Best Music of 2020...But First...

It's New Music Friday and normally I'd tell you about all my favorite releases from today. But we're nearing the end of the year and I'm sorting out my favorite music from 2020. Despite the pandemic, there was so much good music, it'll be hard to narrow it down.

(live look at me listening to music while I compile my best of 2020)

So stay tuned...Next Friday, December 11th will be my Best Music of 2020 Mixtape. For now, let's review my favorites from last year with my Best Music of 2019 Mixtape.

I chose the Top 19, but could have added some (Angel Olsen, Madison Cunningham, H.E.R., Frankie Cosmos and Billie Eilish just to name a few). There’s not a particular number one as all of these have reasons they could be there.

Here’s the list (in no particular order) – I hope you discover something new!

- Lizzo - Cuz I Love You - A foolproof and all-together entertaining work that oozes confidence. The album is a perfectly curated, succinct, and poignant picture of being a woman, and its effectiveness is a result of the full three years she took to perfect it.

- Maggie Rogers - Heard It In A Past Life - Empowering, honest songs about falling hopelessly in love, getting your heart broken and discovering your self-worth. Her debut album is the work of an idiosyncratic talent.

- J.S. Ondara - Tales of America - It’s one of those rare albums where each listen provides a new, previously unheard insight into the America society and the immigrant’s role within it.

- Jessy Wilson – Phase - An album for the dance floor, the rock club, the bedroom, and the dive bar. An album that stomps and swaggers, targeting the feet one minute and the head the next

- Bleached - Don't You Think You've Had Enough? – Take one part Go-Go’s, mix-in some Runaways and shake it up at the Whiskey a Go Go and you’ve got this great sing-along power pop/punk release.

- Brittany Howard – Jaime - The exceptional solo debut from the Alabama Shakes singer-songwriter is a thrilling opus that pushes the boundaries of voice, sound, and soul to new extremes.

- Jenny Lewis - On The Line – Deep from the Laurel Canyon, Jenny Lewis’s moment has come – and she’s seizing it with country-pop hooks and disarming honesty.

- Yola - Walk Through Fire - Her sonic palette, which spans country, folk, classic soul and '70s-era Britpop abounds on this album.

- Better Oblivion Community Center – Better Oblivion Community Center – Finding the best in each other, Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst bring out the best of each other in a purposeful and ambitious work.

- Tegan and Sara - Hey, I'm Just Like You - The twins revisit their roots, re-recording demos they wrote as teenagers and polishing them into poignant synth-pop gems.

- The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru The Passion - It’s as joyous and rousing as the band’s best efforts, but also looser and utterly unforced.

- Caroline Spence - Mint Condition - If you happen to need a heartbreaking, but healing soundtrack for some sad times, you can't go wrong with this album.

- The Highwomen - The Highwomen – Combining the talents of four amazing singer/songwriters, the women in this country super group do here what the men in the Highwaymen never could—stretch the notions of what country can and must become.

- Jay Som - Anak Ko - Melina Duterte leaps forward with a confident collection of swirling, sparkling indie rock songs.

- Clairo – Immunity - Highlighting her vulnerabilities while showcasing the full range of her formidable strength as a producer and songwriter well beyond her early bedroom pop days.

- Jade Bird - Jade Bird - A debut album that takes in rock, country, pop and beyond on a rollicking and brutally honest set of songs.

- Anderson .Paak – Ventura – An eccentric R&B release that brings old school grooves to the forefront with modern lyrics about social change and relationships.

- Mary Lambert - Grief Creature – A moving personal release – A beautiful deep breath. It’s a cathartic form of self-love for Lambert that also allows listeners to empathize and release their own pain through listening.

- Emily King – Scenery - A precise-yet-fluid blend of '80s pop and rock, contemporary R&B and light jazz touches that, together, reveal a starry-eyed earnestness.

Wow - I forgot home much great stuff came out last year. Who will make the list for 2020? Stay tuned!!!