Tag: clipping

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.

Memo’s Monthly Favorites: October 2020

Hello everybody! Happy first day of November! I hope you all had a wonderful October and a happy Halloween! Starting this month I want to do a monthly series where I talk about my favorite songs and projects released in the past month. I will be naming my favorite song, album, and EP for this month, but before I do that let’s first talk about honorable mentions.

Songs Honorable Mentions

Jesswar – Venom: This track is insane. Jesswar is cold-blooded as hell on this track. She is basically coming after anybody who is in her way. She is not someone to be messed with. Her delivery is very aggressive. It pairs well with the hard-hitting production. This is my first introduction to her music and I am very impressed. She is definitely someone to look out for.

Freddie Gibbs – 4 Thangs (feat. Big Sean & Hit-Boy): Freddie Gibbs keeps blessing us this year! He first drops Alfredo with the Alchemist. Now he dropped one of the most addicting tracks this year. This song has a great Big Sean feature. I love how both Freddie and Sean were trading bars while having some very fast flows. Hit-Boy also delivered with the dark trap production. I am very impressed with the chemistry everybody had on this track.

Anderson .Paak – Jewelz: Andy never disappoints. This track had so much hype around it and luckily it delivered. It is a very catchy and feel-good song. I like to listen to this in the morning before work because it helps me get into a good mood. A lot of people might not like the chipmunk vocals, but I don’t mind it at all. I think it adds to the track. Give this song a listen if you need a mood booster.

Album Honorable Mentions

Open Mike Eagle – Anime, Trauma and Divorce: This album is a very nice and calming listen. The lowkey instrumentals are matched perfectly with Mike’s baby butt smooth voice. This album makes you feel like you’re in a coffee shop during a slam poetry session. Especially since Mike is known for his having some weird yet poetic lyrics. My favorite part from this album was when Mike had his son join him in on two of the tracks. I really liked listening to their father-son dynamic.

Clipping. – Visions of Bodies Being Burn: This is the perfect album for October because the trio implements horror elements into the album. Even though I am not a horror fan I do appreciate how creative this album is. The beats are obviously scary. Not only do they implement scary sound effects, but the abrasive sounds makes this album an intense experience. The beats are so weird, I am surprised with how well Daveed Diggs raps over these beats. His rapping is very impressive especially from a technical standpoint. I do need to give this album some more listens, but I do think this is one of the craziest and creative projects released this year.

Jean Dawson – Pixel Bath: Thank you Indie Pong for helping me discover Jean Dawson! He is one of the most unique artists I have listened to in a while. I just love how he blends different genres like experimental hip hop and bedroom pop. The weird combination of different genres made this album a very fun listening experience. Dawson has a very angry, angsty, carefree, and energetic delivery throughout the entire album and I love it. I think this album is a must-listen. I can’t wait to see what Dawson does in the future!

Favorite Song of the Month

Tierra Whack – Dora: Song of the month goes to “Dora”! Just like every other Tierra Whack track this is weird but in a good way. The trap production is very cute and kind of childish. Even though Tierra is being very silly and whimsical, her flow and lyrics are still top-notch. Tierra whack never lets me down. I really hope she drops an album soon. I need that ASAP!!!

Favorite EP of the Month

James Blake – Before: This is probably the only EP I’ve listened to this month, so picking EP of the month was pretty easy. Even though there wasn’t really any competition, Before does deserve attention because oh how beautiful it is. Going into any James Blake track you will always receive angelic passionate singing. What surprised me about this EP is the amount of experimentation going on in the instrumentals. The artsy instrumentation is one of a kind. You can really tell James Blake is trying to push himself as an artist and a producer. If his next album builds off of the ideas on this EP, then we might be getting James’s best album yet.

Favorite Album of the Month

Gorillaz – Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez: I am a huge Gorillaz fan, so I am definitely going to be very biased. With that said, I love this album so so much. This is the best batch of songs Gorillaz have made since Plastic Beach. Even though there is no theme to this album, the quality of each track makes this album work. Each track is a total banger. This includes the bonus tracks as well. What makes me love this album so much is the fact that it is a very happy album. Most of these tracks will make you smile at the end. I feel like we need a happy album like this especially in 2020.

These are my monthly favorites! Let me know what you have been listening to!