Ashcrash's 2021 List
The last two years when I've tried submitting my year-end list the site broke and I didn't have the motivation to re-try 'em. Fingers crossed this one works - nothing better to do this morning while I'm ice storm'd in. 250-ish releases total this year, top 100 here; first half unranked, top 50 sorta ranked. |
| 100 |  | Adjy
The Idyll Opus (I-VI)
Folk rock/emo. Initially dazzled but its bloat increasingly didn't hold up and the word-for-word deliveries of its prosaic liner notes can feel pretty clunky. Astounding highlights though. |
| 99 |  | Amenra
De Doorn
Post-metal. Cool tones. |
| 98 |  | Backxwash
I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES
Horrorcore/hip-hop. Expanding in some neat directions but I prefer God Has Nothing Do With This. |
| 97 |  | Be'lakor
Coherence
Prog metal/death metal. Super solid musicianship and momentum in the songwriting but I didn't end up revisiting it much. |
| 96 |  | Brockhampton
Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine
Hip-hop/pop. Their best in some time but the hype machine ain't what it used to be. |
| 95 |  | Bruno Pernadas
Private Reasons
Psych jazz. Eclectic mix of influences on here tempered by some dull patches. |
| 94 |  | Cold Collective
Weathervane
Emo/alt rock. Posthumous vocals render it sadder. Why you don't publish Best of Year lists before December [1]. |
| 93 |  | Deafheaven
Infinite Granite
Shoegaze/post-rock. Shit on the removal of their black metal elements as I have and will, this still does its thing really well. |
| 92 |  | Delta Sleep
Spring Island
Math rock. Super tight musicianship. Songwriting took a little step back compared to their previous work though imo. |
| 91 |  | Emma Ruth Rundle
Engine of Hell
Gothic/acoustic singer-songwriter. Deep-endy and downcast and kinda monotonous but cool. |
| 90 |  | For Those I Love
For Those I Love
Hip-hop. B R I T I S H P O E T R Y B R U V |
| 89 |  | Frontierer
Oxidized
Mathcore. One of the more rewarding headaches I've induced on myself this year. |
| 88 |  | Godspeed You! Black Emperor
G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!
Post-rock/drone. Rendered almost irrelevant by this list's #1 pick (write down your guess now!) |
| 87 |  | Hiatus Kaiyote
Mood Valiant
Neo-soul/jazz. Discombobulating and sexy and by the end I'm a little tired. |
| 86 |  | James Blake
Friends That Break Your Heart
Soul/pop. More singer-y than producer-y but I prefer that side of Blake so whatever. |
| 85 |  | Jim Ward
Daggers
Rock. Half of this is cheesy and half of this slaps and it's so short I sat through it all on the regular. |
| 84 |  | Jon Hopkins
Music for Psychedelic Therapy
Ambient. Floaty and soothing and thoroughly fine. |
| 83 |  | Ka
A Martyr's Reward
Hip-hop. Introspection and life lessons. |
| 82 |  | King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Butterfly 3000
Gizzcore/synthpop. The general vibe is nice, wish they expanded some of the ideas with more depth though. |
| 81 |  | King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
L. W.
Gizzcore. Not as fulfilling on its own as K. G. |
| 80 |  | Kishi Bashi
Emigrant
Indie folk/Americana. EP Honorable Mention. |
| 79 |  | Knocked Loose
A Tear in the Fabric of Life
Metalcore. B R U T A L but leaves me wanting more. EP Honorable Mention. |
| 78 |  | Kowloon Walled City
Piecework
Spacious, slow-burning post-hardcore. Samey overall but good stuff. |
| 77 |  | Lil Nas X
Montero
Pop/hip-hop. Better track-for-track than most of us anticipated probably, but still not quite there as a highlight in and of itself. |
| 76 |  | Lil Ugly Mane
Volcanic Bird Enemy...
Psych trip-hop + anything else he felt like, apparently. Lopsided and spotty but incredible when it hits. |
| 75 |  | Mare Cognitum
Solar Paroxysm
Black metal. So consistent it's hard to tell the songs apart, honestly. |
| 74 |  | Maybeshewill
No Feeling Is Final
Post-rock. Obviously nothing new here but I'm a sucker for the formula. |
| 73 |  | Mogwai
As the Love Continues
Post-rock. Obviously nothing new here but I'm a sucker for the formula. |
| 72 |  | Mono
Pilgrimage Of The Soul
Post-rock. Obviously nothing new here but I'm a sucker for the formula. |
| 71 |  | o'summer vacation
Wicked Heart
Punk. Short and sweet and loud. |
| 70 |  | Olhava (RU)
Frozen Bloom
Atmospheric black metal. What'd you expect with that name and album art? |
| 69 |  | Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp
We're OK. But We're lost anyway.
Genre: ?????? this is all over and super wacky and a neat time |
| 68 |  | Pearl Charles
Magic Mirror
Disco cosmic country or something idk. Opener is an earworm. |
| 67 |  | Rota Fortunae
Hinterland
Proper fuckin folk, like, fantasy-soundin stuff. Pretty sure this was a Sput member project but I forget who so I'll just say props and you can identify yourself. |
| 66 |  | Ruby Haunt
Watching the Grass Grow
Slowcore. Mumbly, droney, arpeggiated bliss (or heartbreak idk) |
| 65 |  | Shame (UK)
Drunk Tank Pink
Post punk. The true neutral of that recent scene. |
| 64 |  | She Said Destroy
Succession
Black metal/post-metal/death metal it's metal |
| 63 |  | Sloppy Jane
Madison
Chamber rock in a cave. Wanted to give this more time but I got to it super late. |
| 62 |  | Sons of Kemet
Black to the Future
Jazz. Toot toot. |
| 61 |  | Spiritbox
Eternal Blue
Alt metal/metalcore. Wish this leaned a bit heavier on the...heavy, but it's a solid debut. |
| 60 |  | Split End
moratorium
J-pop shoegaze. Kinda squeaky vocalist but the songwriting's great. EP Honorable Mention. |
| 59 |  | Submotile
Sonic Day Codas
Shoegaze. Solid as the genre gets. |
| 58 |  | Telethon
Swim Out Past The Breakers
Love child of twee indie pop and wordy Americana. |
| 57 |  | Tenue
Territorios
Crusty Galician revolutionary screamo. |
| 56 |  | The Mountain Goats
Dark In Here
Slow...jazz? Hmmm not sure it totally works but I spun it a ton anyway |
| 55 |  | Trivium
In the Court of the Dragon
Power metal. Goofy as fuck ngl. |
| 54 |  | Tropical Fuck Storm
Deep States
Psych rock. The weakest of their three, but still. |
| 53 |  | Soundtrack (Anime)
Sonny Boy Original Soundtrack
Featuring Toe, Mid-Air Thief, Mitsume, and more. Anime of the Year too, fwiw. |
| 52 |  | Weezer
OK Human
Chamber pop. It's Weezer. |
| 51 |  | Lapalux
Total Reality, Total Chaos
Ambient. EP of the Year. A cooldown when life gets too (sur)real. |
| 50 |  | Mol
Diorama
Blackgaze. Usurping Deafheaven at this point? They might as well be. |
| 49 |  | Blu
The Color Blu(e)
Hip-hop. Sublime beats and iconic wordplay. Don't attempt the Blu drinking game here, I don't want you to die. |
| 48 |  | The Felice Brothers
From Dreams to Dust
Folk. Distinctly old-fashioned and rustic, but not really in a pretentious way. We shall live again. |
| 47 |  | A Great Big Pile of Leaves
Pono
Indie rock. Breezy, summery leftovers that didn't spoil. Dorky music for dorky people. |
| 46 |  | Chevelle
NIRATIAS
Hard rock/alt metal. Space travel themes. They actually sound like they're having fun again. |
| 45 |  | Tricot
Jodeki
J-math rock. Tricot have kinda oversaturated themselves as of late but I still prefer this over their two from last year. Why you don't publish Best of Year lists before December [2]. |
| 44 |  | A Winged Victory for the Sullen
Invisible Cities
Ambient/neo-classical. Concise and oddly momentum-driven, whatever that means in this style. Zone out go-to. |
| 43 |  | Richard Dawson and Circle
Henki
Prog rock. Botany. They really did it, the madlads. |
| 42 |  | Panopticon
...And Again into the Light
Black metal/post-rock. [twinkly] [indecipherable] "yeah that's the stuff" |
| 41 |  | Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Carnage
Nick Cave-core. When you get over personal grief and then the world grieves. More of the recent same, fine by me. |
| 40 |  | So Hideous
None But a Pure Heart Can Sing
Symphonic blackened hardcore post-rock with jazzy bits. Incomprehensibly works. Why you don't publish Best of Year lists before December [3]. |
| 39 |  | The Killers
Pressure Machine
Rock. Where Springsteen cosplay ceases to be cosplay and they come into their own. I know, I'm shocked too. |
| 38 |  | Foxing
Draw Down the Moon
Indie pop/rock. They just keep surprising. My least fave to date but still plenty worth revisiting. |
| 37 |  | James McMurtry
The Horses and the Hounds
Country/southern rock. Simultaneously literary and accessible. Wise, refined storytelling. |
| 36 |  | Erra
Erra
Prog metal/metalcore. Songwriting on here is bonkers. Great mix of chuggy dissonance and soaring melodies. |
| 35 |  | Fawn Limbs
Darwin Falls
Spaghetti western mathcore. Still not entirely sure what happens in this narrative but it's morbid and campy and somehow still terrifying. Jumpscares for days. |
| 34 |  | Tigercub
As Blue As Indigo
Rock. QOTSA worship meets recent British radio rock revival. Super hooky, riffy dark horse. |
| 33 |  | Holding Absence
The Greatest Mistake Of My Life
Alt rock/emo. Immaculate sound on here even if the songs are kinda samey. Lucas Woodland has insane pipes good lord |
| 32 |  | Converge
Bloodmoon: I
Doom metal/gothic/post-metalcore? Occultic, mesmerizing supergroup flexing their chemistry. II in the works? |
| 31 |  | Quicksand
Distant Populations
Grungy spacey post-hardcore. Quick length = replay value for days. Gotta check these guys' early stuff. |
| 30 |  | Nas
King's Disease II
Hip-hop. Stellar guest features and Nas holds his own super strong. I haven't actually heard the first one lol |
| 29 |  | Kauan
Ice Fleet
Post-rock with mere traces of black metal. Totally seamless listen. Still new to these guys but my fave of theirs yet. |
| 28 |  | Viagra Boys
Welfare Jazz
Post-punk by way of like 5 other genres. Stay clean, kids. Shrimps: a-blublublublublublublublublub |
| 27 |  | Archspire
Bleed the Future
Tech death. MyfirsttasteofArchspireandthevocalistspeakinglikethisissimplywild. DRONE CORPSE AVIATOR [chaos] |
| 26 |  | Feu! Chatterton
Palais d'Argile
Nouvelle chanson/art pop. Delicate, gorgeous slow-burners. Hon hon oui oui le baguette |
| 25 |  | Wolf Alice
Blue Weekend
Alt rock/grunge/chamber pop. Full course meal of 90s revivalism. Production on this is splendid. |
| 24 |  | Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
A Beginner's Mind
Indie folk. How had these guys not collaborated directly before this? Bring it on again *wink* |
| 23 |  | Iosonouncane
IRA
Multilingual chamber singer-songwriter fever dream. A little bloated but still super immersive. "Prison" is the most unnerving thing I've heard all year. |
| 22 |  | Yon
order of violence
German screamo. Thanks for the obscure find. This whips. |
| 21 |  | The Armed
Ultrapop
The Armed-core. You take the blue pill, you wake up without tinnitus and listen to whatever you want to listen to. You take the red pill, you stay on stage and I show you how deep the Dan hole goes. |
| 20 |  | Parannoul
To See the Next Part of the Dream
Lo-fi/shoegaze. An ode to the terminally online. Depression's never sounded so loud. |
| 19 |  | Tyler, the Creator
Call Me If You Get Lost
Hip-hop/soul. Mixtape worship meets career synthesis. Cry in the ocean music. |
| 18 |  | Lingua Ignota
SINNER GET READY
Classical/experimental idk. Probably the most eviscerating exorcism put to record this year. Alexis Marshall can die a disowned forgotten sack of shit. |
| 17 |  | Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall
The Marfa Tapes
Wilderness music workshop country. On point, on location. Texas Texas Texas did I mention Texas? |
| 16 |  | Little Simz
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Hip-hop. Simz' best to date by a huge margin. The skits were kinda corny though. |
| 15 |  | Genesis Owusu
Smiling with No Teeth
Hip-hop/soul/psych/literally whatever this dude wants. Staggeringly versatile debut. He's going places. |
| 14 |  | Thrice
Horizons/East
Alt rock. Strong return to form after Palms. Thank you Pastor Kensrue. |
| 13 |  | Japanese Breakfast
Jubilee
Indie pop. One of the most deserving albums from this whole recent crop of Pitchforkcore singer-songwriters. I wanna belieeeeeeeeve. |
| 12 |  | Black Midi
Cavalcade
Freakshow jazz prog post-punk smoothie. Miles ahead of anything else in that British "scene" right now. Anteater crew. |
| 11 |  | Origami Angel
Gami Gang
Noodly party emo/pop punk. 90s kid soundbites. Taco Bell romanticism. |
| 10 |  | Jeff Rosenstock
SKA DREAM
Ska. Not a dream. Pick it up. |
| 9 |  | Silk Sonic
An Evening with Silk Sonic
Throwback R&B/soul. A little slice of facetious theater. DIS- BITCH- |
| 8 |  | Trophy Scars
Astral Pariah
Narrative western-y blues hardcore. Vocalist still sounds like a drunken Cookie Monster. That's a compliment, obviously. |
| 7 |  | Low
Hey What
Experimental. Gospel music for machines. Part meditative mantra, part creaky contraption. |
| 6 |  | The World Is a Beautiful Place...
Illusory Walls
Emo/post-rock. Born to die, world is a fuck. Their best since the debut. |
| 5 |  | Manchester Orchestra
The Million Masks of God
Alt rock. Massive production value. Bonus bias points for headlining my first post(?)-COVID concert. |
| 4 |  | Injury Reserve
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Sound collage hip-hop. Apocalyptic anachronistic eulogy. RIP Groggs. |
| 3 |  | Every Time I Die
Radical
Post-hardcore/metalcore. Angry zingers galore. YOU WANT MORE? YOU'LL GET MORE |
| 2 |  | Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
This is a Mindfulness Drill...
Singer-songwriter by way of horns troupe + Moses Sumney, Perfume Genius, and Sharon Van Etten. Cover album of Richard Youngs' Sapphie. Transcendent stuff. |
| 1 |  | BRUIT
The Machine Is Burning...
Climate crisis post-rock. A new generation's GY!BE? We can only hope. |
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