Music Albums of the Year

It was a pretty good year for music but a miserable one for music lovers. While the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t exactly stopped artists from putting out excellent albums, fans couldn’t see their favorite new songs performed live. Listening to an artist’s tracks on Spotify gives us a glimpse of their sonic power, but unless we can feel the music echoing through our bodies, it just isn’t the same experience.

We can’t change the state of the world (or get a coronavirus vaccine to be distributed faster), but we can give you a preview of the best music albums released in 2020. Hopefully all of these artists can let’s hit the road again in 2021 and we can enjoy their songs the way we were meant to – in person.

Cover photo: Run the Jewels

10. Bad rabbit ‘YHLQMDLG’

At Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana (translated by : I do what I want), the 25-year-old Latino trap artist has invited a slew of rappers and reggae artists to help him celebrate one of his favorite subjects: women.
9. Fiona Apple “Go get the bolt cutters”

Say what you want of Fiona Apple’s weird lyrics and unconventional instrumentation; she still makes music like you’ve never heard before.
8. Sufjan Stevens “The Ascension”

Stevens instrumentally experiments with a drum machine and synthesizers on this album but remains lyrically focused on the big questions of life.
7. Bob Dylan ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’

Bob Dylan still has it. This, his first new collection of songs in eight years, is a testament to the musical genius of the American poet.
6. Taylor Swift “Folklore”

We have to give credit where credit is due. Taylor Swift created a folk album “cottagecore” that recalled the seriousness and vulnerability of the songwriter before she exploded, but this time she is more mature and has her feet on the ground.
5. Execute jewelry ‘RTJ4’

Killer Mike and El-P have reunited for a critically acclaimed fourth collaboration that tackles racist policing, capitalism and family ties.
4. Moses Sumney ‘græ’

This ambitious double album focuses on emotion and mixes several musical genres in passing.
3. Tame Impala ‘The Slow Rush’

Kevin Parker’s solo project puts you in a cold trance and leaves you with memorable mottos that will stay in your head long after you turn off the music.
2. Phoebe Bridgers ‘Punisher’

While not as melancholy or as nuanced as its 2017 debut Foreigner in the Alps, Bridgers’ second effort is sad, charming and irresistible all at the same time.
1. Dave Simonett “Red Tail”

The frontman of “newgrass” band Trampled by Turtles and rock side-project Dead Man Winter has finally released an album in his own name – and it’s a beauty, evoking the kind of thoughtful loneliness of a guy with only a guitar. in the desert can conjure up.