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
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DOLCE rounds up its top tracks of the year
As we round up our top tracks of the year, it’s plain to see that when it comes to new music, 2020 has been a real gem. Looking back on a year defined by live-streamed concerts and albums recorded in lockdown, it’s clear that creativity has continued moving forwards in spite of everything.
Pop music pushes boundaries with Perfume Genius, while Pa Salieu proves that UK grime is capable of reinventing itself, too. Lava La Rue and Kari Faux, meanwhile, show female rap and hip hop on the rise. Experimental electronic music continues to excite us, with stellar releases from Bullion and Overmono, while Oneohtrix Point Never continues to innovate with a follow-up to last year’s ‘Uncut Gems’ soundtrack.
10.Â
Journey (Itâs Yo World)Â
As the profile of Nashvilleâs hip-hop scene rises, so does the star of one of the communityâs biggest talents, rapper Brian Brown. Brown released his debut full-length project
Journey in January, proving that his toolkit contains much more than a knack for lending features and writing catchy loosies like 2018âs âStoop Kidâ or 2017âs âRic Flair.â The excellent
Journey track âA Cashville Storyâ takes stock of current-day Nashville and its gentrification-induced ills, a prime example of Brownâs aptitude for coupling clear-eyed critiques with his hook-laden flows. BRITTNEY McKENNA
9.Â
Walking Proof (New West)Â
The Triumphs of Boulevards Southern-Fried Funk
In a sense, Boulevardsâ new EP,
Brother!, began with a light reset.
It was late 2019, and Jamil Rashad was doing what musicians do: firing off a barrage of email demos out to labels and industry connections, working out his next career steps. A veteran of the rough-and-tumble 2010s American music underground, the Raleigh native had already achieved a degree of success as his longtime neo-funk alter ego, Boulevards.
Some in his position would rest on their former clout and allow their music career to fall off into historyâor put out the occasional âback to basicsâ record every few years. But Rashad, a preternaturally ambitious guy and born performer, has always played the game harder than that.
Jeff Rosenstock tells us about his favorite albums of 2020
2020 saw Jeff Rosenstock release his excellent new album
2020 DUMP on Bandcamp (including Collapse! , which we included in our 2020 ska year-end list. To cap off the year, he made us a list of his own favorite albums of 2020, and it s full of entertaining, unique commentary that couldn t have come from anyone else. Take it away, Jeff.
THIS LIST IS TOUGH TO MAKE!!!!! I felt like there was so much nonstop good music coming out that I haven t even had the chance to listen to it all. IT S NOT ALL GONNA FIT ONTO THIS LIST. Friends in