50 albums · 2019–2020

KEXP 2020: the 50 albums the Seattle station played most

· 2 min read · by 1001 Albums

KEXP is the listener-supported radio station of Seattle, on 90.3 FM and online. Its DJs choose what they play, and the station keeps a public playlist of every song, with the album it comes from. In 2020 that playlist had 141,814 songs by more than 26,000 artists. This list counts them by album: the albums KEXP played most, counting only albums from which at least two different songs were played, so that a single hit does not make an album.

SAULT's Untitled (Black Is) was played most, 252 times, ahead of Caribou's Suddenly and Yves Tumor's Heaven to a Tortured Mind, and SAULT's Untitled (Rise) came fourth. Seattle's own are all through the list: Deep Sea Diver, Shabazz Palaces, Car Seat Headrest, Perfume Genius, Polyrhythmics, Parisalexa, Tomo Nakayama and Terror/Cactus, and BRONSON, ODESZA's work with Golden Features. The year's rock from Fontaines D.C., IDLES, Phoebe Bridgers, Waxahatchee and Fiona Apple sits beside Khruangbin, Thundercat, Moses Sumney, Run the Jewels, Jessie Ware, the Weeknd and Tame Impala, the jazz of Nubya Garcia and of Makaya McCraven's reworking of Gil Scott-Heron, Songhoy Blues from Mali and Lido Pimienta from Colombia. Three albums came out at the end of 2019: Michael Kiwanuka's KIWANUKA, KAYTRANADA's BUBBA and Rudy Willingham's Dunk Reactions.

The list has 50 albums in the order of their plays, from 252 down to 88, with Burna Boy's Twice as Tall just outside at 86. It leaves out three EPs among the most played, Khruangbin & Leon Bridges' Texas Sun, Little Simz's Drop 6 and Christine and the Queens' La vita nuova, and Childish Gambino's 3.15.20, which the streaming services no longer have as it came out. About 37 hours of music, 5 days of a few albums each.

By genre

Rock 28%Electronic 26%Soul & R&B 13%Other 33%
  • Rock 28%
  • Electronic 26%
  • Soul & R&B 13%
  • Other 33%

The genres named most: electronic, rock, indie rock, hip hop, pop, dance.

The colours of the covers

A stripe for each cover, in the colour Tidal picks from it, sorted by hue; the greys at the end.

Where the music comes from

Music from 10 countries: United States 24, United Kingdom 9, Canada 6, Australia 2, Italy 2 and 5 more. The deeper the colour, the more albums: one, two to four, five to nine, ten and more.

No. 1–10

No. 11–20

No. 21–30

No. 31–40

No. 41–50

More lists

Lists of Stations first, then others; all of them on the blog. The blog.

68 albums · 1959–2025

The Grammy Album of the Year winners, 1959–2026

· 1 min read

Since 1959 the Recording Academy has given one album a year its highest award, from Henry Mancini's music for Peter Gunn to Bad Bunny's Debí Tirar Más Fotos, by way of Sgt.

Rock 31%Pop 20%Jazz 13%Other 36%
  • Rock 31%
  • Pop 20%
  • Jazz 13%
  • Other 36%

Read and see the list