Utangátta - @SHELFNUNNY (on @HushHushRecords)
hushhushrecords.bandcamp.com/album/utang-tta
Named for an Icelandic term for hopeless dreams, the gentle, ambient-influenced beats of Utangátta manage a sort of musical Rorschach effect, comforting, melancholy or hopeful, depending on your view.
83/100
hushhushrecords.bandcamp.com/album/utang-tta
Named for an Icelandic term for hopeless dreams, the gentle, ambient-influenced beats of Utangátta manage a sort of musical Rorschach effect, comforting, melancholy or hopeful, depending on your view.
83/100
Marble Falls - Shmu (on @macadamtwister)
requiempouruntwister.bandcamp.com/album/pure-bli…
Nimble dream pop from one-man-band Sam Chown. The album borders on prog at times, but Vinyl Williams' production gives it a softer sheen, a glimmering gem of jangling guitars and gently flanged bass.
84/100
requiempouruntwister.bandcamp.com/album/pure-bli…
Nimble dream pop from one-man-band Sam Chown. The album borders on prog at times, but Vinyl Williams' production gives it a softer sheen, a glimmering gem of jangling guitars and gently flanged bass.
84/100
Pray - @suunsband
suuns.bandcamp.com/album/fiction-…
That SUUNS' apocalyptic art-pop feels more of-the-moment each year is probably not a great sign. The industrial throb of "PRAY" plays like a hymn from a tomorrow we don't want to visit, and one that's closer than we think.
85/100
suuns.bandcamp.com/album/fiction-…
That SUUNS' apocalyptic art-pop feels more of-the-moment each year is probably not a great sign. The industrial throb of "PRAY" plays like a hymn from a tomorrow we don't want to visit, and one that's closer than we think.
85/100
Peaceful Groove - @teendaze
teendaze.bandcamp.com/album/reality-…
A highlight of the four-part Reality Refresh series, "Peaceful Groove" offers easy listening escapism, a soundtrack to the imagined journeys that took the place of 2020s cancelled holidays and postponed adventures.
86/100
teendaze.bandcamp.com/album/reality-…
A highlight of the four-part Reality Refresh series, "Peaceful Groove" offers easy listening escapism, a soundtrack to the imagined journeys that took the place of 2020s cancelled holidays and postponed adventures.
86/100
Please Don't Hold Me Hostage for Who I Am, For Who I Was - @ThanyaIyerMusic
thanyaiyer.bandcamp.com/album/kind
Joyous, freewheeling, playful, caring—none of them quite capture the ebullience of KIND. It's a journey of self-care and self-discovery stitched into a jazzy folk opus.
87/100
thanyaiyer.bandcamp.com/album/kind
Joyous, freewheeling, playful, caring—none of them quite capture the ebullience of KIND. It's a journey of self-care and self-discovery stitched into a jazzy folk opus.
87/100
Of two - Thomas Gray & Liam Ebbs
analogueattic.bandcamp.com/album/recollec…
This Sydney duo's meticulously arranged electronics are intricate without being cluttered. "Of two" floats weightlessly with a warm nostalgia, like dust drifting in a patch of sunlight.
88/100
analogueattic.bandcamp.com/album/recollec…
This Sydney duo's meticulously arranged electronics are intricate without being cluttered. "Of two" floats weightlessly with a warm nostalgia, like dust drifting in a patch of sunlight.
88/100
Olde Feelings - @TONSTARTSS
tonstartssbandht.bandcamp.com/track/olde-fee…
No one else sounds quite like the psychedelic riff-rock of the White bros. Cavernous reverb, eerie harmonies and monstrous guitars that play like the climax to a folk-horror flick, when the unknowable truth finally dawns.
89/100
tonstartssbandht.bandcamp.com/track/olde-fee…
No one else sounds quite like the psychedelic riff-rock of the White bros. Cavernous reverb, eerie harmonies and monstrous guitars that play like the climax to a folk-horror flick, when the unknowable truth finally dawns.
89/100
Bliss - @TraffikIsland
traffikisland.bandcamp.com/album/sweat-ko…
Echoing early 2000s folktronics (think Parsley Sound or Lemon Jelly) in its unselfconscious pursuit of happiness. Delivers what it promises, and what more could you ask for?
90/100
traffikisland.bandcamp.com/album/sweat-ko…
Echoing early 2000s folktronics (think Parsley Sound or Lemon Jelly) in its unselfconscious pursuit of happiness. Delivers what it promises, and what more could you ask for?
90/100
Born to Lose - @YouSGirls
usgirls.ffm.to/heavylight/
Blending 70s art rock & 60s girl group soul with anger, poetry, and sharp pop instincts, Remy's latest is an inspired fusion; the stormy reggae pulse and vibraphone meltdown of "Born to Lose" its most intoxicating moment.
91/100
usgirls.ffm.to/heavylight/
Blending 70s art rock & 60s girl group soul with anger, poetry, and sharp pop instincts, Remy's latest is an inspired fusion; the stormy reggae pulse and vibraphone meltdown of "Born to Lose" its most intoxicating moment.
91/100
L'Essor Du Roraima - Vague Imaginaires
vagueimaginaires.bandcamp.com/album/l-le-dor
Field recordings and minimal synths blend the boundaries of the natural and the imagined. A soundtrack to misty lagoons and meditative moods, melding inner and outer states with its ambient pulse.
92/100
vagueimaginaires.bandcamp.com/album/l-le-dor
Field recordings and minimal synths blend the boundaries of the natural and the imagined. A soundtrack to misty lagoons and meditative moods, melding inner and outer states with its ambient pulse.
92/100
Something Sacred - White Poppy
whitepoppy.bandcamp.com/album/paradise…
Lush west-coast dream pop that glows like overexposed film, laced through with ribbons of light, erasing the mundane world and reveling in its inner brilliance.
93/100
whitepoppy.bandcamp.com/album/paradise…
Lush west-coast dream pop that glows like overexposed film, laced through with ribbons of light, erasing the mundane world and reveling in its inner brilliance.
93/100
Here I Am Existing - @samirawinter
daydreamingwinter.bandcamp.com/album/endless-…
A half-time bridge midway through "Here I Am Existing" untethers itself from the jangling pop of the rest of the song, and soars through an endless sky, a moment of pure, weightless bliss.
94/100
daydreamingwinter.bandcamp.com/album/endless-…
A half-time bridge midway through "Here I Am Existing" untethers itself from the jangling pop of the rest of the song, and soars through an endless sky, a moment of pure, weightless bliss.
94/100
Goat Lore - @TrinketTrance
theworldnextdoor.bandcamp.com/album/find-you…
Despite being instrumental, Goat Lore and the album around it feel steeped in folklore, pastoral landscapes bristling with arcane energy, each rock and stone a potential gateway to worlds equally sinister and inviting.
95/100
theworldnextdoor.bandcamp.com/album/find-you…
Despite being instrumental, Goat Lore and the album around it feel steeped in folklore, pastoral landscapes bristling with arcane energy, each rock and stone a potential gateway to worlds equally sinister and inviting.
95/100
High Pines - @_Yppah_
yppah.bandcamp.com/album/sunset-i…
Shading the halcyon bliss of early '90s electronics with the darker sonic palettes of shoegaze and post-rock, Yppah's first release for new imprint Future Archive Recordings is densely textured and richly nuanced.
96/100
yppah.bandcamp.com/album/sunset-i…
Shading the halcyon bliss of early '90s electronics with the darker sonic palettes of shoegaze and post-rock, Yppah's first release for new imprint Future Archive Recordings is densely textured and richly nuanced.
96/100
1024 - @yuyuyvr
onloop.bandcamp.com/album/moxie-pr…
Chirping synths, swirling bass and skittering drums gradually coalesce, pulled together by gravity into an eerie groove. Sounds for wandering empty streets on moonlit nights. Can't wait for next month's full-length debut.
97/100
onloop.bandcamp.com/album/moxie-pr…
Chirping synths, swirling bass and skittering drums gradually coalesce, pulled together by gravity into an eerie groove. Sounds for wandering empty streets on moonlit nights. Can't wait for next month's full-length debut.
97/100
Semula - @yvesjarvis
yvesjarvis.bandcamp.com/album/sundry-r…
Jarvis resists his most restless tendencies on his newest release, luxuriating in each idea instead of skipping to the next impulse. The result is songs like the gorgeous "Semula" finding equilibrium between alive and lived in.
98/100
yvesjarvis.bandcamp.com/album/sundry-r…
Jarvis resists his most restless tendencies on his newest release, luxuriating in each idea instead of skipping to the next impulse. The result is songs like the gorgeous "Semula" finding equilibrium between alive and lived in.
98/100
Transatlantic - @zacharygray and Ian Urbina
thisiszacharygray.bandcamp.com/album/under-a-…
Part of Ian Urbina's Outlaw Ocean Music Project, "Transatlantic" is a midnight cruise through unknown waters, its tranquil surface hinting at the inky depths awaiting in the albums more sinister moments.
99/100
thisiszacharygray.bandcamp.com/album/under-a-…
Part of Ian Urbina's Outlaw Ocean Music Project, "Transatlantic" is a midnight cruise through unknown waters, its tranquil surface hinting at the inky depths awaiting in the albums more sinister moments.
99/100
Brokenhead - @zoongideewin
zoongideewinmusic.bandcamp.com/album/bleached…
A perfect shoegaze instrumental and a highlight of one of 2020s best debuts. Viscous waves of distortion wail above a tumble of drums and thick, churning guitars. Flawless production and mood-setting.
100/100
zoongideewinmusic.bandcamp.com/album/bleached…
A perfect shoegaze instrumental and a highlight of one of 2020s best debuts. Viscous waves of distortion wail above a tumble of drums and thick, churning guitars. Flawless production and mood-setting.
100/100
Also: If you haven't been following @cstrecords' Corona Borealis series, you're missing some of the year's most vital long-form music, from one of the most vital labels of the last half-century.
markusfloats.bandcamp.com/track/karl-mar…
101/100
markusfloats.bandcamp.com/track/karl-mar…
101/100
And that's it. 101 songs that got me through 2020, alphabetical by artist. Listen to the playlist on Spotify. Looking forward to another year of new discoveries on The A.M., Monday mornings on @CJSW 90.9fm in Calgary.
open.spotify.com/playlist/4cE0n…
open.spotify.com/playlist/4cE0n…
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