Best Albums of 2020

Oh what a year. We made it, mostly. This year has been filled with tragedy and turmoil, if not immediately, then in a collective way. The way we relate to any medium has been altered. Music listening was relegated to home/patio. The live experience was all but eliminated (or relegated to a "virtual concert"). And "best listened to while driving" listening took a hit as well. Still, plenty of great releases and an influx of surprise drops. 

My top ten list evades any new artists, an indicator of either my age or this year or maybe both. I enjoyed Taylor's two releases and she continues to fascinate with her ever evolving sound anchored by engaging story telling; that said, she didn't make my top ten. A mid/late December release (Maggie) makes the top ten and we'll see if that position rises/falls with time. 

Some of my favorite tracks from the year can be found here at this Spotify playlist.

My 2020 top albums + honorable mentions here:

10. Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated: Side B

What would we do without Carly Rae Jepsen? A B-Sides album, I had low expectations but, of course, Carly is filled with pop hits and this one got plenty of spins this year. Keep 'em coming, Carly. 

9. Caribou - Suddenly

Caribou consistently releases great singles and albums. This is no exception. Home and You and I are wonderful tracks. The whole album hits. Mood music at its finest. 

8. Maggie Rogers - Notes from the Archives: Recordings 2011-2016

Welp, Maggie dropped a collection of past recordings mid-December. This somewhat breaks my "no-reissues" rule for favorite albums list but, well, these are the first time the tracks are seeing anything close to a major label release and it's 2020 so rules are irrelevant. Obviously these tracks are still fresh in my brain so time will tell how the collection holds up, most likely rising in ranking once I have hindsight. Upon first listens, I've enjoyed the various sounds Maggie has explored, ranging from garage rock to folk while her voice maintaining what I love about her as an artist. The expanded commentary edition is a good listen, contextualizing the sets of songs. If you haven't yet, go give this a listen!

7. Soccer Mommy - Color Theory

Women have been killing the rock genre for a long time though, for the last five years or so, they've exclusively been filling the genre for me. Lucy Dacus, Snail Mail, and Soccer Mommy have lead the field. In this sophomore effort, Color Theory was on heavy rotation and standout single Circle the Drain was one of the best of the year. 

6. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension

One of a few artists who have remained front and center for me for ten+ years. Electronic Sufjan isn't my favorite version but the album created a number of solid tracks and his writing and producing are top shelf. Video Game was the closest thing to a single and hooky, Tell Me You Love Me showcased impassioned Suf, and America captured this year's sentiment as well as can be. 

5. Run the Jewels - RTJ4

Always hard-hitting and in-your-face with Killer Mike & El-P perfectly playing off each others. Oh La La is maybe the catchiest of the bunch and walking in the snow and JU$T are a whooping one-two-punch. Socially conscious and critical from the start of their career, RTJ4 dropped just as the summer protesting began, creating the perfect soundtrack for a much needed for on-going racial inequity reckoning.

4. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

Maybe this band shouldn't be this high on my list. But also they're a vibe and they dominated the first few months of the year. 

3. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

I slept on Phoebe's first album much longer than I should have. And then Phoebe took over the music scene with collabs with Julien Baker & Lucy Dacus (boygenius), Connor Oberst (Better Oblivion Community Center), produced on Ethan Gruska, and a bunch of other things. Oh, she owns the internet and her impromptu Iris Bandcamp cover with Maggie Rogers hit #1. Anyhow, this album rules and is so subtly perfect and she screams on the last track.

2. Sylvan Esso - Free Love

Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn just bring it. Thoughtful and danceful and quiet and loud. Ferris Wheel is the perfect pop song and Rooftop Dancing is a vibe and Numb marries the dance + groove. Would love to see them live again (one day) as they are two of the most passionate and sincere folks on stage. 

1. HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III
My most listened to album of the year by a landslide. HAIM has their distinctive sound and who isn't a fan? When single Summer Girl dropped in 2019, I thought to myself, "this is a whole new direction and I'm into it." A series of singles then the full album dropped summer 2020 and, well, it was a perfect summer album and then a perfect while-working album and the perfect breezy balm for a crooked year. Thanks Haim sisters, keep reinventing and making great pop albums.


Honorable Mentions (listed alphabetically):
Childish Gambino - 3.15.20
Christian Lee Hutson - Beginners
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Ethan Gruska - En Garde
Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Fleet Foxes - Shore
James Blake - Before EP
Megan Thee Stallion - Good News
Niklas Paschburg - Svalbard
Taylor Swift - Folklore
Troye Sivan - In a Dream EP
Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud

Best Television of 2020

 

While movie releases slowed this year, television thrived. And my TV consumption didn't dwindle. As evidenced by me struggling to fill my top ten movies list and keeping to a top thirty + honorable mention TV list. 

Stray TV thoughts from 2020:

• I haven't gone back to previous year's genre viewing habits but I think my lack of IRL interactions upped my documentary & doc series appreciation. 
• Speaking of genre and show format: I continue to have diminishing patience for traditional hour-long dramas as evidenced by their absence from my top 10 shows. Only 2 make my top 30. I think the previously mentioned doc series and half-hour dramatic series are slowly taking their place. It does keep me mid-series on the handful of drama shows I do carry on with. (Will I ever finish The Wire? Is it worth it to carry on with season 4 of Fargo? Do latter seasons of Ozark actually pick up momentum?)
• I got over myself and started watching Rupaul's Drag Race (I know, the series has flaws) circa September and well, eleven seasons later, I'm hooked. Unfortunately, I'm not caught up and have no thoughts on this year's season 12. 
• My top 10 shows from last year... didn't release new material this year. Which is kind of crazy. A few series have wrapped (Catastrophe, Broad City) and some series haven't promised new material to begin with (Watchmen, Fleabag, Russian Doll). Still, we've got a new batch of top ten for 2020. 
• I'm going to ruin this for you if you have yet to discover: the Pen15 women guest star on Big Mouth and of course they do. The puberty humor gravitational pull is stronger than the Netflix/Hulu divide.

My general rule for eligibility is that shows qualify if the majority of the season aired in 2020. But then shows like Bojack Horseman ('19-'20) and Pen15 ('20-'21) do an even split, dropping half a season in the fall and spring. So, this isn't clean-cut but I'll include part one or part two of a season, judging on the strength of the half-season released in the given year. Another qualifier I've started to consider is that, for me, a "television show" requires multiple episode installments. As pretty much everything is streaming these days, this has been my distinction between a "movie" and "television show."

Alright, here we go. Top thirty shows. A sentence or two for thirty-eleven and a picture/paragraph for ten-one.

30. Middleditch & Schwartz (mini-series, Netflix)

This 3-part improv series stars... Middleditch and Schwartz. They're both experts and hilarious and I hope they give us more.

29. Love Life (season 1, HBO Max)

What a nice little exploration of love in the modern age. Stars Anna Kendrick and her handful of relationships over a ten(ish) year span.

28. Feel Good (season 1, Netflix)

Yeah, I'm here for this show. A queer comic doing her thing.

27. Shrill (season 2, Hulu)

Aidy Bryant continues to explore a range of topics and keeping me laughing along the way.

26. How To with John Wilson (season 1, HBO)

IF YOU LIKE THIS SHOW LET ME KNOW BECAUSE I HEAR LITERALLY NOTHING. That said, this new series is impossible to describe yet so funny, smart, mature, and what I needed.

25. Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi (season 1, Hulu)

A perfect combination of food culture with geographic immigrant culture. Padma is an expert at blending the two topics giving us glimpses ranging from Milwaukee German food to San Francisco Chinese cuisine. 

24. Love on the Spectrum (documentary series, Netflix)

In this charming series, the love life of young people on the autism spectrum are on full display and, well, what a gift it is to be let into these young folks' lives.

23. Cheer (documentary series, Netflix)

I held off on this one for a while, then succumbed and, well, who wouldn't fall in love with these laser focused and insanely talented college cheer students as they vie for a championship?

22. Unorthodox (mini-series, Netflix)

This series follows a NYC Orthodox Jewish young woman as she leaves her community. In what could have been a non-stop gendered and religious pummeling, the series rather takes on an air of curiosity and wonder from a very specific perspective. 

21. Never Have I Ever (season 1, Netflix)

A Mindy Kaling creation, semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story. Need I say more?

20. Search Party (season 3, HBO Max)

This show has stuck around, continuing to reinvent itself through embodying whodunnit, crime cover-up, and court room genres, all while providing social critique of hip New York 30-somethings. And, of course, being bizarre and hilarious.

19. Sex Education (season 2, Netflix)

This teen drama is honest, well-cast, hilarious, and heart-felt. And, as a recent tweet recently reminded me, the perfect use of the Sharon Van Etten song, Seventeen.

18. High Fidelity (season 1, Hulu)

Of course the show that inverts the movie - replacing the snobby cishet white dude with a woman of color - gets cancelled. That said, this one (season) and done series was just great music loving comedy drama.

17. The Mandalorian (season 2, Disney+)

So many big reveals. So much Baby Yoda.

16. The Flight Attendant (season 1, HBO Max)

What I love about television these days is that a juicy, soapy, bizarre end-of-year light-weight thriller is then also about addiction, regret, and trauma. 

15. Better Things (season 4, FX/Hulu)

These characters, their situations, their connections, their development are well lived-in and true to life.

14. Better Call Saul (season 5, AMC/Netflix)

This show continues to be great. Watching live (read: one week apart) helped me stay tuned into the expertly constructed and executed drama which rewards careful viewing of the hypnotic, measured, and surprising episodes.

13. Ramy (season 2, Hulu)

Carrying on with auteur-level, Ramy specific perspective stories (a questioning Muslim-American Millenial in New Jersey) while giving whole episodes over to supporting cast members revealing depth and humanization to fully formed characters.

12. Killing Eve (season 3, AMC/Netflix)

We get more Villanelle, including a home-visit episode which is easily one of the best of the season. As always, the Jodie Comer / Sandra Oh dynamic is fire.

11. Bojack Horseman (season 6.2, Netflix)

The show nailed the series-ending with emotional maturity and bizarre perfection. 

10. The Last Dance (documentary series, ESPN/Netflix)

I resisted the doc series for a minute. Not opposed to basketball/NBA/MJ/Bulls, but I wasn't sure I was "10 hour series" interested. And then once it dropped on Netflix, I started an episode and couldn't stop watching. Super well crafted and structured, following the 1990's Bulls. Just the right amount of time diving into their various starters though I could have watched another Rodman episode. Of course much of the series centers on Michael Jordan and generally biased towards him. Though also enlightening on the team dynamics, social context, coaching, etc. Also, the music and 90's fashion was shooting on all cylinders.

9. Insecure (season 4, HBO)

Issa got me through the first part of quarantine. Season 4 held up the excellence of the show. Fascinating, lived-in characters. Great sound track as always. This season we got a Molly episode, an Issa & Laurence reunion episode, and plenty of Issa concurrently thriving and falling apart.

8. Ted Lasso (season 1, Apple TV+)

The heart. The growth. The cheesiness. The show with few jokes but which consistently made me laugh. The show creators were somehow able to cut through this deservedly pessimistic year and pull all the heart-strings. If living under a rock, the series follows Ted Lasso, an American college football coach, as he gets surprise-hired as an English Premiere League manager. There are some fundamentally questionable structural pieces: a white, straight American man travels abroad to improve things; the few international characters play broad characterizations of their respective cultures. Where the show shines is in giving the five or so main characters depth, real-life adult issues, lack of over-dramatization, and (at its core) an optimistic take. Perhaps my favorite component: head and assistant managers (Jason Sudeikis & Brandan Hunt) knowing hot-take pop-culture deep-cut references.

7. Pen15 (season 2.1, Hulu)

They're back. And as hilarious and cringey as ever. The two thirty-something leads carry on, playing their middle-school best friend selves Maya & Anna. The show gets middle school. The uncertainty, high-emotion, pure joy, and horror. Maya & Anna try new things: witch craft, wrestling, and theater. The latter two to be boy-adjacent. And only one of the activities stick. A third-wheel friend causes havoc. Wow, it's all there. Love this show. Looking forward to part two of the second season. And many seasons to come.

6. What We Do in the Shadows (season 2, FX/Hulu)

This show was funny in the first season. And then totally upped their game for season two. So bizarre and off-kilter and perfect escapism television. 

5. Big Mouth (season 5, Netflix)

No other show makes me laugh out loud like Big Mouth does. The joke density is insane. The pre-teen characters continue to grow and evolve and act like jerks and idiots and also in kind and gracious ways. This latest season introduces anxiety mosquitoes (which is how I will be referring to anxiety from this point forward). Missy starts to explore her racial identity. Hormone monsters and the ghost of Duke Ellington are back. This is one of the most emotionally mature shows and it somehow also has personified poop and vaginas and every other immature pubescent joke. 

4. Lenox Hill (documentary series, Netflix)

Um, did you all watch this?? A medical documentary series following two brain surgeons, an ER doctor, and an OB-GYN along with their patients in a NYC hospital (Lenox Hill). I don't generally care about medical drama. And documentary series aren't inherently my thing. BUT. This series was fantastic. I was engaged in each doctor's world. As with all good docs, the editing sucked me in. The patient's stories were fascinating. The thought-process and ethos of the doctors was a new and remarkable viewing experience. And, insert tear-emoji, the producers tacked on a COVID half-episode that was like watching history in real-time. 

3. Normal People (season 1, Hulu)

I read the book. I enjoyed it. For its focused simplicity matched with depth of characterization. So the series was an obvious watch. And then the TV series somehow up-leveled. Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones are perfect in the lead romantic roles. The chemistry is there. (Sidenote: yes, a number of steamy sex scenes, as the internet has mentioned plenty of times. But also done with much intention and care.) The emotional yearning, frustration, loneliness, and comfort are conveyed through the sparse dialogue and facial close-ups. Following these two characters through the years is so interesting, tracing the power shifting, the slights, the moments of generosity. A perfect book adaptation to small screen.

2. I May Destroy You (season 1, HBO)

Michaela Coel is a force to be reckoned with. As the show creator and star, she brings a singular voice and perspective but ranges in a plethora of topics. (Not unlike Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her approach to the Fleabag series, IMO.) If unfamiliar with the I May Destroy You series, it follows Coel's character, a millennial London author pursuing follow-up to initial success, who experiences sexual assault late one night in a bar. The resulting fragmented memories, fractured friendships, alway gray scenarios are done with precision and intention, leaving the viewer, or at least me, in a constant state of "taking sides," checking my value-judgments, and forced to rethink so many of my interactions and ways of operating in the world. Oh, and it's not just good social commentary. The acting, script, soundtrack, and production are fantastic as well. 

1. Schitt's Creek (season 6, Pop TV/Netflix)

This was Schitt's Creek's year. Many, myself included, were late to the game, not listening to the moderately-sized cult following that was evangelizing the show's wit, characterization, and charm. Season six wasn't their best but, rules be damned, this takes the top spot for 2020, the same way a lifetime-award is given out for the whole body of work. Plus, the finale wedding episode is everything, taking a well-worn plot device series ender and embodying it perfectly while also flipping all conventions upside-down. And doing so hilariously. Thank-you Schitt's Creek for a wonderful series and for making us feel good when everything else makes us feel crummy.

Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically)

Avenue 5 (season 1, HBO)

Betty (season 1, HBO)

Bob's Burgers (season 10, Fox)

Challenger: The Final Flight (doc series, Netflix)

Dollface (season 1, Hulu)

Expecting Amy (doc series, HBO Max)

Floor is Lava (season 1, Netflix)

The Haunting of Bly Manor (mini-series, Netflix)

High Score (doc series, Netflix)

Homecoming (season 2, Prime)

Little Fires Everywhere (mini-series, Hulu)

Lovecraft Country (season 1, HBO)

The Queen's Gambit (mini-series, Netflix)

Run (season 1, HBO)

Song Exploder (season 1 - volumes 1 & 2, Netflix)

Space Force (season 1, Netflix)

Tiger King (doc series, Netflix)

Visible: Out on Television (documentary series, Apple TV+)

The Vow (doc series, HBO)

Westworld (season 3, HBO)

Highly Anticipated (listed alphabetically)

Bridgerton (season 1)

The Crown (season 4)

Fargo (season 4)

The Great (season 1)

Best Movies of 2020

 

Movies took a hit this year. One of my favorite activities, the theater going experience, has been on hold for nearly nine months. Releases and production on movies were subsequently stalled. All this to say, there were far fewer movies made available in 2020. And on my end, my ability to sit and watch a movie at home (as opposed to in a theater) has been one of distraction and subsequently many of the slow-paced or meditative movies didn't quite hit like they would previously. 

Still, there's been some gems here and there. So, I've decided to list ten movies, ordered only alphabetically, that were my favorites. I've also included an honorable mention movies that brought some level of entertainment or moved me.

Athlete A (Netflix)

A nicely constructed documentary on a critical issue, following the sexual misconduct within the gymnastics world. 

Boys State (Apple TV+)

Premise of this doc: 1,000 seventeen year old boys travel to Austin, TX for a week long pseudo-government exercise, filled with election runs and party affiliation. Viewing emotions include terrified, fascinated, inspired. And I cried through the ending of this one. 

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix)

This movie is stupid and it made me laugh.

Hamilton (Disney+)

Cool, okay, so now I've seen Hamilton. 

The Invisible Man (HBO Max)

One of few movie-going experiences here in 2020. The Invisible Man is a great thriller, perfectly showcasing the harms of gaslighting women, and Elizabeth Moss can do no wrong. 

Lovebirds (Netflix)

I'll be honest, I'm heavily biased towards Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani as actors. And this movie is just an easy watch. The jokes land for the most part. The "normal-people caught up in a violent crime story" is a well-worn plot piece but I am here for it. #top3

Palm Springs (Hulu)

This landed at just the right moment. With a "Groundhog Day" plot premise in which the same day is lived over and over, this comedy is mentally engaging while keeping the mood relatively light. Thematically and tone-wise, that's just what I needed from a year spent in quarantine. #top3

A Secret Love (Netflix)

This charming love story documentary of two elderly lesbian women is both heart-warming and a (recent) history lesson on LGBTQ+ experiences in 20th century USA.

Soul (Disney+)

Soul is a nuanced secular consideration of the nature of the spiritual. A cousin of Inside Out in structure though distinct enough to stand on its own. The movie kept up the Pixar domination of heartfelt, kid-friendly, deeply thoughtful animated goodness. And of course beautifully rendered and masterfully scored. #top3

The Vast of Night (Prime)
An indie-thriller, set in 1950s New Mexico, centering around a young radio DJ and a small-town encounter with something other worldly. Lots of great tracking shots with distinct style throughout. Check this one out for a fun ride.


Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically)

The 40-Year-Old Version

Bad Education

Becoming

Between the World and Me

Birds of Prey

Blow the Man Down 

The Boys in the Band 

Circus of Books

Da 5 Bloods

Dick Johnson is Dead

Disclosure

Emma

Happiest Season

The Half of It

How to Build a Girl

The King of Staten Island

LA Originals

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

My Spy

Mucho Mucho Amor

The Old Guard

On the Rocks

Onward

The Prom

Spelling the Dream

Tenet

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before PS I Still Love You

Sound of Metal

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend

The Way Back

Wolfwalkers

Wonder Woman 1984

Highly Anticipated (listed alphabetically)

Ammonite

Black Bear

His House

One Night in Miami

Promising Young Woman

Steve McQueen's Small Axe movie series

Sylvie's Love