Remember what I said last December about how arts and culture frequently mirrors its time and surroundings? 2021 was a slog, only marginally better than 2020, but not without its slow-burn trauma and various frustrations. Bands finally started performing live again, and festivals returned in a smaller, wonkier fashion. The true output of 2020’s duress blossomed in ‘21, not only in music but most forms of media. This was the strongest year for pop music in a good while, but indie rock and rap also had some highlights. For all my personal stuff this year, however, Spotify remained a refuge, and I’m glad I paid to listen to all of this without commercial interruption.
BEST POP/ROCK ALBUMS:
1. Jubilee, Japanese Breakfast. Don’t let radio overplay of “Be Sweet” perturb you. This throwback to early 2000s chamber-pop is a delightful mix of melodically immediate songs and gorgeous songwriting, with surprises at every turn. Between this and her well-received memoir, Michelle Zauner had an incomparable 2021.
2. For The First Time, Black Country, New Road. 2021’s most fascinating debut album uses punk as a base for this British septet’s uncanny musicianship and myriad experiments. The leadoff track “Instrumental” is celebratory klezmer, which segues into “Athens, France,” a track that evokes late 80s indie rock heroes Slint. A second album is already in post-production and set for a February 2022 release, and I can’t wait.
3. SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo. If my #2 album was the most fascinating debut, then SOUR was the most revelatory. Without delving into the “voice of Gen Z” cliché that critics overused, this is a pop record as self-aware as any in recent memory, devoid of filler and a solid sampler of Rodrigo’s varying musical tastes. “Drivers License” is a gorgeous ballad, and “Good 4 U” is a deliriously brutal emo-punk breakup song.
4. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, Little Simz
5. Any Shape You Take, Indigo De Souza
6. Collapsed in Sunbeams, Arlo Parks
7. Valentine, Snail Mail
8. Call Me If You Get Lost, Tyler the Creator
9. Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, Marina
10. 30, Adele. After six years of relative silence –give or take an embarrassing Instagram post or left-field SNL hosting stint– the British singer’s fourth LP is her most intimate and unguarded work. Ms. Adkins is a divorced mom now, and she’s going through some stuff. “Easy on Me” breaks down the split, while “I Drink Wine” pairs well with early Elton John.
Honorable Mentions: Conversation Peace, Damu The Fudgemunk; Cool Dry Place, Katy Kirby; Bless My Psyche, Sincere Engineer; Soursob [EP], Soursob; Ignorance, The Weather Station.
BEST JAZZ ALBUMS
1. Promises, Pharaoh Sanders & Floating Points. Even when an album is only jazz in the loosest sense –this could arguably be an electronica album, or classical, or as Yusef Lateef would call it, just music– this was an album about healing when we needed it most. The 80-something Sanders juts from one idea to another, with Floating Points (British composer Sam Shepherd) building a lush sonic playground that the sax great can bounce around on.
2. Sounds from the Ancestors, Kenny Garrett
3. Uneasy, Vijay Iyer/Linda May Han Oh/Tyshawn Sorey
4. Metamorphosis, John Moulder
5. Luna '68, The City Champs
Honorable Mention: Triangle (Formwela 1-3) [EP], Esperanza Spaulding.
BEST SONGS (outside of the albums previously mentioned)
"Girls & Boys," Viagra Boys
"Impostor," Miss Grit
"All You Ever Wanted," Rag n' Bone Man
"Fire for You," Cannons
"Pay Your Way In Pain," St. Vincent
"Hey Michael," Wallice
"Remember That Night?" Sara Kays
"Rainforest," Noname
"Scratchcard Lanyard," Dry Cleaning
"Lilys," Warpaint
"City Wide," Sean Danger Smith
"Midnight Wine," Shannon & The Clams
"Folie a Deux," Mach-Hommy feat. Westside Gunn
"Freaks," Surf Curse
"Jeff Goldblum," Mattiel
"Telepath," Manchester Orchestra
"The Hardest Cut," Spoon
"Paranoia Party," Frances Forever
"BFIOU," Birds of Maya
"Right on Time," Brandi Carlile
BEST VIDEOS
1. "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," Lil Nas X. The devil made him do it.
2. "If You Say The Word," Radiohead. You really can't expect any Radiohead clip to be happy-go-lucky. This satire of late-stage capitalism is somewhat ambiguous about who is the hunter, but there's little questioning who's the hunted.
3. "Delusions of Grandeur," Bad Waitress. Not *quite* a "Midsommar" pastiche, but damn, this Toronto quartet can hit the power chords.
4. "Arrows," Red Fang. Ooh, a sword!
5. "Worry With You," Sleater-Kinney. The best video of 2021 clearly inspired by the early days of the 2020 pandemic.
Honorable Mentions: "Be Sweet," Japanese Breakfast (“Friday nights on UPN”) and "Chaise Lounge," Wet Leg (Is this considered cottage-core?)
Your thoughts?
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