Thursday, December 10, 2020

Best of 2020 / Top 50 +

Wow, what a year! Honestly, I'm simply happy to be here for another year-end wrap up. For the first time in my life, I had to actually consider the possibility of dying. True story. Music as always was there to help get me through some very dark shit. I'm so thankful these artists put in the work when they could have just hidden, given up, or bided their time for better circumstances. I am truly humbled by their ability to create and communicate and happier than ever to be sharing all of their music that gave me so much joy and comfort this year. 

So, here are my TOP 50 records of 2020 and, as usual, a bunch more that I loved as well. I also included lists of my favorite reissues and non-full length releases. Hope you enjoy looking over the lists and clicking through on some of the links.  Let me know if you find something you like or maybe hadn't heard before. Thanks. Enjoy.


 TOP TEN Records for 2020: 

1.    The Necks / Three (Northern Spy)

2.    Home / 18 (Screw Music Forever)

3.    Sunn Trio / Electric Esoterica (Twenty One Eighty Two)

4.    Sunwatchers / Oh Yeah? (Trouble In Mind)

5.    Container / Scramblers (ALTER)

6.    Luke Stewart / Luke StewartExposure Quintet (Astral Spirits)

7.    Speaker Music / Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry (Planet Mu)

8.    Chris Forsyth / Dave Harrington / Ryan Jewell / Spencer Zahn – First Flight (Algorithm Free)

9.    Grid / Decomposing Force (NNA Tapes)

10. Villaelvin / Headroof (Hakuna Kulala)



11 - 20:  

11. Nick Cave & Nicholas Lens / L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S (Deutsche Grammofon)

12. WULFFLUW XCIV / Ngoma Injection (Hakuna Kulala)

13. Mdou Moctar / Mixtape Volumes 1 – 8 (No Label)

14. Duma / Duma (Nyege Nyege Tapes)

15. Fire! Orchestra / Actions (Rune Grammofon)

16. Ricardo Villalobos & Oren Ambarchi / Hubris Variation Parts 2 & 3 (Editions Mego)

17. Merzbow/Mats Gustafsson/Balazs Pandi / Cuts Open (Rare Noise)

18. Quinn Kirchner / The Shadows and The Light (Astral Sprits)

19. Special Interest / The Passion of (Thrilling Living)

20. Praed Orchestra!  / Live In Sharjah (Morphine)

 

21 - 30:

21. NÍDIA / Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes (Príncipe)

22. Sir Richard Bishop / Oneiric Formulary (Drag City)

23. Destroyer / Have We Met (Merge)

24. Horse Lords / The Common Task (Northern Spy)

25. Adulkt Life / Book of Curses (What’s Your Rupture?)

26. Ak’Chamel The Giver of Illness / The Totemist (Akuphone)

27. Midnight Mines / Up All Night At Stereo Mars (Mystery Plane)

28. Mint Mile / Ambertron (Comedy Minus One)

29. Slum of Legs / Slum of Legs (Tuff Enuf)

30. Nightshift / s/t (Cusp)

  

31 - 40:


31. Carl Stone / Stolen Car (Unseen Worlds)
32. Madmadmad / More More More (Stac)
33. Metal Preyers / Metal Preyers (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
34. Irreversible Entanglements / Who Sent You? (International Anthem)
35. Mars Williams / Mars Williams Presents An Ayler Xmas Vol. 4: Chicago vs. NYC (Soul What Records & Astral Spirits)
36. Coriky / Coriky (Dischord)
37. The Left Outsides / Are YouSure I Was There? (Feeding Tube)
38. Loose Koozies / Feel A Bit Free (Outer Limits Lounge)
39. En Attendant Ana / Juillet (Trouble In Mind)
40. Black Holes Are Cannibals / IMR041:Special Telemetry Research and Tracking (Infinity Mirror)




41 - 50:

41. Makoto Kawabata, Richard Pinhas, Manongo Mujica, Juan Luis Pereira, Hiroshi Higashi / Alturas (Buh)
42. Stephen Fellows / Slow Glass (Self/ Released)
43. Drew McDowall / Agalma (Dais)
44. Jennifer Walshe / A Late Anthology of Early Music Vol. 1: Ancient to Renaissance (Tetbind)
45. MSSV – Main Steam Stop Valve (Big Ego)
46. The Gagmen – s/t (iDeal)
47. J.R. Bohannon/Ben Greenberg/Ryley Walker – For Michael Ripps (Husky Pants)
48. Steph Richards – Supersense (Northern Spy)
49. Rob Mazurek Exploding Sun Orchestra / Dimensional Stardust (International Anthem/Nonesuch)
50. Xetas – The Cypher (12XU)



Alphabetically Listed and Honorably Mentioned: 
 
75 Dollar Bill - Live at Cafe OTO // 75 Dollar Bill – Power Failures // 75 Dollar Bill Little Big Band - LIVE AT ROULETTE // Against All Logic – 2017 – 2019 // Alabaster DePlume - To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 // Alternative Particle Choir ‎– Black Hole Diaries // Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood – LIVE // Anna Högberg Attack – Lena // Armageddon Experimental Band – Cries From Planet Earth // Backxwash - God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It // Barry Walker Jr. – Shoulda Zenith // Black Pus – Def Vesper // Brian Eno – RAMS O.S.T. // Budos Band – Long In The Tooth // C. Diab – White Whale // Cavern of Anti-Matter – In Fabric O.S.T.// Chris Brokaw – Fecund In The Flood // Chris Brokaw – Heaven // Cindy Lee - What's Tonight To Eternity // Cold Meat - Hot and Flustered LP //Colin Stetson - Color Out of Space O.S.T. //David Nance - Staunch Honey // Deerhoof – Love-Lore //Dwarves of Agouza - The Green Dogs of Dahshur //Einstürzende Neubauten - Alles in Allem // Eric Copeland – Dumb It Down // Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo // GDFX – Make Become Flat // Gnod - Temple ov BBV // Greg Fox – Contact // Ikue Mori, Phew, YoshimiO – IPY // Jeff Parker – Suite for Max Brown // Kairon: IRSE! – Polysomm // Lié – You Want It Real // Lithics – Tower of Age // Liturgy – Origin of the Alimonies // Lonnie Holley - National Freedom // LSD Air – Jam // Makaya McCraven - Universal Beings E&F Sides // Matt Elliott - Farewell To All We Know // Master Oogway - Earth And Other Worlds // moe;Mette Rasmussen - Tolerancia Picante // Negativland - The World Will Decide // Nick Cave – Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace // Oiseaux-Tempête – Tlamess O.S.T. // Oscillatorial Binnage - Agitations: Post-Electronic Sounds // Out – Billie // Permanent Collection – Nothing Good Is Normal // Pheromoans – I, Mustard Mitt // Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today // Public Practice – Gentle Grip // Punchdrunk – An Uncovered Element // Punchdrunk – Wind Up The Devil Clock // Ramble Tamble and Powers/Rolin Duo - Live at Tubby's 8/5/19 // Run The Jewels – RTJ4 // Sault – Untitled (Black Is) // Sault – Untitled (Rise) // Slikback /// // Sonic Boom – All Things Being Equal // Sprain – As Lost Through Collision // Still House Plants – Fast Edit // Sun Ra Arkestra – Swirling // TJO, Tara Jane O'Neil – Songs for Peacock // Tonstartssbandht - Hong Kong // USA Nails - Character Stop// Various - Anthology Of Experimental Music From Mexico // Voice Imitator – Plaza // Watt - Recorded in Miami 1989-1991 // Wrekmeister Harmonies - We Love To Look At The Carnage 
 

20 Reissue/Archival/Etc Releases: 
 
1. Naujawanan Baidar / Naujawanan Baida
2. Silkworm / Live at Lounge Ax – 4.15.94 
3. Sun City Girls / Live at the Sky Church September 3rd, 2004 
4. Pylon / Box  
5. Prince / Up All Nite with Prince: The One Nite Alone Collection 
6. Prince / Sign O’ The Times [Super Deluxe Edition]  
7. THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF JAJOUKA feat. BACHIR ATTAR / Apocalypse Across The Sky  
8. Miles Davis Septet / Live in Tokyo 1973
  9. Les Conversions / Cassette 
10. Slikback / Lasakaneku / Tomo 
11. Karel Appel / Musique Barbare (1963) 
12. Phelimuncasi / Phelimuncasi: 2013 - 2019 
13. Astaron / Astaron 
14. Laibach / Bremenmarsch (Live at Schlachthof 12.10.1987) 
15. Iggy and The Stooges / You Think You're Bad, Man? The Road Tapes '73-'74 
16. Vertical Slit / Live At Browns 1979 
17. Mamman Sani / Unreleased Tapes 1981-1984
18. Sidiku Buari / Revolution (Live Disco Show in New York City) 
19. Rashied Ali Quintet / First Time Out: Live at Slugs 1967 
20. Black Unity Trio / Al Fatihah 
 
 
25 Non-full length Releases (7"/12"/EP/Digital/Etc):
 
1. ISS / Too Punk For Heavy Metal 7"
2. Sunwatchers / Brave Rats 12" EP
3. Biga Yut / Walah / Nu13 Digital Single
4. Writhing Squares / Sonic Control CD-R
5. Isotope Soap / An Artifact Of Insects 12" EP
6. Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band / Woodpiles On The Side of The Road / Alice in Blunderland / When You Smile / Barstool Blues  Digital Comp
7. Chris Forsyth / Techno Top: Solar Live Vol 4, 9.27.19 Digital Single
8. Chris Brokaw / Heaven Digital Single
9. Alkibar Junior / Music from Saharan WhatsApp 04 Digital EP
10. Menzi. / Impazamo Ltd. Cassette
11. Carrom / "Alter/destinies" Cassette
12. Carl Stone / Ganci & Figl Digital Single
13. Spritual Wave Nomads / Ten Color Ritual 12"
14. Hama / Music from Saharan WhatsApp 08 Digital EP
15. Speaker Music / Percussive Therapy Digital EP
16. HHY & The Macumbas  / Camouflage Vector: Edits From Live Actions 2017/2019  Ltd. Cassette
17. Ink Midget / Kilauea Digital EP
18. Twig Harper / External Boundless Prison / in 4 Parts EP Digital EP
19. Luka Productions & Kandiafa / Music from Saharan WhatsApp 06 Digital EP
20. Viagra Boys / "Creatures" / "Ain't Nice" Digital Single
21. Viagra Boys / Common Sense 12"EP
22. Terry / Who’s Terry? 7"EP
23. Wisecrack / Wisecrack Cassette EP
24. Public Acid / Condemnation 7"
25. USA Nails / Mixtape Two  Cassette EP

Best of 2020 / Top 50 +

Wow, what a year! Honestly, I'm simply happy to be here for another year-end wrap up.  For the first time in my life, I had to actually ...