COMPLETED: Listening to the Entire 2021 Staff List
A new pair of Sennheiser HD 6xx headphones is making this an extremely enjoyable experience. Maybe that means I'll finish this year lmao.
As in past years, these are all first impressions unless I've heard the album before now, which is only true for like 3 of them. |
| 50 |  | Coevality
Multiple Personalities
I consume music like this pretty effortlessly, so it was easy for me to anticipate how much I would enjoy this Cyniccore. Coevality do more than just saturate the genre, though, and introduce some unexpected but deftly handled mood shifts through the use of clean guitars, synths, and pads in a way that feels both tributary and novel. Whether Coevality succumb to the artistic staleness that seems to affect most creators in this genre, or continue to push boundaries in their respective strenghts, this album should stand out as a highlight to anyone who enjoys a good 45 minutes of guitar noodling and asymmetric time signatures. |
| 49 |  | CHVRCHES
Screen Violence
This struck me as a decent set of pop songs and not much else. With so much more of the same (or close to it) on this list, it's hard for me to predict when I'll feel the need to come back to it, but I liked it enough to recommend it to a few friends. |
| 48 |  | Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
Carnage
Nick Cave continues down the minimalistic, atmospheric path he solidified on Ghosteen and the results are extremely appealing. This one is more organic, like creaky wooden floors and the smell of old mothballs to Ghosteen's mist-strewn meadows and dew-laden willows. It's a whiskey vintage that you keep in the back of your cabinet for when the mood strikes you, with a smoke and character that are memorable without demanding your obsession, and we're lucky to have these artists grace us with that in an information-laden time. |
| 47 |  | Iron Maiden
Senjutsu
I've stated this before when blurbing in past years about the likes of Judas Priest and Voivod, but I have absolutely no attachment to the "classic" rock and metal bands and never intentionally listen to them. Iron Maiden seemed to make this record for people like me, though, and managed to capture my attention despite my snobbiness. It's not anything besides some good rock music to jam to in the car, but I quite like it. |
| 46 |  | Little Simz
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
A charmingly theatrical work of conscientious diversity and eclecticism. I liked this a whole lot more than I thought I would. Here's where I'm supposed to say something derogatory about the interludes I think. |
| 45 |  | The Exit Bags
Tower of Quiet
First impression lists are pretty unfair to drone-y, minimalistic works like this, which is unfortunate because The Exit Bags seem to have created an extremely interesting puddle of noisy gloom from which I am completely unable to remember any distinguishing characteristics. Deserves more time. |
| 44 |  | Kayo Dot
Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike
It's Kayo Dot. It's their best since Hubardo (coming from someone who greatly enjoys PHOBOS and Blasphemy). It's very weird and very good. |
| 43 |  | Hiatus Kaiyote
Mood Valiant
Hopefully this is the last time I flex my new headphones in this list, but Chivalry is Not Dead is one of the best headphone test songs I've heard in a long while. What an insane, neon romp that track is. The rest of the album more or less follows suit and somehow didn't overstay its welcome despite the consistently riotous mood throughout. I think maybe this is a pop music landmark, but I also can't pretend to be qualified to make that statement. This is emphatically essential listening though. |
| 42 |  | Emily Scott Robinson
American Siren
It truly is a testament to Robinson's delivery and lyrical finesse that she manages to elevate these sterile, unimaginative pop songs to something listenable. I can't help but wonder what they would sound like if she weren't content with three chord progressions and bland instrumentation. |
| 41 |  | Lil Ugly Mane
Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern
I don’t know if it was an effect of my mood when I was listening to this or if it’s an intentional feature of the album, but I feel like this started off pretty bare bones, almost grating, but then started adding layers and lushness as it progressed. It’s a weird album, to be sure, but it eventually wraps you in a warm haze that sounds exactly how Benadryl feels. That aspect must surely be intentional. The triple threat of beach harness through headboard was a particularly nice section. |
| 40 |  | Corbin
Ghost With Skin
Mixed feelings on this one. It's a bad sign when you have to start researching sputnik staffers' past works to try to understand the appeal behind something as you listen to it. I also don't exactly buy the lyrics/vocal delivery being "iRoNiC" or whatever. Maybe they're just bad? Idk the beats are pretty good and the atmospheres/production are silky smooth so I'll be back, but I might be holding my nose just like Corbin when he sings. |
| 39 |  | Japanese Breakfast
Jubilee
This has more wow impact than just about anything else so far. It captures the grounded quirkiness that I love in Mitski and the theatrical instrumentation of Wolf Alice and transfers them deftly into more focused and granular songwriting. Love it. |
| 38 |  | Black Country, New Road
For the first time
This was neat, although I find myself simultaneously alienated and amused by the "scene" being built up around this very specific brand of English pub-prog. I mean they refer to black midi by name on this record lmao. Whatever it is, I guess it's pretty good. |
| 37 |  | Angels and Airwaves
Lifeforms
It's been like 10 years for DeLonge to not improve whatsoever as a songwriter so we could hear him churn out this steaming pile of gutless pop songs. I guess Losing My Mind is pretty good, but I found myself having to really grasp at the hooks here to find something appealing beyond the boilerplate major label production quality. |
| 36 |  | Empyrium
Über den Sternen
Empyrium do a masterful job here of taking their older-school folk metal aesthetics, updating them, and infuse influence from the genre's growth over the years since they were last active. Maybe it's just my personal bias speaking here, but it almost sounds like Empyrium are doing a collab with Panopticon or Agalloch or even Musk Ox in sections here. The impressive 'The Oaken Throne" in particular stands out as twinkly nerd metal about elves bolstered by Cascadian sensibilities in the execution. I can't wait for the next snowy day to revisit this. |
| 35 |  | Genesis Owusu
Smiling with No Teeth
This one is kind of a tough one for me. For the most part, I feel like this record just completely blew me over with its frenetic stylistic shifts and I didn't really have time to process it. Because of that, I don't have much to say about it except that it sounded really, really good and drew out several wry chuckles from me with the lyrics. |
| 34 |  | Grouper
Shade
Every year Liz graces us with new music is a year made better because of it. As someone who has spent the majority of their Grouper time listening to the previous two releases, this is a nice little change of pace without abandoning that sparseness entirely. These pop songs still have an enormous breathiness to them which in no way overtakes their catchiness. A good entry point for those curious about her. |
| 33 |  | Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
A Beginner's Mind
Despite my best efforts to dislike what I perceive as a desperate attempt to revive a washed up, oft overrated indie guru through collaboration, this wonderful album won me over through its honey-rich production, buttery pop-prog songwriting, and relentlessly falsetto melodies. An unexpected surprise for me. |
| 32 |  | JPEGMAFIA
LP! (online)
I enjoyed the hell out of this. Earlier this year I watched the Cambridge Union interview with Peggy and took away two things: JPEGMAFIA does not give a shit about following anything except his own, fanatical vision and it's all about the beats baby. That's how I prefer things when I stray into hip hop and this album is just a perfect incarnation of that hierarchy. Every track here rips a searing, synthy beat straight into the foreground, and I found myself not really caring what Peggy was saying or if he was even saying anything at all. The fact that that layer is still there to discover makes me very stoked to revisit this and the rest of the back catalogue. |
| 31 |  | Claire Rousay
it was always worth it / ilysm
Well this is more than 50% just field recordings and nothing else. And a good chunk of that consists of Amazon Alexa giving you encouraging self-love advice. Idk man I’ll give it another chance at some point lol. |
| 30 |  | Alora Crucible
Thymiamatascension
Despite me being a Toby Driver simp I hadn't taken the time to listen to this just yet until now. Predictably, it is awesome and moody and insufferably pretentious, and sort of a sonic mashup between Madonnawhore and Tartar Lamb I. This belongs on the large shelf of "stuff Toby made that is good" and I look forward to seeing where this project goes next. |
| 29 |  | Cynic
Ascension Codes
Shockingly consistent and solid album, this. Ascension Codes is a fog-draped journey through grief, with all the classic Cynical trappings like mathy riffs, spacey synths, and absolutely shit lyrics. What makes it remarkable is not just how much of this creative potential ends up being centered around Paul, but also how it does not try to infringe on the legacy of his absent friends except to pay them tribute. For that, this album is a real triumph, and if it's the last thing Cynic ever does (I kinda hope it is) it will be a more than worthy bookend. |
| 28 |  | Fire-Toolz
Eternal Home
How does one even talk about this clusterfuck of an album? It is a mess of electronic beeps and boops, jazz guitar and saxophone, and.... black metal riffs. And screaming. I kind of love it. Each "volume" also has its own personality, centered around a cathartic track that tie the rest together. Pretty brilliant stuff if you have the patience to try to make sense of it. I am not sure that's me but I'm interested enough to try. |
| 27 |  | Lucy Dacus
Home Video
I thought Historian was mostly boring, so I was slightly annoyed that I enjoyed Home Video quite a bit. Lucy Dacas just can't help being so damn relatable in tracks like VBS and Thumbs, and she keeps her music just interesting enough for me to be able to sit through another heartsick female singer-songwriter album. Did I still glaze over with boredom by the end? Definitely, but at least there were features along the way. |
| 26 |  | Laura Stevenson
Laura Stevenson
You could strip everything except the vocals and lyrics from this album and lose almost nothing of value or interest. Count on Laura Stevenson to relentlessly frustrate and bore me every time she makes this goddamn list. Total snoozefest, barely finished. |
| 25 |  | Tribulation
Where the Gloom Becomes Sound
At first glance this is some by the numbers garage metal, but it carries just a little bit of bite and flair that homogenizes it into a very pleasant whole. I feel somewhat indifferent about going back to it, but I can see this hitting the right mood at the right time and becoming a gloomy, crowfeather-draped companion to an overcast day. |
| 24 |  | Ethereal Shroud
Trisagion
Now the sole album I've already heard from the list, minus Kayo Dot. Good lord what a titanic, all-consuming masterpiece this is. I can put this on and fade into my own mind so effortlessly. And I'm not just saying that bc there's a decent chance its creator might read this. But if he is... holy shit, amazing work, dude. |
| 23 |  | Trophy Scars
Astral Pariah
It's so good to hear Trophy Scars sear their cigarette-stained wails into my ears after 8 years. It's even better to hear that they haven't lost their touch even slightly. A grippingly electric album. |
| 22 |  | King Woman
Celestial Blues
This slaps so hard. I'm not sure what else to say here except that this is the most appealing fusion of metal and blues I've heard in an extremely long time, and the heretical lyricism makes it all extra satisfying and virulent. |
| 21 |  | Low
Hey What
Double Negative was one of my favorite albums of the last decade, so it probably would have been possible to completely satisfy me with a follow up. Nonetheless Hey What left me feeling a little.. idk... condescended to? One of the best parts of DN was its ability to mask its beauty with ugliness, to draw light from the crusty mud below and make you see how goddam beautiful it all was. Here the obscuring fuzz seems haphazardly thrown around, almost as an afterthought. All of this is first impressions though and I fully expect to find more to love here in time. Meanwhile I think I'll listen to Double Negative a few dozen more times. |
| 20 |  | Deafheaven
Infinite Granite
If you completely remove this from all of the stupid controversy and context surrounding this fucking band, it's a completely serviceable shoegaze album. The melodies and layering are all really nice, and I've found my mind wandering back to this album wanting to hear it again. Would it be here at all if it weren't Deafheaven? Not sure, but I'm glad I got to hear it. 2.8954328/5 |
| 19 |  | Spiritbox
Eternal Blue
I am not a metalcore man. After I burned out on BTBAM in their space opera phase, I haven't felt the desire to ever hear something remotely related ever again. Eternal Blue might change that. I found this album shockingly beautiful and deeply intriguing as a genre sceptic. Excellent vocals, gorgeous melodies, and neat electronics go a long way towards providing contrast to the -core chugga chug. |
| 18 |  | Der Weg Einer Freiheit
Noktvrn
I've listened to Finisterre half a dozen times and cannot tell you a single thing about it except that it's a German black metal album with cool drum production. My first impression of Nokturn is that it is similarly featureless, besides a few atmospheric sprinklings and some croaky clean vocals somewhere in the middle. Idk I guess I'll try again. |
| 17 |  | Dvne
Etemen Ænka
This kind of dense, fascinating sludge is my cup of tea. I don't have much else to say about this because it's opaque proggy brain metal, but I'm super jazzed about going back and bathing in my own superior intelligence as I unlock its secrets. Forreal though this seems really good and reminds me that even though the Ocean sucks now there are other bands carrying their menacing, heavy torch. |
| 16 |  | Dale Kerrigan
noise bitch
I'm not sure what I heard here but it sort of swept me off my feet. Weird, moving, self-deprecating, and noisy, as you might guess from the title. If you've completely slept on this like I have until now, you should hear this right away. |
| 15 |  | Limp Bizkit
Still Sucks
Self awareness doesn't mean it's good. |
| 14 |  | Wolves in the Throne Room
Primordial Arcana
WitTR are a 3.5 band. Nothing they've made really stands out in my memory, but I like pretty much all of it in the moment. Thrice Woven got a few more spins from me than the average Wolves album, and this seems better than average for them, so who knows, maybe I'm coming around. Whatever the case, this is good. |
| 13 |  | Arab Strap
As Days Get Dark
I have mixed feelings here. On one hand, I don't think this is nearly as gripping or profound as it clearly thinks it is. Idk I'm not a big poetry guy so maybe I'm the problem, but a lot of the lyrics strike me as the musical version of a Black Mirror episode: so bent on creating shock value that it forgets to be something anyone would want to watch/hear. On the other hand, these guys are clearly mature and capable songwriters, and the pacing and layered instrumentation of nearly every song seems dense, jagged, and interesting. I'm definitely up to let this one grow on me. |
| 12 |  | Ad Nauseam
Imperative Imperceptible Impulse
I sat poised ready to shit all over this hype train incarnate, but I just can't do it. This is magnificent tech death with killer production and compositions that clearly earn their palpable sense of pretention. This band feels refreshing. Probably the best metal on the list thus far, and I'm itching to hear it again as soon as possible. |
| 11 |  | Swallow the Sun
Moonflowers
Despite listening to their debut into the ground, not a single thing Swallow the Sun have done since Hope has interested me in the slightest. So it's kind of weird to hear them now, years later, having developed their schtick over the course of half a dozen overlong albums into something... good, probably? The main thing that stands out to me is the use of clean vocals orders of magnitude more often than in their elder days, which honestly really suits them. The orchestration is lovely, and several cuts had me openly headbanging. I guess it's never too late to come into your own. |
| 10 |  | The Killers
Pressure Machine
If we're being honest, this is an entirely typical - if above average - americana pop album. Its ability to be remarkable boils pretty squarely down to its lyrical subject matter: a portrait of a side of my country that I abhor and resent. I don't feel like Flowers is trying to glorify the people or stories of Nephi. He sees himself here as a documentarian, quietly showing us the minds of the people of deep Trump country and the ideas that make them tick. I won't ever understand these people (except for maybe Cody), but Pressure Machine is a reminder that it's all our responsibility to at least make an effort. To me, Nephi is a sad, tortured place filled with relentless self-sabotage and cyclical trauma, and it's too close to home for me to find beauty in it. |
| 9 |  | Julien Baker
Little Oblivions
This one is much closer to what I'm looking for from an individually-fronted songwriter. The elements are all there in spades: great voice, interesting lyrics, neat musicianship, but the songwriting itself elevates this far above something like Laura Stevenson or Phoebe Bridgers for me. I liked this a lot. |
| 8 |  | Sweet Trip
A Tiny House, In Secret Speeches, Polar Equals
Well this kind of blew me away with its assault of warm, fuzzy sound and labyrinthine, proggy song structures. The male/female tradeoff vocals, such a dreampop cliche, are exceptionally well-executed and done with more care and precision than their genre peers in my estimation. I can't believe I've been sleeping on this band until now. |
| 7 |  | Iosonouncane
IRA
Weird and unsettling, and honestly pretty off putting. I started to really dig it about 7 or 8 tracks in, but man is this a long play. A lot of the songs feel like there's not much direction but the texturing began to pull me in once my ears adjusted to the droniness. |
| 6 |  | Musk Ox
Inheritance
Been listening to this for months. Honestly I find both this and Woodfall pretty exhausting listens for reasons I find difficult to explain. Maybe it's the relentlessly homogenous instrumentation or the classical style of composition, but I find it hard not to zone out on both albums despite my love for neofolk. Whatever it is I always come back to it because there's really nothing quite like it, and that counts for a lot. |
| 5 |  | Converge
Bloodmoon: I
I really don't care for Converge at all and haven't given them the time of day since failing to connect with Axe to Fall. However, I could listen to Chelsea Wolfe sing random lines from a Bosnian newspaper and would probably dig it. It turns out that Wolfe's vocals and her mesmerizing presence may be what I've been looking for from Converge. I ended up enjoying my first listen with this quite a lot, especially after the beatdown of the first several tracks had subsided. I'm also pretty sad that this collab is only doing a few shows in US megalopolises because seeing this live would no doubt be godly. |
| 4 |  | Injury Reserve
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
If I've learned one thing from this year's list it's that I'm incapable of listening to hip hop passively, which is exactly what I did here lol. I liked the slow burn nature of what I can recall from this, and it really does bring to mind the sweltering, stuffy atmosphere of the southwest in summertime. But I'm nowhere near forming a coherent opinion on whether I like this or not. |
| 3 |  | Every Time I Die
Radical
And here I was about to thank the staff for not making me listen to BTBAM this year. In all seriousness, I felt exhausted just thinking about listening to this album in one sitting, since after the novelty of the polka breakdown in Ants of the Sky wore off I lost my taste for virtuosic metalcore with quirky, oddball elements. On the other side, it wasn't quite as exhausting as I had imagined, and does an okay job of giving the listener some breathing room away from chug riffs and nerdshouts. Idk though, I think I might just be too old for this shit these days. |
| 2 |  | The World Is a Beautiful Place...
Illusory Walls
I wanted this to be punchier, I wanted the lyrics to shed their cheese a little bit, I basically wanted this to be Rolo Tomassi. It's still pretty cool. You don't get this brand of smooth, clear emo rock much anymore. And I think there's plenty of depth here to allow this album to breath on repeat listens. I was just expecting more I suppose. |
| 1 |  | Mastodon
Hushed and Grim
A very middling Mastodon album crowns my favorite staff list in several years. This album is fine. I expected to say something like "there are some bangers here" but really that's not true. It's sort of this pleasantly homogenous sludge album with heavy mainstream leanings. I can't fathom why you'd listen to this more than a few times unless you are a giga-fan of the band, but I guess that they're allowed to be "just good" at this point in their career. |
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