Clockwise from top row: Duma, Стереополина, Moor Mother, Meurtrieres, Maral, Backxwash. Courtesy of the artists
You won't find any of these picks on NPR Music's 50 best albums of 2020. Spanish punk, metal-sampling rap, Kenyan grindcore, Russian synth pop, French speed metal — these not only make up the annual year-end Viking's Choice episode that I record with Bob Boilen, but this music is how I coped, raged and soothed myself in 2020.
Listen above, read below. For more, follow the Viking's Choice playlist and subscribe to the newsletter. —Lars Gotrich
Accidente, Caníbal
Madrid's Accidente exists in that sweet nexus of fist-pumping pop-punk and ridiculously catchy power-pop — the bass lines are way out front, the ba-ba-ba's are plenty and frantically strummed guitar riffs soar. The same way bands like Bad Moves and Martha favor big melodies to ponder inequity and identity, Accidente fights forward: Dime ¿Y si la llama prende? ("What if the sparkle turns to flames?")
Backxwash, God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
Ozzy Osbourne, Led Zeppelin, a traditional ritual from her Zambian tribe — Backxwash's sonically bracing rap album samples heavy music to explore forgiveness towards those who have rejected the Black transfeminine artist now based in Montreal. "I see samples more than just sounds," she told NPR in October, just before winning the Polaris Prize, "they represent a slice of time." This music indulges and exorcises demons, but ultimately energizes new beginnings.
Duma, Duma
The Kenyan duo makes subterranean grindcore built on noise, trap and black metal for an onslaught unlike any other, meeting the relentless discord of 2020 with its own.
Aisha Orazbayeva, Music for Violin Alone
After two years away on maternity leave, 2020 was supposed to be the London-based Kazakh violinist's return to the stage. This album is, in part, a touching and textural reflection on that professional loss, but is also a celebration of newfound creativity in quarantine.
Maral, Push
Ancestral crate-digging that dubs back to the motherland. For Maral's debut album, the L.A.-based Iranian-American DJ and producer digs into Iranian folk and classical records to collage a psychedelic voyage that equally pulls from punk, noise and dub. Best experienced as a whole, Push inhabits floating worlds, yet never leaves home.
Moor Mother, Circuit City
It's hard to think of anyone having a good year in 2020, but Moor Mother's liberation poetry, spectral sonic palette and remarkable stream of output kept challenging me to move onward. She released several collaborations with folks like Nicole Mitchell, Mental Jewelry and billy woods, not to mention a record as part of the free-jazz group Irreversible Entanglements. That five-piece also plays throughout Circuit City, but Moor Mother's vision lies at the center of this futuristic fire music, a free-jazz musical about housing, public/private ownership and technology. In her music, there is limitless possibility, and in that, she enacts positive change.
Стереополина, Институт культуры и отдыха
If I couldn't travel in 2020, I played tourist by going down Bandcamp rabbit holes of underground music scenes from around the world. Unsurprisingly, the bleak countrysides and cityscapes of Russia offer a haven for mopey goths into post-punk and darkwave — not to mention a killer hardcore-punk contingent. My favorite discovery comes from St. Petersburg: Стереополина's synth-pop melodies are austere and glassy but bound with a daring force.
Claire Rousay, Both
Claire Rousay seemingly splits her music into frenetic free-jazz drumming and what she jokingly calls "emo ambient." She released a lot of music in 2020, but I was most struck by Both, two side-long pieces built around field recordings made in San Antonio (where she's based) and Mexico City. Manipulating her own simple melodies and sounds from the everyday, Rousay enchants the ordinary.
Meurtrières, Meurtrières
Sometimes you just start a band so you can yell about French medieval history, you know? Featuring veteran punk musicians from Lyon, France, Meurtrières makes feminist, fist-pumping speed metal. There's a lot of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Mercyful Fate in these tightly-written tracks, but also the thrilling discovery of Fleur, her battle-cry vocals sharing epic stories of French women during the Middle Ages.
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