Memo’s Top 50 Albums of The Year

Hello everybody! Happy New Year! So I am going to do something different this month. I usually write an article about my favorite music of the month, but since the shit show we call 2020 just ended I rather rank 50 of my favorite albums from 2020. Starting today on my YouTube channel I will be starting list week. I will be talking about my favorite and least favorite music from 2020. My top 50 albums video is the last video I will be uploading, but I think it would be a good idea to release my list early here on Indie Pong.

Although I think I have a pretty good list I do have a couple disclaimers. First of all, I kind of cheated. This list is called my top 50 albums of the year, but I do have a few EP’s in the list. Also, I know this is an indie music blog, but I do have some mainstream albums in the list. There has been several mainstream albums I enjoyed this year, so I would feel weird not to include them in my list. With that said, I don’t think my list is that bad. I am honestly proud of it. 2020 might be a shitty year, but at least there has been a lot of great albums released in 2020.

Without further ado here is my top 50 albums of the year for 2020!

50) Kota the Friend – EVERYTHING

49) Lady Gaga – Chromatica

48) Joji – Nectar

47) Bad Bunny – YHLQMDLG

46) Rico Nasty – Nightmare Vacation

45) Jme – Grime MC

44) SAULT – Untitled (Black Is)

43) Aminé – Limbo

42) Logic – No Pressure

41) Thundercat – It Is What It Is

40) Nas – King’s Disease

39) 070 Shake – Modus Vivendi

38) 21 Savage & Metro Boomin – Savage Mode II

37) Yves Tumor – Heaven To A Tortured Mind

36) Childish Gambino – 3.15.20

35) Action Bronson – Only For Dolphins

34) Deante’ Hitchcock – BETTER

33) Tame Impala – The Slow Rush

32) Jean Dawson – Pixel Bath

31) Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

30) Blu & Exile – Miles

29) Fionna Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters

28) R.A.P. Ferreira – Purple Moonlight Pages

27) Qualle Chris & Chris Keys – Innocent Country 2

26) Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon III: The Chosen

25) Benny The Butcher – Burden of Proof

24) Oliver Tree – Ugly is Beautiful 

23) Kali Uchis – Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞

22) Black Thought – Streams of Thought, Voll:3 Cane & Able

21) JPEGMAFIA – EP!

20) The Koreatown Oddity – Little Dominiques Nosebleed

19) Conway The Machine – From King To A GOD

18) Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats – UNLOCKED

17) James Blake – Before

16) Slauson Malone – Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak)

15) The Weekend – After Hours

14) Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now

13) Poppy – I Disagree

12) 100 gecs – 1000 gecs and the Tree of Clues

11) clipping. – Visions of Bodies Being Burned

10) Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure?

9) Tkay Maidza – Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2

8) Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo

7) Rina Sawayama – Sawayama

6) The Strokes – The New Abnormal

5) Aesop Rock – Spirit World Field Guide

4) Boldy James & Sterling Toles – Manger on McNichols

3) Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez

2) Mac Miller – Circles

1) Run The Jewels – RTJ4

Let me know what you think?

p.s. Here is a link to my top 50 songs of the year playlist on Spotify in case you are curious.

Best Songs of 2020 So Far

This also serves as the BEST SONGS OF THE DECADE SO FAR. It’s never too early to start making your list for best of the decade hooray!!!!!!!

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Someone asked me recently what my favorite songs of the year were, so I decided to do what all rational people do to answer and write a full blog post in response full of gifs and links where you have to scroll all the way through it to get the simple answers you are looking for. You can follow along on our weekly playlist here, where all of these songs are featured. Blast that follow button on the playlist for weekly updates:

‘Fog’ – Termination Dust

This whole album kicks ass. It’s got the perfect balance of lo-fi grit and production value and showcases the very welcomed fresh new voices of this Dream Pop band from Alaska. Check out their US tour dates, they are playing in LA soon and I know I’ll be there.

Via Wikipedia, the definition for Termination Dust is- “In Alaska, a light, high-altitude snowfall that indicates the end of summer.” Yes, this album is perfect for that transitional season with it’s driving force moving us from bikini season to hibernation season, and it’s lighter Dream Pop aspects bringing the perfect amount of much needed levity as the days get shorter and the nights get colder. I highly encourage giving it a listen.

‘Flight 319’ – 070 Shake

Man this song hits me hard. Could I tell you what every single lyric means and what it means to ‘get alcohol like an astronaut’? No… but I can broadly say that’s a beautiful and poetic look at how unpredictable and uncontrollable life is and it makes me feel like I need to enjoy every second.

Also, I just read this Youtube comment and I couldn’t agree more:

The sound of the future. That’s why it’s ONE OF THE BEST SONGS OF THE DECADE so far.

’24 Hours’ – Georgia

Yeah I mean this one is just a straight pop heater, ala Robyn, Marina, Carly, but with it’s own distinct voice that while remaining within bounds seems to push the genre forward artistically. Georgia made waves last year with ‘About Work The Dance Floor’ which is a straight heater:

About work the dance floor reminds me of one of my favorite pop songs, so I’m just gonna throw it in here because I can’t help myself:

Damn, Marina gives me chills. Is Georgia the next Marina?

UPDATE: I have new info. Georgia is from the UK, and she actually got her start drumming for… Ready? …

KATE TEMPEST. Who if you live under a rock had our NUMBER ONE SONG OF 2019. At least she played for Kate early in her career, not sure if it was her first gig but wow, it’s a small Indie Pong world out there.

‘Garden’ – GLEAN

I so badly wanted to include the song “Evanston” because that’s where I’m from, but this song is just too good. The nuanced headbangers music from these Minneapolis Minnesota rockers is awesome, excited to see what comes next.

‘Gaudi’ – Capicua

Video NSFW, but also it is SFW? It includes… Yarn Nudity?

This track by the Portugese rapper Capicua is an awesomely honest look at the feeling of getting bored with the repetition or everyday life, and how that uneasy feeling can be subsided with a little art and creativty. Lyrics here.

‘I Go Out at Night’ – Ratboys

I’ve been a big fan of Ratboys from a while, and not just because they’re from Chicago, it’s because Elvis In The Freezer is one of the greatest songs ever, easily one of my favorite of the decade.

Big fan of this new one, classic Ratboys. They’ve got tons of other amazing songs too, my next favorite is You’ve Changed which is also great.

‘Cortex’ – Aunty Social

This song by the self-proclaimed anti-social Aunty Social of Toronto ironically makes me want to go out because it’s such a jam. The kind of songs you listen to driving with your friends as leaves fall from trees in Fall.

‘Air’ – Cub Sport

I know I know this song was released on December 24 of 2019, but it’s so hot that I can’t help myself. My hands are tied. Australia Pong’s Cub Sport have been releasing certified hits for a while but this is a special one to me, absolutely love it. It reminds me of another favorite of mine that I heard in a Kornell Kovacs/Axel Boman set once:

‘Tap the pack’ – Sløtface

Norway’s Sløtface are no strangers to success, they’ve had some pretty big songs already. But this is my favorite so far, have been listening to this one on repeat and am not even close to tired of it, and never will be.

That concludes the roundup from January (not including Jan 31), don’t forget to blast that follow button on our playlist for these songs and many many more each week from now until forever: