Year-End Lists

Brooklyn Vegan: Top 55 Albums of 2020

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

1. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
   Fiona Apple
2. Alfredo
   Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
3. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
4. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
5. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
   Perfume Genius
6. Græ
   Moses Sumney
7. Untitled (Black Is)
   Sault
7. Untitled (Rise)
   Sault
8. Inlet
   Hum
9. Róisín Machine
   Róisín Murphy
10. No Dream
    Jeff Rosenstock
11. songs
    Adrianne Lenker
11. instrumentals
    Adrianne Lenker
12. Heaven to a Tortured Mind
    Yves Tumor
13. Reunions
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
14. Pray for Paris
    Westside Gunn
15. Bonny Light Horseman
    Bonny Light Horseman
16. From King to a God
    Conway the Machine
17. Every Bad
    Porridge Radio
18. The Price of Tea in China
    Boldy James & The Alchemist
18. Manger on McNichols
    Boldy James / Sterling Toles
19. Live Forever
    Bartees Strange
20. Teenage Halloween
    Teenage Halloween
21. Burden of Proof
    Benny the Butcher
22. Ohms
    Deftones
23. Good News
    Megan Thee Stallion
24. Saint Cloud
    Waxahatchee
25. Beyond the Pale
    Jarv Is
26. Meet the Woo 2
    Pop Smoke
27. Rough and Rowdy Ways
    Bob Dylan
28. Beneath
    Infant Island
29. Shrines
    Armand Hammer
30. Viewing
    Stay Inside
31. Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
    Napalm Death
32. Shore
    Fleet Foxes
33. Impenetrable Cerebral Fortress
    Gulch
34. Microphones in 2020
    The Microphones
35. Petals for Armor
    Hayley Williams
36. Notes on a Conditional Form
    The 1975
37. Suddenly
    Caribou
38. I Owe You Nothing
    Record Setter
39. Inner Song
    Kelly Lee Owens
40. Miss Colombia
    Lido Pimienta
41. SOURCE
    Nubya Garcia
42. Have We Met
    Destroyer
43. Lament
    Touché Amoré
44. When I Die, Will I Get Better?
    Svalbard
45. Mestarin kynsi
    Oranssi Pazuzu
46. Underneath
    Code Orange
46. Under the Skin
    Code Orange
47. Silver Ladders
    Mary Lattimore
48. The Eternal Resonance
    Sweven
49. Future Nostalgia
    Dua Lipa
50. Stare Into Death And Be Still
    Ulcerate
51. Ho, Why Is You Here?
    Flo Milli
52. In Search Of Lost Time
    Protoje
53. Billy Nomates
    Billy Nomates
54. Transmissions: The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland
    Beverly Glenn-Copeland
55. Dark Matter
    Moses Boyd

Scott Tobias: Top 10 Films of 2020, as posted to Twitter and discussed on The Next Picture Show

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

1. Dick Johnson Is Dead
   Kirsten Johnson
2. The Assistant
   Kitty Green
3. First Cow
   Kelly Reichardt
4. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
5. Nomadland
   Chloé Zhao
6. Bacurau
   Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles
7. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
   Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
8. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
   Charlie Kaufman
9. Beanpole
   Kantemir Balagov
10. The Nest
    Sean Durkin

Honorable Mentions (no order)

• David Byrne's American Utopia
  Spike Lee
• Fourteen
  Dan Sallitt
• Collective
  Alexander Nanau
• Time
  Garrett Bradley
• Boys State
  Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine
• Bad Education
  Cory Finley
• The Vast of Night
  Andrew Patterson
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always
  Eliza Hittman
• Minari
  Lee Isaac Chung
• Wolfwalkers
  Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart
• Sound of Metal
  Darius Marder
• A White, White Day
  Hlynur Pálmason
• Soul
  Pete Docter
• Another Round
  Thomas Vinterberg

This list contributes to:

• Village Voice Film Poll: Top 50 Films of 2020

Shondaland: The Best Books of 2020

• Check, Please! Book 2

  Sticks & Scones
  Ngozi Ukazu
• The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist
  Adrian Tomine
• The Vanishing Half
  Brit Bennett
• Glass Town

  The Imaginary World of the Brontës
  Isabel Greenberg
• Solutions and Other Problems
  Allie Brosh
• A Song of Wraiths and Ruin
  Roseanne A. Brown
• This Is What I Know About Art
  Kimberly Drew
• Luster
  Raven Leilani
• Cemetery Boys
  Aiden Thomas
• His Only Wife
  Peace Adzo Medie
• Homeland Elegies
  Ayad Akhtar
• Beach Read
  Emily Henry
• Mexican Gothic
  Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Ace

  What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex
  Angela Chen
• Caste

  The Origins of Our Discontents
  Isabel Wilkerson
• Elatsoe
  Darcie Little Badger

Shondaland: The Best Podcasts of 2020

• Nice White Parents
• Dr. Death Season 2: Dr. Fata
• Slow Burn: Season 4
• MusicalSplaining
• Code Switch
• You're Wrong About...
• Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment
• The Daily

Susannah Gruder: Best Films of 2020, as published by Screen Slate along with a list of best first-time views

[see also 2021 • 2010s • 2019]

1. Epicentro
   Hubert Sauper
2. Small Axe: Lovers Rock
   Steve McQueen
3. Never Rarely Sometimes Always
   Eliza Hittman
4. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets
   Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross
5. Dick Johnson Is Dead
   Kirsten Johnson
6. A Night at the Opera
   Sergei Loznitsa
7. The Calming
   Song Fang
8. Acasa, My Home
   Radu Ciorniciuc
9. Kajillionaire
   Miranda July
10. Time
    Garrett Bradley

This list contributes to:

• Screen Slate: Top 20 Films of 2020

Molly Haskell: Best Films of 2020, as published by Screen Slate along with a list of discoveries

[see also 2022]

• Beanpole
  Kantemir Balagov
• Martin Eden
  Pietro Marcello
• The Woman Who Ran
  Hong Sang-soo
• Undine
  Christian Petzold
• The Salt of Tears
  Philippe Garrel
• David Byrne's American Utopia
  Spike Lee
• City Hall
  Frederick Wiseman
• Dick Johnson Is Dead
  Kirsten Johnson
• Vitalina Varela
  Pedro Costa
• Bacurau
  Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles

Runners-up

• Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
  Jia Zhang-ke
• The Assistant
  Kitty Green
• Relic
  Natalie Erika James
• First Cow
  Kelly Reichardt
• The Expecting
  Mary Harron

This list contributes to:

• Screen Slate: Top 20 Films of 2020

British Vogue: These Are the 12 Best Albums of 2020

• Fountain
  Lyra Pramuk
• Djesse Vol. 3
  Jacob Collier
• Act II: The Patents of Nobility (The Turn)
  Jay Electronica
• Untitled (Rise)
  Sault
• Untitled (Black Is)
  Sault
• Send Them to Coventry
  Pa Salieu
• Black is King
  Beyoncé
• Thank You for Using GTL
  Drakeo the Ruler
• Græ
  Moses Sumney
• Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  Fiona Apple
• What We Drew
  yaeji
• Made in Lagos
  Wizkid

No Depression: Favorite Roots Music Albums of 2020

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

1. Bonny Light Horseman
   Bonny Light Horseman
2. Spider Tales
   Jake Blount
3. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
4. Reunions
   Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
5. CHICKABOOM!
   Tami Neilson
6. Rough and Rowdy Ways
   Bob Dylan
7. Folklore
   Taylor Swift
8. World On The Ground
   Sarah Jarosz
9. Good Souls Better Angels
   Lucinda Williams
10. Walking Proof
    Lilly Hiatt
11. Total Freedom
    Kathleen Edwards
12. Old Time Feeling
    S.G. Goodman
13. Lamentations
    American Aquarium
14. Saint Cloud
    Waxahatchee
15. Expectations
    Katie Pruitt
16. My Love Is A Hurricane
    David Ramirez
17. Cuttin’ Grass - Vol​.​1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions)
    Sturgill Simpson
18. Aftermath
    Elizabeth Cook
19. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
    Fiona Apple
20. Forever Just Beyond
    Clem Snide

Hip Hop Golden Age: The Best Hip Hop Albums of 2020, posted with an extensive list of honorable mentions and EPs

1. RTJ4
   Run the Jewels
2. Spirit World Field Guide
   Aesop Rock
3. Marlowe 2
   Marlowe (L'Orange & Solemn Brigham)
4. As God Intended
   Apollo Brown & Che' Noir
5. Descendants of Cain
   Ka
6. The Sharecropper's Daughter
   Sa-Roc
7. Miles
   Blu & Exile
8. Seven Times Down Eight Times Up
   Elzhi
9. Jorun PMC
   Jorun Bombay & Phill Most Chill
10. BRASS
    Moor Mother & billy woods
11. All My Heroes Are Dead
    R.A. the Rugged Man
12. Alfredo
    Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
13. Don't Fight Your Demons
    Arrested Development
14. Shrines
    Armand Hammer
15. Rocket to Nebula
    Killah Priest
16. Mt. Marci
    Roc Marciano
17. The Price of Tea in China
    Boldy James & The Alchemist
18. The Third Eye in Technicolor
    Killah Priest & Jordan River Banks
19. Visions of Bodies Being Burned
    clipping.
20. Innocent Country 2
    Quelle Chris & Chris Keys
21. Baby (Being a black youth)
    One Be Lo
22. Passion of the Poets
    Third Root
23. From King to a God
    Conway the Machine
24. Manger on McNichols
    Boldy James / Sterling Toles
25. LSD: Lunar Solar Duality
    Cambatta
26. The Allegory
    Royce da 5'9"
27. Walking With Lions
    Jamo Gang
28. Between Da Protests
    KRS-ONE
29. With Greg from Deerhoof
    Serengeti
30. Don't Feed The Monster
    Homeboy Sandman
31. Spilligion
    Spillage Village
32. ShrapKnel
    ShrapKnel
33. Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God
    Busta Rhymes
34. What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?
    Public Enemy
35. What Beetlez?
    Cut Beetlez
36. Eastern Medicine, Western Illness
    Preservation
37. Recognition
    Recognize Ali
38. purple moonlight pages
    R.A.P. Ferreira
39. Felt 4 U
    Felt
40. The Face of Jason
    ANKHLEJOHN
41. Little Dominiques Nosebleed
    The Koreatown Oddity
42. Burden of Proof
    Benny the Butcher
43. LSD
    The Leonard Simpson Duo (Guilty Simpson x Leonard Charles)
44. II - The Next Wave
    Quakers
45. Reasonable Drought
    Stove God Cooks & Roc Marciano
46. Forward Future
    Jahi & Configa
47. Nocturnal Instinct
    The Four Owls
48. Jazzy Vibes
    Kid Abstrakt & Emapea
49. Don't Play It Straight
    Small Bills (E L U C I D & The Lasso)
50. King's Disease
    Nas
51. The Beauty Of It
    ETO
52. Black Habits
    D Smoke
53. RUDEBWOY
    CJ Fly
54. As Above So Below
    Vinnie Paz
55. As Above So Below
    ANKHLEJOHN
56. Safe Space Invader
    Paris
57. Anime, Trauma and Divorce
    Open Mike Eagle
58. Pray for Paris
    Westside Gunn
59. A Beautiful Revolution (Pt 1)
    Common
60. A Written Testimony
    Jay Electronica

Electric Lit: Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2020

[see also Best Nonfiction of 2023 • Best Novels of 2023 • Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2022 • Favorite Novels of 2022 • Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2021 • Favorite Novels of 2021 • Favorite Novels of 2020 • 15 Best Novels of 2019 • 15 Best Nonfiction Books of 2019]

• Ace

  What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex
  Angela Chen
• Born to Be Public
  Greg Mania
• Caste

  The Origins of Our Discontents
  Isabel Wilkerson
• Fairest
  Meredith Talusan
• Here for It

  Or, How to Save Your Soul in America
  R. Eric Thomas
• Hood Feminism

  Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot
  Mikki Kendall
• I Don't Want to Die Poor
  Michael Arceneaux
• Later

  My Life at the Edge of the World
  Paul Lisicky
• Sisters in Hate

  American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism
  Seyward Darby
• The Sprawl
  Jason Diamond
• Uncanny Valley
  Anna Wiener
• Before and After the Book Deal

  A Writer’s Guide to Finishing, Publishing, Promoting, and Surviving Your First Book
  Courtney Maum
• Riding with the Ghost
  Justin Taylor
• Memorial Drive

  A Daughter's Memoir
  Natasha Trethewey
• The Unreality of Memory
  Elisa Gabbert
• Tomboyland
  Melissa Faliveno
• The Third Rainbow Girl

  The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia
  Emma Copley Eisenberg
• My Autobiography of Carson McCullers
  Jenn Shapland
• Wow, No Thank You.
  Samantha Irby
• Minor Feelings

  An Asian American Reckoning
  Cathy Park Hong