Don't Go Outside: The Top Albums and Songs of 2020

Screenshot of Isabel Leonard in Francis Poulenc’s “Dialogues of the Carmélites” by There Stands the Glass.

The following compendium is the result of a music obsessive finally fulfilling a lifelong fantasy of scrutinizing sound every waking hour for months on end.  While the circumstances are tragic, the relentless consumption of my music of choice acts as a balm.  Performances by Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Post Malone, Roddy Ricch and Luciana Souza were the most memorable concerts I attended in the opening weeks of 2020.  I’ve since filled the void created by the absence of live music with a crash course in opera.  I’ve watched a complete production each of the last 257 days.  In the time not dedicated to composers like Philip Glass, Giacomo Puccini and Richard Wagner, I’ve obsessed over the recordings listed below.  Reviews of many of the selections are published at this site and at my jazz blog Plastic Sax.

The Top 50 Albums of 2020

1. Clarice Jensen- The Experience of Repetition as Death

2. Jyoti- Mama, You Can Bet!

3. Bad Bunny- YHLQMDLG

4. Peter CottonTale- Catch

5. Jay Electronica- A Written Testimony

6. Mac Miller- Circles

7. Beatrice Dillon- Workaround

8. Jennifer Curtis and Tyshawn Sorey- Invisible Ritual

9. Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist- Alfredo

10. Gorillaz- Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez

11. Westside Gunn- Flygod Is an Awesome God 2

12. William Basinski- Lamentations

13. Shirley Collins- Heart's Ease

14. Ambrose Akinmusire- On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment

15. Bob Dylan- Rough and Rowdy Ways

16. Bill Frisell- Valentine

17. Anja Lechner and François Couturier- Lontano

18. José James- No Beginning No End 2

19. Childish Gambino- 3.15.20

20. Kaja Draksler Octet- Out for Stars

21. Armand Hammer- Shrines

22. Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts VI: Locusts

23. Jeremy Pelt- The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1

24. Run the Jewels- RTJ4

25. Moor Mother and Nicole Mitchell- Offering

26. Bill Fay- Countless Branches

27. Hailu Mergia- Yene Mircha

28. Angelica Sanchez and Marilyn Crispell- How to Turn the Moon

29. Nick Cave- Idiot Prayer: Alone at Alexandra Palace, 2020 

30. Sara Serpa- Recognition

31. Nicolás Jaar- Cenizas

32. Teyana Taylor- The Album

33. Steve Arrington- Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions

34. Yaeji- What We Drew

35. Norah Jones- Pick Me Up Off the Floor

36. Rudresh Mahanthappa- Hero Trio

37. Mozzy- Beyond Bulletproof

38. Sturgill Simpson- Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1, The Butcher Shoppe Sessions

39. Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl- Artlessly Falling

40. Brad Mehldau- Suite: April 2020

41. Zara McFarlane- Songs of an Unknown Tongue

42. Kvelertak- Splid

43. Conway the Machine- From King to a God

44. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah- Axiom

45. Lianne La Havas- Lianne La Havas

46. Ellen Fullman & Theresa Wong- Harbors

47. Reverend John Wilkins- Trouble

48. Susan Alcorn Quintet- Pedernal

49. Raheem DeVaughn- What a Time to Be In Love

50. Tame Impala- The Slow Rush

The Top 25 EPs of 2020

1. Pongo- Uwa

2. Atmosphere- The Day Before Halloween

3. Obongjayar- Which Way Is Forward?

4. Rafiq Bhatia- Standards, Vol. 1

5. Blackstarkids- Surf

6. Roomful of Teeth and Michael Harrison- Just Constellations

7. Eddie Chacon- Pleasure, Joy and Happiness

8. Medhane- Full Circle

9. Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats- Unlocked

10. Philip Glass Ensemble- Music In Eight Parts

11. Christine and the Queens- La Vita Nuova

12. Marcos Valle- Jazz Is Dead 003

13. Flee Lord and Pete Rock- The People's Champ

14. Pasquale Grasso- Solo Bird

15. Black Noi$e- Oblivion

16. Omar Apollo- Apolonio

17. Lyric Jones- Closer Than They Appear

18. E-40- The Curb Commentator Channel 1

19. Tricky- Fall to Pieces

20. Aoife O’Donovan- Bull Frogs Croon (and Other Songs)

21. Joseph- Trio Sessions, Vol. 1

22. 10k.Caash- Planet Swajjur

23. We the People- Misunderstood

24. A$AP Ferg- Floor Seats II

25. Blackpink- The Album

The Top 25 Reissues, Compilations and Reimaginings of 2020

1. Flying Lotus- Flamagra (Instrumentals)

2. Prince- Sign o’ the Times (Super Deluxe)

3. Gil Scott-Heron- We’re New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven

4. Sleaford Mods- All That Glue

5. Jóhann Jóhannsson and Yair Elazar Glotman- Last and First Men

6. The Gospel Truth: The Complete Singles Collection

7. Gillian Welch- Boots No 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1

8. Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela- Rejoice

9. Mike and the Moonpies- Touch of You: The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart

10. Iva Bittová and Dorothea Kellerova- Bartók: 44 Duets for Two Violins

11. Ennio Morricone- Morricone Segreto

12. Kassa Overall- Shades of Flu: Healthy Remixes for an Ill Moment

13. The Stooges- Live at Goose Lake: August 8, 1970

14. Charlie Parker- The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collection

15. Soul Love Now: The Black Fire Records Story: 1975-1993

16. Jon Gibson- Songs & Melodies, 1973-77

17. Neil Young- Homegrown

18. Ambiance- Into a New Journey

19. Edward Simon- 25 Years

20. Stone Crush: Modern Memphis Soul 1977-1987

21. Soul Jazz Records Presents Kaleidoscope: New Spirits Known and Unknown

22. Dave Alvin- From an Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings

23. Thelonious Monk- Palo Alto

24. Yusuf- Tea for the Tillerman 2

25. Ipa-Boogie- Ipa-Boogie

The Top 50 Songs of 2020 (Spotify playlist)

1. Juice Wrld- “Wishing Well”

2. Zsela- "Drinking"

3. Caroline Shaw and David Lang- “When I Am Alone”

4. 070 Shake- “Guilty Conscience”

5. Drake featuring Lil Durk- “Laugh Now Cry Later”

6. Thundercat- "Black Qualls"

7. Little Simz- "Might Bang, Might Not"

8. Alicia Keys featuring Khalid- "So Done"

9. Sam Hunt- "Hard to Forget"

10. John Prine- “I Remember Everything”

11. Streets and Idles- “None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive”

12. 6ix9ine- "Gooba"

13. Sa-Roc- "Hand of God"

14. Frank Ocean- "Cayendo"

15. Meredith Monk and the Bang on a Can All-Stars- “The Games: Downfall”

16. Stephen Malkmus- “The Greatest Own in Legal History”

17. Elle King- "The Let Go"

18. Chris Stapleton- “You Should Probably Leave”

19. J Balvin- "Amarillo"

20. Genevieve Artadi- “Godzillaaaa”

21. City Girls- "Jobs"

22. Eminem, Royce Da 5’9”, Black Thought, Q-Tip and Denaun- "Yah Yah"

23. Future and Lil Uzi Vert- "Marni On Me"

24. Duck Sauce- "Captain Duck"

25. Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion- "WAP"

26. Groupe RTD- "Buuraha U Dheer"

27. Destroyer- “Cue Synthesizer”

28. Jessie Ware- “Remember Where You Are”

29. Illuminati Hotties- “Freequent Letdown”

30. Chloe x Halle- “Don’t Make It Harder On Me”

31. Ledisi- "Anything For You"

32. Rapsody and Bilal- “Pray Momma Don’t Cry”

33. Flo Milli- "May I"

34. BTS- "Ugh!"

35. Hinds- “Just Like Kids (Miau)”

36. Bruce Springsteen- “Janey Needs a Shooter”

37. Norah Jane Struthers- “I Feel Like My Old Self”

38. 2 Chainz- “Wait For You to Die”

39. Deftones- "Genesis"

40. Ty Dolla $ign featuring Kanye West, FKA Twigs and Skrillex- "Ego Death"

41. Miley Cyrus- “Midnight Sky”

42. Willie Nelson- "Our Song"

43. Ray Wylie Hubbard featuring Elizabeth Cook and Paula Nelson- “Drink Til I See Double”

44. The Magnetic Fields- “Favorite Bar”

45. Tyler Childers- "Long Violent History"

46. James Blake- "I Keep Calling"

47. Playboi Carti- “@meh”

48. Poppy- "Don't Go Outside"

49. Conway the Machine featuring Flee Lord, Havoc and Lloyd Banks- "Juvenile Hell"

50. Metz- "Pulse"

Bad Bunny: There Stands the Glass' Artist of the Year

Screenshot of the music video for “Yo Visto Así” by There Stands the Glass.

The sound of doomsday filled my ears this year.  Listening to anything other than harsh ambient noise during a period of societal tumult, political chaos and deadly pandemic felt like escapist folly.

My forthcoming list of the year’s top albums is loaded with foreboding instrumental works echoing the harrowing tenor of the times.  Yet all is not lost.  I’m quarantined with my life partner, the sun still rises every morning and the memory of January’s trip of a lifetime is fresh.  The music released by Bad Bunny in 2020 reflects everything good in my life.  And there’s a lot of it.

Three outstanding Bad Bunny albums- February’s YHLQMDLG, May’s Las Que No Iban a Salir and November’s El Último Tour Del Mundo- operated as essential sonic mood elevators.  The Puerto Rican’s delirious stylistic range extending well beyond reggaeton averted musical monotony as I managed my mental health through his music.

Bad Bunny is a goofball and his odd vocal tics may repel less forgiving pop fans.  Yet his joyous songs helped me steer clear of an emotional abyss in 2020.  Toss in a slew of excellent music videos and the year’s most exciting livestream event and Bad Bunny is the obvious choice for my artist of the year.

Honorable mention: Moor Mother, Westside Gunn, Megan Thee Stallion, Blackstarkids and Meredith Monk.

November 2020 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Levi Hernandez in Bard SummerScape Opera’s production of Antonín Dvořák’s Dimitrij by There Stands the Glass.

Top Five Albums

1. William Basinski- Lamentations

Pandemic vibes.

2. Susan Alcorn Quintet- Pedernal 

My review.

3. Nick Cave- Idiot Prayer: Alone at Alexandra Palace, 2020

A troubadour for end times.

4. Raheem DeVaughn- What a Time to Be In Love

Looks like another love T.K.O.

5. Megan Thee Stallion- Good News

Who shot ya?

Top Five Songs

1. Chris Stapleton- “You Should Probably Leave”

Tempted.

2. 2 Chainz- “Wait For You to Die”

Cold hard facts.

3. Future and Lil Uzi Vert- "Marni On Me"

Fancy.

4. Jazmine Sullivan- "Pick Up Your Feelings"

Grown folks music.

5. Mariza- “Foi Deus”

Amália Rodrigues lives.

Top Five Livestreams

1. Lakecia Benjamin- Jazzfest Berlin

2. Marilyn Maye- Gem Theater

3. OneBeat Marathon (Alexander Arkincheev, Ladama, Kyungso Park, etc.)

4. Sheila Jordan’s 92nd birthday celebration- Smalls

5. The St. Cecilia Festival- Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Opus 76 String Quartet, Sean Holland, Paul Turner, etc.

I conducted the same exercise in October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February and January.

Album Review: Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987

Original image by There Stands the Glass

I’m the same age, race and gender of the majority of music enthusiasts raving about Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987. Thirty-five years ago, we tuned into college radio stations with playlists liberally peppered with melodic bands inspired by The Byrds. I vaguely remember a quarter of the 28 songs on the new compilation and have vivid recollections of attending mid-’80s club shows by Great Plains, Salem 66 and the Windbreakers, three of the better-known groups represented on the set. Naturally, I anticipated thoroughly enjoying Strum & Thrum. My immediate revulsion surprised me. The songs are embarrassingly wimpy, exasperatingly twee and glaringly devoid of soul. I’m horrified by my one-time affection for these middling trifles. To be fair, elite bands of the genre like Let’s Active, the Long Ryders and R.E.M. aren’t included on the compilation. While I’d still like to peruse the 80-page booklet that comes with the vinyl edition, I hope to never hear any of these characterless songs again.

The Saddest Air Horn

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Concierto Virtual en Tiempos de COVID-19 Desde el Coliseo de Puerto Rico, a jarringly depressing album released by Rauw Alejandro in May, may be the definitive release of the Coronavirus era.  The audio companion of a free virtual performance is a permanent record of the international trauma.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with the energetic effort of the Puerto Rican pop artist, the decision to issue the show as an official live album is bizarre.  Alejandro’s exhortations and a steady stream of air horn blasts are greeted with eerie silence.  The necessary absence of an audience is an unintentional repudiation of the sterility marring almost every responsible livestream performance.

Released last week, Alejandro’s debut studio album Afrodisíaco exudes the warmth lacking in Concierto Virtual. His lively interplay with stars including Anuel AA and J Balvin are hopeful affirmations. Even so, Alejandro’s extremely awkward live album stands out as an emblematic document of this difficult moment.

Album Review: Susan Alcorn Quintet- Pedernal

I occasionally subject friends and strangers to unsolicited spiels about my affinity for hillbilly jazz. The obsession for the melding of jazz and country began when my dad picked up Merle Haggard’s Bob Wills tribute album in 1970. The late Claude "Fiddler" Williams is among the musicians known for winsome versions of the style. Abetted by guitarist Mary Halvorson, violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Ryan Sawyer, Susan Alcorn brings the noise to the concept on Pedernal. While much of the pedal steel guitarist’s new album expands on the twangy chamber jazz associated with Bill Frisell, the best segments are harsh big city freakouts of the type I documented at the Big Ears Festival last year. Imagine Thurston Moore in overalls.

Corky Carrel, 1956-2020

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Corky Carrel congratulated me as I purchased a pair of eighth row tickets to Marvin Gaye’s concert at Kemper Arena in 1983.  He explained there wasn’t much customer demand for the physical tickets allocated to Capers Corner, the suburban record store he managed.  Being showered by hurled bras and panties that fell short of the stage was part of what made the show a transformative experience.

I had no way of knowing it at the time, but Carrel would play a minor but impactful role in my life over the next 30 years.  (We fell out of touch in recent years.) He began making recommendations to me when I was teenager.  Carrel’s suggestions partly dictated the order of my purchases of the catalogs of artists including Bob Dylan and Van Morrision.

The tables were turned when I became a sales rep for independent record label distributors. He never bought much from me when he operated brick-and-mortar stores in Mission and Shawnee, Kansas, and later a mail order business he operated with Bill Lavery, but I always enjoyed my dealings with him. Carrel was a gracious businessman, excellent photographer and passionate music fan. He died last week.

The Top Kansas City Albums and EPs of 2020

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

As part of an ongoing effort to preserve my sanity in a preposterously challenging year, I choose to believe Ty of Blackstarkids was joking when he recently told a journalist he was unable to secure the interest of a single Kansas City based record label.  I fell in love with his trio in February after hearing just 30 seconds of “Sounds Like Fun,” the first song on Blackstarkids’ self-released debut EP.  Ty’s group subsequently signed a pact with the prestigious London based Dirty Hit consortium.  Blackstarkids is the most exciting act to emerge from Kansas City in years.

Top 25 Kansas City Albums of 2020

1. Blackstarkids- Whatever, Man (My review.)

2. Bobby Watson- Keepin' It Real (My review.)

3. Molly Hammer- I'm Feeling Mellow (My review.)

4. Mike Dillon- Rosewood (My review.)

5. Ebony Tusks- Heal Thyself

6. Steve Cardenas- Blue Has a Range (My review.)

7. Shiner- Schadenfreude

8. Pat Metheny- From This Place (My review.)

9. Rich the Factor- Blaccfish (My review.)

10. The Freedom Affair- Freedom Is Love

11. Brian Scarborough- Sunflower Song (My review.)

12. Guitar Elation- Double Live at Green Lady Lounge (My review.)

13. Kevin Morby- Sundowner

14. Matt Otto- Alliance (My review.)

15. Shy Boys- Talk Loud

16. Flutienastiness- This Is Me (My review.)

17. Krizz Kaliko- Legend (My review.)

18. Black Light Animals- Playboys of the Western World

19. Ashley Ray- Pauline

20. The Casket Lottery- Short Songs for End Times

21. Rich the Factor- Rose Out the Concrete 2

22. Howard Iceberg & the Titanics- Kansas City Songs, Vol. 3

23. Orphans of Doom- II

24. Purna Loka Ensemble- Metaraga

25. The Black Creatures- Wild Echoes

Top Ten Kansas City EPs of 2020

1. Blackstarkids- Surf

2. We The People- Misunderstood (My review.)

3. Una Walkenhorst- Woman of the Year

4. Blackstarkids- Surf (Basement Demos)

5. Hermon Mehari- A Change For the Dreamlike (My review.)

6. Stik Figa- ...If It's the Last Thing I Do

7. The Cur3- The Anecdote (My review.)

8. Tech N9ne- Fear Exodus

9. Jo MacKenzie- Let Me Give You What I Wish I Had 

10. Dylan Pyles- Solo Acoustic Guitar, Vol. 1

Jump In, The Opera’s Fine

Screenshot of Toni Blankenheim in Wozzeck.

A friend recently expressed profound bewilderment about my ongoing daily opera initiative.  The count currently stands at 228.  When I urged him to dip a toe into the operatic waters, he insisted he didn’t know where to begin.  That’s lame.  Like many needlessly wary people, my friend is hindered by classist assumptions and cultural constraints.  Doesn’t he realize those arbitrary rules no longer apply?  With the financial and social barriers of purchasing expensive tickets and wearing ostensibly appropriate clothing removed, there’s no real excuse for open-minded music lovers not to give opera a chance.  Links to four wildly disparate murder-themed operas I watched in October are below.  The free YouTube streams are listed in order of accessibility.

1. 1982 film version of Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto"

Recommended if you like: starpower, Italy, familiar arias

My take: Wanna hear hits? “Rigoletto” has ‘em.  Love celebrities?  They don’t get much bigger than Luciano Pavarotti.

2. Birmingham Opera Company's 2002 production of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fidelio"

Recommended if you like: revolution; red Solo cups; musical heresy 

My take: Community opera productions resembling immersive performance art may be the most welcome discovery of my opera immersion.  This unruly production takes extreme liberties with Beethoven’s only opera.

3. 1972 film version of Alban Berg’s "Wozzeck"

Recommended if you like: atonality; agrarian Germany; madness

My take: Although it premiered in Berlin in 1925, “Wozzeck” sounds as if it was written yesterday.  The freakily absurdist “Wozzeck” is a personal favorite.

4. Fisher Center at Bard College’s 2013 production of Sergey Taneyev’s “Oresteia”

Recommended if you like: gore; Greek mythology; conventional productions with a stage, audience and orchestra

My take: The obscure 125-year-old Russian opera performed by a secondary company is excellently rendered as a three-hour bloodbath.

Revelation

My late friend R. and I huddled with a few dozen other weirdos in the basement of All Souls Unitarian Church for a performance by Peter Hammill in 1979.  The extraordinarily unlikely event was my first meaningful experience with a literal and figurative music underground.  Artlessly Falling, the frequently harsh prog-rock freakout by Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl, reminds me of the transformative concert.  Not only does Artlessly Falling feature Hammill’s art-rock peer Robert Wyatt on three tracks, I witnessed Halvorson’s showcase of what I suspect was some of the same material at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville last year.  I realize it’s the perilous times talking, but I fear that if my presence at the 1979 concert in Kansas City was the inception of my proclivity for patronizing performances of outsider music, my trek to Tennessee to catch Halvorson might end up being its unexpectedly premature conclusion.

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I reviewed I’m Feeling Mellow, the new album by the Kansas City vocalist Molly Hammer, at Plastic Sax.