Best of 2020: A Very Bad Year

Best of 2020

How do you attempt a best of list during a year that ranks as the worst of modern times? I spent less time this year listening to new music than I can remember. I spent less time in record shops than I can remember. Like everyone else, much of my year was spent working from home (thankfully) and binge-watching comfort TV ("The Great British Baking Show", "Walking Through History" and "Repair Shop" were three of my favorites.)

But there were bright spots -- musically -- in this otherwise horrid year. So, with a nod to the frivolity of exercises like this, here are 13 of my favorite songs of a very unlucky 2020:

Gorillaz featuring Peter Hook & Georgia - "Aries"

Perhaps my favorite song of the year. I realize that I'm predictable -- and that a Damon Alban-Peter Hook project was always going to be a winner in my book. But it's not like ALL collaborations between Manchester legends are shoe-ins to make my list (Avalanches' recent effort with Johnny Marr was sub-par for both parties.) But "Aries" earns its place on my list this year and would be a great song even without that iconic bass-line from Hooky. Honorable mention goes to another Gorillaz collab with an 80s icon: "Strange Timez" with the Cure's Robert Smith.

Public Enemy - "Fight the Power (2020 Remix)"

The anthem -- and album -- this year needed. The anger and urgency of Chuck D, Flav and collaborators that include Nat and QuestLove on this reboot cut through loud and clear during a summer of racial injustice, a health crisis that disproportionately hurt Black and brown communities, and a presidency that took its cues from the worst elements of society. PE never sounded so right for the times.

Bob Mould - "Forecast of Rain"

Another voice we needed this year was Bob Mould's. In two-and-a-half minutes of bombast. Mould calls out the hypocrites of the American right, and reserves well-deserved scorn for one in particular: "Would this be blasphemy: When you're a star/You can do what you want." Thank you, Mr. Mould, and keep doing what you're doing.

Deep Sea Diver featuring Sharon Van Etten - "Impossible Weight"

Seattle's Deep Sea Diver team up with New Jersey-born Van Etten for a track that oozes cool. Van Etten's vocals manage to be full of swagger yet vulnerable at the same time -- a feat nearly as impossible as the weight she worries she's putting on those around her. But with an acting career to go with her music, Van Etten is used to pulling off the impossible.

Destroyer - "Crimson Tide"

When it comes to the individual members of Canadian collective New Pornographers, I've long been a fan of Carl Newman, and less so of Dan Bejar's work. I love the instrumentation that starts minimal and builds throughout the song, punctuated by that great keyboard line and Bejar's spoken word vocals.

Future Islands - "For Sure"

Baltimore's Future Islands do it again -- a perfect, shimmery, synth pop song reminiscent of the best of the 80s. The playbook is a lot like their 2014 hit "Seasons (Waiting on You)" -- lush instrumentation, moody keyboard pads, and a Samuel T. Herring chorus begging to be sung along to. But if it works...

Washed Out - "Time to Walk Away"

Ernest Greene Jr. has always known how to extract maximum emotion from the minimum amount of ingredients. From the early chill wave recordings he made in the bedroom of his parents' house in Georgia, to the uptempo and almost salsa feel of this track, he manages to hit all the right notes, and all the right chords, to take his listeners along for an ethereal ride.

Olafur Arnalds - "Zero"

With around 350,000 people, Iceland has a population smaller than Aurora, Colorado. But its musical output? On a per capita basis, it is unrivaled. Think Sigur Ros and Of Monsters and Men, to say nothing of Bjork and Sugarcubes. This year's discovery for me was multi-instrumentalist Olafur Arnalds, whose hauntingly beautiful album Some Kind of Peace was the rather appropriate soundtrack to our very chill Thanksgiving.

bdrmm - "Push / Pull"

After new releases by Ride, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine in recent years, shoegaze is having a moment. So it's no surprise new bands would form to keep the genre moving. Hull's bdrmm pays tribute to the shoegaze classics with music to get utterly lost in. And in 2020, that sounds like a good thing.

Guided by Voices - "Mr. Child"

Guided by Voices released - count 'em - three albums this year. We knew Robert Pollard was prolific, but that is kind of ridiculous. The band gave us a lot to choose from, but I was won over by the guitar riff that opens this song -- with the right effects it could have been on a Fall record. 

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - "Cars in Space"

The Melbourne five-piece is back at it with their second album for Sub-Pop. "Cars in Space" could have been an outtake from 2018's debut LP Hope Downs. The formula -- three guitarists trading riffs over a driving drumbeat -- is the same, and it's still a winner.

Perfume Genius - "Describe"

Rich and moody, with surprising nods to both classic rock and folk. It's a bit of a departure for Michael Hadreas, who records as Perfume Genius. And it's not difficult to hear why Hadreas cites Cocteau Twins, Enya and Townes Van Zandt as influences on his 2020 release Set My Heart on Fire Immediately. 

Stephen Malkmus - "Xian Man"

Here's what happens when Pavement meets Tinariwen -- the laconic vocals we love about Malkmus blend so well with that strangely exotic guitar riff that repeats throughout the track.