Top 89 of 2020 - Staff Picks (MPR graphic)
Aside from repetitive listening of a few major releases (Taylor Swift, Fiona Apple, and all 63 of the vault tracks on the Super Deluxe reissue of Prince s
Sign O The Times), most of my time in 2020 was spent laser-focused on the local community in Minneapolis and St. Paul. And not just the work people were producing, but the way that artists were rallying together to provide mutual aid and support in the wake of George Floyd s murder, and bravely pushing the conversation forward about racism and abuse within our own industry.
Assembled into a list, these 20 songs provide a living history and a narrative of grief, rage, separation, and healing, told from a uniquely Twin Cities perspective. Even as the live music scene faced unprecedented challenges, the artists among us, ever resourceful and resilient, pivoted to recording from home and documenting – sometimes in real time – the events that were unfolding around them.