BEST MUSIC 2020
We’ve all done our best to cope with a year no one was expecting. What was supposed to be the beginning of an exciting new decade with bright and shiny potential turned into a hurricane of madness. Pandemics, masks, shutdowns, quarantines, shootings, racism, political heat, conspiracies, and even aliens made the news this year. While we were confused and afraid awaiting solutions and cures, arguing with neighbours, and trying to count our social distancing steps, very few people shifted their focus on music.
This was a year of self-reflection, change, and just hoping to not get sick. Reports of Covid-19 death stats kept piling on day after day. The global shutdown caused financial struggle and hardship and it will be a long time before we all fully recover. The music scene seemed to quietly whimper from the sidelines offering a mediocre output through its last dying embers of melody.
Both the Grammys and the MTV Video awards felt especially apocalyptic this year in set design, empty seats, and the music itself. WAP was the biggest track of the year by many accounts which begs the question why the lyrics to this song were allowed to hit # 1 while last year “Baby It’s Cold Outside” got #cancelled.
WAP represents a slice of our current hip-hop/pop culture that is pushing the area of how far sexually-nasty lyrics can go in a mainstream market. While Trump was making America great again, Niki Minaj was making salad tossing cool again. While sexual explicitness in music is nothing new the industry managed to double down this year and push Wet A** P***y to number one. Meghan Thee Stallion and Lizzo also proved the rise of the feminine in Hip-Hop as they dominated all areas of the mainstream.
All the while rock music barely moved in its grave, absolutely dead silent as its been for years. Indie music (whatever that means now) retreated further into the shadows despite new music from The Strokes, Flaming Lips, Doves, Jack White, Washed Out, and Future Islands. Machine Gun Kelly along with many others showed us how randomly important Blink 182’s music has been on millennials. They’ve left a deep imprint on the new wave of rappers who continue to mix emo and hip-hop (AKA SoundCloud rap) in the post-Lil Peep, post Tentacian, post Juice WLRD, Post Malone era.
The music scene always reflects what’s happening in the global consciousness one way or another. It’s the connectedness we all share that permeates around us and shoots back events, TV, movies, media, fashion, culture, trends, and music that are mirror images to how we’re feeling and the state of things. The desire for a collective shared experience has never been higher, but we’re getting that through the pandemic instead of through music.
Spotify still isn’t paying artists nearly enough to live and a lot of acts are throwing in the towel or worried that they won’t be able to perform any longer. Webcast concerts have become the new norm for getting to watch your favourite band “live”. This new style of living room interaction is a game changer for how we experience music. While its ideal to catch a show in your PJ’s, many are missing the energy in a live crowd. As venues continue to shut down and artists continue to look for new options, it is uncertain to say when the music industry as a whole will thrive again.
The quality of music in style, structure, composition, melody, and authenticity has noticeably dipped this year. It was just impossible to find mind-blowing songs and albums. Every year there are less songs that seem to make a lasting impact, and this year continues the decade-long run of diminishing return. Perhaps this streak has finally reached climax with the insanity that was 2020.
What remains in this list is the best of all that was found after weekly searching and intensive quarantine listening. The surprise highlights were a treat including some absolute bangers from acts like Cub Sport, Samia, and Sad Penny. Thankfully some of the old school alumni are still in the game as we saw new music from Matthew Good, Hawksley Workman, The Strokes, and even The Rentals.
The songs on this list can certainly stand on their own legs and be celebrated, but it feels like a lost year. What’s to come in the decade ahead now seems more promising than ever, and there’s a lot of pressure on 2021 to change the current course of music. Only time will tell what kind of songs this challenging year will inspire.
Stream The Full Playlist On Spotify Here