Fat's HEAVY TUNES of the Year 2020

0. Introductionalizing Maunderings
OR
Methodological Preliminaries

Eagle-eyed long-timers may notice I never did manage to publish a 2019 roundup of HEAVY TUNES. Therefore for 2020, I shall start with a shortcut: this precap.

I. Opening the Box

Like a lot of music fans, I have succumbed to the dread forces of streaming, ensuring that my access to music is dependent on a router my cable company bought in nigh-infinite bulk and gave me for "free", and putting my tastes at the mercy of arcane legal maneuverings between those who want to pay artists little and those who want to pay them less. Instead of looking for music to listen to myself (by reading Twitter, the only workable music discovery service left), I let the streaming service find it for me, and I stream even stuff I already own because I feel guilty about paying the service money, so I want to get my money's worth. I use a service that is unpopular, so no pretty popsicle-stick diagrams of my year graced my inbox and then plagued your social feeds. But they did send me a playlist of how they saw my year, which I reproduce below, and subsequently annotate.

1. L'autrier Me'n Aloie by Obsequiae on The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
2. The Return by Deltron 3030 on Event II
3. 2 Candles, 1 Wish by MONO (Japan) on Walking Clouds And Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered And The Sun Shined
4. Leisureforce by Aesop Rock on Skelethon
5. $4 Vic / Nothing but Me and You (Ftl) by El-P on Cancer 4 Cure
6. Bridges And Balloons by Joanna Newsom on The Milk-Eyed Mender
7. In the Garden of Hyacinths by Obsequiae on The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
8. Elliptical Seasons by Starcastle on Starcastle
9. Pay The Price by Deltron 3030 on Event II
10. When I Was Small by Jesu on When I Was Small (Single)
11. Request Denied by El-P on Cancer 4 Cure
12. Cycles To Gehenna by Aesop Rock on Skelethon (Deluxe Edition) (Explicit)
13. This Side Of The Blue by Joanna Newsom on The Milk-Eyed Mender
14. Enter The Realm (Reworked Version) by Iced Earth on Days Of Purgatory (Expanded Version)
15. Lady Of The Lake by Starcastle on Starcastle
16. Speed Dragon by Tangerine Dream on Ocean Waves Collection
17. Miami Morning Coming Down by Earth on Hibernaculum
18. Funeral by Phoebe Bridgers on Stranger in the Alps
19. Never There for You by Jesu on Never
20. Ancient Power Plant by Tangerine Dream on Ocean Waves Collection
21. Engine Of Ruin by Earth on The Bee Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
22. Haitian Fight Song (Remastered) by Charles Mingus on Summertime (Remastered)
23. Rise To Glory by Earth on The Bee Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
24. Oceanride by Tangerine Dream on Ocean Waves Collection
25. Bach's Variatio 26 a 2 Clav by Piano Prayer on Light and Steady Piano Music Pieces

...seems about right. Mostly comfort listens, the things I returned to again and again.

II. The Long Version: The Commentariat on The Comfort Listens

1. L'autrier Me'n Aloie by Obsequiae on The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
   Sounds about right. I spent a LOT of 2020 returning to this slightly embarrassing but unstoppably catchy album of ... look, it's harp metal. I am okay with that. I understand that not everybody will be, but, hey: just means more room on the bandwagon for those of us who enjoy fun. This song does nothing for me, but appears on the list for reasons we'll get to. The album is great, though, you might like it.
2. The Return by Deltron 3030 on Event II
   Finally got around to Event II, and I think its beats are better than the original, and this song is as good an example of that as any. I took a look at some reviews, and this concept album got some criticism for being hard to parse on a plot level, which annoys me in at least two ways. First, no concept album I have heard works super well on any kind of plot level. Second, Event 2 works better than most! (Zen Arcade, Dimension Hätross, 2112, Tommy...Quadrophenia might work as well as Event 2, but that's about it...) Here, for the confused record, is the plot (from memory): there's a bad place and things are bad
   "crash landed on the planet, damn near couldn't under stand it
   Deltron is our hero, if he can't do it nobody can"
   with the help of a rag-tag band of music fans ... he does
   That's all, folks. It's not actually complicated. And the beats ruuuuuule.
3. 2 Candles, 1 Wish by MONO (Japan) on Walking Clouds And Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered And The Sun Shined
   My buddy Pierre Idiot Trudeau turned me on to Mono in 2019. I never put them on specifically, but a couple stations my unpopular streaming service has have a LOT of Mono on them, so this track was selected by them essentially randomly.
4. Leisureforce by Aesop Rock on Skelethon
   Because I mostly listen to albums in their entirety, even on an unpopular streaming service whose specialty is a version of "radio stations" that strive never to play anything you wouldn't like—because, after all, look how well that worked for the terrestrial radio tradition of Top 40 stations, who have never been doing better than they are right now, thanks—the service's list of what I listened to this year is a little heavy on album-opening tracks. Indeed I did continue to return to this album all year long.
5. $4 Vic / Nothing but Me and You (Ftl) by El-P on Cancer 4 Cure
   While I listen to records start-to-finish, I in 2020 began to try to listen to any album only once per day, and no more than one album per artist on any given day. One exception that I made was to play this a number of times in a row a number of times, because I love it.
6. Bridges And Balloons by Joanna Newsom on The Milk-Eyed Mender
   For the last two years, when I need to feel feelings, I put this record on.
7. In the Garden of Hyacinths by Obsequiae on The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
   This is one of the songs I like best on this record, along with Morrigan. Just great shit!
8. Elliptical Seasons by Starcastle on Starcastle
   Another one that's been in heavy rotation for a couple years. Basically a version of Yes that removes a lot of the technical virtuosity and replaces it with a Midwestern driving-around vibe, I like it a lot when it's good, as it is on Starcastle and Citadel.
9. Pay The Price by Deltron 3030 on Event II
10. When I Was Small by Jesu on When I Was Small (Single)
    I don't remember listening to this that much, but late at night when I was sad and sadly awake, I reached for this a lot, partly to ease sleep, partly to puzzle muzzily over the lyrics to see if they were actually objectionable. Verdict still out, but I still love Jesu a lot when I like them, as I do here.
11. Request Denied by El-P on Cancer 4 Cure
    Probably the biggest overlap between "comfort album I turned to a lot in a troubling year" and "first track on that album, therefore overrepresented on the list" is this one.
12. Cycles To Gehenna by Aesop Rock on Skelethon (Deluxe Edition) (Explicit)
    Because for years I have needed to return to the notion of "the product of a DIY inadequate home"...
13. This Side Of The Blue by Joanna Newsom on The Milk-Eyed Mender
    Oddly, one of the songs I don't avidly love off of this album...
14. Enter The Realm (Reworked Version) by Iced Earth on Days Of Purgatory (Expanded Version)
    I really don't remember listening to this record that much this year, but no list of what I listened to is truly complete without a little mediocre power metal, so I'm okay with this.
15. Lady Of The Lake by Starcastle on Starcastle
    There's a really long Kansas song called "Song for America" that I think is a secret influence on a lot of music from the Final Fantasy games, and this song sounds like that, sorta.
16. Speed Dragon by Tangerine Dream on Ocean Waves Collection
    So...I like Tangerine Dream, it turns out. It was news to me (in 2018). Anyway, a lot of nights in 2020, I would put on a Tangerine-Dream-heavy "station" and try to crash. I guess this song came up a lot, when I did that?
17. Miami Morning Coming Down by Earth on Hibernaculum
    LOVE this shit. Never remember to listen as much as I should. I think this played a lot on my Mono station...
18. Funeral by Phoebe Bridgers on Stranger in the Alps
    Best song on the record, for sure.
19. Never There for You by Jesu on Never
    ...I have basically zero memory of listening to this album. Maybe I spun it once or twice late in the year and the unpopular streaming service thought that meant it was a grower? Anyway, what I really listened to a bunch late in the year was Terminus.
20. Ancient Power Plant by Tangerine Dream on Ocean Waves Collection
21. Engine Of Ruin by Earth on The Bee Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
22. Haitian Fight Song (Remastered) by Charles Mingus on Summertime (Remastered)
    Had some jazz moments this year, not gonna lie.
23. Rise To Glory by Earth on The Bee Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
24. Oceanride by Tangerine Dream on Ocean Waves Collection
25. Bach's Variatio 26 a 2 Clav by Piano Prayer on Light and Steady Piano Music Pieces
    Suspect this popped up in the Tangerine Dream station when I was sleeping. Otherwise, no idea.

III. Other and Else

The main thing that landed on me this year that isn't reflected up there is the unbelievably fun Ummon by Slift. French Hawkwind, with screamy drone-vocals and lots of fun riffs. Basically perfect. And French!

Also I listened a lot to the Mike Bagetta / Mike Watt / Stephen Hodges band MSSV. Mostly instrumental, which I needed at work a lot, and the joy and searching the band palpably experiences was also a needed infusion this year.

Oozing Wound, great shit. Ganser, also excellent. Lucidvox! MF Doom. The Paranoid Style, A Goddamn Impossible Way of Life, record-store-person rock, with great hooks and lyrics. Rediscovered the great Ferocious Eagle, who remind us "be not weary, be not weak". Finally realized that being the only fan of godheadSilo still standing meant it behooved me to investigate Enemymine and Dead Low Tide, both of which it turns out ... I like! Some other stuff, too, I am certain.

IV. The Future, Which Is Where We're All Going

I think I enjoy the effort to listen to no more than one album by any given artist per day, and I think I'll continue it. I've tried a few historical listens, where I pick an artist and listen to what they did in order, day by day, but never managed to complete any of these. If I do, and if it seems interesting, I'll put it here. If you want to see a somewhat accurate version of what I'm listening to, you can do so here: https://libre.fm/user/Clsn.

V. Previous Years in HEAVY TUNES

• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011