Memorializing

 2020 was the year that I made the transition from buying CDs (I've bought two this year) to listening to music almost exclusively via streaming.  It's scrambled my brain a bit, to be honest.  I've had to force myself to dedicate time to listening to full albums, because it's so enticing to come up with another playlist; another quest for the perfect segue between songs.  There are albums on the list below where I can't remember a single song.  That's not great, obviously - so for my 2021 sidebar list, I'm going to include only those albums that truly sunk in, that I've gone back to on a regular basis.  

The 2020 list:

• Starting Over - Chris Stapleton
• Generations - Will Butler
• Hey Clockface - Elvis Costello
• Love is the King - Jeff Tweedy
• Uncivil War - Shemekia Copeland
• On My Own - Lera Lynn
• Letter to You - Bruce Springsteen
• Serpentine Prison - Matt Berninger
• Cuttin' Grass, Vol. 1 - Sturgill Simpson
• Speed, Sound, Lonely kv (EP) - Kurt Vile
• Good Luck With Whatever - Dawes
• As Long As You Are - Future Islands
• Alone Together Sessions - Hayes Carll
• The New OK - Drive-By Truckers
• What Is There - Delta Spirit
• Aftermath - Elizabeth Cook
• Hearts Town - The War and Treaty
• Daughter - Lydia Loveless
• The Ascension - Sufjan Stevens
• Shore - Fleet Foxes
• Long Violent History - Tyler Childers
• Shallow Graves - India Ramey
• Blackbirds - Bettye Lavette
• Die Midwestern - Arlo McKinney
• The Beautiful Madness - Jerry Joseph
• Twelfth - Old 97's
• Total Freedom - Kathleen Edwards
• Xoxo - The Jayhawks
• The Dirt and the Stars - Mary Chapin Carpenter
• Such Pretty Forks in the Road - Alanis Morrisette
• Made of Rain - The Psychedelic Furs
• The Balladeer - Lori McKenna
• Old Flowers - Courtney Marie Andrews
• folklore - Taylor Swift
• Hate for Sale - Pretenders
• The Waterfall II - My Morning Jacket
• Gaslighter - The Chicks
• All the Good Times - Gillian Welch, David Rawlings
• That's How Rumors Get Started - Margo Price
• What's Your Pleasure? - Jessie Ware
• On the Road: A Tribute to John Hartford
• Women in Music Part III - HAIM
• No Dream - Jeff Rosenstock
• Homegrown - Neil Young
• Rough and Rowdy Ways - Bob Dylan
• Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers
• Built to Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston
• Self Made Man - Larkin Poe
• Introduction, Presence - Nation of Language
• All Visible Objects - Moby
• World on the Ground - Sarah Jarosz
• Dreaming Again - Lizzy Long
• RTJ4 - Run the Jewels
• Spider Tales - Jake Blount
• Folk 'n Roll Vol. 1 - J.S. Ondara
• A Different War - Daniela Cotton and the Church Boys
• Danzig Sings Elvis
• Neon Cross - Jaime Wyatt
• Tessy Lou Williams
• Dedicated Side B - Carly Rae Jepsen
• Chromatica - Lady Gaga
• Cold Water - Medhane
• Copy That - Sara Evans
• how i'm feeling now - Charli XCX
• Going to the Movies - Mark Fredson
• Reunions - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
• Beautiful and Strange - Chelsea Williams
• Bad Luck - Sylvia Rose Novak
• The Way It Feels - Maddie & Tae
• Invisible People - Chicano Batman
• We Still Go to Rodeos - Whitney Rose
• Alphabetland - X
• Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa
• Lamentations - American Aquarium
• Walking Proof - Lilly Hiatt
• Fetch the Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple
• The New Abnormal - The Strokes
• Mama's Biscuits - Kirby Heard
• Never Will - Ashley McBryde
• The Family Songbook - The Haden Triplets
• Saint Cloud - Waxahatchee
• Gigaton - Pearl Jam
• Anybody Out There - Sadler Vaden
• Your Life is a Record - Brandy Clark
• Expectations - Katie Pruitt
• The Dream - Hailey Whitters
• Saturn Return - The Secret Sisters
• Honeymoon - Beach Bunny
• color theory - Soccer Mommy
• Open Book - Kalie Shorr
• Miss Anthropocene - Grimes
• The Unraveling - Drive-By Truckers
• County Squire - Tyler Childers