Voices raised against the dark: New England songs to see out 2020
Usually, this time of year, I do a rundown of the best music videos from New England artists, but while there were some great ones this year, I decided to take a different tack. Nothing makes tough times go by easier than a good song, and seeing as this has been an exceptionally tough year, here are the songs by New England artists that made it all go down a bit easier.
These aren t just great songs, these are songs that, in their own way, caught the spirit of the year in ways that really resonated. Some convey the year s rage and anger, others its absurdity, or its sense of loss and nostalgia. Some have a cathartic vibe to them that s deeply appreciated when things get too heavy, but all of them ring with the only currency that s mattered this year: Hope.
6 Albums From Boston Artists Who Couldn t Have Picked A Better Year To Drop Em
Live music took a hit this year. Still, a ton of local music came out, displaying unprecedented amounts of creativity, emotion, and resiliency within the Boston music scene during a global pandemic. For one reason or another, the artists behind these six albums spoke up, stood for something, captured a moment and, frankly, couldn t have picked a better year to release new work.
The album cover of Anjimile s Giver Taker.
Courtesy of Anjimile and Father/Daughter Records
Anjimile,
Anjimile spent years molding
Giver Taker into its final form, released it during a global pandemic, and came out the other end with a critically-acclaimed work of art that celebrates their journey to getting here. Few things have been as rewarding as watching their ascent into the national space this year.
Rapper BIA takes top prize at Boston Music awards
Medford rapper BIA was named the Boston Music Awards Artist of the Year. BIA, whose new album, “For Certain,” dropped today, was the top of an eclectic lineup of Massachusetts artists who won awards, including Brockton rapper Saint Lyor, who won New artist of the Year, indie artist Squirrel Flower who won Breakthrough Artist of the Year, the band Ballroom Thieves, which won album of the year for “Unlovely,” and Cliff Notez & Dephrase, who won song of the year for their collaboration with Latrell James, “Voodoo Doll.”
Usually, there s a concert and awards ceremony to celebrate the Boston Music Awards, but this year, because of the pandemic, the awards were simply announced online. The first round of nominations for awards is made by music industry professionals, including past winners and nominees, and the second round of voting is open to the public.
The best local albums of 2020. (Courtesy of the artists)
In 2020, nothing was as before. So we did what we always do in times of crisis: we sought solace in music, and escape. And while many Massachusetts artists struggled to make ends meet in an industry brought to its knees by the pandemic, it is reassuring to look back on the year and see that, amid so much loss, we gained some beautiful things. Here are our critics’ favorite local albums to emerge from a year like no other.
The tumultuous sophomore release of Sean Sprecher’s Bad History Month arrived at the peak of our isolation in April, and since then, I’ve yet to discover another body of work so emblematic of such an emotionally taxing year. Loaded with discordant guitars, caustic drums and Sprecher’s uncompromised voice, “Old Blues” is an emo-revivalist masterpiece so raw and unrestrained, a heavy sedative would fail to paralyze it. Sprecher’s ability to cohesively meld emo, post-rock and drone music into song