In 2020 I averaged listening to 54 songs a day for a grand total of 19,681 which is down from my last year total of 21,161. My music tastes continued to be largely dominated by country and folk music. I spent more time this year listening to podcasts and audiobooks than music.

Most Listened to Albums

Most Listened to Artists

Favorite Albums of 2020

10. Women In Music Pt. III

This album is incredible catchy and a fun listen. It hearkens to pop rock albums of the 60s and 70s.

9. Emblas Saga

This is an over the top metal album that is highly enjoyable. I have a soft spot for symphonic and folk metal and this album is both.

8. Future Nostalgia

This is such a great 9 song album. It’s a shame that it is actually now 13 songs long. I created a playlist of just the first 9 albums to skip over the last two songs in the original album and the two songs added later on. Those songs are terrible and kind of scare me to think what a B side album would be like. Aside from the few bad tracks the rest of the album has amazing productions value with a modern take on a retro vibe which is like disco meets now.

7. Mystic Familiar

This is my favorite Dan Deacon album. The productions value is high with a looping quality I enjoy.

6. Long Violent History

This is mostly a bluegrass instrumental album with a single song at the end with lyrics. The music is wonderfully textured and the lyrics at the end are well written.

5. RTJ4

This is my favorite Run the Jewels album. I feel like it mixes the different styles of the previous three albums into a single album that goes hard the entire album.

4. After Hours

I’ve long been a fan of the Weeknd but he has never released an album I enjoyed the entire way through. None have lived up to his original EPs. His last album was way too long obviously trying to game streaming numbers. His other shorter albums had chunks of songs I just didn’t care for or sounded to similar. After Hours is solid all the way through. The production value is top notch and I adore the synth work.

3. West of Eden

This is such a fun post-rock album. The performances are a real highlight of this album. I feel like the only downside to this album is the first half is stronger than the second half but it is still solid all the way through. Just more highlights in the beginning.

2. Spirituality and Distortion

I have a soft spot for weird metal music and I think this is the strangest fusion I have come across yet. It smashes folk music of a ton of cultures as well as classical and opera. On paper it just should not work. But it does!

1. Cuttin' Grass - Vol. 1&2

I am once again cheating by combining two albums into one but I do not think you can fairly separate the two. When it was announced Sturgill was releasing a new album I was excited but then was disappointed to learn it was going to be a cover album. Boy was I wrong. Covering a good chunk of his previous work in the bluegrass genre turned out brilliantly.