Schmutzie's 150 Best Songs of 2020 on Two Playlists: 75 Faster, Louder, Harder and 75 Slower, Quieter, Softer

I was listening to the songs I shared over the last year that came out in 2020, and figured it was a good idea to put out two playlists of my favourites, a faster/louder/harder one and a slower/quieter/softer one. Initially, I thought I might put out one 50-song playlist, but then I thought why not make it a gigantic 2-playlist duo totalling 150 songs that clock in at 9 hours and 27 minutes?

These playlists are available on both Spotify (Faster, Louder, Harder and Slower, Quieter, Softer) and Apple Music (Faster, Louder, Harder and Slower, Quieter, Softer), and if you scroll to the bottom, I’ve embedded widgets you can play right here.

(Also, I used the SongShift app for the first time to transfer the Apple Music playlists into Spotify, and for some reason they transferred over in reverse alphabetical order, and then the Apple Music playlists refused to display A to Z, so they’re both in reverse order to the order in which I typed them out below. I’m not about to manually reconstruct 150 songs in two lists — I’m basically sitting on my own hands to exert self-control — so I’m calling this whimsical variety like I mean it (I don’t) and I’m going to lie down for a while. Just play these lists on shuffle and pretend we intended everything.)

Enjoy!

75 Best Songs of 2020: Faster, Louder, Harder on Spotify and Apple Music:

1. Come On Out — The Airborne Toxic Event  2. I Think You’re Great — Alex the Astronaut  3. Obvious Guy — Alfie Templeman  4. It Don’t Hinder Me — Angelica Garcia  5. Hunters — Bad Buddy  6. End of Time — Bad Moves  7. Angola Rodeo — The Black Lips  8. Breathe — Born Ruffians  9. Dogma — BOYO  10. Bloody Rainbow — Built to Spill  11. Pillow — Cable Ties  12. Hollywood — Car Seat Headrest  13. Yr Old Dad — Catholic Action  14. I disappear in your arms (bonus) — Christine and the Queens  15. Lucifer Stand — Cindy Lee  16. ‘96 Neve Campbell (feat. Cam & China) — clipping. 17. Clean Kill — Coriky  18. God Bless the Day — Cut Worms  19. Think About Things — Daði Freyr  20. No Time — Dehd  21. Wurli — Dominic Fike 22. Not a Complicated Person — Down Time  23. Sports! — Dream Wife  24. Something Is Happening Here — The Elwins  25. Make No Mistake Misses Blue — Fabian Simon & The Moon Machine  26. Alapathy — Fenne Lily  27. Under the Table — Fiona Apple  28. A Hero’s Death — Fontaines D.C.  29. Mira My Look — Gabriel Garzón-Montano  30. Lucky — Ganser  31. Blessed — Good Sad Happy Bad  32. Are You Ready (feat. Chuck D) — Goodie Mob  33. The Valley of the Pagans (feat. Beck) — Gorillaz  34. Burn — Hinds  35. Male Bonding — The Homesick  36. A Hymn — IDLES  37. Can’t Sleep — Jay Som 38. Devilish — Jean Dawson  39. BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US — Jessie Reyez  40. Best Boy — JJ Wilde  41. Governess Shadow — July Talk  42. Bad Memory — K. Flay 43. The Potato Song (Cuz I Want To) — Kesha  44. Bummer Days — Liza Anne  45. Les Birdies — Louise Le Hir  46. Wakin’ Up — Lucinda Williams  47. Pay to Play — MAITA  48. A Boat to Drown In — METZ  49. Ego — Moaning  50. Candlelight — Moon Hooch  51. Working (feat. Moor Mother & Mental Jewelry) — Moor Jewelry  52. Take a Chance — Naked Giants  53. That’s All You Got (feat. Robert Levon Been) — Night Beats  54. I Would Find You — Oceanator  55. Rock Is My Rock — Partner  56. Old Father Tyme — Paul Weller  57. Handsome Wife — Pillow Queens  58. Hair (Demo) — PJ Harvey  59. Fuck Me Up — Pokey LaFarge 60. Born Confused — Porridge Radio  61. The It Girl — Raye Zaragoza  62. Como un Dragón — Rita Indiana  63. JU$T (feat. Pharrell Williams & Zack de la Rocha) — Run the Jewels  64. Boys Who Don’t Wanna Be Boys — Seth Bogart 65. Los Chucos Suaves (feat. Macha) — Son Rompe Pera  66. The Adults Are Talking — The Strokes  67. Queenie, Queenie — Tami Neilson  68. Party with Me — THICK  69. This Is What You Did — This Is the Kit  70. Tin King — Ultraísta  71. Arizona — UPSAHL  72. Lilacs — Waxahatchee  73. Beginning of the End (Wyld Stallyns Edit) — Weezer  74. Surrender — Will Butler  75. People — The 1975

75 Best Songs of 2020: Slower, Quieter, Softer on Spotify and Apple Music:

1. dragon eyes — Adrianne Lenker  2. Who Knows — Alice Boman  3. Night’s Falling — Andrew Bird  4. Baby No More — Anjimile  5. Away (Hunted Version) — Anna Calvi  6. Hurt — Arlo Parks  7. Lost Horse — Asaf Avidan  8. Siyabulela — Asher Gamedze  9. Life In Quarantine — Benjamin Gibbard  10. Love In Mine — Big Thief  11. Pareidolia — Buck Meek  12. Your Lady — Carla Bruni  13. How Can I Know You — Carmen Canedo  14. Denial — Clem Snide  15. The Story — Conan Gray  16. What Is There — Delta Spirit 17. You Run — Diana Burgess  18. Descend — The Districts  19. So Still for You — Eve Owen  20. Right Way Home — Fabian Simon & The Moon Machine  21. Dinosaurs In Love (feat. Tom Rosenthal) — Fenn Rosenthal 22. I Used to Hate My Body But Now I Just Hate You — Fenne Lily  23. Strangers Again — Gillian Welch  24. You’re a Freak — Girl Skin  25. Spaghettify — Gold Cage  26. Traffic Is Magic (Acoustic) — Gord Downie  27. Man from the Magazine — HAIM  28. The Splendour That Was Rome — Hamerkop  29. Stories — Ian William Craig  30. Reasons 2 Live — illuminati hotties  31. SULA (Paperback) — Jamila Woods  32. Make Me Whole (Chinese Wall Song) — Jeffrey N Pezzati  33. Broken Hearted — Jennifer Castle  34. Mad Rush (Version for Piano) — Jenny Lin  35. Bed In the River — Joan Shelley  36. Dreams Wash Away — Joe Wong  37. Oolaloom — Jordan Lehning 38. Everything (feat. Lil Kota) — Kota the Friend  39. Now You Want to Live In the Light — Land of Talk  40. Old Friend (Stay Alive) — Laura Jane Grace  41. For You — Laura Marling  42. I Was a Fool — Laura Veirs 43. one brain — lemin.  44. Kisses — Lomelda  45. Good News — Mac Miller  46. Hold On — Madison Cunningham  47. Serpentine Prison — Matt Berninger  48. Anyone Can Play Guitar — Midwife  49. Their Gods Do Not Have Surgeons — The Mountain Goats  50. Get the Devil Out — Nadia Reid  51. Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me) — Orion Sun  52. Kids — Orville Peck  53. Joy Is You — Oscar Jerome  54. Diaraby Nene (Acoustic) — Oumou Sangaré  55. Punisher — Phoebe Bridgers  56. Worm In Heaven — Protomartyr  57. Calm and Collected — Routine, Annie Truscott & Jay Som  58. Do Less — San Fermin  59. Squeaking Voices — Sarah Harmer 60. Miracles — Sault  61. Oh My God — Sevdaliza  62. Not Everything Grows — Shakey Graves  63. O Clever One — Son Little  64. Streetlight Blues — Squirrel Flower 65. exile (feat. Bon Iver) — Taylor Swift  66. Matter of Balance — Theo Alexander  67. Meet You In the City — Told Slant  68. What Good — Tré Burt  69. Carry You — Tunng  70. Fire — Waxahatchee  71. Somebody Else’s Tongue — Whim  72. Just to Fall Asleep — Woods  73. Pretty Bird — Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn  74. A Bit Of — Yael Naïm  75. Fly — Zelma Stone