Best of 2020, Not from 2020

My favourite anachronistic CONTENT CONSUMED over the past 12 months, regardless of date of manufacture.

Plus some new things. That are mainly revivals or homages of old things, admittedly.


~ Best Album of 2020, Not from 2020 ~

Lazerhawk, Redline (2010)

I couldn't get enough of DIY feel-good synth-drowned faux-80s background muzak this year. Asthenic's YouTube mixes (2017–20) cultivated my preferred dreamy blend, other favourite derivative originals included Kiile's Kiile (2016), Miami Nights 1984's Turbulence (2012), Windows96's uncanny One Hundred Mornings (2018) and Rygar's space disco throwback comeback Modulation (2012). Pet Shop Boys' Introspective (1988) was the best of the real deal, Television's Marquee Moon (1977) the best cultured recommendation, Nils Frahm's All Melody (2018) the best weird books backing and Gary Numan's Sacrifice (Extended Mixes) (1995) my favourite gloom tunes.

~ Best Book of 2020, Not from 2020 ~

Rhys Hughes, The Million Word Storybook: Female Edition (2015)

The Smell of Telescopes (2000), Stories from a Lost Anthology (2002) and The Just Not So Stories (2013) were my favourite normal-length collections I read in the weird Welshman's projected 1,000-story cycle (I think I've read exactly half, depending on how the novels fit in), but plumping for a generous bumper 'sampler' made the decision easier. Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity (1955) and Stephen King's Carrie (1974) were my favourite vintage novels, Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation (2014) my best newie. Less pretend, the audiobook of Walter Lord's A Night to Remember (1955) was an immersive real-time Titanic sinking simulator and Richard Wiseman's Paranormality (2011) made me nostalgic for ghostbusting.

~ Best TV of 2020, Not from 2020 ~

Miami Vice seasons one and two (1984–86)

A winning formula of 25% groovy soundtrack, 25% goofy retro charm and 50% actually good drama (more an ovelapping Venn diagram in pastels) made this the most fun I had with telly this year, until the novelty wore off. I got further with Parks and Recreation, which was better than expected for a spin-off of a remake, until the American sitcom churn got wearying (2009–13). More easily digested were essential protopython At Last the 1948 Show (1967), the best run of Curb Your Enthusiasm in memory (2020), dependable, delayed returns for Inside No. 9 and Better Call Saul (2020), triumphant TV movie Red Dwarf: The Promised Land (2020) and DIY horror series Local 58 (2015–19), if you can spare the 20 minutes. In the real world, epic documentary the Up series (1964–2019) was profound in its mundanity.

~ Best Film of 2020, Not from 2020 ~

The Phantom Carriage (1921)

Watching silent and subtitled films to help me get through completely unrelated audiobooks is one of my various strange quirks. This ghoulish fairy tale was a new, almost-century-old favourite, and Battleship Potemkin (1925) and Rashomon (1950) were good too, despite the overblown reputations. When I turned the sound on, On the Waterfront (1954) was a worthy talkie, Suspiria (1977) was an insubstantial feast for the senses and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) was some fun nonsense.

~ Best Spoken Word of 2020, Not from 2020 ~

Robert Newman, Apocalypso Now (2005)

I wasn't informed or interested enough to appreciate Rob "That's You, That Is" Newman's political stand-up at the time, and I'm not much better off today, but there were still some good puns. The first Secret Policeman's Ball (1979) and golden-age Billy Connolly stand-up albums (1985–91) were funny too. Some content categories are more competitive than others.

~ Best Game of 2020, Not from 2020 ~

Ascension: Storm of Souls & Immortal Heroes (2011–12)

I didn't play any digital games this year, going back to boards, cards and variably extravagant counters to pick up where I left off with Atmosfear in the '90s. This mainly involved investing in familiar deckbuilding card games in much more limited form than I'm used to playing them on the computer for free, because there's rent to pay and only so much shelf space. Ascension put in the most effort to justify the upgrade (though I might be easily swayed by oversized boxes and plastic treasure), and I bought enough Star Realms (2014–15) to accommodate several players (who might be out there somewhere), but budget-friendly one-box wonder Cthulhu Realms (2015) is still the best. When I dared to expand my horizons, Sherlock Holmes: The Card Game (1991) could've been an alternate-universe childhood favourite and I finally picked up a themed Star Fluxx (2011) just a decade after enjoying the base game.

As seen on
Best of 1985–2020