Friday, December 18, 2020

A Festive 50: Favorite Songs and EPs of 2020

The photo above is a sample of singles and EPs on this list, as well as a couple of LPs that featured a song or two I liked but won't make the cut on my countdown of favorite albums. Some years it's tough to keep the songs/EPs list at 50. Other years I scrape a bit to round it out. In 2020, it was the former, and I had to leave off some great tunes from the likes of Peter Hall, Pauline Murray, Helen Love, BOAT, A Girl Called Eddy, Helen Love, Spinning Coin, the Just Joans, Flatmates, the Bell Streets, Red Sleeping Beauty, Swansea Sound, Secret Shine ("Ember" was the odd one out at No. 51), the Psychedelic Furs, Real Estate, the Verlaines... well, you get the point.

A quick reminder on the rules: A couple of these songs debuted in various ways before this year but appeared on 2020 albums. I consider these fair game. As usual, one slot per band. Songs from lost albums that have never been given a proper release are eligible (such as from Bob and the Proctors). You will notice Lisa Mychols & SUPER 8 have two songs at No. 12. I'm cheating a little there. These are tracks one and two from an album that are fine on their own but work much better listened to back to back. What did you like this year? What did I miss? Rants and raves in the comments, please. It's a great way to discover new music. These should keep you busy while I assemble my albums and reissues lists. Hope to have those up early next week. Thank you for listening.

1. The Muldoons - "In Love Again"
2. Even As We Speak - "Forgiving"
3. The Treasures of Mexico - "Heart Shaped Clock"
4. Close Lobsters - "All Compasses Go Wild"
5. Jetstream Pony - "It's Fine"
6. The Claim - "Spring Turns to Winter"
7. Strawberry Generation - "Lying to Lauren"
8. Gary Olson - "Giovanna Please"
9. Candy Opera - "These Days Are Ours"
10. Dropkick - "Feeling Never Goes Away"
11. Basic Plumbing - "As You Disappear"
12. Lisa Mychols & SUPER 8 - "What Will Be?" and "Trip & Ellie's Music Factory"
13. Pale Lights - "You and I"
14. Nah... - "Finger on the Map"
15. X - "Alphabetland"
16. King Creosote - "Cath"
17. Whyte Horses - "Ça Plane Pour Moi"
18. Andy Bell - "Love Comes in Waves"
19. Dead Famous People - "Looking at Girls"
20. Green Gartside - "Wishing Well"
21. The Apartments - "Pocketful of Sunshine"
22. Northern Portrait - "At Attention"
23. The Luxembourg Signal - "Mourning Moon"
24. The Beths - "Jump-Rope Gazers"
25. Nick Lowe - "Lay It on Me Baby"
26. Seablite - "High-Rise Mannequins EP"
27. Pretenders - "The Buzz"
28. The Bats - "Warwick"
29. Strawberry Whiplash - "Press 4 for Love"
30. Jeanines - "Things Change EP"
31. Exploding Flowers - "Stumbling Blocks"
32. Lunchbox - "Over Way Too Soon"
33. Stuart Moxham & Louis Philippe - "Tide Away"
34. Sleuth - "Flowers"
35. The Umbrellas - "Maritime E.P."
36. The Proper Ornaments - "Purple Heart"
37. Bob - "Telepathy"
38. Wolfhounds - "Can't See the Light"
39. The Lickerish Quartet - "Fadoodle"
40. Peel Dream Magazine - "Pill"
41. Supercrush - "Get It Right"
42. Smokescreens - "Fork in the Road"
43. Royal Landscaping Society - "Frost"
44. The Proctors - "These Ember Days"
45. Ezrat - "Loud Sounds"
46. Davey Woodward and the Winter Orphans - "Occupy This Space"
47. European Sun - "Favourite Day"
48. The Stroppies - "Look Alive"
49. Elvis Costello - "No Flag"
50. The Jayhawks - "This Forgotten Town"

9 comments:

Swiss Adam said...

Great stuff Brian, plenty of things tog et stuck into in there

drew said...

As usual Brian I look forward to plunging into this. No doubt I will end up poorer (financially) as a result.

Rol said...

Blimey, that'll keep me busy... as your year end lists usually do, Brian.

Keep 'em coming.

Charity Chic said...

I'm feeling quite chuffed as I recognize some of the artists and even some of the songs

Walter said...

A well done job Brian. As usual there is plenty of music I have to investigate during the next days.

Dan Destiny's Silver Dawn said...

Brain - my copy of the Wolfhounds LP finally arrived from Jigsaw last week. Already a favourite.

Lots of new names here for me to explore, but my personal choice for 2020 would have to be something off The Room In the Wood's excellent 'We're The Martians Now' LP. A real classic, that I strongly recommend.

Brian said...

DDSD, I didn't know about this record. The kids just went to bed, and I have a few things to wrap. Found We're the Martians, Now on Bandcamp and will listen while fumbling with the paper. Thanks for the tip.

Brian said...

Walter, Adam, Drew, Rol and CC, Thanks, as always, for stopping by. Each of you are in the process of revealing or have already revealed your lists. Love this time of year. Thoroughly enjoying the trip through your picks. My best to you all.

Pop Judge said...

From your list I thought the Even As We Speak album was very strong and Luxembourg Signal has had a lot of plays by me too. Listening to The Mudloons right now and enjoying that. I didn't really love anything this year I'm afraid but as ever I enjoy listening to the new Laura Marling. Objectively I think the Fontaines DC album was really high quality, especially the later slower songs. Pretty desperate to release some my own backlog of songs in 2021 but who knows what will happen?