Miscellaneous/Experimental
Reviews
pollardian
while this is my #2 AOTY, standing on pretty much equal footing with the excellent Disco Volador (by The Orielles), Honey Badger blew my expectations for what an art pop, psychedelic pop, progressive pop and chamber pop-fused record could sound like. the project is under guidance of a classically-trained composer, so the ingenuity of this record is genuinely impeccable and impervious. it's also extremely underrated and went under many peoples' radars.
pollardian
Konark Sun, and by extension Black Pagoda, is a project born directly from an RYMer's heart. this album in particular is so well put together—so well composed, that it's shocking that they didn't head into the studio to create it. think glitch pop. think electropop. think deconstructed club. think a 20-minute neo-psychedelic intergalactic experimental hip-hop masterpiece. there are 6 songs here, and they're all worth your time.
pollardian
C'est la key, an alter ego of Coin Locker Kid, quietly dropped a near 2 hour dissection on artistry and what it means to curate as well as create. it plays out like an audio movie of sorts—field recordings, sound collage, spoken word, etc. this is one of those projects that may just change the way you think about parts of life you hadn't felt the need to really gloss over or reflect upon much before. tread carefully and take it all in.
creatorbeats
This is my most listened album of 2020. Natalia Lafourcade reworks old songs in a more Mexican folk sound along with a fair few new songs, with great singing both by her and guests like Los Cojolites and amazing instrumental moments like the the accordion on Lo Que Construimos.
creatorbeats
Phoebe manages to really outpace herself one this album. The lyricism is richer and more daring in it's symbolism than it was before. The album is heartbreaking, but not as uniformally downbeat as Ghost in the Alps and makes better use of the album form itself by building to a shattering finale.
creatorbeats
With his foot on his old stereo that was responsible for the recordings before The Sunset Tree, John Darnielle pays the first era of the Mountain Goats a visit from 15+ years in the future. Inspired by Pierre Chuvin's writing on the last pagans, John sings about community and the edge of history.
Karl
Another gem from Erstwhile records. The variety in textures is amazing. Metal clanging, birds chirping (?), and sine waves tingling, it is an atmospheric experience. Calming textured songs oftentimes turn into noisy, darker pieces like "A." Very meditative.
Karl
One of Haino's finest noise/free improvisations. The amount of rhythm noise retained in the beginning with the swirling white noise makes it a down to experience, not too incomprehensible. Consequently, a free flowing adventure after the first track with much drumming.
Karl
The soundtrack has been bootlegged before, but it has been officially released by NIN last year.
bizzeebawdee
I've been a fan of Fleet Foxes since just before Crack-Up came out, and Robin Pecknold just keeps knocking it out of the park. He has composed a warm, autumnal soundscape while singing about his feelings during 2020 and his depression in general, drawn together in a way that shows the listener a more intimate side of him. Fleet Foxes might often be accused of being formulaic, but Shore perhaps represents a slight divergence from that formula, and it still works.
bizzeebawdee
One of my favourite albums of 2020, if not *the* favourite. Gospel for a New Century is my song of the year because it packs such a powerful emotive punch, and the rest of the album doesn't disappoint either. I can't wait to see where they go next.
Alephg
Described via the release's liner notes as "future folk music" that "explores a post-human, non-binary understanding of life", Fountain is a mesmerizing ocean of largely asemic vocal performances and textures created entirely through Pramuk's voice, often reshaped and processed via electronic manipulation. The end result is transcendent and haunting, one of the year's finest and most unique releases regardless of genre.
Arrington de Dionyso with Jaranan Tung Dor of Mojowarno, East Java - Unheard Indonesia Vol. 16: Return to Mojowarno - Jaranan Tung Dor 2015
[Rym] [BC]
Alephg
Part of a series of collaborations between bass clarinet player Arrington de Dionyso and a community of Jaranan musicians in East Java, what we get is a rather seamless fusion or crossover between the worlds of Jaranan and free jazz, in what becomes an entrancing and striking experience, filled with expression from the bass clarinet and vocalist's performances over the relentless, infectious percussion.
Alephg
Compiled and combined out of a series of live "actions", the end result is a relentlessly groovy fusion of polyrhytmic Afro-Latin percussion with horns and electronics in a fashion that may recall Nihiloxica's own work within the Nyege Nyege label, yet with a flair and sensibility all of its own.
Alephg
Digging into the growing scene light language transmissions in YouTube and exploring the transcendent and meditative effects of glossolalia, this project creates a choir-like collage of such practices into a fascinating stream of asemic expression, resulting in an experience that is ethereal, otherworldly and deeply evocative.
Honourable Mentions
pollardian
Hashirat - Womyn, draag me - i am gambing with my life
Katie Gately - Loom
creatorbeats
Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Lina; Raül Refree - Lina_Raül Refree
Owen Palletti - Island
Taylor Swift - Folklore; Evermore
bizzeebawdee
Yerin Baek - Tellusboutyourself:
damn catchy stuff, and I'm sad I only caught this in 2021.
Moses Sumney - græ:
this is an attempt to showcase the complexity of life, and I've connected with it as someone who has spent much of 2020 pondering about life.
Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension:
I'm a massive fan of Sufjan; of course I'm going to include his glitchy, atmospheric 2020 release in here.