KGNU's Top Albums of 2020

KGNU's Top 100 albums of the year, ranked by how many spins each record received. Considering the variety of music programs in our schedule and the sheer number of DJ's (100+) doing them, it's no surprise that this is a diverse list. Thanks for listening with open minds and ears. It's a credit to you, the listeners, that KGNU has been able to offer a true musical alternative for nearly 40 years. You can always check our Top 30 charts as well.

Top 100 Albums on KGNU in 2020

1
Artist: Lucinda Williams
Album: Good Souls Better Angels
Label: Highway 20 Records

---

2
Artist: Cary Morin
Album: Dockside Saints
Label: Self Produced

---

3
Artist: The James Hunter Six
Album: Nick Of Time
Label: Daptone

---

4
Artist: Khruangbin
Album: Mordechai
Label: Dead Oceans

---

5
Artist: Laurie Lewis
Album: And Laurie Lewis
Label: Spruce and Maple Music

---

6
Artist: Cindy Cashdollar
Album: Waltz For Abilene
Label: Silver Shot Records

---

7
Artist: Pokey LaFarge
Album: Rock Bottom Rhapsody
Label: New West Records

---

8
Artist: Maceo Parker
Album: Soul Food: Cooking With Maceo
Label: The Funk Garage

---

9
Artist: Sault
Album: Untitled (Black Is)
Label: Forever Living Originals

---

10
Artist: Chicano Batman
Album: Invisible People
Label: ATO Records

---

11
Artist: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Album: All The Good Times
Label: Acony Records

---

12
Artist: Mulatu Astatke & Black Jesus Experience
Album: To Know Without Knowing
Label: Agogo

---

13
Artist: Onipa
Album: We No Be Machine
Label: Strut Records

---

14
Artist: Run The Jewels
Album: RTJ4
Label: BMG Rights Management

---

15
Artist: Various
Album: The Rough Guide to Blues Divas
Label: World Music Network

---

16
Artist: Laura Marling
Album: Song For Our Daughter
Label: Chrysalis Records

---

17
Artist: Bab L' Bluz
Album: Nayda!
Label: Real World Records

---

18
Artist: Sonny Landreth
Album: Blacktop Run
Label: Provogue

---

19
Artist: Bill Frisell
Album: Valentine
Label: Bill Frisell

---

20
Artist: Only The Righteous
Album: Anchovies & Ice Cream
Label: Budo Kiba

---

21
Artist: Della Mae
Album: Headlight
Label: Rounder Records

---

22
Artist: Bob Dylan
Album: Rough and Rowdy Ways
Label: Columbia

---

23
Artist: Fontaines D.C.
Album: A Hero's Death
Label: Partisan's Records

---

24
Artist: Khruangbin & Leon Bridges
Album: Texas Sun - EP
Label: Dead Oceans

---

25
Artist: Ghetto Kumbé
Album: Ghetto Kumbé
Label: ZZK Records

---

26
Artist: Various
Album: A Guide to the Birdsong of México, Central América & the Caribbean
Label: Shika Shika

---

27
Artist: Caribou
Album: Suddenly
Label: Merge Records

---

28
Artist: Kimmy Gold
Album: Black Woman's Glory
Label: Duke Production

---

29
Artist: DakhaBrakha
Album: Alambari
Label: Self Produced

---

30
Artist: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Album: Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Rendition Was In)
Label: Daptone Records

---

31
Artist: Molly Tuttle
Album: ...but I'd Rather Be With You
Label: Compass Records

---

32
Artist: Gillian Welch
Album: Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1
Label: Acony Records

---

33
Artist: DON BRYANT
Album: You Make Me Feel
Label: Fat Possum

---

34
Artist: Sarah Jarosz
Album: World On The Ground
Label: Rounder

---

35
Artist: Fiona Apple
Album: Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Label: Epic

---

36
Artist: Danny Barnes
Album: Man On Fire
Label: ATO Records

---

37
Artist: Jah9
Album: Note To Self
Label: VP Records

---

38
Artist: Natalie Slade
Album: Control
Label: Eglo Records UK

---

39
Artist: Captain Planet & Alsarah
Album: No Visa
Label: Bastard Jazz

---

40
Artist: Dan Deacon
Album: Mystic Familiar
Label: Domino

---

41
Artist: The Jayhawks
Album: Xoxo
Label: Sham

---

42
Artist: Siti Muharam
Album: Siti Of Unguja (Romance Revolution On Zanzibar)
Label: On The Corner

---

43
Artist: Various
Album: Take Me Back to the Range: Selections from Western Jubilee Recording Company
Label: Jubilee Record Company

---

44
Artist: The SteelDrivers
Album: Bad For You
Label: Rounder Records

---

45
Artist: James Taylor
Album: American Standard
Label: Fantasy Records

---

46
Artist: Bowregard
Album: Arrows
Label: Self Produced

---

47
Artist: Norah Jones
Album: Pick Me Up Off The Floor
Label: Blue Note

---

48
Artist: Afel Bocoum
Album: Lindé
Label: World Circuit

---

49
Artist: Tamikrest
Album: Tamotaït
Label: Glitterbeat

---

50
Artist: Antibalas
Album: Fu Chronicles
Label: Daptone

---

51
Artist: Gasoline Lollipops
Album: All the Misery Money Can Buy
Label: Self Produced

---

52
Artist: Etienne de la Sayette
Album: Kobugi
Label: Muju Records

---

53
Artist: Robert Cray
Album: That's What I Heard
Label: Nozzle Records

---

54
Artist: Buscabulla
Album: Regresa
Label: Ribbon Music

---

55
Artist: Wood Belly
Album: Man On The Radio
Label: Self Produced

---

56
Artist: The Haden Triplets
Album: The Family Songbook
Label: Trimeter Records

---

57
Artist: Lianne La Havas
Album: Lianne La Havas
Label: Nonesuch

---

58
Artist: Skinshape
Album: Umoja
Label: Lewis

---

59
Artist: The Bahama Soul Club
Album: Bohemia After Dawn
Label: Buyu Records

---

60
Artist: The Allergies
Album: Say the Word
Label: Jalapeno Records

---

61
Artist: Bronwynne Brent
Album: Undercover
Label: Self Produced

---

62
Artist: Jade Hairpins
Album: Harmony Avenue
Label: Merge Records

---

63
Artist: Various
Album: Africa Airways Six (Mile High Funk 1974 - 81)
Label: Africa Seven

---

64
Artist: Gretchen Peters
Album: The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury
Label: Scarlet Letter Records

---

65
Artist: Patty Larkin
Album: Bird in a Cage
Label: Road Narrows Records

---

66
Artist: Shabaka And The Ancestors
Album: We Are Sent Here By History
Label: Impulse!

---

67
Artist: Numa Gama
Album: Me Redesenho
Label: VOODOOHOP

---

68
Artist: Special Consensus
Album: Chicago Barn Dance
Label: Compass Records

---

69
Artist: Joni Mitchell
Album: Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967)
Label: Rhino

---

70
Artist: Free Radicals
Album: White Power Outage, Vol. 1
Label: RWE

---

71
Artist: Fantastic Negrito
Album: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
Label: Cooking Vinyl Limited

---

72
Artist: Various
Album: Record Kicks Chartbusters
Label: Record Kicks

---

73
Artist: PAINT
Album: Spiritual Vegas
Label: Mexican Summer

---

74
Artist: Céu
Album: APKÁ!
Label: Six Degrees Records

---

75
Artist: Various
Album: Record Kicks Funk Soul Sisters
Label: Record Kicks

---

76
Artist: Jake Blount
Album: Spider Tales
Label: Free Dirt Records

---

77
Artist: Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit
Album: Reunions
Label: Southeastern Records

---

78
Artist: Juana Molina
Album: ANRMAL (Live In México)
Label: Crammed Disc US

---

79
Artist: Sault
Album: Untitled (Rise)
Label: Forever Living Originals

---

80
Artist: Yaeji
Album: WHAT WE DREW ??? ????
Label: XL Recordings

---

81
Artist: The Texicana Mamas
Album: The Texicana Mamas
Label: Self Produced

---

82
Artist: Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile
Album: Not Our First Goat Rodeo
Label: Sony Classical

---

83
Artist: Jon McKiel
Album: Bobby Joe Hope
Label: You've Changed Records

---

84
Artist: Teddy Thompson
Album: Heartbreaker Please
Label: Chalky Sounds

---

85
Artist: Joe Louis Walker
Album: Blues Comin' On
Label: Cleopatra Blues

---

86
Artist: Holy Hive
Album: Float Back To You
Label: Big Crown Records

---

87
Artist: Various
Album: Early Works: Funk, Soul & Afro Rarities from the Archives
Label: ATA Records

---

88
Artist: Tower Of Power
Album: Step Up
Label: Mack Avenue

---

89
Artist: Eliza Gilkyson
Album: 2020
Label: Red House

---

90
Artist: Yves Tumor
Album: Heaven To A Tortured Mind
Label: Warp Records

---

91
Artist: Mowgan
Album: Soya LP
Label: Mow Records

---

92
Artist: Aoife O'Donovan
Album: Bull Frogs Croon (And Other Songs) - EP
Label: Yep Roc

---

93
Artist: Popa Chubby
Album: It's a Mighty Hard Road
Label: Self Produced

---

94
Artist: Soccer Mommy
Album: Color Theory
Label: Loma Vista

---

95
Artist: Mux Mool
Album: Skulltaste II
Label: Young Heavy Souls

---

96
Artist: Guedra Guedra
Album: Son of Sun - EP
Label: On The Corner

---

97
Artist: Bananagun
Album: The True Story Of Bananagun
Label: Full Time Hobby

---

98
Artist: Imaginary Persons
Album: Spacescapes
Label: Imaginary Persons

---

99
Artist: Gitkin
Album: Safe Passage
Label: Wonderwheel Recordings

---

100
Artist: Turkeyfoot
Album: Promise Of Tomorrow
Label: Self Produced

---

---

You might also like...

---