We’re into the top 20 albums of 2020 (out of the nearly 80 new albums I reviewed last year). Who made the cut? Read on…
#20: Matt Karmil – STS371
This EDM record is full of throbbing bass, oil slick beats, and ambient / psychedelic synths. It works its way under your skin and moves your bones.
#19: Ultraflex – Visions of Ultraflex
Cover that looks like a 1980s New Age CD? Check. Synthwave keyboards that could fit right into a sci-fi film? Check. Sexy Replicant vocals? Check. Visions of Ultraflex manages to be both a neat synthwave album and one of the best make-out records of 2020 at the same time.
#18: Oh Sees – Metamorphosed
This album is “only” five tracks in length, and the first three are under two minutes each. The other two, however, make up for the rest of the album’s time length of over forty minutes. It’s a mix of punk rockers and prog-psych-krautrock jams that shows how deftly Oh Sees can move back and forth between styles.
#17: Holy Wave – Interloper
Holy Wave came back with a fine addition to their catalogue. Interloper blends psychedelia with some shoegaze and surf elements and is full of songs about not fitting in or being comfortable anywhere. That alone could sum up 2020.
#16: Oh Sees – Live at Big Sur
Yes, two Oh Sees albums in this list. Live at Big Sur was their second live-streamed show of 2020. They played at the Henry Miller Library and dove deep into their back catalogue to play stuff they hadn’t played live in years. The encore was a barrage of covers, many of them Black Flag tunes.
We’re over halfway through the list! Come back tomorrow for more!
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t forget to subscribe.]
