Favorite Albums of 2021, Part 2…
34. Dinosaur Jr., Sweep it Into Space
The guitar hero indie rock stalwarts showcase the faster, more playful side of the band’s distortion-heavy sound, with J Mascis’s transcendent guitar solos blessing all the right moments. Highlights: “I Ran Away,” “Take It Back,” “Walking To You”
34. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Butterfly 3000
The Australian psych-rockers keep the adventurous rhythms and time signatures but swap out most of the guitars for bright, colorful synths. No one is surprised they nail it; KGLW can do anything. Highlights: “Interior People,” “Catching Smoke,” “Shanghai”
36. KRS-One, Between Da Protests (released 12/21/20)
The 23rd album is as politically driven and as lyrically sharp as Kris Parker has ever been. The beats, while relatively stripped down and lo-fi, are infectious and carry the message perfectly. Highlights: “Black Black Black,” “Stay Real,” “Organize”
37. Liily, TV Or Not TV
This distinctively Los Angeles band’s debut might represent the most eloquent conversation between heavy American indie rock and the UK’s post-punk revival that I’ve seen. Powerful stuff! Highlights: “Early Bopper,” “Man Listening to Disc,” “TV Or Not TV”
38. Ani DiFranco, Revolutionary Love
A bluesy, jazzy, funky and conga-heavy folk albuim, Ani’s 20th album visits dark corners and offers a radically engaged, loving response, on an album in which the personal and the political are one. Highlights: “Revolutionary Love,” “Simultaneously,” “Crocus”
39. Aesop Rock & Blockhead, Garbology
Rhyming over Blockhead’s abstract, atmospheric and mostly downtempo beats, the Brooklyn rapper turns his literate, street-level focus toward the study of garbage and what we do with it. Highlights: “The Sea,” “All Day Breakfast,” “Wolf Piss”
40. Aimee Mann, Queens of the Summer Hotel
Commissioned for a stalled Girl Interrupted musical, Mann re-purposed these songs for her 10th studio album a 70s-friendly folk/champer pop album with beautiful music and disturbing themes. Highlights: “I See You,” “Suicide Is Murder,” “Give Me Fifteen”
41. Courtney Barnett, Things Take Time, Take Time
Australia’s most prominent grunge-inflected singer/songwriter shows us a softer, gentler, more compassionate side on an acoustic-electric third album with a clearer, cleaner sound. Highlights: “Before You Gotta Go,” “Take It Day By Day,” “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight”
42. Django Django, Glowing in the Dark
On their 4th album the band strikes a balance between the colorful electro-pop of 2018;s Marble Skies and the art rock of 2015’s Born Under Saturn, bringing the guitars back in and favoring expanded arrangements. Highlights: “Headrush,” “Spirals,” “Glowing in the Dark”
43. Dry Cleaning, New Long Leg
An instrumental act until poet Florence Shaw joined up with them, the South London band’s debut pairs Shaw’s spoken word with the sounds of the UK post-punk revival. Highlights: “Strong Feelings,” “New Long Leg,” “Scratchcard Lanyard”
44. Arlo Parks, Collapsed In Sunbeams
On soulful folk-pop debut with mental health and healing at its thematic center, this London-born singer/songwriter is a voice of clarity, compassion, and emotional support. Highlights: “Caroline,” “Black Dog,” “Hurt”
45. Kizis, Turn / Tidibàbide: A Life of 4 Spirits in Motion
Algonquin two-spirit trans singer/composer Kizis makes unique, experimental art pop via orchestrally supported electronics, supplemented by and infused with traditional indigenous songs. Highlights: “Side of the Road,” “Higher Self,” “Redbody”
46. Sujan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine, A Beginner’s Mind
In a collaboration that brings out the best in both of them, these two sweet-voiced indie-folksingers enhance each other with robust harmonies, on songs inspired by movies they love. Highlights: “Reach Out,” “Murder and Crime,” “Fictional California”
47. Weezer, OK Human
Weezer and chamber pop turn out to be a match made in heaven. Almost all the guitar work is replaced by orchestral strings and piano, and it opens them up beyond rock audiences without pandering to Top 40 aesthetics. Highlights: “All My Favorite Songs,” “Numbers,” “Dead Roses”
48. Martha Wainwright, Love Will Be Reborn
The Montreal singer/songwriter’s 5th proper album is a dynamic affair, wedding bright, energetic folk-rock to exotic, sophisticated melodicism and intricate guitar-work. Highlights: “Love Will Be Reborn,” “Middle of the Lake,” “Hole in My Heart”
49. Lil Nas X, Montero
Already an global superstar at the release of his first album, the Atlanta artist’s emotive, confident debut displays all the musical variety you’d expect, and centers somewhere between mainstream pop and especially melodic rap. Highlights: “That’s What I Want,” “Void,” “Don’t Want It”
50. Joy Crookes, Skin
A long-awaited and powerful debut from a young Bangladeshi/Irish singer/songwriter from London, Skin is a supple blend of vocal jazz, pop and soul.. Highlights: “Trouble,” “When You Were Mine,” “Kingdom”
51. Liars, The Apple Drop
The 10th album from this American melodic post-punk dials back the electronica just a little in favor of a relatively slow, intricate, largely guitar-driven art rock. Highlights: “Big Appetite,” “From What The Never Was,” “Sekwar”
52. Ches Smith and We All Break, Path of Seven Colors
A collaboration between Haitian activist-musicians from a variety of Afro-Carribean traditions, and American jazz musicians, this band‘s profoundly polyrhythmic second album is vital, intricate and spellbinding. Highlights: “Here’s The Light,” “AWoule Pou Mwen,” “The Vulgar Cycle”
53. Rónán Ó Snodaigh, Tá Go Maith
The frontman for Kila, Dublin’s most adventurous “traditional” Irish band, Kila, pairs his gentle, fluid Irish-lanauge folk music with the electornic stylings of producer [Indistict Chatter]. Highlights: “Tá’n t’Áth Liom,” “Cad a Tugfadh Dom,” “Yan Tyan”
54. Ghost of Vroom, Ghost of Vroom 1
For the first time since Soul Coughing ended, Mike Doughty’s found musicians who can his prowess as an emcee and deliver the groove-driven neo-beatnik indie music he was born to make. Highlights: “Beat Up Born Where I Come From,” “Memphis Woofer Rock,” “James Jesus Angleton”
55. James Blake, Friends That Break Your Heart
An enchanting, lush modern R&B record that cloaks its heartbreak in warm, soothing vocals and in innovative sonics, James Blake’s 5th album delights in collaboration with talented guests. Highlights: “Foot Forward,” “Friends That Break Your Heart,” “Frozen”
56. Deafheaven, Infinite Granite
Usually a black metal band, this San Francisco outfit turn their attentions toward an immersive, hypnotic and dreamy shoegaze album which saves the feral intensity for cathartic moments in the second half. Highlights: “Lament For Wasps,” “Villain,” “Monbasa”
57. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist, Haram
The duo of Billy Woods and Elucid, two of Brooklyn’s most lyrically dense underground rappers, makes for an especially symbiotic pairing with The Alchemist’s mood-crystalizing production. Highlights: “Chicharrones,” “Aubergine,” “Falling Out The Sky”
58. Curtis Harding, If Words Were Flowers
Vintage soul music made with hip hop sensibilities and just a touch of indie rock psychedelia, Harding’s third album adds in horns, synths and strings, and focuses mostly on romance and social justice. Highlights: “Hopeful,” “Explore,” “The One”
59. Field Music, Flat White Moon
The Brewis brothers focus their often lofty aspirations in a more accessible direction here, crafting smart, jagged, robustly arranged pop songs with rock and chamber instruments. Highlights: “Not When You’re In Love,” “When You Last Heard From Linda,” “Invisible Days”
60. Celeste, Not Your Muse
This 26-year-old English R&B singer/songwriter’s voice manages to evoke every era of soul music — and some vocal jazz greats as well — on her timeless and versatile full-length debut album. Highlights: “Tonight Tonight,” “Stop This Flame,” “A Little Love”
61. They Might Be Giants, Book
It’s not TMBG’s funniest album, but it’s one of their more musically enterprising. as the duo are enjoy the sonic wizardry modern production technology affords. Highlights: “Part of You Wants to Believe Me,” “I Can’t Remember the Dream,” “Brontosaurus”
62. Katy Kirby, Cool Dry Place
A simply produced, playful, melodically adventurous indie folk debut from a Texan singer/songwriter with an excellent sense of songcraft and clever, imaginative lyrics. Highlights: “Traffic!,” “Cool Dry Place,” “Peppermint”
63. Angélique Kidjo, Mother Nature
The legendary Beninese singer embraces a broader stage and audience, by collaborating with mostly younger musicians from many parts of Africa, incorporating diverse elements of modern pop. Highlights: “Do Yourself,” “Take It Or Leave It,” “Flying High”
64. Ty Segall, Harmonizer
The garage rock revivalist opens his 12th album by finally introducing synths as an option, but uses them sparingly on another fantastic guitar rock album, albeit one with a crisper sound. Highlights: “Whisper,” “Feel Good,” “Ride”
65. Kasai Allstars, Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound
This giant supergroup, composed of five entire bands from different Congolese ethnic groups, makes complex but pleasant music with guitars, a percussive instruments, and electronic flourishes too. Highlights: “Olooh, a War Dance for Peace,” “Like a Dry Leaf on a Tree,” “The Ecstasy of Singing”
66. Serpentwithfeet, Deacon
Making electronic art pop with R&B and Gospel stylings as always, Josiah Wise leaves the heartbroken anguish of his earliest work behind, in an album-long celebration of love and sensuality. Highlights: “Same Size Shoe,” ““Fellowship,” “Hyacinth”
…Or, check out my Highlights of 2021 playlist!