Away from the English-language mainstream was a world of mindblowing sound from Indian raga to Malian mayhem, and Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela’s final work
Alongside archive recordings from Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, and inventive new releases by Maria Schneider and Carla Bley, 2020 had plenty of spectacular fusions
Our countdown is complete, topped by a mercurial work of sprawling invention by a woman who has dug deep to survive. Taken as a whole, these choices contain drama, solace, poetry and fire, a fitting selection for a turbulent year
The 50 best albums of 2020, No 1: Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
The reclusive artist’s fifth album seemed to resonate with people’s desire to escape lockdown. But Apple’s bracing vision of justice and compassion proposed a different kind of freedom
Guardian albums and tracks of 2020: how our writers voted
And the bands played on: the best classical releases of 2020
Fiona Apple on the album of the year, Grammys hypocrisy and how #MeToo helped her get sober
The 50 best albums of 2020, No 9: Taylor Swift – Folklore
Swift retreated to a country cabin to create a lockdown album full of imagined characters, dark musings and intimate moments, deepened by a new richness to her singing
