There was some good music in 2020, so I’ve put together my list of ~40 albums. This is the ‘Weird’ section - there’s nothing in common here except that they don’t quite fit anywhere else. And I love them all.

Click here or scroll down for the Spotify playlist of the lot!

Heather Leigh - Glory Days - All I Do Is Lust
One of the best albums that is very much a product of lockdown. Echoes of deserted dancefloors.

The Mountain Goats - Songs for Pierre Chuvin - Until Olympius Returns
What do you do when Covid cancels recording sessions? Write an album of acoustic songs about old pagans, of course.

Harmonious Thelonious - Plong - Höhlenmenschenmuziek
Nuel - Fantasia - The Running Flow
Hotspring - Obit For Sunshade - Resounding
Nihiloxica - Kaloli - Gunjula
Genuinely know nothing about any of these but I’ve been playing them all year. Hard to describe any of them well but the Nuel album may well be the best of the year.

Nídia - Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes - Tarraxo Do Guetto
Everything Nidia does in fantastic. I’m still kicking myself for passing up an opportunity to see her live a couple of years ago.

Lyra Pramuk - Fountain - Gossip
This is an interesting one. Every sound on the album is Lyra’s recorded voice, manipulated and chopped.

Duval Timothy - Help - Fall Again
An impossible to define album. It does jazz, piano solos, gospel, sampling. Fascinating.

Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders - Silver Ladders
Sarah Davachi - Cantus, Descant - Ruminant
Both really beautiful albums. Mostly wordless, rewards slow listening.

Lina, Raül Refree - Lina_Raül Refree - Os meus olhos são dois círios
One of the most interesting of the year. Fado, stripped of guitars and reimagined.

Rian Treanor - File Under UK Metaplasm - Debouncing
Wow this album. Hard to listen to, hard to imagine anyone dancing to. Sits somewhere between music and noise.