My annual list of my top 3 LPs and Singles that were released in 2020. The criteria for the singles are that they are from LPs or single releases which don’t feature in the top 3 LP list.
Music this year has been extra special, as it’s been the one constant amongst the chaos of the pandemic. It’s also made me realise how much I miss going to see live music, something I have always taken for granted until 2020.
LPs
- Burgundy Blood – The Fall of Man
- SOHN – Live with the Metropole Orkest
- Actress – Karma & Desire
Others on the shortlist were by Mary Lattimore (Silver Ladders), GoGo Penguin (GoGo Penguin) and Oklou (Galore).
Singles
- Virgil Abloh – Delicate Limbs feat. serpentwithfeet (Special Request Remix)
- SPAZA – Sizwale
- 1010 Benja SL – Dobby
Even though the Special Request remix wasn’t actually released in 2020 (currently unreleased), having heard Paul Woolford play it when he stood in for Benji B, it had to feature as I played it so much since.
Live performance
Even though live gigs as we know them were all cancelled post-March, there were a couple of standout shows that were streamed online. The first was the incredible SOHN performing live with the Metropole Orkest (which featured in my favourite LPs as it was also released as an album). The second was Hania Rani, where she performed live from the stunning NOSPR venue in Katowice, Poland.
Also, at the start of the lockdown, Benji B started a regular Thursday night session with Judah, ‘Inside Out’. I was locked into these every week.
Mixes
Early on the the year, I was replaying the Woo York, Afterlife and Warp mixes from the Radio 1 Wind Down shows, but the Keinemusik Essential Mix probably got the most rotation after it was aired in September.
2020 was also the year I got back into making my own mixes after a very long hiatus! At the start of the lockdown I bought a Pioneer DDJ-400 controller, and absolutely loved putting together Isolation and Soundtrack to an Imaginary Movie.
Radio
I listened to a lot of radio as a result of working from home for most of the year. The shows I listened to the most were:
- Radio 1’s Wind Down
- Luke Una on Worldwide FM
- Ross Allen on NTS Radio
- Art School Girlfriend on Foundation FM
- Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana show on Worldwide FM