Previously, I've used the last Album Notes each year to reflect on the preceding 12 months in music. The easy take is that the return of live music was undoubtedly welcomed and served as a cathartic release. Unfortunately, we find 2021 concluding in a manner far too similarly to where we were a year ago, and as 2021 comes to a close, I am left with a broader feeling of, "Wait, what really happened this year?"
Music aside, last New Year's Eve feels like it was half a decade ago. The events on the January 6 seem as if from another lifetime. Or reality. Did the Tokyo Olympics actually take place this summer? What a blur. I find it almost unfathomable that we're about to turn the calendar over to 2022. With that, I have no grand observations and will attempt to make no pithy summaries on this current state of life. Too much retrospection leaves my brain feeling little more than a "wow" of disbelief. Thank goodness for music.
And on that note, here are my ten favorite albums of 2021, in alphabetical order:
Cheeckface - Emphatically No.
Aaron Frazer - Introducing...
Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Butterfly 3000
Lord Huron - Long Lost
Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime
Ol' Buger Beats & Vuyo - Dialogue.
Turnstile - Glow On
Typhoon - Sympathetic Magic
White Denim - Crystal Bullets / King Tears
If I had to pick an absolute favorite from the above list, I would go with the one I've found myself spinning the most: Long Lost. Not only did Lord Huron's fourth album fail to leave my rotation following its May release, but it made me dig out their previous three LPs, all brilliant, and listen more intently than I have in years, which led me to conclude that these guys just might be my favorite thing in music over the past decade. There's a simplistic charm in their Americana stylings that is classic without being retro. Maybe that's why I find their music so enchanting when we're living in a time warp.
While we're at it, for more listening pleasure, here are ten other records, in alphabetical order, I enjoyed but didn't feature in Album Notes:
The Artisanals - Zia
Big Red Machine - How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last
Lee DeWyze - Ghost Stories
Douglas Firs - Heart of a Mother
The Felice Brothers - From Dreams to Dust
Mustafa - When Smoke Rises
quickly, quickly - The Long and Short of It
Andy Shauf - Wilds
Silk Sonic - An Evening with Silk Sonic
Yola - Stand For Myself
Finally, as has become tradition, below are two mixes of some of my favorite tunes of the year from albums not featured in this space, in no particular order other than the one I listen to them in. Part 1 is the more rocking, upbeat collection, part 2 more chill.
This Also Happened in 2021 - Part 1
Tracklist (Artist - "song" - Album)
La Femme - "Paradigme" - Paradigmes
Altin Gün - "Yali Yali" - Âlem
Grouplove - "Scratch" - This Is This
Carpool Tunnel - "Forget My Name" - Bloom
Good Morning - "Depends On What I Know" - Barnyard
Holiday Ghosts - "Told My Baby" - North Street Air
Jon Batiste - "I Need You" - We Are
Teleman - "Simple Like Us" - Sweet Morning EP
Inhaler - "Cheer Up Baby" - It Won't Always Be Like This
The Limiñanas and Laurent Garnier - "Promenade oblique" - De Película
Silk Sonic - "777" - An Evening with Silk Sonic
Islands - "Closed Captioning" - Islomania
The Bamboos (feat. Durand Jones) - "If Not Now (Then When)" - Hard Up
This Also Happened in 2021 - Part 2
The Notwist - "Into Love / Stars" - Vertigo Days
quickly, quickly - "Shee" - The Long and Short of It
Nick Hakim and Roy Nathanson - "Small Things" - Small Things
Monster Rally - "Imaginary Palms" - (Single)
Run River North - "Spiders" - Creatures In Your Head
The Wallflowers - "Maybe Your Heart's Not In It No More" - Exit Wounds
The Dodos - "Annie" - Grizzly Peak
Pino Palladino and Blake Mills - "Ekuté" - Notes With Attachments
The Artisanals - "Way Up" - Zia
Balthazar - "On a Roll" - The Sand Castle Tapes
Happy New Year everyone! 2022 will be better!
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