Twenty years ago, I was on the receiving end of an economic slump. I’ve gone through two more slumps since then, and I’ve so far dodge the bullet in both cases.
It doesn’t mean I don’t feel skittish.
All that to say that my disposable income had not diminished this past year, despite the economic devastation SARS-CoV2 has wrought, and I’m thankful I can even compile a list.
Sam Sparro, Boombox Eternal: I’m not sure why I feel nostalgic for a style of music I actually disliked when I was younger, but Sparro nailed it.
My Very Own Familiar, Dear Listener: Lawnchairs for the Apocalypse: I may have a bit of a bias since a friend of mine is in this band.
Timo Andres / Jeremy Denk / Brad Mehldau / Randy Newman, I Still Play: A fitting tribute to Nonesuch emeritus executive Bob Hurwitz, for whom the pieces on this album were commissioned.
… And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, X: The Godless Void and Other Stories: No signs of mellowing out even after 25 years.
Perfume Genius, Set My Heart on Fire Immediately: I thought it was going to be hard to top No Shape.
Jason Isbell and 400 Unit, Reunions: Isbell has been on such a sustained winning streak that it seemed at some point he needed to stumble. He hasn’t.
Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters: I’m not even a Fiona Apple fan, and I like this album.
Kylie Minogue, DISCO: My first Kylie purchase since Aphrodite. I wasn’t on board for the last two albums.
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, The Beethoven Connection: I like this idea of exploring Beethoven-adjacent composers to puzzle out how they influenced Beethoven himself.
Mr. Bungle, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo: Straight up hardcore.
Other favorites of the year:
Brooklyn Rider, Healing Modes
The Streets, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive
SARS-CoV2. Silicon Valley companies would give their left tits to emulate the kind of disruption you’ve wrought.
The spring release schedule was slowly coming together when the virus shredded the calendar. Dates have always been subject to change, albeit never with this level of uncertainty.
Mandy Barnett, A Nashville Songbook , Aug. 21
Barnett has a wonderful voice that often has served unspectacular music, so the things that would sink this album are uninspired arrangements. A single of “It’s Now or Never” bodes none too well.
Johnny Hates Jazz, Wide Awake, Aug. 21
Magnetized was a favorite in 2013, so I’m looking forward to this long-awaited follow-up.
Prince, Sign O the Times (Deluxe Edition), Sept. 25
I’m actually going to settle for the remastered regular edition. I’m still waiting for any news on the Love Symbol album.
Jónsi, Shiver, Oct. 2
Does Sigur Rós even record albums any more? I know they’ve released collaborative projects, but what about a boring, traditional album with at least 10 tracks and a total running time around 40 minutes? No? I guess a Jónsi solo album it is.
The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me (Deluxe Edition), Oct. 25
I might check this one out, but I’m totally dropping cash on deluxe editions for Tim and Let It Be.
Kylie Minogue, DISCO, Nov. 6
Intriguing though the idea of Kylie in Nashville may have been, I couldn’t actually bring myself to get Golden. In fact, I’ve passed over the last two albums. I’m hoping DISCO is not the third.
Vinyl
Guided by Voices, Alien Lanes (25th Anniversary), Aug. 21
I had this album on CD, but I didn’t keep it. Then I downloaded it from eMusic. Why am I interested in this vinyl edition?
PJ Harvey, Rid of Me, Aug. 21
I nearly bought a bootleg version of this album on vinyl.
A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.
2010 was a solid year in music, led by strong showings from Shiina Ringo and Cocco. So this version of the Favorite Edition list doesn’t stray much from the original.
Tokyo Jihen, Sports
Cocco, Emerald
Renée Fleming, Dark Hope
LOVE PSYCHEDELICO, ABBOT KINNEY
Res, Black.Girls.Rock!
Royal Wood, The Waiting
KIMONOS, Kimonos
ACO, devil’s hands
The Drums, The Drums
Oriental Love Ring, In This World
Other favorites from the year:
Jónsi, Go
LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
Sade, Soldier of Love
Friday Night Lights, Original Television Soundtrack, Vol. 2
TOUMING MAGAZINE, Our Soul Music
I was always a bit ambivalent about ranking LCD Soundsystem over Sade, so the late discovery of The Drums banished both from the Favorite 10.
I’ve been waiting for an album by Oriental Love Ring for more than 30 years, so learning it happened — albeit two years after it was released — meant something had to give. And it fell to Jónsi.
The final retroactive addition to the list is the debut album by TOUMING MAGAZINE. I try not to translate foreign language album titles, but since my traditional Chinese is non-existent, it’s safest to give a correct English title than a mangled transliterated one.
Google Translate says 我們的靈魂樂 is pronounced “Wǒmen de línghún lè”. The band says the title is Our Soul Music.
![[Sam Sparro - Boombox Eternal]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SamSparroBoomboxEternal-300x300.jpg)
![[Kylie Minogue - DISCO]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/KylieMinogueDISCO202025589025G2_f-300x300.jpg)
![[Johnny Hates Jazz - Wide Awake]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/JohnnyHatesJazzWideAwake-300x300.jpg)
![[TOUMING MAGAZINE - Our Soul Music]](https://musicwhore.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/TOUMINGMAGAZINEBokutachin57098_f-300x262.jpg)