Highlights
Several of my longtime favorite artists released good-to-great albums this year. TMBG, Devin Townsend, Steven Wilson, Said the Whale, Heifervescent, and Juliana Hatfield come to mind. But there were more than a few excellent collections by bands I just discovered or had flown under the radar in previous years: Liily, Nate Smith, Quivers, and Lord Huron I had on repeat quite a lot. Everybody’s COVID projects that didn’t make it out the previous year bore fruit this year, it seems.
- Album of the year: Low – HEY WHAT
- Most tracks in the list: They Might Be Giants – BOOK
- Honorable Mention to check out: Quicksand – Distant Populations
139 songs, 9 hrs. 39 mins. Total Time
| TITLE | ARTIST | ALBUM | TIME | |
| 1 | Glowing in the Dark | Django Django | Glowing in the Dark | 2:59 |
| 2 | Challenge The Gods | Matthew Sweet | Catspaw | 3:56 |
| 3 | Best Of Me | Matthew Sweet | Catspaw | 2:48 |
| 4 | Mountains in the Mist | Page McConnell & Trey Anastasio | December | 5:44 |
| 5 | 12 THINGS I FORGOT | Steven Wilson | THE FUTURE BITES | 4:43 |
| 6 | PERSONAL SHOPPER | Steven Wilson | THE FUTURE BITES | 9:49 |
| 7 | FOLLOWER | Steven Wilson | THE FUTURE BITES | 4:39 |
| 8 | Hurricane | Anneke van Giersbergen | The Darkest Skies Are the Brightest | 3:57 |
| 9 | Holding Poison | Foo Fighters | Medicine at Midnight | 4:24 |
| 10 | The Balcony | Fruit Bats | The Pet Parade | 4:09 |
| 11 | Pleura | King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | L.W. | 4:11 |
| 12 | See Me | King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | L.W. | 4:04 |
| 13 | Let It Roll (Acoustic – Live in Leeds 2019) | Devin Townsend | Devolution Series #1 – Acoustically Inclined, Live in Leeds | 3:48 |
| 14 | Half a Human | Real Estate | Half a Human | 5:58 |
| 15 | Miracle Myth | Gary V | Gary’z Place II | 3:29 |
| 16 | Something Stronger | Gary V | Gary’z Place II | 3:17 |
| 17 | Fade Away | The Death of Pop | Seconds | 2:54 |
| 18 | Once Good | The Death of Pop | Seconds | 2:52 |
| 19 | Le Point Zéro | Freedom Fry | L’Invitation | 4:11 |
| 20 | Corde Sensible | Freedom Fry | Corde Sensible – Single | 4:34 |
| 21 | formwela 1 | Esperanza Spalding | SONGWRIGHTS APOTHECARY LAB | 3:35 |
| 22 | Formwela 5 (feat. Corey King) | Esperanza Spalding | SONGWRIGHTS APOTHECARY LAB | 3:32 |
| 23 | Not When You’re in Love | Field Music | Flat White Moon | 3:41 |
| 24 | In This City | Field Music | Flat White Moon | 3:27 |
| 25 | Had a Dream | Juliana Hatfield | Blood | 2:57 |
| 26 | Suck It Up | Juliana Hatfield | Blood | 3:11 |
| 27 | Everybody’s Talkin’ (French) | Freedom Fry | Reprises – EP | 2:40 |
| 28 | Can’t Carry On | Gruff Rhys | Seeking New Gods | 3:38 |
| 29 | The Keep | Gruff Rhys | Seeking New Gods | 4:23 |
| 30 | Mine Forever | Lord Huron | Long Lost | 4:48 |
| 31 | Long Lost | Lord Huron | Long Lost | 4:45 |
| 32 | Tetromino | Protoplanets | Tetromino – Single | 3:20 |
| 33 | Level 30 Kill Screen | Protoplanets | Tetromino – Single | 4:16 |
| 34 | Lipstick on the Glass | Wolf Alice | Blue Weekend | 4:08 |
| 35 | How Can I Make It OK? | Wolf Alice | Blue Weekend | 4:47 |
| 36 | Gunsmoke | Select | Lost in Noise | 3:39 |
| 37 | Dawn Pretend | Damien Jurado | The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania | 3:15 |
| 38 | Down | St. Vincent | Daddy’s Home | 3:26 |
| 39 | Dream Dust | Waterstrider | Sublimate – EP | 3:45 |
| 40 | Interior People | King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Butterfly 3000 | 5:15 |
| 41 | Butterfly 3000 | King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Butterfly 3000 | 2:51 |
| 42 | You Should Be Dancing | Dee Gees | Dee Gees / Hail Satin – Foo Fighters / Live | 3:53 |
| 43 | You’re Not Always On My Mind | Quivers | Golden Doubt | 3:44 |
| 44 | When It Breaks | Quivers | Golden Doubt | 3:49 |
| 45 | Rise and Shine | Heifervescent | The Long Lost Property of Life | 3:54 |
| 46 | The Last Safe Haven | Heifervescent | The Long Lost Property of Life | 3:21 |
| 47 | Lizard Suit | The Mountain Goats | Dark in Here | 4:16 |
| 48 | The Slow Parts on Death Metal Albums | The Mountain Goats | Dark in Here | 5:26 |
| 49 | The Cruise Room | John Grant | Boy From Michigan | 4:15 |
| 50 | Rhetorical Figure | John Grant | Boy From Michigan | 3:59 |
| 51 | my future | Billie Eilish | Happier Than Ever | 3:30 |
| 52 | GOLDWING | Billie Eilish | Happier Than Ever | 2:32 |
| 53 | Strutter | Electric Six | Streets of Gold | 3:13 |
| 54 | Welcome 2 America | Prince | Welcome 2 America | 5:24 |
| 55 | Disarm | Fruit Bats | Siamese Dream | 3:00 |
| 56 | Mayonaise | Fruit Bats | Siamese Dream | 3:53 |
| 57 | Chiffon | Snail’s House | Pâtisserie Snail – EP | 4:03 |
| 58 | Christopher Robbins | Paul Jacobs | Pink Dogs on the Green Grass | 3:45 |
| 59 | Open up the Heavens | Jade Bird | Different Kinds of Light | 2:41 |
| 60 | Candidate | Jade Bird | Different Kinds of Light | 2:30 |
| 61 | So Naive | Tom Williams | Follow the Leader | 3:52 |
| 62 | Follow the Leader | Tom Williams | Follow the Leader | 3:10 |
| 63 | Heads Down | Tom Williams | Follow the Leader | 3:45 |
| 64 | Catcher of My Dreams | Anette Olzon | Strong | 5:04 |
| 65 | Parasite | Anette Olzon | Strong | 3:59 |
| 66 | Non Binary Sluts | Dick Valentine | Coma Watching | 3:08 |
| 67 | Toledo Police | Dick Valentine | Coma Watching | 3:17 |
| 68 | Yellow Fever | Really From | Really From | 3:28 |
| 69 | In the Spaces | Really From | Really From | 5:05 |
| 70 | Click | C418 | Cookie Clicker – EP | 8:32 |
| 71 | Bio18 | Rostam | Changephobia (Expanded Edition) | 4:01 |
| 72 | Starlight | Rostam | Changephobia (Expanded Edition) | 4:06 |
| 73 | On The Wrong Side | Lindsey Buckingham | Lindsey Buckingham | 3:37 |
| 74 | Blue Light | Lindsey Buckingham | Lindsey Buckingham | 3:25 |
| 75 | Power Down | Lindsey Buckingham | Lindsey Buckingham | 3:55 |
| 76 | Altitude (feat. Joel Ross & Michael Mayo) | Nate Smith | Kinfolk 2: See the Birds | 5:15 |
| 77 | Square Wheel (feat. Kokayi & Michael Mayo) | Nate Smith | Kinfolk 2: See the Birds | 5:01 |
| 78 | Two Moments | Yagya | Always Maybe Tomorrow – EP | 6:52 |
| 79 | The Way We Feel (feat. Alain Johannes) | Lost Satellite | Either Way | 3:51 |
| 80 | Lizzie (feat. Alissa White-Gluz) | Charlotte Wessels | Tales From Six Feet Under | 4:07 |
| 81 | Cry Little Sister | Charlotte Wessels | Tales From Six Feet Under | 5:05 |
| 82 | I Ran Away | Dinosaur Jr. | Sweep It Into Space | 3:30 |
| 83 | Solar Power | Lorde | Solar Power | 3:13 |
| 84 | Stoned at the Nail Salon | Lorde | Solar Power | 4:26 |
| 85 | if this was a movie.. | Kacey Musgraves | star-crossed | 3:15 |
| 86 | Kick Snare Cat | Mahealane & PRNDL | Kick Snare Cat – Single | 3:48 |
| 87 | People (feat. Kaya Thomas-Dyke) | Alfa Mist | Bring Backs | 2:59 |
| 88 | All Night | Low | HEY WHAT | 5:15 |
| 89 | Disappearing | Low | HEY WHAT | 3:32 |
| 90 | Days Like These | Low | HEY WHAT | 5:21 |
| 91 | Superperfection | Film School | We Weren’t Here | 3:55 |
| 92 | Take What You Need | Film School | We Weren’t Here | 4:45 |
| 93 | It’s Time to Come Home | Kenny Garrett | Sounds from the Ancestors | 9:49 |
| 94 | Hargrove | Kenny Garrett | Sounds from the Ancestors | 5:14 |
| 95 | Soldiers of the Fields / Soldats des Champs | Kenny Garrett | Sounds from the Ancestors | 10:55 |
| 96 | Impetu | Graham Costello | Second Lives | 5:16 |
| 97 | Future Stride | Emmet Cohen | Future Stride | 5:54 |
| 98 | SuperBlue (feat. Charlie Hunter) | Kurt Elling | SuperBlue (feat. Charlie Hunter) | 4:45 |
| 99 | Sweetheart | Said The Whale | Dandelion | 3:43 |
| 100 | 99 to the Moon | Said The Whale | Dandelion | 4:39 |
| 101 | Dandelion | Said The Whale | Dandelion | 3:45 |
| 102 | Under the Linden Tree | Nada Surf | Cycle Through | 5:08 |
| 103 | So Much Love (Acoustic) | Nada Surf | Cycle Through | 3:41 |
| 104 | The Crux | Mastodon | Hushed and Grim | 5:00 |
| 105 | Pushing the Tides | Mastodon | Hushed and Grim | 3:30 |
| 106 | And Strike Each Tuneful String | Marc Johnson | Overpass | 7:20 |
| 107 | Nardis | Marc Johnson | Overpass | 5:18 |
| 108 | The Unfamiliar Word | Field Music | Another Shot – EP | 3:53 |
| 109 | Harmonia’s Dream | The War on Drugs | I Don’t Live Here Anymore | 6:26 |
| 110 | I Don’t Live Here Anymore | The War on Drugs | I Don’t Live Here Anymore | 5:28 |
| 111 | It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World (feat. Brittney Spencer) | Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit | Georgia Blue | 4:31 |
| 112 | Easy On Me | Adele | 30 | 3:45 |
| 113 | To Be Loved | Adele | 30 | 6:44 |
| 114 | Love U More | ACTORS | Acts of Worship | 4:01 |
| 115 | I Am Who I Think You Think I Am | Liily | TV or Not TV | 3:38 |
| 116 | Early Bopper | Liily | TV or Not TV | 2:58 |
| 117 | TV or Not TV | Liily | TV or Not TV | 3:40 |
| 118 | Bill | CapsAdmin | CapsAdmin | 2:52 |
| 119 | Undantag | Dina Ögon | Dina Ögon | 3:58 |
| 120 | Mmmoooaaaaayaya | illuminati hotties | Let Me Do One More | 3:05 |
| 121 | Knead | illuminati hotties | Let Me Do One More | 3:27 |
| 122 | Kickflip | illuminati hotties | Let Me Do One More | 2:25 |
| 123 | 61 | Denise Chaila | 061 – Single | 3:14 |
| 124 | Mars Curiosity Adventure | Protoplanets | Leave Mars – Single | 2:45 |
| 125 | Sunset | Makaya McCraven | Deciphering The Message | 3:48 |
| 126 | Inversion | Quicksand | Distant Populations | 2:38 |
| 127 | Missile Command | Quicksand | Distant Populations | 3:24 |
| 128 | Brushed | Quicksand | Distant Populations | 3:36 |
| 129 | Before the World Was Born | Freedom Fry | Broken Down on Planet 909 – EP | 4:08 |
| 130 | You Do, Don’t You? | Traffik Island | A Shrug of the Shoulders | 2:56 |
| 131 | Lights Out | Traffik Island | A Shrug of the Shoulders | 4:17 |
| 132 | Synopsis for Latecomers | They Might Be Giants | BOOK | 2:25 |
| 133 | Moonbeam Rays | They Might Be Giants | BOOK | 2:51 |
| 134 | I Broke My Own Rule | They Might Be Giants | BOOK | 3:22 |
| 135 | Super Cool | They Might Be Giants | BOOK | 2:12 |
| 136 | Walk Like Me | Robert DeLong | Walk Like Me | 2:56 |
| 137 | I Still Have Faith In You | ABBA | Voyage | 5:09 |
| 138 | Don’t Shut Me Down | ABBA | Voyage | 3:56 |
| 139 | Monuments of Glitch | Devin Townsend | The Puzzle | 7:23 |