Year-End Lists

The Skinny: Top 10 Albums of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
2. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
3. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
4. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
   Yves Tumor
5. Sawayama
   Rina Sawayama
6. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
7. What's Your Pleasure?
   Jessie Ware
8. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
9. Inner Song
   Kelly Lee Owens
10. Róisín Machine
    Róisín Murphy

Troy Jollimore: Best Poetry Collections of 2020, as published by The Washington Post

[see also 2022]

• The Malevolent Volume
  Justin Phillip Reed
• The Nightfields
  Joanna Klink
• Pale Colors in a Tall Field
  Carl Phillips
• Still Life
  Ciaran Carson
• Wicked Enchantment
  Wanda Coleman

The Quietus: Albums of the Year 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Dances / Curses
   Hey Colossus
2. Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?
   The Soft Pink Truth
3. The Passion Of
   Special Interest
4. Fountain
   Lyra Pramuk
5. Energy Is Forever
   UKAEA
6. Help
   Duval Timothy
7. Be Up a Hello
   Squarepusher
8. Kitchen Sink
   Nadine Shah
9. Send Them to Coventry
   Pa Salieu
10. Guerrilla
    Nazar
11. Only Darkness Now
    Alison Cotton
12. Alles In Allem
    Einstürzende Neubauten
13. Sign
    Autechre
14. First Seance
    Land Trance
15. Duma
    Duma
16. These Charms May Be Sung Over A Wound
    Richard Skelton
17. Untitled (Rise)
    Sault
18. Debris
    Keeley Forsyth
19. Type II
    Sex Swing
20. Dark Hearts
    Annie
21. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
    Perfume Genius
22. The Common Task
    Horse Lords
23. Workaround
    Beatrice Dillon
24. 7 Weapons Series
    Howie Lee
25. Zoom
    upsammy
26. Free Humans
    Hen Ogledd
27. Suite for Max Brown
    Jeff Parker
28. Cumbia Siglo XXI
    Meridian Brothers
29. Serpent
    MXLX
30. Because of a Flower
    Ana Roxanne
31. Forever Underground
    Phantom Posse
32. There Is No Year
    Algiers
33. Heart's Ease
    Shirley Collins
34. Mestarin kynsi
    Oranssi Pazuzu
35. Silver Ladders
    Mary Lattimore
36. DISCO
    Kylie Minogue
37. Edna
    Headie One
38. Mas Amable
    DJ Python
39. Have We Met
    Destroyer
40. Future Nostalgia
    Dua Lipa
41. Glory Days
    Heather Leigh
42. Blues
    Lamin Fofana
43. Gold Record
    Bill Callahan
44. To Kiss Earth Goodbye
    Teleplasmiste
45. The Night Chancers
    Baxter Dury
46. Barbarians
    The Young Knives
47. Fast Edit
    Still House Plants
48. Jp4
    Junglepussy
49. Loom
    Katie Gately
50. Flower Violence
    BLÓM
51. A Late Anthology of Early Music Vol. 1: Ancient to Renaissance
    Jennifer Walshe
52. Cantus, Descant
    Sarah Davachi
53. Big Conspiracy
    J Hus
54. Endless Wound
    Black Curse
55. if I don't let myself be happy now then when?
    more eaze & claire rousay
56. Seven Storey Mountain VI
    Nate Wooley
57. L'inattingible
    Delphine Dora
58. Rock Sutra
    Sun Araw
59. Róisín Machine
    Róisín Murphy
60. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    Yves Tumor
61. The Ascension
    Sufjan Stevens
62. Visions of Bodies Being Burned
    clipping.
63. Returner
    Closed Circuits
64. Scacco Matto
    Lorenzo Senni
65. Lamunan
    Antonina Nowacka
66. Future Teenage Cave Artists
    Deerhoof
67. Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes
    NÍDIA
68. SKEEN
    Mariam Rezaei
69. Winterreise
    Jerskin Fendrix
70. May Our Chambers Be Full
    Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou
71. how I'm feeling now
    Charli XCX
72. Superstar
    Harry Pussy
73. The End of Their World is Coming!
    Dead Meat
74. Viscerals
    Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
75. KiCk i
    Arca
76. World Serpent
    Memnon Sa
77. Pedernal
    Susan Alcorn Quintet
78. Cwm Gwagle
    Datblygu
79. Beyond The Floor
    GELD
80. Trinity
    Laylow
81. The Big Exercise
    The Homesick
82. Malibu Liquor Store
    Shit and Shine
83. Couldn't Wait To Tell You...
    (Liv).e
84. No era sólida
    Lucrecia Dalt
85. Abscess Time
    Pyrrhon
86. Thug Ambient
    Dale Cornish
87. Pillowland
    Jam City
88. Crabs in a Bucket
    Nines
89. Hidden In This Is The Light That You Miss
    Regis
90. Prole Art Threat
    East Man
91. Evil Spirits Who Prowl About The World Seeking The Ruin Of Souls
    Haq123
92. Toutes Ces Horreurs
    Satan
93. Figures
    Aksak Maboul
94. Mind Hive
    Wire
95. 2020
    Magik Markers
96. Training Day 3
    Potter Payper
97. Swirling
    Sun Ra Arkestra
98. Nah Nah Nah Yeh Yeh Yeh
    Luminous Bodies
99. Aux Pieds de la Nuit
    Nyx Nott
100. 6
     Pharaoh Overlord

Paste Magazine: The 50 Best Albums of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
2. Saint Cloud
   Waxahatchee
3. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
4. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
5. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
   Perfume Genius
6. Every Bad
   Porridge Radio
7. color theory
   Soccer Mommy
8. Sawayama
   Rina Sawayama
9. songs
   Adrianne Lenker
10. Græ
    Moses Sumney
11. Suddenly
    Caribou
12. Reunions
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
13. Alfredo
    Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
14. Punisher
    Phoebe Bridgers
15. It Is What It Is
    Thundercat
16. God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It
    Backxwash
17. Untitled (Black Is)
    Sault
18. Inner Song
    Kelly Lee Owens
19. Heavy Light
    U.S. Girls
20. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    Yves Tumor
21. The Great Dismal
    Nothing
22. Welcome to Conceptual Beach
    Young Jesus
23. Rough and Rowdy Ways
    Bob Dylan
24. Healing Is a Miracle
    Julianna Barwick
25. Youth Pastoral
    Ben Seretan
26. Microphones in 2020
    The Microphones
27. Shore
    Fleet Foxes
28. Inlet
    Hum
29. KIND
    Thanya Iyer
30. Miss Colombia
    Lido Pimienta
31. acts of rebellion
    ela minus
32. Ultimate Success Today
    Protomartyr
33. Anime, Trauma and Divorce
    Open Mike Eagle
34. Bonny Light Horseman
    Bonny Light Horseman
35. Speed Kills
    Chubby & The Gang
36. Live Forever
    Bartees Strange
37. Shadow Talk
    Cafe Racer
38. SOURCE
    Nubya Garcia
39. What's Your Pleasure?
    Jessie Ware
40. A Hero's Death
    Fontaines D.C.
41. Introduction, Presence
    Nation of Language
42. Women in Music Pt. III
    Haim
43. The Baby
    Samia
44. Forever, Ya Girl
    KeiyaA
45. FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You've Been Waiting For
    illuminati hotties
46. Celebrated By Strangers
    Catholic Action
47. Lianne La Havas
    Lianne La Havas
48. Flower of Devotion
    Dehd
49. Just Look At That Sky
    Ganser
50. Somewhere
    Gum Country

The Guardian: Best Poetry Books of 2020

[see also 2022]

• RENDANG
  Will Harris
• My Darling from the Lions
  Rachel Long
• Tongues of Fire
  Seán Hewitt
• Poor
  Caleb Femi
• The Air Year
  Caroline Bird
• This is a Picture of Wind
  J.R. Carpenter
• Postcolonial Love Poem
  Natalie Diaz
• How To Wash a Heart
  Bhanu Kapil
• Just Us

  An American Conversation
  Claudia Rankine
• Sanatorium
  Abi Palmer
• Magnetic Field

  The Marsden Poems
  Simon Armitage
• Paris
  Hope Mirrlees
• The Historians
  Eavan Boland
• The Fire of Joy

  Roughly 80 Poems to Get by Heart and Say Aloud
  Clive James

The Guardian: Best Fiction of 2020

[see also 2021 • 2017]

• Hamnet
  Maggie O'Farrell
• The Pull of the Stars
  Emma Donoghue
• The Silence
  Don DeLillo
• Weather
  Jenny Offill
• Exit Management
  Naomi Booth
• Summerwater
  Sarah Moss
• The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again
  M. John Harrison
• Summer
  Ali Smith
• The Mirror & the Light
  Hilary Mantel
• This Mournable Body
  Tsitsi Dangarembga
• The Shadow King
  Maaza Mengiste
• Jack
  Marilynne Robinson
• The Vanishing Half
  Brit Bennett
• Utopia Avenue
  David Mitchell
• Mr Wilder and Me
  Jonathan Coe
• Rodham
  Curtis Sittenfeld
• Inside Story
  Martin Amis
• Mayflies
  Andrew O'Hagan
• Such a Fun Age
  Kiley Reid
• Exciting Times
  Naoise Dolan
• Shuggie Bain
  Douglas Stuart
• The Young Team
  Graeme Armstrong
• Rainbow Milk
  Paul Mendez
• Burnt Sugar
  Avni Doshi
• Real Life
  Brandon Taylor
• The Liar's Dictionary
  Eley Williams
• The Lying Life of Adults
  Elena Ferrante
• Hurricane Season
  Fernanda Melchor
• The Discomfort of Evening
  Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
• Discomfort of Evening
  Daniel Kahneman
• Little Eyes
  Samanta Schweblin
• Benjamín Labatut
  When We Cease to Understand the World
• The Dominant Animal
  Kathryn Scanlan
• Modern Times
  Cathy Sweeney
• Reality and Other Stories
  John Lanchester
• The Voice in My Ear
  Frances Leviston
• Good Citizens Need Not Fear
  Maria Reva
• The Bass Rock
  Evie Wyld
• Piranesi
  Susanna Clarke

Time Magazine: Best Albums of 2020, composed by Raisa Bruner and Andrew R. Chow

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2015]

1. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
2. Ungodly Hour
   Chloe x Halle
3. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
4. Gaslighter
   The Chicks
5. Eternal Atake
   Lil Uzi Vert
6. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
   Perfume Genius
7. Agüita
   Gabriel Garzón-Montano
8. We’re New Again: A Reimagining
   Gil Scott-Heron (posthumously) & Makaya McCraven
9. Miss Anthropocene
   Grimes
10. Celia
    Tiwa Savage

Amanda Petrusich: The Best Music of 2020, as published by The New Yorker

[see also 2023 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. No. 1
   Etran de L'Aïr
2. songs
   Adrianne Lenker
2. instrumentals
   Adrianne Lenker
3. Silver Ladders
   Mary Lattimore
4. Future Nostalgia
   Dua Lipa
5. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
6. Mama, You Can Bet!
   Jyoti
7. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
8. Shore
   Fleet Foxes
9. Alfredo
   Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
10. Punisher
    Phoebe Bridgers

Honorable Mentions

• Folklore
  Taylor Swift
• Good News
  Megan Thee Stallion
• Un Canto por México, Vol. 1
  Natalia Lafourcade
• It Was Good Until It Wasn't
  Kehlani
• A Written Testimony
  Jay Electronica
• The New Abnormal
  The Strokes
• Saint Cloud
  Waxahatchee

Teen Vogue: Best Podcasts of 2020

• Keep It!
• Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain
• You Must Remember This: Polly Platt
• Code Switch
• Teenager Therapy
• Floodlines
• Criminalia
• Staying In with Emily & Kumail
• Rabbit Hole

Stephanie Zacharek: The 10 Best Movies of 2020, as published by Time Magazine

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

1. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
2. Collective
   Alexander Nanau
3. The Trial of the Chicago 7
   Aaron Sorkin
4. David Byrne's American Utopia
   Spike Lee
5. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
6. Emma.
   Autumn de Wilde
7. Wolfwalkers
   Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart
8. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
9. Miss Juneteenth
   Channing Godfrey Peoples
10. Bill & Ted Face the Music
    Dean Parisot

Honorable mentions

• Martin Eden
  Pietro Marcello
• On the Rocks
  Sofia Coppola
• The Assistant
  Kitty Green
• The Old Guard
  Gina Prince-Bythewood
• The Half of It
  Alice Wu
• Relic
  Natalie Erika James
• Small Axe: Mangrove
  Steve McQueen
• The Jesus Rolls
  John Turturro