What a year this has been. Covid-19. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the Black Lives Matter movement. Months of devastating fires along the west coast and Australia. An anxiety-inducing election cycle ending in the winding down of the worst presidency America has ever seen. Things are dire, and we find ourselves improperly equipped to deal with it all.

I am one of the lucky ones; I have my family to support me — my loving wife, Anna, and our two wonderful children. I know a lot of people don’t have that built-in parachute. I don’t know how I would have fared on my own, without having people I love stuck inside with me. But I do know we all can share in the healing power of music.

You are not alone.

This became my mantra throughout 2020, thanks in large part to KEXP (Seattle’s wonderful public radio station, found at kexp.org or 90.3 FM), who constantly repeated those four words, and furthermore, proved it every day through the music they played and the collective healing they instigated. Despite the chaos of the year, KEXP was always there, playing exactly what I needed to hear.

More often than any other year, I reached for music as a form of therapy. A lot of what I sought out were old standards — albums I knew that could predictably lift me up out of, or to help expand upon the feelings of melancholy and sorrow I was drowning in. In addition to that, thankfully, the industry continued to kick out amazing new music for me to latch onto, despite them being unable to spread that music through live performance for most of the year.

While reeling in the years I still listened to plenty of new music. As per usual, I had a tough time narrowing down to just 31 new albums that I felt sum up the year best for me. There are some Top 31 regulars on countdown this year, and also a lot of new artists. Some albums that will make you sad, and others the will put a smile on your face. And hopefully some surprises along the way. This first one will make you laugh for sure.

Quarantine Casanova by Chromeo

This almost feels like cheating. Quarantine Casanova, by Canadian electro-funk duo Chromeo, is intended to be a joke, and it is so painfully current. Musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel put together five stellar songs about the current global pandemic, and then extended that concept by tacking on the instrumental versions of those five songs, making for a funky dance “album” that is just over 30 minutes long.

They sing about our collective social distance standard on “Six Feet Away.” They name drop Dr. Fauci on “’Roni Got Me Stressed Out.” And in the video above, they sing about being someone’s “Clorox Wipe”. These words didn’t mean anything a year ago, but now they’re burned onto our brains and will forever more bring back specific memories to everyone who has lived through this pandemic.

Chromeo clearly has fun with their music. Over the years I’ve danced through their live set at least once or twice, a huge grin on my face. Quarantine Casanova is their sixth release, and their entire catalog is full of danceable fun. I’m 99% sure I’ve not included a joke album like this on the Top 31 in the past, and I likely won’t again in the future. This album is for right now, and right now only. It got my family up and dancing about while giggling a few times throughout the year. And if you haven’t heard it, I recommend firing it up right now – as Chromeo sing, “I gotta take care of my mental health.”

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1. Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee
2. Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple
3. Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
4. folklore + evermore by Taylor Swift
5. Untitled (Black Is) + Untitled (Rise) by Sault
6. RTJ4 by Run The Jewels
7. Shore by Fleet Foxes
8. Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger
9. The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens
10. Making a Door Less Open by Car Seat Headrest
11. Dreamland by Glass Animals
12. A Hero’s Death by Fontaines D.C.
13. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez by Gorillaz
14. Mordechai + Texas Sun EP by Khruangbin
15. Introduction, Presence by Nation of Language
16. Free Love by Sylvan Esso
17. Miss Anthropocene by Grimes
18. 3.15.20 by Childish Gambino
19. Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM
20. The Third Mind by The Third Mind
21. Superstar by Caroline Rose
22. Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver
23. We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches
24. Ultra Mono by IDLES
25. Visions of Bodies Being Burned by clipping.
26. Thin Mind by Wolf Parade
27. The Loves of Your Life by Hamilton Leithauser
28. Palo Alto (Live) by Thelonious Monk
29. color theory by Soccer Mommy
30. Fall to Pieces by Tricky
31. Quarantine Casanova by Chromeo

Subscribe to the 2020 Bacon Top 31 playlist: Apple Music / Spotify
All Top 31s