Top 10 Albums of 2020

For years I've compiled a year end Top 10 Albums list. Goes way back to an old friend at Warner/Electra/Atlantic. He would ask everyone at the other record companies for their lists and it became a bit of a thing. The good folks at Cactus Music (Houston's best record store) have carried this on for quite a while and I usually send my list over to them. 2020 was such an odd year for all of us, but particularly me. A year of loss, scrambling to get my business back, political campaigning and all the bullshit that went along with that. In fact, that's how I'll label 2020. Some bullshit.

I just didn't have the time or temperament to take in a lot of new music. My December date with COVID allowed me to really focus on what my Top 10 would be and it wasn't easy. Well, 1-3 are usually pretty easy. The rest gets tough. No William Fitzsimmons album to automatically take the top spot. Like I said...some bullshit.

OK, here we go.

1. The Sea The Sea - Stumbling Home

2. Garrett Kato - Hemispheres

3. Fleet Foxes - Shore

4. Doves - The Universal Want

5. Artemis - S/T

6. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

7. Víkingur Ólafsson - Debussy and Rameau

8. The Mavericks - En Español

9. Jason Isbell - Reunions

10. Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud

On a side note, Liam Gallagher put out a couple things (and we all know how bad I'm up on Liam Gallagher's schnutz). One was a live Unplugged album and the other was a Christmas single. Neither would qualify for this list, but it must be noted that both were better than any of Noel's solo output.