My idea was to make a Top Five list of all the new music that I discovered in December of 2020, during the weeks after I wrote my Top Albums of 2020 list. It would be an opportunity to clear the deck, so to speak, before we move onto a brand new calendar year and a brand new "Listened To" memo on my phone.
Two issues. One, I already wrote about a bunch of music from 2020 that I listened to in December—Taylor Swift, Rico Nasty, Kurt Vile, Gorillaz—and so I'd be inclined to exclude those from this list (i.e. it's too soon to write more about any of them). Two, more than any other year since I started actually consuming new music, I spent the vast majority of my December listening to older music. I'll exclude those as well, since next December, they will be eligible for the "Best Non-2021 Albums I Listened To This Year" list.
With those exclusions in mind, we are left with... exactly five albums. So let's go ahead and rank them and give them their proper due before I inevitably forget about them come January. #1 is probably the only album that would've had a fighting chance at making the year's best list, but that doesn't mean all five of these LPs aren't worth your time.
Top Five 2020 Albums I Listened To in December
5. Cuttin Grass — Vol. 2 (The Cowboy Arms Sessions) by Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill might've been the first rock star to get sick from COVID, which apparently fucked him up good but which also gave him time to relax and reflect. After he got healthy, he used his new lease in life to explore bluegrass, and releasing a couple albums that take his old songs and repurpose them for this new/old genre. It's relaxing as fuck.
4. I Don't Hate You by Ogbert the Nerd
The lo-fi halfway point between, I dunno, Saves the Day and Iron Chic? No idea, give me a break, it's been a long year.
3. Hypoluxo by Hypoluxo
I have no idea what secret sauce is required for post-punk to be palatable for me, but whatever it is, Hypoluxo have it. Stereogum argued that it's "the ability to have fun," but I don't know if I buy it. I've enjoyed dead-serious post-punkers before. Can't argue that Hypoluxo ain't fun, though.
2. Triceratops / Stegosaurus by ME REX
Have we finally reached that point when Los Campesinos! is serving as direct inspiration for indie rock projects? If so, consider me very excited. That torch needed to be passed long ago.
1. Can't Complain by Kill Lincoln
I had no idea that Streetlight Manifesto left an itch until Kill Lincoln scratched it. It's not a direct comparison (not as close as Los Camps to ME REX above, anyway), because whereas Streetlight was impossibly lame (though that's why I love them), Kill Lincoln are impossibly cool. "Cool" is not an adjective that's ever been used for ska, I don't think, but here we are.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: The only reason I haven't listened to McCartney III yet is that I want to listen to McCartney and McCartney II first; Slaughter Beach, Dog just released a new one, and I know in my heart of hearts it would find itself here if I had the time to get around to it before writing this.
No comments:
Post a Comment