Hi. Remember me? I used to write a music blog. But then life happened. Marriage, kids, career... the usual suspects. And I just didn't listen to as much new music as I used to. But this year has been different, obviously. And with more free time than I've had in quite a while, I listened to a LOT of new music this year. It's one of the things that helped me survive this crazy calendar. So I figured, what the hell, let's post an end of year recap, for old times sake.
I'm doing things a little differently this time than I have in the past. I used to limit my best of to a top five. But this year, I literally couldn't whittle it down to just five. So there are six. I'm also not ranking them this year. 2020. No rules, right? It's a little heavier on mid-tempo stuff than it might have been in years past, but then it was kind of a mid-tempo year, wasn't it? So here we go...
Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison
Considering that I didn't connect at all with El Vy, Berninger's first foray outside of the National, I was surprised at how much I loved his first solo album. I actually like it better than the last couple of albums his main group has put out. Bringing on Booker T. Jones as producer was an inspired choice. The list of collaborators and co-songwriters is long, so it's surprising how cohesive this all feels. And the songs seem more focused as well.
Fallon's first two solo albums were great, but they basically felt like Gaslight Anthem lite. They had the same kind of sound and themes, just slowed down and a little more rootsy. With his third solo effort, he seems to have finally struck a vein that his old band never really mined. The songs are as fantastic than ever, but the themes are more mature, and he no longer wears the Springsteen influence so visibly on his sleeve. My only complaint about this album is that I wish there were more of it. It's eight songs clock in at just 31 minutes. But it's all killer, no filler, so who am I to complain?
For their first couple of albums, the former Superdrag cohorts' influences were easy to spot. Sysyphus Says had them labeled as a shoegazer outfit, while their third album The Blinding Light Of Nothing At All leaned heavily into sixties psychedelia. With their fourth full length, all the same influences are there, but they are more balanced into a cohesive whole. Nothing is overpowering, resulting in their strongest set of songs yet.
This was probably my most anticipated release of the year. Ever since he posted a snippet last year, I couldn't wait to hear it. After spending a decade or so playing with some of Nashville's best indie bands, and then spending the last few years touring the world with Margot Price, Schneider finally put out his first solo record. Although Third Man Record's promo material proudly called it New Age, this is really an Ambient album. It's otherworldly sounds were produced solely with a pedal steel guitar. It's been in regular rotation all year when I've wanted to relax and unwind, and who hasn't needed to spend some time doing that this year?
Tribute records are tough to do well. Generally they either stick too much to well trodden material, or the artist is so faithful to the source material that they don't offer anything new. With this album, Swift does a masterful job at avoiding these pitfalls. The songs are deep enough in the Bob Dylan catalog that they don't feel worn out (in fact, one of them Bob just released himself earlier this year). With the help of her collaborators (including Robyn Hitchcock and Wilco's Patrick Sansone), she keeps the arrangements fresh while still keeping the songs recognizable. My only complaint is that there isn't more of it. Clocking it at just eight songs, here's hoping that a few years down the line we might see a sequel.
If you had Taylor Swift collaborating with members of the National on your 2020 bingo card, raise your hand. No? Me neither. In a year full of surprises, this one was certainly a home run. That Swift can turn a phrase isn't a surprise to anyone who's been able to look past the tabloid headlines and Swedish pop machine beats over the past decade. But she's never had an album so full of stellar songwriting as this. 2020 was the perfect time for her to throw out this curveball. And the fact that she's already followed it up with an almost equally stellar sequel is nothing short of amazing.
Sorry, no song link on this one.
