The Best Music Of 2020: NPR Staff Picks
This week we shared NPR Music's best songs and albums of 2020, lists voted on, politely argued over and presented by our staff, station partners and contributors. Today we're featuring the good stuff from the private reserves. Below you'll find lists of top 10 albums and songs from the members of NPR Music's staff.
Nikki Birch
Producer, Jazz Night In America
My top 10 albums and songs are those that made me smile, laugh, dance or cultivate a sense of peace when I needed it most. This is the music I listened to on repeat in 2020.
Top 10 Albums Of 2020
1. Thundercat, It Is What It Is
2. Kassav', 40ème anniversaire - Le concert
3. Salaam Remi, Black on Purpose
4. Nick Hakim, WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD
5. KIRBY, Sis.
6. Piano Novel, Lumino Forest (Alternative Takes)
7. Megan Thee Stallion, Good News
8. Kes, We Home
9. yMusic, Ecstatic Science
10. 11:11, The Night Before The Morning After
Top 10 Songs Of 2020
1. Cadenza, "Walk Out" (feat. Ms Banks, Spice)
2. Jacob Collier, "All I Need" (feat. Mahlia, Ty Dolla $ign)
3. Little Dragon, "New Fiction"
4. Slingbaum, "Morphine"
5. Bilal & HighBreedMusic, "DAY THREE: Voyage to a New World"
6. Jake Sherman, "Dig Deeper"
7. Spitzwell x Boog Brown, "The Unknown"
8. Bob Lanzetti, "Invention No. 13 in A Minor"
9. Brent Birckhead, "4 & 6"
10. Ze Lucy (ዘ ሉሲ) ሴት አይደለሽም እንዴ, "You're Not A Woman"
Listen On Spotify
Bob Boilen
Host, All Songs Considered
Quietude. More than half of the music I connected with and loved in 2020 fit that description. In past years, many of my nights were spent at clubs, seeing live music — loud, brash, fun, uplifting and thrilling. That all stopped in mid-March, right about the time I'd usually be in the midst of thousands of fans seeing hundreds of musicians at SXSW. Being alone, away from friends, colleagues and clubs, I connected deeply with music that drew me in with subtly, yearning and atmosphere. Thank you to all those musicians who poured their hearts into their instruments in 2020.
Top 10 Albums Of 2020
1. Ólafur Arnalds, some kind of peace
2. Adrianne Lenker, songs
3. Sylvan Esso, Free Love
4. Phoebe Bridgers, Punisher
5. Agnes Obel, Myopia
6. Bright Eyes, Down In The Weeds, Where The World Once Was
7. Gia Margaret, Mia Gargaret
8. SAULT, Untitled (Black Is)
9. Roger Eno & Brian Eno, Mixing Colours
10. Nils Frahm, Empty
Top 10 Songs Of 2020
1. Adrianne Lenker, "anything"2. Sylvan Esso, "Make It Easy"3. Bob Dylan, "Murder4. Steady Holiday, "Living Life"5. Phoebe Bridgers, "I Know The End"6. Cinder Well, "Our Lady's"7. lemin., "one brain"8. Gracie and Rachel, "Ideas"9. Shamir, "On My Own"10. Ólafur Arnalds, "Back to the Sky" (feat. JFDR)
