Pet Door Show’s Best of 2020
As host of the Pet Door Show on Shady Pines Radio (Thursdays 2–4pm Pacific on ShadyPinesRadio.com), it is one of my great joys to find and share amazing tracks by independent and under-the-radar artists who have yet to amass huge followings. I find that independent artists are often trailblazers — innovative creators drawing influence from wide and diverse sources, propelled by love and obsession over marketability. These are the artists I love to highlight on the show, of any genre and from all over the world.
To mark the end of my first year hosting the Pet Door Show, in the show that aired December 31st 2020 I shared a playlist of my favorite 2020 releases that I’ve played on the show. Actually, I only started hosting the show in August so it hasn’t even been a full year, but I’ve loved every track that I’ve played on the show so I still had a really tough time whittling down my selection to fit into a 2-hour show. But whittle I somehow did, and here they are! These are the 31 tracks that I’ve kept coming back to, the songs that kept me company in my car, the earworms I’ve loved to have, the music that especially made me think new thoughts and feel new feelings.
Note: You can find a Spotify playlist for these Best of 2020 tracks here, and the Big Pet Door Show Playlist containing every track that I’ve played on the Pet Door Show here.
In playlist order (roughly: indie rock ➜ punk ➜ flamenco rock ➜ jazz ➜ soul ➜ hip hop ➜ indie folk ➜ americana ➜ West African ➜ J-pop jazz ➜ indietronica), here are the Pet Door Show’s Best of 2020:
1. The Havnauts - Melody Albertson
from the album Real Good Now, released Jan 1 2020
(post-punk • San Diego, CA)
2. Damper - Year After Year After Year
from the 2-track release Skin Whispered Bark / Year After Year After Year, released March 24 2020
(indie rock • San José, CA)
3. 2nd Grade - Velodrome
from the album Hit to Hit, released May 29 2020
(indie • Philadelphia, PA)
4. ayutthaya - BACK
from the EP I know, right?, released July 22, 2020
(post-punk • Tokyo, Japan)
5. Grumpy - Davy Jones
from the album Loser, released March 27, 2020
(Indie rock • Nashville, TN)
6. Bruiser Queen - Crushing Out
from the EP The Wild Ones, released April 1, 2020
(rock • St Louis, MO)
7. Ramonda Hammer - Big Hands
single released April 24, 2020
(alternative rock • Los Angeles, CA)
8. Tetchy - Fascist
from the EP Hounds, released February 28, 2020
(punk • Brooklyn, NY)
9. Hightime - Quit Ya Job
from the EP Thrive, released March 27, 2020
(punk • Kaurna Yerta, Australia)
10. The Mudd Club - She Creature
from the album Bottle Blonde, released June 2020
(punk • Machynlleth, Wales)
11. Buggin - Dead 2 Me
from the EP Buggin Out, released February 5, 2020
(hardcore punk • Chicago, IL)
12. Public Practice - Each Other
from the album Gentle Grip, released May 15, 2020
(post-punk • New York, NY)
13. Stuck - Bells
from the album Change Is Bad, released April 3 2020
(prog-punk • Chicago, IL)
14. Annabelle Chairlegs - Brain Freeze
from the album Gotta Be In Love, released September 1, 2020
(psych rock • Austin, TX)
15. The Rumba Madre - La Rumba del Coco
from the album Prisiones y Fugas, released May 2020
(flamenco rock • Nashville, TN)
16. J.C. Hopkins Biggish Band feat. Vanisha Gould - One of Those Days
from the album New York Moment, released May 1, 2020
(big band jazz • New York, NY)
17. Find Your Light feat. Valerie Troutt — We Are Sistas’
from the 2-track release SongCare, released June 18, 2020
(soul • Oakland, CA)
18. Emily Afton - Back in San Francisco
from the EP Consideration, released March 6, 2020
(indie pop • Oakland, CA)
19. A.yoni Jeffries - I Just Be
from the album Potential Gon Pay, released August 31, 2020
(hip hop • Durham, NC)
20. Rico Pabón & Headnodic - America
from the album Never Mind the Title, released October 20, 2020
(hip hop • Bay Area, CA)
21. Aquakultre & DJ Uncle Fester - Lemongrass
from the album Bleeding Gums Murphy, released October 9, 2020
(hip hop • K’jipuktuk, Canada)
22. Tom John Hall - White Guys
from the album My Big Album, released October 9 2020
(indie pop • London, England)
23. Ratarro y Los Roedores - En Mi Imaginación
from the album Tonteras, released October 30, 2020
(lo-fi indie folk • Santiago, Chile)
24. Sam Tudor - Change My Shape
single from the upcoming album
(indie pop • Vancouver, Canada)
25. Libby Rodenbough - Gatekeeper
from the album Spectacle of Love, released May 29, 2020
(indie americana • Durham, NC)
26. Fretland - Must’ve Been Wild
from the album Fretland, released May 22, 2020
(indie folk • Snohomish, WA)
27. Golden Shoals - (Who’da Thought) Thinkin’ ‘Bout the Good Times (Could Ever Make You Feel So Bad)
from the album Golden Shoals, released August 7, 2020
(old-timey americana • Asheville, NC)
28. Afel Bocoum - Dakamana
from the album Lindé, released September 4, 2020
(West African blues • Niafunke, Mali)
29. Moh Kouyaté feat. Sekouba Bambino Diabaté, Petit Kandia - Anou djeli
from the EP Guinea Music All Stars, released May 29, 2020
(West African folk • Conakry, Guinea, based in Paris, France)
30. 浦上想起 - 驚きと喧騒
from the album 音楽と密談, released October 23, 2020
(J-pop jazz • Kansai, Japan)
31. Thanya Iyer - Please Don’t Hold Me Hostage For Who I Am, For Who I Was
from the album KIND, released July 31, 2020
(indietronica • Montréal, Canada)
Welp, that’s it! Follow the Pet Door Show on Instagram and SoundCloud, and me (Hannah Werdmuller) on Twitter, and let me know what music you’ve been listening to! Follow this Best of 2020 playlist on Spotify here, and the Big Pet Door Show Playlist here. And tune in to the Pet Door Show every Thursday at 2–4pm (Pacific time) on Shady Pines Radio!