| Pangea's 2021 |
| 50 |  | Wasted Space
exsanguination
Pop Punk/Emo
United States
i would never barf in yr urn, brenda!
Great little pop punk ep from your favourite sputuser madrigal and others. Great energetic performance with nicely distorted instrumentals and good vocals. Check! |
| 49 |  | Genesis Owusu
Smiling with No Teeth
Hip Hop/Soul
Australia/Ghana
Don't Need You
Very fun listen that is catchy and has energy and variety. Excited to see where he can go next! |
| 48 |  | nobodyis
And I Found Nothing There
IDM
United States
and i found nothing there
I don't always feel as strongly about IDM as I used to, but this one was a good time. Great beats and the shorter tracks gives it the ability to explore various sounds without dragging much anywhere |
| 47 |  | Psychedelic Porn Crumpets
Shyga! The Sunlight Mound
Psychedelic Rock
Australia
Mr. Prism
Psychadelic rock that is quirky and catchy but can also rock pretty hard sometimes. A lot of fun |
| 46 |  | Grouper
Shade
Ambient/Folk
United States
Pale Interior
Shade is, as all Liz Harris projects, extremely quiet. Only few artists are able to match the intimacy that Grouper can bring. She always manages to sound like she right there in the same room as you |
| 45 |  | The Armed
Ultrapop
Post Hardcore/Noise Pop
United States
An Iteration
Ultrapop uses mostly poppy song-structures put under a really loud and chaotic filter. It creates an intriquing sound |
| 44 |  | John Tejada
Year Of The Living Dead
Tech House
United States/Austria
Sheltered
Nice sparsely produced techno with great atmosphere |
| 43 |  | Mork
Katedralen
Black Metal
Norway
Dodsmarsjen
Very old school black metal. Reminiscent of early Darkthrone era. Great stuff |
| 42 |  | Someone (NL)
Shapeshifter
Indie Pop
The Netherlands
Paris At Midnight
Tessa Rose Jackson already showed herself in 2013 as a promosing indie artist in the Dutch music scene with the great single (All The) King's Horses. Now under the Someone moniker, she releases this extremely cozy indie pop album with pretty melodies and great instrumental variation |
| 41 |  | Paysage d'Hiver
Geister
Lo-fi Black Metal
Switzerland
Bluet
Not sure what happened between the release of Im wald and this, but something must have seriously pissed Wintherr off. Im Wald was harsh, but was also able to find the beauty in the winter with some nice synth work. Geister, though, is unforgiving and claustophobic, akin to being stuck in a terrible blizzard for weeks. |
| 40 |  | King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
L. W.
Psychedelic Rock/ Jam rock
Australia
See Me
Really fun, high-energy jam rock. L.W is an album that is always moving without it being super clear in what direction. |
| 39 |  | The Raging Nathans
Waste My Heart
Pop Punk
United States
Remember
Full of anthemic and incredibly infectious songs. Perfect album to belt along to |
| 38 |  | Erika de Casier
Sensational
R&B
Denmark/Portugal
Polite
Sensual and chill R&B. I really like the production, it mostly stays in the background but it is full of life regardless |
| 37 |  | BRUIT
The Machine Is Burning...
Post Rock
France
Renaissance
Epic post rock with strings, which i will always stand behind. Reminds a bit of GYBE, but still very much its own thing. Some slight electronic influences as well, which work really well |
| 36 |  | Black Midi
Cavalcade
Progressive Rock/Jazz Fusion
United Kingdom
Ascending Forth
Schlagenheim was an album that sounded cool sometimes but also annoyed me quite a bit, especially the vocals. Luckily, this is a different direction and i like the vocals more too. Love the dynamics, especially love the jazzy stuff. |
| 35 |  | Bruno Pernadas
Private Reasons
Psychadelic Pop
Portugal
Family Vows
Lovely sunny & hypnotic pop music. It has great vocal melodies and i especially love all the orchestral stuff, Recife is gorgeous! Would have been top 20 if it wasn't too long |
| 34 |  | Thy Catafalque
Vadak
Progressive Metal
Hungary
Koszontsd a hajnalt
I missed the folkier bits of Naiv here a little bit, but a great album nonetheless. Love the scope of it all, every song sounds huge. The riffs are good too! |
| 33 |  | Blindfolded and Led to the Woods
Nightmare Withdrawals
Technical Death Metal
New Zealand
....and You Will Try To Speak
This kind of dissonant death metal doesn't often work for me, but i just gotta love the energy here. Always love it when bands can use bonkers technical ideas into high-energy bangers |
| 32 |  | Lil Mariko
Lil Mariko
Trap Metal/pop/shit posting
United States
Shiny
I remember very well when Johhny first introduced the confusing masterpiece that is Shiny in the SOTD threads. I quickly became obsessed with and subsequently with this ep. Lil mariko is full chaos with electro beats, screams and funny lines. Definitely the most fun I had with a 2021 release. |
| 31 |  | Darkthrone
Eternal Hails
Doom metal
Norway
Lost Arcane City of Uppakra
A more doomy and atmospheric approach for Darkthrone. They even nail some synth stuff like in the closer. One of my favourite production in their ablums too. And you know the riffs are great, it's darkthone! |
| 30 |  | Trophy Scars
Astral Pariah
Blues Rock/Post Hardcore
United States
Pestilent Star
Astral Pariah was a puzzle for me. Trophy Scars have never been a grower band for me, a band where all the best qualities are immediately at the front. Astral Pariah, though, took me like 6-7 listens to fully appreciate. In a way, it's just as extravagant as their earlier stuff, but it's somehow a little more hidden away, and as those moments started to appear in my view, I really came to appreciate how well this album is structured and how little time it wastes. |
| 29 |  | Ethereal Shroud
Trisagion
Atmospheric Black Metal
United Kingdom
Discarnate
Big ups to DarkNoctus for making this mammoth of an album. I love the structure, it flows incredibly well, while still managing the explore various ideas. It's enourmous in scope and incredibly emotive. You can definitely tell years of extremely hard work was put in to it and yeah great archievement, |
| 28 |  | Laura Stevenson
Laura Stevenson
Indie Rock
United States
Continental Divide
It makes sense that is her selftitled record. This is probably the most comfortable she's been in her sound. The music is as inviting at the cover art |
| 27 |  | Andy Stott
Never the Right Time
UK Bass
United Kingdom
Repetitive Strain
A great cold and modern atmosphere. Andy Stott has the ability to make every production sound huge as hell. Even the key notes of When It Hits have a certain weight to them. |
| 26 |  | Rota Fortunae
Hinterland
Neo Folk
United States
Wayfarer
Great work from our resident DungeonBoy. Excactly how I like my neo folk. Beautiful guitar melodies with cello accompanies. Reminds me of Vali. |
| 25 |  | Converge
Bloodmoon: I
Gothic Metal/Sludge
United States
Daimon
Converge & Chelsea Wolfe collab that brings the best in both. Wolfe's doomy and atmospheric style works really well with Converge's intensity, making a very dynamic record. |
| 24 |  | Endling
The Heavy Frigate
Indie Pop/Dream Pop
United Kingdom
Three-Dog Nights
Beautiful atmospheric album made by Anat. The dreamy ambience is so easy to get lost in |
| 23 |  | Lord Huron
Long Lost
Indie Folk/Country
United States
Love Me Like You Used
Sort of dismissed this as just a pleasant indie album at first, but I came to release there is a lot more to it in how it is arranged. Love the sunny, dreamy atmosphere throughout. Last track is still bullshit though |
| 22 |  | Kauan
Ice Fleet
Post Rock/Metal
Russia
Ota
Ice Fleet may not be the most orginial album in the genre, but Kauan nail the most important aspect: atmosphere. Especially the last couple of tracks are gorgeous pieces. |
| 21 |  | Drinking Boys And Girls Choir
Marriage License
Skate Punk
South Korea
Time
Glossy and uplifting punk album. Has a great balance of longer, more melodic tracks and shorter punk bangers. |
| 20 |  | Porter Robinson
Nurture
Synth Pop
United States
Musician
Definitely one of the more potent emotive releases of 2021 for me. The poppier songs remind my somewhat of a more anime-inspired Passion Pit, but there is a lot more to Nurture. The ambient sections are genuinely beautiful. The whole album has the bittersweet warmth to it that is really uplifting. |
| 19 |  | Fluisteraars
Gegrepen Door de Geest der Zielsontluiking
Atmospheric Black Metal
The Netherlands
Verscheuring in de schermering
Fluisteraars have done it again. While, last years suberb Bloem was quite beautiful for black metal standards, is their 2021 release a lot more aggressive and large in scope. Luckily, though, it's just as good. The 20 minute closer, in particular, is one of the most impressive things black metal had to offer in 2021 |
| 18 |  | Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The LSO
Promises
Ambient/Jazz
United Kingdom/United States
Movement 6
Promises is based around a repeating motif. Understandably a little boring for some, but I love how the entire album is built around this motif. It serves as a baseline for Sander's soulful saxophone passages and the orchestra's string sections to do their magic |
| 17 |  | Nordgeist
Frostwinter
Lo-fi Black Metal
Russia
Зима (Winter)
Ice-cold black metal from, fittingly, Siberia that takes obivous inspiration from Paysage d'Hiver. It, similarly, embodies the winter with its harsh riffs and freezing atmosphere. Also does have the toaster-quality recording as well. |
| 16 |  | Black Country, New Road
For the first time
Post Punk/Post Rock/Jazz Fusion
United Kingdom
Opus
There sure was a lot of discourse about this album, but I do really like it. I love the interplay of instrumentals, it's so full of life and the jazzier sections are really nice. The lyrics are more silly as meaningful, but I don't mind that either. I see them more as stories that are ment as vessels for the anxious music do it's job, |
| 15 |  | ABBA
Voyage
Euro Pop
Sweden
Just a Nation
Opener 'I Still Have Faith In You' is more of self-assurance as anything else. ABBA raise the question whether they have it in them after being away for all those years, and for whatever its worth, Voyage sounds as if the band has been around all this time. If I were to pinpoint ABBA's greatest strenghth, it's their ability to make simple statements sound like the most honest and important thing in the world and that magic hasn't been lost here. I, for one, still have faith in ABBA |
| 14 |  | Darkside
Spiral
Electronic/Psychadelic
United States
The Question Is To See It All
I have become such a fan of Nicolas Jaar in the past 1.5 years or so and the second Darkside release (together with Dave Harrington does not dissappoint. I love melancholic atmosphere it creates and really nice vocals. The tracks are layered so well with various elements without it ever being overwhelming. |
| 13 |  | Spellling
The Turning Wheel
Baroque Pop
United States
Little Dear
I do go nuts for this kind of artsy orchestral pop. The Turning Wheel is an exceptionally pretty album, and in contrast to some others, I love her vocals as well. The arrangements are so varied and full of life on here. Kinda wish I liked the second half more though. |
| 12 |  | Wolves in the Throne Room
Primordial Arcana
Atmospheric Black Metal
United States
Spirit of Lightning
Primordial Arcana is an immaculate written album; no note is out of place and every instrumental ties in perfectly together to create this layered atmosphere. I immediately was drawn to it to the point it was an AOTY contenter for a long time. In the end, I never formed a personal connection with it that is neccesary for that. But, man, what an album. |
| 11 |  | Japanese Breakfast
Jubilee
Indie Pop
United States
Be Sweet
Really varied and well done indie pop album. Works excellently as a summer record. I love how colourful and bright the song-writing is. It's catchy as hell too. Kind of just the complete package. |
| 10 |  | Stimming
Ludwig
Tech House
Germany
Arc De Trimophe
No other producer can me their production sound as organic as Stimming can. I love how much life there is in the production and the arrangements are often beautiful. Ludwig is his most cohesive work yet, moving along with such fluidity that it makes the 45 minutes feel like 20. |
| 9 |  | Violet Cold
Empire of Love
Blackgaze/Post Metal
Azerbaijan
We Met During The Revolution
Empire of Love is a lot. Blackgaze is no stranger to uplifting music, but Violet Cold takes this to an extreme tribute to love and acceptance. The music is often ridiculous, pairing the typical brickwall guitar sound with various electronic animals and tradional folk elements. But it's an album that is album to present its most silly moments with the most gleeful smile that is impossible to deny. |
| 8 |  | Turnstile
Glow On
Post Hardcore/Alternative Rock
United States
Endless
The most fun album of 2021 with its incredibly high energy and huge anthemic choruses. It's a really nice mix of various genres and ideas that keeps the music sound super fresh throughout the entire run time (and the many, many repeated listens) |
| 7 |  | Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp
We're OK. But We're lost anyway.
Art Rock/Jazz Fusion
Switzerland
Beginning
Late find for me through the December SOTD (thank you Milo!), but it had an immediate impact. Great artsy rock with a lot of instrumental variability and interesting dynamics. So much life in the arrangements that are so exciting to explore |
| 6 |  | Little Simz
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Hip Hop/Neo Soul
United Kingdom
Point & Kill
I'm a big fan of these huge scale & ambitious hip hop projects and this is the best one I heard in a while. It's so well-realized, varied and personal. Utilizes various genres as afrobeat and soul seemlessly into the hip hop sound and each song has its own identity within the album. |
| 5 |  | Null (USA)
Hiraeth
Atmospheric Black Metal/Folk Metal
United States
The Clearing
Hiraeth is the sound of adventure, a fantasy metal soundtrack to all your forest hikes, mountain climbs or whatever. With its powerful riffs, acoustic guitar segments and the generously sprinkled on flute, few other albums could match the exctitement that is on display here. It's undoubtly cheesy, but would you want your adventure to be 100% serious? |
| 4 |  | Joana Serrat
Hardcore from the Heart
Dream Pop
Spain
Easy
Hardcore from the Heart's fuzzy & warm dream pop with country leanings serves as a warm blanket of relaxation and beauty. It provided me with so much comfort over the last couple of weeks during times of sickness and sadness. A really nice album |
| 3 |  | For Those I Love
For Those I Love
House/Spoken Word
Ireland
I Have a Love
For Those I Love is about David Balfe's best friend's suicide. It serves as a beautiful tribute that is so articulate in how it tells the stories the two had together. Every story is told with a lot of passion and love. It never loses itself in grief too; it's just often funny and euphoric, helped with the production that is full so of life. And In the end, despite how much things are said, it is the words "I have a love that never fades" that linger on the mind. |
| 2 |  | Iosonouncane
IRA
Darkwave/Art Pop
Italy
jabal
It's so impressive how well this album makes the 110 minute & 17 track length work. It's something I normally wouldn't get into, but Iosonouncane does so well to keep the entire album engaging and intriguing. IRA is dark, weird and somewhat uncomfortable, but there is much hidden away to appreciate and love. |
| 1 |  | Arab Strap
As Days Get Dark
Indietronica
United Kingdom
The Turning of Our Bones
It took me a few listens until As Days Get Dark clicked, but once it did, it never let go. This was the best album of 2021 in many aspects: it's the most clever, the most insightful and the most human. But it isn't just a lyrical masterpiece, the song-writing is top notch as well, combining indie, electronic and some chamber elements in perfect manner. In the end, I see As Days Get Dark as an album about uncomfortable, ugly truths, but by shining light on them, it makes them more relatable and brings beauty in them as well. |
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