Motherlode’s 20 Most Unjustly Overlooked Albums Of 2020.
At this point in the year, it is likely you have already been engulfed by the wave of ‘Best Albums of 2020’ lists. We know that you probably cannot stomach any more. So, instead of serving up yet another helping of the same few albums you’ve heard praised and discussed over and over again - we present you a list of lesser known and unjustly overlooked albums that we believe deserve to have more of a place in the limelight and the best of the year discourse.
Although, before we dive into our chosen 20, here’s some honourable mentions that narrowly missed out on a spot in our arbitrarily numbered list:
Salvador - Sega Bodega
[
NUXXE]
The debut LP from NUXXE label head Salvador Navarrete aka. Sega Bodega is as emotionally as candid as club beats can possibly get. Salvador is a wildly inventive experimental pop album, that combines glitchy industrial sounds with a deeply honest vulnerability and melancholy. Each track boasts flawless production and extreme lyricism, with a sound and imagery each more intriguing and captivating than the last. Considering this is only the beginning for Sega Bodega, one can only imagine what their evolution will look like and what they’re truly capable of.
Cult Survivor - Sofie [Stones Throw]
Sofie Fatouretchi’s long awaited debut LP Cult Survivor is an album that drifts between the dulcet, ethereal and the languid. Aligning itself with the listless psych-pop haze of L.A. Sofie crafts the slacker record of the year and an honest and graceful debut. The record delivers gauzy observations and deeply personal reflection and establishes Sofie’s talent as a songwriter, as she moves through tales of heartbreak, childhood memories, and new beginnings.
Poom Gems - Hudson Mohawke [LuckyMe]
Of the triology of releases Hudson Mohawke released in 2020, Poom Gems stands as the indisputable victor. Serving up a journey through previously his unreleased concepts, Poom Gems yields some of HudMo’s most off-the-wall club beats yet. In fact, the only thing keeping this from our list is the fact it functions as a compilation of his classic, irreplicable, and bombastic sound rather than a cohesive album in its own right. Though if you’re looking for some delightfully bizarre and high energy ‘rnb bootlegs’ look no further.
2017–2019 - Against All Logic [Other People]
Yet another compilation release this year that narrowly avoids our list on the that same technicality. Nicolas Jaar’s club dedicated A.A.L project provides us yet another delightful collection of unreleased jams. When listening through this record, it’s not difficult to see why Jaar’s live DJ sets are so revered, many of these cuts have long since been his secret weapon to charming audiences - and now they’re available for your streaming pleasure.
1988 - Knxwledge [Stones Throw]
1988 is yet another drop in the ocean that is producer Knxwledge’s prolific catalogue. It’s hard to believe that this album marks Knxwledge’s sophomore studio release. Another collection of hypnotic loops, warped samples and off kilter beats. Knxwlege proves once again that his unique approach to sampling and beat production is able to carry the torch that Dilla and Madlib lit into a new era.
Little Dominiques Nosebleed - The Korea Town Oddity
[Stones Throw]
After a consistent grind in the underground rap circuit things finally seem to be paying off for The Korea Town Oddity. Little Dominiques Nosebleed is a deeply personal and focused autobiographic album, that recounts the story of his youth and as detailed by the album cover, the two childhood car accidents that would forever affect his life. The result is a narrative trip that is in equal parts nostalgic and therapeutic. It’s a rich portrait of place and personhood illustrated through an impressive abstract range of arrangements and musical styles.
20. Ho, Why Is You Here? - Flo Milli [RCA]
Flo Milli is a rising trap star with an unparalleled cheek and talent for shit-talking; commercial rap doesn’t get much more brash than this. With wall to wall insults and flexes Flo Milli showcases a brazen self-confidence level that has arguably not been felt in a debut since Kanye West’s The College Dropout.
Her debut project is living proof that this confidence is not ill-founded, effortlessly carrying the entire debut with no features and showcasing a lyricism that keeps the project entertaining throughout. Flo Milli’s magnetic attitude has undoubtedly established herself as someone to watch within the game and brings a memorability to this brief project that many comparable releases this year lacked.
FOR FANS OF: Rico Nasty, City Girls, Megan Thee Stallion
19. If I Am Only My Thoughts - Loving
[Last Gang Records]
This debut full length from the lo-fi psych-folk trio may not seem like much on the surface, however, the further you submit to Loving’s laidback Canadian charm the more you find yourself overcome with an unexplainable feeling of nostalgia. If I Am Only My Thoughts is a relaxing, sun-drenched easy listen that conjures up images of the holidays that once were and never can to be over this past year. A strange, soft and simple wonder that truly makes a case for less is more.
FOR FANS OF: Whitney, Good Morning, Bibio
18. No Panic No Pain - Flohio [AlphaTone]
Flohio’s first full length release reveals more than the uncompromising and gritty persona that she has become known for over the past few years. No Panic No Pain is playful as ever but with a new emotional depth, addressing her own shortcomings while continuing to prove Flohio to be bold in a way that many other female MCs dare to be.
Sonically, Flo continues to collaborate with unconventional production partners, a decision that has alway set her apart from her contemporaries - boasting production credits from the likes of JETS and Fred again… This debut marks a promising trajectory for Flohio’s future and is undoubtedly deserving of wider recognition.
FOR FANS OF: Little Simz, Novelist, Chynna
17. Small Moments - Dan Kye
[Rhythm Section]
Jordan Rakei’s dancefloor focused alter ego follows up 2016’s Joy, Ease, Lightness with a full length electro-jazz groove LP. Born out of lockdown isolation, a yearning for the club and constructed entirely at home upon a laptop, Small Moments is an album with an indisputably suave and infectious funk that is bound to lighten even the darkest of moods. Rhythm Section and Rakei have delivered yet another lowkey gem that has criminally passed many people by when they most needed it - if you’re looking for some ‘lockdown house’ this is the one for you.
FOR FANS OF: Harvey Sutherland, Dam Swindle, Tom Misch
16. Purple Moonlight Pages - R.A.P Ferraria [Ruby Yacht]
Under this new moniker, Milo aka. Scallops Hotel aka. R.A.P Ferreira intertwines his day to day musings on modern life with philosophizing on power imbalances and the meaning of art itself. Purple Moonlight Pages boasts some of the most at poetic, technically impressive an at ease bars of the year. This impressive lyricism is coupled with an exquisite, jazz-influenced, wayward and lively backdrop and a gleeful delivery that make this otherwise seemingly commonplace record feel like something truly refreshing.
FOR FANS OF: Quelle Chris, Open Mike Eagle, Blu & Exile
15. JAGUAR - Victoria Monet [Tribe]
An album that oozes sensuality, sexuality, and confidence. With just eight tracks, Jaguar makes a truly lasting impression and solidifies itself as one of the most interesting Pop albums of the year. Frequenting as a co-writer for Ariana Grande, JAGUAR makes evident just quite how much influence Monet has on Grande’s work and demonstrates Victoria Monet’s true songwriting capability in her own right. Replete with funk bassline grooves and majestic horns and sweeping strings, Monet places her talent for instrumental arrangement at the forefront of each track, leading to spellbinding results. If there is anything to takeaway from JAGUAR, Monet is near-guaranteed to become a bonafide star in her own right.
FOR FANS OF: Summer Walker, Kehlani, NAO
14. Fuck The World - Brent Faiyez [Lost Kids]
Although Faiyez’s Fuck The World may not be as immediately captivating as its title, the album is still able to draw you in and prove itself to be enticing in a way that is more hypnotic than it is gripping. Containing some of the best atmospheric slow jams of recent years, Fuck The World is an indisputable contender for the smoothest R&B output of 2020. The sultry and hazy production acts as the perfect backdrop to a level of charisma that carries the album far further than it has any right to. Faiyez’s vocals are as sly and alluring as ever, oozing an unparalleled laidback confidence that solidifies Fuck The World as the most nonchalant aural aphrodisiac of the year.
FOR FANS OF: H.E.R, Miguel, Ty Dolla $ign
13. Galore - Oklou [TaP Records/NUXXE]
Galore never tries to pretend to be more than what it actually is. This is a project that lives up to the term mixtape in the best possible sense, Galore is a collection of short pop songs that all share the same open-hearted, straight-to-the-gut ethos, but that are ultimately each varied in form. Across these tracks, Oklou proves herself to be an accomplished producer and one that can effortlessly hold her own among the rest of the NUXXE collective. Navigating through different genres and moods with a meticulous craft, each an every tone present within Galore, feels painstakingly chosen and toiled over - and yet, part of it’s charm resides in how low-key it is. This album presents avante-garde pop at its most moody, raw and honest.
FOR FANS OF: How To Dress Well, Caroline Polachek, ABRA
12. FlySiifu’s - Fly Anakin & Pink Siifu [Lex]
Two of the dark horses of hip-hop pair up on FlySiifu’s, a revival record of the charming humour and weirdness of the 90s era packaged in a decidedly throwback concept to boot. Set in a record shop that’s named after the rappers but not owned by them, FlySiifu’s follows a day in the life of two rappers as languid Kevin Smith-esque store clerks.
Heavy on the chopped soul samples, peppered with skits and boasting features from fourteen different producers across the project - including the likes of Jay Versace, Foisey and the iconic Madlib - the record exudes a woozy nostalgic warmth that can’t help but make you feel that maybe we’re witnessing the genesis of a new iconic partnership in underground rap.
FOR FANS OF: Jaylib, Madvillain, Outkast
11. Pray For Paris - Westside Gunn [Griselda]
With co-signs from the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Raekwon and even Eminem, the Griselda rap crew continue their ascent to stardom and earn their reputation as the most charismatic and consistent rising collective. On his first solo release of the year, Griselda’s most distinctive MC, Westside Gunn bridges the gap between the classic New York City scene and the skkkrt skkkrt excess of contemporary trap.
Delivering a record that is bound to appease both 90s hip-hop revivalists and new-heads alike through soul-sampled beats, focussed and intricate rhyme patterns and some machine-gun ad libs for good measure. Pray for Paris is album that relishes in the world of luxury fashion and sordid drug dealer anecdotes in some of the most vivid and impressive bars of Westside Gunn’s career.
FOR FANS OF: Freddie Gibbs, Action Bronson, The Alchemist
10. Dinner Party - Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington & 9th Wonder. [EMPIRE]
A supergroup collaboration of these Four legendary musicians. there is no one dominant force, the individual talents and styles meld together seamlessly resulting in an album full of beautiful vocals over smooth, jazzy, neo-soulful instrumentals and vibrant boom bap beats. From jazz and R&B to hip-hop, the record serves as an important reminder of the vitality of black musical legacy, acting equally as a celebration of culture and an expression of genuine joy, as well as a confrontations of the realities and struggles of contemporary racial politics.
FOR FANS OF: Tall Black Guy, Bilal, Braxton Cook
9. Shabrang - Sevdaliza [Twisted Elegance]
Sevdaliza latest full length release is a uniquely dark and compelling art-pop album that showcases a substantial evolution in her craft. Shabrang is an introspective and ornate down-tempo reflection on topics that range from religion to geopolitics and identity. Sevdaliza’s layered lyricism and unique combination of Western and Persian influence make for one of most artistically captivating albums of the year. Shabrang flows effortlessly through entrancing vocals, skittish trip-hop-esque beats and classical instrumentation striking a complex and ambitious balance of genre to near perfect results, and in turn, establishing herself a creative force to be reckoned with.
FOR FANS OF: FKA Twigs, ANHONI, Perfume Genius, Massive Attack
8. Working Men’s Club - Working Mens Club [Heavenly]
Working Men’s Club self titled debut pays homage to a wide range of musical genre, showcasing an eclecticism that is both fantastically listenable and incredibly decisive. The West-Yorkshire based group experiment with everything from Hacienda-tinged post-punk, Detroit techno, Italo house, psych and even elements of Shoegaze. With influences this pervasive it’s truly difficult to believe the band are so young, and with the precision they’re executed it’s even harder to believe they’re so early into their career. Truly a new wave of the new wave and a promise of impressive and innovative things to come, Working Men’s Club is a fissured dance-punk record like no other.
FOR FANS OF: Warmduscher, The Horrors, DIIV
7. All The Time - Jessy Lanza [Hyperdub]
At the fringe between club and pop, Jessy Lanza’s distinctive Canadian charm, once again delivers on its promise. Leaning into 80s influences more than ever before, All The Time, sees Lanza’s strange sensuality and allure at new heights. Rife with airy vocal textures, spectral whispers and fluttering delays, Lanza’s music truly captures the euphoric highs of the club and a hypnotic and ethereal ecstacy like no other. As always the production across the album strikes a delicate balance between bold experimentation and uncomplicated pop tunes. Each track is bursting with bubbling synths and infections melodic hooks and coos. All The Time is truly the most human electronic music gets.
FOR FANS OF: Jai Paul, Empress Of, Homeshake
6. We Will Always Love You - The Avalanches [Modular]
Overflowing with ideas, samples, and guests, The Avalanches return with We Will Always Love You. The third album from the Australian plunderphonic maestros reveals a clear evolution to their idiosyncratic sound, and yet, proves itself capable of conjuring the same inimitable emotions that made their debut Since I Left You such a dizzy thrill.
As is always the case with The Avalanches, the album works best undisturbed in sequence, the singles alone are unable to capture the pure majesty of the album’s journey and concept. Although sampling remains at the core of The Avalanches production, there is a distinctly human undercurrent to the record as a result of their widest array of features and most ‘song’ oriented album yet. Every sound feels like a treasured memory and even after 20 years, the group prove they’re still capable of turning musical collage into a sparkling, four-dimensional experience.
FOR FANS OF: Jamie XX, Gold Panda, Four Tet, Dirty Projectors
5. Help - Duval Timothy [Carrying Colour]
Multi-disciplinary musician and artist Duval Timothy’s debut full length release Help is truly it’s own beast. The album plays almost like modernist poetry, with a precision, minimalism and emotional complexity that is rarely surface level. Timothy’s forward thinking and experimental production skirts conventional disciplines, and tinkers with the very concept of musical genre itself.
Across the record he phases through samples and stylistic elements of minimal jazz, electronica, soulful R&B and ephemeral field recording. The tracks themselves can convey both damage and healing, be both natural and mechanical and drift woozily between recollections of past, the present and the future - all coming together in a work that is both gorgeous and crestfallen.
FOR FANS OF: Vegyn, Wilma Archer, Serpentwithfeet
4.Vergangenheitsbewä-ltigung (Crater Speak) - Slauson Malone [Grand Closing]
Distilling the work of Slauson Malone into a paragraph-long description is a near impossible task. Malone’s music evades a simple definition and transcends almost every genre it draws upon. Functioning as a sound collage more than it does a basic exploration of style, there’s elements of glitch, abstract hip-hop, avant-folk, psychedelia and even sombre bedroom grunge.
Listening to Vergangenheitsbewältigung, and Malone’s previous release of the Crater Speak series, is an unconventional sonic journey that can at points be atmospheric and emotive, groovy and even cryptic. Slauson Malone’s body of work is a listening experience like no other; extremely intimate, distinct and surreal. I couldn’t recommend it more.
FOR FANS OF: Earl Sweatshirt, Knxwledge, Mach-Hommy
3. Windswept Adan - Ichiko Aoba [hermine]
Windswept Adan is the most stunningly serene album I have heard in recent memory. Ichiko Aoba’s unique style of Japanese prog-folk, defies a simple comparison and yet her sound is as comforting to you as the voice of an old friend. Across her latest project, Aoba crafts a bewitching masterpiece that somehow strikes the perfect balance between the ethereal and the natural. Windswept Adan is a peaceful aquatic world that is easy to get lost within, and one from which you’ll scarcely want to emerge.
Consisting of minimalist elysian soundscapes and delicate acoustic instrumentation, the album is unequivocally the most soothing listen of the year. An album that owes much of its recent prominence and audience to bespectacled internet music critics, this project will likely be many listeners first immersion into Aoba’s work, despite being her seventh studio album. In our opinion, Ichiko Aoba is arguably the most criminally overlooked artist in the wider world of contemporary folk music.
FOR FANS OF: Brian Eno, Bjork, Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros
2. Man Alive! - King Krule [XL]
Although this album may not have be wholly overlooked, having crossed many peoples radars upon initial release, however, King Krule’s Man Alive! has been one of the unjustly overlooked releases in the wider ‘album of the year’ discussion. Man Alive! represents arguably Archie Marshall’s most anguished and meticulously structured album yet.
The album addresses the usual exhausting chaos and torment of metropolitan life at the core of your usual King Krule project with Marshall’s iconic volatile, sour and guttural tone very much on full display. However, Man Alive! also contains some of King Krule’s most sedated, hallucinogenic and groggy offerings of Marshall’s entire catalogue, inducing a hangover-like haze.
Written on the cusp of fatherhood Man Alive! feels like a conflicted melancholic requiem to the urban ennui and despondency that has shaped Marshall’s character.
1. Unlocked - Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats [Loma Vista]
Another album released early in 2020 that found itself submerged by the wave of releases of last year. Although far from unknown Unlocked found itself excluded from many albums of the year lists. The project finds itself treading water between the length of an EP and the label of an album, which may excuse the general oversight for the brilliance of the project. Kenny and Denzel’s irrefutable chemistry is at its most effective across the project.
It should be unsurprising that two of the most consistent artists in the game, would be able to churn out a successful collaboration LP.However, having supposedly been constructed within a mere 72 hour period, the production quality, versatility and playful ‘cyber-space’ concept speaks volumes to the duo’s unparalleled work ethic and natural talent. Throughout the short run time we are treated to a host of unbridled, witty and creative bars and artfully unpredictable beats.
Unlocked takes the spirit of DOOM and the aggression of DMX, wraps it up in an erratic, chopped and screwed production style and pairs it with a terrifically meta concept and creative album roll out - What’s not to like?!
