21.12.2020
Beat’s Writer’s Wrap-up 2020: Our inquisitive music critics tell us their favourite releases of the year From left to right - Phoebe Bridgers, Perfume Genius and Tame Impala
We spotlight the best releases of the year through the eyes of our writers.
2020… what a disaster. Thank fuck we can say goodbye to the absolute slime ball that’s been the last 12 months and look towards 2021 through a positive lens. Fingers crossed ol’ mate COVID decides to take a backseat and then we’re off to the races with gigs, festivals and events allowed to operate freely enough.
Before we get to 2021, we thought we’d take a look back at the year that was but through the eyes of our wisest investigators – our writers. Spotlighting their top ten albums, top five songs and a few other interesting miscellanea, this is the traditional Beat’s Writer’s Wrap-up but in digital form.
Other Music’s staff tell us their Top 10s of 2020 (listen to the playlist)
We ve been asking artists and other industry figures for their Top 10 albums of the 2020, and here we have year-end lists from a bunch of staff members of much-missed NYC record store
Other Music, which closed in June of 2016. One of the first things a lot of customers did on walking into Other Music was look up at the giant white board above the counter to see the current staff Top 10 lists, so it s a treat to have a virtual version of that here. We got lists from 20 staff members, including co-owner
Indie Basement: Top 40 Albums of 2020
It s a given that 2020 has been a year unlike any that most of us have ever experienced. Time seemed to fold in on itself (for me at least), and March to December seemed to go by in an instant but also in slow motion. If felt this way for music, too. Albums I thought were last year were this year and vice versa. Looking through the months, though, it was a bit shocking how many records I really liked were released and how many of these groups I wish I had gotten to see live this year.