Like most facets of this year, the musical landscape was… strange. With no chances for major release tours or publicity events, it may seem at first that this year was uneventful. However, where the major artists mainly took this time to refind their footing, the alternative scenes exploded with new and inventive releases. R&B, folk, hyperpop, disco, punk, and many other genres experienced integral releases this year that are sure to be deemed classics in the years that follow. So, we at WPGU wanted to recognize our favorite works released in 2020. This list was curated by the wonderous web writers in a high-stakes, winner takes all, Zoom Call. There was a lot of deliberation put into making this list and a lot of care put into writing our Staff Pick Synopsises. We hope you enjoy this and all upcoming articles in 2021!
Top 50 Releases of 2020:
| 50: Shawn Wasabi- MANGOTALE | 49: The Garden- Kiss My Super Bowl Ring | 48: Bartees Strange – Live Forever | 47: Destroyer – Have We Met | 46: Deante’ Hitchcock – BETTER |
| 45: Chicano Batman- Invisible People | 44: Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately | 43:Disclosure- ENERGY | 42: Adrianne Lenker – songs | 41: beabadoobee- Fake it Flowers |
| 40: The Nude Party- Midnight Manor | 39: meat computer- social distancing from reality | 38: Dua Lipa- Future Nostalgia | 37: Soccer Mommy – color theory | 36: Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats- Unlocked |
| 35: Devonté Hynes- We Are Who We Are | 34: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard- KG | 33: The Chats- High Risk Behaviour | 32: SAULT- UNTITLED (Black Is) | 31: keiyaA- Forever, Ya Girl |
| 30: Aminé- Limbo | 29: Ka – Descendants of Cain | 28: Khruangbin- Mordechai | 27: Park National- The Big Glad | 26: Hi-C – No More Heroes, Vol. 1 |
| 25: The Microphones- Microphones in 2020 | 24: Yves Tumor-Heaven to a Tortured Mind | 23: Dehd – Flower of Devotion | 22: Idles- Ultra Mono | 21: Orville Peck- Show Pony |
| 20: Chloe X Halle- Ungodly Hour | 19: King Krule- Man Alive! | 18: The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You | 17: The Weeknd- After Hours | 16: Fleet Foxes- Shore |
| 15: Your Arms Are My Cocoon- S/T | 14: Thundercat – It Is What It Is | 13: Ichiko Aoba- Windswept Adan | 12: Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist- Alfredo | 11: Moses Sumney – græ |
| 10: The Strokes- The New Abnormal | 9: Rina Sawayama- SAWAYAMA | 8: clipping.- Visions of Bodies Being Burned | 7: Run The Jewels- RTJ4 | 6: HAIM- Women in Music Pt. III |
| 5: Jeff Rosenstock- No Dream | 4: Jessie Ware-What’s Your Pleasure | 3: Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters | 2: Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher | 1: Charli XCX- How I’m Feeling Now |
