The 2021 End Of Year music lists thread

That said I love Caroline Polachek’s solo career so far and wont complain much about it.

Not a big fan of "Bunny" but there's a lot to like in Pitchfork's list imo. A few tracks I'd forgotten about like the OPN/Elizabeth Fraser collab. Surprising not to see "Chaise Longue" which seems to be the indie rock consensus track of the year.

the list seems to reveal there was no consensus rap banger this year

Pitchfork always seem to be a bit snobby about UK indie that gets massively hyped by UK media tho xp

lol I didn't realise P4k even knew about the existence of Bad Boy Chiller Crew

One of the strangest things about the p4k list is that only two artists got more than one track on it: Doja Cat and Doss. In a year with four insta-classic Olivia Rodrigo singles, Doss got more tracks on the list!

Oh wow yeah no Wet Leg on the p4k one. I don’t really get the hype for that song so didn’t mind the exclusion.

Overall I think this is one of the best p4k eoy lists I’ve seen.

Don't know what's up with the first 100 tracks but someone seems to be gradually updating the rest of this playlist w/the P4k tracks list (for those looking for one):

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4jJOtuZt79DeaCZQJrnXkJ

One of the strangest things about the p4k list is that only two artists got more than one track on it: Doja Cat and Doss. In a year with four insta-classic Olivia Rodrigo singles, Doss got more tracks on the list!

― josh az (2011nostalgia)

DOSS EP also has 4 insta-classic songs in there!

Surprised only one of the Big Thief tracks made it

I don’t get the Doja love, but I may be an outlier

Overall I think this is one of the best p4k eoy lists I’ve seen.

Fully anticipated a shitpile but instead it's merely garbage.

Anyone has the wire list? I see their 2021 rewind issue is out already.

Ah no it’s out dec 10 sorry

I did not contribute to the Stereogum main list, but the two jazz titles will also appear on the jazz list I put together for them, which will be running this week sometime.

Sir, this is a Wendy's

Textura jazz list is almost troublingly melanin-deficient

I was going to level that accusation but found two black people in the top 5 and decided not to go there, but it also struck me. Their picture in eveningwear alone gave white musicology stronghold vibes.

It's also just a bad list.

Or, it's not bad, but there are maybe three or four albums on there that I've heard and thought were decent. unperson would know better than me, obviously.

It's also so funny that the ambient world is large enough to include the sub-genres that Textura posts about— it's like a completely different world than the one I inhabit, and I listen to a LOT of ambient music.

lol I swear "Bunny Is a Rider" was in my top 5 singles before the pfork list came out.

Textura has a bit of a taste for warm milk ime but tbh I haven't listened to any of those albums in full. I do want to hear the Hahn.

really it is morbidly funny that pfork have given song of the year to a song whose title is literally an answer-back to an Of Montreal songtitle from 2007, and yet Of Montreal, still releasing great music in 2021, have been completely and utterly ignored by literally everyone

Anyway, the Thumbscrew erasure on all these 'lists' can only be explained by deep state shenanigans. I might have said the same about Jessica Ackerley/Daniel Carter but I see table is fighting the good fight there.

xpost Well look if Of Montreal were wrong about Bunny, what else were they wrong about?

I can't deny it/Bunny is a rider

The Textura list is fairly white, but more than that, it's an extremely conservatory-trained list. It's almost all chamber jazz or stuff that blurs the line between jazz and modern classical. Which is fine, that's their angle on the world. There are about seven albums on the list I liked enough to write about.

Just listened to the Caroline Polachek song that topped the Pfork list. It's... fine?

The production reminds me a little of this track from my own 2021 Faves list (which I like better):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir9ZylmT494

I sort of assume the site is written by one or two music grads residing in Peterborough but I have no actual idea.xp

The past is not a grotesque animal

Really like this version which is one of the other lists linked upthread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIvM2_AzNj4

really it is morbidly funny that pfork have given song of the year to a song whose title is literally an answer-back to an Of Montreal songtitle from 2007, and yet Of Montreal, still releasing great music in 2021, have been completely and utterly ignored by literally everyone

― imago, Monday, December 6, 2021 9:55 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think that with Of Montreal, I've always admired the music, but found the vocals...completely annoying and distracting! For some reason the guy's voice is hideous to me.

And I love Dan Bejar, unreservedly!

First track from Evan Parker/Natural Information Society is very enjoyable.

It's a great record, really too bad he's such an absolute conservative knob.

His thinking does seem experimental and improvised in fields beyond just music.

Some intern at pitchfork is taking the piss:

https://open.spotify.com/user/n44luryxoh2efzfriy52k3ex2/playlist/4jJOtuZt79DeaCZQJrnXkJ

1. Schultz Live - gave up on wishin’
.
.
100. Van Morrison - they own the media

I guess it is the closest it has been to ILM, they even got joke placements.

Yeah I don't get what's going on with that playlist but you can see they were added "6 days ago" whereas the rest of the playlist was constructed "5 hours ago."

FWIW when I first opened that playlist this AM, it was like 10 random albums (including from Schultz Live and Van Morrison) and songs #100-95 from the list. They gradually edited the playlist over the next hour but left those two songs? Weird.

Prog Magazine - Albums Of The Year
https://www.loudersound.com/news/the-anchoresss-the-art-of-losing-voted-prog-magazine-writers-album-of-the-year

20. Steve Hackett - Under A Mediterranean Sky (InsideOut)
19. Public Service Broadcasting - Bright Magic (PIAS)
18. Betwen The Buried And Me - Colors II (Sumerian)
17. Sel Balamir - Swell (Rocksomos)
16. Transatlantic - The Absolute Universe (InsideOut)
15. Caravan - It's None Of Your Business (Madfish)
14. Frost - Day And Age (InsideOut)
13. Iron Maiden - Senjutsu (Parlophone)
12. Hedvig Mollestad Trio - Ding Dong. You're Dead (Rune Grammofon)
11. Dream Theater - A View From The Top of The World (InsideOut)
10. Mogwai - As The Love Continues (Rock Action)
9. Leprous - Aphelion (InsideOut)
8. Gojira - Fortitude (Roadrunner)
7. Mastodon - Hushed & Grimm (Reprise)
6. Isildurs Bane & Peter Hammill - In Disequilibrium (Atarxia)
5. Field Music - Flat White Moon (Memphis Industries)
4. Jane Weaver - Flock (Fire)
3. Big Big Train - Common Ground (English Electric Recordings)
2. Steven Wilson - The Future Bites (Caroline)
1. The Anchoress - The Art Of Losing (Kscope)

The Art of Losing isn't hard to remaster

https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-albums-2021/

https://www.allmusic.com/year-in-review/2021/allmusic-best-of-2021

I completely forgot there was a Vince Staples LP this year

Nice to have some overlap with All Music! (Grouper, Liz Phair)

wow @ Sour (RS, Billboard)

I love the album, but I agree w/ufo it doesn't really feel like AOTY material (in fact, its "let's get this on the shelves" imperfection is part of its charm)

Some of the blurbs on these lists would be absolutely humiliating for some of these publications if anyone actually read them

^ ^ ^ agreed.

Crack Magazine
https://crackmagazine.net/article/list-article/top-50-albums-2021/

50. Lil Nas X - Montero
49. Arca - KICK ii
48. Sega Bodega - Romeo
47. DJ Pitch - It’s Not What You Said, It’s Because You Spoke
46. Young Thug - Punk
45. Car Culture - Dead Rock
44. Mach-Hommy - Pray for Haiti
43. Ayra Starr - 19 & Dangerous
42. Dean Blunt - Black Metal 2
41. Kacey Musgraves - Star-Crossed
40. Theon Cross - Intra-I
39. 박혜진 Park Hye Jin - Before I Die
38. Proc Fiskal - Siren Spine Sysex
37. Dave - We’re All Alone in This Together
36. Pauline Anna Strom - Angel Tears in Sunlight
35. Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters
34. Jana Rush - Painful Enlightenment
33. Klein - Harmattan
32. Koreless - Agor
31. Tyler, the Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost
30. Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready
29. Salamanda - Sphere
28. Shaybo - Queen of the South
27. PinkPantheress - to hell with it
26. Don Zilla - Ekizikiza Mubwengula
25. Arushi Jain - Under the Lilac Sky
24. Black Country, New Road - For the First Time
23. M1llionz - Provisional Licence
22. Kedr Livanskiy - Liminal Soul
21. Tomu DJ - FEMINISTA
20. L'Rain - Fatigue
19. Summer Walker - Still Over It
18. Eris Drew - Quivering in Time
17. Turnstile - Glow On
16. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime
15. Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8
14. Circuit des Yeux - -io
13. Kelman Duran - Night in Tijuana
12. Pink Siifu - GUMBO’!
11. Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia of the Air
10. Pharoah Sanders, Floating Points & the London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
09. Squid - Bright Green Field
08. Maxo Kream - Weight of the World
07. claire rousay - a softer focus
06. Banoffee - Tear Tracks
05. Baby Keem - The Melodic Blue
04. Ghetts - Conflict of Interest
03. Space Afrika - Honest Labour
02. aya - im hole
01. John Glacier - SHILOH: Lost for Words

L’Rain!

maybe it's because chal ravens is writing for them now but that kind of reminds me of the sort of list fact magazine used to do. not all gold but definitely some interesting stuff in there

https://consequence.net/2021/12/top-50-songs-2021-list/12/

lol