kerpingtack: cute drawing of japanese candy: pink blue white (bauble crie)
counting at war ([personal profile] kerpingtack) wrote2020-12-31 11:48 pm

2020: retrospective

favorite new-to-me songs

1. The Cure - Push
"it's the only, it's the only way to be"

2. IU - 에잇 (eight)
"everything comes on its own and leaves without even a goodbye"

3. Snail Mail - Pristine
"I know myself, and I'll never love anyone else"

4. Paul McCartney - Waterspout
"only love~ can catch you up today, take your breath away, makes you wanna say what you're thinking of"

5. The Tragically Hip - Bobcaygeon
"I saw the constellations reveal themselves, one star at time"

6. Sufjan Stevens - I Want to Be Well
"oh, I'm not fucking around-!"

7. Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - La Costa Brava
"forget the fright and remember why we want to be brave"

8. New Order - Age of Consent
"and I'm not the kind that likes to tell you, just what you want me to"

9. LOONA - Voice/Star
"'cause we're running and running, kinda makes me nervous"

10. The Everly Brothers - On the Wings of a Nightingale
"oh, I can feel something happening!"

honorable mentions
- Sunmi - 보라빛 밤 (pporappippam) "oh! my dear"
- Owen Pallett - A Man Without Ankles "upon, upon, upon the beauty; I take, the yoke, and do, my duty"
- Boy Jr. - My Pikachu T-shirt "my Pikachu T-shirt from when I was a kid - it still fits!"
- Aldebert - Quelle heure est-il? (ft. Amélie-les-crayons) "we'll lose all sense of time; so much the better"
- Beach Bunny - Ms. California "but every time you say her name, it honestly kills me"
- Red Velvet-Irene & Seulgi - Naughty "let’s go, let’s go - can you handle me?"
- Ra Ra Riot - Boy "oh-oh-I'll, wake up in a thousand years - with every ghost I'm looking through"
- Wings - Love Is Strange "they think loving Is like money in the hand"

favorite albums

1. wedance - Dance Pop (2020)
I've been waiting for wedance to put out an album since, like, 2013?? And it's so good!! 
+ 눈에 뵈는 게 없어 (Stop at Nothing), Ironism, 그저 하고 싶다는 (Just Want to Do It)

2. Paul McCartney - McCartney III (2020)
This would've been on the list, no matter what, for the jolt of excitement and good nature it injected into the internet. But it's also a very very good time. Paul represents so much of what I personally value about music. I sincerely love him. 
+ Long-Tailed Winter Bird, Find My Way, When Winter Comes

3. The Cure - The Head on the Door (1985)
I realized this year that I've been a filthy casual re: the Cure all this time, and I hardly listened to any full albums. I'm still kind of pissed at myself that I didn't hear Push until this year. This whole album is bonkers. Just look at the tracklist!!! Side one is fucking perfect. And Robert Smith is amazing for sounding nearly exactly the same even into the 2010s. 
+ Push, In Between Days, A Night Like This

4. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher (2020)
I didn't realize that I listened to so many albums that actually came out in 2020. I'm usually behind by at least 4 years. Anyway I'm happy to love a new artist. The Sister Winter-y build up in the last song is thrilling. 
+ Kyoto, Chinese Satellite, I Know the End

5. Judee Sill - Heart Food (1973)
Really beautiful and intricately made. 
+ There's a Rugged Road, The Vigilante, The Donor

6. Moses Sumney - græ (2020)
A full experience. I haven't heard an album, as a cohesive and coherent body of work, that sounded so new/fresh in a long time. Incredibly thoughtful too.
+ Virile, Conveyor, Boxes

7. LOONA - 12:00 (2020)
Just a really consistent mini. Why Not grew on me and all the b-sides support it really well. Plus I fucking love the NASA clip in 12:00, lol. (For reference, it's audio from the 1988 Discovery launch.)
+ Voice/Star, Universe, 숨바꼭질 (Hide & Seek)

8. Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe (2019)
The last half doesn't quite do it for me, but the album still coheres. She's also one of those artists who elevate everything just from her voice and delivery.
+ In My Head, Paradise, Heat Rises

9. Amélie-les-crayons - Jusqu'à la mer (2012)
This is on here by simple virtue of me enjoying nearly every song on the album, lol. Old school chanteusing.
+ On n'est pas fatigués, Les fille des forges, Tout de nous

10. Glen Check - Youth! (2013)
Same as above. The songs all sound alike but they're fun and cheerful. A great last dance before they make their genre shift in 2017.
+ Pacific, Youth in Revolt, Anthem for the Wild Souls

media & fandom
- Jan - April: fandomless wandering with a notable Inception detour
- April - August: an incredibly random yet fanatically intense James McAvoy thing. I don't want to get into it. 
- May - September: which led to my fake fandom, the X-Men alternate timeline movies.
- late September onwards: Beatles resurgence