Top 50 Songs of 2020 (30-21)
Posted: February 4th, 2021, 12:51 pm
Welcome Banks, Ron B, and Six!!
SONG #30
BANKS
Childish Gambino, Algorythym
Donald Glover has been making great music for over a decade now, and he released this album via a streaming website that only lasted 12 hours. Unfortunately, he did that on March 15th, which meant it was slightly overshadowed by the onset of a global pandemic. This is my favorite song from that surprise album; Donald’s voice and the way the song strolls at its own pace are super endearing. His entire output has been very Prince-esque for the past few years and you can definitely hear that here.
JOHNERLE
My Morning Jacket, Still Thinkin'
As the album title indicates, there are no huge surprises here for MMJ fans, but as their late era goes, it's well worth hearing.
LEESTU
Peter Bibby, Whyalla
I guess at his core Peter Bibby is a singer/songwriter, but he is also a bit of a yobbo, so it is really warped and noisy singer/songwriter tales, mostly about the undercurrent of society, the homeless, the unemployed, the struggling etc. He is a local act who I try to see whenever I can because he is a performer who always puts on a great show, with jokes and humorous banter in between songs, audience interaction like letting them choose which song to play next, or whether to play a song as a slow ballad or fast and noisy. This is from his third album, all of which are different to each other - you can hear the progression over the years – and all are worth hearing. It is a ballad to a large country town in a different state – I guess he liked it on one of his tours – and at the same time a positive empowering simple message of you can do it.
RON B
Bagi-la-m Bargan feat Fred Leone, Birdz
SCREEN
Tove Lo, Mistaken
SHRYKE
The Airborne Toxic Event, Come On Out
Hard words on a hot night
I'll have a beer, won't you turn out the light?
From the front door I could hear it right
I'm just running dumb and dumb and dumb and dumb
I wonder if I'll be turning back
I got twenty bucks in a pocket with my stash
I'm not afraid, not your "good night"
I'm just a shadow of a shadow tonight
Can you believe ATE’s “Sometime Around Midnight” came out thirteen years ago? Well, Mikel Jollett’s voice has only gotten better in that time. There’s a dark, haunting, almost Dave Gahan-ish quality to the vocals in “Come On Out”, showing a visceral vulnerability punctuated by a flurry of chugging guitars and drums. The lyrics, which Jollett wrote when recalling the time he ran away from home when he was 11, drive home the effects of abuse and just how scary the world truly can be for a child.
Album: Hollywood Park
Other great tracks: Hollywood Park, I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore, True
SIX
The Microphones, Microphones in 2020
Aha, you didn’t think I’d make life easy for you guys, did you? Here’s a song that’s 44 minutes long! Tranny, who had one track longer than mine in the Millennium Countdown, can’t beat this one.
Okay, so it’s an album, but really it’s a single song by Mount Eerie, aka Phil Elverum. He’s had a tough time, with his wife dying of cancer and leaving him to raise their infant daughter, as outlined is heartbreaking honesty in his last few albums. This song is a return to his original band, whose last record was in the early noughts. It’s a song about looking back with nostalgia and love, remarking on his young self, full of passion, anxiety, and wonder. 44 minutes is a long time to dedicate to a song, but if you have the time (and I find its best delved into either late at night when the lights are out or on a journey), let it wash over you.
ETA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7BkabF31ak
SURFER
Pozi, The Nightmare
After falling in love following the imaginatively titled PZ1 a couple of years ago, Pozi returned last year with an expanded sound on their EP. Central to this was The Nightmare, which plays with their post-punk aesthetic, bringing in a call and response pop vocal, a bass line Peter Hook would swoon over and anchoring it all is a devastating, wailing, tension filled violin scream. It alls tumbles into a wonderful pop dance number, with Rosa Brook providing addictive whooping to underpin the infectious nature of it all. Who said post-punk was all sad and depressing!
TRANSFORMERS
Run the Jewels, The Ground Below:
Run the Jewels long awaited 4th release was easily their most politically-charged effort thus far, but since they've always been committed to having balance in their music, there were still blasts of pure fun to break up the serious subjects and messages that drive the record. This guitar-driven banger ranks among my favorites of their exercises in unflinching intensity and whirlwind energy.
UNDEADMONKEY
Kacey Musgrave, Rainbow
Had no idea till I looked for the video that this was considered country. Either way, I love this song, it fills me with hope every time I hear it. Who didn't need more hope in 2020
SONG #30
BANKS
Childish Gambino, Algorythym
Donald Glover has been making great music for over a decade now, and he released this album via a streaming website that only lasted 12 hours. Unfortunately, he did that on March 15th, which meant it was slightly overshadowed by the onset of a global pandemic. This is my favorite song from that surprise album; Donald’s voice and the way the song strolls at its own pace are super endearing. His entire output has been very Prince-esque for the past few years and you can definitely hear that here.
JOHNERLE
My Morning Jacket, Still Thinkin'
As the album title indicates, there are no huge surprises here for MMJ fans, but as their late era goes, it's well worth hearing.
LEESTU
Peter Bibby, Whyalla
I guess at his core Peter Bibby is a singer/songwriter, but he is also a bit of a yobbo, so it is really warped and noisy singer/songwriter tales, mostly about the undercurrent of society, the homeless, the unemployed, the struggling etc. He is a local act who I try to see whenever I can because he is a performer who always puts on a great show, with jokes and humorous banter in between songs, audience interaction like letting them choose which song to play next, or whether to play a song as a slow ballad or fast and noisy. This is from his third album, all of which are different to each other - you can hear the progression over the years – and all are worth hearing. It is a ballad to a large country town in a different state – I guess he liked it on one of his tours – and at the same time a positive empowering simple message of you can do it.
RON B
Bagi-la-m Bargan feat Fred Leone, Birdz
SCREEN
Tove Lo, Mistaken
SHRYKE
The Airborne Toxic Event, Come On Out
Hard words on a hot night
I'll have a beer, won't you turn out the light?
From the front door I could hear it right
I'm just running dumb and dumb and dumb and dumb
I wonder if I'll be turning back
I got twenty bucks in a pocket with my stash
I'm not afraid, not your "good night"
I'm just a shadow of a shadow tonight
Can you believe ATE’s “Sometime Around Midnight” came out thirteen years ago? Well, Mikel Jollett’s voice has only gotten better in that time. There’s a dark, haunting, almost Dave Gahan-ish quality to the vocals in “Come On Out”, showing a visceral vulnerability punctuated by a flurry of chugging guitars and drums. The lyrics, which Jollett wrote when recalling the time he ran away from home when he was 11, drive home the effects of abuse and just how scary the world truly can be for a child.
Album: Hollywood Park
Other great tracks: Hollywood Park, I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore, True
SIX
The Microphones, Microphones in 2020
Aha, you didn’t think I’d make life easy for you guys, did you? Here’s a song that’s 44 minutes long! Tranny, who had one track longer than mine in the Millennium Countdown, can’t beat this one.
Okay, so it’s an album, but really it’s a single song by Mount Eerie, aka Phil Elverum. He’s had a tough time, with his wife dying of cancer and leaving him to raise their infant daughter, as outlined is heartbreaking honesty in his last few albums. This song is a return to his original band, whose last record was in the early noughts. It’s a song about looking back with nostalgia and love, remarking on his young self, full of passion, anxiety, and wonder. 44 minutes is a long time to dedicate to a song, but if you have the time (and I find its best delved into either late at night when the lights are out or on a journey), let it wash over you.
ETA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7BkabF31ak
SURFER
Pozi, The Nightmare
After falling in love following the imaginatively titled PZ1 a couple of years ago, Pozi returned last year with an expanded sound on their EP. Central to this was The Nightmare, which plays with their post-punk aesthetic, bringing in a call and response pop vocal, a bass line Peter Hook would swoon over and anchoring it all is a devastating, wailing, tension filled violin scream. It alls tumbles into a wonderful pop dance number, with Rosa Brook providing addictive whooping to underpin the infectious nature of it all. Who said post-punk was all sad and depressing!
TRANSFORMERS
Run the Jewels, The Ground Below:
Run the Jewels long awaited 4th release was easily their most politically-charged effort thus far, but since they've always been committed to having balance in their music, there were still blasts of pure fun to break up the serious subjects and messages that drive the record. This guitar-driven banger ranks among my favorites of their exercises in unflinching intensity and whirlwind energy.
UNDEADMONKEY
Kacey Musgrave, Rainbow
Had no idea till I looked for the video that this was considered country. Either way, I love this song, it fills me with hope every time I hear it. Who didn't need more hope in 2020