2020 In Review, Part One
Furloughed And Forlorn… But Still Forging Ahead
I won’t be following this particular line of inquiry for long, but how do you even begin to open a year-in-review piece when every day of said year beheld a new catastrophe that brought everything crashing down around you? In the grand scheme of things, it all seems so pointless.
As death tolls continue to rise from disease and violence all over the world, is drawing up a ‘Best Of’ list even an appropriate thing to do? Why would anyone want to navigate through the vile, bitter bog of 2020 just so they can meekly herald a few albums or whatever and say, “yeah, this was alright, actually?”
Well, as my personal experience extended beyond April’s furlough and trundled on into August’s redundancy, all whilst the “Hold My Beer” trajectory of bad news from around the world only seemed to steepen ever more thereafter, apportioning a part of my day to indulge in someone else’s artistic endeavour became more of a necessity for my mental wellbeing than I’d care to admit, swiftly becoming a part of my daily routine and providing a welcome break from mornings spent alternating between watching the news, searching for work and scowling at my laptop for making me repeat the same Duolingo exercise all week.
“Io sono molto bravo a scrivere in Italiano adesso, vero?”
So, in an extremely roundabout way, this is an attempt at saying thank you. Thank you to all of the artists who have helped my bewildered self through this particularly horrid trip around the sun and for providing ample solace as the world seemed to fold in on itself with one tragedy after another.
Therefore, I shall be offering some listicle-style rundowns of musical offerings that particularly tickled my fancy throughout this misbegotten year in tribute to those who have helped keep my head above the water that was Hellscape 2020; a series of appreciation posts first and foremost.
No petty snark or resentments here for now; after all, I ought to make a nice first impression really… 😉
And with that laboured pre-amble over, let’s get things started by dusting off a couple of lists right now, shall we?
Top 5 EP’s Of 2020
Apparition – serpentwithfeet
Clocking in at just over eight minutes in its entirety, Apparition follows the same sensuous paths forged by Josiah Wise’s previous work, though there appears to be a lighter touch and sensibility present here, which incidentally is no bad thing if it provides wider exposure to the singer’s gorgeously mellifluous vocals and wantonly lusty approach to experimental alternative nu-soul.
Before – James Blake
Before finds R&B/pop minimalist James Blake in his most continuously move-busting mode yet, his first release of 2020 finding him infusing his signature confessionalisms with generously warm synths and buoyant grooves that only serve to make the drama that much more affecting once the bustling beats fall away to reveal the imploding heartbreak underneath.
Self Portrait (Original Soundtrack) – Susanne Sundfor
Sundfør’s underscore accompaniment to the 2019 documentary of the same name comprises instrumentally of little more than a piano and her salient voice, the latter being layered and edited to create some of the most poignant choral music you are likely to hear from 2020, helping to offer a stirring tribute to the tragic life of photographer Lene Marie Fossen.
Tales Of Forgotten Spirits – Lit Panda
Be it via the warmth on display in the disarming chants found on “She Sells Sea Shells To Change The World” or the fraught synths and pummelling beats that drive the closing track “Time Is Running Out”, Lit creates immersive tech-house music for the socially conscientious, and is certainly a producer one should keep their eye on for the future.
The Fifth Season – Lafawndah
Inspired by N.K. Jemisin’s dystopian sci-fi fantasy novel of the same name, The Fifth Season sees Yasmine Dubois follow a more classically elemental through-line in her sound, her voice sighing and moaning prettily as it offers remonstrations and reassurances from the foreboding brass arrangements embodying a stark world that grows only more ominous around her.
Top 5 Debut Albums Of 2020
Love And Dancing – Horse Meat Disco
Though it seems like decades ago now because COVID, I often fondly remember Sunday nights out with friends in London hitting a critical juncture when at the point of no-return someone would brightly proclaim, “Horse Meat?” Established by the eponymous DJ quartet back in the early 2000s, its feelgood soundtrack of lost disco classics has been a favourite of should-know-better revellers ever since, and that same irrepressible energy is in full flow here, an album of retro-fitted nu-disco belters glittered with a twenty-first century sheen that are all-banger-no-clanger. As both a thank you to their loyal club-head denizens in these party-starved times and a primer for the first full-fledged party once all this guff has passed us by, it is one of the most affirmingly lovely releases of the year.
Opaquer – KMRU
Emerging from an aether of ambient wistfulness with no less than three albums this year, Nairobi native Joseph Kamaru’s last twelve months have seen him reap garland after garland of critical raves for his richly atmospheric soundscapes. The fact that he released his transporting compositions during a year wherein most people remained inside their homes amidst lockdown-enforced ennui no doubt made his immersive works more poignant, but if it’s time out from the world that you need, you cannot do better than any one of his long-form sets of ornate ambience and white noise. And though Peel is the LP that is receiving all the plaudits (however justly), I’m going to pin my star on the more other-worldly wonders of Opaquer, but quite frankly you’re still getting spoiled either way!
Source – Nubya Garcia
A rapidly ascending star of the London jazz scene, Garcia’s reputation hit critical mass in 2020 when the rest of the world finally caught up with her talent via the release of her debut album as primary performer, arranger and composer. Already a firm fixture in the music press and festival line-ups thanks to her award-winning live performances and her work on collective projects, Garcia’s virtuosity is on full display here, drawing on and celebrating each of her various sonic influences with reverent fierceness. The most striking facet of Garcia that is on display throughout Source is her sense of community spirit, one that is able to utilise all of her supremely malleable skills as a performer to proudly reveal the beating heart borne from her multi-cultural background with tremendous vigour and detail.
What We Drew우리가 그려왔던 – Yaeji
As far as in-demand DJ/producers go, Kathy Yaeji Lee is certainly one of the more curiously engaging for her blend of pop, house and electronica, no doubt bolstered by well-received remixes for such pop luminaries as Dua Lipa and Robyn. What We Drew is her first long-form release with über-hip independent label XL Recordings, and as opening salvos go, it is as sure a sign of future success that 2020 has heard. Flitting between English and Korean throughout, Yaeji’s sweet nasally bubble of a voice provides a nice counterpart to the darkly trippy playfulness that her productions evoke, especially once it’s chopped up and scattered amongst all of the bouncy synths, bass rumbles and micro-beats to create one of the most divertingly fun albums to be enjoyed in today’s crop of electro-pop.
Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club
Hailing from Sheffield, frontman Syd Minsky-Sargeant put his indie-pop project together whilst studying music at college in Manchester, only for a change in musical direction to also prompt a last-minute change in the band’s line-up just before their first headline London show. In forgoing the jangly guitar pop for a more dance-oriented synthpop revamp, the stress behind-the-scenes appears to have paid off, as the outfit’s eponymous debut album sets out their stall of expertly-conceived retro-pop quite fabulously. Fellow Yorkshire-born pop-peers The Human League and Arctic Monkeys figure very highly in the mix alongside the likes of New Order and The Prodigy, though it ought to be said that the band’s strident straddle between new-wave and new-rave emits a particularly 2020 energy that is all of its own, leaving an exciting first impression for what is likely to follow.
2020 Hero Tribute #1
And finally, apropos of nothing, here is a picture of the wonderful Marcus Rashford, an athlete who appealed to the ghastly UK government’s decency in asking them to not let impoverished children go hungry and won. Twice.
Marcus Rashford MBE
Got that?
Join me next time when we start getting into the genre-based nitty-gritty of the mess that is my 2020 Album Chart.
Stay safe, people!
xxxo
