ZOOMERCORE
Top 25 Albums of 2020
(to view ZC top albums of 2019 click here)
#25: Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
fav songs: Melt!, Arpeggi
if you like: Against All Logic, Oneohtrix Point Never, females who make electronic music
#24: Autechre - SIGNS
fav songs: F7, si00
if you like: pretentiousness, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher
#23: Sevdaliza - Shabrang
fav songs: Oh My God, Joanna
if you like: weird album covers, FKA Twigs
#22: Against All Logic - 2017-2019
fav songs: Fantasy, With an Addict
if you like: Nicholas Jaar, Ross from Friends
#21: The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You
fav songs: The Divine Chord, We will Always Love You
if you like: Carribou, Panda Bear, nostalgia
#20: Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan
fav songs: Pilgrimage, Prologue
if you like: Fishmans, Hiroshi Yoshimura
#19: Oranssi Pazuzu - Mestarin kynsi
fav songs: Ilmestys, Uusi teknokratia
if you like: metal, head banging, Blood Incantation
#18: Bladee - Exeter
fav songs: Merry-Go-Round, Lovestory feat. Ecco2k
if you like: being online, memes, Yung Lean, beeing a NEET
#17: dj blackpower - BLP “King of the Night”
fav songs: Power, Marge Simpson, rootin4?
if you like: MIKE, Earl Sweatshirt, early Kanye, calling things “real rap”
#16: Perfume Genius - Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
fav songs: On the Floor, Without You
if you like: being an ally, Pitchfork.com, Tennis, Julianna Barwick
#15: 21 Savage & Metro Boomin - Savage Mode II
fav songs: Many Men, Glock in My Lap, Snitches & Rats
if you like: being happy, ~hard~ beats, fun music
#14: The Microphones - The Microphones in 2020
fav songs: its one long song lol
if you like: sad music, being sad, listening to something sad
#13: Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo
fav songs: Look at Me, Something to Rap About feat. Tyler, the Creator, Scottie Beam feat. Rick Ross
if you like: gangster rap, Pusha T, Wu-Tang Clan
#12: Helena Dedland - Someone New
fav songs: Someone New, Pale
if you like: Pheobe Bridgers, Angel Olsen, Jessica Pratt, other female singer songwriters
#11: Sewerslvt - Draining Love Story
fav songs: Lexapro Delerium, Mr. Kill Myself
if you like: music you can’t listen to around other people, uncomfortable album covers, being extremely online
#10: Fleet Foxes - Shore
Shore, Fleet Foxes’s 4th studio album, delivers a surprisingly rewarding 45 minutes of lush indie folk. Their music is singular in its ability to maintain unimpeachable quality despite the cultural fallout of many contemporaries of the mid-2000s indie scene (Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, Iron & Wine, etc.) The album is perfect for your fireside Chai latte as you pretend it is still 2012 and the world is normal (ie the incomprehensible man-made terrors we see today have yet to come to light). Shore dwells in warm autumn vocals and maintains the tradition of Folk music, with acoustic guitars, minimal drums and chamber choirs providing the backing to most songs on the album. However, what sets this album apart is lead-man Robin Pecknold’s angelic voice. Shore doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any measure, but it does provide a refreshing listening experience for even the most cynical, gec-poisoned 2020 listener.
fav songs: Wading in Waist-High Water, Can I Believe You
if you like: beanies, Starbucks, Sigur Ros
#9: Arca - KiCk i
One of the most progressive, avant-garde electronic musicians of the 2010’s, Arca has positioned herself within the trope of “your favorite artist’s favorite artist.” Thus, if you are unfamiliar with Arca’s solo work, you have likely heard traces of her collaborations—the artist has produced for Kelela, FKA Twigs, Kanye West, and Bjork.
Since her self-titled release in 2017, Arca has cranked up the energy. On her newest record KiCk I, Arca ventures past the art pop realm into deconstructed club territory while still holding true to her Venezuelan roots. In contrast to her earlier latin folk-infused abstractions, KiCk I embraces reggaeton and abrasive production. The result is chaotic, surreal, fun, and overwhelming at times. In comparison to her earlier work, this shift in production serves as a more apt vehicle for her lyrical themes of gender and sexuality. LGBTQ+ representation too often centers on adversity, sadness, and rejection, and Arca is the ideal artist to instead approach with these topics with a playful drama. Not only does it match the energy of her chaotic and bold internet presence, but it warrants a stacked lineup of features from some of the most interesting and relevant female artists including Rosalia, Shygirl, Bjork, and SOPHIE. She handles these features gracefully, aptly placing Rosalia on a latin club banger and descending into absolute chaos with SOPHIE. The result is largely successful—Arca shines when she is collaborating with peers and pushing her work to the absolute limits of madness.
fav songs: Riquiqui, Nonbinary
if you like: Bjork, being the loudest person in the room
#8: Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
Legend has it that Daniel Lopatin drew inspiration for his musical alias while lying in a dentist’s chair, coming down from a dose of novocaine, when he misheard the Boston rock station Magic 106.7 as “oneohtrix point never.” It fits, then, that Magic Oneohtrix Point Never is a nearly-self-titled album. The album opens up with a sample of a radio station, marking a sort of homage to Lopatin’s beginnings with OPN. Sampling has been a staple of Lopatin’s career. In fact, some credit Lopatin with inventing the sample-dependent internet genre “vaporwave” on his now-famous mixtape Eccojams.
Magic Oneohtrix Point Never works as a sort of greatest hits of OPN’s career. The album’s single, “Long Road Home” contains all the classic OPN elements: squirmy electronic samples, hypnotic pulsing rhythms, and heady pop nuggets. Other tracks on the album, like “The Whether Channel” and “Lost But Never Alone,” slew together messy sci-fi samples and classic synth-rock elements, all with a thick and noticeable layer of chrome spray paint on top.
If I had to name qualms with the album, it would be the uninspired vocal performances by Lopatin and guests The Weekend, Caroline Polachek, and NOLANBEROLLIN. As a OPN diehard, I would have liked to see the rock-heavy neo-psychedelia tracks eschewed for the glitchy progressive electronica from R Plus Seven-era OPN. That being said, but the record is still an awesome, career-spanning achievement. Daniel Lopatin is one of the most important artists of this generation, an Magic Oneohtrix Point Never gives listeners a taste of everything that makes Oneohtrix Point Never one of a kind.
fav songs: Long Road Home, The Weather Channel, Lost But Never Alone
if you like: Grimes, Aphex Twin pretentiousness
#7: OTTO - Clam Day
Brooklyn native Otto Benson makes his debut for Frank Ocean collaborator Vegyn's record label PLZ Make It Ruins. A truly fun record, Clam Day takes elements of Aphex Twin and mixes the glitchy, 170 bpm percussion with the childlike aesthetics of early Animal Collective. The Sung Tongs comparison is one that will immediately be apparent to listeners with a soft spot for Panda Bear and the gang's early work. Clam Day is first and foremost an IDM record, but there is a lot more than heady breakbeats on this LP.
OTTO is not precious with his production, eschewing typical snares for dog barks and goofy sound effects. In this sense, some album cuts, like "Sprained My Ankle In Gristedes Juice Aisle" and "Kwop Kwop Theme" wouldn't be out of place in a Dylan Brady Minecraft set. Other tracks, such as "Wash Your Hands," ditch the digital audio interface for a stripped down, bedroom pop approach to song. Still, OTTO doesn't let you get too sweet or sincere in these tracks - as the chords gently strum, the listeners are hit with the chorus "wash your hands when you pee on me."
While there are some truly funny moments on Clam Day, the album is not just twee gimmicks; OTTO has serious chops as a IDM producer. The drumming on this record is impressive, and OTTO also has a knack for catchy synth melodies. Boards of Canada fans would appreciate some of the more techno cuts such as "Valentino Couture Crusty Crayon" and "Rain Jacket and Shorts." And of course, like any good 2020 IDM album, the Richard D. James influence is present throughout the mix.
I initially gave this album a listen because I thought the album art was really funny. I later learned OTTO himself does all the artwork himself. The most accessible tracks "Guess my Crush" and "Crystal Hole" drew me in, but the kitschy aesthetics of the tracks that followed kept me coming back for more. OTTO's goofy, jovial approach to songwriting provided a warm and welcome soundtrack to my daily routine. This year has been weird, and I've found myself listening to less music and more podcasts (usually COVID-related) than before. Sometimes it takes an original, inspired album like Clam Day to reignite a passion for music that had been quarantined (hehe) in my brain. I'm excited to hear more of what OTTO has to offer, but until then, I will have my mask on, headphones in, Clam Day cranked, humming lyrics about getting peed on.
fav songs: Guess My Crush, Rain Jacket and Shorts
if you like: Boards of Canada, 100 gecs, Animal Collective
#6: Pink Siifu - Negro
2020 has not exactly been a fun year, and Pink Siifu’s breakthrough album Negro is not exaclty a fun album. One should expect an absolute hail storm of assault when visiting this record. The album came out in April of this year, one month before the political fallout and riots that stemmed from the wrongful death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police. This is important context for Negro, as it is apparent almost immediately that the album is staunchly anti-police, anti-establisment, and anti-America. With song titles like “ameriKKKa, try no pork.,” “we need mo color.,” and “Black Be Tha God, NEGRO.(wisdom.cipher),” the album tells the story of a black man fed up with unjust police brutality and American racism that reached a boiling point in 2020. The album is truly punk, with the centerpiece “FK” serving as the most solid piece of punk rock since people actually cared about what was and wasn’t punk. However, the true magic of Negro is in its ability to be both ugly and beautiful. It is visceral, noisy, rebellious, and aggressive, while maintaining an engaging, sometimes-accessible sound. Overall the record is pure chaos, and an essential period piece for the black experience in 2020’s America.
fav songs: FK, Black Be Tha God, NEGRO.(wisdom.cipher)
if you like: harsh noise, brutal honesty, anarchism
#5: AG Cook - 7G
“Everything you do—its been done before. Everything you say—yeah, you said that yesterday.” In the rapidly evolving world of electronic music, these lyrics apply to many, although A.G. Cook could be an exception. Here, the founder and forefront producer of the PC music collective finally steps out of a producer role and into the limelight to showcase a broad panorama of the PC music ethos on his debut album 7G. While a full listen of the record can prove tedious at times, Cook’s intent on 7G is not a neatly packaged EP of bangers, but rather a portfolio of his wide-ranging influences and impact on PC music over the last 7 years. The behemoth of a record follows a 7-disc structure in which Cook delves into wildly disparate genres including IDM, bubblegum bass, alternative rock, and synthpop. However, the record remains coherent through its consistent abundance of surprises. Each 7-song disc delivers a sketch on a specific genre, proving his abilities to push that genre forward. For example, the record starts with an IDM track clearly referencing Aphex Twin, yet on the next song, he scrambles in vocal samples and glittery synths that completely change the soundscape of the IDM structure. Another common thread between all seven discs on the album is the incorporation of cover songs, which hilariously range from Charli XCX to Blur to Tommy James & the Shondells. With these wildly varying covers, Cook reminds us that PC music is all about re-contextualization.
fav songs: 2021, Show Me What
if you like: PC Music, Charli XCX, almost all music trends from the past 10 years
#3: Bladee - 333
2020 will be remembered by some as The Year of The Bladee. In a year which found many of us unable to leave the bed to do simple tasks like washing one's face or doing the dishes, 26 year old Benjamin Reichwald, better known as Bladee, had the energy to release three - let me say it again - three full length albums. While the other two albums, Exeter and Good Luck, were impressive moments in the 2020 Cloud rap scene, 333 is by far the best of the bunch.
333 finds the Swedish rapper creating a sort of ambient-emotive hybrid album, mixing elements of trap, ambient pop and pop rap. In this way, the album is worth more than the sum of its parts; the record is wholly successful in creating a complete aesthetic. In 333, Bladee plays with his voice a lot, and reveals that without the overbearing presence of autotune, he can really sing.
333 has been described by fans as “symbolis[ing] change to me, and makes me strive to be better and more in connection with my inner self.” No song better illustrates this wholesome outlook than “Noblest Strive.” In it, Bladee sings over melodic, arpeggiating harps, saying:
“Turn your mental prison to a maze
Turn the maze into a place where you're safe
…
Blue and black I change another shade
And I'm trapped and in the grey
Change the rainbow in my brain, it's a ray of colour”
These lyrics may seem trivial to some, but digging a little deeper, the importance of their meaning is revealed. You see, many of Bladee’s most loyal fans were birthed into the internet age, where sincerity is seen as cringe, and doomer mindset rules many corners of the internet. Drain Gang, the artistic collective of which Bladee is the leader, has notedly had a small yet noticeable alt-right fanbase. In response to this, Bladee has commented:
“It has a lot to do with these white boys that relate to me, because they’re sad and lonely and girls don’t like them so they fuck with my music. They make themselves victims. That’s what [the] alt-right is anyways: you feel like someone has done you wrong. I hope they find out and see that it’s fucked up.”
And this is where the importance of the sincerity of Bladee’s music comes to light. It is hard to separate Bladee from his massive online cult following, and by creating a genuinely positive, bloomer album such as 333, Bladee is doing something I wish other influencers in this realm would do: preaching positivity, love, sincerity. 333 marks a break in Bladee’s sadboy past, and gives listeners a lush, spiritual, psychedelic album with which to spark hope in their lives. And more than anything, this album just makes me really, really happy.
fav songs: Noblest Strive, Hero of My Story
if you like: being online, memes, Yung Lean, beeing a NEET
#2: Charli XCX - how i’m feeling now
Beloved by pretentious music critics and top 40 radio listeners alike, miss Charli has done it yet again. This time, her relatability shines even brighter through the shared experiences of this cursed year. An exemplary quarantine album, how I’m feeling now manically spirals through romance, longing, parties, and loneliness in just half an hour. Although AG Cook sprinkles in his trademark frantic, experimental production, the album remains accessible through its playfully simplistic lyrics and catchy hooks. Rather than alienate the listener, Cook’s production at times conveys the uneasiness of today’s world while at other times simply provides a much-needed space to just fucking party. The result is so effective that even your grandma would vibe. Don’t believe me? Watch the music video for forever.
fav songs: forever, claws, party 4 u
if you like: dua lipa, posting fit pics, doing poppers
#1: Yves Tumor - Heaven to a Tortured Mind
Yves Tumor has always sought to show the beauty in the ugly or the mundane. It is even apparent in the artist’s name—the juxtaposition of Yves, a classical and regal french name often associated with the luxury designer YSL, conjoined with the word Tumor, a viscerally revolting word with the most negative of connotations. The artist is extremely adept at getting this point across, with one notable example being their ambient single Limerence that samples a mundane lo-fi conversation between lovers over the most gorgeous and serene piano loop. However, Yves has more tricks up his sleeve than ambient soundscapes. On their newest album, Heaven to a Tortured Mind, Yves finds a completely new method of expressing this idea—by reinventing himself as a glamorous god of sex and rock and roll.
There’s something to be said about an artist that can reinvent a dead genre. Psychedelia in recent years has degraded to little more than chorus and reverb (see: Tame Impala)— that is, until Heaven to a Tortured Mind. On their third studio album, Yves Tumor departs from their experimental and electronic past to revive the pitiful state of psychedelic art rock. Although by far the most accessible record from Yves, it sacrifices none of their creativity or vision, and instead proves that the genre can actually benefit from industrial/electronic movements that have risen to prominence since the presumed death of rock music.
fav songs: Kerosine!, Super Stars, Romanticist
If you like: Prince, David Bowie, Mitski, hopeless romanticism, being better than everyone