Best electronic albums of 2020: twenty-four

24 – John Frusciante – Maya (Timesig)

On the Picky B*stards website, I called John Frusciante's album a "tasty surprise" while making some forced allusion to teapots and plop. No, seriously, give it a read. I also said it was "Aphex Twin smushed with Squarepusher with all the energy of early Prodigy or Moby."

That said, I was wrong in one particular aspect. Maya wasn't a surprise. JF had been twiddling knobs as Trickfinger for years, playing with drill 'n' bass and acid house. What was different here was the personal nature of the album prompted by the death of his cat Maya. Yep. It's a cat tribute album.

This was Frusciante mastering the machines in a sound that was a million miles away from his Chili Peppers work or slapping a bunch of guitars over Mars Volta albums. He released it on Venetian Snares' Timesig label, which is as unCalifornicated as you could get.

Best of all, this album gave us Brand E, a melacholic yet bouncy IDM anthem that was, hands down, one of the most replayable tracks of 2020.

 

Browse the rest of the Best Electronic Albums of 2020