Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Spinning Platters’ Top 20 Albums of 2020
By The Spinning Platters Editorial Staff
What a shit year, am I right? I guess that’s the consensus all around. It was also a weird year for music… The first half of the year had a bunch of great records that were released with touring in mind, full of epic live songs that are meant to be heard in a crowd and that simply didn’t happen. The second half was full of intense projects made while in seclusion. Projects where the recording is really the only means of connecting. This was a great year for the art of the album, despite it being a terrible year for musicians to make a living. Which is why we are giving you a top 20 this year! A lot of independent artists mixed in with the big ones, so please buy a record or two, or some merch to help keep them alive and able to hit the road when it’s safe.
A quick note: We begin this process in October, so our years is 11/1-11/1. So, yes, you will see at least one late 2019 album on this list.
#20 Kitchen Sink / Nadine Shah
I hate to use the phrase “the new PJ Harvey,” but if you need a record that is both very fresh and in the now as well as something that shares a soul with Ms Harvey, Kitchen Sink does that nicely.
#19 Wake UP! / Hazel English
Oakland, CA’s Hazel English gave us a debut record that is bright and sunny in a way that 2020 wasn’t. It helped me find the light where there wasn’t any.
#18 Impossible Weight / Deep Sea Diver
Deep Sea Diver’s 3rd album is full of big, sweeping, beautiful songs punctuated by big, thick, sometimes even ugly guitar that sends you on an emotional journey that you wouldn’t think a record was capable of doing.
#17 CATCH / Peter CottonTale
Jazz pianist Peter CottonTale assembled some of the best singers and MCs in the business to give us one of the most optimistic albums of 2020.
#16 Ultra Mono / IDLES
When I first heard Ultra Mono, I thought it was a little TOO blunt. Then COVID hit. Then George Floyd was murdered. That’s when I realized that subtlety was dead and if we are going to live again, we need our message to be as in your face as possible.
#15 There Is No Year / Algiers
A frighteningly prophetic album from one of the most fearless, passionate bands working today.
#14 Swimmer / Tennis
Tennis are criminally underrated and underappreciated and Swimmer would be the biggest pop record of the year if anything was fair in this world.
#13 Untitled (Rise) / Sault
A timeless R&B record that could have come out anytime in the last 30 years, yet still sounds very fresh.
#12 Apollo / Fireboy DML
Apollo rewrites the book on Afropop, bringing a whole new life to the genre.
#11 La Vita Nuova / Christine and The Queens
A bold release from one of pop music’s great modern innovators.
#10 Chromatica / Lady Gaga
We could be lovers, even just tonight
We could be anything you want
We could be jokers, brought to the daylight
We could break all of our stigma
“Enigma” is one of the numerous standout tracks from Lady Gaga’s sixth full-length album, Chromatica, which, if judging from beginning to end, is arguably her best yet. The spirit of the dance floor is present throughout, a musical escape amidst a turbulent year. Whether you were listening to the quintessential Gaga banger “Stupid Love”, the feminine-powered synth-pop anthem “Free Woman”, or any of the other fourteen upbeat get-stuck-in-your-head tracks, Chromatica provided a musical balm for the weary pandemic months and an energetic backdrop to evenings in quarantine. Lady Gaga sings here with the spunky confidence not heard since “Born this Way”, and her vitality carries the hope for a quick and safe return to the physical dance floor. (Chad Liffman)
#9 Fine Line / Harry Styles
There isn’t a voice quite like Harry Styles, a voice full of contradictions, equal parts quirky as classically trained, a powerful range, yet a singular tone… conventionally handsome fighting an Aquarius soul… and videos to die for, where he creates aesthetic fantasies as he walks on a tightrope across the various sounds that inspire him. “I’m out of my head, and I know that you’re scared, / Because hearts get broken” he sings in his opening track, Golden. Simple words, simple ideas, but the way he spins them, leave a dizzying effect. Inspired heavily by the ’70s, with muses like Fleetwood Mac, he’s just as comfortable in soft harmonies as he is in the grand arena of sweeping melodies. He really shines in creating new worlds where he can explore the auditory sensations of his memories. He does this equally well with the visual impersonations of his songs like “Adore You” and his latest, released just today, “Treat People With Kindness” co-starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Jump cuts serving as double entendres, metaphors and allegories conveying intricate concepts, and impeccable attention to the simple details that elevate art to make it meaningful, like two fingernails painted yellow, or a golden car passing by; this album finds comfort in the dichotomies of the human spirit, and it’s within those spaces that both Styles & Fine Lines shine bright. (Sahar Yousefi)
#8 All Or Nothing / Shopping
Recorded in just 10 days, it sounds much more detailed to me. Fans of new wave and so-called electronic rock who secretly like Silversun Pickups and surf rock will feel right at home with this record. Shit, if Corin Tucker likes it, is anything I say going to further drive the point home? “Initiative” and “For Your Pleasure” are the singles. I like “About You” because of its signature guitar hooks, especially during the bridge. “Lies” reminds me of if Le Tigre would just straight up play ’80s music. (Joel Edelman)
#7 Saint Cloud / Waxahatchee
Dressed in baby blue gazing up at the sun, a bed of red roses in a faded yellow pickup truck, Katie Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee, graces the cover of Saint Cloud like an apparition of Faulkner’s undoing. The band name is derived from the creek running alongside Katie Crutchfield’s childhood home in Alabama. “Oxbow” is the first track, opening with the crash of cymbals and letting out with a twinkling synthesizer. Like the oxen that sowed the seeds of the past, to plant the fields of tomorrow; this album looks in the rearview mirror with an eye fixed on the “deep red clay earth” of the road up ahead. Here lies the clarity of Katie Crutchfield’s newfound sobriety which inspired these songs. The process of breaking an addiction and finding oneself in the process. We can really only heal when we feel the things that have shaped us. The name of the album is an ode to her father’s hometown, with many songs speckling references to southern towns and the classic country sounds that define Americana… Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Neil Young. “Keep driving straight searching for a heart of gold,” she sings in Arkadelphia. Katie Crutchfield’s exquisite writing can be taken straight in her own words, “I run it like a silent movie, I run it like a violent song, / Run it like a voice compelling, so right it can’t be wrong” (“Lilacs”). In “The Eye” she refers a bit to this artistic process, “And as we wait for lightning to strike, / We are enthralled by the calling of the eye”. And as such, her eye, so clear, like a premonition, that she would compose an album so reflective, and a story so cohesive, like “a bird in the tree, I can learn to see with a partial view” (“Fire”). Every single part of this album is a gem. (Sahar Yousefi)
#6 Women In Music Part III / Haim
I’ve been waiting so long for this album, especially after being teased in 2019 with “Summer Girl,” “Now I’m In It”, and “Hallelujah.” These bonus tracks released just as I had made up my mind to return to California after a bizarre year in New York and quickly became my soundtrack for the new year. In a year where nothing went right, save for my January reunion with friends, Haim still delivered. The quintessential California cool girl vibes kept my soul afloat with light and tight harmonies and atmospheric bass riffs, courtesy of darling Este. The sax riffs in “Los Angeles” and “Summer Girl” sandwich the album, and the filling are songs of longing and lust. The bittersweet, dreamy quality of “Gasoline” is as close musically as I’ve come to the lightheadedness I get when I have a new crush. And each song, while still familiar, is definitely more grown and skilled than their previous hits. If I had the space to write about every track, I would. I can’t think of a better album to jam to while daydreaming of nighttime drives, taqueria dates, and sunny, hug-filled reunions with friends. (Lily Miller)
#5 Punisher / Phoebe Bridgers
Phoebe Bridgers always has a way of making music that feels like it’s what naturally plays inside of my veins, as my heart pumps blood to keep everything running. “Garden Song” is especially a good example of this, with Phoebe’s classic quiet guitar riffs and delicate, breathy vocals backed by an anonymous male singer. The dreamy synths continue throughout the album; the title track “Punisher” arguably has the best use out of them, though. If you want to come as close as possible to crying in one of those weird silent baths where you float (but in a good way), I highly recommend listening to this all the way through. Bonus: the final track, “I Know The End,” is an excellent song to blast while taking deep breaths, imagining all the ways we’ll change the world in the new year. “The end is near,” Phoebe sings over and over again. Yes, it is, and so is our new beginning. (Lily Miller)
#4 folklore / Taylor Swift
I have never been a Swiftie. I’ve definitely enjoyed some of her bops and listened to most of 1989 when I was pining after some guy whose name I can’t even remember. But then Taylor went ahead and released folklore, in a year of pining for a life we all once had, sharing a glimpse into her evolution as a woman in the 21st century. Every track caught my attention. Taylor has never shied away from speaking up, but in folklore, she did so by being quiet. “the last great american dynasty” and “mad woman” stands out, tall and defiant; Taylor has sharpened her songwriting skills to channel her anger and call out hypocrites everywhere. The melody in “invisible string” gives a subtle nod to her country-pop roots but stays firmly in her folk-pop present. I can’t wait to see how her sound continues to evolve. (Lily Miller)
#3 Anywhere But Here / Habibi
Habibi hits all the spots in my heart. The album art shows road signs. The band itself does the ’60s girl-group thing. As I get older, I worry I will no longer find new music that sounds like this, and I keep getting proved wrong. “Angel Eyes” is a popular choice. I prefer “Come My Habibi” myself. “Bad News” reminds me of Talulah Gosh specifically. Everyone but the drummer sings, and I am a lock to follow them on their next West Coast tour, vaccine depending. (Joel Edelman)
#2 Future Nostalgia / Dua Lipa
From the first listen Dua Lipa’s second album Future Nostalgia feels different. Sure, it’s a pop album with great dance anthems like “Don’t Start Now”, but as you listen more and more it is so much deeper than that. The production choices are stunning, doing a perfect blend of modern pop with 70’s dance, primarily, dare I say it, disco? Nods to classic songs and disco are everywhere. The spinning record and cowbell in “Don’t Start Now”, the handclaps and fierce bassline in “Levitating” and the sample and strident violins in “Love Again”. Dua Lipa’s voice has a lovely rich and gravely deep tone, different enough from other current pop voices it stands out. All told there’s something fresh about the non-ironic look back Future Nostalgia makes. It has me constantly coming back looking for more small nods to all her influences in every song. It’s an album that is all Easter Egg, that sample, that background vocal, that bassline! I dare you to be bored listening to it! (Marie Carney)
#1 Fetch The Bolt Cutters / Fiona Apple
At Fiona’s own heavy urgency, after finally completing recording (8 years in the making) in her own living room with her own hands, Fetch The Bolt Cutters was one of the first records of any ballyhoo, released near the start of the pandemic. And whoa, did folks ever need it. Using anything and everything, including hunks of metal and chairs to play, and animals for “background vocals”, she developed a rawness (don’t worry the emotive rawness is there as strong as ever) for this album that was absent from previous efforts. Upon first listen, apparently, I wasn’t ready for it. The presence of her usual strong sway of melodious musicality seemed to be lacking. It wasn’t until I started listening to it months later, side by side while deciding album contenders of the year, did I start to be reminded of what I was so obviously and painfully forgetting.
Fiona Apple operates on a different level.
There are so few artists who have the exceptional creativity, potent emotional cognizance, and lyrical prowess to bring to light so thoughtfully such matters as struggles from childhood, abuse, complicated personal and social relationships, and inner difficulties amidst one’s own mind, in such a powerfully poetic and meaningful way that you feel emotionally repaired after every listen. Nothing else this year, (or last year for that matter), stands up to this effort.
Aside from the title track, an anthem for getting yourself out of a situation or mind state that you finally realize isn’t working for you, multiple songs could easily match our fight with 2020. My lyric of the year, sung with such fervor and gusto that it makes me want to sing it in unison with others in protest, from “Under The Table” is simply, “Kick me under the table all you want, I won’t shut up, I won’t shut up”. I can’t even begin to go into each one, so I highly suggest seeking out the several articles/interviews she’s done providing backstory on each song, including divulging who Shameika is! She’s real! Or what exactly “I spread like strawberries, I climb like peas and beans” means! It’s great reading and adds to the strength of each track.
There’s one thing that has failed to change in the twenty-three or so years I’ve been listening to, getting engrossed in, using as therapy, appreciating, and loving Fiona Apple’s music: there is no one that means what they’re singing more than Fiona. Whether on record or live on stage, every single word, and every single note always seems to come from somewhere entrenched so deep and so meaningful and so well thought out that you can’t help but be moved. (Raffi Youssoufian)
