A personal Top 10 Japan albums of the year
Back in January, I paid money to watch Cats at the cinema. In retrospect, it feels like that’s where 2020 all started to go wrong. It’s been a grim year for many, and—compared to friends who’ve lost loved ones or found themselves out of work—I feel like I’ve gotten off lightly. Being slightly under-employed for much of the year has given me plenty of time to listen to music, and I’ve written about over 100 Japanese releases during the past 12 months (if you missed them, you might want to check my Spring, Summer, Mid-Summer, Autumn and Winter round-ups). Much as I fear for the future of the live music scene, here and elsewhere, creativity will apparently never be in short supply. It’s been inspiring to see artists respond to the challenges (and unexpected opportunities) of the COVID era. This is the pick of the stuff I’ve written about this year: albums that I thought were exceptional, or that resonated with me the most.