I’ll spare you too much broad meditation on the year twenty twenty. Anything I went through this year is a tiny piece of a much bigger story, and the hard times I faced pale in comparison to those that have hit others. But I guess I’ve been thinking about this: a lot has been laid bare this year, for society at large and in my own life, too. An unexpected breakup timed perfectly to coincide with the beginning of the pandemic has basically defined my year, and through much grief and pain, I’m left holding a clearer image of who I am and how I want to be than I’ve held in years.
As Hugh said earlier this week, it’s not that music always helps—and yet here I am, drinking a Vintage seltzer and spending a blue evening listening to Das EFX. This year, more than ever, music has served as a connection to community—from writing here and elsewhere, to DJing shows on the internet radio with friends, to singing the same dumb songs again and again with my roommates. I’m grateful for that.
Here’s the music I’m thinking most about as the year winds down, arranged in an order that makes sense to me but has nothing to do with its quality. I think it’s all very good! I tend to discover music slowly, and I’m sure I won’t have heard nearly as many 2020 releases as I’d like anytime soon. So I’ll write about the non-2020 things first, and list my favorite new music last. And I’m sure that the minute it’s published, I’ll discover something new, or remember something special I heard five months ago, and kick myself for failing to include it. That’s okay.
tsss tapes (2019-2020 and hopefully beyond)
Italy’s tsss tapes is, by leaps and bounds, my favorite currently active record label. They’ve been around since 2019, and their fifteen releases over the last two years are uniformly stunning. A lot of these tapes explore similar ideas and textures: lots of quiet improvisation filled with rattling, scraping, and tapping sounds. For as far-out as most of the stuff released on tsss tapes is, none of it feels intent on challenging its listener without good reason. These tapes all insist on allowing emotion into the equation, all dwell on memory and remain rooted in place. Each release is worth checking out, but I think the collaborations collected on tsss tapes are my favorites. Try MOT by Andrea Borghi, Giancomo Salis, and Paolo Sanna, Caraguatá/Moxotó by Marco Scarassatti and Thelmo Cristovam, and A Realistic Morning Prayer by Derek Baron and Zoots Houston.
Jaimie Branch, FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise (International Anthem, 2019)
I went to Roulette here in Brooklyn with two friends to see Jaimie Branch on March 12, on what I think was supposed to be the first night of a national tour—naturally, it turned out to be the last night of the tour, too. At that moment, in March, I was in the middle of the aforementioned breakup, and felt so consumed by my own grief that nothing happening in the news really registered. At Roulette, Jaimie Branch played most of FLY or DIE II: bird dogs of paradise. It strikes me now that the way her trumpet sounded—like screaming and shrieking and shouting, by turns angry and desperate, fearful and hopeful—was just what I needed to hear. I think it was the first time I understood the pain that was waiting over weeks and months to come, and the first time I understood that sometime I might be okay. I’m grateful to my friends for going to that show with me, and for sitting with me while I cried and cried in their apartment afterwards. Somehow, this is a memory I’m very fond of.
Jean-Philippe Gross, Curling (Eich, 2019)
In the hottest, loneliest days of summer, there was nothing more transportative and comforting than this recording of a game of curling. You can imagine the fluorescent light, the chilled air, the crowd of people watching together, in suspense as one while the stone slips towards its target.
Good Luck, Into Lake Griffy (No Idea Records, 2009)
Into Lake Griffy was a favorite of mine towards the end of high school. Good Luck were a band who introduced me to lots of the music I’d be interested in for the next several years—and I had all but forgotten about them until I read this essay by David Anthony on a forgotten era of punk-adjacent music, and what it means to remember music that was never cool enough for the canon.
The Swishahouse/Rare Texas Mixtapes YouTube Rabbithole
I rag on various recommendation engine algorithms, but YouTube has been invaluable in helping me hear lots of fantastic Houston rap from the early 2000s. I had been familiar with Paul Wall & Chamillionaire from their legendary album Get Ya Mind Correct, but their mixtapes from just a few years earlier are, believe it or not, even better. There’s so much genius imagery, metaphor, and wordplay here, and perfect beats for days. If you’re looking to take the plunge, the Rare Texas MixTapes channel is probably the best place to start. My favorite mixtape (so far) is the Color Changin’ Click’s Starvin Marvin, and you might like this, this, or this freestyle, too.
woadie, “b r i c k s q u a d r a v e” (self released, 2013)
Some past version of myself, too determined in college to always have the most correct, most serious taste in art, might’ve dismissed this as “meme music.” But not, as my friend Adam says, “new Kev.” My roommates and I went through a phase where we were listening to this mashup of Alice DJ’s “Better Off Alone” and Waka Flocka Flame’s “Hard in da Paint” at least two or three times a day. Of course it’s silly, but it really is a perfect song. Cheers to Wes and Adam.
And here’s a handful of favorites that actually came out in 2020:
A Million Dollars, The Cone (Sleeper Records)
If I had to guess, just as I Love Your Voice and I Love You was last year, The Cone must be the album I’ve listened to the most times this year. It’s catchy, funny, cathartic, and very short—so when it’s over I always turn it on again.
Claire Rousay, A Heavenly Touch (Already Dead)
Really, all thirteen (by my last count) pieces of music Claire Rousay released belong here! All have been heavy in my rotation, but A Heavenly Touch is the one that I’m listening to right this second, so it’s the one that makes the list.
Jimothy Lacoste, The Safeway
Kath Bloom, Bye Bye These Are The Days (Dear Life)
There is nothing more packed with warmth and wisdom for all of life’s changes than Bye Bye These Are The Days. I shouldn’t say this was a surprise favorite, because I was unbelievably excited for it to come out. Still, Kath Bloom’s latest release surpassed expectations tenfold.
Natalie Jane Hill, Azalea (Dear Life)
Rie Nakajima, Ken Ikeda, and Clive Bell, The Bell, The Pond And The Island (Superpang)
Rie Nakajima is the most exciting artist I’ve stumbled across all year. Anything she touches is riveting. The Bell, The Pond and the Island just came out today, and I’ve already listened through it three times.
Trace Mountains, Lost in the Country (Lame-O Records)