I hope publications don’t snub on the Ratboys, Beach Bunny, Cartalk, The Beths, or Retirement Party albums from this year. A few great emo/indie rock records that I feel are likely to be overlooked.
These still just seem so early to me, haha. I know this is the normal time (if not a little later), but I feel less mentally prepared for list time this year than normal.
This might be surprising or not surprising at all, but I don’t think I ever knowingly heard a Fiona Apple song
November 30th is fine. It's one day early but I'll allow it because what else do I have to do. That said, I'm far behind where I'd normally like to be at this time
And shoutout to the Quietus for being the only list to have Algiers on it so far. HUGELY disappointed in Paste for that. They're local!
Going through the ones I haven't heard at random. Wayfayer is REAL good. Whole album is good but Vaudeville is incredible.
gorilla vs. bear's albums of 2020 Eartheater, Kelly Lee Owens, Ela Minus, Actress, Tops, Shinichi Atobe, Charli, Westerman, OPN, Jessy Lanza, Helena Deland are some of my faves.
Great stuff from GvB, as always. Totally expected Helena Deland at the top, but it's still nice to see since (imo) that record has not gotten nearly as much attention as it should have. Very cool to see Pa Salieu place so highly on both GvB and the Quietus. Did not expect to see that, especially since the record has only been out a few weeks.
Much better list than last year (at least in terms of the #1 spot). Hype to dig in! Dope to see 070 Shake on there!
Glad to see SAULT getting the recognition they deserve. Both albums they released this year have been great.
I suspected I wasn't keeping up with the likely list favorites this year and was correct. Getting killed on these lists. Did discover Sault from them though, and that's rad.
It was hyped pretty much everywhere, got BNM on Pitchfork and AOTW on Gum, honestly thought it was a lock for Stereogum’s top 30