Perfume Genius is an incredible twitter presence and also continues to make incredible music. I don't know if I like this one as much as his last, but I definitely blast "Nothing At All" and the opening guitar constantly.
4) Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
So! Many! Bops! I'm a sucker for disco and she read my mind apparently. Still can't dance, but her Tiny Desk is darling.
5) Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Reunions
I've been Isbell-adjacent for a long time and finally jumped in this year when I was supposed to go to his concert pre-quarantine. What've I Done to Help starts with a bang!
6) Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
It took me a while to get into it, because I'm not used to hearing music so unproduced, to hearing a voice go off tune the way she does when she holds "youuuuuu" for a million years in "I want you to love me." "Relay" is the best and the tempo changes keep you on your toes. Also we love to hear dogs barking in the background.
7) Run the Jewels RTJ4
This album would make the list for the last track alone. A Few Words for the Firing Squad (Radiation) is a very good 6 minutes that fits in perfectly with how 202 felt.
8) Megan Thee Stallion, Good News
Honestly other than Body (ody ody ody) I really only had to put the album on here because this year was truly her year (thanks Tik Tok). The WAP video was a blessing we didn't deserve this year.
9) Tame Impala, The Slow Rush
Not gonna lie, this album isn't as good as Currents! But even an okay Tame Impala album is gonna be great for just vibing.
10) Taylor Swift, Folklore
Okay listen she'll never quite be my vibe but if she was ever going to be, it was definitely collaborating with the Dessners and Justin Vernon. But for some reason, her duets still aren't sitting right with me. Still, her songwriting is excellent here.
My favorite songs of 2020 not on the above albums!
Sufjan Stephens Video Game
Adrienne Lenker anything
Aly & AJ, Potential Breakup Song Explicit
Chloe x Hallie, Do It
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, Rain on Me
The Weekend, Flashing Lights
James Blake's cover of when the party's over
Soccer Mommy, circle the drain