The 2021 End Of Year music lists thread

the continental European perspective (Oor is like the Dutch Rolling Stone/Mojo): https://oor.nl/news/oors-eindlijst-dit-zijn-de-20-beste-albums-van-2021/

Dry Cleaning and Snail Mail are names that really put me off, but I'm sure that quotidian naming strategy has been used by good bands so this is irrational prejudice. "Bog Roll" is still waiting for any up and coming indie sensations to claim though.

And don't forget Soccer Mommy.

x-post Didn't know The Notwist had released a new album!

consensus picks so far are Floating Points/Pharoh Sanders, Little Simz and Weather Station

Also seeing Mdou Moctar, Dry Cleaning, Black Country New Road, Squid, Arlo Parks, LDR, The War on Drugs, Japanese Breakfast a lot

deadline for submitting to that Uproxx critics poll was last night (but seems to be extended a bit). Behind in my listening this year, so not gonna submit. Others are skipping it because its major label owned or weren't invited.

consensus picks so far are Floating Points/Pharoh Sanders, Little Simz and Weather Station

Also seeing Mdou Moctar, Dry Cleaning, Black Country New Road, Squid, Arlo Parks, LDR, The War on Drugs, Japanese Breakfast a lot

yeah ... not a great year for new albums, imo.

none of these would make my list (except Moctar, maybe), which isn't the point ... what bums me out is that i'm not exactly head over heels over my top 5-10, either, and i tend to be a glass-half-full person about this particular topic.

AOTY summary is helpful. Consensus so far is Floating Points by some margin.

https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/summary/2021/

Tbh I’m always more excited for the “best tracks” rather than “best albums” at this time of year. That’s where most of the real discoveries are for me.

really liked the Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders album

the arlo parks album seems like it should be right up my alley but the end result is pretty bland

Discoveries for me from the Paste list - Pink Siifu, Katy Kirby, L’Rain

Gorilla vs Bear

https://www.gorillavsbear.net/gorilla-vs-bears-albums-of-2021/

^ might be the list that most approximates my own music taste so far. Plenty of great albums in there which I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere.

gvb's lists are always a highlight

Excellent number one pick from Gorilla Vs Bear.

First time he picks something from his label but it’s well deserved. It’s a great album.

https://thequietus.com/articles/30903-the-quietus-top-100-albums-of-2021-norman-records

That write-up was funny, from casual conversation with the girlfriend to manifesto for nuance.
Doing 100 shows dedication. Lots of things I haven't even heard about.

I’m sorry but the suggestion that there were 97 albums this year better than HEY WHAT is absurd.

Yeah, there were at least 150

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/01/1054333297/the-50-best-albums-of-2021-page-5

(Went down to 20)

whoa, Jazmine Sullivan at #1

I didn't expect her to make too many lists since HT was called an EP

All of today's lists very on-brand

CBC's top Canadian classical albums:
https://www.cbc.ca/music/canada-s-top-21-classical-albums-of-2021-1.6261267

yeah ... not a great year for new albums, imo.

none of these would make my list (except Moctar, maybe), which isn't the point ... what bums me out is that i'm not exactly head over heels over my top 5-10, either, and i tend to be a glass-half-full person about this particular topic.

― alpine static, Tuesday, November 30, 2021 3:08 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

it was a great year for albums tho?

GVB list proves that it actually was a great year for new albums imho.

it was a great year for albums, i am not making a list until ilx requires it bc there were so many good albums

it was a great year for movies but... idk about that one

I can name ten albums off the top of my head that were excellent and easy contenders for aoty.

probably twenty even.

p4k only gave 30 albums BNM in 2021 instead of the usual 45 or so. make of that what you will.

We can scramble posts and posters and say the same about 2015, 2011, or even 2025.

I would agree that it feels like a down year, especially after last year with the two Sault albums, two Taylor albums, Punisher, Fetch the Bolt Cutters...

lmao

very much lmao

I'd rather have someone punch me in my colostomy than listen to Sault or Taylor Swift.

If you can't think of great albums that were released this year, that's on YOU, compadres.

I can’t wait for the EOY ILM TRACKS POLL where 10% of the poll will be songs from Red Taylor’s version, also the #1 album of 2021

I would agree that it feels like a down year, especially after last year with the two Sault albums, two Taylor albums, Punisher, Fetch the Bolt Cutters...

― Indexed, Wednesday, December 1, 2021 11:10 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

snail mail record from this year is better than punisher imo

Actively hating Sault is a pretty spicy opinion

let's see just from what i've bought this year

tinashe
arooj aftab
thy catafalque
snail mail
men i trust
carcass
vijay ayer
dawn richard
chvrches
every time i die
young thug
rochelle jordan
deafheaven
halsey
low
manchester orchestra
the world is a beautiful place & etc.
turnstile
godspeed
poppy
darkthrone
jane weaver
foxing
king woman
converge
wolf alice
mr twin sister
fiddlehead

all released excellent career-best records this year

I love two Inflo produced albums this year - Cleo Sol and Little Simz. It’s a good recompense for a bit of a down year from Sault.

i desperately need to hear that cleo sol record

I can’t wait for the EOY ILM TRACKS POLL where 10% of the poll will be songs from Red Taylor’s version, also the #1 album of 2021

The first part only happened last year due to a troll. Red won't be the #1 album. Yes, Taylor generates discussion here, many of us are fans, but (respectfully) I don't see the point in overstating her reception for the sake of complaint.

There is a ton of stuff that came out this year that I love. But if I had to predict, I am skeptical that 2021 will be well represented toward the top of the end of decade lists. Some years just feel like down years.

Very skeptical that Valentine will be as revered as Punisher in a few years' time. (I'm one of the 5 people who like both debuts better anyhow so trying to parse the zeitgeist is dumb, I know).

I'll have no trouble with albums or movies this year.

it won't be as revered but phoebe bridgers' popularity is also on a different scale

Things I bought this year that might make a year-end list:

Apartment House, John Cage Number Pieces 4CD
Asphyxiate, Altar of Decomposed
Biomorphic Engulfment, Incubation in the Parallel Dimension
BLK OPS, The Heroic Dose
Weedie Braimah, The Hands of Time
The Bug, Fire
Cadaveric Fumes, Dimensions Obscure
Cannibal Corpse, Violence Unimagined
Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few, Cosmic Transitions
John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle
Fire, Defeat
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra, Promises
Muriel Grossmann, Union
Irreversible Entanglements, Open the Gates
Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble, Now
Madam Data, The Gospel of the Devourer
Madam Data, For Agnes Martin – Six Architectures in Light and Water
Mastodon, Hushed & Grim
Rob Mazurek Exploding Star Orchestra, Dimensional Stardust
Jason Moran, The Sound Will Tell You
Replicant, Malignant Reality
Scorn, The Only Place
Slant, 1
Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future
Sunn O))), Metta, Benevolence
Cecil Taylor Ensemble, Göttingen
Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Enigma
Herbie Tsoaeli, At This Point in Time: Voices in Volumes

Last year I think they were the only ones who included the Gulch and Narrow Head records, and their rap choices felt like they were repping stuff that people actually listened to.

i liked the vice/noisey lists because they counted down 100, which means more room for interesting picks

https://finestkiss.wordpress.com/2022/01/16/21-for-21-albums-of-the-year/

Some interesting stuff I had missed on that list.

Paste (OK, really one columnist) rounds up great albums you may have missed ... lots of stuff here not seen elsewhere:

https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/records-you-may-have-missed/great-records-you-may-have-missed-2021-year-end-ed/