2021: a list
from great to excellent to outstanding, a list of the best stuff i've listened to released in 2021. 1st to 5th place gonna get a small write-up. Read in reverse order (1st is last, last is 1st) |
| 1 |  | Really From
Really From
*honourable mention to GFOTY's FEMMEDORM. Keepin bubblegum bass shite and annoying*
The realm of the "pretty good"s: 7/10 and everything in between.
(indie / emo) |
| 2 |  | John Glacier
SHILOH: Lost For Words
(rnb) |
| 3 |  | Pino Palladino and Blake Mills
Notes With Attachments
(jazz) |
| 4 |  | Vegyn
Like A Good Old Friend
EP
(electronic) |
| 5 |  | Armand Hammer and The Alchemist
Haram
(hip hop) |
| 6 |  | woesum
blue summer
(cloud rap) |
| 7 |  | Rx Nephew
Shawty Rxk Too
(drugs) |
| 8 |  | Kero Kero Bonito
Civilisation
(synth pop) |
| 9 |  | Rochelle Jordan
Play With The Changes
(uk garage / rnb) |
| 10 |  | Flying Lotus
Yasuke
(ost) |
| 11 |  | Iosonouncane
IRA
(industrial) |
| 12 |  | Muito Kaballa Power Ensemble
Mamari
(afrobeat) |
| 13 |  | Japanese Breakfast
Jubilee
(indie pop) |
| 14 |  | Kittisol
Flagrant Hours
(bedroom pop) |
| 15 |  | Spellling
The Turning Wheel
(art pop) |
| 16 |  | Durand Jones and The Indications
Private Space
(soul/disco) |
| 17 |  | King Woman
Celestial Blues
(doom) |
| 18 |  | Tropical Fuck Storm
Deep States
(post-punk) |
| 19 |  | Gorillaz
Meanwhile
EP
(pop rap) |
| 20 |  | Nala Sinephro
Space 1.8
(ambient/jazz) |
| 21 |  | Little Simz
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
(hip hop) |
| 22 |  | Low
Hey What
(ambient pop) |
| 23 |  | Sleigh Bells
Texis
This probably gonna go up as i continue to re-listen, tbh
(noise pop) |
| 24 |  | Injury Reserve
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
(experimental hip hop) |
| 25 |  | The Body and Big|Brave
Leaving None But Small Birds
(country) |
| 26 |  | Sassy Ggirl
Intima
(neo perreo) |
| 27 |  | Sloppy Jane
Madison
(art pop) |
| 28 |  | Robohands
Shapes
Now we're talking: 8/10 and above.
(jazz fusion) |
| 29 |  | Buke and Gase and So Percussion
A Record Of...
(art pop) |
| 30 |  | Ryley Walker And Kikagaku Moyo
Deep Fried Grandeur
(jam session) |
| 31 |  | RX Papi
100 Miles & Walk'in
(gangsta rap) |
| 32 |  | Nubiyan Twist
Freedom Fables
(afrobeat) |
| 33 |  | Alfa Mist
Bring Backs
(prog jazz) |
| 34 |  | Rx Nephew
Crack Dreams 2
*also CD 1*
(gangsta) |
| 35 |  | Bedouine
Waysides
(singer songwriter) |
| 36 |  | Rx Papi and Gud
Foreign Exchange
(cloud rap) |
| 37 |  | Rx Nephew
Make Drunk Cool Again
(gangsta) |
| 38 |  | hayden pedigo
Letting Go
(ambient country) |
| 39 |  | Palmistry
wyrdo
(rnb) |
| 40 |  | Tinashe
333
(rnb) |
| 41 |  | Darkside
Spiral
(psych rock) |
| 42 |  | Silk Sonic
An Evening with Silk Sonic
(soul) |
| 43 |  | HTRK
Rhinestones
TOP 5
#5: new album by australian duo. Dark and minimal guitar tunes with airy synths serve as the dreamscape for the singer's psychosexual fantasies and intimate confessions. Same parts David Lynch and Depeche Mode. Is it original? not much, but it's very well crafted and finds its strength in its consistency.
favorite tunes: sunlight feels like bee stings, valentina, real headfuck |
| 44 |  | Dean Blunt
Black Metal 2
#4: Dean Blunt has been consistently releasing amazing music, under many pseudonyms and the BBY Father project, since Black Metal came out in 2014. Only dummies and bald fuckers think otherwise. But a sequel to his most celebrated album was definitely going to stir the waters again. So it was a pleasant surprise when BM2 came out and it wasn't the bombastic manifesto every smooth-brain wanted but 100% a continuation of Dean's esoteric explorations into the metaphysics of black music. BM2 is full of small snippets of tragedy and sorrow, Dean's characters are broken and live violent and short lives, yet the music puts over it all a veil of magic. Is it zen or is it apathy, No one really knows.
favorite tunes: the rot, VIGIL, DASH SNOW |
| 45 |  | Rx Nephew
Slitherman Activated
#3: I am not a critic, i haven't got the skills, nor the energy to actually justify in a schorarly way the reasons why i think something should be championed, why an artist is making something worth defending, worth putting other stuff down for. So I'm not gonna pretend i have any sort of valid justification for my coming statement: Nephew is the most important rapper of 2021, and slitherman activated is the most important hip hop album of the decade. Fuck JPEG-GED mafia, fuck Tyler the cremated, fuck broke-hampton, fuck playboi crapi.
fav tunes: all of them. |
| 46 |  | Richard Dawson & Circle
henki
#2: Richard Dawson's more of a folk kind of guy, but it was always pretty evident he's, deep down, a massive geek. Accompanied by Circle, he lets loose with some of the most geeky ass music this year had to offer. Folky, jazzy prog not completely lacking in self awareness, giving off an almost Tenacious D energy at moments. Fun with some really impressive moments to elevate it to some of Dawson's best material yet. And also i should check out more Circle, because they are pretty cool, too.
fav tunes: Methuselah, Ivy, Pitcher |
| 47 |  | Erika de Casier
Sensational
#1 AOTY:
Erika's 2019 album "Essentials" was full of bops, and i still highly enjoy it. But man did she out-do herself with this album. This is not immediately apparent, tho. Yes, songs like Drama, Better than that or Busy still have that immediacy to them, but there's also a deeper layer of subtle production choices, moments, details... Sensational is full of this confidence so lowkey and mature, it's easy to misinterpret it, as many have, as too simple or even childish. Far, far from it, Erika's music is about adult-hood. Not "serious shit", but actual maturity: Understanding yourself better, knowing when relationships are damaging you and your partner, putting self-care and self-love first. Lyricism is straight forward and to the point, it's not about confussion or misdirection. She's done kicking around the bush, it's matter-of-fact way of doing things that comes with years of hurting and healing, and keeping your head up.
fav tracks: Polite, better than that, someone to chill with |
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