2020 In New Music Part 5

 Eartheater - Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin (PAN) 

Exquisite and distinctive modern chamber works, arranged around Eartheater's soft focus guitar and wide ranging vocals. 

Eddie Chacon - Pleasure, Joy And Happiness (Day End) 

One of 2020's great surprises, this piece of introspective, artfully warped, sensual contemporary electronic soul comes from one half of pop duo Charles and Eddie, working with producer John Carroll Kirby. 

Eiko Ishibashi - Hyakki Yagyo (Black Truffle) 

Translating as Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, this set of two long pieces is Eiko Ishibashi's ghost stories project. 

Einsturzende Neubauten - Alles In Allem (Potomak) 

Mechanistic, industrial clanging, ominous incantations and fragments of melody - also the first studio album in 13 years. 

Elena Setien/Grande Days/Xabier Erkizia - Mirande (Forbidden Colours) 

Expressive and haunting ballads from the Basque singer-songwriter. 

Eli Winter - Unbecoming (American Dreams)

An expanded canvas for the very promising guitarist yields brilliant results. 

Elina Duni, Rob Luft, Fred Thomas, Matthieu Michel - Lost Ships (ECM) 

Singer Elina Duni's collaboration with the excellent Rob Luft is fully realised here on this beautiful collection of songs combining six originals with six interpretations. Delivered with a delicate touch and depth of feeling.  

Elkhorn - The Storm Sessions (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond) 

Maybe setting a precedent for 2020's lockdown experience, this improvised recording came about after Elkhorn were snowed in on a night they should have been playing a gig. The resulting music is glimmering and captivating. 

Ellen Allien - Auraa (Bpitch) 

With this being her third album in three years, it has been hard to keep up with Berlin's techno pioneer lately. Auraa is vivid and vibrant. 

Elliott Galvin - Live In Paris, at Foundation Louis Vuitton (Edition) 

This excellent, fluent solo performance from May 2018 captures the core of Elliott Galvin's distinctive and playful approach to piano improvisation. 

Elvis Costello - Hey Clockface (Concord) 

Even if Elvis Costello now appears to be struggling to draw the theatrical gravitas from his vocal chords that has been the defining feature of his later work, he is still a songwriter of great range and depth. Actually only his third studio album in the past ten years,  Hey Clockface finds Costello experimenting with production techniques, arrangement and instrumentation as well as his usual genre flirtations. 

Elysia Crampton - Orcorara 2010 (PAN) 

Dedicated to Paul Sousa who, while incarcerated, worked as an inmate firefighter tackling wildfires in the Sierra Nevada, Elysia Crampton's bold and powerful latest began life as the soundtrack to an installation. It more than stands alone, however, with the vocal presences of its various guests firmly at the forefront (from the spoken narratives of Jeremy Rojas to the theatrical, near operatic contributions from Shannon Funchess). 

Enrique Rodriguez & The Negra Chiway Band - False Liminal (Soul Jazz) 

Intense, spiritual jazz from Chile. 

Eric Revis - Slipknots Through The Looking Glass (Pyroclastic) 

Contemporary jazz exploring dissonance, but with a propulsive impetus. 

Erland Cooper - Hether Blether (Phases)

Erland Cooper - Landform (Phases) 

Final instalment of the majestic Orkney trilogy and its, to me, more satisfying digital companion piece. 

Ezra Feinberg - Recumbent Speech (Related States) 

Ezra Feinberg and John Kolodij - Ezra Feinberg and John Kolodij (Bandcamp) 

Ezra Feinberg's Recumbent Speech brilliantly combines agile, repetitive picked guitar or percussion figures with shimmering synth textures to create something gently elevating. A great ensemble includes Chuck Johnson on pedal steel and John McEntire on drums. The collaboration with John Kolodij is a split LP. 

FACS - Void Moments (Trouble In Mind) 

Wiry, minimal, angular, determinedly dark, sometimes industrial post-punk from the Chicago trio. 

Faten Kanaan - A Mythology Of Circles (Fire) 

While the Brooklyn composer may be most interested in 'cyclical repetitions', what emerges most from her music is a keen sense of stillness, beauty and awareness of the moment. 

Field Music - Making A New World (Memphis Industries) 

Field Music's extraordinarily consistent strike rate continued with this outstanding song cycle that grew from projects with the Imperial War Museum, exploring the after-effects of the WW1. This still contains Field Music's by now familiar core ingredients - robust grooves, a Peter Gabriel meets Jeff Lynne-esque approach to melody and arrangement, intelligent song structures and bold lyrics. 

Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters (Sony) 

One part musical theatre and cabaret, another part Marc Ribot-esque avant garde percussive textures, Fetch The Bolt Cutters seemed to really cut through the noise of this year. Features some of the most disarming and honest lyrics of the year.  

Fire! Orchestra - Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra (Rune Gramofon) 

A bit of a detour for this improvising big band project as they interpret a work by Krysztof Penderecki. The result is ominous sounding and apposite for our dystopian moment. 

Fleet Foxes - Shore (Anti) 

Essentially a solo project from Robin Pecknold and emerging unexpectedly from lockdown, Shore provided a welcome ray of sunlight with its bright sounding production and lingering melodies.  

Flora Yin-Wong - Holy Palm (Modern Love) 

Highly absorbing sound collage combining abrasive noise with temple bells and effective use of space. 

Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans (Text) 

Combines familiar blissful melodies with more ambient interludes and meditative pieces. 

Fra Fra - Funeral Songs (Glitterbeat) 

Astounding ritual songs from North Ghana. 

Frances Quinlan - Likewise (Saddle Creek) 

Dexterous melodies and verbose narratives from the Hop Along singer. 

Frazey Ford - U Kin B The Sun (Arts & Crafts) 

Another masterful co-opting of a session soul sound from the former Be Good Tanya. These exquisite songs along with Ford's translucent delivery make this one of the 2020 albums I've been returning to the most. 

Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo (ESGN/ALC/Empire) 

Great grooves, hypnotic loops and quickfire phrasing on this Mafioso themed hip hop collaboration. 

FujiIIIIIIIIIIIIta - Iki (Hallow Ground) 

Fascinating, deeply absorbing exporation of the possibilities from a purpose built pipe organ. 

2020 In New Music Part 4

 Dan Penn - Living On Mercy (Last Music Co.) 

A soulful and affecting late period album from the great songwriter with a strong band vibe. 

Daniel Avery - Love + Light (Phantasy Sound) 

Daniel Avery & Alessandro Cortini - Illusion Of Time (Phantasy Sound) 

Mesmerising spectral ambience on the surprise third full length (and double set) from the productive Avery, alongside an empathetic and wide ranging collaboration with the Nine Inch Nails synth master. The track 'London Island' feels somewhat topical as I type this! 

Daniel Blumberg - On&On&On&On&On&On... (Mute) 

I remain baffled by the absence of this album from end of year lists. It's a major step forward for Blumberg (who has steadily been branching out into more experimental sound worlds and musical communities) and a hugely effective integration of melodic craft (McCartney-esque at times) with more abrasive moments of group improvisation. 

Dave Miller - Dave Miller (Tompkins Square) 

Brilliant guitarist and composer crafts an expert contemporary instrumental music synthesis. Sometimes sensitive, sometimes righteously groovy with Miller's shimmering guitar sound always irresistible. 

David A. Jaycock - Murder, And The Birds (Triassic Tusk) 

A folk music highlight of the year, Jaycock's sonorous, chiming, sometimes foreboding performances are deeply compelling. 

David Grubbs & Taku Unami - Comet Meta (Drag City) 

For all the justifiable attention Grubbs' former Gastr Del Sol musical partner Jim O'Rourke receives, it is bizarre how little is written about David Grubbs himself, especially when he produces music this striking and beautiful. A brilliantly integrated duo guitar work that juxtaposes malleable and expressive themes with more cerebral, puzzle-like structures and improvised lines.

David Nance - Staunch Honey (Trouble In Mind) 

Great songwriting meets raw and loose production values (although, given Nance's archival tendencies, one senses that these values are hard won rather than simply reached by osmosis). 

David Torn - Fur/Torn (Screwgun) 

Superb home recorded solo guitar album from this most versatile and flexible of musicians. 

Decoy with Joe McPhee - AC/DC (Otoruku) 

Cafe Oto offered a bonanza during the pandemic, even creating a sister label purely to release works created in lockdown (something I really need to dig deeper into). But this thrilling, visceral live set from the venue in May 2019 arrived first. Aside from the still vital presence of McPhee, it's fascinating and exciting to hear Alexander Hawkins on Hammond B3. 

Deerhoof - Future Teenage Cave Artists (Joyful Noise Recordings) 

Deerhoof with Wadada Leo Smith - Love-Lore (Joyful Noise Recordings) 

Deerhoof's 15th and 16th albums respectively, now thoroughly stress testing the notion that their every work remains essential (no sign of a drop in invention or quality). The collaboration with the great trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, creator of one of the most significant musical works of the past 30 years in Ten Freedom Summers, is unexpected but most welcome. And it includes the Knight Rider theme amongst many other curious plunderings.

Deradoorian - Find The Sun (Anti) 

The former Dirty Projectors vocalist is now establishing a distinctive and artful solo career. Working with brilliant guitarist Dave Harrington, Find The Sun is a gem glimmering in heat haze. 

Desire Marea - Desire (Izimakade) 

Compelling sensory, synaesthetic work from the South African artist. 

Destroyer - Have We Met (Dead Oceans) 

For a long while, each new Destroyer album would provide a completely different musical context for Dan Bejar's verbose narratives. This made it hard to get a handle on the musical identity of the project - but also made for fun surprises. This might now no longer be the case, as Bejar settles into a groove mining 80s pop production values. But his curious delivery and curveball songs are still very much worth exploring. 

Diana Jones - Song To A Refugee (Proper) 

Folk song cycle relaying refugee stories with a keen sense of musical tradition, delivered with a spry subtlety and with an idiosyncratic attack in the vocal delivery. A degree of kinship with Iris DeMent or Patti Scialfa on display here. 

Dinosaur - To The Earth (Edition) 

Trumpeter and composer Laura Jurd's Mercury nominated ensemble take an unexpected turn to explore acoustic arrangements. Deft, airy and sometimes playful music. 

Dire Wolves - I Just Wasn't Made For These Set Times (Centripetal Force) 

Dire Wolves - Flow & Heady (Feeding Tube) 

Two albums of meditative, meandering but sometimes mutable jams in which to get enjoyably lost. 

Dirty Projectors - 5EPs (Domino) 

Not an album as such, but a compiling of the 5 EP releases Dirty Projectors staggered through the second half of the year. Showcasing the current line-up, with each EP focusing on a different vocalist, this is the group at both their most unassuming and their most playful, with an emphasis on Dave Longstreth's way with an infectious but joyfully unusual melodic line. 

Django Bates - Tenacity (Lost Marble) 

Dazzling large scale arrangements including what might be the high watermark of Django Bates' ongoing Charlie Parker explorations, alongside four original compositions, film soundtrack choice Laura and a take on Star Eyes. Sadly, there's no way to embed from this one.

Dougie Poole - The Freelancer's Blues (Wharf Cat) 

Warped country songs with a dry sense of humour.  

Doves - The Universal Want (Virgin) 

A band it is comforting to have back. Doves still seem to do this kind of widescreen, soaring indie rock very well, not least because their dance music background still seems to inform it with hints of less square rhythms and a kinetic impulse. 

Drive-By Truckers - The Unravelling (ATO)

Drive-By Truckers - The New OK (ATO) 

Two new albums further adding to the already fearsome *volume* of the DBTs catalogue - and their increasingly politically engaged songwriting speaks to the moment with urgency and conviction. 

Duma - Duma (Nyege Nyege Tapes) 

Uncompromising, abrasive modern metal from Nairobi. 

Dumana + Kechou - Buffering Juju (Mushroom Hour Half Hour) 

Debut album from this Cape Town duo and showing considerable promise - integrating contemporary studio techniques and synthesisers with musical traditions. 

Duval Timothy - Help (Carrying Colour) 

Vivid and colourful but also melancholy and reflective, this album felt perfect for lockdown evenings. 

2020 In New Music Part 3

 Cabane - Grande Est La Maison  (Cabane Records) 

A delicate but ornate and touching suite of dreamlike folk music, richly adorned with arrangements from Sean O'Hagan and featuring vocal contributions from Will Oldham and Kate Stables. It's particularly interesting to hear Oldham in this context. 

Caitlin Pasko - Greenhouse (Whatever's Clever) 

A minimal, but striking and intimate song cycle focused on Pasko's haunting vocals and piano and synthesiser. 

Caleb Dolister - Daily Thumbprint Collection 3: The Wandering (Orenda) 

An imaginative, vivid and thrilling instrumental set from the drummer and composer. The Wandering unites rock and jazz, cinematic compositions and excoriating exposition, all based around some very heavy grooves. 

Califone - Echo Mine (Jealous Butcher) 

Although not marketed as a new Califone album per se, this score to a Robyn Williams dance project has enough melodic, song based material to stand alone (Romans and Snow Angel), and also focuses effectively on the depth of Califone's arrangements - particularly with percussion and rhythm. They remain one of the most under-valued of bands. 

Call Super - Every Mouth Teeth Missing (Incienso) 

More head music than club music - this is an electronic album of ruffled textures and quizzical interjections. 

Caribou - Suddenly (City Slang) 

Sun-kissed and serene dream pop subject to occasional bouts of unexpected turbulence. 

Carla Bley - Life Goes On (ECM)

A stately, melodic and economical work from Bley's trio with Andy Sheppard and Steve Swallow. 

Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Chicago Waves (International Anthem) 

The occasional audience cough betrays that this is a live recording - but one that features more layering and detail that one might expect from a duo performance. It also has a reflective quality that has been remarkably comforting this year. 

Cassowary - Cassowary (Fat Possum) 

Another of the year's finest debuts, this jazz, gospel and R&B inflected synthesis succeeds in being both pristine and riveting. 

Cath Roberts & Dee Byrne - DISEMBARK! (Luminous) 

An excellent duo saxophone set (with Roberts on baritone and Byrne on alto) that explores not only the depth and range of the instrument, but also the possibilities within a duo setting. This is also improvised music with a sense of fun and play. 

Catherine Anne Davies and Bernard Butler - In Memory Of My Feelings (Needle Mythology) 

A wide ranging collaboration between the guitarist and producer and the singer, songwriter and novelist (who usually records under the name The Anchoress). There are rock-ish tracks that allow for something close to the signature Suede guitar sound to cut through - but also more atmospheric mood pieces and moments of grandiosity too. 

Cclcng - Niagara Falls (Quantum Natives) 

Connor Kirby-Long released an enduring and brilliant album called 'Handwriting' under the alias of Khonnor in 2004. He released an assortment of singles and EPs under various names before disappearing for some time. Now returning, having really been through the wringer in his life, this new project is very different (more electronic, more unsettling, turbulent and unpredictable) but no less scintillating. There are also some other collections of his newer music on Bandcamp. 

Chicago Underground Quartet - Good Days (Monofonus Press/Astral Spirits) 

Chicago continues to be one of the most significant musical cities in the world, and the jazz-ish scene that surrounds Tortoise produced some of the most inspired and memorable music of the year (see also albums from Jeff Parker and Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra). Nineteen years since the previous CUQ recording (Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor continued to work as a duo), we apparently have Chris Schlarb of Psychic Temple to thank for this album's genesis. It's a freewheeling and joyous work, with vibrant exploration alongside refracted funk and more textural approaches. 

Childish Gambino - 3.15.20 (Sony) 

A rather confounding and disorientating album, in spite of its production to appear as a coherent and continuous suite - and yet isn't this exactly what Donald Glover's music has always been about? 

Chouk Bwa & The Angstromers - Vodou Ale (Bongo Joe) 

A wondrous collaboration between Haitian six piece Chouk Bwa and a Belgian production duo. The meeting of electronics and musical traditions feels very sympathetic and, at times, symbiotic. 

Chris Abrahams - Appearance (Room40) 

Chris Abrahams' solo piano work continues to be more languid and peaceful than the greater intensity of The Necks - getting lost within it is tremendously satisfying. 

Chris Stapleton - Starting Over (Sound/Universal) 

A gritty, honest and powerful country set, veering between tender songwriting and more biting, bluesy electric material. 

Chris Forsyth with Garcia Peoples - Peoples Motel Band (Bandcamp) 

A very welcome live recording of this incendiary, stirring collaboration, with plenty of stretching out on the epic take on Dreaming In The Non-Dream. 

Chris Forsyth, Dave Harrington, Ryan Jewell, Spencer Zahn - First Flight (Algortithm Free) 

A transcendent improvised set from this dream team of an ensemble, exploring a range of textures and righteous grooves. Harrington's absorbing sonics work really well with Forsyth's expansive gestures. 

Chris Montague - Warmer Than Blood (Whirlwind Recordings) 

Although featuring both guitarist Montague and pianist/keyboardist Kit Downes (alongside the excellent electric bassist Ruth Goller), Montague's work here is very different from Troyka. This is thoughtful and evocative music, with a focus on texture, sound and unpredictable melodic lines. 

Christian Lee Hutson - Beginners (Anti) 

Wistful, reflective, often confessional song-storytelling in the Sufjan Stevens mould. 

Christina Vantzou - Multi Natural (Edicoes CN) 

Inventive and innovative contemporary composition. The nine pieces have distinct sound worlds and atmospheres but this also coheres as a complete work. 

Cindy Lee - What's Tonight To Eternity (W. 25th/Superior Viaduct) 

Haunted and haunting soundscapes and a powerful exploration of gender identity. 

Circles Around The Sun - Circles Around The Sun (Royal Potato Family)

A very fine and meticulously produced album, but also a bittersweet and sad listen, as this will be the final Circles Around The Sun recording to feature the outstanding guitarist Neal Casal. What a loss. The disco flavour to a handful of these tracks is interesting. 

Cleo Sol - Rose In The Dark (Forever Living Originals) 

Wondrous, resplendent neo-soul, spectacularly arranged, 

clipping. - Visions Of Bodies Being Burned (Sub Pop) 

That dark title is no joke. This is one of the year's most ominous and disconcerting works, combining horror movie references, rapid wordplay and squalling noise. 

Cordoba - Specter (Amalgam) 

Lush, widescreen jazz/funk fusion. 

Corey Mwamba - {-} (Bandcamp)

Solo vibraphone set from the fluent, inspired improviser and presenter of BBC Radio 3's excellent Freeness programme. 

Coriky - Coriky (Dischord)

Excellent new band from Fugazi's Ian Mackaye and and Joe Lally, alongside the imaginative drummer Amy Farina, whose unusual kit orchestrations elevate and drive this music. 

Cornershop - England Is A Garden (Ample Play) 

A national treasure. 

Cory Smythe - Accelerate Every Voice (Pyroclastic) 

I reviewed this for musicOMH here

Country Westerns - Country Westerns (Fat Possum) 

Blistering, no-nonsense raw garage rock in the mould of The Replacements. 

Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers (Fat Possum) 

Wonderful and enriching songs, delivered with a delightful attention to sonic detail and vocal tone (sometimes reminiscent of Jenny Lewis). 

Crazy Doberman - Illusory Expansion (1873119) 

This is the first Crazy Doberman record I've heard, and there already appear to be three more, so I've got some catching up to do. A core of players supporting by a changing roster of auxilliary musicians, the Indiana based ensemble produce Bitches Brew-inspired psychedelic improv. 

2020 In New Music Part 2

 Badge Epoque Ensemble - Self Help (Telephone Explosion) 

A curious, genre-straddling and mostly successful set from the Toronto group, joined by a raft of guest vocalists sometimes operating outside their own comfort zones (Meg Remy and Jennifer Castle among them). 

Badly Drawn Boy - Banana Skin Shoes (AWAL Recordings)

The artistic and personal rehabilitation of Badders has been one of the delights of 2020 - and this is the first album of his I’ve connected with in quite a while. Once again foregrounding his melodic sensibilities and his skills with arrangements (alongside some intriguing production choices) - the optimism here proved quite infectious in a year that few avenues for positivity. 

Bartees Strange - Live Forever (Memory Music) 

A thrilling, inventive and brilliantly executed synthesis from the impressive multi-instrumentalist. 

Basia Bulat - Are You In Love? (Secret City) 

Opulent and melodic torch songs and classic pop confections. 

Beatrice Dillon - Workaround (PAN) 

A coherent minimalist suite of music, with rhythmic integration at the foreground, Workaround feels crisp and kinetic, sensory and tactile. 

Becca Stevens - Wonderland (GroundUP Music) 

The ever excellent singer-songwriter Becca Stevens makes her biggest leap for a wider pop audience here - but, of course, she does it with finesse and musicality in abundance, co-producing and engineering the project herself. 

Bellows - Undercurrent (Black Truffle) 

The Black Truffle label has provided some of the most compelling music of 2020, and the Milanese duo’s tape loop manipulations are brilliantly woozy and refracted.  

Ben Lukas Boysen - Mirage (Erased Tapes)

A lush, detailed and enriching sound collage from the Berlin based composer.

Ben Wendel - High Heart (Edition) 

A varied set veering from the elegiac to the urgent, but always richly melodic. High Heart also features a fine band including Gerald Clayton, Shai Maestro and vocalist Michael Mayo.

Bettye Lavette - Blackbirds (Verve)

More gritty and earthy interpretations from the outstanding singer. 

Bill Callahan - Gold Record (Drag City) 

I have to confess that I haven't been quite as sold on Bill Callahan's two most recent albums as some (the aura of contentedness makes them drift over me somewhat), but the soft textures and gentle enchantment of Gold Record have their own appeal. 

Bill Fay - Countless Branches (Dead Oceans) 

By some distance my favourite of Bill Fay's comeback albums - this has his questioning spirituality and yearning in abundance and, delivered in his now softer and frailer voice, it is often deeply moving. 

Bill Frisell - Valentine (Universal) 

Working in the trio format in which he so often sounds so luminous (this time with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Roystan), Frisell explores a range of standards, traditional folk songs and original compositions with sensitivity and a keen awareness of sound and texture. 

Bill Laswell - Against Empire (M.O.D. Reloaded) 

A productive release schedule for the bassist and producer (see also a fine trio recording with Mike Sopko and Tyshawn Sorey and an orchestral work called The Acid Lands). As one might expect given Laswell's tendency not to fit into a genre box, Against Empire features a fascinating range of musicians (especially drummers - Jerry Marotta and Chad Smith!). It's murky but mesmerising music. 

Bill Nace - Both (Drag City) 

Abrasive, provocative and compelling electric guitar improvisations. 

BK3 - Think About It! (Thick) 

Scottish trio lead by Brian Kellock on piano tackle a set of standards on this concise but hearty mini album. 

Blake Mills - Mutable Set (Verve) 

It's hard not to feel Blake Mills' contribution to Bob Dylan's Rough & Rowdy Ways was more than that of a credited 'guest' musician (the album was recorded at Mills' studio), and Mutable Set provided further evidence of Mills' malleable skills. His most sonically agile album, and also featuring some very fine songwriting too (particularly 'Money Is The One True God' and 'Vanishing Twin'). 

Blitzen Trapper - Holy Smokes, Future Jokes (Yep Roc) 

Always a tricky band to get a handle on, Blitzen Trapper's music is dense and idiosyncratic but it also has a shimmering and infectious quality. Apparently inspired by George Saunders and the Tibetan Book of the Dead, this is a fun and freewheeling look at death and spiritual concerns. 

Bob Dylan - Rough & Rowdy Ways (Columbia) 

Comfortably Dylan's most successful and distinctive album since Love & Theft, Rough & Rowdy Ways gleefully develops the blues and ballads template he has now been exploring for more than 20 years. The time spent focusing on the American Songbook has made his ravaged voice more malleable and affecting - and there is so much wit, imagination and playful insight and imagery on display here (although the critical focus has understandably been on the subject of mortality). 'Murder Most Foul' understandably won the most plaudits, but 'Key West' is also one of his best late period songs (a worthy companion piece to 'Not Dark Yet'). Its subtitle ('Philosopher Pirate') perhaps provides the most honest and accurate description of Dylan's approach to songcraft too (there are no doubt as many appropriations and borrowings here as ever). 

Bob Mould - Blue Hearts (Merge) 

Always pretty much there (and as a solo artist, considerably more enduring and prolific than either of his more celebrated bands), Bob Mould's striking power pop melodicism tends to get a little taken for granted. There's also a visceral urgency to fit the American moment here too. So while there is little here that we haven't heard before from Mould, his continued ability to reproduce it so enthusiastically is impressive in itself.  

Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore - Patchouli Blue (PIAS)

More slow, simmering and cinematic dark lounge cabaret jazz - perfect for these apocalyptic times. 

Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman (37D03D) 

An understated triumph of a collaboration between Anais Mitchell, Eric D Johnson (Fruit Bats) and Josh Kaufman, with memorable, ageless and stirring takes on folk music from the British Isles. Also one of only a small handful of artists I managed to see live before the first lockdown kicked in. 

Boof - Rebirth Of Gerberdaisy (BubbleTease Communications) 

Maurice Fulton remains one of my favourite electronic music producers - this is a vibrant, technicolour celebration of sound. 

Boris - No (Bandcamp) 

You may feel you have had enough of the name 'Boris' (and indeed googling this album today brings up 'no deal Brexit' as the top item) - but this art-metal band remain a gloriously uncompromising and exciting proposition. 

Brad Mehldau - Suite: April 2020 (Nonesuch) 

One of the richest and most powerful artistic creations in lockdown - a beautiful and yearning solo piano work. 

Bright Dog Red - Somethin' Comes Along (Ropeadope) 

Improvised music with hooks and grooves in addition to a loose jam spirit from the Albany, NY based collective - tremendously enjoyable. 

Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network - Ballet Of Apes (Castle Face)

I couldn't really keep up with the glut of releases from Osees, but this incantatory and mesmerising album from their associate makes me want to explore this scene more.  

Brigid Mae Power - Head Above The Water (Fire)

Brigid Mae Power has so far been dependable in releasing an album every two years more or less like clockwork, a pretty prolific work rate by today's trends. Head Above The Water is her lushest and most romantic sounding work yet. 

Bruce Hornsby - Non-Secure Connection (Thirty Tigers) 

Proving that Absolute Zero was no one-off, the late career renaissance of Bruce Hornsby is now very much a phase. Combining his melodic and harmonic gifts with ingenious arrangement, dark narratives and inventive production, Non-Secure Connection is vivid and progressive, with an intriguing range of guests including James Mercer of The Shins, Jamilla Woods and Leon Russell. 

Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You (Columbia) 

Springsteen pulls off a neat trick here in reflecting on mortality and a life in music but making it sound euphoric and uplifting. This is the E Street Band sound in excelsis, and Springsteen-phobics will no doubt find the level of sheer earnestness on display intolerable. But, for me and many others, the mere existence of this album provided a source of great joy in the home straight of a year largely lacking in cause for celebration. Big bonuses were that the sympathetic production brilliantly captured the live sound of the band, that the three newly completed 1970s tracks worked so well (particularly the superb If I Was The Priest) and that the newly written songs had a seriousness and depth of feeling. Now we only have to hope that the pandemic can be brought under control in sufficient time for these songs to be performed live to packed stadiums (and maybe even a warm-up 'small-town bar') as they were so clearly intended to be. 

Please forgive the indulgence of two videos - I wanted to share the best song alongside something that gives a sense of the accompanying film too. 

Bryde - The Volume Of Things (Easy Life) 

One of the more conventional, direct and bright albums on this list, but no less valid for that - this is a satisfying slice of indie pop songwriting. 

Butcher Brown - #KingButch (Concord Jazz) 

This is Butcher Brown's eighth record, but the first that I have heard, and an enjoyable funk/hip hop/jazz hybrid.