Songpickr´s 75 Best Albums of 2020

It's that time of the year again! The annual Songpickr “Year End List” is here. Unlike media, I am more a traditionalist when it comes to music, focusing on warm, organic, timeless music. So this is what I found and liked in 2020.

JB Paterson "Young Man For A While" hit me by surprise when Sam Teskey, guitar player of The Teskey Brothers shared it with me. JB is a fellow Australian musician who recorded the whole album alone in his solar powered cabin. It reminds me a lot of The Band and its warm sound took me by storm. Unfortunately JB is still completely under the radar but hopefully that will change now.

The runner up is Kyle Lacy who submitted a song to me via SubmitHub and I was instantly blown away by the track and the whole album. It was love at first sight when I heard this Ray Charles influenced Jazz and R&B album which has a ton of groove and is full of timeless masterpieces.

Cordovas is a longtime Songpickr favorite as you all probably know and their 2020 record does not disappoint at all. Full of awesome Westcoast Americana tunes, great harmonies and a band that obviously has a lot of fun playing together. And the opener "High Feeling" is an alltime classic already.

Number four on the list comes from another Songpickr obsession - The Texas Gentlemen. Listening to their latest album "Floor it!!!" you start wondering where all these eclectic ideas and influences are coming from. Incredibly playful 70s style Rock album with a good portion of jamming. You simply cannot put a genre stamp on this record.

Early James is a Dan Auerbach protege with a 100% unique and remarkable voice which is here to stay! Waxahatchee, Brent Cobb and Frazey Ford who follow on number 6-8 are probably well known to you but Eef Barzelay is one of the most underrated Indie artists and songwriters in my humble opinion and I am always scratching my head, why he hasn´t more streams and doesn´t get more playlist love by the editors of Spotify, Apple, Amazon & Co. I am a longtime fan of his Band Clem Snide and their Scott Avett produced album "Forever and beyond" deserves to be heard more often!

Last but not least in the Top 10 this year are The Teskey Brothers with their live album "Live from the Forum" which has been recorded live with their Studer800 analogue tape machine which is insane from a production perspective if you think about it.

Here's the full Top 20:

1. JB Paterson - Young man for a while

2. Kyle Lacy - The road to tomorrow

3. Cordovas - Destiny Hotel

4. The Texas Gentlemen - Floor it!!!

5. Early James - Singing for my supper

6. Waxahatchee - Sant cloud

7. Brent Cobb - Keep ´em on they toes

8. Frazey Ford - U kin B the sun

9. Clem Snide - Forever just beyond

10. The Teskey Brothers - Live at the forum

11. Thomas Dybdahl - Fever

12. The Wood Brothers - Kingdom in my mind

13. Pacific Range - High upon the mountain

14. Tré Burt - Caught it from the rye

15. Andy Shauf - The neon skyline

16. Nathaniel Rateliff - And it´s still alright

17. My Morning Jacket - The waterfall II

18. Kevin Morby - Sundowner

19. Zephania OHora - Listening to the music

20. Swamp Dogg - Sorry you couldn´t make it

21-75 Full gallery on my AOTY site (CLICK HERE)

You can also listen to all 75 albums in my Spotify Year end playlist: LINK and on Apple Music: LINK

Please let me know what you think? What's missing for you? Who is ranked too high or too low?