2020 was a hell of a doozie that will go down in history without a doubt. The world was hit hard by the Covid-19 epidemic, which saw the music industry grind to an unexpected halt. Tours were canceled, venues were closed, and everything was a bit grim. As always, in dark times, music is our friend and our saving grace. Had it not been for the incredible music that came out in 2020, I think I would have been a lot sadder than I was.
The bands that made my Best of 2020 list were all artists that offered me solace, relief, and a place to go in my mind to get away from it all. For as crazy a year as 2020 was, some fantastic music still made it’s way to the people.
This year I fell short on doing reviews this year due to, well, the pandemic and being pre-occupied with my own music projects. That being said, the albums below are albums that moved me and inspired me this year. I also have added a section to this list of the biggest disappointment of 2020. Why? Well, because not every band can be perfect and put out something that I will love.
I hope you will find some of your new favorite bands from this list. If you like what you hear, click on the links and support them by picking up their music.
THE TOP ALBUM OF 2020
Lykantropi – Stories to Be Told
Swedish occult rockers Lykantropi was a band that hit my radar earlier this year with their sophomore album, Spirituosa, and quickly became one of my favorite bands. Lykantropi secured a place in the top tier of my favorite bands, and it was solidified with the release of 2020’s Tales to Be Told. Tales to Be Told is a beautiful, dark, and haunting collection of songs with harmonies reminiscent of the psychedelic Laurel Canyon era of folk-rock combined with lyrics that engaging, gorgeous, and unsettling.
Tales to Be Told is the album where I feel Lykantropi truly brings it all in and shows what a powerful entity they are. Stellar musicianship, intriguing, moving and thought provoking lyrics over a foundating of music that is inspired, full of fire, and organic. There are no egos, no showboating, and no over the top presentations. Lykantropi excells and just being a great band without coming across as arrogant. It’s almost as if they don’t realize how great a band they are which creates a sincere and honest performance.
Stories to Be Told is everything I love about music and showed me things I didn’t know I loved about music. This album moved me beyond what I thought possible and exceeded any expectations I had for this album. Lykantropi is one of my favorite bands of the last decade, and Stories to Be Told is an album that shares that same title. Trust me. You need this album in your life, mind, and soul.
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BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF 2020
Blues Pills – Holy Moly
Since first hearing their Bliss Ep back in 2012 and I followed their career religiously, I have been a Blues Pills fan. With each album, the band grew but with the release of 2016’s Lady in Gold Blues Pills had taken their music and their sound to a whole other level. This album put them on top of it all, and to me, this was their most outstanding work to date. I had high expectations for the 2020 release Holy Moly, and unfortunately, those expectations were not met.
Blues Pills parted ways with guitarist Dorien Sorriaux, and bassist Zack Anderson took over guitar duties. The result of this reflected on the material on Holy Moly! and not in a good way. Except for the excellent “California,” I found the album weak in writing and poorly executed guitar playing that turned me off disappointingly. I even attempted a second listen, and I couldn’t make it. It was painful to hear one of my favorite bands, disappointing the shit out of me.
Holy Moly! is a reminder to me that your favorite bands can and sometimes will let you down. Does this mean I love Blues Pills any less? Absolutely not. If anything, I love them even more because they’re not perfect. Plenty of bands I love dearly have put out albums that I found disappointing. Iron Maiden, Kiss, The Black Crowes, and even the Grateful Dead have all put out some crappy music in their lifetimes, but they always find a way to bounce back and remind me why I’m a fan. To think that your favorite bands will never let you down is unrealistic. Unfortunately, this time it was Blues Pills, but I’m not giving up on them… yet.
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THE REST OF THE BEST OF 2020
(in alphabetical order)
AC/DC – Pwr Up
Who knew an AC/DC album in 2020 could not just be excellent but fucking fantastic? Since the passing of Malcolm Young and the atrocious tour that they did with Axl Rose stepping in for Brian Johnson, Johnson has returned to the fold to bring order to the sound. Pwr Up has been said to be a tribute to former guitarist Malcolm Young, and if Malcolm is listening from wherever he is, he is sporting a shit-eating grin. Pwr Up is a throwback to the early Johnson days of Back in Black and For Those About To Rock, and it even dips into some material that sounds like it could’ve been written for Bon Scott. 2020 has been a heavy, stressful year and a new AC/DC album is just what we needed. No seriousness, no deep thinking, just another great album to play for the car next to you at a red light.
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Anna Von Hausswolff – All Thoughts Fly
Death Gospel is a genre of music that caught my ear in 2020. While I’m not a fan of genre tags, I think that Death Gospel is the best way to describe the sound of Anna Von Hausswolf. The Swedish instrumentalist/vocalist’s latest album is a collection of instrumental songs that has Hausswulff performing by herself solely on a pipe organ. It’s a hauntingly beautiful work of soundscapes that border on a musical description of occult/chamber music and drone. Hausswolff is a truly unique performer, and this album, in particular, is a fantastic piece of work that got repeat listens from me. This is definitely mood music at it’s finest.
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Hallas – Conundrum
When a band describes their music as Epic Space Adventure Rock, how the fuck can you pass this up without at least giving it a listen. Hailing from Sweden, Hallas has found their unique way of standing out from the pack of the more popular Swedish style of occult/psych/blues-rock. Hallas has elements of progressive bands of the 70s, but their sound is so unique that it makes it hard to pin down and name any of them. Conundrum, in a nutshell, is a comic book come to life. It is a cosmic story that I don’t want to ruin for you but trust me when I say this is an album to be experienced. I love music takes me on a journey, and Conundrum does just that.
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Jakko Jakszyk – Secrets & Lies
So what does one do when his band’s tour has been canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and forced to stay home? Well, if you’re Jakko Jakszyk, you make an album and a fucking stellar one at that. I would have never heard of this guy had it not been for my best friend constantly egging me on to listen to King Crimson. I quickly became a fan of Jakko’s songwriting, singing, and guitar playing and found myself diving into his solo collection. Secrets & Lies is an outstanding album featuring some of his Crimson brothers, yet it shows his ability to step out of the shadow of King Crimson and offer something uniquely his own.
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Magick Brother & Mystic Sister
Without a doubt, this is a band that sounds exactly how you think they would sound based on their name. Pulling from the psychedelic sounds of the ‘60s (see a pattern here?), Spain’s Magick Brother & Mystic Sister put out one of the most spectacular albums of 2020. Lush vocals, Moog synthesizers coupled with subtle guitar playing reminiscent of Carlos Santana to create an organic, beautiful, and floaty collection of songs. Lead vocalist Ava Muntada reminds me a lot of Brazilian vocalist Astrud Gilberto with her airy, relaxing vocals. There are so many influences to this album. Pink Floyd, 60’s psych-rock, funk, and bosa nova, to name a few. Magick Brother & Mystic Sister put it all together to form their own thing, creating a collection of songs for everyone who just loves everything about the ‘60s and the music made then.
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Robert Fripp – Music for Quiet Moments
In 2020, King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp gave us all the gift of music in a series of single released soundscapes he titled Music for Quiet Moments. Each soundscape was released as its own release via Spotify ending with #33. The soundscapes were recorded live on various dates of Robert Fripp solo shows from all over the world between 2004 and 2009. In my opinion, Robert Fripp is someone many people think they know a lot about. He’s eccentric, he’s complex, but he’s also a musician who can play what he is feeling in that exact moment without formula or composition. These soundscapes are the perfect late-night soundtrack to wind down with and decompress with. It’s heavy, intense, yet remarkably soothing. What a gift indeed.
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Rubber Tea – Infusion
Rubber Tea is a German band that I stumble upon while combing through the “Fans Also Like” section of Spotify. What I heard was a fantastic sound that combined elements of progressive rock, jazz, and folk. One moment they sound like the psychedelic jam bands and then suddenly turn the corner into progressive by pulling from bands such as King Crimson, Gentle Giant, and Genesis. I was taken back to learn that they were a bunch of young kids! Hearing young people make music like this gives me hope that the generations I will leave behind will at some level always be exposed to timeless, engaging music.
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Siena Root – The Secret of Our Time
For the past seven years or so, I have been a huge fan of the Swedish psych/blues rock collective Siena Root. In 2020, Siena Root returned with their best album to date, The Secret of Our Time. Featuring the stellar vocals of Zubaida Solid and Lisa Lystam, Siena Root leaned heavier on the sound of organic blues, which was perfect. Each vocalist took the lead on their own songs, but the combination of the two on “Organic Intelligence” took this album to a whole other level. The Secret of Our Time might not be as cosmic or even psychedelic like the others on this list, but Siena Root delivered a classic blues-rock masterpiece that I still can’t get enough of.
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Tesla – Five Man London Jam
What can be bad about Tesla, live and acoustic from the Abbey Road Studios building? Time has been extremely good to these guys, and this album proves that their songs are timeless and continue to be relevant and as good if not better than when they were released nearly 30 years ago. Hearing newer songs like “Into the Now” and “California Summer Song” mixed with classics like “Paradise,” “Call it What You Want,” and “Love Song” shows that while Tesla has a formula, it is one that they do well. Never change, Tesla.
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Vespero – The Four Zoas
Russia’s Vespero is another band that hugely grabbed my attention with their album The Four Zoas. I have never been a huge fan of instrumental albums but for some reason, this year became the year that I developed a newfound love for the genre. Vespero plays a unique blend of space rock, krautrock, psych rock, and prog rock and combined create a cosmic, instrumental album that will please fans of all the genres listed above. Vespero is another one of those bands that I had to dig to find, but now that I have found them, they will remain on my radar for years to come. This album is a must.
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