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The Allmusic 2020

Year In Review

Whether you're looking to be soothed by the gentle ambient sounds of Mary Lattimore and KMRU, to be pummeled by the jagged chaos of RXM Reality and Prolaps, or hunting for a happy medium somewhere in between, the year's best electronic albums offered a wide range of sounds for every mood.

A.G. Cook

Apple

The singer/songwriter and producer's second debut album is a satisfying blend of electronic noise, pop theatrics, and indie balladry.

Actress

Karma & Desire

Darren Cunningham is joined by a mix of vocalists and instrumentalists, including Vanessa Benelli Mosell and Sampha, on his least esoteric LP.

Adult.

Perception Is/As/Of Deception

The duo explores sensory deprivation, suspicion, paranoia, and illusions on this ominously danceable set.

Against All Logic

2017 - 2019

The aggressive, challenging second album from Nicolas Jaar's club music alias is a compelling mixture of anger and beauty.

Ana Roxanne

Because of a Flower

The Los Angeles-based composer and vocalist explores themes of gender identity, beauty, nature, and space.

Arca

KiCk i

The producer's fourth album celebrates her music's unapologetic contradictions and fragments in startling, beautiful, and genuine ways.

Autechre

PLUS

Autechre immediately followed their ambient-leaning full-length SIGN with a more beat-focused companion piece.

Avalon Emerson

DJ-Kicks

Adventurous mix from the San Francisco-born selector, showcasing several of her own productions and custom edits.

Beatrice Dillon

Workaround

A tightly wound yet playful set of polymetric rhythm studies set at a fixed tempo of 150 beats per minute.

Borusiade

Fortunate Isolation

Brooding electro soundscapes accompanied by deeply introspective lyrics that reflect on self-distancing.

Cocktail Party Effect

Cocktail Party Effect

Charlie Baldwin's debut album as Cocktail Party Effect is filled with dense, explosive mutations of grime, garage, and drill'n'bass.

DJ Python

Mas Amable

DJ Python pushes his innovative "deep reggaeton" sound further with his smoothly flowing, meditative second album.

Domenique Dumont

People on Sunday

A wonderful set of curious, sometimes playful instrumentals composed as a soundtrack to a 1930 German silent film.

Duke Dumont

Duality

Long-awaited full-length debut from the English DJ is an emotionally uplifting set of anthems.

Ela Minus

acts of rebellion

The producer/songwriter's debut is a kinetic, softly subversive triumph designed to make listeners think as well as dance.

Eris Drew / Octo Octa

Fabric Presents Octo Octa & Eris Drew

A characteristically energetic all-vinyl set from the T4T LUV NRG duo, connecting the dots between house, techno, hardcore, and garage.

FARWARMTH

Momentary Glow

A breathtaking electro-acoustic work meticulously constructed from a series of improvisations, filled with fractured melodies and scathing distortion.

Faten Kanaan

A Mythology of Circles

A spell-binding set from the Brooklyn-based electronic composer of cyclical synth-based works steeped in mythology.

Heathered Pearls

Cast [Rust Patina Vinyl] [LP]

The third album from this ambient electronic project is its most complex and personality-rich, adding spoken word audio to textural loops for surprisingly strong effect.

Helena Hauff

Kern, Vol. 5

A gargantuan two-hour trip that effortlessly glides through techno and electro's darker regions.

Hyph11E

Aperture

A challenging yet club-ready fusion of jungle, footwork, and post-industrial sound design themed around holes.

I. Jordan

For You

I. Jordan's self-dedicated EP is a celebration of their life's progression, channeling influences from French house to drum'n'bass.

Josey Rebelle

Josey in Space

Highly regarded London DJ Josey Rebelle displays her fearless, passionate mixing style on this intense, uplifting mix for New York's Beats in Space.

Katie Gately

Loom

The producer's painful, beautiful, and powerful tribute to her late mother engulfs listeners in her grieving process.

KMRU

Peel

The Kenyan sound artist created one of 2020's most breathtaking ambient records within 48 hours.

Lauren Bousfield

Palimpsest

Cinematic breakcore hyperpop from the composer and sound designer formerly known as Nero's Day at Disneyland.

Linea Aspera

Linea Aspera LP II

After regrouping in 2019, the minimal wave duo release a more sensual, emotionally varied follow-up to their remarkable debut.

Lorenzo Senni

Scacco Matto

The long-awaited first Warp full-length by the Italian master of pointillistic trance.

Mary Lattimore

Silver Ladders

The ambient harpist works with Slowdive's Neil Halstead on this album of patient, autumnal instrumentals.

Moby

All Visible Objects

On his 17th LP, Moby takes it back to the dancefloor with a rousing set of nostalgic, pulsing anthems.

Nathan Fake

Blizzards

Nathan Fake's strongest, most exciting album is a rapturous collection of spontaneously recorded analog techno tracks.

Nazar

Guerrilla

Nazar's "rough kuduro" sound reflects the tragic reality of his family's experience in war-torn Angola.

Nicolas Bougaïeff

The Upward Spiral

A startling set of complex audio constructions that challenge the conventional framework of techno.

Oneohtrix Point Never

Magic Oneohtrix Point Never

Inspired by his lifelong love of radio, Daniel Lopatin combines the different facets of his music with a newfound warmth and intimacy.

Patricia

Maxyboy

More refined and detailed than his earlier releases, Max Ravitz's first Ghostly LP is a moody, vibrant collection of IDM, electro, and acid tracks.

Paul Epworth

Voyager

The intergalactic solo debut from the famed English producer melds '70s soul/funk, synths, rappers, and R&B singers.

Plone

Puzzlewood

Arriving 21 years after their cult classic For Beginner Piano, the influential electronic pop duo's second album is more playful than ever.

Pole

Fading

Seventh album from this digital dub deconstructionist hides a non-stop stream of details deep within deceptively relaxed arrangements.

Prolaps

Pure Mud, Vol. 7

A chaotic punk-rave explosion from Bonnie Baxter (Kill Alters) and Matt Stephenson (Machine Girl).

Rafael Anton Irisarri

Peripeteia

One of experimental ambient composer Rafael Anton Irisarri's boldest and most immediate works.

Rian Treanor

File Under UK Metaplasm

Rian Treanor's elastic second album is a head-spinning yet tightly focused hybrid of footwork, singeli, grime, and dancehall.

RXM Reality

blood blood blood blood

Monumental set of explosive machine battles and post-apocalyptic ascensions from Chicagoan audio obliterator Mike Meegan.

Squarepusher

Be Up a Hello

After several albums of heady concepts, the electronic visionary returns to his IDM roots on this refreshingly direct collection.

The Bug / Dis Fig

In Blue

Kevin Martin discharges some of his crispest dancehall and dub deconstructions with crucial lyrical and vocal assistance from Dis Fig.

The Soft Pink Truth

Shall We Go on Sinning So That Grace May Increase?

Drew Daniel responds to the increasing hate in the 2010s and 2020s with a deeply beautiful celebration of love and community.

upsammy

Zoom

Refreshing, vividly expressive full-length debut from the free-spirited Dutch artist.

Villaelvin

Headroof

A joyfully lawless collaboration between Welsh sound artist Elvin Brandhi and musicians from Kampala, Uganda's Nyege Nyege collective.

Vladislav Delay

Rakka

Brutal, apocalyptic hellscapes from the Finnish experimental techno master, conveying much more than the bitter cold of the Arctic tundra.

William Basinski

Lamentations

The ambient composer culls through a massive archive of loops and audio fragments to deliver one of his more accessible albums.

Yaeji

What We Drew

Reaching a new level of pop sophistication, Yaeji's first mixtape is an expansive, ambitious set of journalistic reflections.

artist image
Katie Gately