Best albums of 2020 made by Arizona artists, ranked Ed Masley, Arizona Republic
Arizona artists had a harder time connecting with their local fans in 2020. Music venues shut down in early March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and remained shuttered, for the most part, through December.
Some artists did their best to stay connected via livestream, which was nice.
But just because you couldn t see your favorite Arizona artists in your favorite Arizona bars the way you did in pre-pandemic times, that doesn t mean you couldn t stay connected to their music through recordings.
And 2020 was a great year to experience new music made by Arizona artists. These were the best we had a chance to hear, from Maynard James Keenan s latest dispatch from Jerome to internationally recognized releases from Spirit Adrift and Phoenix native Courtney Marie Andrews.
If anyone turned 2020 s many lemons into sparkling lemonade, it was Sam Means. The musician and head of local merch company Hello Merch went from a planned reunion with The Format to releasing an excellent five-song EP, I m Sorry. The project clearly owes something to Means main band, and there s a kind of earnestness and heart-on-sleeve mentality linking both sounds. But from there, Means spins in 70s-style folk-rock (a la Stephen Stills) and 90s alternative (think Teenage Fanclub) for energetic jams on American politics and doomed love. If there are any downsides, the EP feels too brief; Means cuts right to the heart of this moment with breathtaking efficiency. It s the sort of project that almost makes you glad 2020 went haywire because from that chaos we got to experience a hugely talented artist display his true strengths.
The Valley’s music scene is on hold because of COVID-19, but local artists are still keeping busy and earning attention for their efforts while venues are struggling to survive. Here’s a rundown of recent news that’s been happening across metro Phoenix’s music landscape.
Rhythm Room Raises $37,000 to Pay Its Bills
Central Phoenix blues venue the Rhythm Room got a helping hand from its patrons and fans recently to take care of its bills and stay afloat during the pandemic. On December 12, owner Bob Corritore launched a GoFundMe campaign aimed at raising money to help pay off the venue’s sales and property taxes, back utilities, permit costs, and other operating expenses. As of Thursday afternoon, it’s raised $37,102, more than double Corritore’s original goal of $15,000.
Posted By Chris Conde on Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 10:27 AM click to enlarge
San Antonio’s self-described nerdcore outfit Bitforce has made a triumphant return with an eponymous eight-song album released this week on Bandcamp. Known for combining the raw aggression of metalcore with nostalgic melodies from classic video games, Bitforce has emerged as a leader in a surprisingly large scene of Alamo City acts who reference video games, anime and other nerdy obsessions in their music. That local community s stature has grown so much that fellow nerdcore outfits including Mariachi Entertainment System yes, a mariachi group that plays covers of video games themes receive invitations to perform at gaming conferences across the U.S.