#AF 2020 in Review

Inside the Colorful World of Remi Wolf

At the beginning of quarantine, she adopted a French Bulldog named Juno four months before dropping her appropriately-titled I’m Allergic To Dogs! EP. The 24-year-old Californian musician’s strong intuition follows...

Jade Gomez

My Top Album of 2020 was Room on Fire by The Strokes

The Strokes in 2003. Photo Credit: Colin Lane Whose culture is this and does anybody know?/I wait and tell myself, life ain't chess/But no one comes in and yes, you're alone/You don't miss me, I know The date was March 16, 2020. I got a text from my boss. He said he was really sorry but not to...

Mandy Brownholtz

PLAYING NASHVILLE2020 Was a Tumultuous Year for Music City

In a year bookended by a devastating tornado in March and a bombing on Christmas morning, with the COVID-19 pandemic sandwiched in between, Nashville has been dealt its fair share of blows this year. But these...

Cillea Houghton

The Looking Glass Singles Series Reflects the Best of Brooklyn Imprint Mexican Summer

There's no question that one of the best things to come out of this absolute shitshow of a year has been Bandcamp Fridays; the first Friday of every month, the music streaming platform waives its revenue share to provide an extra boost to struggling artists who use it to promote their music. Though...

Lindsey Rhoades

5 Powerful Protest Songs Released by Womxn in 2020

Music has always served as a battle cry and a balm during particularly tumultuous times, and in 2020—when injustices like the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on BIPOC, the slaying of George Floyd by police, the assault on immigrant, women's, and LGBTQIA rights by the Trump...

Alexa Peters

8 Songs That Got Us Through the 2020 Garbage Fire

When everything's going south, one of the few things you'll always have to lift you up is music. That was especially true this year, when many of our social lives came to a halt, but there was no shortage of new songs to listen to from the safety of our homes. COVID-19 and other 2020 events...

Annie White

How Lady Gaga (and other Pop Heroes) Came to Our Rescue in 2020

In the 1930s, as the world sunk into an unprecedented economic depression, Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen's song “Get Happy” prompted the American public to "forget your troubles," "shout Hallelujah" and "chase all your cares away." The simplicity of the song, with little in the way of...

Cat Woods

PLAYING DETROITA Year in Review

With this absolute dumpster fire of a year coming to a close, the next few weeks are a time for reflection, rest and recuperation. That means a lot of things for a lot of people, but in the music world, it means year-end lists. I usually tend to stay away from this sort of thing because I don’t...

Sara Barron

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Even With the Clubs Closed, 2020 Has Been a Stellar Year for Disco

I don't think I've ever listened to as much disco as I have in 2020. That's saying a lot for someone whose regular listening habits include a decent dose of the dance floor singles of the 1970s and the many grooves that have spun off from it in the decades that follow. This year was different, for...

Liz Ohanesian