My Top 25 Most Played New Music Tracks from 2020

I do still buy music (despite having a Spotify account). Yes, I'm a dinosaur, but it's partly due to the fact that I have ripped several hundred CDs and shared them onto the cloud using iTunes Match. I did consider Apple Music when I went with Spotify, but at that point, it didn't have a web-player (which I wanted to access at work and on my Chromebook) and I'd also heard horror stories about losing all your synchronised music if you ever downgraded your membership. So Spotify is used by me for checking out music, and as the main player for the kids using a Family account. I use iTunes Match much more, and I still pick up CDs, especially if I like the artist (or if they aren't available digitally like some of the All About Eve albums I've added recently.

I set up a smart search in iTunes to explore what I'd listened to most from the releases last year (2020). They're a bit flavoured by the eldest, as he does listen to iTunes as well (although that stopped at Christmas when he moved to his own Apple ID). Also, music released in earlier years that I discovered this year isn't included, so Marillion's 'With Friends from the Orchestra' and 'All One Tonight' and Simple Minds' 'Live in the City of Angels' both don't make it into the list. I've linked to the tracks on Spotify if you want to check any of them out.

All Blessed - Faithless

The clear winner for me in 2020 was Faithless, who returned with a new album 'All Blessed' in the back end of the year. Maxi Jazz is no longer doing vocals, but it's an absolutely glorious album, with the soaring highs and relentless beat that I love about the group. This takes 12 on the top 25 slots; that reflects that Nathan and I both really like this and had it on heavy rotation. The top track played was 'Synthesiser', but I think my favourite is actually 'I Need Someone'. Both feature Nathan Ball on lyrics. 

Time - Alan Walker & Hans Zimmer

The next highest artist was Alan Walker, with Time. This is a sublime remix of one of Hans Zimmer's themes from the film 'Inception'. It's good enough that sometimes I've ended up with the two versions on rotation and not realised that I've had them on for quite some time. Nathan discovered this one, and I shamelessly adopted it. Both tracks are in the top 25.

Baby Pink and Blue - Josie Man

The third artist was new to me and was an impulse buy after I was listening to Radio 6 in the Triode app early in the lockdown. The track is Baby Pink & Blue by Josie Man, which is a slinky, upbeat number from 'a LOVING boothang'. Jill liked this and I think it may have ended up on one of her playlists.

Nostalgia for Infinity - Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate

The fourth-placed artist was Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate with the album Nostalgia for Infinity. There are two tracks in the list; the highest placed is Century Rain, and the eponymous track is also there. All the tracks on this album are inspired by the SF books of Alastair Reynolds and are prog rock. A post on Reynold's blog put me onto it and I'm glad I checked it out. Extremely enjoyable.

Imploding the Mirage - The Killers

Fifth-placed are The Killers, with three tracks from the album Imploding the Mirage. The tracks are 'My Own Soul's Warning', 'Caution' and 'Fire in Bone'. I think these are driven mainly by Nathan's listening, as I didn't really get into this album the way that I did for some of their previous releases. It felt very much like they were doing it by numbers, a bit on auto-pilot. I was surprised that they weren't higher, but I think that Nathan did listen to them a lot more on Spotify. That said, they have the second-highest number of places in the top 25.

Physical - Dua Lipa

The next track is Physical by Dua Lipa. This is one of Jill's and quite fun. Very much not my kind of thing but enjoyable. By that, I mean that I wouldn't have bought it myself, but I like it enough to listen to it.

La Silla - Steve Rothery

Steve Rothery's La Silla comes next. This is soaring guitar set beautifully and dreamily without vocals. Rothery is Marillion's guitarist and knows his stuff, and this is a mellow and floating track. I'd definitely recommend it.

What Moves - LA Priest

The next track is What Moves by LA Priest. I picked this up from the same session that I discovered the Josie Mann track. Aidan loves this for some reason. It's a spiky track, which grooves along. Fun.

Will-o-the-Wisp - Pet Shop Boys

The Pet Shop Boys make a late entry with Will-o-the-Wisp, from their recent album Hotspot. Despite being around from the early 1980s, they still create energy filled and interesting tracks which tell stories. This one is an almost wistful reflection on lost love, the one that got away.

The Mandalorian - Beyond the Guitar

The final artist is Beyond the Guitar, who released a wonderful guitar version of the theme from The Mandalorian. Definitely worth listening to.

So that was my top played music from releases in 2020. What was yours?

24 January 2021