"The best albums of 2020 proved that incredible new music will always make their way to our ears, even in the toughest of times" - Pitchfork announces its albums of the year special.

The top 20:

20. Fleet Foxes: 'Shore'
19. Amaarae: 'The Angel You Don’t Know'
18. Destroyer: 'Have We Met'
17. Róisín Murphy: 'Róisín Machine'
16. Run the Jewels: 'RTJ4'
15. U.S. Girls: 'Heavy Light'
14. Jay Electronica: 'Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn)'
13. The Microphones: 'Microphones in 2020'
12. Lil Uzi Vert: 'Eternal Atake'
11. Adrianne Lenker: 'songs / instrumentals'
10. Bad Bunny: 'YHLQMDLG'
9. Jessie Ware: 'What’s Your Pleasure?'
8. Haim: 'Women in Music Pt. III'
7. Yves Tumor: 'Heaven to a Tortured Mind'
6. Bob Dylan: 'Rough and Rowdy Ways'
5. Perfume Genius: 'Set My Heart on Fire Immediately'
4. Phoebe Bridgers: 'Punisher'
3. Moses Sumney: 'græ'
2. Waxahatchee: 'Saint Cloud'
1. Fiona Apple: 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters'

On the first anniversary of Tone Glow’s Substack iteration, its 30 writers write on the songs and albums and people that they have just discovered this year, and that mean something to them. There are some familiar names like Sade, Sleep, Grateful Dead, and Abba, as well some lesser-known like Judee Sill, Takagi Masakatsu, Gilda Radner (better-known as an actress), and Luc Ferrari. Go through it - here.

"2020 bestowed an embarrassment of musical riches upon us" - PopMatters writes in its introduction of 60 best albums of 2020, with the majority of albums on the list made by solo artists.

Here are the top 20:

20. Deftones - 'Ohms'

19. Adrianne Lenker - 'Songs/Instrumentals'

18. Perfume Genius - 'Set My Heart on Fire Immediately'

17. Taylor Swift - 'folklore'

16. Bob Dylan - 'Rough and Rowdy Ways'

15. Bad Bunny – 'YHLQMDLG'

14. Childish Gambino – '15.3.20'

13. Jay Electronica - 'A Written Testimony'

12. Thundercat - 'It Is What It Is'

11. Dua Lipa – 'Future Nostalgia'

10. Fontaines D.C. - 'A Hero's Death'

9. Waxahatchee - 'Saint Cloud'

8. SAULT - 'Untitled (Black Is)'

7. Ital Tek - 'Outland'

6. Run the Jewels - 'RTJ4'

5. Yves Tumor - 'Heaven to a Tortured Mind'

4. Haim - 'Women in Music Pt. III'

3. Jessie Ware - 'What's Your Pleasure?'

2. Fiona Apple - 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters​'

1. Phoebe Bridgers - 'Punisher'

"The best indie-pop in 2020 privileged self-questioning and human connections over showy declarations of greatness. Small music with a big impact... Things I'm happy for in 2020 - there's still room for murkiness and mystique within melody-forward pop tunes" - PopMatters says introducing their list of 10 best indie-pop albums of this year. They are:

10. Peel Dream Magazine – 'Agitprop Alterna'

9. The Very Most – 'Needs Help'

8. The Legends – 'The Legends'

7. Pia Fraus – 'Empty Parks'

6. Thibault - 'Or Not Thibault'

5. Terry vs Tori – 'Heathers'

4. Tan Cologne – 'Cave Vaults on the Moon in New Mexico'

3. Koney – 'Koney'

2. Fenne Lily – 'Breach'

1. Cindy – 'Free Advice'

"Better to think of the best music of 2020 as an urgent cacophony of distinct voices rather than a chorus with a single melody" - NPR says about their best albums of 2020 list. The top ten:

10. Waylon Payne - 'Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher & Me'

9. Lil Uzi Vert - 'Eternal Atake'

8. Nubya Garcia - 'Source'

7. Bad Bunny - 'YHLQMDLG'

6. Thomas Adès - 'Adès Conducts Adès'

5. Spillage Village - 'Spilligion'

4. Phoebe Bridgers - 'Punisher'

3. Lido Pimienta - 'Miss Colombia'

2. Fiona Apple - 'Fetch The Bolt Cutters'

1. SAULT - 'Untitled (Black Is)'

The New Yorker's Amanda Petrusich chose 10 best albums of 2020, with a surprise at the top:

10. Phoebe Bridgers - 'Punisher'

9. Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist - 'Alfredo'

8. Fleet Foxes - 'Shore'

7. Bob Dylan - 'Rough and Rowdy Ways'

6. Jyoti - 'Mama, You Can Bet!'

5. Fiona Apple - 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters'

4. Dua Lipa - 'Future Nostalgia'

3. Mary Lattimore - 'Silver Ladders'

2. Adrianne Lenker - 'Songs' and 'Instrumentals'

1. Etran de L’Aïr - 'No. 1'

"The albums on this list still represent a kind of miracle — a year where the great music never stopped" - Stereogum writes in the introduction of their 50 best albums of 2020 list. Many carry Stereogum's Album of the Week tag, still an interesting choice.

The 20 top albums:

20. Sorry - '925'

19. Charli XCX - 'How I'm Feeling Now'

18. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - 'Alfredo'

17. The 1975 - 'Notes On A Conditional Form'

16. Bartees Strange - 'Live Forever'

15. Perfume Genius - 'Set My Heart On Fire Immediately'

14. Fleet Foxes - 'Shore'

13. Yves Tumor - 'Heaven To A Tortured Mind'

12. Lomelda - 'Hannah'

11. Hum - 'Inlet'

10. Soccer Mommy - 'color theory'

9. SAULT - 'Untitled (Rise)'

8. Touché Amoré - 'Lament'

7. Oneohtrix Point Never - 'Magic Oneohtrix Point Never'

6. Boldy James & Sterling Toles - 'Manger On McNichols'

5. Taylor Swift - 'folklore'

4. HAIM - 'Women In Music Pt. III'

3. Run The Jewels - 'RTJ4'

2. Waxahatchee - 'Saint Cloud'

1. Fiona Apple - 'Fetch The Bolt Cutters'

"Rather than succumb to the difficulties of the epoch, many creators doubled down on their artistry and amicability to produce some of their best work and tighten their relationships with their admirers. Perhaps more than ever, their records offered glimpses of hope and happiness amid such an uncertain and foreboding time" - PopMatters writes in the introduction of their list of the 10 best prog- rock and metal albums of 2020.

10. The Ocean Collective - 'Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic'

9. Pure Reason Revolution - 'Eupnea'

8. Fates Warning - 'Long Day Good Night'

7. Pain of Salvation – 'Panther'

6. Caligula's Horse - 'Rise Radiant'

5. Pallbearer - 'Forgotten Days'

4. Wobbler - 'Dwellers of the Deep'

3. Haken – 'Virus'

2. Imperial Triumphant - 'Alphaville'

1. Gazpacho – 'Fireworker'

CoS' list of 50 best albums of 2020 is made mostly of singer-songwriter and pop-star albums, perhaps a few albums only CoS will have on year-end's list. See the first 20 below:

20. Lil Uzi Vert – 'Eternal Atake'

19. Sufjan Stevens – 'The Ascension'

18. Charli XCX – 'how i’m feeling now'

17. Yves Tumor – 'Heaven to a Tortured Mind'

16. Bad Bunny – 'YHLQMDLG'

15. The Weeknd – 'After Hours'

14. Thundercat – 'It Is What It Is'

13. Rina Sawayama – 'SAWAYAMA'

12. BTS – 'Map of the Soul: 7'

11. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – 'Reunions'

10. Pearl Jam – 'Gigaton'

9. Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist – 'Alfredo'

8. Lady Gaga – 'Chromatica'

7. Deftones – 'Ohms'

6. Waxahatchee – 'Saint Cloud'

5. Dua Lipa – 'Future Nostalgia'

4. Perfume Genius – 'Set My Heart on Fire Immediately'

3. Phoebe Bridgers – 'Punisher '

2. Run the Jewels – 'RTJ4'

1. Fiona Apple – 'Fetch the Bolt Cutters'

It was an astonishingly strong and diverse year for music, according to The Quietus. The British alter-pop site chose 100 albums from this year, placing Hey Collosus' double album on top. Here are the top 20:

20. Annie - 'Dark Hearts'

19. Sex Swing - 'Type II'

18. Keeley Forsyth - 'Debris'

17. Sault - 'Untitled (Rise)'

16. Richard Skelton - 'These Charms May Be Sung Over A Wound'

15. Duma - 'Duma'

14. Land Trance - 'First Seance'

13. Autechre - 'SIGN'

12. Einstürzende Neubauten - 'Alles In Allem'

11. Alison Cotton - 'Only Darkness Now'

10. Nazar - 'Guerrilla'

9. Pa Salieu - 'Send Them To Coventry'

8. Nadine Shah - 'Kitchen Sink'

7. Squarepusher - 'Be Up A Hello'

6. Duval Timothy - 'Help'

5. UKAEA - 'Energy Is Forever'

4. Lyra Pramuk - 'Fountain'

3. Special Interest - 'The Passion Of'

2. The Soft Pink Truth - 'Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?'

1. Hey Colossus - 'Dances / Curses'

Rolling Stone made a list of 15 best country music songs about drugs, including drug-odes by Willie Nelson, Kasey Musgraves, Waylon Jennings, John and Prine, and Johnny Cash's 'Cocaine Blues' about a man who kills his wife while high on cocaine and tries to escape from the police.

PopMatters made a good and versatile list of the 10 best global music albums of the year (PM still calls it "world music", which is increasingly becoming a politically un-correct term). The chosen ones are Keleketla project with an album that "goes in a number of different and utterly revolutionary directions", ONIPA with "an entire continent's worth of styles" on 'We No Be Machine', Evritiki Zygia playing mountain folk music from Eastern Europe on 'Ormenion', and others.

Some of the bands picked up by Stereogum for their best of new bands of the year list:

Dogleg - cathartic high-octane emo-punk

Anjimile - like Tracy Chapman attempting Sufjan Stevens songs and ending up with something startlingly unique

Porridge Radio - wistful melodies, raw self-reflections

Backxwash - a refreshingly new texture in the rap landscape

Sault - a tapestry of Black art and Black experience across time and borders

Bartees Strange - nobody sounds like him, and nobody could...

UK music magazine Uncut has released its list of best albums of 2020, with a variety of albums on the expansive list, including Laura Marling, Tamikrest, Fiona Apple, Moses Boyd, Phoebe Bridgers, Jason Isbell, JARV IS..., Haim, etc. The top 20 spots: 20. Bruce Springsteen - 'Letter To You'
19. Brigid Mae Power - 'Head Above The Water'
18. Frazey Ford - 'U kin B the Sun'
17. SAULT - 'UNTITLED (Black Is)'
16. Stephen Malkmus - 'Traditional Techniques'
15. Fontaines D.C. - 'A Hero's Death'
14. Courtney Marie Andrews - 'Old Flowers'
13. Tame Impala - 'The Slow Rush'
12. Moses Boyd - 'Dark Matter'
11. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - 'Reunions'
10. Laura Marling - 'Song For Our Daughter'
9. Shirley Collins - 'Heart's Ease''
8. JARV... IS - 'Beyond the Pale'
7. Bill Callahan - 'Gold Record'
6. Waxahatchee - 'Saint Cloud'
5. Thundercat - 'It Is What It Is'
4. Drive-By Truckers - 'The New OK'
3. Phoebe Bridgers - 'Punisher'
2. Fleet Foxes - 'Shore'
1. Bob Dylan - 'Rough and Rowdy Ways'

Brooklyn Vegan is recommending 45 music documentaries, including films on the history of hip hop, the '90s ska scene, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, legendary punk/alternative superfans Dennis & Lois, Anti-Flag, the UK's Rock Against Racism movement of the late-'70s, and more.

Metal magazine Decibel has published its list of the 40 best albums of 2020. It goes from Dark Fortress on No 40 to Napalm Death at the top. The ful list:

40. Dark Fortress, 'Spectres from the Old World'
39. Fawn Limbs, 'Sleeper Vessels'
38. Exgenesis, 'Solve et Coagula'
37. Megaton Sword, 'Blood Hails Steel – Steel Hails Fire'
36. Oranssi Pazuzu, 'Mestarin Kynsi'
35. Svalbard, 'When I Die, Will I Get Better'
34. Enslaved, 'Utgard'
33. In the Company of Serpents, 'Lux'
32. Xibalba, 'Años En Infierno'
31. Wake, 'Devouring Ruin'
30. Cirith Ungol, 'Forever Black'
29. Proscription, 'Conduit'
28. Celestial Season, 'The Secret Teachings'
27. Midnight, 'Rebirth by Blasphemy'
26. Krallice, 'Mass Cathexis'
25. ACxDC, 'Satan is King'
24. Temple of Void, 'The World That Was'
23. Atramentus, 'Stygian'
22. Tombs, 'Under Sullen Skies'
21. Haunt, 'Flashback'
20. Kirk Windstein, 'Dream in Motion'
19. Pallbearer, 'Forgotten Days'
18. Lamp of Murmuur, 'Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism'
17. Godthrymm, 'Reflections'
16. Dropdead, 'Dropdead'
15. Ripped to Shreds '亂 (Luan)'
14. Vile Creature, 'Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!'
13. Of Feather & Bone, 'Sulfuric Disintegration'
12. Armored Saint, 'Punching the Sky'
11. Incantation, 'Sect of Vile Divinities'
10. Goden, 'Beyond Darkness'
9. Paradise Lost, 'Obsidian'
8. Uada, 'Djinn'
7. Sweven, 'The Eternal Resonance'
6. Necrot, 'Mortal'
5. Spirit Adrift, 'Enlightened in Eternity'
4. Paysage d’Hiver, 'Im Wald'
3. Imperial Triumphant, 'Alphaville'
2. Eternal Champion, 'Ravening Iron'
1. Napalm Death, 'Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism'

A wee bit early in the year, Rough Trade has announced their 2020 Albums of the Year list, with Hazel English on spot No. 20, and Sault at the top. This year's best album is 'Untitled (Black Is)' because it "delivers equal parts grace and charge, manoeuvring through disparate sub-genres to create a magnificent medley of exaltation. Rarely has there been an artistic statement this stirring, this staggering, this powerful".

Full list:
20. Hazel English - 'Wake Up!'
19. Working Men’s Club - 'Working Men’s Club'
18. Oklou - 'Glamour'
17. Thurston Moore - 'By The Fire'
16. Tom Misch + Yussef Dayes - 'What Kinda Music'
15. Caribou - 'Suddenly'
14. Idles - 'Ultra Mono'
13. Osees - 'Protean Threat'
12. Waxahatchee - 'Saint Cloud'
11. Cornershop - 'England Is A Garden'
10. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - 'Sideways to New Italy'
9. Porridge Radio - 'Every Bad'
8. bdrmm - 'Bedroom'
7. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - 'Viscerals'
6. Dream Wife - 'So When You Gonna'
5. Jarv Is - 'Beyond The Pale'
4. Laura Marling - 'Song For Our Daughter'
3. Rina Sawayama - 'Sawayama'
2. Phoebe Bridgers - 'Punisher'
1. SAULT - 'Untitled (Black Is)'

DJ Mag presents six African MCs representing a new, experimental wave in African hip-hop:

O'Kenneth - Ghanian rapper fusing the grit of UK drill and the grandiosity of its Brooklyn counterpart with local influences

Natty - sub-zero chilly Nairobi drill

Moonchild Sanelly - "Future Ghetto Funk"

Sho Madjozi - Pan-African rap

MC Yallah - dark, industrial dance

Prettyboy D-O - at a hectic crossroads between contemporary Afrobeats, dancehall, hip-hop and R&B

"Japan has produced some of the world’s greatest musical acts and it’s high time their accomplishments were recognized" - Japan Times' Jonathan McNamara writes in an article reacting to Rolling Stone’s 'The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time' list. He lists the 10 best Japanese ones:

Yellow Magic Orchestra 'Solid State Survivor' (1979)

Shonen Knife 'Brand New Knife' (1997)

The Pillows 'Little Busters' (1998)

Ayumi Hamasaki 'Duty' (2000)

X Japan 'The Last Live' (2001)

Polysics 'For Young Electric Pop' (2002)

Asian Kung-Fu Generation 'Sol-Fa' (2004)

GaGaGa SP 'Best Album' (2007)

Perfume 'Game' (2008)

Boom Boom Satellites 'Embrace' (2013)

Listeners to BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the 80s have chosen U2's 'The Joshua Tree' as the best album of the 1980s. Released in 1987, it made U2 one of the world's biggest bands, thanks to anthems like 'With Or Without You' and 'Where The Streets Have No Name', BBC reflects. Dire Straits' 'Brothers In Arms' came second in BBC's survey, followed by The Stone Roses' eponymous debut, Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' on fourth and Guns N' Roses' 'Appetite for Destruction' on the fifth spot.

Tone Glow's experimental music-lovers chose 30 albums released July through September they liked the most (streams added). It's not just some serious and hard-to-swallow music, they promise fun: on Secluded Bronte's 'What? Yes!' one member of the trio reads an absurdist script while the others interrupt with outraged “WHAT?”s, and every time the response is a resigned “Yes”, also there's experiments to be made on bagpipes - YES! - as Donald WG Lindsay & Richard Youngs prove. There's also highly conceptual music like Network Glass, a unique project on the verge of even being music. All in all, a simple and quick way to find out what's going on in the world of modern experimental music.Music

The best album ever to Beastie Boys' Ad-Rock - 'Sign of the Times' by Macka B, that's how he voted for Rolling Stone in their 500 best albums special. Rolling Stone shared Ad-Rock's list, which includes some unusual records like Ultimate Spinach's 1968 self titled album, German orchestra leader and clarinet player Hugo Strasser's 'TanzHits ’71', Bridget Everett and The Tender Moments, a group of which he's a member, and a few musicians which might have existed, or not, like Chirp, Sergeant Crikey and Juan Epstein. More than 300 artists, journalists, and industry figures cooperated in making the list.

Rolling Stone has revised their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the first time since 2012. The electorate this time includes Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish. There are also rising artists like H.E.R., Tierra Whack, and Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail. Veteran musicians are represented by Adam Clayton and the Edge of U2, Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, Gene Simmons, Stevie Nicks, and others. Check out all the albums from Arcade Fire's Funeral' to Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' here.

There were no festivals this summer to report from, so the Guardian looked back to make a list of 20 most iconic festivals, going back six decades. The earliest is Jimi Hendrix performing at Monterey Pop in 1967 - "this is peak Hendrixosity, a live performance that has probably never been bettered", and the latest being Beyoncé's performance at Coachella 2018, a - "superhuman desert session".Thank you FestTube

"There are fewer pleasures greater, at the movies, than the moment a perfect track starts at a perfect moment, and the marriage of music and film creates an entirely new beast, a work of art in that new connection alone" - the Quietus writes in the introduction to their great list of 50 best "needle-drop" moments in films (complete with all the videos).

Complex made a list of the 35 best hip-hop movies covering four decades of hip-hop history on celluloid. The youngest movie on the list is 'Roxanne Roxanne' from 2017, directed by Michael Larnell, telling the story of one of the first female solo rappers, Roxanne Shante. The No. 1 movie - 'Wild Style', directed by Charlie Ahearn in 1983, depicted hip-hop’s early days, offering the initial look at its four elements: MCing, DJing, graffiti, and breakdancing.

Inspired by the illegal parties in the UK, Guardian picks out the best of early 90s breakbeat hardcore. The informative list goes from Bug Khan and Plastic Jam's 'Made in Two Minutes', to 'Bombscare' by 2 Bad Mice.

18 must-hear folk albums of 2020 so far, Brooklyn Vegan says, are the ones by Phoebe Bridgers, Jason Isbell, Bill Fay, Waxahatchee, Laura Marling, Microphones, The Innocence Mission, and others...

PopMatters chose "12 brilliant jazz albums", among them albums by Thana Alexa, Franco Ambrosetti, Kneebody, Todd Marcus...

Brooklyn Vegan also chose 15 "must hear" metal albums: Oranssi Pazuzu, Paysage d'Hiver, Umbra Vitae, Ulcerate...

Snoop Dogg has shared the list of top 10 rappers of all time: Slick Rick, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, KRS-One, Rakim, Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels from Run-DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Ice-T, and Too Short.

Artists do not make their best albums by the age of 27, Medium proves with a list of 20 best rap albums by artists over 40. There's the concept album 'Undun' by The Roots, released the same yeat both Questlove and Black Thought turned 40. It took years for Jay Electronica to release 'A Written Testimony' this year (he's 43), but, as it turns out, it will end up being one the best mainstream hip-hop album of the year...