8. Deftones – Ohms
6. Svalbard – When I Die Will I Get Better?
5. Loathe – I Let It In And It Took Everything
4. Touché Amoré – Lament
2. Biffy Clyro – A Celebration Of Endings
1. Code Orange – Underneath
My early-year obsession with this record – it would get listened to in its entirety once, if not twice, a day; every day; every week – meant Underneath and I had to go on a self-imposed summer-long separation for the sake of my sanity. Revisiting it again for the first time only recently, it remains as enthralling and thrilling as it was all the way back in January. A monumental work of ambition and vision that few would dare even trying to pull off, yet alone do so with such aplomb.
Records of 2020 Part II, Nos. 5 to 1
Durango, Colorado Currently Fri 2% chance of precipitation 1% chance of precipitation 1% chance of precipitation
Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020 4:40 PM
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This list is a continuation of what began last week, the top five of my favorite 10 records of 2020.
This collection comes from a year’s worth of listening. This list is not based on consumer numbers and sales, as most-consumed does not equal quality. This list is based on what personal impact this record had on the listener (me), and how much it was played, as some of these releases had trouble finding their way off the “currently playing” stage of my personal digital music device or turntable. They’re also on this list because they’re good, and I’ll likely still feel this away about these records in 2030.
The Homeless Gospel Choir’s favorite albums of 2020
The Homeless Gospel Choir released a new album,
This Land Is Your Landfill, this year via Anti-Flag s A-F Records. They were also supposed to tour with Good Riddance, Death by Stereo, and Clowns in the spring, but COVID got in the way of that. Derek still played A-F Records Takeover Fest livestream, however, and appeared on labelmate Jon Snodgrass new album.
To cap off the year, we asked Derek what his favorite releases of 2020 are, and he made us a list, commentary included, featuring
Fiona Apple, Run the Jewels, Coriky (Ian MacKaye s band with his Fugazi bandmate Joe Lally and his wife/Evens bandmate Amy Farina),
45 Best Punk Albums of 2020
I think it goes without saying how insane of a year 2020 was, but there were things to be grateful for too, and one of those things is the incredible amount of great punk records that came out this year. Aside from the fact that so many of these albums had messages that resonated strongly this year, it was inspiring to see how the punk community came together during some of the toughest times, even in a year where we couldn t get together physically. Throughout the whole year, this vast community protested, amplified voices, launched fundraisers, and helped support so many people, and released a lot of great music in the process. I tried to narrow down the best of it to 45 albums and EPs, but it wasn t easy. Countless great records came out this year under the punk umbrella, and even stopping at 45 meant leaving out some great ones.