More Time for Music
Besides learning how to make music, 2020 has also afforded me the ability to listen to more of it. When checking my Apple Music stats, I can see that the number of unique artists I have been exposed to is much higher than in the past.
Now that I work from home, I have more freedom to navigate Apple Music and play whatever the hell I want. That involves choosing a playlist for the day and just letting it ride for the 8 hours sitting in front of my desk.
I have discovered many new artists I would not have considered listening to outside of my idol pop bubble. And that is a good thing since many of the idol acts (especially the Japanese ones) have been releasing some substandard material. K-Pop was my go-to for idols in 2020 as those artists have put out a consistently better stream of music over the year.
Here is what I found to be the most memorable from the past year.
Singles
There were plenty of songs released in 2020. These are the ones that were in heavy rotation in my music playlist. These are in no particular order.
Official HIGE DANdism – I Love
Chung Ha – Stay Tonight
IU feat. SUGA – eight
Secret Number – Who Dis?
YUKIKA – Soul Lady
BTS – Dynamite
JYP – When We Disco (Duet with SUNMI)
Weeekly – Tag Me
End of The World feat. Gabrielle Aplin – Over
OH MY GIRL – Dolphin
The Weeknd – Blinding Lights
Raiden x HYO – Think About Me feat. Coogie
Albums
In order from the top going from left to right:
- IZ*ONE – BLOOM*IZ
- iri – Sparkle
- Chanmina – notebook -me-
- Chanmina – notebook – u-
- The Weeknd – After Hours
- (G)I-DLE – I TRUST
- Kylie Minogue – Disco
- WJSN – Neverland
- Red Velvet IRENE & SEULGI – Monster
- Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
- Lady Gaga – Chromatica
- TWICE – Eyes Wide Open
The above is not a top 12 ranking per se. Instead, think of these albums like the ones that left a lasting impression on me. I particularly enjoyed the throwbacks to different music eras from The Weeknd, Kylie Minogue and TWICE.