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.

UndercoverSadGirl’s Top 50 Albums of 2020

There was a huge pile of gold to listen to this past year. It seems that these trying times have motivated musical artists to unearth substance and soar into our desperate ears. There were already a plethora of good albums that came out in March, so you could only imagine how many more sad girl epiphany sounds have revealed themselves since.

Fiona Apple obviously stole the cake, releasing Fetch the Bolt Cutters, her first album in eight years after the groundbreaking album, The Idler Wheel… Somewhere in the stars, the Cosmonauts and Heavy Balloons are therapeutically screaming, unspooling the catharsis and Fetching the Bolt Cutters for themselves. Having started composing music when she was eight-years-old, Fiona Apple is an expert at staying true to herself. She has mastered communicating anger in a vulnerable way through her voice, letting herself free of musical constraints. The background vocals in Relay whale and echo after the line, “Evil is a relay race when the one who’s burned turns to pass the torch/ I don’t want to hurt myself even more.” The effects within this song are so magnificent, it sounds like someone who is caged in a far away nightmare. She has created a theatrical experience for us listeners, with splashes of dog barks and empty oil cans filled with dirt (Rolling Stone). Also, let’s not forget about the banging on the walls, we didn’t know we needed. There is a sense of pure lava and liberation at every turn. In an Elle interview, Fiona Apple reflects on people contributing to music as audience members, “I feel like the listener is part of the band or part of the music in some way. I feel like it’s a really beautiful part of being alive.” You matter too, listener! All you have to do is let sounds wow you. So let us dig in!

These are the best albums of 2020.

50. Swimmer- Tennis

49. Chaotic Good- Johanna Warren

48. Manger on McNichols- Boldy James

47. Silver Tongue- TORRES

46. Apparition- serpentwithfeet

45. SOURCE- Nubya Garcia

44. Someone New- Helena Deland

43. Gold Record- Bill Callahan

42. The Caretaker- Half Waif

41. Which Way is Forward?- Obongjayar

40. A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling- Magdalena Bay

39. Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2- Tkay Maidza

38. A Hero’s Death- Fontaines D.C.

37. Folklore- Taylor Swift

36. Mama, You Can Bet!- Jyoti, Georgia Ann Muldrow

35. Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs- Klô Pelgag

34. Ungodly Hour- Chloe x Halle

33. Have We Met- Destroyer

32. Mutable Set- Blake Mills

31. songs- Adrianne Lenker

30. Live Forever- Bartees Strange

29. Muthaland- BbyMutha

28. The Neon Skyline- Andy Shauf

27. Sundry Rock Song Stock- Yves Jarvis

26. As God Intended- Apollo Brown, Che Noir

25. Likewise- Frances Quinlan

24. Untitled (Rise)- SAULT

23. Heavy Light- U.S. Girls

22. I THINK I’M GOOD- Kassa Overall

21. Rough and Rowdy Ways- Bob Dylan

20. Ajai- Kenny Segal, Serengeti

19. Every Bad- Porridge Radio

18. The Slow Rush- Tame Impala

17. RTJ4- Run The Jewels

16. Mydata- Katie Dey

15. Man Alive!- King Krule

14. Punisher- Phoebe Bridgers

13. Anime, Trauma and Divorce- Open Mike Eagle

12. The Ascension- Sufjan Stevens

11. Saint Cloud- Waxahatchee

10. 925- Sorry

9. A Written Testimony- Jay Electronica

8. Kitchen Sink- Nadine Shah

7. Purple Moonlight Pages- R.A.P. Ferreira

6. Untitled (Black Is)- SAULT

5. Song for Our Daughter- Laura Marling

4. græ- Moses Sumney

3. Heaven to a Tortured Mind- Yves Tumor

2. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately- Perfume Genius

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters- Fiona Apple

There were many other breathtaking albums from this year that weren’t able to fit on this list. These sounds came from Hachiku, Katie Von Schleicher, Lianne La Havas, Duckwrth, Tricot, Tricky, Quelle Chris, Soccer Mommy, Baxter Dury, The Flaming Lips, Sylvan Esso, Ohmme, Nappy Nina, BC Camplight, Fiver, Shabazz Palaces, Sam Gendel, Caribou, Tenci, Princess Nokia, The Avalanches, and Fleet Foxes. What a slam dunk year for new music!

Check out more end of year lists from these fellow avatar people: BPMHILL, Daw, and jpgchief