SONIA'S SUGGESTIONS 2020

You guys just listed ten albums? I actually wrote a dumb little description for these. It was agonizing because I don't know how to talk intelligently about music.

5. Pink Siifu, Fly Anakin - FlySiffu's

An album with a strong concept and a vintage feel that avoids being gimmicky. It follows two guys, artists Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin, working in a record shop, talking about themselves and their days the way two disaffected retail workers would, interacting with customers in between. While the subject matter is often serious, the album feels pleasant and dreamy. I normally dislike skits on albums, but they work here.

4. Covet - Technicolor

Covet is a math rock band, with music characterized by “complex, atypical rhythmic structures, counterpoint, odd time signatures, angular melodies, and extended, often dissonant chords.” Wikipedia is really earning my $5 donation this month. Um, this album feels like a relaxed journey. I imagine it would be difficult to strike a balance between technically impressive and infinitely listenable, but Covet achieves this. I get the impression that they don’t take themselves too seriously, and technicolor is a nice reflection of that.

3. Lido Pimienta - Miss Colombia

Can you separate the art from the artist? Lido Pimienta helps answer this question by being an extremely annoying and shitty human being that is nonetheless creating very good music. Shortlisted for the Polaris 2020 prize, this album combines synth with latin music, and manages to sound traditional and futuristic at the same time. I don’t have much technical knowledge about music, but that seems like an accomplishment to me.

2. Mulatu Astatke, Black Jesus Experience - To Know Without Knowing

 

According to Spotify, Mulatu Astatke was my top artist this year. I don’t know this man. I had to review his music so I can confirm that yes, I did listen to a lot of it in 2020. Spotify has completely obliterated my ability to know who the fuck I’m listening to. Anyway, I guess he worked with Black Jesus Experience to produce this very nice album, which combines funk, reggae, and jazz. The artists are of Ethiopian, Australian, Moroccan, Maori, and Zimbabwean heritage, so if you’re the type to talk a lot about diversity and you think the music you consume as an individual matters (it doesn’t), you can now replace listening to Lizzo with something that’s actually good.

  

1. Molchat Doma - Monument

 

I don’t speak Russian so I have no idea what these guys are singing about.  If you need to quit drinking, I think listening to this album would be a very good substitution, because it makes you feel like you’re drunk and depressed, but also like you want to dance. Monument has a very strong aesthetic, which I would describe as 'Elaine from Seinfeld dancing in a very bleak, Soviet-style apartment.' According to their website the genres that describe their album include…“post-punk, new wave, synth-pop, and cold wave.” Well, there you have it! All you need to know is that it’s better than the stale and predetermined pop-punk you probably listen to. Congrats Molchat Doma, you’re number один!