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“What really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films — these things matter.”
— High Fidelity

Etcetera

Best Songs of 2020

Yeesh, 2020. What a year. After finishing up my Best Songs of 2019, thus putting a capper on 50 years of song lists, I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to put together another round in 2020. It felt like such a struggle to compile last year’s that I began to wonder if I was finally aging out of the process of truly consuming new music. Then, of course, 2020 turned into the year of the pandemic.

Somewhere between needing to fill time, fill a void left by an inability to go see music in a live setting, and my endless desire for novelty, month by month I began adding more and more songs to my list of potential tracks for a Best of 2020. While I fully recognize in myself a lack of confidence in handing out 5-star ratings for songs these days, I nevertheless managed to form a bond with enough songs that, by the tail end of November, I started to believe that with a little extra effort, I could collate yet another 100-song Best of. So here we are.

Besides no access to live music in 2020 (after March 7, at least), my musical intake this year was upended by removed access, and then for awhile, unwillingness to go, to record stores. I also never really got the opportunity to build memories around new music in 2020, wether that be sharing songs and albums with others or hearing music “in the wild” at backyard parties, clothing stores, sporting events, etc. I definitely did not get the chance to travel with much of this music, at least beyond the familiar routes between my house and the grocery store, or my house and Hood Canal.

And yet, over time, with great intention to come back to these songs as often as I could, hoping some of them would stick and allow me to build a memory around them—a happy one, hopefully—I kept listening, and kept trying to make discoveries. I also found myself revisiting old favorites in the form of their new work, hoping that I might find comfort in the familiar but also revel in the novelty of a fresh sound.

Somewhere between was my taste leaning this way and artists putting more effort into responding to the times, this year’s list feels far more of the moment than others in recent history. This list, then, reflects both a feeling of loss and loneliness amid this pandemic, but also anger and frustration with racial strife. It also endeavors to rise above it all, not to ignore the suffering, but to acknowledge the ever-present need to escape, if only for a few minutes at a time.

For these year-end lists, I like to undertake the seemingly impossibly task of creating an hours-long mix. The order you see below represents that effort, which you can listen to via Spotify and Apple Music. Track notes to come eventually or maybe never.

  1. SUGAREGG

    Where to Start

    Bully

    SUGAREGG

    Sub Pop

    via past experience

  2. Fake It Flowers

    Together

    beabadoobee

    Fake It Flowers

    Dirty Hit

    via Stereogum, probably

  3. Far Enough

    Sandcastles

    Cable Ties

    Far Enough

    Merge

    via KEXP

  4. Jump Rope Gazers

    Dying to Believe

    The Beths

    Jump Rope Gazers

    Carpark

    via past experience

  5. Sideways to New Italy

    The Cool Change

    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

    Sideways to New Italy

    Sub Pop

    via past experience

  6. Hypoluxo

    Shock

    Hypoluxo

    Hypoluxo

    Hypoluxo

    via past experience

  7. The New Abnormal

    Bad Decisions

    The Strokes

    The New Abnormal

    RCA

    via past experience

  8. Gigaton

    Dance of the Clairvoyants

    Pearl Jam

    Gigaton

    Monkeywrench

    via past experience

  9. War

    Sudan Archives

    Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy

    Bandcamp

    via past experience

  10. UNTITLED (Black Is)

    Wildfires

    SAULT

    UNTITLED (Black Is)

    Forever Living Originals

    via past experience

  11. Freeze, Melt

    Love Is All We Share

    Cut Copy

    Freeze, Melt

    Cutters

    via past experience

  12. PDLIF

    PDLIF

    Bon Iver

    PDLIF digital single

    Jagjaguwar

    via past experience

  13. No Time for Love Like Now

    No Time for Love Like Now

    Michael Stipe & Big Red Machine

    No Time for Love Like Now digital single

    37D03D

    via past experience

  14. The Universal Want

    Carousels

    Doves

    The Universal Want

    Heavenly

    via past experience

  15. PEOPLE

    Tunde Adebimpe

    PEOPLE digital single

    Bandcamp

    via past experience (TV on the Radio)

  16. Dark Side of Everything

    Never Come Down

    The Neverly Boys

    Dark Side of Everything

    Alchemy

    via past experience (Dave Sitek)

  17. chinatown

    chinatown

    Bleachers featuring Bruce Springsteen

    chinatown digital single

    RCA

    via past experience

  18. Making a Door Less Open

    There Must Be More Than Blood

    Car Seat Headrest

    Making a Door Less Open

    Matador

    via past experience

  19. I Love You But Damn

    I Love You But Damn

    Smokey Brights

    I Love You But Damn

    Freakout

    via past experience

  20. Letter to You

    Ghosts

    Bruce Springsteen

    Letter to You

    Columbia

    via past experience

  21. Fear of Death

    Fear of Death

    Tim Heidecker

    Fear of Death

    Spacebomb

    via past experience

  22. Rough and Rowdy Ways

    False Prophet

    Bob Dylan

    Rough and Rowdy Ways

    Columbia

    via past experience

  23. Ghosts of West Virginia

    Devil Put the Coal in the Ground

    Steve Earle & The Dukes

    Ghosts of West Virginia

    New West

    via past experience

  24. Gaslighter

    March March

    The Chicks

    Gaslighter

    Columbia

    via past experience

  25. BLACK PARADE

    BLACK PARADE

    Beyoncé

    BLACK PARADE digital single

    Parkwood

    via past experience

  26. RTJ4

    JU$T

    Run the Jewels featuring Pharrell Williams & Zack de la Rocha

    RTJ4

    Jewel Runners

    via past experience

  27. Let Me In

    Moodymann

    TAKEN AWAY | KDJ-49

    Kenneth Dixon

    via past experience / KEXP

  28. 1988

    amansloveislife _keepon

    Knxwledge

    1988

    Stones Throw

    via past experience

  29. Sixteen Oceans

    Baby

    Four Tet

    Sixteen Oceans

    Text

    via past experience

  30. Headlights

    Headlights

    James Vincent McMorrow

    Headlights digital single

    Sony

    via past experience

  31. Suddenly

    New Jade

    Caribou

    Suddenly

    Merge

    via past experience

  32. Free Love

    Rooftop Dancing

    Sylvan Esso

    Free Love

    Loma Vista

    via past experience

  33. Before

    Do You Ever

    James Blake

    Before

    Universal

    via past experience

  34. New Me, Same Us

    Are You Feeling Sad?

    Little Dragon featuring Kali Uchis

    New Me, Same Us

    Ninja Tune

    via past experience

  35. Don't Let Get You Down

    Don’t Let Get You Down

    Wajatta

    Don’t Let Get You Down

    Brainfeeder

    via past experience

  36. Mordechai

    Time (You and I)

    Khruangbin

    Mordechai

    Dead Oceans

    via Song Exploder / some beer commercial

  37. Invisible People

    I Know It

    Chicano Batman

    Invisible People

    ATO

    via KEXP

  38. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately

    On the Floor

    Perfume Genius

    Set My Heart on Fire Immediately

    Matador

    via past experience

  39. Flight Tower

    Lose Your Love

    Dirty Projectors

    Flight Tower

    Domino

    via past experience

  40. Ice Cream

    Ice Cream

    BLACKPINK & Selena Gomez

    Ice Cream

    YG Entertainment

    via Fluxblog

  41. Dedicated Side B

    Stay Away

    Carly Rae Jepsen

    Dedicated Side B

    Schoolboy/Interscope

    via past experience

  42. Escape

    Escape

    Desire

    Escape digital single

    Italians Do It Better

    via past experience / KEXP

  43. Under My Influence

    Going Home

    The Aces

    Under My Influence

    Red Bull

    via past experience

  44. After Hours

    Blinding Lights

    The Weeknd

    After Hours

    The Weeknd/Republic

    via the ether / past experience

  45. Seeking Thrills

    Never Let You Go

    Georgia

    Seeking Thrills

    Domino

    via Alli Adamonis

  46. Melonday

    Get to Know You

    Tomo Nakayama

    Melonday

    Ricebelly

    via KEXP / past experience

  47. Feeling Lucky?

    Crash

    Nilüfer Yanya

    Feeling Lucky?

    ATO

    via KEXP / past experience

  48. You've Got to Feel

    You’ve Got to Feel

    Empress Of & Amber Mark

    You’ve Got to Feel digital single

    Major Arcana

    via past experience / Apple Music

  49. Future Nostalgia

    Pretty Please

    Dua Lipa

    Future Nostalgia

    Dua Lipa/Warner Bros.

    via Fluxblog

  50. Bigger Love

    Remember Us

    John Legend featuring Rapsody

    Bigger Love

    John Legend/Columbia

    via past experience

  51. Pick Me Up Off the Floor

    Hurts to Be Alone

    Norah Jones

    Pick Me Up Off the Floor

    Blue Note

    via past experience

  52. Positions

    My Hair

    Ariana Grande

    Positions

    Republic

    via past experience / Fluxblog

  53. Circles

    Circles

    Mac Miller

    Circles

    Warner Bros.

    via past experience / Fluxblog

  54. Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God

    Look Over Your Shoulder

    Busta Rhymes featuring Kendrick Lamar

    Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God

    The Conglomerate Entertainment

    via past experience

  55. It Is What It Is

    Dragonball Durag

    Thundercat

    It Is What It Is

    Brainfeeder

    via past experience

  56. Apolonio

    Stayback

    Omar Apollo

    Apolonio

    Omar Apollo/Warner Bros.

    via Alli Adamonis / Fluxblog

  57. half life

    Heavy Hands

    Hollis

    half life

    Hollis

    via KEXP / past experience

  58. Rare

    Cut You Off

    Selena Gomez

    Rare

    Interscope

    via past experience / the ether

  59. Devotion

    You’ve Got My Number

    Margaret Glaspy

    Devotion

    ATO

    via past experience

  60. The River

    Eleanor Friedberger

    The River digital single

    Bandcamp

    via past experience / Said the Gramophone

  61. Have We Met

    Crimson Tide

    Destroyer

    Have We Met

    Merge

    via past experience

  62. As Long As You Are

    For Sure

    Future Islands

    As Long As You Are

    4AD

    via past experience

  63. Rise

    It Ain’t Water

    Alison Mosshart

    Rise

    Domino

    via past experience

  64. Beaten Down

    Beaten Down

    Sharon Van Etten

    Beaten Down digital single

    Jagjaguwar

    via past experience

  65. Punisher

    ICU

    Phoebe Bridgers

    Punisher

    Dead Oceans

    via past experience

  66. Serpentine Prison

    Distant Axis

    Matt Berninger

    Serpentine Prison

    Matt Berninger/Concord

    via past experience

  67. Like So Much Desire

    Like So Much Desire

    Flock of Dimes

    Like So Much Desire

    Sub Pop

    via past experience

  68. Clay Pigeons

    Clay Pigeons

    Shannon Lay & Steve Gunn

    Clay Pigeons digital single

    Sub Pop

    via past experience

  69. Forever Just Beyond

    Some Ghost

    Clem Snide

    Forever Just Beyond

    Ramseur

    via past experience

  70. MONOVISION

    We’ll Make It Through

    Ray LaMontagne

    MONOVISION

    Stone Dwarf/RCA

    via past experience / Freegal

  71. Transmigration Blues

    Nothingness and Everything

    The Dead Tongues

    Transmigration Blues

    Psychic Hotline

    via past experience

  72. Shore

    Can I Believe You

    Fleet Foxes

    Shore

    Fleet Foxes/Anti

    via past experience

  73. The Waterfall II

    Run It

    My Morning Jacket

    The Waterfall II

    ATO

    via past experience

  74. Better Than We Found It

    Better Than We Found It

    Maren Morris

    Better Than We Found It digital single

    Sony

    via past experience / Freegal

  75. Starting Over

    Joy of My Life

    Chris Stapleton

    Starting Over

    Mercury Nashville

    via past experience

  76. Cuttin’ Grass - Vol.1

    Just Let Go

    Sturgill Simpson

    Cuttin’ Grass - Vol.1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions)

    High Top Mountain

    via past experience

  77. That's How Rumors Get Started

    Prisoner of the Highway

    Margo Price

    That’s How Rumors Get Started

    Margo Price/Loma Vista

    via past experience

  78. Reunions

    It Gets Easier

    Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

    Reunions

    Southeastern

    via past experience

  79. Raleigh Days

    Archers of Loaf

    Raleigh Days / Street Fighting Man

    Merge

    via past experience

  80. The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City

    Tommy in the 80s

    Beach Slang

    The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City

    Bridge 9

    via past experience

  81. Thin Mind

    Under Glass

    Wolf Parade

    Thin Mind

    Sub Pop

    via past experience

  82. Impossible Weight

    Impossible Weight

    Deep Sea Diver featuring Sharon Van Etten

    Impossible Weight

    High Beam/ATO

    via past experience

  83. Temple

    How Could I

    Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

    Temple

    Ribbon Music

    via past experience

  84. Wake UP!

    Shaking

    Hazel English

    Wake UP!

    Polyvinyl

    via past experience

  85. Color Theory

    Circle the Drain

    Soccer Mommy

    color theory

    Loma Vista

    via past experience

  86. And Other Things

    And Other Things

    Routine

    And Other Things

    Friends of/Dead Oceans

    via past experience (Jay Som, Chastity Belt)

  87. No Horizon

    AEIOU

    Wye Oak

    No Horizon

    Merge

    via past experience

  88. Indistinct Conversations

    Weight of That Weekend

    Land of Talk

    Indistinct Conversations

    Saddle Creek

    via past experience

  89. Song for Our Daughter

    Strange Girl

    Laura Marling

    Song for Our Daughter

    Chrysalis/Partisan

    via past experience

  90. Fetch the Bolt Cutters

    Fetch the Bolt Cutters

    Fiona Apple

    Fetch the Bolt Cutters

    Epic

    via past experience

  91. The Ascension

    Video Game

    Sufjan Stevens

    The Ascension

    Asthmatic Kitty

    via past experience

  92. Sorceress

    Infinite Scroll

    Jess Williamson

    Sorceress

    Mexican Summer

    via the ether / Waxahatchee?

  93. folklore

    My Tears Ricochet

    Taylor Swift

    folklore

    Taylor Swift

    via past experience

  94. Love Is the King

    Natural Disaster

    Jeff Tweedy

    Love Is the King

    DbPM

    via past experience

  95. Golden State

    Simple Harmony

    Radnor & Lee

    Golden State

    Flower Moon

    via past experience

  96. Speed, Sound, Lonely KV

    How Lucky

    Kurt Vile featuring John Prine

    Speed, Sound, Lonely KV (ep)

    Matador

    via past experience

  97. Wildflowers

    Harry Green

    Tom Petty

    Wildflowers & All the Rest

    Warner Bros.

    via past experience

  98. Sundowner

    Sundowner

    Kevin Morby

    Sundowner

    Dead Oceans

    via past experience

  99. Saint Cloud

    Fire

    Waxahatchee

    Saint Cloud

    Merge

    via past experience

  100. Women in Music Pt. III

    Gasoline

    HAIM

    Women in Music Pt. III

    Columbia

    via past experience