As this limbo year finally burns itself out, let’s make clear what a best-music-of-the-past-365-days list should do. I think it should tell the story of the listmaker’s annual listening experience, with the recordings ranked, not to establish a hierarchy, but because music criticism is a time-management tool (among other things). I encourage you to prioritize the stuff at the top, then work your way down. Easy, right? Fun, too, I hope. In that spirit, my 2020 list ignores format — albums and songs are mixed in with compilations and serialized bundles of techno music that I’d be happy to continue receiving on a weekly basis into 2021 and beyond.