DANG Y’ALL. April 2020 was absolutely bananas for new music. I mentioned a few weeks ago on my twitter that five records featured here have already comfortably become obsession-worthy favorites. Can you guess which ones? The gag is that the five others I’ve selected are also approaching that territory. Not only are the 10 records I’ve selected here quality, they also beat out plenty of other great albums from artists like Empress Of, Purity Ring, Why Bonnie, Thundercat, Jackie Lynn, Crisman, Rina Sawayama and more. There are obvious selections of course (Fiona Apple, Laura Marling, Yves Tumor), but hopefully a few names that are new to you. But most of all, I hope you enjoy and stay safe!

Albums listed in alphabetical order.

Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters [Epic]
Refusing to leave your house, instead crafting miniature cities filled with cardboard cutouts of people and getting wrapped up in the mundane dramas you create for them.

John Carroll Kirby – My Garden [Stones Throw]
The Spanish tiling in your kitchen is exquisite and matches the sea breezes coming through your foyer open windows.

Kalbells – Mothertime [NNA Tapes]
Mysterious photo editing software slowly buffers in filters to your actual face, but slowly starts to warp and render reality around you uncannily.

Laura Marling – Song For Our Daughter [Chrysalis / Partisan]
A grandparent reflects on their more wild and wanderlust-fulfilling days and finds pride in watching their grandchildren express the same rambunctiousness they once did.

Lido Pimienta – Miss Colombia [Anti]
A snap with the timbre of a crack of thunder resonates in the face of injustice.

MAYBEL – Gathering [Vain Mina Records]
Prairie grasses sway in a light summer breeze, gently dislodging butterflies from feeding on wildflowers.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals [Rocket Recordings]
One day the sun never rose again and humanity evolved into an anxiety-ridden night-thriving race of pale humanoids that bask in celestial starlight on clear days.

Sun Araw – Rock Sutra [Sun Ark]
Getting shrunken down to guppy size by a fish wizard and having to scavenge shattered pieces of the blessed obsidian amulet to return to normal size and also save the mushroom kingdom (not that mushroom kingdom) from the lava prince.

TOPS – I Feel Alive [Musique TOPS]
Rollerblading through a hometown mall with your friends and encountering glamorous drama between rival schools in your town.

Yves Tumor – Heaven For A Tortured Mind [Warp]
Alien glam rock entity from the same universe as Interstella 5555 reckons with their former self as their memories are returned to them.

ALSO – a special shout out goes to Clams Casino’s Instrumental Relics, featuring some of the most imprinted songs of my 2010s experience on it in nice remastered quality, also most available for streaming for the first time. Go stream that shit for every time you listened to a YouTube rip of “Swervin”. Lastly, I mean, anything with “I’m God” on it will get a nod on this blog.

GR8 SONGS OF APRIL::

Listen to all these songs and more on my Best of 2020 Spotify Playlist!

• The Buttertones – “Fade Away Gently”
• Charli XCX – “claws”
• Charli XCX – “forever”
• Cindy Lee – “As I’m Stepping Thru The Gates”
• Cindy Lee – “I Don’t Want To Fall In Love Again”
• CMON – “Mindboggling”
• CMON – “Sam”
• Crisman – “Cya”
• Earl Sweatshirt – “Whole World (feat. Maxo, prod. by Alchemist)”
• Ellis – “Fall Apart”
• Empress Of – “Bit Of Rain”
• Fiona Apple – “Drumset”
• Fiona Apple – “Newspaper”
• Fiona Apple – “Shameika”
• India Jordan – “For You”
• Jackie Lynn – “Shugar Water”
• Jerskin Fendrix – “I’ll Wait For It”
• Jerskin Fendrix – “Oh God”
• Jessy Lanza – “Face”
• Jockstrap – “The City”
• John Carroll Kirby – “Blueberry Beads”
• John Carroll Kirby – “Night Croc”
• Kalbells – “Cool and Bendable”
• Laura Marling – “Alexandra”
• Laura Marling – “For You”
• Laura Marling – “Held Down”
• Laura Marling – “Song For Our Daughter”
• Laura Marling – “Strange Girl”
• Laurel Halo – “Hyphae”
• Lido Pimienta – “Nada (feat. Li Saumet)”
• Lido Pimienta – “Te Queria”
• MAYBEL – “Bird Song”
• MAYBEL – “Bliss In Solitude”
• MAYBEL – “Mary”
• MAYBEL – “Winter City”
• Midwife – “Language”
• Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – “Halloween Bolson”
• Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – “Rubbernecker”
• Purity Ring – “pink lightning”
• Rina Sawayama – “Love Me 4 Me”
• Skullcrusher – “Places/Plans”
• Soela – “Inconsistency (feat. Christopher Ledger)”
• Sun Araw – “78 Sutra”
• Thundercat – “Dragonball Durag”
• Thundercat – “I Love Louis Cole (feat. Louis Cole)”
• Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes – “Lift Off (feat. Rocco Palladino)”
• TOPS – “Colder And Closer”
• TOPS – “Direct Sunlight”
• TOPS – “Drowning In Paradise”
• TOPS – “I Feel Alive”
• TOPS – “OK Fine Whatever”
• TOPS – “Pirouette”
• Westerman – “Your Hero Is Not Dead”
• Why Bonnie – “No Caves”
• Why Bonnie – “Voice Box”
• Wilma Archer – “Cheater (feat. Sudan Archives)”
• Wilma Archer – “Scarecrow”
• Yves Tumor – “A Greater Love”
• Yves Tumor – “Gospel For A New Century”
• Yves Tumor – “Kerosene!”
• Yves Tumor – “Super Stars”