1. Sault – Untitled (Black Is)
The first of two albums released by the mysterious Sault this year initially draws you in through its brilliant production. It's hard to tell whether the music is mostly sample based, freshly recorded, or a mixture of the two, but it somehow has a timeless and non-geographic quality that means you could believe it was recorded in Bristol in the early 90s, or New York this year, or at any point in between.
The lyrical themes are bang on the 2020 agenda, but they're more like a whisper in your ear than a punch in the face, subtly getting their message across. Their second album of 2020 'Untitled (Rise)' was a more upbeat affair but is equally worth checking out, but this one edges it for me. Powerful stuff.
2. Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song
3. Caribou – Suddenly
4. Mura Masa – Raw Youth Collage
5. The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You
6. Working Men’s Club – Working Men’s Club
7. Modern Nature – Annual
8. Moses Boyd – Dark Matter
9. The Wytches – Three Mile Ditch
10. Disq – Collector
For full write-ups on the top ten, and 15 more that nearly made it, please go to my blog here
Russell
