The Best Albums of 2020

 Welcome back! I’ve been on vacation and have had limited opportunities to fulfill music listening within the parameters of Rule #4 (n.b. – I usually do this on my way to and from the office, so with no commute, reviews tend to drop off).

Never fear, intrepid reader! I am here to provide a timely salve to the interweb’s insatiable need for content. Not just content, either, but the second most popular thing people do on the internet after cat videos – read lists!

I listened to all or part of over 150 albums released in 2020, and bought 70 of them. Of all of these albums, I narrowed the field to a top 20. Over the course of the last week or so, I’ve played each of these 20 albums one more time to get them back in my head. I did so with the participation and assistance of my lovely wife Sheila, who helped me with her opinion of each, and more generally called bullshit on my more offside choices - apparently I have a hidden weakness for very specific guitar strumming patterns…who knew?

Anyway, without further ado, here are my Top 10 albums and – because choices are hard – five more albums good enough to achieve an “honourable mention” that fell just short of the final list. Depending on your tastes, these could be interchangeable for you in your quest to hear something good.

10. Lucinda Williams – Good Souls, Better Angels

     - Lucinda is consistently good, but with Good Souls, Better Angels she delivers her finest work in over a decade.

9. Sarah Siskind – Modern Appalachia
     - Sweet and tasteful exploration of Appalachian music from every facet you can imagine.

8. Lydia Loveless – Daughter
     -  Loveless’ seventh record is her usual mix of regret and heartbreak wrapped within her best collection of songs yet.

7. HMLTD – West of Eden
     - A mix of psychobilly, post-punk and New Wave, this record is a ton of apocalyptic fun. Also the record that most impressed Sheila.

6. Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
     - It was a hell of a thing to match the brilliance of 2017 “Stranger in the Alps”, but Bridgers manages it.

5. HAIM – Women in Music Pt. III
     - Twice before HAIM has almost snared me with their talent for writing top-tier folk-adjacent pop. On their third attempt I swallowed hook, line, and sinker alike, as the saying goes.

4. Jaime Wyatt – Neon Cross
     - Like Bridgers, Wyatt also ascends once more to the heights of a 2017 debut. This is country music with edge and honesty like you’ll rarely hear. Also the record that least impressed Sheila.

3. Run the Jewels – RTJ4
     - Is this Run the Jewels’ best record ever? It is good enough to beg the question.

2. Bonnie Light Horseman – Self-Titled (Reviewed at Disc 1351)
     - Sometimes music is so pure and perfect that everything else just melts away. This is one of the best folk records I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard a lot of folk records.

1. Katie Pruitt – Expectations (Reviewed at Disc 1361)
     - One young woman’s courageous journey out of the shadows of self-doubt and small-town Georgia to find her place in the world. A fabulous collection of folk-rock gems that leaves me verklempt every time.

Honourable Mention: Taylor Swift – Folklore; Sarah Jarosz – World on the Ground; Clem Snide – Forever Just Beyond; THICK – 5 Years Behind; Dehd – Flower of Devotion

CD Odyssey Disc 1397: Jaime Wyatt

Yesterday the Boston Bruins won Game 1 of their first round series (go Bruins!) and as I write this, they are playing Game 2. I am taping that so I can skip intermission and watch the game in less time – also because I want to write about this album while it is still fresh in my ears from the walk home.

Disc 1397 is…. Felony Blues

Artist: Jaime Wyatt

Year of Release: 2017

What’s up with the Cover? Jaime stands in front of an old house in a neighbourhood that reminds me of the one I grew up in (i.e. not that nice). She looks tough, awkward, and vulnerable in equal measure.

How I Came To Know It: I thought I was introduced to this album by Ethan Hawke, on his appearance on Amoeba Record’s Youtube show, “What’s in My Bag?” There was a lot of great stuff in Ethan’s bag that day and listening to him talk about music I thought we’d make excellent music buddies.

Except when I went to fact check that for this blog entry there was no Jaime Wyatt to be found. In my general zeal to hang out with Ethan Hawke and have a few beers, I had transferred my happy discovery of Jaime Wyatt to him. Such are the tricks the mind plays on itself, dear reader. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

As it happens, it was Shooter Jennings who introduced me to Jaime Wyatt on his appearance on “What’s in My Bag?” So, thank you Shooter. It should be noted, however, that Shooter was probably in the middle of producing Wyatt’s 2020 release “Neon Cross” when he recommended her. Or maybe she saw him fanboying about her earlier record and that started the conversation.

In any event, finding this album on CD proved difficult, as it was good and out of print by the time I heard about it. Fortunately, Wyatt must have printed a few extra copies to support “Neon Cross” because it showed up on – of all places – Amazon. Sorry, Jaime. If you’d had this available on Bandcamp, I would’ve gone there.

How It Stacks Up: I have two Jaime Wyatt albums and they are both amazing. Of the two, I’ll put “Felony Blues’ out in front at #1.

Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5

Grit, hurt, and heartbreak are mainstays of country music, but you won’t hear them handled much better than on Jaime Wyatt’s “Felony Blues.”

This is an album of defiance, rebellion, and regret. Most of the songs are about redemption and sought-for forgiveness (with a couple moments of pure rebellion thrown in) but whether they are about emerging into the light or looking back into the darkness, it is the darkness that defines the record.

Usually I avoid having any biographical information influence how I feel about a record, but I can’t deny that knowing Jaime Wyatt used to do a bunch of heroin as well as a serious stint in prison adds something to this record. If the songs feel real, it is because they are: grounded as they are in Wyatt’s real-life experiences.

She’s got a natural southern rasp, tinged with a west coast sensibility that evokes the Bakersfield sound of Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens. There is a bit of fiddle where it’s called for, but while songs like “Stone Hotel” sound triumphant on the surface, it’s an empty triumph when you realize that the hotel in question is the jailhouse.

On “Wasco”, Wyatt sings of a young woman who can’t wait to meet up with her boyfriend…who is serving time in Wasco State Prison. As she notes in a moment of ironic wisdom:

Maybe if I’d spent a little more time in high school

I just might be somebody else’s girl”

But instead she can’t wait to get out (I think of prison herself) to meet up because “ain’t nobody gonna tell me who to love.” This is followed by some falsetto “woo-hoo-hoos” that make it clear that at this point when it comes to questionable life choices, she’s all in.

Hearing these songs you’ll be torn between the desire to reach out and help Wyatt, and the trepidation that comes from knowing to do so would risk your hand.

For all that tough stuff (and there is plenty) there is also a heart-wrenching vulnerability. “From Outer Space” is a song of regret and apology from someone who wants to do better, all the while recognizing she’s got a long journey home before that can happen. The song also shows Wyatt’s songwriting range, merging a country production with the creative melodic structures you would expect on an Aimee Mann song. The song sounds a lot like Aimee Mann, particularly if you first scraped the inside of Mann’s throat with some sandpaper and then poured five shots of whiskey down it.

“Giving Back the Best of Me” is a song of recovery and gratitude – the kind you can only appreciate once you’ve been to hell and returned alive. Compared with some of the earlier rough edges, it is a song with a soothing vulnerability. Wyatt takes the opportunity to show her incredible range and ability to adjust her singing style just the right amount to suit the mood of each song.

“Neon Cross” is one of 2020’s better records – just as good as this and a bit more polished. But for my money nothing can replicate the rawness of Wyatt’s journey on “Felony Blues.” It was no doubt a hard path for Wyatt to live, but thanks to her talent we get a front row seat for every step of her journey.

Best tracks: Wishing Well, From Outer Space, Wasco, Giving Back the Best of Me, Stone Hotel, Misery and Gin