This whole year really went by fast. I don't understand the weird way time seems to be working during the shutdown, with days lasting years, and an actual year seeming like just a blink. Lots of good stuff came out in 2020 despite the horrible nature of reality, and you're going to find things on these three lists to explore and enjoy, I hope. Be sure to check back in soon for our Top 20 Albums Of 2020 lists.
Kenixfan's Top 20 Tracks of 2020 (in rough order of release date)
20. "I Want To Be In The Mafia" by BC Camplight
There was a lot to love on Shortly After Takeoff, the newest album from BC Camplight, but this lush, funny number revealed a talent that echoed Nilsson and Randy Newman, and even F.M. Cornog (East River Pipe).
19. "Feel You More Than The World Right Now" by Spinning Coin
Where to begin with Spinning Coin? This euphoric number, from the band's latest, Hyacinth, is a good place to start.
18. "We've Been Disappearing" by SAVAK
The down-tempo gem from SAVAK was one of my recent favorites from the band, even before the video premiered here. The number, featuring Michael Hampton (The Faith), is from the group's superb Rotting Teeth in the Horse's Mouth.
17. "Right Down to the Heart of London" by Maria McKee
The latest Maria McKee album, La Vita Nuova, was a cathartic and beautiful creation. Mixing the sweep of a Bowie record with an intensely personal vision, it was perhaps Maria's best solo release to date. "Right Down to the Heart of London" was smart and bloody lush.
16. "Pill" by Peel Dream Magazine
"Pill" sounds so much like Stereolab circa 1993 that I almost can't believe it. Luckily the band can do more than this, as shown on their fine Agitprop Alterna.
15. "Just Like (Miau)" by Hinds
If The Prettiest Curse revealed Hinds growing up a bit, the sound of this band remained as youthful as we'd have hoped. "Just Like Kids (Miau)" is perhaps the group's wittiest song to date, with knowing lyrics that are some of their sharpest and smartest. And it's damn fun too.
14. "Dying to Believe" by The Beths
Look, you could pick any song from Jump Rope Gazers for this list but there was no denying the catchiness of this one. Featuring a hook to kill for, I dare you to play this and not get it stuck in your head. Just play a dozen more times. It's okay.
13. "Loner" by Dehd
The latest from Dehd, Flower of Devotion, was not only better than their previous one, it was also full of stuff that was surprisingly infectious, like this one.
12. "Things Turn Around" by El Goodo
The latest record from Welsh band El Goodo, Zombie, was full of tunes just like this one. And if the band sounded more like Teenage Fanclub than Welsh peers like Super Furry Animals, that's okay because the end result was an album that was supremely listenable, and a pleasant surprise.
11. "Green Stars, Clouds Departing" by The Black Watch
The Black Watch put out a lot of music in 2020, and while there are more obvious choices that others might list, I am going with this one from the band's superb Fromthing Somethat. This one finds John Andrew Frederick sing like Luke Haines leading Kitchens of Distinction. The tune has an elegance that indie rarely has in 2020 and I loved it.
10. "Violet" by Sea Girls
The debut full-length from England's Sea Girls, Open Up Your Head, was a big-sounding record, with each cut produced and presented like it was a potential hit single. But the cut that grabbed me was "Violet", a shouty bit of business that charmed me instantly.
9. "Her Three-Year Old Laugh or The Time The Microphones Played in My Living Room" by The Very Most
Every single cut on the new one from The Very Most, Needs Help, is just fantastic, but this one, with its Belle & Sebastian-style piano-line, seems an obvious choice here since it's an instant classic as far as I'm concerned.
8. "No One Holds You (Closer Than The One You Haven't Met)" by The Lemon Twigs
I was a month or two late to the party with Songs for the General Public by The Lemon Twigs but I LOVED it. Picking just a single song for this list was a genuine dilemma but I went with this one as it blends the band's glam tendencies with the kind of bright tunefulness that's become the earmark of their sound.
7. "Instant Night" by Beauty Pill
While Beauty Pill will show up with a release on my Top 20 Albums Of 2020 soon, this one-off single was a sure thing for this list. A brilliant, funny, and hypnotic bit of chamber pop from Chad Clark and team, "Instant Night" was the sound of our hearts filling with dread ahead of election day.
6. "Safety Crash" by Tapeworms
Okay, another band that wants to be Stereolab, France's Tapeworms could do other things, of course, as revealed on Funtastic, but "Safety Crash" was just a wildly fun approximation of peak 'Lab and I loved it for being that.
5. "There's a Ghost" by Superchunk
A surprise single, with a cover of The Sisters of Mercy on the flip, this Superchunk offering reminded us that the band was still out there, making the best sort of loud DIY indie we've always loved and needed. Thank God for Superchunk. Seems like I've been saying that for 25 years...
4. "For Sure" by Future Islands
The lush "For Sure" was an early single from As Long As You Are, the latest Future Islands album. Sam T. Herring's vocals find a home here atop the sleek keyboards and the result is pure New Wave bliss.
3. "Care" by Beabadoobee
The debut full-length from Beabadoobee was one of 2020's most anticipated releases. And while I liked Fake It Flowers, I didn't love it. That said, it at least gave us one of this bleak year's most infectious singles with "Care".
2. "Fork in the Road" by Smokescreens
With production by David Kilgour of The Clean, A Strange Dream, the latest from Smokescreens was bound to please. However, who knew that the band could make something that sounded like both The Go-Betweens and Aztec Camera? This was impossible not to love.
1. "All You're Dreaming Of" by Liam Gallagher
This year-end, holiday-vibing one-off charity single was probably my favorite single of the year, if I'm telling the truth. It's at the top of this list because of when it came out, but it sort of is my number one. As you were.
Stan Cierlitsky's Top 20 Tracks of 2020 (in no particular order)
1. "It Falls Apart" by Greg Dulli (from Random Desire)
2. "Swill" by Jónsi (from Shiver)
3. "Don't Panic" by Hoops (from English Breakfast)
4. "Home" by Caribou (from Suddenly)
5. "Running Red Lights" by The Avalanches (from We Will Always Love You)
6. "Aries" by Gorillaz feat. Peter Hook and Georgia (from Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez)
7. "Say Less" by Nothing (from The Great Dismal)
8. "Items Taken" by Unequal feat. Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses (from Items Taken)
9. "Dinosaurs on the Mountain" by The Flaming Lips (from American Head)
10. "PDLIF" by Bon Iver (from PDLIF)
11. "Red Western Sky" by Muzz (from Muzz)
12. "Absence of Birds" by The Radio Dept. (from The Absence of Birds)
13. "The Adults are Talking" by The Strokes (from The New Abnormal)
14. "Dione" by The Japanese House feat. Justin Vernon (from Chewing Cotton Wool)
15. "Another Door" by The Bats (from Foothills)
16. "Bloody Rainbow" by Built to Spill (from Built to Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston)
17. "Johnnie" by Close Lobsters (from Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols)
18. "How Lucky" by Kurt Vile with John Prine (from Speed, Sound, Lonely KV EP)
19. "One More Year" by Tame Impala (from The Slow Rush)
20. "Identical" by Phoenix (from On The Rocks soundtrack)
Jay Mukherjee's Top 20 Tracks of 2020 (in no particular order)
1. "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" by A Girl Called Eddy (from Been Around)
2. "Godless" by Close Lobsters (from Post Neo Anti: Arte Povera in the Forest of Symbols)
3. "Here" by Elizabeth (from The Wonderful World of Nature)
4. "Frost" by The Royal Landscaping Society (from Frost)
5. "Cameo" by Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (from Sideways to New Italy)
6. "Fork in the Road" by Smokescreens (from A Strange Dream)
7. "2:22" by The Luxembourg Signal (from The Long Now)
8. "The Morning After" by The Luxembourg Signal (from The Long Now)
9. "Another Door" by The Bats (from Foothills)
10. "The Sound of Everyone" by Cloud Nothings (from The Black Hole Understands)
11. "The Great Divide" by Grids and Dots (from The Great Divide)
12. "What's Beauty to Do?" by The Apartments (from In and Out of the Light)
13. "Brilliant Failures" by The Black Watch (from Brilliant Failures)
14. "The Glue" by Oldfield Youth Club (from The Glue / Splinters / Kids at Summer Festivals 3 track EP)
15. "Sky Burial" by Crushed Beaks (from Sky Burial)
16. "Everything is Just So" by David Newton and Thee Mighty Angels (from A Gateway to a Lifetime of Disappointment)
17 "I Love Only You" by Smokescreens (from A Strange Dream)
18. "St. Marie under Canon" by Cornershop (from England is a Garden)
19. "Everything and Nothing" by The Cry (from Everything and Nothing)
20. "Gush" by bdrmm (from Bedroom)
[Photo of Dehd: Alexa Viscius]