23. Tyler Childers, Long Violent History - This album is a great meditation of traditional standard tunes that Childers recorded during the pandemic (just in case you aren’t feeling bad enough about your productivity during the pandemic, he also taught himself to play the fiddle, which is featured throughout the album). All of these traditional songs serve as an appetizer platter for the album’s final piece, “Long Violent History,” where Childers offers a scathing review of those calling out racism in America. In a powerful statement upon the album’s release, Childers stated:
“What if we were to constantly open up our daily paper and see a headline like ‘East Kentucky Man Shot Seven Times on a Fishing Trip?’ Or a headline like ‘Ashland Community and Technical College nursing student shot in her sleep?’”
“What form of upheaval would that create? I’d venture to say if we were met with this type of daily attack on our own people, we would take action in a way that hasn’t been seen since the Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia. And if we wouldn’t stand for it, why would we expect another group of Americans to stand for it? Why would we stand silent while it happened? Or worse, get in the way of it getting rectified.”
100% of net proceeds from Long Violent History will support underserved communities in the Appalachian region through the Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund, a nonprofit organization that Childers co-founded to bring awareness and financial support for philanthropic efforts in the Appalachian Region.
22. Pearl Jam - With each release, legacy rock acts have a mountain to climb based on previous success. Pearl Jam threw their hat into the ring this year after a seven-year studio hiatus. Few bands have a taller mountain to climb than Pearl Jam, who many may argue peaked with their first album. However, PJ has maintained relevance through a solid catalog of subsequent releases as well as through their epic live shows that cater to the “their best album was Ten crowd,” as well as the “If you haven’t seen “Hard to Imagine” live, you’re not a real fan” crowd.
This super fan is 100% fine admitting that their last couple of albums leading up to Gigaton have been...lackluster, minus a few choice nugs. After a series of early album outtakes, b-sides, and easter eggs to keep their rabid fanbase satisfied, recent releases made it seem like the band was satisfied to just finish an album’s worth of songs to be able to tour again. I honestly questioned if they were capable of putting out something that challenged listeners, and perhaps more importantly, challenged themselves as musicians.
And, much to my pleasant surprise, they did just that with Gigaton, their most diverse, risky, and off-the-wall release since No Code (this writer’s favorite PJ album). And the results are astounding. From straight up super hooky rockers to ballads to a solo acoustic Vedder masterpiece (“Comes then Goes” - Seriously, who else could write this song? A solo acoustic song with flashes of the punk rock strumming,Vedder’s other wheelhouse).
Even the sounds that turn farthest from PJ’s most recognizable sounds, songs like “Alright,” “Dance of the Clairvoyants,” offer new ways for the band to build sonic landscapes for the band’s most identifiable weapon, Vedder’s vocals, to ride the wave over. Oh, and “Quick Escape” is already one of my favorite live songs and it’s never even been played live.
21. Sufjan Stevens, The Ascension - As my good friend Cappy put it, this album feels like a sister album to Stevens’ Age of Adz. Much like on that album, Stevens builds an electronic landscape throughout this one. The lyrics are more direct this time around, and Stevens seems to be wrestling with different demons (although some are the same). His takedown of the forces in charge of America (on the song “America”) is a highlight, as is “Video Game,” an extremely hooky single that will stick with you long after it’s run time ends.
I think we are at a point in Stevens’ career where we seriously need to start giving this dude some serious recognition. He’s a one-man Radiohead and if you put Thom Yorke’s vocals over any of these songs, and it would be on par with anything they are releasing (that being said, Stevens’ and Yorke’s vocals aren’t all that different). I cannot think of one “miss” in his catalog and he’s nothing shy of a genius. I’m honestly not sure why he’s not considered one of the great artists of our time. It’s time.
20. The Flaming Lips, American Head - After being a super-fan of this band since the early 2000’s (Yoshimi came out in college and I saw them open for Beck and back him up on his Sea Change tour, and have been hooked ever since), it’s hard to imagine that new album nearly 30 years later could make me feel closer to them than ever. But American Head did just that.
This album is a return to form of the excellent Soft Bulletin (a 10/10 masterpiece for this writer) and Yoshimi after the Lips spent the past decade largely avoiding full album releases. Coyne’s lyrical content focuses mainly on human relations on this effort (although he does slip a few dinosaurs in there, because….of course he did). From interviews with Coyne at the time of its release, it seems as though he was doing some deep exploring and mining of his own past as this one came together.
Coyne, perhaps inspired by becoming a new father, digs back into his youth that was at best, pretty fucked up. However, it’s a youth that many Heads can relate to in small town America. Coyne also reflects on his famous Long John Silvers incident where he was held up at gun-point and thought he was going to die. Kacey Musgraves (perhaps filling Miley’s shoes as the Lips’ new muse?) has solid contributions throughout this one as well. Though it lacks anything resembling a hit, it’s the latest Lips masterpiece.
A couple of other notes: I highly recommend Coyne’s Marc Maron interview and can we make 2021 the year that we bring back the Zaireeka Party? We are long overdue. We just need to get our hands on four CD players.
P.S. Maybe it was this album that made me feel closer to the Lips than ever, or, maybe it was the Cameo from Wayne Coyne that Liz got me for our anniversary. Wow. Still unfathomable.
19. Swamp Dogg, Sorry You Couldn’t Make It - I had never heard of Swamp Dogg before 2020, who was a Dogg long before being a Dogg was cool. This album likely popped on my radar due to the two stellar duets with the late, great John Prine. Dogg first covered Prine for his 1970 album, giving one of Prine’s most empathetic numbers, “Sam Stone” a slow, steady soul treatment, squeezing a few extra drops of heroin-infused grief out of the brilliant ballad.
In 2020, the Dogg set out to release a country soul album. There is not a single miss on this album. I picked it up on vinyl and have not regretted it one bit since. Dogg also once again partnered with Prine on two tracks about approaching the tail end of life, “Memories” and “Please Let Me Go Round Again.” While the Dogg is still going around with us, unfortunately, Prine’s plea was unanswered in 2020. Dogg’s own writing chops are also on display here, with a highlight being, “I’d Rather Be Your Used to Be” with the great chorus line of, “I’d rather be your used to, than your supposed to be.” If this piques your interest, I recommend this recap of Dogg’s life, which includes a recap of how he ended up on J. Edgar Hoover’s secret list of “un-American” citizens.
18. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down- From the album opening spaced-out-surf-rock riff that quickly settles into one of the best grooves of the year, this one struts. I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on this band. They’ve popped on my radar a few times but nothing had stuck in the past. This album certainly changes that. I don’t need to say much that the album-opening riff can’t say on my behalf, if that one gets you, the rest won’t disappoint.
17. Bob Dylan, Murder Most Foul - This entire album plays like a long meditation, and 2020 had plenty of time for that. This one is full of extemporaneous musings from Dylan’s 79 years on the planet. Given my ADHD, it makes me a bit nauseous to think about sitting down to listen to a 17-minute ballad about the assassination of JFK, but the few times it’s come on my Sirius radio, it has sucked me in for the entire circular, loping ride. His ability to pull you away from where he’s taking you, and surprise you almost every time you land back at home is mesmerizing.
There have long been rumors about Dylan’s health and his selling of his entire catalog (a seemingly un-Dylan move if there ever was one), raises those questions even louder. If this is a sendoff, it’s among the best of all time, which is nothing new for the greatest American artist….ever? Best time to listen: At the end of a long day, sipping whiskey on the back porch.
16. Dehd, Flower of Devotion - I so badly want to see this band in a Chicago club. This Chicago three-piece pumps out bleeding heart anthems with a primal rawness that takes me back to Dead Moon as well as other early 90’s lo-fi rock outfits. They feature only the most basic elements of a rock outfit - guitarist/vocalist, bassist vocalist, and a drummer who’s simple stand up kit that makes Meg White’s kit look like Neil Peart’s. In the spirit of their sound, I’ll keep this review sparse, but I cannot wait to see this band live.
15. Bill Callahan, Mellow Gold - Through his initial project (a solo band called Smog, check out the album Knock, Knock if you haven’t. It’s produced by Jim O’Rourke and is a lo-fi masterpiece), and now a solo career under his own name, Callahan has quietly built a catalog of masterpiece after masterpiece. Much like a John Prine, Callahan is a flavor, many may say an acquired flavor, who is fine with wallowing in the depths of the pathos in search of his next brilliant musing.
This album features 1o songs that were released 10 weeks in a row as stand-alone singles before the album came out. This slow rollout allowed fans to spend time with each one, and build a playlist as they arrived, which was quite fun (I’m all for any additional creativity that comes with an album’s release - Long Live the Album!). Gold Record features some of Callahan’s best stories, including the album opener.
Like Prine, Callahan is a master of infusing humor into his songs (a really hard thing to do) both with the lyrics and with how he spaces out their annunciation. At the same time, like Prine, he can also deliver a line that just wallops you over the head with its simplicity and complexity all jumbled into one line.
One example of this is “The McKenzies.” Callahan starts with a pretty basic story of a car breaking down and a neighbor coming to his aid. As simple and straightforward as it begins, it quickly becomes obvious that there is more happening than meets the eye here. The first time I played this album, I had it on in the background while doing something else, and wasn’t really taking it in fully. However, despite having not listened to the story of “The McKenzies,” I couldn’t help but zero in as he delivered the final lines “It’s ok, we’re ok.” Not fully knowing why, I became overwhelmed with emotion and immediately knew I had missed something important. I sat down with it and played it a second time while reading the lyrics. Without giving anything more away, let’s just say, that unbeknownst feeling I had experienced was spot on.
14. Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin Grass Vols 1 & 2 - (Disclaimer: The Second Edition came out very late in the year, and at this point, it’s hard for me to distinguish between the two, so I put them together here)
Sturgill said he’d release an album this year if his fans bought enough merch to raise a lot of money for charity. After the totals came in, Sturgill then announced he’d be doubling that output and releasing not one, but two albums this year. There were hints of bluegrass sessions with a few of the genre’s living legends, then Sturgill performed a brilliant live stream at the Ryman in Nashville.
While it’s amazing to hear his catalog reworked as bluegrass numbers (in many cases, the stripped down background sounds further reveal the brilliance of the vocals), the previously unreleased and tracks from an old band shine just as brightly. A particular standout, “I Don’t Mind” tugs at the heartstrings as Sturgill sings of a love slipping away. Sturgill seems to be happily married (now with 3 boys...sounds like a future band in the making if I’ve ever heard of one), so we haven’t heard as much of this side (the “lost love” side) of his writing. Unsurprisingly, he’s brilliant at that genre as well.
At some point this year, I meant to put Volume 1 on shuffle to pull it apart in a different way, but accidentally put his whole catalog on shuffle. Surprisingly, the new album was the biggest outlier. You can track his trajectory from honky tonk hero to scuzz rock god somewhat linearly, but then the bluegrass just throws everything off. However, in many ways, it’s just Sturgill’s influences and upbringing coming full circle.
While at times curmudgeonly, Sturgill is a true artist and will follow the path that makes most sense to his own brain, even if it makes no sense to anyone else’s (including his former label, whose contract he negotiated an early exit from). Now that he’s a free agent, look out. This dude has put himself in a position to do whatever he wants. And ironically, despite living in the middle of nowhere, being what seems to be a great father, and cranking out amazing album after amazing album, is still one of the most “outlaw” country musicians around.
13. Strokes, The New Abnormal - As mentioned on the Pearl Jam section, it’s hard for more legacy rock acts to remain vital these days. Release something that sounds like your previous catalog, and you get lambasted for not evolving. Release something too experimental and people just clamor for the glory days. With their latest release, the Strokes struck a perfect balance between these two worlds, and still got seemingly little credit for it. At this point, I honestly cannot imagine the Strokes releasing a better, more relevant album than this one. Rick Rubin did his thing, boiling things down to their essence and chopping up songs to reach new heights, and the Strokes leaned into their now diverse influences to deliver their most compelling release since the good ol’ days.
12. Jason Isbell, Reunions - I was prepared to be underwhelmed by this album. Isbell’s album peak remains the rip-the-band-aid-off confessional, “Southeastern.” That one may never be topped, but since then, he has continued a brilliant streak of empathy-inducing albums that kick you in the gut with feeling as much as they do with the southern rock riffs. Surprisingly, it’s the rockers on this one that just didn't do it for me. While I love the message of “Be Afraid,” it doesn’t catch me as a song I need to put on repeat.
That being said, the empathy songs are as strong as ever. Isbell already has multiple “first dance at our wedding” songs ("Cover Me Up," "If We Were Vampires"), and on this album, he’s added a song that countless dads will play as their song at their daughter’s wedding, “Letting You Go.” Good luck not tearing up on that one, girl dads!
However, the absolute highlight of this one for me is “Dreamsicle.” The lyrics take me back to when I was a teenager and paint a perfect picture of growing up in the 80’s nostalgia with a single mother. I was painting the back porch this summer the first time I really grasped the line, “New sneakers on a high school court, and you swore you’d be there,” and I almost fell off the ladder. All I can say is, “Too soon, Mr. Isbell. Too soon.”
11. John McKiel, Bobby Joe Hope - The story of how this album came together is almost as fascinating as the end product. This Aquarium Drunkard article tells the story of how McKiel collaborated...with a ghost....to create the album. He bought a reel-to-reel tape recorder online and it came with some tapes included. On these tapes, McKiel discovered snippets of sound from a previous owner and was fascinated by what he found. So, he decided to incorporate them into the album he was working on, creating a collaboration with an unknown stranger (...or...a ghost?).
The album has an awesome sound that unfurls with more listens. It reminds me a bit of a more subdued Foxygen or a hazier, lighter MGMT. Sun-drenched, light psychedelia for the soul. It gets weird at points (like, “Animal-Collective-repetitive-
The story of how this album was made also reminded me of how Think Tank Comedy once acquired a slide projector with a bunch of old slides from one of my high school buddies, Brian Fuhrman. We were obsessed with all things analog and incorporating it into our comedy shows. I think this pick up was inspired by some weird projector stuff that Animal Collective was doing at the time. Anyway, we took those slides from Brian childhood and built an entire themed show around them for a performance in Indy.
P.S. I wouldn't be surprised if, in like 10 years, we learn that it was actually someone like Jack White or Beck who recorded those snippets for someone to eventually find.
10. Haim, Women in Music, Pt. 3 - I say this every year, but one of my favorite music genres is what I deem sophisticated pop music. Perhaps nothing embodied this more in 2020 for me than Haim’s latest effort. I’ve known of them since they stormed the airwaves a few years back, but never taken the plunge into any of their albums. The infectiousness of the single “The Steps” reeled me into this one and the rest of the album obviously did not disappoint.
Despite 2020’s efforts, it was impossible to not feel better while listening to this glistening ball of hope. Sidenote: Spotify has a deluxe version of this album up, and the b-sides are every bit as good as the songs on the album, and in some cases better (three of the bonus tracks, “Summer Girl,” “Now I’m In It,” and “Hallelujah,” are among their top 10 most popular songs on there).
9. SAULT, Untitled (Rise) - This mysterious British collective released this album late in 2020. You can read more about them HERE, but there’s honestly very little information out there about them (producer Inflo, who has worked with Michael Kiwanuka, is confirmed to be involved, but beyond that, it’s a mystery). They put a modern gloss over R&B, funk, and house to form this most majestic, modern sound. And, if you dig this sound, they actually released two albums this year. This was the second. The first, Untitled (Black Is), is just as good. The second effort just resonated more with me.
8. Rose City Band - Let me drag you all down the wormhole that is Ripley Johnson (the primary contributor to the Rose City Band) real quick. First of all, this dude definitely "someone else's wizard." You may have heard of his primary band, Wooden Shjips. A few of us caught them at a street fest a couple of summers ago and their album V. made my top albums list a couple of years back as well. If anything it's only gotten better with age ("Red Line" and "Ride On" are highlights). Perfect spaced out jams for expanding the mind.
Being the primary contributor of one amazing band would honestly be enough, but not for Johnson. A few months back, another band popped up on my Spotify Weekly that made me think, "Ooh...this is kind of like an electronic Wooden Shjips...nice!" Then I looked up the band, Moon Duo, up, and what do you know, Ripley Johnson was 1/2 of the creative force for that one too. It's kind of like Wooden Shjips with some added electronics and bleeps and blops like at the end of Radiohead's "Let Down." A perfect extra layer to a more traditional sound. Moon Duo's 2019 album, Stars Are the Light is amazing, with "Lost Heads" being a high mark.
So now, let's fast forward to this spring. A new band popped up on my radar when Rose City Band's "Rip City" song caught my ear (first of all, I love that band name and the song title). Second of all, I listened to the track and thought, "Wow...this sounds kind of like a stripped-down, more folky version of Wooden Shjips!" So, I look them up, and, you guessed it....Ripley Johnson strikes again. I first fell for their self-titled album, but their new one this year, Summerlong, is a perfect summer sunset soundtrack, and one of my favorite albums of the year so far. There are some Grateful Dead vibes in there for sure, as well as some country (he taught himself to play the pedal steel for it). There's a great interview about this new album with Johnson HERE.
Anyway, it's been quite the journey with this dude, and it's all squarely in my wheelhouse. Any of these bands would be good to listen to on some psychedelics, but they work just fine sotally tober as well. I hope you guys get some of the same enjoyment out of this prolific musician (between these 3 bands, he has released 8 albums and an EP since 2017!!!) as I inadvertently have.
7. Black Pumas (Self-titled) - This Austin-based band has an incredible origin story, and an even more incredible sound. They have a great episode of Song Exploder where they explain the making of their song “Colors”. They also talk more about their origin and how the collaboration grew. If you’re a fan of Charles Bradley, Michael Kiwanuka, and/or any tight modern soul bands in the vein of the Dap Kings, this will absolutely do it for you. Start with the aforementioned "Colors" as well as "Fire." If those two do it for you, dive in deeper!
6. Tame Impala, The Slow Rush - There is a great divide in the releases of 2020: those that came before the pandemic struck, and those that came after. The Slow Rush is in the former category, which makes it feel like it was released three years ago. After a painfully long wait, this album was destined to be a contender for "album of the summer." And while it still may have been, this past summer, like everything else in 2020, just wasn’t the same. We didn’t get those epic outdoor moments with this soundtrack burned into the background of our brains. We didn’t get to see this band live in an arena at their absolute peak (to this point) either. After an incredibly long wait, we simply couldn’t enjoy Tame Impala music in the best ways it is meant to be consumed.
Musically, this album builds upon the sonic shift in Tame Impala’s sound that started on Currents. Many casual fans may not even be able to tell which songs are on which album. But that’s fine. These songs are still so good, so simple yet so complex, that they are every bit as good as the best tracks on Currents.
The main drawback with this album for me is the big dumb album opener, "One More Year," where Kevin Parker incessantly reminds us how many days there are in a year. DUDE. We get it...ONE MORE YEAR. I’m surprised he didn’t break down how many seconds there are in a year (31,536,000 seconds for those of you keeping track at home or looking to make an even more extended remix of this song). By the end of it, I was afraid the song was going to go on for one more year. Perhaps this should be the "Song of the Pandemic."
After the opener, things escalate quickly and the album runs deep (“It Might Be Time,” perhaps my favorite song of the past two years, doesn’t even appear until side 3). This album is littered with hit after hit, and is so good, that Parker left the brilliant, dizzying “Patience” off the album (it now fittingly lives as a stop-gap between the two albums, the second of which took waaay too long to get here, but hey….Patience).
5. Run The Jewels, RTJ4 - The album freaking jumps and RULES. RTJ have had their thumb on the pulse of many of the things that came to light in 2020 for a long time. So long, and so well, that upon release, RTJ4 felt prophetic in a way. But just because many things came to light in 2020 doesn’t mean that they haven’t been happening for a very long time. Rap with a meaningful, powerful message that can teach its listener, is as powerful of a weapon in any form of art right now. And this is the epitome of that. These guys kick in the teeth of the establishment with a badass blend of education and empathy. Run to this one. And good luck stopping once it gets going! Also, these guys were slated to open for Rage Against the Machine this year. CAN YOU FREAKING IMAGINE?!?! Let's chalk that up as yet another thing we hope can happen in 2021.
4. Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters - No album affected me emotionally this year more than this one did. Apple’s blend of vulnerability and empowerment seems impossible and is unsurpassed. She makes you feel what she feels. She makes you feel what so many women feel and cannot act upon. Her music is an assassin’s bullet to the heart. The production here is impeccable as well. The flashes of household sounds that come and go make this feel like one of the greatest home-recorded albums of all time...and it is just that. Fiona recorded most of it at home on Apple’s most basic recording app, GarageBand. Time will tell if it is in fact the greatest home-recorded album ever, or even in the past two years. In the meantime, enjoy the throne, Mr.Springsteen.
3. Fleet Foxes, Shore - The first words that Fleet Foxes singer, Robin Pecknold, utters by himself on this album appear on track #2, “Sunblind,” and go like this:
For Richard Swift, for John and Bill
For every gift lifted far before its will
Judee and Smith, for Berman too
I've met the myth hanging heavy over you
I loved you long, you rose to go
Beneath you, songs, perfect angels in the snow.
Richard Swift is the producer (one of my favorite producers of all time, here’s a beautiful recap of his life an many talents) from the Pacific Northwest who left us all too soon last year. John and Bill? John Prine and Bill Withers. Then come Judee Sill and Elliott Smith followed by David Berman (go HERE for a more complete analysis of these lyrics). This is a roll call of artists who we lost too soon, and couldn’t possibly be much more squarely in the “Brent Wheelhouse.” Ok, you’ve got my attention, Mr. Pecknold. The rest of the album unfolds with songs that feel so familiar upon first listen, it’s hard to believe you haven’t known them for years. That being said, there are still countless layers to unpeel here (as the above lyrics and description above showcase).
This is also a remarkably “up” album for being written in 2020. Apparently, most of the music was written pre-pandemic, with the lyrics coming right in the thick of it. This contrast provides countless layers of depth that unfurl upon each listen.
On another note, if the depths of the darkest winter of our lifetime engulfs you in its grip in the coming months, go back and check out FF’s previous effort, Crack Up. It felt very obtuse to me when it came out, and I never fully digested it. I fully regret that decision now, but it came back to me at just the right time.
Just before the announcement of this new album, I developed a yearning for Fleet Foxes and decided to give it another chance. In the depths of the pandemic, it made perfect sense and “Third of May” may well be my song of the pandemic. Pecknold seemed a couple of years ahead of everyone else with that complex, dark, and traversing album. Hopefully the same will hold true with this new set of songs, and in a couple of years, we’ll be able to ride their waves of bliss at a festival or theater.
2. Chicano Batman, Invisible People - This was just the smoothness and feel-good music I needed in 2020. It’s a shame that this album didn’t get its dues to compete for “Album of the Summer” (sorry, Tame Impala, maybe you'll be able create the Album of Summer in....ONE MORE YEAR) because it’s a perfect one to put on from front-to-back for your backyard BBQ. However, those hooks and bouncy melodies only tell part of the story. The actual stories of these songs are often much more complex than first meets the ear. This juxtaposition against the bubblegum pop sound makes each additional listen that much more rewarding.
1. Waxahatchee, Saint Cloud - Not much was smooth in 2020, but this album was like a warm knife cutting through butter. The path to get there was anything but smooth, Katie Crutchfield (the creative force behind the Waxahatchee moniker) got sober, had trouble writing while sober, and found love with her fellow brilliant indie artist, Kevin Morby (read more about their mid-quarantine collabs HERE), only to have a pandemic strike just as the album took off.
On this amazing effort, Crutchfield infuses pop elements into an Americana sound perfectly. and underneath the bubblegum earworms throughout this album are layers of pain and growth that continue to unveil themselves with more listens. Producer Brad Cook (former bandmate of Justin Vernon, member of Megafaun, and producer of many of my favorite albums of the last 20 years) works his magic and serves each song remarkably. Come for the hooks, stay for the exploration, pain, and growth! (hashtag: 2020).
