FA+
Shop
2020 - My Top 10 Music Albums
5 years ago
General
I don't think I'll do a 2020 year in review this year (I don't think I've done one in a while anyway). It sucked, we all know it sucked, I don't think I need to write some paragraphs explaining why nor do I want my first journal in a while to be such a downer. The music however? At least from where I stand, it was really good.
This is focused on the kind of music I listen to, mainly the goth and industrial side of things, mainly EBM-centric and synthpop/futurepop centric, but also industrial rock and NDH, and pretty much anything adjacent to and between that spectrum as well. So without further ado, this is my top 10!
1. <PIG> - Pain is God
2. Assemblage 23 - Mourn
3. Seeming - The Birdwatchers’ Guide to Atrocity
4. ESA - Burial 10
5. Einsturzende Neubauten - Alles im Allem
6. Renard - Waking Up in a Different World
7. Witt - Rubezahls Ruckkehr
8. Rotersand - How Do You Feel Today?
9. Mono Inc. - The Book of Fire
10. Linea Aspera - LP II
Where I can find them, I have provided links to Bandcamp if you would like to check these artists out, and support them at the same time too. Support your favorite musicians, especially during this time that touring is not possible. Read on if you don't mind a wall of text explaining why I put the top 10 where I did. (2020-now-2021 and FA still doesn't do readmore breaks smh)
The top three was easy for me. Assemblage 23's and Seeming's newest entries could both make a case for the soundtrack of 2020. A23 captures perfectly the anxieties of living in the new normal, while still firing off some of the best futurepop work Tom Shear has done in a little while. Seeming didn't quite hit as much but I still love their way of approaching the year, albeit I think the bulk of it was written before the pandemic? Either way, their melodic and anthemic method of making music shines through here as well as Alex Reed's lyricism, bringing some comfort to an uncomfortable slice of time and also a call to action.
I chose #1 because this is the best work a project that, along with KMFDM, helped me get into this whole genre in the first place have put out in a while, and especially since Raymond Watts reactivated it a few years back; the previous two albums were good but I felt something was missing, turns out that was Steve White. It is 71 minutes of Watts' twisted sermons of human depravity as well as turning the capitalist excesses of organized religion and American exceptionalism on its head (as well as reflecting the hellfire and brimstone of the former back at them), all on the backdrop of intense electronics and Steve White's guitars, and does not get stale for even a single minute. The Swining, Sinsation, and Wrecked were some of my favorite albums; this is right up there, so it has to go to #1 for me.
Figuring out the rest of the list was difficult, there were some albums that couldn't make it, but I tried to go for ones that I keep coming back to. For #4, Jaime Blacker's rhythmic noise project keeps finding ways to top itself, even after the amazing That Beast and the Themes of Carnal Empowerment trilogy; continuing the intensity of those while continuing to weave thought-provoking lyrics and soundscapes through the noise. Neubauten is more melodic and more mellow than they used to be making albums like Halber Mensch or Kollaps, but the DIY ethos is still there and their sound has grown in such a pleasing and mature way these days. There is also the return of half of Wolfsheim in Markus Reinhardt’s Renard (nothing to do with Lapfox, thankfully) project, with guest vocalists standing in for Peter Heppner’s former role (who himself is having a decent solo career), especially the two songs of Marion Gold (of Alphaville fame, the band known for Big in Japan and Forever Young); it is good to see he still has the range after all this time. It also makes me wonder how Wolfsheim would’ve developed if they never broke up after Casting Shadows.
Two great NDH albums take #7 and #9; Mono Inc. continue to get better and better with their style of symphonic, melodic dance-metal. Joachim Witt is four decades removed from his Goldener Reiter hit, and is already in his 70s, but to continue to put out an album like this that is as good as anything on his Bayreuth trilogy, and also hitting the right mix of heavy as well as emotional, is nothing short of amazing. Sandwiched between is Rotersand’s newest, also a great EBM record that, like the band is known for, and the second album since a nine-year hiatus. It’s up there with their best, and weaves dancefloor killers and intense electronics with melodies and slower moments, and even a song like “Hot Ashes” with few lyrics is a great antifascist dance floor anthem. Finally I finish the list with Linea Aspera’s LP II, their sophomore album after a few years and the two members going solo for a bit, which is more synthpoppy and melodic than their first effort. The music of songs like Solar Flare, Equilibrium, and Entropy stick with me, not just the lyrics but the synths as well.
And...there you go! If you read all this way, I congratulate you for weaving through my disjointed nerding out over the kind of music I like. I should do this again next year probably, let’s see how I feel. Thanks for reading and enjoy your new year!
This is focused on the kind of music I listen to, mainly the goth and industrial side of things, mainly EBM-centric and synthpop/futurepop centric, but also industrial rock and NDH, and pretty much anything adjacent to and between that spectrum as well. So without further ado, this is my top 10!
1. <PIG> - Pain is God
2. Assemblage 23 - Mourn
3. Seeming - The Birdwatchers’ Guide to Atrocity
4. ESA - Burial 10
5. Einsturzende Neubauten - Alles im Allem
6. Renard - Waking Up in a Different World
7. Witt - Rubezahls Ruckkehr
8. Rotersand - How Do You Feel Today?
9. Mono Inc. - The Book of Fire
10. Linea Aspera - LP II
Where I can find them, I have provided links to Bandcamp if you would like to check these artists out, and support them at the same time too. Support your favorite musicians, especially during this time that touring is not possible. Read on if you don't mind a wall of text explaining why I put the top 10 where I did. (2020-now-2021 and FA still doesn't do readmore breaks smh)
The top three was easy for me. Assemblage 23's and Seeming's newest entries could both make a case for the soundtrack of 2020. A23 captures perfectly the anxieties of living in the new normal, while still firing off some of the best futurepop work Tom Shear has done in a little while. Seeming didn't quite hit as much but I still love their way of approaching the year, albeit I think the bulk of it was written before the pandemic? Either way, their melodic and anthemic method of making music shines through here as well as Alex Reed's lyricism, bringing some comfort to an uncomfortable slice of time and also a call to action.
I chose #1 because this is the best work a project that, along with KMFDM, helped me get into this whole genre in the first place have put out in a while, and especially since Raymond Watts reactivated it a few years back; the previous two albums were good but I felt something was missing, turns out that was Steve White. It is 71 minutes of Watts' twisted sermons of human depravity as well as turning the capitalist excesses of organized religion and American exceptionalism on its head (as well as reflecting the hellfire and brimstone of the former back at them), all on the backdrop of intense electronics and Steve White's guitars, and does not get stale for even a single minute. The Swining, Sinsation, and Wrecked were some of my favorite albums; this is right up there, so it has to go to #1 for me.
Figuring out the rest of the list was difficult, there were some albums that couldn't make it, but I tried to go for ones that I keep coming back to. For #4, Jaime Blacker's rhythmic noise project keeps finding ways to top itself, even after the amazing That Beast and the Themes of Carnal Empowerment trilogy; continuing the intensity of those while continuing to weave thought-provoking lyrics and soundscapes through the noise. Neubauten is more melodic and more mellow than they used to be making albums like Halber Mensch or Kollaps, but the DIY ethos is still there and their sound has grown in such a pleasing and mature way these days. There is also the return of half of Wolfsheim in Markus Reinhardt’s Renard (nothing to do with Lapfox, thankfully) project, with guest vocalists standing in for Peter Heppner’s former role (who himself is having a decent solo career), especially the two songs of Marion Gold (of Alphaville fame, the band known for Big in Japan and Forever Young); it is good to see he still has the range after all this time. It also makes me wonder how Wolfsheim would’ve developed if they never broke up after Casting Shadows.
Two great NDH albums take #7 and #9; Mono Inc. continue to get better and better with their style of symphonic, melodic dance-metal. Joachim Witt is four decades removed from his Goldener Reiter hit, and is already in his 70s, but to continue to put out an album like this that is as good as anything on his Bayreuth trilogy, and also hitting the right mix of heavy as well as emotional, is nothing short of amazing. Sandwiched between is Rotersand’s newest, also a great EBM record that, like the band is known for, and the second album since a nine-year hiatus. It’s up there with their best, and weaves dancefloor killers and intense electronics with melodies and slower moments, and even a song like “Hot Ashes” with few lyrics is a great antifascist dance floor anthem. Finally I finish the list with Linea Aspera’s LP II, their sophomore album after a few years and the two members going solo for a bit, which is more synthpoppy and melodic than their first effort. The music of songs like Solar Flare, Equilibrium, and Entropy stick with me, not just the lyrics but the synths as well.
And...there you go! If you read all this way, I congratulate you for weaving through my disjointed nerding out over the kind of music I like. I should do this again next year probably, let’s see how I feel. Thanks for reading and enjoy your new year!
