With independent records stores struggling from COVID lockdowns and a relative dearth of new music releases – with many artists holding releases back in the hope of touring them – the industry reacted with not one but a series of (mostly online) Record Store Days. Despite the sometimes bloated pricing of such releases taking fans for a rise. It’s a cause, I’m happy to get behind particularly in 2020.

Here’s a list of some of my favourite re-releases, archived releases, cover albums and tributes from 2020 (in no particular) order.

Lovey – Lemonheads

An absolutely brilliant package of my long time favourite Lemonheads album. It featured a hardcover book binding enclosing not only a new 20th anniversary vinyl pressing of Lovey (long unavailable) but also a bonus LP of a vibrant and typically ramshackle 1991 JJJ Live at the Wireless performance.

Archives Vol. II – Neil Young

Like Volume I, this is a sublime package of rare cuts, live and ‘lost’ albums. Like Volume I, it’s beautifully packaged and produced. Like Volume I, it annoyingly was preceded by many of the albums being released over the last couple of years, so by the time it was released, fans had already recently forked out for much of the content. Still, we needed to have it for the packaging and the deep cuts not available elsewhere.

Homegrown – Neil Young

Finally Young released his shelved personal follow up to his smash hit Harvest album. While not at the very top of Young’s cannon, it is a worthy addition to your collection.

Wildflowers & All the Rest – Tom Petty

A great (2014) remaster of Petty’s greatest solo album and of his his best releases overall spread over 2 vinyl LPs – plus a third LP of other studio tracks recorded during the sessions. Also available as a 7LP Deluxe edition with additional demos/outtakes and a live show from the Wildflowers Tour. I settled for the value 3 LP edition.

Gimme Some Truth – John Lennon (4LP Box Set)

Picks the eyes out of John Lennon’s, often inconsistent, solo albums. Arguably the best way to hear Lennon’s solo cannon – just the good stuff.

Long Hot Summers / The Story of the Style Council

Another terrific band whose output was often great and, in retrospect, groundbreaking – but which suffered from inconsistency when heard in the context of the individual albums. At the time, they also suffered from comparison of the vital The Jam albums which preceded them. This compilation, selected by the band itself, includes many extended versions which go deeper and represent better the bands vision. Essential. As the first vinyl run of the collection sold out in no time, I’ve had to make do with TIDAL until my back order arrives.

The Palace at 4am (Part 1) – Jay Bennett & Edward Burch

The 2002 Wilco Documentary ‘I Am Trying to Break Your Heart’ famously shows in graphic detail the breakdown of the band’s central partnership between Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett. We all know what happened next with Tweedy’s Wilco continuing to achieve great success. This album is what happened next for Jay Bennett. How I never managed to discover it before this 2020 RSD re-issue is perplexing. It’s a classic. If love great pop music, check it out.

Mental Notes/ Second Thoughts/ Dizrythmia – Split Enz

2020 saw the release of a 40th Anniversary`of Split Enz’s 1980 masterpiece True Colours, but what really excited me this year was the re-issues of their first three albums in glorious coloured vinyl editions with superbly curated gatefold sleeves. An overdue chance to revisit these wonderful art-pop albums which contain much to love beyond the recognisable ‘hits’.

Grandpa Would – Ben Lee

The story of Ben Lee’s discovery, as a 15 year old Aussie school kid by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and signing to the Beatie Boys’ Uber cool Grand Royale record label is now legendary. Lee’s pairing with producer Brad Wood (hot off having produced Liz Phair’s classic debut Exile in Guyville) provided the perfect setting to capture a rare mix of innocence, raw talent and youthful exuberance and translate it to vinyl. This 25th anniversary set presents the resulting debut album on LP1 and further demo’s and outtakes on LP2. The second LP is interesting but the original LP remains a classic which captured a moment of creative synchronicity the heights of which Lee never recaptured.

drag – k.d. lang

This concept album of covers of songs loosely arranged around the theme of smoking presents k.d. lang’s skill as a vocalist and interpreter in fine relief. This 2020 RSD edition marks a welcome vinyl release of the album.

Sign of the Times – Prince

Prince’s definitive statement as a musician in a new remastered package. A masterpiece.

Please Leave Your Light On – Paul Kelly & Paul Grabowsky

Paul Kelly, one of Australia’s best songwriters, has always had a way with a piano ballad. His solo piano led renditions of a number of this songs as part of his famed A-Z Tours proved that beyond doubt. His paring here with Grabowsky, one of Australia’s finest jazz pianists and bandleaders is inspired (and given their previous connections, long overdue). A fantastic recasting of these classic songs.

Blonde on the Tracks – Emma Swift

Recording a whole album of Bob Dylan covers would hardly seem a natural choice for a young female songwriter from Australia – but relocated to Nashville – and with a reputation based largely on one excellent EP (Bittersweet). But so beguiling – and audacious – are these versions that it has thrust Swift into the spotlight. We can’t wait to see what she does next.

Truckload of Sky, The lost songs of David McComb Vol. 1 – by the friends of David McComb

I’m not generally a fan of multi-artist tribute albums. With a few exceptions, the majority are more miss than hit. Delivering either too faithful (but inferior) copies or reinterpreting them to lesser effect, or worse, losing the spirit of the original. That claim can’t be made here. Firstly because these are ‘lost’ songs written by David McComb but never released. Secondly, these are not just random bands with some label affiliation but a group of musicians who were friends and/or collaborators with McComb. They came to the project out of love and with an innate understanding of the McComb’s artistic spirit. It’s the embodiment of that spirit which makes this album a triumph and one of my favourite albums of the year in any category.

Sunday – Vika & Linda

Vika & Linda are national treasures whether as part of the Black Sorrows, accompanying Paul Kelly or on their own releases. This isolation recorded album of covers achieves an intimacy which suits the mostly gospel material.

Back To My Roots – Solomon Burke

Solomon Bourke is indisputably one of the soul greats. This RSD re-issue of his 1976 Chess outing is yet more proof of that fact. And the worth the money for the cover art alone.

Unreleased 1998 – 2010 – Powderfinger

As the name suggests, this collection of unreleased tracks spans the bands career and capture each of their many facets which made them one of the countries most popular bands. While it’s a little hit and miss, there are some real treasures here and it adds up to more than a mere curiosity.

Idiot Prayer – Nick Cave Live at Alexandra Palace 2020

2020 was not a great year for live music thanks to Covid-19 BUT it was a great year for streamed live performances and, in the case of Nick Cave, a concert event filmed live in June 2020 at Alexandra Palace in London and streamed live to ticket holders prior to a worldwide cinema release. It was the apotheosis of the streamed concert a phenomenon which saw ‘real’ live-music-deprived concert geeks attending streamed gigs all over the world on their TVs. So thoroughly, and intimately, did Cave reinterpret his broad cannon, that this performance stands with the best live albums ever made and certainly my highlight of the year.

Live at Canterbury House 1967 – Joni Mitchell

Canterbury House was a vibrant community centre set in an old converted print shop in the university district of Ann Arbour Michigan. Its community centre, part coffee house part counselling centre, part performance space. In addition to hosting intimate alcohol free musical performances (for which it acoustics and state of the art sound system were perfect), it was also used for film nights, plays and church services.

With a capacity of only 200, and due to its ‘60’s community spirit, it was a special place for musicians seeking an intimate connection with their audience. It’s that spirit which pervades the music on this wonderful release of Joni Mitchell’s early career performance here on 27 October 1967.

Recorded prior to the release of Joni’s debut Song of the Seagull, the set list included a number of tracks from that album as well as early Mitchell penned songs which has already been hits for others and which would be subsequently released by her on later albums like ‘Both Sides Now’, ‘Urge for Going’ and Little Green’.

For fans of Joni Mitchell this is an indispensable glimpse of her early genius as she started her journey which would be era diving and create a body of work the equal of any other artist from that time.

Live Drugs – War on Drugs

I had the pleasure of seeing War On Drugs live at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre in 2018. So warn, entrancing and insistent was the enveloping sound of Grandulciel’s band that it rendered the band’s name oxymoronic. The music enveloped us all in its warm narcotic grip. This live album can’t quite match that intensity but delivers the band’s sound and greatest compositions so naturally that it allows their beauty to shimmer in a way the wonderful studio version never quite do.

Live at the Forum – The Teskey Brothers

When Josh Teskey, part way through this live album, breaks into a cover of Jealous Guy and admits it is influenced more by the Donny Hathaway live version than the Lennon original, we are reminded that Melbourne’s Teskey Brothers are the real deal. They have lived and inhabited the music that they have grown up with and loved and coupled it with their own distinct songwriting and brother Sam’s excellent guitar work to win fans around the world festival circuit. While that is in hiatus, we can comfort ourselves on this live album which is redolent of the great live discs of sound music, Otis Redding, Bill Withers and Hathaway, without ever feeling like a mere tribute.

The Complete Inconserated Live – The Replacements

Recorded in Milwaukee in 1989, following the release of Don’t Tell A Soul (the 2019 release of the original mix of which – as Dead Mans Bop – was the highlight of of last year’s re-release schedule). This 2020 live RSD release contains all 29 songs from that performance (a shortened version was included with the Dead Man’s Bop set). The Replacements were a famously unpredictable live proposition but both this set and the previous Replacements For Sale catch them at their incendiary best – constantly courting the shambolic edge of oblivion but never descending into the chasm – an ability which made them, on their best nights, amongst the set live acts around (and got them banned for life from NBC shortly prior to this performance). As a huge fan during the late ‘80’s, it was a dream to catch them live at the Roundhouse in London at the tail of their 2015 live run. It’s great to now have two live albums available in full to remember them by.

Galaxie 500 – Live at Barbue Copenhagen Dec 1st 1990

Another RSD live release by one of my favourite bands. Hard to get a hold of – and, like many RSD releases, overpriced – but worth it. Galaxie 500 at their short lived peak. First time available on vinyl.

Kiss My Blood – Iggy Pop Live at The Olympia Paris France 1991

An RSD 3LP set recorded as part of the Brick To Brick Tour. Contains all the tracks you know and love him for performed with just the right mix of professionalism and intensity. Comes with a limited edition numbered tour poster too.

Live at Goose Lake August 8th, 1970 – The Stooges

Everything you’ve heard. About this gig is true. Raw, shambolic, incendiary, punk which pushes it all the way to the edge – and over. The soundboard recording only enhances the legend.

The Allman Brothers – Live a Fillmore West 1-31-71

Allman Brothers. 1971. No need to say more.

Live at the Hollywood Palladium December 15, 1988 – Keith Richards and the X-pensive Winos

An old favourite I’ve owned for years on CD finally re-issued on vinyl. The definition of swagger.

A personal selection by a music fan who has admittedly failed to listen to every album released in 2020 and has his own preferences and predilections

1. Rough & Rowdy Ways – Bob Dylan

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Dylan dropped, without warning, just as COVID-19 was announcing its presence, his epic new single Murder Most Foul. The track, clocking in just shy of 17 minutes, picked the eyes out of institutions, politics and pop culture centreing on the assassination of JFK. It was a major artistic statement which Dylan had reportedly been working on for over a decade. If that was all he had done in 2020, it would have been sufficient to confirm his presence as a relevant and vital artist (if 2012’s Tempest had not made that clear enough). Dylan, however, followed it with I Contain Multitudes and then the album Rough & Rowdy Ways to seal the deal. R&RW was not merely an unexpectedly resurgent artistic statement but a reassertion of Dylan’s status as an artist still in touch with his muse and still relevant almost 60 years after he first burst from New York’s folk bars and coffee shops to become the defining voice of the ‘60’s. It was the standout album of 2020.

2. Song for Our Daughter – Laura Marling

I saw Laura Marling play live at the Sydney Opera House on 7 March 2020. Little would I know that it would be the second last show I would see in the next 9 months. The crowd present showed great appreciation for the strong new songs interspersed throughout the evening – some of them being played live for the first time. The album, when it arrived, did not disappoint. Perhaps Marling’s defining statement and certainly the equal of her impressive catalogue.

3. Letter to You – Bruce Springsteen

Not even the surprisingly strong, if overproduced, Western Stars (or its superior movie soundtrack recorded live in Springteen’s converted barn which now serves as his studio) prepared us for the Boss’ resurgence with Letter To You. Anchored by a selection of older songs, and billed as a letter of thanks to his fans, Letter To You contained echoes of his classic albums accompanied by the finely honed musicality of the E Street Band. Arguably his best since the under-rated Devils & Dust

4. The Prisoner – Phoebe Bridges

A fuller, more complete, artistic statement which built upon the promise of her debut.

5. Hey Clockface – Elvis Costello

A sprawling tour-de-force displaying the full range of Costello’s talents but (somehow) coalescing into a complete and congruous artistic statement.

6. Good Souls, Better Angels – Lucinda Williams

Ms Williams channels her righteous anger at external targets (principally Trump) rather than her usual introspection, and hits a bulls-eye perfectly suited to 2020.

7. Reunions – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Isbell continues to mine his talent for stories of peoples, places, struggles and redemption. The 400 Unit continues to back those songs with exceptional playing rivalled only by that of the Springsteen’s E-Street Band. If Dave Cobb’s too slick production (which appears designed to take Isbell to the next level) distracts from the honesty of Isbell’s songs, its a minor quibble and the songs, most notably ‘Only Children’ and ‘St Peter’s Autograph’, continue to shine through.

8. You Be the Lightning – Tracey McNeil & the Goodlife

2020 was supposed to be the year for Tracey who gave up her lease to hit the road in a van with her partner in life and music Dan Parsons to support the long awaited release of this album. The music lived up to its promise but the timing was crueller by COVID-19. It deserves wider recognition.

9. In and Out of the Light – The Apartments

Another fine addition to the all too infrequent – but uniformly excellent – catalogue of this fine band. Thoughtful, literate, chamber-pop doesn’t get better than this. Underpinned by Peter Milton Walsh’s sonorous languid vocals and superior songwriting ably supported by his fine band including Chris Abrahams’ (The Necks) elegant piano flourishes and Nick Allum’s haunting drums and percussion.

10. World on the Ground – Sarah Jarosz

Another fine country/Americana album from a hugely talented singer and songwriter. With the help of Jon Leventhal, Jarosz has taken a marked step forward with both songwriting and performance on this album.

The next 10…

11. Lightning Show Is Your Stuff – Grant Lee Phillips

12. Blue Hearts – Bob Mould

13. By The Fire – Thurston More

14. Taylor Swift – folklore

15. Walking Proof – Lilly Hiatt

16. A Hero’s Death – Fontaine’s DC

17. Old Flowers – Courtenay Marie Andrews

18. Hermitage – Ron Sexsmith

19. Summerlong – Rose City Band

20. Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud

The word Prisoner is capable of evoking two potential emotional responses. To some, it may connote a wild dangerous criminal, barely contained, capable of escaping at any moment and seething with murderous intent. To others, the piteous figure of a man, spirit broken, securely confined to a small, well defined, box. On listening to Ryan Adams’ new album it is instantly apparent that he meant its title in the second sense. Post release interviews given by Ryan confirm that:

“What’s more heartbreaking than any single event in life is the realization that every human being is trapped in a quest for love, trying to navigate a maze of desire. That’s what this record is about. Nobody falls in love to fail.”

To an extent that is a positive thing. This is a collection of painful piteous songs delving deep into the desperate self-assessment that comes with the end of a relationship. A marriage even.

And make no mistake, Adams is often at his best in this territory. ‘Amy’ from his solo debut remains a difficult but wonderfully rewarding listen (and a song that Adams himself refuses to play live such are the emotions attached). And his subsequent albums have equally been scattered with gems of this ilk from the desolate ’Sylvia Plath’ and ‘Afraid Not Scared’ to the exquisite ‘Burning Photographs’ and the tender ‘I Love You But I Don’t Know What To Say’. Indeed Adams wrote, what is perhaps one of the most devastating ‘break-up’ song ever – ‘This One’s Gonna Bruise’ which was released by Beth Orton on her 2002 Daybreaker album.

Prisoner contains a number of sharply observed and quietly desperate tracks which, in a songwriting sense, sit right up there with some of those tracks – ‘To Be Without You’, ’Tightrope’ and the album’s central highlight ‘Shiver And Shake’’ featuring the lines:

‘My chest is all tight, my heart still aches/ These are the days you need double what it takes/ I miss you so much I shiver and I shake’.

The rest of the tracks too are uniformly strong (with the exception of Haunted House which comes off as a lesser Ryan-Adams by-numbers track). But somehow these tracks – as solid as they are – suffer by comparison. They largely cover the same emotional territory but to lesser effect. Not quite as sharply written. Not quite as evocative or visceral. Not quite managing the light touch of the above tracks.

These songs tend to feature bigger production as if trying to provide a counterpoint but somehow they don’t take sufficient flight and end up weighing the album down rather than providing the variety and lift needed to balance the album.  Only the Springsteen-esque ramble of ‘Outbound Train’ comes close to adding the required respite.

It’s as if Adams knew he had a great batch of songs and was determined to craft them into a perfect, cohesive album. It’s artfully constructed – a tasteful guitar solo here, a harmonica part there – all played by Ryan himself and precise drumming throughout by Johnny T Yerington.

It’s here that the album comes to resemble the titular prisoner as a ‘man in a box’ in a less positive sense. What the album needs is a bit more of that other prisoner, the dangerous one. The one tugging on his shackles. The album needs a bit of the tension created by the thought that Adams might break-out at any moment and burn the whole thing down.

This might all sound churlish coming from someone who once accused Adams of needing an editor – someone to give him more focus. With recent albums Adams has delivered the focus but here seems to have lost something in the process. I’d love to see how Prisoner might have turned out like with a producer like Ethan Johns (who produced 2005’s under-rated ’29’) or John Porter (who co-produced, with Adams, what to these ears was his masterpiece 2004’s ‘Love is Hell’). Or perhaps even a producer like Jack White who might have brought a little of that danger to proceedings.

On the whole, this is a fine album. Adams is too good a songwriter and player to produce anything less. But with the quality of the songs it could have been more. It could have been more than another very good addition to his discography. It could have been his second masterpiece.