Best Of 2020: Songs In Alphabetical Order Through May 31st

 

ringtone (Remix) [feat. Charli XCX, Rico Nasty, Kero Kero Bonito] – 100 gecs, Charli XCX, Rico Nasty – state of the art

Cinderella Story – A Boogie Wit da Hoodie -chill r&b sounding with stronger beats by one of the best

Normalization Blues – AJJ – folkie protest perfection

I Think You’re Great – Alex the Astronaut – the guitar lick is solid silver

No Llores Mujer – Anuel AA, Travis Barker – flawless cover of “No Woman, No Cry” -the trace of autotune is like salt on fries

1-800-Nu-Checks – Azealia Banks – sure she’s the definition of bad news, the sort of woman who will commit adultery and then rat the guy out for no reason whatsoever, but there is no one better at rapping to beats

Si Veo a Tu Mamá – Bad Bunny – the one where he samples Antônio Carlos Jobim

Party With the Kids Who Wanna Party With You – Bad Moves -post punk guitar two chord rocker with a smart piece of advise

Promises – Beach Bunny – punk pop SoCal style

For The First Time – Best Coast – Beth moves on

MAMACITA – Black Eyed Peas, Ozuna, J. Rey Soul – excellent Latin Urbano with a great new singer and a purely addictive chorus

Murder Most Foul – Bob Dylan – a dirge for the loss of Camelot retracted into a cultural moment

Deep In Love – Bonny Light Horseman, Eric D. Johnson, Josh Kaufman, Anaïs Mitchell – folkie supergroup, get this gorgeous love song right

Bigger Boat (feat. Randy Newman) – Brandy Clark, Randy Newman – a charming piece of agitprop

Murda She Wrote – Buju Banton – Banton dancehall

Turn To Hate – Bully – It is better than Orville Peck’s original

Bounce – Cazzu – the state of the Latin Trap art via Argentina

Channel Orange In Your Living Room – Charlie Burg – best album choice to remember a new romance by

Time – Childish Gambino – The Ariana Grande duet of sustained strength and steel and scariness

Atheist – Christian Lee Hutson – sounds like a Belle And Sebastian back in the day, a really, really good one with a great hook: “I don’t remember growing older but I’m slowing down

Sulfur Surrounding – Code Orange – in a different world this would break the screamos pop

Shoot Sideways – Conway the Machine, The Alchemist, ScHoolboy Q -this is what is great about OG -nursery rhymes and murder

Heart Attack – Courteeners – kings of the tempo quick hard kick

The Father, My Son, And The Holy Ghost – Craig Morgan – my feeling about religion is entirely utilitarian: if it makes you happy and helps you heal,  and you aren’t hurt people, deal me in. Morgan, mourning his son who died at the age of nineteen, is using love and music and God to heal himself on one of the great testaments to faith.

I Love Me (feat. Travis Barker) – Emo Version – Demi Lovato, Travis Barker – when Demi gets it right (remember “Cool For The Summer”?), she eschews the emotionalism of contemporary Selena Gomez for a pop strength that is always gorgeous, and Travis adds backbone

Wayne – Des Rocs – full on, no nonsense perfect rocker

Toosie Slide – Drake – the single best moment of the entire pandemic

Out The Slums – Remix – Drakeo the Ruler, Danny Brown, 03 Greedo – not just serious stuff but, hey, it’s Danny so it’s also fun

BUSSIT (with Ari Lennox) – Dreamville, Ari Lennox – Ari in strong voice

Godzilla (feat. Juice WRLD) – Eminem, Juice WRLD –  Juice is strong on the chorus

My Attitude – Flo Milli – a straight up and casually brilliant rap track plus major hook

Life Is Good (feat. Drake) – Future, Drake – better together

Your Reply – Frances Quinlan – so good I went back and listened to Hop Along

Gary Lives in the Twilight Zone – Gary Wilson – why don’t you call him on his new telephone?

You should be sad – Halsey – the glad i never ever had a baby with you is devastating

Something Relative – Honey Harper – beautiful voice singing beautiful country style Americana

Like a Woman Should – Hayley Mary – good song, incredibly great singing

Slide (Remix) (feat. Pop Smoke, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie & Chris Brown) – H.E.R., A Boogie Wit da Hood a who’s who of pop on a what’s what

Sometimes – H.E.R. – one of her best songs to date

Be Afraid – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – agitprop points the finger at his peers

Letting You Go – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – I hated the album and loved two songs, especially this song for his toddler Mercy Isbell. Plus?  “being your daddy comes natural, roses just know how to grow”

Verde – J Balvin, Sky Rompiendo – this is pop 2020, trap beat to ecstatic pop electronica

Flower – Jehnny Beth of Savages were lo fi they’d be this

P*$$Y Fairy (OTW) – Jhené Aiko – hot and chill sex song

Tuesday I’ll Be Gone (feat. Blake Shelton) – John Anderson, Blake Shelton – a legend, a great, and the lick of a lifetime

Pulled Out Of The Market – J.S. Ondara – The Kenyan singer songwriter has a gift for folk Americana, if he had a better voice he would be a new John Prine

In The Basement – Juiceboxxx – sounds like sadcore but this guy has been around forever

Intentions (feat. Quavo) – Justin Bieber, Quavo – maybe he only has one but it is a great one (on the new album I mean)

Wishful Thinking – Katie Pruitt – low key Americana folk bummer

la – Kelsea Ballerini –  then she took a pill in Ibiza

Back of a Cab – King Princess – the brooding add on for the deluxe album is a brooding piece of missynched weird soulfulness

Stupid Love – Lady Gaga – This is what Gaga does best, a pure disco concoction filled with character and zass

Set Me Free – Lecrae, YK Osiris – The apex of Christian rap not named Kanye heralded by a Mary Mary sample

Digging in the Desert – Lié – get up and use them

City on My Back – Lil Tjay, Jay Critch – a tribute to NYC and Tyah is gread and melodic and Jay Critch rules

I’m Sorry – Lil Uzi Vert – The real follow up to “The Way Life Goes”

Forgiveness – Mandy Moore – The one where Mandy gets to the finishing end of Ryan

Lost Girl – Music from the Netflix Original Film – Lucinda Williams – Americana marble mouth for nine minutes of wow

When the Way Gets Dark – Lucinda Williams  -the album is garage rock Americana, and this is a dark ballad Americana with her best vocal in years.

MIB – Myke Towers – Latin trap with an excellent rap

Cut Me – Moses Sumney – stunning, bass picked and then there is this: “Might not be healthy for me but seemingly I need
what cuts me

Me in 20 Years – Moses Sumney – art pop

Oh Canada – Nadia Reid – folk beat from a woman who sounds like she is Canadian

Elevator (127F) – NCT 127 – and not only that, they beat Coronavirus to a standstill

God’s Own Children – Obongjayar – African dance pop

Blue Moon – Onyx Collective, Ian Isiah – The New York jazz guys with a delicate and lovely cover

A New Muse – Owen – The American Football guy with a killer folk Americana track

What Makes Me Think About You – Nicolas Godin – Airtight electronic pop move

Everything’s Right – Phish – their best song is 7 minutes of goo and 6 minutes of jam

Garden Song – Phoebe Bridgers – sweet, aching nostalgia

End Of My Rope – Pokey LaFarge – he couldn’t sustain it over an album but over a song this is 50s rockabilly pop classicism of a high order

Concrete – Poppy – Bury her six feet deep

Sweet – Porridge Radio – the face of errant sadcore as post-punk prog wakemare

Keep Up – RaeLynn – the shade of her lipstick matches her neck

Cocoon – Sam Huber – neo r&b as art rock

Hard To Forget – Sam Hunt – There stands the song

Rare – Selena Gomez – it isn’t Ariane on romance, but it is still great

Psychic – serpenwithfeet – perhaps the terrific soul experimenters greatest song, absolutely his most beautiful, a glorious beyond beauty ballad

Slow Down – Acoustic – Skip Marley, H.E.R. – Bob’s Grandson and H.E.R.’s third song on this list

Mal – Slow Mass – melodic hardcore meets punk

Only The Young – Featured in Miss Americana – Taylor Swift – Yeah, Taylor gets political but you’ll stay for the terrific hook

The Man – Live From Paris – Taylor Swift – killer track but really, women are completely paranoid when it comes to male power. I mean, really? Taylor IS THE MAN

Phenom – Thao & The Get Down Stay Down – like they had a meet and greet with Charli XCX

Iron Fist – Tha God Fahim – if Wu were from the South…

I’m Not Getting Excited – The Beths – they call it Kiwi pop punk, a revved up, highly tuneful, rocker about how even ending in an urn doesn’t freak her out.

Trash Glam Baby – The Boomtown Rats – their first song knocking on forty years and it’s still like clockwork

Scared To Live – The Weeknd – best use of a major Elton John sample EVER

Dressing America – TORRES – she goes Americana-y

Bikini Porn – Tove Lo – Hot stuff EDM nursery rhyme, the video is killer -co-produced by Finneas

Lilacs – Waxahatchee – A brilliant metaphor fuels a sad and sweet and smart indie folk rock in love that seems slipping and needs holding, just a sense of how life fades