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Reviews 5 Approval 95%
Soundoffs 62 Album Ratings 5815 Objectivity 88%
Last Active 09-06-22 1:37 pm Joined 09-24-05
Review Comments 8,004
| Top 25 of 2020: So Far! (Sept.)
Updated for September 2020.
Just over the halfway point of this unprecedentedly terrible year, why not run over a recap of some of the best releases thus far? Personal top twenty five, feel free to discuss and, more importantly, drop recommendations based on what you think I might like that I've overlooked! | 26 | | Boris NO
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
• Boris - "NO"
• Matthew Tavares & Leland Whitty - "Visions"
• Gaerea - "Limbo"
• Run the Jewels - "RTJ4"
• Mamaleek - "Come & See"
• Fontaines D.C. - "A Hero's Death"
• Fluisteraars - "Bloem"
• Thomas Azier - "Love, Disorderly"
• Esoctrilihum - "Eternity of Shaog"
• Paysage d'Hiver - "Im Wald" | 25 | | Two People Second Body
3.5 // More upbeat and kinetic and less nocturnal and omniscient than their debut, but mondo grooves abound, and a decadent foray into a more pop-forward approach. I dig it. | 24 | | Gezan 狂(KLUE)
3.5 // Full of life, full of energy, bouncing off the walls but so well composed that it's obviously all on purpose. Really great stuff. | 23 | | Perfume Genius Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
3.5 // After a juicy single on '19, the follow up full-length from Perfume Genius takes a more strictly atmospheric and chamber-y approach, but is all the better for it. A grower, not a shower. | 22 | | Dan Deacon Mystic Familiar
3.5 // Never thought I'd return to any indietronica album over and over again, but here we are. Dan's strongest release yet. | 21 | | Panda Rosa The Kinspiral
3.5 // The second album on this list to surpass two hours; significantly more atmospheric and tranquil than the other one, which occasionally results in tedium -- but there are countless beautiful moments scattered throughout this beast. | 20 | | Black Marble I Must Be Living Twice
3.5 // A low-key, synth-pop-slash-coldwave EP full of five covers - not something I'd normally enjoy or endorse, but Stewart's buttery smoothness here is captivating in ways I didn't think the genre was capable of. Really good stuff. | 19 | | Horse Lords The Common Task
3.5 // Never huge on this heavily instrumental, numerical and time-signature obsessed math rock, but maybe I just haven't heard something this genuinely slick in so long that I forgot what it's like to enjoy the technicalities of music? | 18 | | JFDR New Dreams
3.5 // Eschews typical singer-songwriter monotony with an undercurrent of sophisticated pop, without going full-blown artsy-fartsy (see: .e.g Bjork's UTOPIA). | 17 | | John Zorn Calculus
3.5 // Even those who can't stand Zorn's more spastic tendencies should appreciate this ode to bombast free jazz. The man is an enigma, but he makes some damned interesting music. | 16 | | Ian William Craig Red Sun Through Smoke
3.5 // Rarely does ambient music so effortlessly collide with pseudo-pop sensibilities so casually and gracefully. A lovely little album. | 15 | | The Smith Street Band Don't Waste Your Anger
3.5 // These Aussies can rock. And write a damn catchy hook. Probably the most endearing album on this list, in a weird way. | 14 | | Oranssi Pazuzu Mestarin Kynsi
3.5 // Has grown on me a lot since first spin; wonderful alchemy with all the various metal subgenre blending. You may not love it, but there's never a dull moment. | 13 | | Died Less Life
3.5 // Is it post-punk? Is it post-hardcore? Does it matter? It's good, no matter how you classify it. Edgy and coarse without having to try too hard. | 12 | | A.A. Williams Forever Blue
3.5 // Finding that perfect niche compartment at the cross-roads of absorbing slowcore and post-rock atmosphere, I was taken aback at how quickly I fell in love with this. | 11 | | Nicolas Jaar Telas
3.5 // Not even sure how you'd classify this. After being underwhelming by Jaar's release earlier this year, he struck a pretty substantial chord with me, here. Could see this growing as the year marches on. Spacy, evocative, glitchy, and, most of all, constantly engaging. | 10 | | Young Jesus Welcome to Conceptual Beach
3.5 // Has a Buckley-esque touch to it that's unmistakable - more free-form and sprawling than I anticipated, which caught me off-guard the first time around but has engendered significant death in revisits. Falling in love with this more and more each time I spin it. | 9 | | Faceless Burial Speciation
4.0 // Death metal has been relatively solid and prevalent this year (makes sense, doesn't it?), but something about this Speciation release has stood above the pack for me. Aggressive, borrowing heavily from their 90s influences but wearing them proudly on its sleeve and hammering away relentlessly at the ride cymbal and bass guitar like there's no tomorrow. Wonderful sound mixing, too. | 8 | | Torres Silver Tongue
4.0 // Seems exactly like the kind of album I hate but conversely found something to love in just about every single track here, other than the fact that Torres doesn't know how to craft an ending. | 7 | | Phoebe Bridgers Punisher
4.0 // As much as I hate using this adjective as a criticism of art, this is significantly more "mature" than Bridgers's previous LP (which I quite liked, too). "Kyoto" in the running for track of the year. | 6 | | Serpent Column Endless Detainment
4.0 // This one-man show continues to impress with release after release. His most daring and avant-garde project yet, can only be described as coerced chaos. | 5 | | Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Sideways to New Italy
4.0 // Sometimes simple, flawless jangle pop is all you need. Could listen to this bad boy on repeat. | 4 | | Illuminati Hotties FREE I.H: This Is Not the One You've Been Waiting
4.0 // I liked the Hotties' previous, debut album, though it was decidedly more strictly twee pop. This bumps up the experimentation a notch, bouncing from the post-punk, riot-girl edge to an occasional lo-fi ballad, all while maintaining the underlying charm. Amazing record. | 3 | | Lonker See Hamza
4.0 // Not enough people are listening to this amazing jazz/space-rock crossover. A lot more developed than Lonker See's previous LP. | 2 | | NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM Éons
4.5 // Dark, jazzy, tribal, soul-sucking, groovy, all of the fucking above. Monolithic and absorbing beyond measure. Easy front-runner for AOTY at the halfway point. | 1 | | The Microphones Microphones in 2020
4.5 // Exactly what I needed. In my opinion, the best thing Phil Elverum has done since WIND'S POEM in '09. This is the perfect blend of his "Mount Eerie" intimacy and minimalism mixed with his "Microphones" ear for lo-fi sonic bliss. *Chef's kiss* | |
tectactoe
07.07.20 | Open to recs, as always. What are your tops of 2020 so far? | dedex
07.07.20 | 1 seems intriguing af
Mine would be Matthew Tavares and Leland Whitty - Visions (it's jazz fusion bullshit) | tectactoe
07.07.20 | Jazz fusion bullshit is precisely my shit, though, so I will promptly add it to the queue :o)
Definitely check out 1. It is on Spotify (at least in the US), or available via their bandcamp. Well worth whatever the cost of admission might be; one of the most gigantic pieces of music of the last several years. | dedex
07.07.20 | Nice!
damn I just saw that Neptunian Maximalism are Brussels homies, I'll promptly jam it! | Elynna
07.07.20 | Agreed on 1 being AOTY (so far) | tectactoe
07.07.20 | Wasn't sure if I was overrating it or if it was legitimately great, but after several listens it is shaping up to become one of my favorites of the past five years or so. Seems like it is getting pretty good acclaim here (so far) and RYM, too. | someone
07.07.20 | Interesting list, will check out the top 10, see what it does for me. | anat
07.08.20 | Hey thanks for including 25 :-)
I love 9, 10, 13, 14 and 17. Will definitely be checking 1, and will try 2 again. It didn't meet my expectations because I liked One Eye Sees Red so much, but I think enough time has passed now where I can go back in without that crutch. | tectactoe
07.08.20 | Hey thanks for making good music :)
(In all honesty, thank Doof - his left-field enthusiasm for it is what drove me to check it out in the first place, before I even knew that it was a sput-user project.)
Keep it up, though - you're making really wonderful stuff. | Lord(e)Po)))ts
07.08.20 | ive heard 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 24
Favs would be JFDR, Mamaleek, Paysage, The Necks
Least favs would be Phoebe, Perfume Genius, Dan Deacon
Rec me a few of these that you think I'd dig!
Just don't rec me Gibbs and Alchemist plz | tectactoe
07.08.20 | Potts, I honestly think you'd really dig 9. Normally not "my thing" but something about the way IWC blends ambient tape recordings with an undercurrent of pop is awesome.
(I've also been rec'ing both 1 and 2 to pretty much everyone; if you dig neo-jazz and psych-influenced stuff, give them both a shot. 1 is more gargantuan and free/avant-garde, while 2 sticks closer to space/psych-rock roots, but both are excellent.) | tectactoe
07.08.20 | But yeah if I had to rec you specifically only one from this list, it'd be 9 for sure.
There's a chance you'd enjoy 4. There's also a chance you'd think it's utter shit. | Lord(e)Po)))ts
07.08.20 | yeah 1 looks amazing, i'll check out all 4 of those tanks | tectactoe
07.12.20 | Not going to edit the list for posterity’s sake, but Gezan’s KLUE would definitely be on here; just listened to it this weekend. Solid 3.5. | tectactoe
08.04.20 | Okay, I lied. Edited to reflect my ongoing rank, as of August :o) | dedex
08.04.20 | yay 22! | tectactoe
08.04.20 | Thanks for the rec :o) | dedex
08.04.20 | glad you liked! will peep 2, sounds like cool stuff | garas
08.04.20 | *grumpy face for your 2.5 on Havukruunu* That should be on the list! | tectactoe
08.04.20 | Oof.... (To be fair, I usually don't love heavy Pagan / Folk elements mixing in with my black metal. Nothing against the musicianship, just a personal distaste I've never really been able to conquer.) | deathofasalesman
08.04.20 | interesting list but dang you need to find some more 4s!
I'll rec Jess Williamson, Caspian, The Flashbulb, Chris Keyes & Quelle Chris, and Ka | Ryus
08.04.20 | damn, 9 is good and all, but i really liked cenizas. not really sure where the lukewarm reception is coming from | tectactoe
08.04.20 | I dunno either really...just couldn't get into it. Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for it at the time. Listened to 'Telas' one evening on my patio as the sun was going down and it clicked instantly for me. Drags a bit in some spots, and not sure I understand the monstrous structuring (could've been broken down into shorter tracks). But it was awesome.
@death - thanks for the recs! I'll pop 'em all into the queue (except for the CK/QC, which I heard already and thought was good but not great ~ 3.0; bummer because 'Guns' was one of my favorite hip hop albums last year). | deathofasalesman
08.04.20 | Ka will probably be the best of that bunch but we’ll see. 2020 leaves a little something to be desired in terms of quality releases | tectactoe
09.03.20 | Updated for September! Yeeee-haw! | JohnnyoftheWell
09.03.20 | did not expect to see Gezan here, nice
i know too few of these, will have to catch up soon, starting with that Zorn album
+ check the new ZOMBIE-CHANG | tectactoe
09.03.20 | Will do - added to the queue.
Definitely one of Zorn's more ""traditional"" albums, but exquisitely done.
And yeah, to be honest I wasn't expecting to like that Gezan album very much, but it won me over from nearly the opening track. | tectactoe
09.03.20 | Also @death - Was not big on the Ka album, but enjoyed the Quelle Chris one. Not as good as Guns from last year, tho imo. (I know it's a collab but still.) |
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