2020 could be described best with a whole bunch of four-letter words but, wow, in terms of music it was spoiling us big time. New favorite bands were basically discovered on a weekly basis and great albums were thrown at us at rapid speed. Here are a few that most definitely were on heavy rotation at the Lodown headquarter this year.

LUNCH MONEY LIFE : Immersion Chamber : Scenic Route
The first lockdown in spring felt as if we’re facing the long-overdue apocalypse, and this London-based band delivered the perfect soundtrack for it.

ACTIVITY : Unmask Whoever : Western Vinyl
The Brooklyn-based quartet released their album in early spring and it basically took us the whole season to decode their sonic spectrum and many influences. Lovely.

NAKED ROOMMATE : Do The Duvet : Upset The Rhythm
The Oakland-based project guides you through all things post punk, and allegedly offered the silliest and paradoxically also coolest record of the year with its debut.

EMS SYNTHI 100 : Deewee Sessions Vol.01 : Deewee
The Dewaele brothers finally got heir hands on the legendary EMS Synthi 100 - the result is a beautiful 35-minute long homage to musical retro-futurism.

A FULL COSMIC SOUND . A.F.C.S. : BYM Records
The Chilean collective of cosmic travelers finally made their very own blend of krautrock-infused crossover available on vinyl for the very first time.
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ALEX MAAS : Luca : Basin Rock
A late yet well-deserved entry by the Black Angels chief-honcho, which feels deeply personal and fragile as it consciously turns its back from the sonics of the beloved psych mothership.

ART FEYNMAN : Half Price At 3:30 : Western Vinyl
Luke Temple’s alter ego establishes itself as quite an eccentric fella with his second outing, as he’s flawlessly combining psychedelic dance pop with a ton of late 70s/early 80s references.

LINDSTRØM & PRINS THOMAS : III : Smalltown Supersound
Whenever these two titans of alternative clubland join forces, you know that you’re in for a massive musical treat - and their third album is no exception from this rule.

STRANDED : Post Meridian EP : Homage
This six-track EP is another late entry to this list, but we already know that it’ll be by our side for weeks and weeks to come since the melange of clubland and post punk references served by the Atlanta-based producer simply is a flawless one.

MJ GUIDER : Sour Cherry Bell : Kranky
Make witch great again! The New Orleans-based artist lures us into her gingerbread-dungeon via some pitch-perfect broomstick wave - and we’re more than willing to follow her call.

MINI SKIRT : Casino : self-released
With one foot into biting social commentary and the other in being gloriously asocial, this Byron Bay quartet delivered this year’s strong candidate for punk rock album of the year.
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GOOD SAD HAPPY BAD : Shades : Textile Records
Mica Levi took a break from her busy scoring schedule, brought the band back together, renamed the whole thing and instantly recorded one of this year’s most adventurous indie albums.

PROTOMARTYR : Ultimate Success Today : Domino
Detroit’s finest evolve with every new album, and this one here is their strongest outing so far - a dystopian and heavily intense masterpiece, a perfect score for this shitty year.

RHEINZAND : Rheinzand : Music For Dreams
If classic, sensuous disco that isn’t shying away from nods to early electro and bouncy funk is something you’d just love to carry close to your heart, well, then this Belgian trio has this year’s holy grail for you.