The most bizarre and anxiety-inducing year in living memory is just more halfway over. Despite a global pandemic and recession, a remarkable amount of great music continues to surface. Perhaps being confined indoors has gotten the creative juices flowing, or at least motivated digitally releasing numerous older live sets. Like everyone, I cannot wait until we are able to see music live again. But unless things get better faster here in the U.S. (they won’t) that will likely be 2021 in the best case scenario. So we will work with what we have.
In any event, this list is a representation of the recordings that have grabbed my attention through the last six months. It is not comprehensive or complete, and does not try to be. I’m sure that there a few albums sitting on my desk or computer that should be on this list, but I haven’t been able to get to put them on (more particularly, about 70 on my desk and about 350 recordings on my computer waiting to be heard).
Nonetheless, enjoy this list. Consider it to consist of pointers to music that is likely to be enjoyable to AMN readers. I’ll be back in January with the 2020 year-end “best of” posts.
Like this list? Feel free to peruse previous years’ lists.
Album of the Year Candidates
Doctor Nerve – Loud
Webber, Anna / Angela Morris – Both Are True
Behold… The Arctopus – Hapeleptic Overtrove
Berne, Tim / Snakeoil – The Fantastic Mrs. 10
Titans to Tachyons – Cactides
Jordan / Futterman / Parker / Drake – A Tribute to Alvin Fielder, Live at Vision Festival XXIV
Excellent Releases
Allemano, Lina / OHRENSCHMAUS – Rats and Mice
Berne 7, Tim – Adobe Probe
Berne, Tim / Matt Mitchell – 1
Big Heart Machine – Live at the Jazz Gallery
Bishop, Jeb / Nate McBride / Tim Daisy – Alive at the Hideout
Braxton, Anthony / Jaqueline Kerrod – Duo (Bologna) 2018
Brotzmann, Peter / Moukhtar Gania / Hamid Drake – The Catch of a Ghost
Carrier / Gadecki / Bozek / Lambert – Wide
Chromb! Le – Livre des Merveilles
Colossloth – Plague Alone
Crazy Doberman – Illusory Expansion
Davis, Gareth / Merzbow – Broken Landscapes
Dronny Darko – Origin
Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel – Halocline
Eastmond, Sam / Spike Orchestra – The King of Spank
Ellman, Liberty – Last Desert
Evangelista / Hawkins, Moholo-Moholo / Watts – Apura!
Ewen, Sandy – You Win
Exit in Grey – Control Points
Freakdom – Session One
Fulmedesh – Caracoles de una Ciudad Enterrada
Granelli, Jerry / Trio – Plays Vince Guaraldi & Mose Allison
Grdina, Gordon / Septet – Resist
Hammond, Ross / Oliver Lake / Mike Pride – Our Place on the Wheel
Harnik, Elisabeth / Paal Nilssen-Love – Tangram
Icepick (Nate Wooley, I.Haker-Flaten & C.Corsano) – Hellraiser
Insect Ark – The Vanishing
Irreversible Entanglements – Irreversible – Live in Berlin
Irreversible Entanglements – Irreversible – Live in Italy
Jarguna / Seetyca – Tales of Millenial Trees
Karris, Reid – Solo Guitars
Lavoie, Joel – Souvenir
Llyn Y Cwn- Dinorwic
McGuire, Ryan – Lessness
Medeski, John / Matt Hollenberg / Kenny Grohowski – John Zorn: Beyond Good and Evil – Simulacrum Live
Mitchell, Nicole / Moor Mother – Offering – Live at Le Guess Who
Mitchell, Roscoe – Splatter
Motl, Kyle / Patrick Shiroishi / TJ Borden – In This Failing Light
Nakatani, Tatsuya / Shane Parish – Interactivity
Necks, The – Three
New Risen Throne – The Outside
Nimh & Rapoon – Post-Folk Lore Vol.1
Noise Eating Monsters, The – Voracious
Rader, Abbey / John McMinn / Kyle Motl – To Ignite the Fire
Roach, Steve – The Sky Opens
Rosenboom, Daniel – Absurd in the Anthropocene
Seabrook, Brandon / Trio – Exultations
Shiroishi, Patrick – Descension
Shocron, Paula / William Parker / Pablo Diaz – Live at IBeam
Sonar / David Torn – Tranceportation Vol. 2
Sonologyst – Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs
Stirrup+6 – The Avondale Addition
tetema – Necroscape
theBABAorchestra – Marigold Live at the Ford Theater
Thirlwell, J.G. / Simon Steensland – Oscillospira
Threadbare (Stein / Cruz / Hunton) – Silver Dollar
Thumbscrew (Halvorson / Formanek / Fujiwara) – The Anthony Braxton Project
Toninato, Ida – We Become Giants
Triptykon – Requiem – Live at Roadburn 2019
Tropos – Axioms // 75 AB
Undirheimar – Heljarrúnar
Wadada Leo Smith / Barry Schrader – Pacific Light and Water / Wu Xing – Cycle of Destruction
Xerxes the Dark – Final Crisis
Zorn, John – Calculus
Honorable Mentions
Ajna – Oracular
Ali / Berson / Davidoff / Zucker – Anedition
Allemano, Lina – Glimmer Glammer
Alphaxone – Dystopian Gate
Alphaxone / ProtoU / Onasander – Shadows of Forgotten Legends
Alves, Pedro – Melo In Igma
Anderson, Vijay / Quartet – Covers
Apocryphos – Against Civilization
Astroturf Noise – Astroturf Noise
Barrens – Penumbra
Barron, Kenny / Dave Holland Trio – Without Deception
Bartolo – Six Improvisations for Creatures and Machines
Berlin Art Quartet – Live at B-Flat
Beyond the Ghost – Eternal Drift
BlackWeald – Leonov
BlackWeald – She and the Devil’s Sons
Boudreau, Lea – Chaos Contrôlé
Breiche, La – Le Rite
Brenner & Molenaar – Uninvited Savior
Brickwork – WEDNTVE
Cameron, Lisa / Tom Carter /Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – Tau Ceti
Carter / Parker / Shipp / Cleaver – Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1
Carter, Daniel / Patrick Holmes / Matthew Putman – Whoadie
Caustic Reverie – The Flooded Assembly
Cheetham, Andrew / Alan Wilkinson – The Vortex of Past Time
Chicago Underground Quartet – Good Days
Cockerham, Ben – Shadow Forth
Council on American Regicide, The – Anger Management Vol. 1
CP Unit (Chris Pitsiokos) – One Foot on the Ground Smoking Mirror Shakedown
Crozzoli, Miguel / Pablo Diaz – Immerse
Cunningham, Alex / Claire Rousay – Specifically the Water
Dead Melodies – The Masterplan
Dead Melodies & Zenjungle – Anthropocene
Desiderii Marginis – Departed
Dickey, Whit / Matthew Shipp – Reckoning
Dickey, Whit / Matthew Shipp / Nate Wooley – Pacific Noir
Dijkstra / Bishop / Karayorgis / McBride / Gray – Cutout
Dimuzio, Thomas – Sutro Transmission
Dolister, Caleb – Daily Thumbprint Collection 3, The Wandering
Drevo, Mira – Dreams of Abandoned Villages
Dronny Darko / ProtoU – Metta
Fargue – Phosphène
GGRIL Plays – Ingrid Laubrock
Grdina, Gordon / The Marrow – Safar-e-Daroon
GRID (Nelson / Dahl / Podgurski) – Decomposing Force
Guinea Pig T- he New Neighbors
Gustafsson, Mats – Padova Solo
Hammer of the Sky – Aarni
Hassell, Jon – Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two)
HATHENTER – wr w-r wwr0wr-g 0w -er0gw- -0wr w
HLER LGM-1
Irreversible Entanglements – Who Sent You?
Itaca 4et – Vortex
Jarguna / Henrik Meierkord – Tapestry Flow
Jazz Sabbath – Jazz Sabbath
Karayorgis / McBride / Smith / Gray / Rosenthal – CliffPools
Karris, Reid – Basura
Karris, Reid – Cynical Nihilist
Karris, Reid / Chloe Lin / Peter Maunu – Slate
Kirchner, Quin – The Shadow and the Light
Krock, Brian – Viscera
Lamia Vox – Alles ist Ufer. Ewig ruft das Meer
Last Dream of the Morning – Crucial Anatomy
Laurenzi, Dustin – Behold
Léandre, Joëlle / Robert Dick / Miya Masaoka – Solar Wind
Lesa Listvy – Unheard Of
Luna-Mega, Christopher – Aural Shores
M-Kat Ensemble – Eight Durations
Made To Break – F4 Fake
Mako Sica / Hamid Drake – Balancing Tear
Maneri, Mat / Kalle Moberg /Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – Headspin
Mauve Zone – Transmissions from Carcosa
Mayhall, Matt / Dan Rosenboom – Language
Menche, Daniel / Anla Courtis – Cuspa Llullu
Moloch Conpiracy – Incantatios from Ugarit
Moor Mother Clepsydra
More Eaze / Claire Rousay – If I Don’t Let Myself Be Happy Now Then When?
Morris, Joe / Mike Pride / Chris Pitsiokos – Field of Materials
Mount Shrine – Shortwave Ruins
NERATERRÆ – Scenes from the Sublime
O’Baoighill, Ruairi – Parish Law
Parkins, Zeena / Jeff Kolar – SCALE
Phonothek – Styx
Pirog, Anthony – Terry Riley’s In C
Pride, Mike / Jonathan Moritz – The Invitation
Rader, Abbey / John McMinn – Duo from the Heart
Romus / Koskinen / Life’s Blood Ensemble – Manala
Ronn, Christian / Aram Shelton – Multiring
Rosenthal, Sam / Jarguna – Sunwashed Evening Fire
Ruptured World – Interplanetary
Salvo, Sofía / Gustavo Obligado / M. von Schultz – MOTOR
Seelig, Mark – The Disciple’s Path
Segger, Mark / Sextet – Lift Off
Selvafiorita, Fabio – The Fall
Serries, Dirk / Martina Verhoeven / Colin Webster – Praxis
Shiroishi, Patrick – Eye for an Eye
Shiroishi, Patrick / Dylan Fujioka – Neba Neba
Sikora / Culpo Duo – The Paris Sessions, Volume 1: Mimesis
Sly & the Family Drone – Walk it Dry
Snekkestad, Torben / Agustí Fernández / Barry Guy – The Swiftest Traveler
Soft Kill Option – National Emergency
Sonologyst – Unexplained Sounds (New Edition)
Stancati, Mario Lina – Cross the Desert
Stein, Jason / Chad Taylor – 85bears
Stemeseder, Elias & Max Andrzejewski – light/tied
Stine, Tim / Trio – Fresh Demons
Sydnor, Curt – Deep End Shallow
Tanche – B.S.P.P
Taylor, Chad / Trio – The Daily Biological
Tone-Cluster – Kyo Shu
Treesearch – Know More Knowledge
TRRMÀ – The Earth’s Relief
Tunnels of Ah – Deathless Mind
Various Artists – Anthology of Contemporary Music from Indonesia
Various Artists – Ambient Jam – Chimera of a New World
Various Artists – Anthology of Post Industrial Music from Balkan Region
Various Artists – Demonology in Dante’s Inferno
Various Artists – Drone Islands – The Lost Map
Vmthanaachth – La finale de la vie — la résistance faible de la chair est terminée
Vortex – Helioz
Webster, Colin / Dirk Serries – Light Industry
Western, Creed, and Spybey – W ands
Work Friends – Happy Hour
Wyche, Daniel – The Last Flight of the Voidship Remainder
yMusic – Ecstatic Science
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