The same but by different means | DOMINIONATED December 2020
There's no poetic — or polite — way to summarize our 2020 experience. There's no point in us trying to sound profound about it, either. You were there with us; you know the score: 2020 rocked our world. Some of it was totally unexpected, and a lot of it was totally overdue. Yet through all of it, there was music nourishing our spirits, nursing us back from the brink, and never letting us give up on the indomitable human spirit. As we have for the last four December's DOMINIONATED highlighted our collective favourite music of the past year in our annual FAVOURITE FIFTY of 2020 post; this year, though, it didn't feel right that we rank our favourite albums, so instead, we presented them as a collective celebration of the incredible music these artists have created. Our focus is — and will always remain — the artists. If nothing else, we publish this list to let them know that their art has been heard and appreciated. Their music has touched us, and we encourage them to continue the fight and struggle to make art in a society that doesn’t fully value its worth.
To get to this list of fifty, DOMINIONATED's contributors each offered up their own selections, in total citing 131 releases that caused us to take notice and listen intently in 2020. Since publishing the FAVOURITE FIFTY a few weeks ago, it hasn't felt right not publicly acknowledging these additional seventy-seven records, so we've decided to close out the year by sharing them with you here. As we said back on December 8, we hope you’ll find something here to enjoy, celebrate, and most importantly, to buy. In a year when musicians’ livelihoods were stolen by the shuttering of performance venues, it’s crucial that we show support with our wallets as well as our words.
Thank you for all the love and support you've shown Team DOMINIONATED this past year. We appreciate the commitment to subscribing to our little monthly newsletter. Though we took November off to get the FAVOURITE FIFTY done, we are committed to bringing you fresh content through the newsletter into 2021.
DOMINIONATED's Contributors' FAVOURITE 131 of 2020
(*denotes FAVOURITE FIFTY selection, click links to stream/purchase)
Alias Ensemble, A Splendour of Heart*
Amos the Kid, Mountain View
Aquakultre, Legacy*
Julie Arsenault, Whisper & Shimmer
Marie-Pierre Arthur, Des feux pour voir
Austra, HiRUDiN
Backxwash, God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It*
Bahamas, Sad Hunk
Jennah Barry, Holiday*
Blue Hawaii, Under 1 House
Braids, Shadow Offering
Bruce Peninsula, No Earthly Sound*
Basia Bulat, Are You in Love?
Busty and the Bass, Eddie
Andre Cahoun, Short Term*
Matthew Cardinal, Asterisms
Caribou, Suddenly*
Jennifer Castle, Monarch Season*
Cindy Lee, What's Tonight to Eternity*
Clairmont The Second, It's Not How It Sounds*
Kye Clayton, Temporary
Jazz Codrington, K.O.
Charlotte Cornfield, In My Corner
Crack Cloud, Pain Olympics*
Sarah Davachi, Cantus, Descant
Desirée Dawson, Wild Heart (Live from Blue Light Sessions)
Decoration Day, Makeshift Future
Helena Deland, Someone New*
Destroyer, Have We Met
DijahSB, 2020 the Album*
Dizzy, The Sun and Her Scorch
Dog Day, Present*
Drake, Dark Lane Demo Tapes
Etienne Dufresne, Sainte-Colère
Michael C. Duguay, The Winter of Our Discotheque*
Fortunato Durutti Marinetti, Desire
Kathleen Edwards, Total Freedom
EEJUNGMI, Contribution
The Elwins, IV
Factor Chandelier, First Storm
Eve Parker Finley, Chrysalia
Foisy., Mémoires*
Dana Gavanski, Yesterday Is Gone
Hannah Georgas, All That Emotion
C.R. Gillespie, Concentration Patterns
The Golden Age of Wrestling, Tombstone Piledriver*
Grimes, Miss Anthropocene
Gulfer, Gulfer*
Half Moon Run, Seasons of Change
Handsome Tiger, Foundations
Matt Holubowski, Weird Ones
Holy Fuck, Deleter
Hut Hut, Hut Hut Hut
IAMTHELIVING, In This Thing Called Life
Richard Inman, Faded Love Better Days
Thanya Iyer, KIND*
Yves Jarvis, Sundry Rock Song Stock*
Jed Arbour, Jed Arbour
The Jerry Cans, Echoes
July Talk, Pray for It
Junia-T, Studio Monk*
Kaytranada, BUBBA
Ian Daniel Kehoe, Disco Body Buzz
Kestrels, Dream or Don't Dream
Khotin, Finds You Well
Kicksie, All My Friends*
Luka Kuplowsky, Stardust*
Land of Talk, Indistinct Conversations*
Idris Lawal, Young, Black & Blue*
Le Ren, Morning & Melancholia*
Lié, You Want It Real
Lil' Omar, Toddler Country
Little Kid, Transfiguration Highway*
Loon Town, Exit Strategy
Loving, If I Am Only My Thoughts
Sam Lynch, Little Disappearance
Lyrique - P.I.M.P. (Poetry is My Pleasure)*
Mappe Of, Isle of Ailynn
Markus Floats, Third Album*
Jon Mckiel, Bobby Joe Hope*
METZ, Atlas Vending*
Mil-Spec, World House
Marlaena Moore, Pay Attention, Be Amazed!
Moscow Apartment, Better Daughter
CASEY MQ, babycasey*
MSEA, I Turned Into a Familiar Shape
Nap Eyes, Snapshot of a Beginner*
NEEDS, Split
No Joy, Motherhood*
Noble Son, Life Isn't Fun
Cedric Noel, nothing forever, everything*
Nyssa, Girls Like Me
Owen Pallett, Island*
Pantayo, Pantayo*
Orville Peck, Show Pony*
Klo Pelgag, Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs
Lido Pimienta, Miss Colombia
Poor You, Arm's Length
Pottery, Welcome to Bobby's Motel
Tony Price, Interview / Discount
William Prince, Gospel First Nation
Noah Reid, Gemini
Riches, Fantasy Chapel
Daniel Romano, “Visions of the Higher Dream”*
Daniel Romano, Dandelion
Daniel Romano, How Ill Thy World is Ordered*
Daniel Romano, White Flag
Shabason, Krgovich & Harris, Philadelphia*
Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom, Never Work
Andy Shauf, The Neon Skyline*
Sing Leaf, Not Earth
Eyeda Sophia & emperor bohe, The Esplanade
Tamir, Don't Let Your Fear Kill You*
Hiroki Tanaka, Kaigo Kioku Kyoku*
Julian Taylor, The Ridge
Teenanger, Good Time*
Thunder Queens, Thunder Queens
Ida Toninato, We Become Giants
TOPS, I Feel Alive
TV Freaks, People*
Vile Creature, Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!
Colter Wall, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs
Wares, Survival*
We Are the City, RIP*
White Poppy, Paradise Gardens
Witch Prophet, DNA Activation
Campbell Woods, Keeper
Jonah Yano, Souvenir
YSSY, The Way it Was
Zoongide'ewin, Bleached Wavves*
Nick Zubeck, Venusian Blues
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