Favorite Albums
My favorite albums of 2021
- Arab Strap: As Days Get Dark
The Scottish accents goes a long way to make these mostly spoken songs flow with a charming humor despite their dark content.
Joy, pride, freedom, and soul as a political statement. Funky as hell but rooted in the traditional music of New Orleans. My favorite album of the year.
- Illuminati Hotties: Let Me Do One More
Bubble grunge with frequently delirious music interspersed with dreamy pop.
- Japanese Breakfast: Jubilee
Music for the coffee shop or the dance floor at the same time. New but familiar. Her most consistent work yet.
- Amythyst Kiah: Wary + Strange
Folk, blues, country, rock. Angry, contemplative, sad. But always her incredible voice.
- Pom Pom Squad: Death of a Cheerleader
Bubbly grunge, this time with more punk and young love angst.
- Slaughter Beach, Dog: At the Moonbase
Ballads that walk the line between the personal and the mythical. Mostly spoken. Kind of snarky.
- Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future
Shabaka Hutchings' latest in an extraordinary string of music with various collaborators. Jazz as the music of resistance, redemption, revolution.
Instrumental & Ambient
Mostly without vocals, mostly from 2021.
At times soothing, at times uplifting, at times jarring. A movie soundtrack.
Tuba jazz.
- MDou Moctor: Afrique Victime
Oh my those electric guitar solos!
Brooding, swirling, some vocals
- Maria Schneider Orchestra: Data Lords
From 2020, 2 CDs, “The Natural World” CD is a remarkable jazz/classical symphony
- Yasmin Williams: Urban Driftwood
Beautiful, creative acoustic guitar and strings songs.
Honorable Mention
Honorable mention
- April + Vista: Pit of My Dreams
Soul, hip-hop, alt-rock, experimental ready for a dark speakeasy. She has a great voice.
- Generacion Suicida: Regeneracion
Traditional heart-felt hard-driving punk with no frills. In Spanish.
- J. Hacha de Zola - East of Eden
Stepping out of the urban junkyard and into the lounge, crooning atop a baritone saxophone with influences of The Doors, Tom Waits, and Captain Beefheart.
- Lala Lala - I Want the Door to Open
Synthesizers, muted guitars and husky, wispy vocals.
Dylan-esque vocals, rocking acoustic guitar, reflections on almost relationships and life's changes.
- Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
A little bit of every kind of rock/pop done by a skilled band.