Fav 40 Albums of 2020 Pt 3

Also included - EPs from Kurt Vile, Tomberlin, and PUP

Dec 18, 2020

A few EPs of interest…

EPs are always exciting to me. Their purpose can vary, whether a group wants to release a new single, some b-sides, demos, live material, or have a place to deliver songs that don’t fit with their current output. Most conveniently, they have a short run time.

Without touring being an option, bands have used EPs as an outlet to stay in touch with their fans. Here are a few of my favorites from the year:

Kurt Vile - Speed, Sound, Lonely KV

A collection of covers and few originals, Kurt Vile is joined by the late John Prine for a duet of Prine’s “How Lucky,” making for one of the year's most touching performances. Vile has said that it’s “probably the single most special musical moment in my life.”

Tomberlin - Projections

Phoebe Bridgers may have a fantastic publicist, but Sarah Beth Tomberlin is a more exciting prospect in the sad girl scene. Produced by Alex G, songs like “Wasted” find Tomberlin diversifying her instrumental pallet since her 2018 debut At Weddings.

PUP - This Place Sucks Ass

I’ve muttered this album’s title multiple times this year while reading the news. Toronto punks PUP bring the most cathartic 17 minutes of the year with songs like “Rot” and a cover of Grandaddy’s “A.M. 180.”

If you enjoy CHECK THIS OUT!, please share with your music-loving friends. ✌️🕶️

20. Tycho - Simulcast

Last year found longtime ambient chillwave composer and producer Scott Hanson, aka Tycho, released Weather, his first album that included vocals on the majority of tracks. A collaboration with vocalist Saint Sinner, Weather, was an effort to write songs with more traditional pop structures. While I appreciate the desire to change things up and some pieces of the album worked independently, Weather disappointed, from an artist who rarely fails.

Since its release, Hanson had promised that the songs' instrumental versions would be made available. This resulted in Simulcast, this year’s follow-up, and a return to form. Tycho, as a project, works best in an instrumental setting. Instead of just removing the vocals, Hanson and company have created an album that is quite different from its predecessor, full of emotion and floating textures that Tycho has become known for.

There’s room for pop music, but we listen to Tycho for a break from that. His music is for both escape and enjoying the moment, whether it’s drifting off into space while hanging out on the couch or shredding the gnar for some folks.

Tycho will have a livestream sunrise set on New Years’ morning, and tickets are available here.

Weather Remixes is releasing today, December 18

Simulcast is available via Mom + Pop Music and Ninja Tune.

19. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions) and Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 2 (The Cowboy Arms Sessions)

“And I decided after climbing the ropes of country music stardom and then completely destroying that career to make a rock n’ roll record… Now I have great ambitions of a life of gravel parking lots and portapotties. I want to be a bluegrass musician because that’s the music of my heart and soul, that’s the music I was raised on.”

Sure, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 are two records, but would you ever break up Use Your Illusion 1&2?

Freshly out of his big label contract, Sturgill Simpson has released two bluegrass albums, the best news to come out of Kentucky this year. Instead of playing it straight by releasing a “greatest hits” album, Simpson has assembled what he describes as the “bluegrass Avengers” to work through his catalog in a new light.

I’ve been a Sturgill stan since Metamodern Sounds in Country Music and have watched with fascination as he wracked up the Grammy nominations (and wins) over the years. With the Cuttin’ Grass series, he appears to be back in his element, and both of these albums rip. They’re a great listen to dip your toes for people who don’t always love bluegrass (myself included).

Cuttin’ Grass Vol.1 & 2 are available via High Top Mountain Records.

18. Lettuce - Resonate

Almost 20 years into their recording career, Lettuce has released Resonate, another excellent chapter in their space funk career.

One of this year’s quest has involved finding music void of pop structure and lyrics, and Resonate not only meets this but cures the soul during these dark times. If you’re the kind of person who digs a song that follows the “intro, sax solo, bass solo, trumpet solo, keys solo, guitar solo, drums solo, all together now” flow, this record is full of those songs.

Lettuce has created a breezy cocktail of funk, jazz, disco, and the slickest organ riffs this side of Herbie Hancock. They even pay homage to their influences by bringing along go-go legends Jungle Boogie and Big Tony along for the ride. I cannot wait to take in a live set soon.

Resonate is available via Round Hill.

17. The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You

The Avalanches are among the few groups who could disappear for 15 years and then return with two albums as highly regarded as their debut. The Australian electronic group released their debut Since I Left You in 2000 to high accolades; the album continually shows up in Top 10 lists for the 00s. Then they disappeared from the public eye with sparse hints that they were working on new material.

In 2016, The Avalanches released Wildflower and picked up right where they left off. I loved that album, but their new effort, We Will Always Love You, is even better. The Avalanches are legendary for their samples and guest spots, and on this record, they have pulled from all genres to create a work that flows so much better than it should, given the different backgrounds of everyone who features. My favorite example is “Interstellar Love,” which brings together a sample of Alan Parsons Project’s “Eye in the Sky” with soul crooner Leon Bridges. Also, The Avalanches bring together a murder’s row of Blood Orange, MGMT, Johnny Marr (member of The Smiths that isn’t a known asshole), Perry Ferrell (Jane’s Addiction and that other 90s band), Tricky, Jamie xx, Denzel Curry, Rivers Cuomo (with his best track since the White Album), Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), and the previously noted always busy slacker, Kurt Vile, among many others.

We Will Always Love You is available via Modular Recordings.

16. Jonathan Wilson - Dixie Blur

On Dixie Blur, LA canyons troubadour Jonathan Wilson trades the west coast for Nashville and finds him on a welcomed cosmic country journey.

Exploring his North Carolina upbringing, Wilson is backed here by fiddle, harmonica, and pedal steel, giving the album a campfire atmosphere. A prolific producer himself, Wilson brought in Wilco’s Pat Sansone and ended up with quite the album in a week. Besides the country and bluegrass tunes, one of the highlights is “Enemy,” a song that could have been on Springsteen’s The River, complete with a sultry sax part that sounds straight from The Big Man himself.

After hitting a wall on his previous album, Rare Birds, it’s great to hear Jonathan Wilson reinvigorated and surrounded by musicians who help push his prolific singer-songwriter career into the next phase.

Dixie Blur is available via BMG.

15. Pottery - Welcome to Bobby’s Motel

While it’s easy to put on Pottery's debut, Welcome to Bobby’s Motel, and immediately think Talking Heads, Devo, or Television, the Montreal band brings so much more than a lazy comparison.

Pottery has written a grand new entry in the “road album” genre, with inspiration from their rough and tumble time on tour. Besides the lyrics about motels and gross food, there is always constant chirping from the instrumentation, whether it’s guitars talking back and forth or a tasty little keyboard fill. The drums on this record create the most significant road feel, as every song is full of different snare hits and percussion that make you feel like you’re sitting right in that old Chevy clunker van with them.

My favorite track is the centerpiece “Texas Drums Pt 1 & 2,” with the group singing the earworm chorus of “play those fucking drums for me” before switching into the second part that sounds like a limbo line in Willy Wonka’s hell tunnel. I also love the closer “Hot Like Jungle” and its sleigh bells - it’s as close to a Christmas song as I can get into these days.

Welcome to Bobby’s Motel is available via Partisan Records.

14. Katy J Pearson - Return

Return is Katy J Pearson’s debut record, but her sound is well beyond her years. Not easy to categorize, this album jumps from country to folk to indie and everywhere in between, and Pearson has made this year’s “burn this town down” record.

After experiencing writer’s block and having her former band’s contract canceled, Return is a fitting name and proclamation by Pearson. Now signed to Heavenly Recordings (also home to previously reviewed Mildlife) and given more creative freedom, Katy J Pearson sounds like a woman renewed by the fresh air. The album is full of little guitar flourishes and great keys, and the songwriting is top-notch.

Pearson’s biggest strength is her voice; a wonderful Stevie Nicks warble that’s most effective when she’s belting out her choruses. Sometimes you may hear a Tragic Kingdom era, Gwen Stefani. Return is an extraordinary first record, and I look forward to where Pearson sets off to next.

Return is available via Heavenly Recordings.

13. Thundercat - It Is What It Is

Thundercat is my favorite bassist (sorry, Geddy Lee, close second), but that would underrate him because this guy is an experience. While the licks are serious, his philosophy of “there’s always room for stupid” sets him apart from anything else going on at the moment.

While he plays alongside everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Anderson Paak or Childish Gambino, Thundercat’s solo efforts are some of the most fun records out there, and It Is What It Is doesn’t let up from this streak. He shines at switching from cutting emotion to something so absurdly hilarious on a dime.

I’ve seen Thundercat sit in with Kamasi Washington’s enormous supporting cast, where he flows right through their jazz journeys to create the space operas Washington is known for. But I’ve also seen him perform with only an electric violin and drums as support, and his fantastic playing takes center stage. I always walk away with my jaw on the floor. He’s also a favorite to play on the jukebox and watch the locals’ faces.

We should all strive to be more like Thundercat.

It Is What It Is is available via Brainfeeder.

12. Garcia Peoples - Nightcap at Wits’ End

Garcia Peoples is one of the best jam bands around right now, not in a wook kinda way, and lucky for us, their early career is off to a prolific start. Named after their local watering hole, Nightcap at Wit’s End is their fourth album in their first three years of recording.

The front half is relentless, from the proggy opener “Gliding Through” to the Nuggets ready “Altered Place,” and highlight “Painting a Vision That Carries,” with it’s floating Big Star choruses before giving way to a Dead-esque jam. The back half is a perfectly sequenced comedown medley that will leave you wanting to start the record right over again.

Garcia Peoples are notorious for their constant touring (that Grateful Dead influence is showing again), and who knows how many more records they’ll have ready for the road next year, but the craft is admirable.

Nightcap at Wits’ End is available via Beyond Beyond is Beyond Records.

11. Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans

Kieren Hebden has been producing music as Four Tet for over 20 years now, and with his tenth album Sixteen Oceans, the British ambient, downtempo producer brings some much-needed tranquility to the year.

After starting with the dancefloor bangers “School” and “Baby” (which features vocals by Ellie Goulding), Hebden downshifts into a meditative journey full of nature field recordings, harpsichord, glitchy beats, and well-placed wind chime samples.

Sixteen Oceans was released in March and has been a favorite mystical escape. This is an album to ease into the evening as it journeys into its ambient close. Always consistent, Four Tet is a great place to dive into the electronica world.

Sixteen Oceans is available via Text Records.