2020

1. En Attendant Ana – “Down The Hill” – Juillet (Trouble In Mind)
2. Jeanines – “Everyone Should Be Warned” – Things Change (wiaiwya)
3. Galore – “Silence” – S/T (Rocks In Your Head)
4. Melenas – “En Madrid” Dias Raros (Elsa)
5. Seablite – “High-Rise Mannequin” – High-Rise Mannequin (Emotional Response)
6. Potpourri – “Postcards” – First Dance (Bingo)
7. Nightshift – “Make Kin” – “Make Kin” (Trouble In Mind)
8. Gustaf – “Design” – S/T (Royal Mountain)
9. Lithics – “Hands” – Tower of Age (Trouble In Mind)
10. Shopping – “Follow Me” – All Or Nothing (FatCat)
11. Flowers – “Erik” – Erik (Slumberland)
12. Candace – “DM-100” – Ideal Corners (S/R)
13. Torrey – “Recording 119” – Recording 119 (S/R)
14. Radiator Hospital – “Summer Movie” – New Depression (S/R)
15. The Reds, Pinks and Purples – “I Should Have Helped You” – I Should Have Helped You (Burundi Cloud)
16. SOAR – “Corner of a Room” – Soft Dial Tone (Lost Sound Tapes)
17. Latitude – “I Love the Radio” – Mystic Hotline (Emotional Response)
18. Axolotes Mexicanos – “Te Quiero (…)” – Uwu (Elefant)
19. Habibi – “Angel Eyes” – Anywhere But Here (Muddguts)
20. Soft Palms – “Not Love” – S/T (Everloving)
21. Boyracer – “Girl in a Soul Band” – On a Promise (Emotional Response)
22. Parsnip – “Treacle Toffee World” – Adding Up (Anti Fade)
23. No se a quien matar – “Bacilococo” – Bacilococo (Casa Maracas)
24. Baby Shakes – “Really Really” – Sweet ‘n’ Sour (Dimple)
25. Ribbon Stage – “Favorite Girl” – My Favorite Shrine (S/R)
26. The Stroppies – “Burning Bright” – Look Alive (Tough Love)
27. Terry – “Take the Cellphone” – Take the Cellphone (Sub Pop)
28. Lisasinson – “Volverte A Enamorar” – Volverte A Enamorar (Elefant)
29. Brontez Purnell – “In Between” – White Boy Music (Post Present)
30. Neutrals – “Personal Computing” – Personal Computing (Slumberland)
31. Sweeping Promises – “Cross Me Out” – Hunger for a Way Out (Feel It)
32. Lewsberg – “Through the Garden” – In This House (S/R)
33. Cindy – “Falcon Heavy” – Free Advice (Mt.St.Mtn.)
34. Peel Dream Magazine – “Too Dumb” – Agitprop Alterna (Slumberland)
35. Virginia Wing – “I’m Holding Out For Something” – I’m Holding Out For Something (Fire)
36. Cold Beat – “Flat Earth” – Mother (DFA)
37. Primo! – “Love Days” – Sogni (Upset The Rhythm)
38. Suzie True – “Bailey” – Saddest Girl at the Party (Get Better)
39. Porridge Radio – “Circling” – Every Bad (Secretly Canadian)
40. Mitimitis – “Todas las Fiestas del Manana” – Terror en el Autocine (S/R)

FGW ♥ Reissues of 2020

• Hiroshi Yoshimura – GREEN (Light In The Attic)
• Admas – Sons of Ethiopia (Frederiksberg)
• Patrick Cowley – Some Funkettes (Dark Entries)
• Ranil – Ranil y Su Conjunto Tropical (Analog Africa)
• Sharhabil Ahmed – The King of Sudanese Jazz (Habibi Funk)
• Thelonious Monk – Palo Alto (Impulse!)
• Elliott Smith – Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994 (KRS)
• The Heshoo Beshoo Group – Armitage Road (We Are Busy Bodies)

FGW ♥ Albums/EPs of 2020

• Moaning – Uneasy Laughter (Sub Pop)
• Against All Logic – 2017-2019 (Other People)
• Perfume Genius – Set My Heart on Fire Immediately (Matador)
• SAULT – Untitled (Black Is) / Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
• Widowspeak – Plum (Captured Tracks)
• King Krule – Man Alive! (True Panther Sounds / Matador)
• Frankie Reyes – Originalitos (Stones Throw)
• Adrianne Lenker – songs / instrumentals (4AD)
• Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death (Partisan)
• Angel Olsen – Whole New Mess (Jagjaguwar)
• JPEGMAFIA – EP! (EQT)
• Hama – Music From Saharan Whatsapp 08 (Sahel Sounds)
• Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross / Jon Batiste – Soul (OST) (Disney)
• Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now (Asylum)
• Candace – Ideal Corners (S/R)
• Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)
• Bosca Banks – Winner (S/R)
• Deeper – Auto-Pain (Fire Talk)
• Nicolás Jaar – Cenizas (Other People)
• Peel Dream Magazine – Agitprop Alterna (Slumberland)
• Duma – Duma (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
• Emily Montes – Emily Montes (S/R)
• Various – Care Not Cops (In This Together LA)
• Various – The Song is Coming from Inside the House (S/R)

FGW ♥ Singles of 2020

• Connan Mockasin – “I Want Troll With You (Gentle Dom Remix)” (Mexican Summer)
• Car Seat Headrest – “Can’t Cool Me Down” (Matador)
• Jamie xx – “Idontknow” (Young Turks)
• Burial, Four Tet & Thom Yorke – “Her Revolution” (XL)
• Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper & 9th Wonder – “Freeze Tag (feat. Phoelix)” (Sounds of Crenshaw / EMPIRE)
• Porridge Radio & Lala Lala – “Good For You” (Secretly Canadian / Hardly Art)
• RMR – “RASCAL” (CMNTY CULTURE)
• Dummy – “Pool Dizzy” (Born Yesterday)
• Aoife Nessa Frances – “Geranium” (Ba Da Bing!)
• Anderson .Paak – “Lockdown” (12Tones)
• Frank Ocean – “Cayendo (Side A – Acoustic)” (Blonded)
• Justin Bieber & benny blanco – “Lonely”
• Kurt Vile & John Prine – “How Lucky” (Matador)
• Whateverglades – “Don’t Call Me Baby / I Watch Over Me” (No Egrets)
• Fenn Rosenthal – “Dinosaurs in Love (feat. Tom Rosenthal)” (Dinosaur)

• Pinegrove – Marigold (Rough Trade)
• Fleet Foxes – Shore (ANTI-)
• Sufjan Stevens – The Ascension (Asthmatic Kitty)
• Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)
• Purity Ring – WOMB (4AD)
• Carly Rae Jepsen – Dedicated Side B (Schoolboy and Interscope)
• beabadoobee – Fake It Flowers (Dirty Hit)
• Frances Quinlan – Likewise (Saddle Creek)
• Into It Over It – Figures (Triple Crown)
• Standards – Fruit Island (Topshelf)
• Baths – Pop Music/False B Sides II (Basement’s Basement)
• Liza Anne – Bad Vacation (Arts and Crafts)
• Field Medic – Floral Prince (Run For Cover)
• Starchild and the New Romantic – Forever (New Romantic World)
• Yumi Zouma – Truth or Consequences (Polyvinyl)
• The Japanese House – Chewing Cotton Wool (Dirty Hit)
• Braids – Shadow Offering (Secret City)
• The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers (Carpark)
• PUP – This Place Sucks Ass (Rise)
• Rina Sawayama – Sawayama (Dirty Hit)
• Hayley Williams – Petals For Armor (Atlantic)
• HAIM – Women in Music Part III (Columbia)
• Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge)
• The Mountain Goats – Getting Into Knives (Merge)
• Dryjacket – Going Out Of Business (Lesser Matters)

The staggering volume of amazing music released in 2020 was the silver lining of one of the most challenging years of my adult life.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Aesop Rock – Spirit World Field Guide (Rhymesayers)
• AJ Suede – Knowhatimean? (self-released)
• Al.Divino & Futurewave – Kataklizm (self-released)
• Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk – Ocean Bridges (Redefinition)
• Armand Hammer – Shrines (Backwoodz Studioz)
• Arms and Sleepers – Corpus Dei (Future Archive)
• Awol One – Tony the Walrus (Speakerface)
• Batsauce – Shelter Skelter (Full Plate)
• Blockhead – Quar and Peace (self-released)
• Blu & Exile – Miles: From An Interlude Called Life (Dirty Science)
• BlUu Edwards – All We Need Is Kill (Wrecking Crew)
• Boldy James – The Price of Tea In China (ALC)
• Buckwild – Music Is My Religion (Kurrup Money)
• Brzowski & C Money Burns – The Subjugation of Bread (Milled Pavement)
• Cargo Cults – Nihilist Millennial (Wrecking Crew)
• Chester Watson – A Japanese Horror Film (POW)
• Controller 7 – Exhale01 (self-released)
• Controller 7 & Buck 65 – Billy (self-released)
• Count Bass D – CBD (self-released)
• Day Tripper – Langford Landscapes (Full Plate)
• Dillon & Batsauce – Self Medicated EP (Full Plate)
• DJ Muggs & Al.Divino – Kilogram (Soul Assassins)
• DJ Scientist – The Artless Cuckoo Vol. II (self-released)
• Doseone – G Is For Job (self-released)
• Dr. Oop & Nada Clue – Essential Business Vol. 1 & 2 (self-released)
• Ear Dr.Umz – Mental Picture Show (self-released)
• Ecid – Post Euphoria Vol. 3 (Fill In the Breaks)
• 80’s Babies – unLEARN (self-released)
• Escape Artists – Evergreen (Cathexis)
• Factor Chandelier – First Storm (Fake Four Inc)
• Factor Chandelier – Eastlake (Fake Four Inc)
• Fielded – Demisexual Lovelace (Backwoodz Studioz)
• 4-IZE – Look Into My IZE (Ultra Beast United)
• Gel Roc – Grandeur (Abolano)
• Googie & Henry Canyons – Hijinx (Backwoodz Studioz)
• Griff/Scorcese – Midnight Express (Insubordinate)
• Haphduzn – Visceral (self-released)
• Heliocentrics – Infinity of Now (Madlib Invazion)
• Henny L.O. & Ohbliv – Sages (Mutant Academy)
• Him Lo – Slapyagoddamnfaceoff (Grilchy Party)
• ialive – I’ll Wait Forever (Cold Rhyme)
• Ill Scholars – Ill Scholars (self-released)
• Illogic – Autopilot (self-released)
• Junclassic – The Hope Business (self-released)
• Ka – Descendents of Cain (Iron Works)
• Kay the Aquanaut & Maki – The Nautical Blue (self-released)
• Kid Abstrakt & Emapea – Jazzy Vibes (self-released)
• LAPIS – Third Person You (Fresh Selects)
• lojii – lo&behold (self-released)
• Lt Headtrip – Dreamery (We Are the Karma Kids)
• Lydia Liza & Big Cats – Oh Boy (self-released)
• Mestizo & Controller 7 – Couch (self-released)
• MidaZ the Beast – Where the Sidewalk Ends (self-released)
• Moodie Black – F U Z Z (Fake Four Inc)
• Napoleon Da Legend & Ro Data – The Stuff of Legend (Chong Wizard)
• Nation GVNG – Nation GVNG (Insubordinate)
• Nolan the Ninja – Talk Soon (Sport Cast)
• Observe Since ’98 – Royaume Du Sauvage (Loretta)
• Open Mike Eagle – Anime, Trauma & Divorce (Auto Reverse
• Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin – FlySiifu’s (Lex)
• Proe & MF Shalem B – Belove Below (Childproof)
• Pro Zay – Alley Muzik (self-released)
• Pseudo Intellectuals – A Late Stage Malaise (Lo Do)
• Ransom & Nicholas Craven – Director’s Cut: Scene 2 & 3 (Chong Wizard)
• R.A.P. Ferreira – Purple Moonlight Pages (Ruby Yacht)
• Rasheed Chappell & Buckwild – Sinners and Saints (Get On Down)
• Rigz & Futurewave – Substance Abuse (self-released)
• Roughneck Jihad – The Red Sentence (Expanded-Art)
• Salami Rose Joe Louis – Chapters of Zdenka (Brainfeeder)
• Señor Kaos & Illastrate – Kings of Vice (Ultra Beast United)
• Serengeti – AJAI (Fake Four Inc)
• ShrapKnel – ShrapKnel (Backwoodz Studioz)
• Sons of the James – Everlasting (Fresh Selects)
• Thundercat – It Is What It Is (Brainfeeder)
• Ultra Beast – Rush the Court (Ultra Beast United)
• Verbal Kent & The Other Guys – Blade of the Short Cut (HiPNOTT)
• Vic Spencer – Psychological Cheat Sheet (Old Fart Luggage)
• Vitamin D – Flips Vol. 1 & 2 (self-released)
• WateRR – Workshop of the Mind (self-released)
• White Horse – White Horse (Uncommon)
• Wrecking Crew – Raheem’s Lament (Wrecking Crew)
• Yppah – Sunset In the Deep End (Future Archive)
• Zilla Rocca & Chong Wizard – Midnight Sons (Chong Wizard)

Picking the very best of that bunch is difficult, but if I had to narrow it down to only 10 of those titles they most likely would be:

• Armand Hammer – Shrines (Backwoodz Studioz)
• BlUu Edwards – All We Need Is Kill (Wrecking Crew)
• Serengeti – AJAI (Fake Four Inc)
• Controller 7 & Buck 65 – Billy (self-released)
• Blu & Exile – Miles: From an Interlude Called Life (Dirty Science)
• 4-IZE – Look Into My IZE (Ultra Beast United)
• Ill Scholars – Ill Scholars (self-released)
• Open Mike Eagle – Anime, Trauma & Divorce (Auto Reverse)
• Chester Watson – A Japanese Horror Film (POW)
• WateRR – Workshop of the Mind (self-released)

• Yppah – Sunset in the Deep End (Future Archive)
• Wajatta – Don’t Let Get You Down (Brainfeeder)
• Thundercat – It Is What It Is (Brainfeeder)
• Sneaks – Happy Birthday (Merge)
• Romare – Home (Ninja Tune)
• Potatohead People – Mellow Fantasy (Bastard Jazz)
• Omar-S – You Want (FXHE)
• Moon Boots – Bimini Road (Remixed) (Anjunadeep)
• Jayda G – Both of Us / Are You Down (Ninja Tune)
• Emancipator – Mountain of Memory (Loci)

As in A Tale of Two Cities, it was the best of years, it was the worst of years

Best Singles

• Cormac Russell – “Lotus Train” (s/r)
• Dream Aria – “Fairy Dust” (s/r)
• Enzo Monk – “Ballad of George Floyd” (s/r)
• Lizki – “Press Rewind” (Seayou)
• Preach – “Likor” (Seayou)
• Rosa Rendl– “Opportunity Lover” (Seayou)
• Samantha Margret – “Emotional” (s/r)

Best Covers

• Juliana Hatfield – Sings The Police (American Laundromat)
• Khalia – “Hallelujah” (K-Licious)
• Robbie Quine – “Sugar Sugar” (s/r)

Best New Releases

• Klo Pelgag – Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs (Secret City)
• Jed’s A Millionaire – The Beautiful Ones – (Kona)
• Dylan Sherry – Western Sky – (s/r)
• Clown of God – Clown Times ep – (s/r)
• Various Artists – Tokyo Dreaming (WeWantSounds)

Best Re-releases

• Ammar el Sherei – Oriental Sounds (WeWantSounds)
• Omar Khorshid – With Love (WeWantSounds)