In 2018, I started collecting songs I heard out in the world to a playlist. Anything that resonated in the moment, new or nostalgic. Obviously, the world was quite different when I started this habit. Like most folks who weren’t essential workers or selfish assholes, I spent most of 2020 at home. No concerts, no coffee shops, and if there was music at the grocery store, I couldn’t hear it over the staccato bursts of “THAT IS NOT SIX FEET, SIR” rage in my head.
As such, most of my 2020 music listening happened at my desk (Apple Music) or on my couch (concert videos and a Eurovision kick through YouTube). The algorithms had a heavier hand in this mix than 2019 and 2018.
And as always, this is a personal exercise. Not a party playlist, not a best-of 2020. It’s just my year, in music. But I like to share anyway, in case it inspires you to do your own music scrapbooking in 2021, or just helps you discover a good track or three to add to your own mixes.
Here are the tracks:
- Spanish Pipedream – John Prine
- Peaches – The Presidents of the United States of America
- Mr. Motivator – IDLES
- Tree House – Buffalo Tom
- The Main Pretender – Ty Segall
- Honeymoon Phase / Wide Awake & Dreaming – OSKA & Stu Larsen
- To S. – Father John Misty
- Can’t Stay Awake – Cloud Nothings
- The Link Is About to Die – Los Bitchos
- My SĹ‚owianie – Donatan & Cleo
- Satellite – Lena
- exile (feat. Bon Iver) – Taylor Swift
- Damn Good Times – They Might Be Giants
- The House That Heaven Built – Japandroids
- Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games – of Montreal
- Devil Put the Coal In the Ground – Steve Earle
- Jiu Jits You – Panic Shack
- Fuck Me Up – Pokey LaFarge
- On the Floor – Perfume Genius
- Pure Cinema – Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
- Geography (feat. Kevin Hickey & Lucas McCrosson) – Chaos Chaos
- Words – GIVERS
- Moment of Death – Mattiel
- Forced Convalescence – Bright Eyes
- Dying to Believe – The Beths
- Snowflakes Are Dancing – Kurt Vile
- Initiative – Shopping
- circle the drain – Soccer Mommy
- Kyoto – Phoebe Bridgers
- Arizona – Lady Lamb
- Lost my Head there – Kurt Vile
- Restless Year – Ezra Furman
- Delicate Cycle – The Uncluded
- The Mountain Song – Laura Jane Grace
- Artificial Light – Typhoon
- A Leaf – Okkervil River
- Music Won’t Save You – SUUNS
- We Are Not Good People – Bloc Party
- The Departure – Lang Lang
- Don’t Check the Score – Hamilton Leithauser
- Transformer – Owen Pallett
- Persona Non Grata – Bright Eyes
- Daydream (feat. Alia Farah) – M. Ward
- Don’t Miss It – James Blake
- Ferris Wheel – Sylvan Esso
- ICU – Phoebe Bridgers
- Jaja Ding Dong – Will Ferrell & My Marianne
- UNO – Little Big
- Let’s Get This Over With – They Might Be Giants
- Shit in Your Cut – Modest Mouse
- Fall – The Terrordactyls
- You n Me Sellin’ Weed – The Flaming Lips
- Mariana Trench – Bright Eyes
- Drip Drop – Dion
- Incense and Peppermint – Strawberry Alarm Clock
- Hotel Yorba – The White Stripes
- Let the Mystery Be – Iris DeMent
- A Hero’s Death – Fontaines D.C.