In a year where we all sought a little more escapism from home than usual, albums—both old and new—helped remind the collective zeitgeist that in times of strife or struggle, music is perhaps what we all reach for the most. The medium’s inherent quality of togetherness kept us close, even when we were farthest apart in 2020. And at a time when touring music simply isn’t a possibility for most, the solace we found this year in many albums that have yet to be played in a live setting is quite a remarkable phenomenon to note. The LP format among electronic musicians is certainly in its heyday, and a steady shift towards longer projects has proven to be fruitful in 2020. There was no shortage of good music this year, and while there has been an extended shortage of live events, the host of top-notch albums we got in 2020 certainly helped carry us through this strange, unforgettable year. With that, we’re proud to present Dancing Astronaut’s Top 20 Electronic Albums of 2020Words by David KlemowLady Gaga’s dominion over the intersection of power-pop and electro-house has netted us some of the most memorable hits of the 21st century. In short, anytime Lady Gaga links with the likes of DJ Snake, Zedd, or Madeon, it seems we get a chart-topping smash. 2020 saw Tchami, BloodPop®, Skrillex, and Axwell join those ranks with the release of a long-awaited LG6, officially recognized as Chromatica. A proven blueprint that has yet to fail, Lady Gaga’s firmly planted flag at the convergence of pop and dance made for one of the most enjoyable, repeatable, and uplifting listens all year long. Messages of inclusivity, the importance of mental health, and self-reliance laced Lady Gaga’s house-charged, full-length LP together, which featured contributions from Ariana Grande, Blackpink, and frequent collaborator Elton John. With her first studio project since 2016’s lauded Joanne, Gaga returned to her pop royalty roots and turned in what was easily one of the best albums of 2020. Words by Mitchell RoseAt just 20-years-old, ford. has production chops that far outclass many artists twice his age. The Foreign Family Collective rising star’s sophomore album, The Color Of Nothing, feels like a tailor-made antidote to the 2020 blues.ford.’s strengths have always lied in crafting sublime musical atmospheres full of lush instrumentation and melt-in-your-mouth synths, a craft he uses to dramatic effect all over The Color Of Nothing. To complement the tracks, the Utah-based artist quite astutely calls on vocalists to add to the album’s rich texture without ever overpowering it. An example can be found in Barrie’s potently charming performance on the record’s closer.The cyclical feeling of The Color Of Nothing, which ford. intentionally built into the album, makes it a record that’s all too easy to accidentally listen to three times through, its calming ambiance continuously washing over the listener. Making an album that simultaneously incites tranquility and energy can prove a daunting task, but ford. walks the line with ease. Words by Mitchell RoseATTLAS began 2020 by releasing his massively anticipated debut album Lavender God, a sprawling record that showcased the mau5trap producer’s world-building aptitude. A few months later, ATTLAS surprised fans with his second full album of the year, self-described as “calming, hopeful, and about the small good things we can control and take pride in.” We now know that record as Out Here With You.Although either album could have qualified for this list, the sophomore record manages to capture the best facets of its predecessor while simultaneously branching out into new territory. Tracks like “Polar Concept” and “When We Were The Same” carry the force fans know that ATTLAS can bring to his works, as showcased in Lavender God on “Sinner Complicated,” for example. However, Out Here With You ventures into acoustic territory unprecedented in ATTLAS’ music, even drawing on the world of ambient music at times. Overall, Out Here With You is a stunningly complete record that showcases ATTLAS’ endlessly diverse skill set and his room to grow even more moving forward. Words by David Klemow and Josh StewartIn a word, Nicolas Jaar’s 2020 output was nothing short of prolific. The New York-based Chilean-American producer shared three albums under his own name, along with a fourth under his more seldom-used A.A.L. (Against All Logic) moniker. For the purpose of this list, we’re focusing on A.A.L.’s return, with 2017 – 2019 picking up right where 2012 – 2017 left off. The core of the album, stretching from the inspired and pumping “If You Can’t Do It Good, Do It Hard” through “Alarm,” “Deeeeeeefers,” and “Faith,” in a way lift the A.A.L. project to new heights by kicking it down in the mud. Jaar finds a real sweet spot in this movement, embracing the brash, menacing, and downright enormous without cluttering the compositions beyond the point of a truly nuanced atmosphere. And while the LP manages to hold true to A.A.L.’s original identity and stylistic tenets, 2017 – 2019 showcases a rare progression in sound for a side project, which often tends to remain more static. Out Jaar’s expansive 2020 output, 2017 – 2019 feels like the most accessible of his projects while still forcing listeners out of their comfort zones at least a few times—and that’s to say nothing of one of 2017 – 2019’s brilliant use of one of the greatest Beyoncé samples ever. Words by Josh StewartDan Snaith returned to form as Caribou this year, amassing an album in Suddenly that pulls off being as accessible as it is personal, all while adding a fresh sheen to the indie-electronic moniker’s already colorfully weird template.On the whole, Suddenly is a little bit of this and a little bit of that, satisfying those who saw the UK musician’s tastes becoming too focused on the indie-anthem by just being a tad less focused in general. Thankfully, Snaith has developed such a strong sense of his musical identity over the years that each track on Suddenly still lives and breathes Caribou. Whether it’s the soulful and funky “Home“, the hypnotically hip-hop-inspired “Sunny’s Time,” or the R&B-soaked “Like I Loved You,” there’s a perpetual acknowledgment of the synthetic nature of electronic music, one that allows Caribou’s work to walk the fine line not only between familiar and fresh, but also delicate and off-hue.Fans of previous Caribou work like Our Love and Swim will know how capable Snaith is of producing hits, and in turn, might find Suddenly to lack on that front. It’s likely that this is where the fanbase splits to a degree, as Suddenly represents a shift in Caribou from upbeat dance floor overtones to something that’s still indie, but a hair more challenging and introspective.Words by Sami WeisbandAlexander Kotz, better known under his genre-bending moniker Elderbrook, has been gifting the industry with electronic gold since 2015, founding his sound inside his college dorm room. Fast forward to 2020, during which the dorm room dignitary would deliver his debut LP, Why Do We Shake In The Cold?Shaking in the cold being a physical expression of the need for warmth, and the album is a metaphor for human connection, and at times, a lack thereof. The intellectually stimulating record also plays host to an amalgamation of sounds and lyricism that supply listeners with a song for every mood. Ranging from deep, reflective hits such as “Numb” and “Next December” to uptempo and somewhat sarcastic bops like “My House,” the album combines electronic, indie, and folk tonality, allowing for repeated cross-genre enjoyment. Released during a year chock full of profound introspection, Why Do We Shake In The Cold offers a glimpse of genuine humanity.Words by Jessica MaoTwo years apart from his lauded debut album Illusion Of Perfection, Spencer Brown chronicled the endeavor with dissemination of sophomore LP, Stream of Consciousness. Devoted to his preservation of the album as a craft, the prodigal Anjuna resident once again chose the mix album as his form of execution to great payoff. Pillared by the central theme of “flow,” the progressive work presents a perpetual listening experience with layers of tranquility, fullness, and animation.Resonant with mindfulness, spirituality, and unadulterated energy, the 12-track LP embodies Brown’s rousing electronic intuition in its second orbital journey as he partners with peers like Ben Böhmer, Marsh, and Qrion on multidimensional tracks. In no production does Brown skimp on building out soundscapes through his utmost attention to detail—tuning out the elasticity of bass lines, instilling diverse breakbeats, fashioning muted drums, and constructing atmospheric backdrops. Most of all, each track’s beauty derives from its distinctual melodies, all different, yet none more expertly written than fellow companions. A true album tied together not only by conceptual thought but also by transitional tactileness, Stream of Consciousness definitively marks Brown as one of dance music’s brightest talents. Words by Mitchell RoseIt’s hard to argue that any producer has cultivated a more robust personal sound than Boris Brejcha has over the past decade. The masked producer has long been regarded as a leader in his brand of deep minimal techno, but this status was firmly cemented with the release of his opus, Space Diver.By the time the record dropped in January 2020, Space Diver’s tracklist had been thoroughly vetted in the live circuit, evidenced by his performances for Cercle and Tomorrowland years before the record’s release. Brejcha’s repetitive driving rhythms lure the listener into a hypnotic groove that sustains for the album’s duration. Meanwhile, variations ranging from the grandiose breakdown of “Gravity” to the subtle beat changes in the title track keep the record fresh and engaging. Capping off years of building and preparation, Space Diver is an ultra-polished record that will go down as a genre-defining piece of work. Words by Ross GoldenbergPrefacing that the long-awaited, ever-delayed arrival of a project will be “worth the wait” certainly feels overplayed by 2020, and all too often seems to fall short of already shelved expectations. That said, JOYRYDE’s Brave unequivocally encapsulated the three-word expression at the top of April. Overlooking a mild timetable setback and a transcontinental album campaign in the year prior, which turned out to be a more than fortuitous blueprint considering 2020’s repercussions, JOYRYDE followed through with 18 finely tuned attachments across his all-encompassing bass-house crown jewel. Brave’s tracklist distinctively holds its own from the first minute to the sixty-sixth, driving through JOYRYDE’s nonpareil cadence of house, trap, mid-tempo, and every drop of bass in between on a stocked collection of head-turning production work.Brave manages to dip, weave, and swerve through an exhaustive collection of JOYRYDE’s characteristically hard sonics without ever becoming repetitive or tiresome. In essence, the record plays like a crisply recorded, sweat-drenched warehouse party and while the album certainly checks the “worth the wait” box, it masterfully exceeded many expectations, deservedly landing on the list of 2020’s most memorable albums.Words by Jessica MaoIn the context of its storied run, it’s safe to assume that the Anjunadeep compilation series perhaps saw its most revered edition yet with Anjunadeep 11, such that Dancing Astronaut would proclaim it the sole compilation to receive an Album of the Year acknowledgment. A vital advancement of Anjunadeep’s reputation—selectors of the finest electronic sounds—Anjunadeep 11 collected a rampant blend of deep house, melodic house, and electronica under the uninhibited Anjunadeep header.Scouting rising talent from Leaving Laurel to CRi and Jon Gurd while ushering in mainstays like Yotto, Lane 8, and Tinlicker, the massive two-CD mix realizes emotive dance music in depth and range, navigating the downtempo, the vocal-centric, the deeper, and the climatic. Anjunadeep also continued its open-minded expansion as Anjunabeats’ welcoming sister label with the inclusion of techno influences and drum ‘n’ bass stylings on Anjunadeep 11. Empowered by an overarching emphasis on the ephemeral, the 38-deep catalog is faultless in mix quality, attention to instrumentation, and curatorial prowess, as Anjunadeep 11 scripts another cohesive statement. Words by David KlemowBaauer’s story continues to be one of the most remarkable subplots in all of electronic music. A born creator with an insatiable, sound-driven wanderlust, Baauer hit viral superstardom without ever really even meaning to with 2013’s “Harlem Sh*ke.” The result wasn’t a catapult to fame—for Baauer, it was a years-long derailment of his actual artistic goals. But by 2016, he had achieved the creative autonomy he so clearly longed for on his debut studio album, Aa. Now, in 2020, to watch Baauer’s sprawling imaginative energy manifest itself in the strangely almost-too-on-point audiovisual experience of PLANET’S MAD has been a thoroughly enjoyable continuation of his narrative as an artist. Furthermore, for Baauer to net his first Grammy nomination on his own terms, in a way that is so wholly true to his own creative direction, is one of 2020’s most redeeming dance music storylines. PLANET’S MAD stands alone in a league of irreverent, apocalyptic psychedelia and experimentalism this year, but the record is a blast from front to back, and if nothing else, proves unequivocally that Baauer is a whole lot more than just a viral one-trick pony. Words by Ross GoldenbergPredicting any sequence of events in 2020 was an impossibility less than halfway into the year, but forecasting that ODESZA and Golden Features would casually drop the collaborative hammer by revealing a new alias along with its debut album stretched lightyears beyond anticipation. The two sides had previously banded together for a co-hosted remix in 2018, but with the revelation of BRONSON came zero indication of whether the project would fall in line with this past effort or introduce its own original sound. Now, of course, we know the outcome.Coexisting with a slate of enthralling visual counterparts, BRONSON emerged as the embodiment of a cohesive front-to-back voyage, fluently flowing back and forth across all ten of the eponymous LP’s compositions. BRONSON extracted ODESZA and Golden Features’ respective production sensibilities, intercepting and coloring them with an unfamiliar conduct wholly new to even the most seasoned listeners. Trekking through more serene expeditions including “HEART ATTACK” with lau.ra and “DAWN” with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, and unaccustomed sinister showings including “TENSE” and “KEEP MOVING,” BRONSON have set themselves up for a transcendental live experience when the time comes. Words by Jessica MaoMat Zo’s long-awaited return to Anjunabeats, the instrumental label behind his debut album Damage Control, would inevitably result in one of the most anticipated homecomings of the year. Having catapulted his sound into the top echelons of electronic music years prior, the British producer divulged his latest exhibition into all that is forward thinking with third studio album, Illusion of Depth.Simultaneously balancing contemporized styles with evergreen appeal, the 11-track project is an exercise in fluidity that finds Zo leading the charge in multi-genre stylings. He appeases the darker end of electronic with his sinister execution “The Next Chapter,” while dabbling in retro synth-enlightened productions on “Colours.” Although the album inherently stands as a dance record, Zo digs deeper into rock inspirations, which make their clear imprints in vocal delivery, percussion, and other composition elements. However, his trance origins reside within the creviced nuances of the tracklist, serving as gentle reminders of the production standards for which Zo first became known. An electrifying, glitzy body of work sewn together by the precise curation of individualistic sonics, Illusion of Depth concurs with Zo’s ever-expanding skillmanship. Words by Sami WeisbandAfter releasing their expertly crafted, fine-tuned debut LP Here For Now in June, Louis The Child, delivered yet another certified home run this October, Candy II [Beat Tape]. Fresh off the heels of the debut album, the boys added to their repertoire of first-rate production with the second installment of their Candy beat-tape series, and while we would be remiss to not corroborate the exemplary creative work that is Here For Now, we maintain that Louis The Child took the world by storm with Candy II.Candy II is a full-scale album of instrumental tunes that fit together flawlessly. It escapes the bind of any one electronic subgenre, covering all electronic ground while indulging fans in hair-raising synth progressions, grimy bass beats, and everything in between. That Louis The Child concocted a trippy 36-minute Candy Visual Companion only further supported their case for Album of the Year inclusion. Evidently made from a place of true artistry and expressiveness, Candy II showcased the duo’s creativity with an honest levity that many artists seem to lose along the way. Words by Ross GoldenbergEclipsing his freshman album and magnum opus, better understood as Cloud Nine, was a towering order, but not one too tall for Kygo. As tropical house’s commander-in-chief drew closer to the completion of his third studio album, tacking one palatable Golden Hour piece onto another, an airtight case that Kygo could unseat Cloud Nine as his most estimable body of work became more and more credible.From Golden Hour‘s branding alone, expectations surrounding the LP were emphatically maxed out from the very second that Kygo disclosed its existence, and its outcome was everything the Norwegian veteran’s listeners could have dreamed of—and then some. Golden Hour dove head first back into the venerable character of the tropical house on which Kygo built his stature in the mid-2010′, across his remix generation, and all the way to Cloud Nine. From its heartwarming opener, “The Truth” with Valerie Broussard, all the way down to “Only Us” with Haux, Golden Hour irrefutably delivered in each and every tropical house bracket, with inclusions such as “Feels Like Forever” with Jamie N Commons and “I’ll Wait” with Sasha Sloan skyrocketing to the mountaintop of Kygo’s most-cherished work. Words by Sami WeisbandAfter releasing one chart-topping track after another since he was just 17-years-old, Whethan finally brought us his debut LP, Fantasy. As to be expected, it unsurprisingly emerged as one of 2020’s most prized gems.Seemingly unable to produce anything that isn’t an immediate crowd favorite, the Chicago native has curated an album brimming with smash hits. Refusing to be labeled as purely an electronic DJ/producer, Whether offers his own sublime amalgamation of electronic, pop, indie, hip-hop, and trap, all under the Fantasy title.Featuring an assembly of the industry’s biggest names, such as Oliver Tree, The Knocks, Grouplove, RL Grime, and many more, the album fosters a space for exciting, uptempo heaters that shine a beaming light on what many would deem an especially grim year. While the album hinges on vibrant and euphoric beats, each track still is still beholden to the sharp and perceptive lyricism to which fans can effortlessly connect and have even come to expect in Whethan’s recent years of activity. Although his career began at an early age, Whethan has proven time and time again that passion, vision, and collaboration always give way to music that will amplify a generation.Words by Rachel NarozniakGood music affords listeners the opportunity to escape the world, if only for a little while. Great music builds them a new one to escape into, time and time again. From its inclusion on Dancing Astronaut’s 2020 Albums of the Year list alone, it’s not difficult to discern the category to which The Making of a Paracosm belongs.Proof that music is perhaps the closest we can come to time travel, The Making of a Paracosm harkens back to the Sweden of Kasbo‘s upbringing, folding allusions to the Northern Scandinavian folklore of his childhood and early adolescent years among the album’s instrumentation and melodies. As The Making of a Paracosm invokes fictive elements that colored Kasbo’s earlier years, these latter technical components concurrently remind us just who is appealing to us: an artist whose sonic maturity manifests in a 14-song soundscape. The result, as the LP’s title betrays, is the “detailed imaginary world” that “Paracosm” denotes.Rife with wild whimsy, unjaded wonder, and a surging sense of youth, The Making of a Paracosm soothes as it simultaneously stimulates, transporting listeners out of the present moment and into an enveloping place where time stands still. Less of a sophomore LP and more of a musical bildungsroman, The Making of a Paracosm sees Kasbo transcend not only his seminal 2018 debut, Places We Don’t Know, but also the adversity of hearing loss, which unexpectedly struck his left ear in May 2019 and sustained thereafter. Although The Making of a Paracosm is an invitation elsewhere, its significance is clear: Kasbo isn’t going anywhere.Words by David KlemowDisclosure’s long-awaited third album, ENERGY, was the gift that kept giving in 2020. From an extended rollout, which came replete with an awe-inspiring Cercle set nestled in the luscious beauty of Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes National Park, videos with Channel Tres, Kelis, slowthai and Aminé, and a deluxe cut of the album that included the pair’s Ecstasy EP from earlier this year, ENERGY was a seemingly endless source of enjoyment. Culminating in the duo’s seventh Grammy nomination, the album showcases the Lawrence brothers’ deep appreciation for the sounds of the world, and their razor-sharp ability to maneuver those sounds through club-ready electronic filters. While Disclosure’s sophomore run, 2015’s Caracal, was never quite able to replicate the lightning strike that was the pair’s debut‚ 2013’s unforgettable Settle, Disclosure successfully rebounded on their third full-length project. And while the brothers are no longer the UK house wunderkinds they were when they first emerged on the scene nearly a decade ago, their maturity as producers and the nuanced lens through which they create timeless house grooves remain as polished as ever.Words by Mitchell RoseLane 8 had an unconditionally dazzling 2020. The This Never Happened boss relentlessly released music that turned heads this year with its sheer quantity and uncompromising excellence and earned himself the title of Dancing Astronaut’s 2020 Artist of the Year in the process. Lane 8’s stunning campaign kicked off just 10 days into the year with the release of his third studio album, Brightest Lights.Brightest Lights’ joyous melodies intertwine with the record’s dynamic instrumentation, creating a listening experience that is nothing short of magical, and one that warrants the LP’s classification as Lane 8’s best project to date. The album’s uplifting themes form a perfect marriage with the powerful production, constantly toeing the line between emotive bliss and dance floor-ready energy. At its best, melodic house can fill listeners’ souls to the brim, and with Brightest Lights, Lane 8 did just that, crafting an album that leaves the genre’s fans in awe while drawing in countless new admirers. Words by Sami WeisbandTchami spent seven long years preaching the gospel of future-house from a pulpit of his own making. Now, after already reaching dance music’s highest echelons, the High Priest of House, and widely credited founding father of one of today’s top trending genres, put forth his debut album, Year Zero, landing as Dancing Astronaut‘s Album of the Year in 2020. Evidently, spending the better part of a decade establishing one’s sound, founding record labels, co-producing with the world’s biggest names, and serving electronic devotees with some of the highest-caliber production in the game is bound to steer a producer out of artistic stagnancy and into unexplored creative terrain.Beyond simply boasting the Parisian luminary’s character-defining future-house sound, Year Zero is an auditory magic carpet ride that delivers on every ounce of anticipation that swelled behind the record. Perhaps most impressively though, Tchami’s mastery of the current electronic zeitgeist shines brilliantly on an album that still has yet to ever be played live. And somehow, it still manages to capture the sound that defined 2020. Year Zero bears witness to where Tchami as a project meets Martin Bresso as a human, pulling influences from where electronic music has been, where it currently sits, and where it has the opportunity to go. It’s apparent that Bresso’s talent is as sharp, savvy, and forward-thinking as ever, and Year Zero is a testament to the journey it took to land himself where he now stands—right at the very top.Tags: 2020 Album of the Year, attlas, baauer, boris brejcha, Bronson, caribou, Disclosure, elderbrook, ford., James Grant, Jody Wisternoff, Joyryde, Kasbo, Kygo, Lady Gaga, Lane 8, Louis the Child, mat zo, Nicolas Jaar, Spencer Brown, Tchami, Whethan
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