There is a call that, for me, looms over him in 2020: David Bowie. It’s not just because of the funny and accurate memes that correctly pointed out that since we tragically lost Bowie on January 10, 2016, the world turns out to be in a perpetual downward spiral.
No, it’s because no artist has been bigger at transforming and reinventing himself than the Thin White Duke/Ziggy Stardust. Bowie, the undisputed master. And in the strangest year we’ve ever met in our lives, when live music stopped and artists had to look for new tactics to join their audiences, the pinnacle of music in 2020 comes from those bowie’s best.
As I have in recent years, I celebrate the most productive of music in 2020 because just naming ten albums is not the same as capturing the year in music. And this year, when music has a renewed source of activism and comfort in those turbulent times, it is even more true than in recent years.
This is the most productive year of an unprecedented year in music.
Artist of the Year: Bruce Springsteen / Taylor Swift
To realize that the album’s peak productive gaze is rarely all it takes to be the artist who illustrates the most productivity last year in music, the gaze is nothing more than Co-Artist of the Year. Springsteen and Swift delivered perfect albums. Springsteen’s letter to you and Swift Folklore are at my top 10 sensible for the year hands down. But it was their ability to connect with their audiences during this time that made them the world’s deepest artists in 2020. For Springsteen, he enhanced Letter To You’s beauty with his Sirius XMArray From My Home To Yours screen, sharing either his astonishing musical wisdom and tastes and, most importantly, words of guidance, convenience and hope when needed the most. From providing comfort during the pandemic to angrily denouncing the outgoing administration’s incompetence in the face of the crisis, Springsteen has spoken out loud and long. And he did it, unexpectedly, with the right tone. For Swift, he has become an unexpected but tough voice for activism in 2020. Folklore is a wonderful collection, my pick for the highest productivity of her career, but as I wrote in a track about music and activism earlier this year, his position in the annals of 2020 was cemented before that. From talking about Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ issues to individual political careers, he has put his super voice and influence on paintings in new and profound ways. And he also showed new courage as an artist, risking alienating those who disagreed with him in calling what he thought was right. In retrospect, this courage and conviction is reflected in the artistic deviation of folklore. Perhaps most exciting to his millions of fans, this kind of expansion shows that the long run is endless for what you can do next as an artist.
Best Album: Fiona Apple, Fetch The Bolt Cutters
And it’s not close. From start to finish, Apple has proven once again that she is an artist who walks shameless and brilliant at her own pace. When the album was released a million years ago in April, the answer was praise and universal arguments, this masterpiece was one of the most productive albums of the decade. Eight months have done nothing to diminish the beauty of this collection. And I’m willing to bet that in 10 years only his brilliity and reputation. “Shameika”, “For Her” “Girls”, “Relay”, each song is an adventure and a sound and lyrical adventure. Should Apple have been nominated for a Grammy Album of the Year?Uh, duh. But look at my words, it will be some other that in 25 years the Grammys will position themselves in their Hall of Fame to compensate for this omission, so vintage is this record.
Rock and Roll Prom King and Queen: MGK y Miley Cyrus
Returning to the theme of transformation, rapper Machine Gun Kelly and teen pop queen Miley Cyrus delivered two of the most productive rock albums of the year with MGK’s Tickets To My Downfall and Cyrus’ Plastic Hearts, with collaborations with Billy Idol and Joan Jett. The past said he had grown up in Blink-182 and pop/punk and Cyrus has shown in recent years, the tribute to Chris Cornell and a Celebrations of Doors, his rocking skills as a singer are impeccable. of mystery and presence of a true rock star. Rock star jumps to rock music aren’t that surprising. But the quality of either is one hundred percent legitimate, those are not novel projects. And for fools who have been lazily writing “Rock is dead” for years, no, it never was. And having two big stars from other genres embracing their love of rock only brings new fans.
Trend of the Year: Activism
When history looks back on the tumult of 2020, there is no doubt that the main chapters will be faithful to Covid and the Black Lives Matter movement ignited with the death of George Floyd. And the musicians were delivered to the microphone in a primary way. From Swift, which I spoke about earlier, to the most productive protest song of the year, “I Can’t Breathe” via HER. They were just one component of a deep and inspiring movement reminiscent of the 80s, when acting like U2, Peter Gabriel, Springsteen, REM and others have signed up with organizations like Amnesty and Greenpeace and of course the Vietnam era was marked by through Crosthrough, Stills And Nash, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Sly And The Family Stone, and more. See Swift and HER, as well as Finneas, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and other wonderful pop stars join the battle against social and racial injustice alongside combat veterans like Chuck D and Public Enemy, Tom Morello, Beyonce, Run The Jewels. and mo re was an inspiring and uplifting display for many in a year that needed all the inspiration possible.
Best Concert: Patti Smith at Disney Hall
It may seem difficult for there to be live exhibitions in the 2020 calendar year, however, in British Columbia (before Covid), there were concerts, and there is nothing more inspiring than watching the iconic Patti Smith remodel the pristine and sublime Disney Hall. in a temple of fervent punk. Watching her close her set with a combination of “Land” and “Glory” seminal horses, and the total Disney Hall, usually LA Phil’s interior space, on her collective feet, screaming, is a vintage moment of any year.
Best Live Stream: Nick Cave / Greg Dulli
Yes, I cannot write about 2020 without acknowledging the phenomenon of live streaming, which has replaced so much in the last nine months of the pandemic. There were several notable stars and performers, from some of the iHeart occasions to Chris Martin from the Coldplay House series at the start of the pandemic. As things progressed, the recent Foo Fighters live broadcasts to Roxy and Metallica were exceptional. But the most productive of the most productive in 2020 came here from Nick Cave, whose performance at Alexandra Palace in July was, like all his recent exhibits, transcfinishent. Cave is the ultimate captivating performer of current music, alone or with Bad Seeds, he’s fascinating. You might just go over to TikTok and do a combination of unique wonders like “Who Let the Dogs Out” and “Macarena” and make it cool, dark, and most importantly, fascinating. Equally compelling, if very different, Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs at Gold Diggers in L. A. Whether playing solo songs or curtains of his projects with the Whigs and Twilight Singers, Dulli was astounding. And what made the exhibit special was that he treated it like a genuine rock exhibit, like coming out at the end as the credits fade as he played a canopy of “I would Die four U” and “Baby I’m A Star” of Prince. “He was the kind of boastful rock star that Prince himself would have approved of.
Return: chicks
14 years after their last album, Taking The Long Way, the trio formed by Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire returns with the very good Gaslighter. From the protest song “March March” and the provocative name song to the more non-public “Sleep At Night”, the album produced through Jack Antonoff is one of the most productive of the year and difficult in many respects, among others. The chicks are back.
Behind the Family: Wolfgang Van Halen / Noah Cyrus
Entering music with a remarkable highlight can be a blessing or a curse. Of course, you stand out without delay in the busy world of music. On the other hand, tension and scrutiny can be overwhelming. And when Van Halen or Cyrus of his last but Wolfgang Van Halen, son of rock god Eddie Van Halen, and Noah Cyrus, Miley’s younger sister, have shown that they are the only ones with special talents. Wolfgang, who records under the name Mammoth VH, paid a beautiful and lively tribute to his father, who died before this year, with “Distance”. Powerful rock track, the song is one of the most productive rock tracks of the year. And Cyrus, nominated as the most productive new artist at this year’s Grammys, showed astonishing intensity as a singer and with the incredible EP The End Of Everything, both demonstrate an astonishing promise that surcalls are in good hands for the future.
Best Memory: Lenny Kravitz Let Love Rule
In a full year of wonderful rock books, let love rule through Kravitz, for me, my favorite. Intelligent, attractive, vulnerable and enjoyable, he offers a glorious vision of his desirable life, from his years of training with his outstanding mother, Roxie Roker. of the Jeffersons, and from his marriage to actress Lisa Bonet to the music that formed him. In a year that has noticed very clever books, I also presented The Seekers: Meetings With Remarkable Musicians (And Other Artists) through John Densmore and All I Ever Wanted: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Memoir – Let Love Rule through Kathy Valentine is a star.
I have written for Billboard, Rolling Stone, L. A. Times, Yahoo, Vice and all other major publications as host of the hulu Riffing With interview series and
I have written for Billboard, Rolling Stone, LATimes, Yahoo, Vice and all other major publications, as well as interview show host Hulu Riffing With and taught music journalism for the Grammy Camp. Incredible reports in music, from tea with Neil Young to hanging out in a limousine with Stevie Wonder, drinking beer with the Foo Fighters in Las Vegas and living up to Skrillex. When I write about music, I go out with my dog, play basketball and eat sushi in the Southern California sun.