That was the year that was..

As we begin to pick through the remnants of 2020 and decide if there was anything of substance to be held in history that could be classed as gratifying, that is likely to mean different things to different people, depending upon your individual circumstance.

Lives (and livelihoods) have been lost, economic damage has been done on a grand scale and even the most eternal of optimist must think that the longer term damage to our towns, cities and people is yet to be realized as we move into 2021 with a cautious sense of hope.

The constant for me that will always deliver is music; as it has the ability to stir emotions, provoke thought, provide a statement to our collective situation or allow us to briefly crack a smile as we reminisce of better times.

The Flaming Lips' wonderful return to the best form of their musical careers with the sublime American Head, Marliyn Manson's musical rebirth in the Beatles/Bowie influenced dark glam-rock of We Are Chaos, the neat creativity and posthumous revival of Static-X (and Wayne Static's vocals coming from beyond the grave) on Project Regeneration, Vol. 1 or the unfathomable alterno-pop lunacy of 100 Gecs and 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues. All mind bending in different ways.

Back in the room.

As I fixate this blog squarely upon Electronic music I would like to doff the proverbial cap to those artists and albums that have made 2020 tolerable from a sonic perspective, and live in hope of some mercurial live performances in venues and festivals in the next few years.

If you cannot be bothered to trawl through all of this, just look for the ones marked ALL OF IT, as they're the top listens (in my opinion, of course). Or, you can simply click on this link or the one on the album collage below to follow the Spotify playlist:

Andrea - Ritorno

Favourite Tracks = LG_Amb, Backdrops

Arca - KiCK i

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Auscultation - III

Favourite Tracks = Turn Down These Voices, Fool, Exit

Azu Tiwaline - Magnetic Service EP

Favourite Tracks = Tight Wind, Tessiture

BAAUER - Planet's Mad

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Beyond The Ghost - Eternal Drift

Favourite Track = The Slow Agony Of Solitude, Eternal Drift

BT - The Lost Art Of Longing

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Caribou - Suddenly

Favourite Track = Never Come Back

Daniel Avery/Alessandro Cortini - Illusion Of Time

Favourite Track = Illusion Of Time

Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans

Favourite Track = Love Salad

Hodge - Shadows In Blue

Favourite Tracks = Shadows In Blue, Cutie

Ian William Craig - Red Sun Through Smoke

Favourite Tracks = Weight, Mountains Astray, Last Of The Lantern Oil, Open Like A Loss, Stories

INT*era - Aqueduct

Favourite Tracks = 463, 548, 653,

Ital Tek- Outland

Favourite Tracks = Chamber Music, Open Heart, Diamond Child, Oblivion Theme

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Mosaic Of Transformation

Favourite Tracks = Understanding Body Messages, The Steady Heart, Expanding Electricity

Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Lorenzo Senni - Scacco Matto

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Lyra Pramuk - Fountain

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Minor Science - Second Language

Favourite Track = For Want Of Gelt

Nathan Fake - Blizzards

Favourite Tracks = Stepping Stone, Eris & Dysnomia

Nicolas Jaar - Cenizas

Favourite Track = Garden

Nils Frahm - Empty

Favourite Tracks = A Shine, A Shimmer

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts V: Together / Ghosts VI: Locusts

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

The Orb - Abolition Of The Royal Familia

Favourite Tracks = Hawk Kings (Oseberg Buddhas Buttonhole), Slave Till U Die No Matter What U Buy (L'anse Aux Meadows Mix)

Pantha Du Prince - Conference Of Trees

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Phillip Sollmann - Monophonie

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Roly Porter - Kistvaen

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Skee Mask - ISS005 / ISS006 EP

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Smagghe & Cross - 1819

Favourite Tracks = Monody, Somwhere In Time, Antheia, Le Soleil Lavant

The Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?

Favourite Track = On

Squarepusher - Be Up A Hello

Favourite Tracks = Speedcrank, Detroit People Mover, Mekrev Bass

T. Gowdy - Therapy With Color

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Yaeji - What We Drew

Favourite Tracks = WHEN I GROW UP,

Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Various Artists - Air Texture Vol. VII

Favourite Tracks = When It Twists (Luke Slater), Nightmare In LA (Phase Fatale), Zahlensender ssb (Function)

Various Artists - Field Works: Ultrasonic

Favourite Tracks = ALL OF IT!

Happy listening, here's to an amazing 2021 both musically and in your lives and the lives of your families, friends and colleagues, wherever you are and however much you love or don't love Electronic music.

Peace.

Badger x