We've been asking artists and other industry figures for their Top 10 albums of the 2020, and here we have year-end lists from a bunch of staff members of much-missed NYC record store Other Music, which closed in June of 2016. One of the first things a lot of customers did on walking into Other Music was look up at the giant white board above the counter to see the current staff Top 10 lists, so it's a treat to have a virtual version of that here. We got lists from 20 staff members, including co-owner Josh Madell, and Rob Hatch-Miller, who co-directed this year's great Other Music documentary which you can stream now. We'll let Rob take it from here.

Hello and happy holidays from Other Music! Can you believe next summer will mark FIVE years since we said goodbye? The wide release of the documentary about the store this year brought back a lot of great memories along with a lot of sad ones. And we were all thrilled that the initial "virtual cinema" release of the film back in April helped raise some much-needed funding to help other independent record stores make it through this incredibly challenging year. At the end of 2016, just six months after we closed, we shared what we thought would be our final batch of end-of-year staff favorites with you. Reflecting on the year about to pass, we wrote, "in hard times even more than joyful ones, music will sustain us, and there was so much incredible music this year to nurture us all."

That sentiment has proven more true than ever in 2020. With that in mind, we've virtually reunited the former staff of Other Music once more to share some of our favorite new releases, singles, compilations and reissues from 2020 — a year that changed us all in ways we're still just beginning to understand. If you discover something you love from one of these lists, we hope you'll support the artists and labels by purchasing their music on Bandcamp or from your local independent record store. We wish all of you a safe end to 2020, and a much happier New Year to come. Enjoy the music!

Check out the Top 10 lists and a trailer for the Other Music documentary, below.

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OTHER MUSIC STAFF – TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2020

Geoff Albores
Prince – Sign O’ The Times: Super Deluxe Edition (Warner)
Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra – Dimensional Stardust (International Anthem)
Angel Bat Dawid – Transition East (International Anthem)
Seth Hitsky – Wild Time (self-released)
Maalem Mahmoud Gania – Aicha (Hive Mind)
Nicolas Jaar – Telas (Other People)
Jay Electronica – Act II: The Patents Of Nobility (Equity)
Laraaji – Sun Piano (All Saints)
Matthew Halsall – Salute To The Sun (Gondwana)
Matana Roberts & Pat Thomas – The Truth (Otoroku)

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Brendan Biggins
Gareth Williams & Mary Currie – Flaming Tunes (Superior Viaduct)
Magik Markers – 2020 (Drag City)
Ana Roxanne – Because Of A Flower (Kranky)
Coil – Musick To Play In The Dark (Dais)
Jon Hassell – Vernal Equinox (Ndeya)
Shinichi Atobe – Yes (DDS)
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)
All Hits – Men And Their Work (Iron Lung)
Go Hirano – Corridor Of Daylights (Black Editions)
Further Reductions – array (Knekelhuis)

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Marisa Cerio
Further Reductions – array (Knekelhuis)
Karenn – Music Sounds Better With Shoe (Voam)
Grischa Lichtenberger – KAMILHAN; il y a péril en la demeure (Raster)
Various Artists – Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987 (Captured Tracks)
Low Budget Aliens – Junk DNA (xpq?)
Vox Populi! – Myscitismes (Platform 23)
Beatrice Dillon – Workaround (PAN)
Shelley Parker & Peder Mannerfelt – Decouple ][ Series (OOH-sounds)
Ociya – Powers Of Ten (Acid Test)
Pizzaboy – Deep Dish EP (The Bunker New York)

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Kris Chen
Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song (Smalltown Supersound)
Beatrice Dillon – Workaround (PAN)
Fleet Foxes – Shore (Anti-)
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge)
Tomeka Reid & Alexander Hawkins – Shards And Constellations (Intakt)
Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger – Force Majeure (International Anthem)
Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters (Epic)
Against All Logic – 2017-2019 (Other People)
Jensen McRae – Wolves (Human Re Sources)
Duendita – Ya Ya My Favorite/Mind/Let Me Live singles (self-released)

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Jo Ann Colagiacomi
Tidiane Thiam – Siftorde (Sahel Sounds)
Siti Muharam – Siti Of Unguja (Romance Revolution On Zanzibar) (On The Corner)
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge)
Koffee – Lockdown (Promised Land)
Laraaji – Sun Piano & Moon Piano (All Saints)
Dawn Riding – The Difference (The Long Road Society)
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia (Warner)
Maalem Mahmoud Gania – Aicha (Hive Mind)
Adrianne Lenker – Songs & Instrumentals (4AD)
Gratien Midonet – A Cosmic Poet From Martinique 1979-1989 (Time Capsule)

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Pam Garavano-Coolbaugh
Adrianne Lenker – Songs (4AD)
Ana Roxanne – Because Of A Flower (Kranky)
Katie Gately – Loom (Houndstooth)
Le Volume Courbe – Fourteen Years (Honest Jon’s)
Mary Lattimore – Silver Ladders (Ghostly International)
Lucrecia Dalt – No Era Sólida (RNVG Intl.)
Modern Nature – Annual (Bella Union)
Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately (Matador)
Tomberlin – Projections (Saddle Creek)
Westerman – Your Hero Is Not Dead (Partisan)

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Lisa Garrett
Sault – Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
Sault – Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals)
Raye Zaragoza – Woman In Color (Rebel River)
Keleketla! – Keleketla! (Ahead Of Our Time)
Khruangbin – Mordechai (Dead Oceans)
Def Rain – Exit (self-released)
Sven Wunder – Wabi Sabi (Light In The Attic)
Moses Sumney – Græ (Jagjaguwar)
Mothers Of Mars feat. Jaiko Suzuki – Space Without A Shadow EP (Ransom Note)

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Daniel Givens
Prince – Sign O’ The Times: Super Deluxe Edition (Warner)
Arthur Russell – Sketches For World Of Echo: June 24 1984 Live At Ei (Audika)
Lloyd Miller, Adam Michael Terry & Ian Camp – At The Ends Of The World (FOUNTAINavm)
Actress – Karma & Desire (Ninja Tune)
Tenderlonious – Ragas From Lahore: Improvisations With Jaubi (22a)
Speaker Music – Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry (Planet Mu)
Jyoti – Mama, You Can Bet! (eOne/SomeOthaShip)
Laraaji – Piano Trilogy (All Saints)
Sun Ra Arkestra – Swirling (Strut)
Jeff Parker – Suite For Max Brown (International Anthem)

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Gerald Hammill
Sault – Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
Buscabulla – Regresa (Ribbon Music)
Moodymann – Taken Away (KDJ)
Shinichi Atobe – Yes (DDS)
Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song (Smalltown Supersound)
Cold Beat – Mother (DFA)
The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (Modular)
Lyra Pramuk – Fountain (Bedroom Community)
The Wants – Container (Council Records)
Gustaf – Mine/Design singles (Royal Mountain)

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Duane Harriott
Sault – Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals)
Sault – Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
Vanilla – Into The Dream (Vinyl Digital)
Blu & Exile – Miles: From An Interlude Named Life (Dirty Science)
Lous And The Yakuza – Gore (Sony)
Róisín Murphy – Róisín Machine (Skint)
Ultraflex – Visions Of Ultraflex (Street Pulse)
Ella Fitzgerald – The Lost Berlin Tapes (Polygram)
St. Panther – These Days (Nice Life)
The Budos Band – Long In The Tooth (Daptone)

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Rob Hatch-Miller
Devin Dare – Devin Dare Edits (Razor-N-Tape)
LaRombé – From Philly (Athens Of The North)
Melenas – Dias Raros (Trouble In Mind)
Portray Heads – Portray Heads (Minimal Wave/Bitter Lake)
Smokescreens – A Strange Dream (Slumberland)
Sonic Boom – All Things Being Equal (Carpark)
Joe Wong – Nite Creatures (Decca)
Yo La Tengo – Sleepless Night (Matador)
Various Artists – How The River Ganges Flows: Sublime Masterpieces Of Indian Violin, 1933-1952 (Third Man)
Various Artists – Stone Crush: Memphis Modern Soul 1977-1987 (Light In The Attic)

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Dan Hougland
Various Artists – Nick Luscombe Presents Tokyo Dreaming (Nippon Columbia)
Bullion – We Had A Good Time (Deek)
Future – High Off Life (Epic)
The Orb – Abolition Of The Royal Familia (Cooking Vinyl)
MIKE – Weight Of The World (10k)
Hamilton Leithauser – The Loves Of Your Life (Glassnote)
Animal Collective – Bridge To Quiet (Domino)
Oneohtrix Point Never – Magic Oneohtrix Point Never (Warp)
The Lemon Twigs – Songs For The General Public (4AD)
Doves – The Universal Want (Heavenly)

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Michael Klausman
Carman Moore – Personal Problems Soundtrack (Reading Group)
Otis Houston Jr. – America (Post Present Medium)
Laila Sakini – Vivienne (Total Stasis)
Kiko Dinucci – Rastihlo (Três Selos)
Omar S – You Want (FXHE Records)
Starlito – Paternity Leave (Grind Hard)
Kooshin – Layla (Little Axe)
Ippei Matsui & Aki Tsuyuko – Natsu No Zenbu (All Night Flight)
Popcaan – Fixtape (Ovo Sound)
Adrianne Lenker – Songs (4AD)

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Dawn Sutter Madell
Sault – Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
Sault – Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals)
R.AGGS – //TAPE 1// (self-released)
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher & Copycat Killer (Dead Oceans)
NNAMDÏ – BRAT (Sooper)
Porridge Radio – Every Bad (Secretly Canadian)
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge)
Lambchop – Trip (Merge)
Las Palabras – self-titled (Brassland)
Nilüfer Yanya – Feeling Lucky? (ATO)

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Josh Madell
Sault – Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
Thiago Nassif – Mente (Gearbox)
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher (Dead Oceans)
Moses Sumney – Græ (Jagjaguwar)
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge)
Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song (Smalltown Supersound)
Beatrice Dillon – Workaround (PAN)
Bartees Strange – Live Forever (Memory Music)
Porridge Radio – Every Bad (Secretly Canadian)
Teezo Touchdown – singles (self-released)

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Dave Martin
Home Blitz – All Through the Year (Sophomore Lounge)
ISS – Too Punk For Heavy Metal (Total Punk!)
The Native Cats – Two Creation Myths (Rough Skies)
Thurston Moore – By the Fire (Daydream Library)
Kawaguchi Masami's New Rock Syndicate & Kryssi Battalene – self-titled (C/Site)
FACS - Void Moments (Trouble in Mind)
Lavender Flu – Barbarian Dust (In The Red)
Divine Horsemen – Live 1985-1987 (Feeding Tube)
Vertical Slit – Live at Brown’s (Siltbreeze)
L-Seven – self-titled (Third Man)

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Ning Nong
Rustin Man – Clockdust (Domino)
Nkisi – INT001 (Initiation)
Sun Ra – Egypt 1971 (Strut)
Tomoko Sauvage – Fischgeist (Bohemian Drips)
Tunes Of Negation – Like The Stars Forever And Ever (Cosmo Rhythmatic)
Brendan Perry – Songs Of Disenchantment (Holy Tongue)
Black Unity Trio – Al-Fatihah (Gotta Groove)
CS + Kreme – Snoopy (The Trilogy Tapes)
Brötzmann/Van Hove/Bennink – Free Jazz Und Kinder (Tochnit Aleph)
No Trend – Too Many Humans/Teen Love (Drag City)

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Dave Portner
Lex Amor – Government Tropicana (self-released)
Eric Copeland – Dumb it Down (Post Present Medium)
Various Artists – Discos En 3/Cuartos (Kebrada)
David Toop – Apparition Paintings (Room40)
Liv.e – Couldn’t Wait To Tell You… (In Real Life)
Amani + King Vision Ultra – An Unknown Infinite (PTP)
Duma – self-titled (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
Killah Priest – Rocket To Nebula (Proverbs)
Stephen Malkmus – Traditional Techniques (Matador)
Various Artists – Breaking The Beats: A Personal Selection of West London Sounds (Z)

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Lydia Vanderloo
Kevin Morby – Sundowner (Dead Oceans)
Las Palabras – self-titled (Brassland)
Perfume Genius – Set My Heart On Fire Immediately (Matador)
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Sideways To New Italy (Sub Pop)
Sault – Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals)
Sylvan Esso – Free Love (Loma Vista)
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge)
Gillian Welch – Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1 (Acony)
Yo La Tengo – Sleepless Night (Matador)
Neil Young – Homegrown (Reprise)

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Phil Waldorf
Alabaster DePlume – To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals, Vol. 1 (International Anthem)
Bongeziwe Mabandla – iimini (self-released)
Courtney Marie Andrews – Old Flowers (Fat Possum)
Dylan Henner – The Invention Of The Human (AD 93)
Jeff Parker – Suite For Max Brown (International Anthem)
Moses Boyd – Dark Matter (Exodus)
Nídia – Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes (Príncipe Discos)
Sault – Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
upsammy – Zoom (Dekmantel)
Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud (Merge)

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