{"id":3103,"date":"2020-12-30T01:06:02","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T09:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/?p=3103"},"modified":"2022-01-02T00:10:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T08:10:27","slug":"rankstravaganza-my-30-favorite-songs-of-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2020\/12\/rankstravaganza-my-30-favorite-songs-of-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Rankstravaganza: My 30 Favorite Songs of 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What can one say about 2020 other than, “Good riddance”? I can think of one thing: There was some damn good music released this year. Is it because 2020 was a particularly fruitful year, with talented artists who had nothing else to do but write and record new music? Or was it because I just had more time to explore new music? Probably a combination of both, to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bandcamp Fridays<\/a>, during which the online retailer foregoes its usual fees and gives 100% of each sale directly the artist, has been a great inspiration for me in the time of COVID. It’s an easy way to directly support local artists, and an excuse for me to peruse the new releases with an Oakland tag at least once a month. I discovered a lot of independent East Bay music as a result. (Bandcamp has announced that the initiative will continue through at least May<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also owe a debt to the fine folks at All Songs Considered<\/a>. Several of the songs below were discovered while listening to the “New Music Friday<\/a>” or “Best Music of [month]” podcasts while loading the dishwasher, which is where I spent like 20 percent of my time in 2020 (on account of everybody being home all day every day and generating significantly more dirty dishes).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope the pipeline of good music keeps flowing into 2021. The rest of 2020 can stay right where it is, thank you very much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n