Think of it as an early Christmas present; this scattered year did produce a lot of great music. Great music in all genres and more importantly in all forms.
What will it be remembered for?
Of course: "The Pandemic Album." With the music industry almost completely shuttered for a couple of months (the exception was the independent distributors who kept on going), artists were forced to look within. The home-recorded album has long been within this environment; however, it never revealed such promise for winning back active and repeat listeners.
Fiona Apple would be the biggest winner of all. First to strike with the scrambled, biting-wit of "Fetch the Bolt Cutters," Apple made sense of it all by pulling out all the stops and showing that it was necessary to listen and make your sense about it. Following her lead, we saw myriad artists collaborate across data lines and create music that was incredibly cohesive (King Gizzard's mercurial "KG"), insightful (the reportage from Drive-By Truckers on "The New OK"), and a stretch beyond their studio-based pursuit of perfection (the lowercase pair from Taylor Swift).
However, for me, the true "Pandemic" albums were the resurgent Disco-based albums from women. What the black-and-white releases listed above were missing could be filled in on some long, lonely, late night with your headphones on. Roisin (ro-SHEEN) Murphy may not be a household name, but she richly deserves that honor thanks to "Roisin Machine." With a history of bangers behind her, the stakes were high for her fifth album.
Working with longtime collaborator Parrot, she shook the dust off of Giorgio Moroder-esque Euro Disco. Then she improved on it by giving it more depth and less production that could grow dated. From its first second to the last, "Roisin Machine" gives no rest. For further proof watch her "live broadcast" from home where she walks around her house in triumph.
Other winners include Jessie Ware whose "What's Your Pleasure?" should turn her into a worldwide star with its immaculate production and mature sound. "What's Your Pleasure" is that rare record in Dance music that crosses all boundaries and takes its familiarity and builds upon it. Finally, 2020's biggest star Dua Lipa magnificently steered her one-woman dance party into the Pop charts, whereby year's end her four-on-the-floor we-haven't-heard-bass-lines-like-this-since-Chic album "Future Nostalgia" was everywhere. So strap on your headphones and "Levitate" in the "Spotlight" because you want "Something More."
What trend from 2020 will carry into 2021 and beyond?
The shining white knight of the music year was Bandcamp. The web-based platform and music sales community did their part to give independent artists a real leg up when they needed it most. By switching their first Fridays to "Bandcamp Friday" they raised millions of dollars in sales for their artists. However, more importantly, with Bandcamp becoming a player in the industry, they quietly ensured that success was there to benefit the artist, NOT the platform. Creating one site for the limited (most albums have a five-play limit) consumption, they even boosted physical media sales for many of these artists who could not (and still cannot tour.)
The existence and use of Bandcamp bring us to an interesting crossroads in music consumption. Given their limit and the imposed ask to then buy the artist's music if this philosophy could be put into play elsewhere - it could save the industry in a few years.
Permit me to propose this analogy. Your streaming service is a bit like the public library. Those goods are there for you to sample and enjoy, not continue to check the same books out again and again ad infinitum. You stream to gain the experience of listening to an album, much like you used to check out records or even CDs from the library. When you discover that you enjoy it enough to give it more than the cursory listen, you purchase it and proudly display that book on your shelf at home.
Finally, speaking of the cursory listen: the trend that needs to end in 2021 is the continuing repetition of the same songs in all of our (yes, I am including myself) playlists.
When we return back to this new normal existence, my sincere hope is that the appetite for not just New Music, but even new strains of music, will return as well.
With that and without any pretense, I hope that you, the voracious reader and listener, will dive into some of the music you read about that sounds interesting. As your guide through these weekly adventures, I sample a lot of different styles and textures to bring forth the cream of the crop. (Honestly, you might read about one out of 30 releases that were tested.) However, I maintain that you can do that too. Given the opportunity to be first to discover something new on Bandcamp or even use the width and breadth of your streaming service to go to uncharted territories (many of which you can read about from TBONES' Sub stack page at tbones.substack.com) - this forum remains our best shot at shaping whatever "the new normal" becomes. Thank you.
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Café in Hattiesburg.
