Well we're over half way through my list of things I did in 2020. That leaves us with music, which is where we're at now, and TV, which is closing us out tomorrow.
One thing that didn't make the cut for this article is the amount of miscellaneous Russian, Slavic, and Gypsy donk that I've ingested this year, an amount of donk that I am less than comfortable admitting to.
Fuck it, up the donks.
| Atmosphere |
Naming your album after the date you intend to release it is pretty cool, but what is perhaps even cooler is if the album you release is actually good, which 2020's release The Day Before Halloween truly is. The record is kind've like Atmosphere's pop at creating one of those Dark/Evil Lofi YouTube mixes, which sounds like a weirdly specific vibe to aim for, though one that they succeed in to a T.
That DNA of dad rap is still present at the heart of the album, but this dabbling in new sounds really sets it apart as something truly unique in the group's discography, but in a good kinda way, not a Metallica's Lulu kinda way.
Spookers abound.
Should I listen to it? Aye
| Bob Vylan |
Bob Vylan are nothing short of rad. A UK Hip Hop act with strong ties to hardcore punk, this up and coming act from London are only a couple of years old and yet in that time they've released some stellar EPs, as well as their first record We Live Here that released this year, fronted by the killer single of the same name.
A snarling and heavy attack on the darker sides of UK living, Bob Vylan's music is the perfect musical send up of what life has been like in 2020, and will be a perfect accompaniment to your Spotify playlists for when you're in need of music to riot to next year.
Should I listen to them? Hell yea.
| The Chats |
The Chats have been around since 2016 but have only just released their first studio album this year - High Risk Behaviour. I think it might be my favourite album released this year, although admittedly album releases have been slim this year - with the protocol at the moment seeming to be sporadic singles released from artists frantically trying to gather some pennies in the face of their industry grinding to a halt.
Ah well, maybe next year will be better - well it'd better fuckin' get better, I've got a ticket to see them in April.
Oh no wait, it's been postponed until 2022. Fuck.
Oh they also released a new single AC/DC CD this year, which is is quickly becoming one of my favourites of theirs.
Should I listen to it? Hell yeah, do not deny yourself the purest of shed rock.
| Fatboy Slim |
For every week of the first lockdown Fatboy Slim was heroically pumping out hour long mixtapes for the people, all of which were nothing short of incredible. As well as providing mixes of some fantastic tracks old and new, he also managed to keep each mixtape topical to the issues current for each one's release - for example featuring more music by black artists and tracks relating to racism during the height of the BLM movement, and working in a sting of Trump boasting about his cognitive test when that whole mess was hot shit.
As someone who likes to leave a few hour-long mixes on YouTube running whilst working, these have been hugely appreciated throughout 2020, or at least they were until they sadly ended August with mixtape 20. Luckily however, 2020 had one final Fatboy Slim offering for us - in the form of his Back to Mine release in November.
Very much looking forward to his eventual apocalypse mixes.
Should I listen to them? Y'all should praise the man like you should
| Flight Facilities |
I got into Flight Facilities after seeing their video for Down to Earth with Sam Rockwell, which harboured some serious Weapon of Choice vibes.
They're pretty good, some swell chill tunes usually accompanied by an equally enjoyable music videos, and usually featuring some much loved celeb as a star.
Should I listen to them? It's a yes from me!
| Ghost |
No new Ghost stuff this year, not that it stops me listening to Ghost. Or buying their merchandise. I think there was one point actually this year where I left the house in five different Ghost brand items of clothing. It's a real problem.
The new Papa reveal was a glimmering highlight in an otherwise bleak year, and there was that brief period where we all thought we were getting a new album this winter, then it turned out the reporter fucked up and it's actually out Summer 2021.
Cheers for that, mate.
Should I listen to them? Why aren't you already?
| IGORRR |
IGORRR is a crazy man from France who makes really good music, with an incredible talent for creating gold no matter the genre he tackles - or which two opposing genres he decides to mangle together.
Very Noise, which got me onto the rest of his music this year, is by far his obvious great, however tracks such as Downgrade Desert and Camel Dancefloor, all of which come from his 2020 album Spirituality and Distortion, are bonafide bangers too.
Should I listen to him? Yes. Yes.
| The Interrupters |
They've had no new music out this year minus a Joe Strummer cover, but I got to see them in February and they were fuckin' great, even though it was a seated ticket.
But y'know what people? Seated ain't so bad. Your legs don't hurt, nobody is blowing vape clouds into your face, and getting up and down for the toilet, drinks, and SNACKS has never been easier. Pitting is a little problematic, mind.
But back to the topic at hand, thanks to The Interrupters making their music I have another new band I can say I'm into, even if they play the same style of music I've been listening to for twenty years.
Should I listen to them? Please do.
| Little Big |
ABBA meets Die Antword. These Russian musical masters were tragically snubbed of their Eurovision appearance this year due to "the event" which is a crying shame as it marked possibly the only year in history I'd have been interested in watching Eurovision.
Oh well, they did release a couple of songs this year at least, such as Taco and their first and incredibly festive Christmas track - Suck My Dick 2020.
Should I listen to them? да.
| My Chemical Romance |
Emos the world over were dealt yet another blow to their emotional stability with the cancellation of the MCR reunion tour, which I had tickets to. I probably brought this on myself though, I was offered someone's spare tickets after they'd all but instantly sold out, and then spent two weeks straight telling my friends who didn't get tickets how I'd bagged some by doing absolutely nothing, because I am an unbearable piece of shit you see.
Maybe this whole mess was my fault, maybe 2020 was in response to me being a smug bastard and needing taking down a peg.
Well fuck you, whatever cosmic beings brought this upon me, the show is postponed til 2021 so I'll just bide my time and not learn my lesson. In the mean time I'm gonna blast The Black Parade out of my Fiat Punto's tinny little speakers until they blow.
Should I listen to them? I AM NOT AFRAID TO KEEP ON LIVING
| Nekrogoblikon |
Another band I got to see before "the event", and they were as incredible as always. In terms of new music all we've had this year was their Chop Suey cover which was, well, it's a cover of Chop Suey - however they did also release a minidocumentary on their breakout hit No One Survives, which is well worth watching if you're into goblin metal.
Should I listen to them? If you have a problem with goblin metal, you need to sort your life out
| NOFX |
2019's revival of the 7" of the Month Club ended this year, and on the whole it was a bit of a let down. I'm really not a fan of Mike's new-found singing style (read: drunk) and I wish he'd keep his haunted, drunken slurring and self-loathing to his Cokie the Clown side project. Or save it for his therapist.
Don't get me wrong, a bunch of classic NOFX songs are about Mike and aspects of his life, but I'd much rather take another song about him skipping on showers or whatever over another fucking song reminding us he takes drugs and has kinky sex. We fucking get it mate, you're well into hardcore stuff, nice one. Still though, a few tracks came out pretty good, especially the ones where Mike is clearly trying to sing.
Live at Red Rocks is just The Decline live with an orchestra, so if that's you're thing then fair play - the b-side was surprisingly good, though.
Should I listen to them? You can take or leave the majority of the 7"s, especially the earlier ones, most of which you'll have fuckin' heard already in prior releases (what a fucking rip) but Linewleum is well worth checking, it's probably their best song in about ten years - shame it's only available on the vinyl release.
| Partiboi69 |
Much like Fatboy Slim, Partiboi has been pumping out some lockdown mixes to keep us pushing on throughout 2020, and they have been greatly appreciated by yours truly. As an added bonus he's also dropped a bunch of tracks too, which although can't even touch the phenomenal prowess of Get Stingy and Ketamine Dreams, are very good.
Should I listen to him? Yes, he's good shit.
| Rubberbandits |
Another music act that's been big on the lockdown streaming. The livestreams of Blindboy making up songs on the spot were fuckin' incredible, giving us such instant classics as the Macho Man Randy Savage song and the beautifully written "The Moon Made Me Shit My Pants" from the RDR2 streams. That coupled with the release of Waiting and Bertie Ahern made for some pleasurable listening for sure.
Should I listen to them? Yes, yes you should. They are very funny and very talented.
| Run the Jewels |
Whereas other bands in my rundown like Little Big and Scooter released tracks taking specific aim at what a shitshow 2020 has been, in comes Run the Jewels with their fourth studio album, which takes a brutal swing at 2020 from start to finish.
As the world seems to plunge further into chaos as such does the level of aggression in RTJ's tracks, with recent events seeming to seep deep into the soul of RTJ4, making this not only their sharpest and most politically driven outing yet, but quite possible also their best.
While the previously mentioned Bob Vylan captured the perils of UK life in 2020, RTJ absolutely captured the far more complex and volatile perils of US life in 2020. Radical.
Should I listen to them? Hell yeah, recommendation of the year
| S+C+A+R+R |
I heard one of S+C+A+R+R's songs when it was featured on an episode of Off the Air this year. They used the track For the Rest of my Days which I thought slapped pretty damn hard, coupled with the music video that looked like a skit from Bo Selecta made in Unreal Engine 4 from the year 3000. So afterwards I checked out the rest of his stuff and was gutted to discover it all kinds sucked apart from Rest of my Days. Weak.
Should I listen to him? For the Rest of my Days is well worth your time, but as for the rest of his stuff (see what I did there)? Nah.
| Salvatore Ganacci |
Love a bitta Salvatore. Boycycle came out this year which is by no means even compares to the sheer majesty of Horse, however it's still pretty sweet, and has yet another memorable and bizarre video, coupled with a fantastic filter for you can use for your Instagram Stories. I've had to start minimising the video when playing back his Tomorrowland sets when I'm working though, I get way too drawn in to his on stage shenanigans.
Should I listen to him? Totally, dude.
| Schmoyoho |
Remember Schmoyoho? The folk who made stuff like the climbin' in yo windows remix and the Charlie Sheen winning song? Well they're still going, and they did a song of Trump singing about that ramp he couldn't make it down properly. It was great man. I did a bit of backtracing though and found what might very well be their swan song - Smokin' These Meats by the Zucc.
Sadly there's a huge dip in quality between these two songs and their big hits from like seven years ago (Songify renditions of Rick and Morty quotes and Jon Snow? Come on now, guys) but hey, at least we got a song about the meats and the ramp.
Should I listen to them? S M O K I N' T H E S E M E A T S
| Scooter |
Scooter are the band we needed this year. Nobody has done more for our mental wellbeing than Scooter, releasing not only the phenomenal I Want You To Stream Livestream gig, but also for what might become one of the most historically important songs when teaching future generations of this year - Fck 2020. Oh and they did a collaboration with Timmy Trumpet - in fact so did the Vengaboys.
Listen to Scooter.
Always and forever.
Should I listen to them? Always. And. Forever.
| Various Artists - Sk8er Rock : 40 Slammin' Skate Anthems |
I got a car this year. It's quite an old car so for the first month or so I had to make do with the radio (eh) and a CD player (ayy). This meant I got to dust off a bunch of my CDs I never really play anymore, which include the phenomenal Sk8er Rock compilation album. This bad boy became a staple of my driving commutes, which such "slammin' skate anthems" as Get the Party Started, Year 3000, and the song from the Bishop Burton advert.
I'm not really sure who this album was made for, like some of the tracks are pretty bubblegum pop punk with the occasional track like D12's Purple Pills being traded out for the radio friendly Purple Hills version, whereas you've got shit like Heaven is a Half-Pipe and Celebrity Skin left uncensored. Pure anarchy, very on-brand for Sk8er Rock : 40 Slammin' Skate Anthems.
Should I listen to it? I think you can buy it on Amazon for like a quid.
Well there we have it, my year in music. To keep dilly-dallying to a minimum, because I'm sure you all have such busy schedules to be reading my shit, let's just dive straight into the top pick of the year, shall we? Sk8r Rock is of course omitted from the judging, as even though it was released 15 years ago it would still have been the obvious winner here today.
Winner - The Chats -- High Risk Behaviour
By far my favourite album of the year, and the one that got the most repeated playtime. It was raw, fun, energetic, and just yet another highly sought distraction I needed from the year at large.
Runner-up - Run the Jewels -- RTJ4
Second place is always a tough one, and even though I've stated a few times here that there doesn't seem to have been many albums released this year, of the six or so I've covered in this article, they've all been spectacular. However RTJ4 manages to pull ahead of the rest of the competition just simply down to how unapologetic they are as they spit their way through one track to another. Good shit.
So that's that then I guess. If you haven't checked out any of the bands, tracks, or records that got a positive mention in this article then please do get on that, and I'll see you all tomorrow for our grand finale, Television.
Peace.
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