2020 is over.
What a year, huh?I can truthfully say that it was one of the best of my life. That's a happy trend I've noticed: the years get better and better. 2020 had its share of challenges, but overall it was honestly a really great one for me, for obvious reasons and for the usual slew of less-important-but-still-meaningful experiences I had.
This post is a recap of 2020. As usual, there's a list of experiences and accomplishments, some photos, and then my rankings of media and entertainment.
Major Events
Major Events
Okay, January. Let's see. Did anything happen in January?
oh yeah
Obviously the main event of the month—and the year, and my life to this point—was Declan's birth on January 11th. Man, this kid is something special. He's endlessly curious, kindhearted, silly, funny, and physical. He's always exploring new things, making jokes and weird faces, showing off, sharing, and engaging with us in every way he can. He's a true delight, and I'm very proud of him.
I'll add some extra pictures of him as I recap the year, but I'll leave the above as my overall summary for time with Declan. There's really no way to encapsulate the wonderful experience of being his dad; and anyway this post would treble in length if I tried to describe all the cool stuff he does.
look how cute though!
Other than that, January was largely uneventful. I didn't go back to work, so my days were spent at home with Declan and Sarah. Oddly portentous for the remainder of the year. At the end of the month and leading into February, my parents came out to visit and to spend time with Declan. That was really neat.
In February, Miranda visited overlapping with Valentine's Day so Sarah and I could go out (and so she and Declan could have a little Valentine's of their own). Sarah and I went to Kiku, the best Japanese restaurant in town. I also ate an entire cookie cake later on, if memory serves. (Not the sort of thing you forget.)
look at those little suspenders
for Father's Day, Declan got me a tie with his picture printed on the back. so fun.
At the end of February, I went back to work; and then halfway through March, I started working from home permanently. Sarah and I have been lucky enough to be able to work from home full time since then—it's definitely a challenge to juggle our jobs with having Declan at home all the time and no outside help, but it's also a huge blessing, since it means hours and hours of time spent with him that we'd be missing otherwise.
I have loved working from home and getting to hang out with him. We've established a lot of fun home rituals. My favorite is our morning constitutional—every day, without fail, Declan and I go on a walk around the neighborhood in the morning, usually around 11am or so, for about half an hour (sometimes longer). I push him in the stroller and feed him crackers; I listen to a podcast while he watches the cars and buses go by. It's cathartic and restorative and preparative and one of my favorite parts of the day. I also make sure to take him out most evenings to play and get more hands-on time, but we both really love the morning walks.
I'm doing an okay job not just spamming a billion pictures of him, but boy it is hard: especially looking back when he was so little!
Christie came to visit in March and Declan got to see his first in-theater movie: The Maltese Falcon at Row House Cinema, right before everything shut down. He also had his baby blessing at home, which was a very sweet and intimate experience.
April came and I hopped back on my bike to enjoy the good weather.
I made the finest Welsh cakes I've managed so far.
And, throughout the year, continued to cook a variety of fun treats and dishes. I tend to document these on Instagram.
look at this behemoth
In April, Declan starred in a new video for Al Lewis's "Make a Little Room," which you can watch here. I love Al Lewis's music, so this was a neat opportunity.
Sarah and I made it a goal to continue to have a weekly date. It's tricky—rarely are places open and we don't have access to a good babysitter, what with the pandemic, but we've managed to keep it pretty consistent. Mostly we take walks or watch movies or play games or get takeout or cook together. Declan is usually sleeping but often joins us, and we don't mind much. It's given us a chance to try out some fun new restaurants around town: in April we tried Hapa Hawaiian, which we've returned to a couple times since.
Declan started really being able to smile intentionally
I finally tamed and rode a bear in Breath of the Wild. huge achievement
With gym closures, I shifted into working out at home. I began with some bodyweight stuff and a modified dumbbell program using the weights we have. I then purchased a bunch of sand and a couple lead pipes, which I set up in the basement. (This was later in the year, probably in September.) It's a weird Frankenstein setting with dripping water and dust (though I do have a lantern down there now, yay!), and four days a week you can find me down there in the spidery dark, listening to heavy metal (or jpop, just as likely) and heaving big lumpy bags of sand around. (You'd be surprised how cheap sand is. I'm up to 650 pounds at least, and I think I've spent less than $150 altogether.) Admittedly, the creepy factor is part of the appeal of working out down there; but I've definitely seen some major results in strength and conditioning. I'll talk about specific lifting-related accomplishments later, but that was a big shift that started over the summer as I was biking a lot and trying to figure out how to lift weights consistently.
Another change was that I started running. I've never been much of a runner: generally disliked it, to be honest, unless I was playing a sport. But I was looking for some kind of non-gym exercise, and running fit the bill, so I started ... and got kind of carried away and logged hundreds of miles by the end of the year. More on that later too.
In June I gardened (Declan helped me weed) and we had some fun picnics in the local cemetery. I also turned 30. To celebrate, I went on a nice bike ride, took a hike in the woods, read and wrote a lot, and hung out with Sarah and Declan. We had burgers and shrimp and jalapeño poppers for dinner; and Sarah made her famous peanut butter chocolate cake.
All in all, a pretty great first half of the year and a wonderful trio of decades for me.
In July, not a ton happened.
In August we took a trip back to Utah to visit family. We were cautious about traveling during the pandemic, especially with Declan, but we felt it was worth it because a) we wanted people to meet Declan while he was still a baby, b) Gabbie was coming home from her mission, and c) Mary was getting married. (I was especially excited about c) because it gave me a chance to talk to people about the merry-marry-Mary merger, and heaven knows that doesn't come up organically. Also, the wedding was nice.)
I've posted and written before about our trip to Utah, so I won't repeat myself here, but it was fantastic. I loved seeing everyone and hanging out in what I always consider home, and it was a thrill to see how Declan thrived with family and friends around. I really soaked up my time there, going on lots of runs, swimming, gaming with friends, writing with Dad, and eating tacos. (It was during this trip that I ran my first half-marathon! as mentioned further below.)
he subsequently destroyed these clothes, and his backups, so we bought him a t-shirt that said "radioactive substance"
In September Declan and I started spending tons of time on the island here in Pittsburgh. It's quiet, grassy, scenic, and easy to get to. I go running there a lot, and I'm pretty sure it's where Declan learned to walk for real. He loves it there. We've since made it our Sunday afternoon tradition, and we usually go another time during the week as well. He's not as afraid of the geese there as I am though.
On a run I encountered this guy:
That's a fledgling hawk, for my non-ornithologist friends. He terrified me by flapping his wings in the leaves at the side of the road while I was running by. Thought I was going to be mauled. On further inspection, his wing was pretty badly injured and he couldn't move. Sarah and I drove back after work and picked him up. It took some driving around, but we found a wildlife refuge that was still open and dropped him off. Sadly, they informed us later that they had to put him down—he'd been paralyzed (so he probably wasn't in too much pain) and there was no real chance of recovery or a normal life. Pretty sad. I was touched by how calm he was once he realized we were there to help, and I think he appreciated that we got him out of the leaves and into someplace more comfortable. I liked looking in his eyes. I hope his spirit's soaring around unfettered now.
At the end of September I purchased a new laptop, a 2020 MacBook Air. Pretty slick, and I immediately loved it. It was my first new computer in probably five or six years. Runs really well, obviously.
the kid's a charmer
In October we did an English breakfast per tradition for General Conference:
Declan discovered one of his favorite places in the world: a giant chessboard at a park in Homestead, right by the theater. We spend a lot of time there too.
With the pandemic (and Declan) we stopped going out to movies, for the most part—but I did catch a showing of Tenet in the Dolby Atmos theater at AMC, which was phenomenal.
never thought I'd turn into Calvin's dad, but here we are
Dave came to visit for a couple days at the end of October and had a great time playing with Declan:
pretty magnificent in autumn
We watched a bunch of scary movies in October for Halloween, and I read 'Salem's Lot and Ghost Story and a couple other scary things around that time. We also dressed up, of course.
Declan appreciates a great literary reference
In November I took a couple of longer bike rides and saw parts of the city I'd never been to, which was fun. I also paid a visit to the office downtown and picked up some library books I'd left there. I still haven't read them, but at least they're here with me now. It was weird walking back into the ghost town of an office. I kinda missed it. But working from home is better.
say what you will about my expression or whatever: I like this photo a lot
Oh hey! Creepy basement setup! It's gotten better since this photo, but this gives you the right feel:
terror is anabolic
We had Thanksgiving at home and it was great. Still not enough mashed potatoes, but the food was delicious and it was fun to spend time together.
In December we learned that Declan likes the snow almost as much as the leaves (better tasting, for one thing), and that he loves bright glowing lights most of all.
We celebrated Christmas at home. It was really neat to see that Declan understood the concept of gifts—he loved opening them, and he looked at us with gratitude after each one, understanding that it was something cool for him.
As always, I received lovely gifts from many people for Christmas. To highlight just a few favorites: a block of biltong beef jerky; a symbolic adoption of a bear through the World Wildlife Fund; a new Kindle fire; a new fountain pen; various books, videogames, and board games; a lifting tank top with an image of a grizzly deadlifting; a very warm sweatshirt.
Shortly after Christmas, Miranda and Gabbie flew into town, and a day or two later my parents, Reagan, and Misha arrived from a cross-country drive. They stayed through the new year (and my parents stayed through Declan's first birthday). We had a blast with everyone around: bike rides, games and movies, gifts, snow, takeout, long walks on the island, and a New Year's feast.
And that about covers the year! As I mentioned, it was full of really wonderful experiences. I'm glad that my family and I are healthy, happy, and safe. I grew a lot this year and accomplished some things I'm really proud of. I've noted here some of the particular highlights and statistics not covered above:
- I turned 30. Feels pretty good.
- I significantly improved my physical fitness through weightlifting, running, biking, walking, yoga, and meditation.
- Near the end of the year I tested some maxes for major lifts. These probably aren't true maxes outright, but they're close enough and they're numbers I'm proud of:
- Overhead press: 165 pounds
- Bench press: 265 pounds
- Squat: 350 pounds
- Deadlift: 430 pounds
- I also lost about 20 pounds this year, and either put on or revealed some noticeable muscle.
- One major milestone is that I can do some pretty decent pullups/chinups now. Most of my life I could manage maybe two at a time; I'm now comfortable hitting ten or twelve in a set at a moment's notice. Just takes practice, and losing ~80 pounds over the last five years, I guess.
- I ran 293 miles. This is huge for me, as mentioned above. I run four times a week at various tempos and distances, and I've hit some pretty good personal accomplishments running as well:
- Two half-marathons, one just shy of 3 hours and one in 2:23.
- A 6:30 mile (bit of a downhill involved, but still).
- 4 miles in 36 minutes.
- 3 miles in 23:30.
- Also, many, many runs with significant elevation gain, which has really pushed me and been great for cardiovascular health.
- I wrote approximately 186,000 words of fiction.
- I didn't actually finish any new novels this year, though I made significant progress on at least 4 of them, and logged many hours in writing-related notes, brainstorming, and outlining.
- I wrote 4 short stories.
- I received an Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future for the third quarter of 2020 for my short story Lantern's Hollow.
- Overall I'm very pleased with my writing progress in 2020, particularly the groundwork I laid for several major projects I'm currently working on.
- I continued pursuing personal goals, hobbies, and interests, including reading, playing games, watching movies, listening to music, spending time with family, enjoying the outdoors, and learning.
- I finally began teaching myself to play the Irish whistle in earnest after owning one for at least half my life. I'm actually pretty okay now.
- This may have been mentioned above, but: I had a son, and he is wonderful.
Lists
Okay, now for the good stuff. Here are some lists and rankings of various forms of media. I invite all criticism, veiled or otherwise.
Movies
I watched 82 movies in 2020. This number is much lower than most years, but honestly between having a newborn and the closure of many theaters, it's still pretty good.
I only saw a few actual 2020 releases, but I particularly enjoyed:
- Sonic the Hedgehog: could have been terrible, was actually a lot of fun.
- Onward: pretty solid, nice visuals.
- Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn): honestly this was pretty delightful, in a violent and profane sort of way.
- Bill & Ted Face the Music: I think it's hard to do a 20-years-later sequel that matches the tone and content of earlier films, but this one definitely holds up in the Bill & Ted canon.
- Tenet: phenomenal. My favorite 2020 release, I think.
- Weathering With You (Tenki no ko): my other favorite 2020 release (I guess technically 2019, but whatever). Not quite as good as Your Name, but almost, and it had plenty of heart-stoppingly beautiful moments. Truly a fantastic film.
- Love & Monsters: this was a lot of fun for an at-home rental and I'd recommend it for sure.
As for non-2020 releases, here are some great ones I watched this year:
- Hot Rod: kinda weird that I'd never seen it, but I honestly loved it.
- Missing Link: missed this one in 2019, it was right up my alley and I thought it was great.
- Moonstruck: a fantastic and funny film, and endlessly quotable.
- Ford v. Ferrari: another miss from 2019, and one that probably would have made my top-ten that year otherwise.
- The Boy and the Beast (Bakemono no ko): really engaging film, great animation and a profound story that I especially connected with as a father.
- The Dark Crystal: can't believe I never saw this before, honestly.
- North by Northwest: one of my favorite Hitchcock films now; but then, they all are.
- Modest Heroes (Chiisana eiyū: Kani to tamago to tōmei ningen): a collection of short films, all very interesting and thought-provoking.
- Klaus: absolutely loved this film.
Books
I read 51 novels in 2020, as well as 44 comics/graphic novels/manga. A few thoughts:
- The big one is that I finished the Shannara series. I'd been behind for years now, but Terry Brooks's Shannara novels have always been some of my favorite, and with the release of the final book in October 2020, I wanted to catch up. I technically finished that book in early 2021, but I'm including it in my writeup here because that makes more sense. I read 7 Shannara novels: the Defenders of Shannara trilogy and the Fall of Shannara quartet. I enjoyed them all—loved them, in fact.
- Shannara has always had plenty of adventure mixed in with its fantasy, and I think that shone best in the first of the Defenders books. There was a fantasy quest, yes, and magic swords and Druids and the wishsong; but there was also a middle section that was essentially a detective story involving a werewolf boy, and I really loved it. After reading 30-some Shannara books in my life, I was surprised at finding new experiences in the Four Lands. The swamp monsters in the third book were also highly memorable.
- The Fall books were much more epic in scope, being the planned conclusion of the series. I really loved them. I felt they hearkened back to the best of the first books of the series. I really enjoyed characters new and old, and the reintroduction of the Ilse Witch was incredibly welcome and very satisfying as a conclusion to her arc, especially since she's one of my favorite characters. The "resolution" of the series' perennial conflict between science and magic was also very satisfying, leaving on a hopeful note without wrapping things up too tidily.
- I felt a strong sense of bittersweet nostalgia and enjoyment finishing the series. I'll be diving into more Terry Brooks novels this year and doing some rereads of this series in coming years, but I feel very satisfied with Shannara as a whole and highly recommend them.
- Nabokov's Pale Fire was an instant favorite and a true delight of a book. He was a master of the craft, and this book was endlessly enjoyable.
- I read Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword and was honestly baffled at how good it is—and at the fact that I'd never read it before, nor even heard of him. Truly a wonderful novel. If you're a fan of epic fantasy in any regard, read it. I will soon be devouring the rest of his works. (It absolutely scratches the LOTR itch.)
- Speaking of, we read Declan stories before bed every night, and this year we worked through all three LOTR novels. It was a lot of fun, and a tradition I will definitely continue with him as he gets older, since that's how I was first exposed to them.
- I read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Absolutely blown away. Phenomenal, mind-breaking science fiction. Highly, highly recommended. Possibly my favorite science fiction novels ever (perhaps tied with Ender's Game, I guess).
- The Wind in the Willows is a whole lot of fun and makes me appreciate the movie more.
- Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff was just as fun as the first book. Content warning for sure, but he's got a way with words. I continued reading books in other ongoing fantasy series by Michael J. Sullivan, Sarah Beth Durst, VE Schwab, and NS Dolkart.
- I read Now You're One of Us by Asa Nonami in one sitting, and that was a surreal experience. The book's a pretty solid creepy horror, more disturbing than outright scary, and I read it alone at the office after dark—and thoroughly spooked myself out.
- Brandon Sanderson's Starsight was great fun and really expanded that universe. Looking forward to the forthcoming sequel.
- Andrea Corr's memoir Barefoot Pilgrimage was lovely. Everyone knows The Corrs are my all-time favorite band. This book read like a semi-poetic stream-of-consciousness tribute to her family and her own life. I really enjoyed it.
- I reread a few John Carter books by Edgar Rice Burroughs (the first four, in fact): they're great for having on as audiobooks while working out or going on a walk. I plan to finish up the series this year. Always recommended. I have spoken.
- I dove into some interesting philosophy/meditative books this year: The Blue Zones of Happiness, The Bhagavad Gita, The Unfettered Mind, Why We Sleep; and The Art of Living. I liked them all. I learned a lot about establishing good environmental cues and habits from Blue Zones; I appreciated going through the Gita for the first time in probably a decade; Unfettered Mind was absolutely fascinating and very insightful; Why We Sleep has fundamentally transformed my thoughts on the critical importance of good sleep; and Epictetus is always pithy and pointed. These books were a great complement to my usual fare.
- I read The Road, my first Cormac McCarthy book. Loved it.
- World War Z was great as an expanded audiobook. Really enjoyed it. (I like the movie too, though it's probably best that I hadn't read the book first.)
- For my birthday I reread Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis. Phenomenally hilarious book.
- Horror-wise, I read Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot (loved it); HP Lovecraft's The Shadow Out of Time (also great); The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson (truly great, and I think he gets overlooked too much today); and Peter Straub's Ghost Story (chilling and incredibly spooky; made me an instant fan of his writing). I also read Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, which isn't horror but is adjacent anyway; it was wonderful and compelling, and especially fun to read day-by-day in an October with a blue moon on Halloween.
- I read The Neverending Story. This is a fantastic novel. The movie's great too, but the book is really something.
- I read some more Samuel R. Delany (great foundational science fiction), The Blue Fairy Book (some familiar, some weird), and Return of the Jedi, finally completing the novelizations of the original trilogy.
- I know I'd read some of The Dark Is Rising before, when I was younger, but I never finished the series and didn't remember much, so this year I read Over Sea, Under Stone and The Dark Is Rising. Both are incredible works of fantasy. Shoutout to Aunt Lisa for giving me the collection like 20+ years ago; I'm finally reading them! I cannot overstate how much I love these books. The first chapter of The Dark Is Rising in particular is a masterclass of scene and setting.
Now for some thoughts on comics etc.:
- Gideon Falls is great horror-fantasy that does very interesting things with the comics medium. Likewise, Monstress is probably my favorite dark fantasy story in any medium: the kind of story I'm immediately jealous of because I wish I'd written it. Absolutely beautiful aesthetic.
- Finished up Scott Snyder's Batman run; very much enjoyed it. Caught up on Detective Comics for that era too, which was good. I also read The Long Halloween and loved it, of course.
- Lots of Spider-Man comics this year. Spectacular was good, Full Circle was amazingly fun, Amazing was great, and Spider-Geddon was delightful (not as good as Spider-Verse, but still great).
- Captain Marvel remains one of my favorite comics series.
- Manga-wise, I continued reading The Heroic Legend of Arslan and The Ancient Magus' Bride. Love them both.
- Boy was The Hunt For Wolverine a mixed bag, but at least it was better than Wolverines, and I'm excited to get Wolverine back front and center now.
- Heroes in Crisis is a fantastic standalone and turned me on to Tom King, who's great.
- Aero is pretty neat, including the Pacific Islands-themed tie-ins. Fun to see a Chinese superheroine in the Marvel Universe.
- The Bojeffries Saga was a prize from a fundraiser. I would never have picked it for myself, but it was a lot of fun.
- Rose ended up being kind of disappointing. I like the setting and the overall plot, as well as as the magic, but the characterizations kind of fell flat, it was super tropey, and it needed like seven more volumes to really delve into the worldbuilding and flesh out the story. Not a bad read though, and the art was nice.
- I finished Shutter. Still don't understand most of it, but I liked it a lot.
TV Shows
Just a list of shows I enjoyed watching this year: The Good Place, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Lost, Supernatural, The Dragon Prince, Gargoyles, Sword Art Online, Adventure Time, The Ancient Magus's Bride, Carnival Row, The Mandalorian, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Spider-Man, Space Force, Veronica Mars, The Widow, The Batman, Revisions, Your Lie In April, March Comes In Like A Lion. My TV watching has dropped in the past couple years, but I don't really mind that: I find that I'm focusing on shows I'm really interested in and filling the time with other worthwhile things.
Videogames
Games I played and loved this year: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The Alliance Alive, Pokémon Go, Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart, Pokémon Sword, Hollow Knight. Not a huge range of games this year, but I truly loved playing each of these games and I think my gaming time was quality entertainment and time well spent.
Podcasts
These are some of my favorite podcasts across a range of topics: Lexicon Valley, Writing Excuses, Mythical Death Trip, Myths & Legends, The Darkest Timeline, SmartLess, Office Ladies, Literally! with Rob Lowe, David Tennant Does a Podcast With..., Cabinet of Curiosities, Ancient Warfare, Celtic Source, The Endless Knot, Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin, Imaginary Worlds, Lore, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. I've really enjoyed diving into podcasts more this year and I spend a lot of my time driving/running/walking around with Declan with one going. Always up for more recommendations, and I'm happy to recommend any on this list and offer more information about each of them.
Music
This is always a big one. It's a shorter list than normal (I usually hit between 400 and 700 new albums per year; but without a commute for most of the year, and with balancing work and spending time with Declan, my listening has dropped, logging 226 new albums in 2020. It's probably good overall: I've been able to spend more time with releases I really enjoy and with old favorites, as well as doing other things like playing outside, listening to podcasts or audiobooks, or just enjoying some peace and quiet. Boy, this is a long parenthetical), but there were definitely some amazing albums released this year.
For example: Incredibly, my five favorite musical artists (The Corrs, Screaming Orphans, The Naked and Famous, Nightwish, Olivia Broadfield, in that order) all released music in some form this year, which is serendipity beyond belief. Additionally, other bands that would probably make my top-20 or top-50 lists also released new albums en masse. Narrowing down this list was very difficult, but it's in some semblance of order. One thing that helped, honestly, was that by the end of the year I'd forgotten about some of the highly ranked albums from the first quarter or so. The true favorites made it into regular rotation, but I'll definitely have to revisit some of the others I forgot later this year, even if I've cut them from the rankings below.
Also, I've done brief writeups for each album in a separate list below, to avoid cluttering up the initial ranking.
So here are my top 50 albums that were released in 2020, in rough order:
- Nightwish - HUMAN. :||: NATURE.
- The Naked and Famous - Recover
- Temperance - Viridian
- Stand Atlantic - Pink Elephant
- Andrea Corr - Christmas Songs EP
- Patty Gurdy - Frost & Faeries EP
- Moonlight Haze - Lunaris
- Screaming Orphans - Sunshine and Moss
- The Killers - Imploding the Mirage
- Dark Sarah - Grim
- Purity Ring - WOMB
- Olivia Broadfield - Season Two EP
- Al Lewis - Te Yn Y Grug
- Vacation Club - Always or Never EP
- Delain - Apocalypse & Chill
- Cold Years - Paradise
- Terra Atlantica - Age of Steam
- Saltatio Mortis - Für immer frei
- Leaves’ Eyes - The Last Viking
- Trobar de Morte - The Book of Shadows
- Acceptance - Wild, Free
- AfterTime - The Farthest Shore
- Gerry Cinnamon - The Bonny
- Ravenword - Transcendence
- Silverstein - A Beautiful Place to Drown
- Seven Spires - Emerald Seas
- Ad Infinitum - Vol. 1: Monarchy
- DIABULUS IN MUSICA - Euphonic Entropy
- Caveboy - Night in the Park, Kiss in the Dark
- Serenity - The Last Knight
- Ayreon - Transitus
- All Time Low - Wake Up, Sunshine
- Oh Wonder - No One Else Can Wear Your Crown
- Felicia Farerre - Between Worlds
- Silver Torches - Bermuda Dunes
- The Birthday Massacre - Diamonds
- Half Waif - The Caretaker
- Brian Fallon - Local Honey
- Ignea - The Realms of Fire and Death
- Yours Truly - Self Care
- The Bunny The Bear - Afterglow
- Myrkur - Folkesange
- SKÁLD - Viking Memories
- The Midnight - Monsters
- The Aces - Under My Influence
- misterwives - SUPERBLOOM
- GFRIEND - Walpurgis Night
- Amaranthe - Manifest
- Annalisa - Nuda
- Slick Shoes - Rotation & Frequency
And here are thoughts on each album (most are brief):
- Nightwish - HUMAN. :||: NATURE. this is a phenomenal achievement of symphonic metal and storytelling. it's their most ambitious work to date, and I think it's one of their best. each of the full-band songs packs an incredible punch (musically and lyrically), and the back half of the album, which is an orchestral piece in nine parts, is the perfect complement to the themes of the first half. truly a masterpiece. favorite track is "Harvest."
- The Naked and Famous - Recover shimmering synthpop from the best in the genre. TNAF put on an amazing and energetic live performance, and this album in particular reflects that energy alongside tremendous hope and cheerfulness.
- Temperance - Viridian hard-hitting metal at its finest, with one of the best vocal trios in the genre. "My Demons Can't Sleep" is an amazing song, particularly following the bridge with some soaring vocals and heavy drums. this is their best album yet.
- Stand Atlantic - Pink Elephant pop-punk the way it should be done. "Hate Me (Sometimes)" is one of the best pop-punk songs ever written.
- Andrea Corr - Christmas Songs EP a chilly, frosty, heartfelt collection of songs for winter.
- Patty Gurdy - Frost & Faeries EP unbeknownst to me, two of these songs appeared prominently in the tv show Carnival Row, which I loved as well. great folk music.
- Moonlight Haze - Lunaris the former lead singer of Temperance, so I knew this was going to be a hit. this is their second album, and it outshines the first by a hair, which is saying something. symphonic metal with amazing vocals and melodies.
- Screaming Orphans - Sunshine and Moss traditional Irish pop with folk leanings, hard to go wrong with Screaming Orphans in my book.
- The Killers - Imploding the Mirage definitely my favorite Killers album. favorite track is "My God," which gets stuck in my head several times a week.
- Dark Sarah - Grim I've liked their previous releases a lot, but this one caught me by surprise with how bombastic and dynamic it is. symphonic metal with great operatic vocals.
- Purity Ring - WOMB very synthy synthpop and very catchy.
- Olivia Broadfield - Season Two EP mostly a collection of older songs, but the new ones are great too.
- Al Lewis - Te Yn Y Grug more of a laid-back Welsh album than his previous ones. good stuff.
- Vacation Club - Always or Never EP chill lo-fi synthpop, very interested to see what they do next.
- Delain - Apocalypse & Chill symphonic metal, their best album yet.
- Cold Years - Paradise wasn't on my radar at all. super catchy rock. reminds me of The Gaslight Anthem a little. favorite song is "Electricity."
- Terra Atlantica - Age of Steam steam-themed power metal. hard to go wrong, and they don't. crazy energy throughout this album.
- Saltatio Mortis - Für immer frei German hard rock with more energy than I've felt in my entire life. wonderful music for lifting weights.
- Leaves’ Eyes - The Last Viking Viking-themed symphonic metal. great.
- Trobar de Morte - The Book of Shadows witchy dark rock, super ethereal, great soundtrack for writing.
- Acceptance - Wild, Free their first album 15 years ago is one of my favorites ever. I liked their second album a couple years ago, but this one is definitely better, and approaches the debut in some ways. earnest rock with a wonderful voice.
- AfterTime - The Farthest Shore symphonic metal, cool story.
- Gerry Cinnamon - The Bonny folksy biting Scottish rock, super catchy.
- Ravenword - Transcendence symphonic metal project by two of my favorite singers.
- Silverstein - A Beautiful Place to Drown screamo by one of my favorite bands, I liked all the collaborations and experimentations on this album.
- Seven Spires - Emerald Seas symphonic metal/hard rock, took me by surprise how much I liked this.
- Ad Infinitum - Vol. 1: Monarchy Melissa Bonny's music gets an instant favorite from me no matter what band moniker it's released under. I really like the vibe of this one. great metal.
- DIABULUS IN MUSICA - Euphonic Entropy another mainstay of the symphonic metal genre, really pushing their abilities in this one.
- Caveboy - Night in the Park, Kiss in the Dark fun synthpop.
- Serenity - The Last Knight always a favorite in symphonic metal, and this was a great followup to their album about Richard Lionheart from a couple years ago.
- Ayreon - Transitus their progressive metal albums are usually good, not great, in my eyes; but the story on this one was very compelling and demanded an immediate re-listen.
- All Time Low - Wake Up, Sunshine some of the best pop-punk work of their career.
- Oh Wonder - No One Else Can Wear Your Crown chilled out synthpop; not my favorite album of theirs, but great nonetheless.
- Felicia Farerre - Between Worlds ambient/ethereal music with a couple songs in Quenya.
- Silver Torches - Bermuda Dunes reminds me a lot of The Band Camino, solid rock sound.
- The Birthday Massacre - Diamonds spooky gothic synthpop.
- Half Waif - The Caretaker chilled synthpop.
- Brian Fallon - Local Honey singer-songwriter at this point, different from his work in The Gaslight Anthem, but he's got a great voice and is one of the best musical storytellers ever.
- Ignea - The Realms of Fire and Death symphonic metal but with some cool folk twists that I really enjoyed.
- Yours Truly - Self Care very strong pop-punk debut.
- The Bunny The Bear - Afterglow I'd forgotten completely about this guys, great screamo/pop-punk for working out.
- Myrkur - Folkesange a departure from her previous albums, way more folk-oriented than black metal, and I love every song.
- SKÁLD - Viking Memories traditional Viking chanting and thrumming drums. makes me want to go cross a fjord or sack London.
- The Midnight - Monsters the aural equivalent of Stranger Things.
- The Aces - Under My Influence lots of groove in this alternative pop record, I don't know if I like it as much as their first but I'm definitely on board.
- misterwives - SUPERBLOOM this one perfects their poppy alternative sound, and I can't wait to play it to death this summer.
- GFRIEND - Walpurgis Night odd title for jpop but great record anyway.
- Amaranthe - Manifest another solid offering from a mainstay of dancy power metal, didn't stick as much immediately as their others but I very much enjoyed it.
- Annalisa - Nuda I honestly haven't given this album as much time as it deserves or it would be higher. I love Annalisa. Italian pop.
- Slick Shoes - Rotation & Frequency great, great pop-punk with an old-school energy. I'd never listened to them before, so a deep dive is in order.
Now some releases that I listened to for the first time this year that I loved. These are just the best of the best; otherwise I'd never finish this post:
Tales of Evening - A New Dawn Awaits
BAND-MAID - CONQUEROR
Astralium - Land of Eternal Dreams
Dafydd Iwan - Caneuon Gwerin
Meet Me @ The Altar - Bigger Than Me EP
Sleep On It - Pride & Disaster
Patty Gurdy - Pest & Power
Between You & Me - Everything Is Temporary
State Champs - Around the World and Back
BRIDEAR - Expose Your Emotions
プルモライト - 声彩を放つ
Lisa Thiel - Circle of the Seasons
Damh the Bard - The Hills They Are Hollow
Recap
Overall, 2020 was great in many ways. The lists above are focused on entertainment and stuff that's fun to share; but the standout memories for me are good times spent with loved ones, particularly Declan and Sarah. It's been a delight to have such a wonderful family and to grow and learn over the course of the year.
Here's to another great one in 2021.
