555-2020 - End Of Year


#21

Nathan Fake


top 10 albums of 2020 (in no particular order) /////


  • autechre - sign/plus
  • actress - karma & desire
  • fear ratio - they can’t be saved
  • datasette - void fill product
  • jessy lanza - all the time
  • patten - glow
  • rian treanor - file under uk metaplasm
  • dravier & precipitation - vancouver sessions
  • h.being - strange strings vol.1
  • delroy edwards - slap happy

#22

Mira Calix


  1. A few days of lockdown escape soaking up the sun on Norfolk’s sandy beaches www.visitnorfolk.co.uk

  2. Dancing - anywhere anytime
 to lift the spirits - mostly to Stevie Wonder, Puma Blue and Tierra Whack
    https://open.spotify.com/album/1EFVYHuhITenIZQgL4yAFu?highlight=spotify:track:4OL39vZOiYvqBiC2UOwoyr

  3. The Aidilfitri Eid family Eurovision dance https://twitter.com/adamimanullah/status/1264430635742945282

  4. Rewatching all 7 seasons of Madmen with man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Men

  5. BBC sounds - Arts and Ideas podcasts - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrvk3/episodes/downloads

  6. Listening (and dancing) to pretty much everything from On The Corner Records https://onthecornerrecords.bandcamp.com/

  7. Intimation by Zadie Smith - proceeds to charity https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/01/intimations-by-zadie-smith-review-a-wonderful-essayist-on-the-lockdown

  8. Corona lockdown - What coronavirus looks like in EVERY country on earth – From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe https://www.channel4.com/news/what-coronavirus-looks-like-in-every-country-on-earth-from-afghanistan-to-zimbabwe

  9. Staged - available on BBC and Netflix https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81329676

  10. My #calixagainstcovid masks available at Bleep - proceeds to charity https://bleep.com/release/190950-mira-calix-calix-against-covid



#23

PhilipSherburne

Philip Sherburne


10 Artists That Made a Small But Significant Stamp on My Year /////


  • Adrianne Lenker
  • Ana Roxanne
  • Bill Callahan
  • Bill Evans
  • Bullion
  • Joel Shanahan
  • KMRU
  • Perila
  • Roberto Carlos Lange
  • Tashi Dorji


#24

Bok Bok


  • Manara’s weekly show on bbc asian network
  • Bandcamp fridays motivating everyone to drop new musicFireFireFire
  • OSSX edits
  • Helix edits
  • My friends forcing me to get into amapiano
  • London producers responding to South African house with their own spin on amapiano and gqom
  • Scotti d productions
  • ard adz LP
  • Uk beats taking over NYC drill


#25

Silvia Kastel


2020 highlights /////


  • Playing & hanging out in Vilnius for the first time in January, with lovely people - thanks DomantĂ© and Tomas for making me feel so welcome
  • Thankful I have not lost any family or friends to Covid
  • Finally releasing some new music after a couple years
  • Also radio has been a life saver in keeping me excited and inspired with new music every month

Some favourites:

  • 070 Shake - Modus Vivendi
  • A.k.Adrix - CĂłdigo de Barras
  • Aloe Extract Sound
  • Autechre - Sign
  • Aya - Too Oh Won Nein
  • CNDSD - In Tongues
  • Gavsborg - Jamaican Drum Machine
  • Hyph11e - Barnacles (Kode9 Remix)
  • Lawrence Lek - Aidol
  • Metal Preyers - Bootes Void
  • NÍDIA - NĂŁo Fales Nela Que A Mentes
  • Slikback - /// and /// II


#26

John Twells


top 10 mixes of the year :slight_smile: no particular order /////


Jake Muir - Bathhouse Blues

Juliana Huxtable - Dekmantel Podcast 288

CCL - Juanita’s Mix 034

Lara Sarkissian - NTS Armenian Special

Kilbourne - Discwoman mix 94
http://www.discwoman.com/mixes/kilbourne

W00dy - FACT mix 749

LSDXOXO - NU CENOSIS mix

ABBY - Club Cringe 02

Laila Sakini - Knekelhuis 70

KMRU - Motion Cast Vol. 57



#27

Lucinda Chua


top ten for 555 /////


10 - I got this to make the sun, I thought it would be magical but the slippery texture meant it was fickle and hard to work with so I didn’t end up using it as much as I thought I would.

09 - This is the colour on Chinese phoenix wings, which is more like a rainbow peacock than a fire bird. In real life the blue is a lot more vibrant.

08 - I haven’t used this one yet, it was a gift from Art Angel who asked me to be involved in their “Thinking Time” project. Whilst I was thinking, I ended up doing a lot of sewing. And all of my lockdown embroideries are going on a jacket.

07 - I really love this one, it’s the darkest part of the inside of the rabbit’s ear.

06 - I got this for the clouds. When I was in the embroidery shop, I was genuinely shocked at how many different shades of white there were - and how they all looked so different. Someone could make an ambient album about that.

05 - This one looks very popular, I must have used it on a lot of things. Phoenix feathers, dragon’s mane, rabbit paws. On it’s own it isn’t very inspiring, but marking it higher for being a good team player.

04 - Of all the shades of water, this is the one I like best

03 - By the time I got to this, I had mastered the silky thread. Still annoying to work with, but easier if you split it into six tiny strands. This is the colour of snake tongue and phoenix comb.

02 - I got so into the greens, most of my favourites I’ve completely used up - this is one of the last ones I have left. It’s so acidic I can taste it. It’s mixed into the dragon and the snake.

01 - This is basically the mood of 2020 for me, the colour I have used more than any other - must have got through ten if not more filling in all the empty space. But in the negative space there is possibility and opportunity.



#28

o F F Love


  • Ă©tĂ© 85 (summer 85) as the first movie post lock down
  • ocean vuong
  • Arca, Kick
  • rewatching all 6 seasons of Lost
  • we are who we are (hbo)
  • ag cook, soft landing
  • Yakushima
  • hiba salt bath
  • reading song of Achilles in 2 days
  • turning earth Leyton


#29

Ptwiggs


Animes that penetrate the psyche /////


  1. Neon Genesis Evangelion
  2. Serial Experiments Alain
  3. Angel’s Egg
  4. Perfect blue
  5. Aku no Hana
  6. Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
  7. Genius Party Beyond
  8. Houseki no Kuni
  9. Paranoia Agent
  10. Memories


#30

Tom Lea (Local Action)


555-5555 EOY /////


  • The Do!! You!!! Breakfast Show, NTS Radio
    A quarantine constant for me and so many others, a lifesaver every morning.

  • Randy Crawford, Raw Silk (1979)
    The best album I heard for the first time this year and a front-to-back perfect record, thanks to Jesse Bernard for the recommendation.

  • Synecdoche, New York (2008)
    Spent the first half of the year ticking off cinematic big hitters that I’d put off for the best part of a decade, and this was the best. The most simultaneously ambitious and human film I’ve ever seen, I’ve thought about it every single day since.

  • Frank Ocean, ‘Solo’ (2016)
    In a year where I listened to infinitely more old music than new, I must have played this song a hundred-plus times.

  • The Southern Hospitality / Regulators Show, Soho Radio
    Rob Pursey and Superix’s unparalleled knowledge and total lack of pretentiousness makes this the best specialist show on UK radio for me.

  • The-Dream, ‘Cedes Benz’ (Queen & Slim Version, 2019)
    R&B’s greatest modern songwriter reimagines 2015’s ‘Cedes Benz’ as a tender ballad — his best song in years. Really great film too.

  • Phil Lynott’s Grand Slam, ‘Harlem’ (Studio Version, 1984)
    A Do!! You!!! favourite that took on a whole other life for me — my dad is a big Lynott fan and I’ve not seen him since last year, so this one hits different right now.

  • Jessy Lanza, ‘Lick in Heaven’ (2020) *

  • Sofie, ‘Asleep’ (2020) *
    **My two most-played 2020 records that I didn’t release.

  • The Sopranos (1999-2007)
    Finally did it!



#31

Daedelus


  • Nazar - Guerrilla
  • aNTOJE - Gridlock 911117
  • Natureboy Flako - Ambitus of Beauty
  • Frankie Reyes - Originalitos
  • Loraine James - Hmm
  • Cakedog - O.T.K. Track Series 15-19
  • Jyoti - Mama, You Can Bet!
  • Ras G - Raw Fruit Vol. 5 & 6
  • Al3jxndro - Muuuv.
  • Steez The Producer


#32

IsisORegan

Isis O’Regan


10 things that hit different in 2020 /////


  1. Toyin Ojih Odutola ‘A Countervailing Theory’ exhibition, which stretched around the Barbican’s The Curve space. It felt like an epic immersive comic book with its corresponding soundscape by Peter Adjaye. Emotional and moving sci-fi at it’s best.

  2. With sci-fi being a prominent feature this year, 2020 was the year Ursula K Le Guin entered my life! First off with The Left Hand of Darkness (of c) and then The Dispossesed which fucking banged. I think I was too eager to find likeness in the dystopian setting. Le Guin has been a huge inspiration to mine and Rupert Clervaux’s Lyl Radio residency that started this year. Titled Tanzen und Denken, we’ve read many a passage of hers in our spoken word infused shows.

  3. Sopranos. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so passionate about a series. I truly love and adore, and now miss, the characters and all their fucked up flaws and humor. I would implore anyone who hasn’t watched it yet to finally succumb. You have the time, in all fairness.

  4. The Atlantic Ocean! I was lucky to escape London for sometime at home in Galway in August, which meant some necessary recharging in the sea. Nothing beats it.

  5. The Other Latif Podcast by RadioLab. I was drawn to this six-parter as finding someone else who shares their namesake with a terrorist is pretty rare (I can lol here but you can’t). Excellent in depth journalism over years long investigating, this series highlights the inhumane conditions of Guantanamo Bay and as the producer digs deeper, contemplates his own sliding doors scenario as the two Latif’s seem more similar than he could have imagined.

  6. The label PatrĂșin. This year they’ve released the brilliant fundraiser compilation ‘For MASI’ that showcases their impeccable taste. With previous releases from blusher and their scrapbook-esque ‘tren renzo’ and the Oooo EP by Cool Uncle, they manage to capture a perfect wonkiness in all their releases. Artwork by Mel Keane, too. Class. The label were raising funds very literally for MASI in aid of ending direct provision, which is a system in Ireland that essentially refuses asylum seekers personhood. It was an emergency measure put in place 20 years ago which needs to be ended as it perpetuates poverty and discrimination.

  7. Yves Tumor - Heaven to a Tortured Mind. Obsessed with the horniest album of 2020.

  8. Karaoke. Home karaoke, sorry neighbours. This has got me through bleak moments of this year. My go to’s are : The Cranberries’ Zombie (pre-Miley) and Björk ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’

  9. GIGS!!! Caroline Polachek and Christine and the Queens at the MOTH Club and Beatrice Dillon at Somerset House Studios. I miss live music : (
    Sophie Hollington’s Autonomic Tarot Cards. I love Hollington’s trippy glam punk lino cuts and prints and picked up her and David Keenan’s deck collaboration at Donlon’s. Brutally honest and unforgiving, the images and prose take a life of their own as they don’t have the major arcana cards. My friend who is a more experienced tarot card reader exposed some serious home truths to a group of friends.

  10. Sophie Hollington’s Autonomic Tarot Cards. I love Hollington’s trippy glam punk lino cuts and prints and picked up her and David Keenan’s deck collaboration at Donlon’s. Brutally honest and unforgiving, the images and prose take a life of their own as they don’t have the major arcana cards. My friend who is a more experienced tarot card reader exposed some serious home truths to a group of friends.



#33

NathanMa

Nathan Ma


Ten words I loved in 2020 /////


10 - Theater
9 - Interstitial
8 - Peppered
7 - Blooming
6 - Circumnavigate
5 - Responsive
4 - Irreparably
3 - Forthcoming
2 - Adjacent
1 - Appreciative



#34

MaxTundra

Max Tundra


Top Ten Things I Discovered On Bandcamp In 2020 /////




#35

NigelYang

HTRK Nigel


my 2020 /////


  • Devoted letter writing
  • Weird strength from lighting a candle in the morning
  • Shift in consciousness with Black Lives Matter
  • Reading Moyra Davey, Amy Sillman, Claire-Louise Bennet, Carmen Maria Machado
  • Wrapups of the 2010s in Frieze and Spike Magazine
  • Criterion Channel - The Daytrippers, Zombi Child, A Nos Amours, All in this Tea
  • Ssense colour essays
  • Insanity workout
  • Buying an acoustic guitar
  • Watching Alone season 1-3 from a comfy couch


#36

Moor Mother (Black Quantum Futurism)


  • Rammes ll by Armand Hammer
  • Rose 31 from le labo
  • Birkenstock house slippers
  • Silk scarfs
  • Honey pie
  • Pearl necklaces
  • Tulsi Rose tea
  • Mama Koko by The Art ensemble of Chicago
  • Books by Ted Chiang
  • Somehow releasing 9 music projects in one year


#37

Felix Lee (Endless / Planet Mu)


Top 10 songs of 2020 /////


2020 was a mad year, period.
I feel like we’re going through a slow motion cultural reset.
For me these tunes cut thru, in no particular order

  • Pa Salieu ft Mahalia - Energy - just some real uplifting and positive vibes. Refreshing

  • Peake - Tantalyse - Joe and Nikita done their thing on this, much needed escapism in the form of a dizzy pop heater, with some truly poetic bars. Bringing romanticism back to this cold world.

  • MizorMac - Return of the Mac - Kenningtons finest, there’s a message behind this one and the production and vocal performance is the most lush shit I’ve heard for a minute.

  • Hook - Get Bacc - one of the best artists on the rise this year, whole tape fiya.

  • Tati Au Miel - Clairvoyance - love this track I mix it a lot, dope song from a dope compilation.

  • Estoc x Evian Christ x Gangsta Boo x Chyna Whyte - Ultra Bundle - fucking crazy blend, love slapping this in the car.

  • Kamixlo - Cicatriz - the don himself dropped his long await debut, a real tripped out experience, you gotta listen the album in one go or listen to a their dj mixes to deep the beautiful chaotic world K has crafted.

  • Lancey Foux ft Bakar - Poison - I fuck w lancey something so London about his sound, sincere, elegant flow and a mad visual.

  • Ecco2k - Pollen - if you ever want to paint Ecco with one brush think again, this is some real neo folk manic shit.
    Slightly unhinged and off in the best possible way.

  • Raverstaywifme - Rewind - I don’t know much about this artist but I found this mixtape on bandcamp and I’ve been mixing with it ever since. Just gives me greazy vibes
 the slightly jumpy key loop on this one spins me differently.

I hope 2021 can be of some respite to anyone reading this, all we got is each other in this toxic dunya. Love - F



#38

Jon Hillcock (BBC Radio 6 Music)


ten people who got me through 2020 /////


  • Mary Lattimore
  • Lester Freamon
  • Iggy Pop
  • Emily Maitlis
  • Dr Lev
  • Lewis the yoga guy off the Puregym app
  • Inflo
  • Jose Mourinho
  • Sir Spyro
  • Stanley Hudson


#39

Emilie Friedlander


  • The novel Vernon Subutex
  • Toots and the Maytals’ cover of “Country Roads”
  • Hearing Bernie Sanders give the same stump speech he’s given 1000 times
  • Discovering brussels sprouts with fish sauce
  • Watching all of I May Destroy You in a weekend
  • Listening to True Anon on long drives
  • Hippies dancing in streets in Asheville, North Carolina on the Saturday after Election Day
  • All the different mushrooms in Merge Dragons
  • Getting really into random meditation gurus on Insight Timer
  • My dog barking and jumping and rearing up like a horse whenever it was time for a walk, in a year when walking was all we had


#40

MichailStangl

Michail Stangl (Boiler Room / CTM Festival)


music to traverse the metasphere with, 20 steps, in no particular order /////


liminal sonic experiences for a liminal year

—

Laylow - TRINITY (Chopped & Screwed by Kandea)

World Serpent - Memnon Sa

Rosa Pano - Luis Pestana

Wordcolour - ‘People Can You Hear Me’ Mix

nine-sum sorcery - LABOUR (feat. Hani Mojtahedy)

BABii - Beast+

Keeley Forsyth & Matthew Bourne | Chronotope for Marsden Jazz Festival, in three parts



ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tebUMXzHSsE

Cruise Utopia - Canaan Balsam

ThritĂŽnh (2nd Passage: The Colour Of Death) - Esoctrilihum (Eternity Of Shaog)

Ways - Xyla

Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin - Eartheater

My Enemy, My Love - Mentrix

Phurpa - Live at Lastochka 2020.10.22

ralph - Selfish (Prod. Double Clapperz)

Ficciones Del TrĂłpico - Molero

Rosa AnschĂŒtz, live at Hyper Real Radio (06.11.20)

The Strangeness of Dub - Edward George, Morley Radio
https://www.morleyradio.co.uk/series/the-strangeness-of-dub/

Dreamcrusher “Another Country”

WRACK - HAM (OUT OF FASHION BOYS)

The Totemist by Ak’chamel, The Giver Of Illness