Black Ice Media

Best music of 2020

"It's over!" image from Teen Girl Squad.

It's over! Until the next one. Less said the better. Here's some music I liked!

NOTE: This article is very rough and is a work in progress. It has also been left sitting around for six months unfinished. About time we did something with it.

Machine Girl – U-Void Synthesizer

It's probably too much to say this is the most important thing you'll listen to this year, but try it and you'll have to admit it captures the zeitgeist. The rock of COVID-19 and the hard place of climate change; police brutality; rampant capitalism grinding humanity between its giant satanic gears; stupidity, corruption and incompetence from those in power; the obscene dragon of fascism rearing its shitty head again — summed up in berserk screams and gurgles of rage. But it's not just all angry, it's so much fun to listen to! Because you might as well dance on that cop car before you set it alight.

See also: Reporpoised Phantasies, the upcoming Neon White soundtrack

Code Orange – Underneath

Code Orange decided to look at their follow-up to Forever as a reflection on growing up in a hypermodern landscape, but it's not often that reflection alone is so angry blah blah blah NU METAL IS BACK AND IT'S GOOD

Food House – (self-titled)

Best hyperpop album of the year hands down, evoking spirits from PC Music to VNV Nation (trust me it's in there). All about goofing off and having fun while being very stressed out. You'll like it.

See also: Gupi & Fraxiom — Thos Moser, Gupi — None, Fraxiom — Feeling Cool and Normal

Dorian Electra – My Agenda

This is probably the more party side of the fury of U-Void Synthesizer, but it's no less archly political. From taking shots at Alex Jones to questioning why toxic masculinity has to be a thing (fellas, is it gay to love your fellow man), My Agenda is a short but jam-packed joyride, with wall to wall brilliance in the guest list, propelled along by perfectly justaposed track pairings like Gentleman/M'Lady and Edgelord/Ram It Down. Be sure to catch the videos for My Agenda, there's one for almost every track, and they're all great.

Mr. Bungle — The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo

So absolutely apeshit I forgot it's a reissue. Before you got the psycho experimental Bungle you had the high school hesher Bungle, who were ambitious and proficient even then. I'd be thrilled to see them back in any shape or form, but getting them back so full of joy, piss and vinegar — and bringing some of the best bits of Slayer and Anthrax with them to boot! — is truly a treat for our tired stupid asses.

See also: USA

Rafael Anton Irisarri — Peripeteia

Absolutely one of the most cinematic listens of 2020, Peripeteia is relatively brisk for an ambient album but by the time it finishes you'll want to listen to it again. (Good thing there's the continuous mix as well.) Full of yearning and wonder with many beautiful moments to explore. Arduous Clarity in particular is a high point.

See also: Fernweh

Fire-Toolz — Rainbow Bridge

This one didn't quite enthrall me in the way that Field Whispers did, but I found Rainbow Bridge heartfelt and freewheeling, reaching out in pursuit of the ineffable. Angel Marcloid is, deadset, one of the greatest modern prog artists.

See also: Nonlocal Forecast — Holographic Universe(s?)!, Little Drummer Boy '00

Boris — NO

Boris are one of my favourite live bands, and by the sounds of it they love playing live just as much. So what do you do when you're cooped up and the world's going to shit around you? NO is their answer, all righteous indignation and new untapped energies.

Chip Tanaka — Domingo

This one was a bit more chill compared to Django but it also feels more fully-formed, like it's Tanaka composing music as a contiguous suite instead of just collecting tracks together. It gives him the chance to flex his 40+ years of skill and branch out; in his own words, forming "a requiem to my past – a new life born from treasured memories". Check out the video for Hammerhead Shark Song, which has a few big names painting stylish images that fit this jazzy tune.

Duma — (self-titled)

A duo from Kenya's death metal scene that has a very special, unique and frightening sound. Capturing the clamouring din of Portal, the whirling melodic noise of Skinny Puppy, the bolted-together janky technical aesthetic of Death Grips, and much more, culminating in the most exciting heavy music out of Africa that I can remember. Nyege Nyege Tapes was already a label to pay attention to, but much more so now for bringing this piece of sinister magic out. Great things are yet to come from Duma.

AG Cook — 7G and Apple

Both of these AG Cook albums march hand in hand. As he explained it, Apple was the main pop project he was working on, and many many sounds were tried to achieve that. Given confidence to explore the limits of his process a bit more, he organised everything and tidied it up, and gave us 7G as well, choosing to split it into seven parts taxonomised by instrument. Each of these projects stand well on their own, but try listening to them together!

Eyeliner — Drop Shadow

The first Eyeliner album on Orange Milk, and it almost seems an odd place to put it. Luke Rowell's much-loved vaporwave project is possibly a bit too earnest and straightforward for the label, but I'm glad that they love it too because Drop Shadow is a great album. Full of soaring moments like Los Angeles, and even some more contemplative and sad moments like the suite bookended with Contact and Carry On.

See also: the Luke Rowell collection

Haru Nemuri — Lovetheism

It's not quite as big or important as Haru to Shura, but it shows that Nemuri is evolving her style and reaching towards new heights. She's got a knack for anthems; Riot alone reveals her to be the morally good version of Andrew W.K.

Recovery Girl — (self-titled)

Galen Tipton, the artist behind Recovery Girl, is probably one of the most cutting-edge producers out there right now. She seems to be an endless well of incomprehensible squishy swamp noises and high-energy fully-automated pop hooks, and Recovery Girl exemplifies this well. Wall to wall brain-reconfiguring bangers.

See also: everything else Galen Tipton has released.

Prolaps — Pure Mud Volume 7

Machine Girl and Bonnie Baxter from Kill Alters on this one. It's a completely different sound that is basically best described as toilet rave hell ordeal. It's a lot of fun, and they're releasing a four-album cycle in 2021, so get onto that.

Fiona Apple — Fetch the Bolt Cutters

This is probably the last thing I expected to get into but it worked for me. I'd describe this one as maybe an acoustic Einsturzende Neubauten, all hand claps and bone box rattles replacing the clangs and clanks, okay it's perhaps too far a stretch but you get the idea, right? I imagine this is what pop music might sound like after the power runs out and the world is lit only by fire. It's still fun, and it's still full of life and hope.

Everything else

Reissues

Bit late but better than never

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