Just like the last two years, I’ve decided to post my top 10 albums from 2021. I was feeling a little behind, but since the Grammy’s were today, I don’t feel too bad…
Here’s the playlist of my favorite songs from 2021 which includes songs from albums that aren’t on the list below.
10. James Blake
Friends That Break Your Heart
This is an album that’s just solid all around. All the classic Blake sounds and vibes are in here. One thing that he might not get enough credit for in his other albums that comes out here is his humor. I think that comes out most on classics like “Say What You Will.“
Top songs: Coming Back (feat. SZA), I’m So Blessed You’re Mine, Say What You Will, Funeral (with slowthai)
9. Adele
30
I mean, how could Adele not be on this list? Fun fact: my wife didn’t know I liked Adele until her single “Easy On Me” came out and I then went on an Adele Binge for the next month. Adele delivers. I’m tempted to just leave it at that, because to add anything else on that statement would be to take away from it. No album on this list will be better to turn on during a cold night while you huddle up on your couch and watch the snow outside and drink a nice big cup of tea (with milk!) and just feel your feelings.
Top songs: Easy On Me, Cry Your Heart Out, Oh My God, I Drink Wine
8. Matthew E. White
K Bay
I first was introduced to Mr. White at an extremely small concert venue where I was within arms length of the band. Before the concert I had checked out his extremely smooth, mellow, sensual albums Big Inner and Fresh Blood and expected a fairly relaxed show. I was very wrong. It stands as the loudest concert I have ever been to. My ears were ringing for the next 4 days and it was the moment that I decided I would always bring ear plugs to future concerts. Despite the permanent ear-damage, I left the concert with a whole new appreciation for the band and have been enjoying their various projects for the last 5 years. K Bay is a great example of how Matthew E. White can get into a wonderfully intense and funky groove and just carry you along with him. I won’t lie – not every song on this album hits in the same way, but the ones that slap, SLAP.
Top songs: Genuine Hesitation, Electric, Nested (my favorite), Judy
7. Leon Bridges
Gold-Diggers Sound
Leon has been on my radar ever since my friends couldn’t stop raving about his son “River.” I’ve got to be honest with you, I really never got into him in the way that my friend-group did. All that changed with this new album. Gold Diggers Sound is just silky smooth journey from one highlight to the next. There is a fullness to the sound of the album that surrounds you and holds you tightly. This is the only album on the list that I’ve actually purchased a physical vinyl for (my wife actually bought it for me since she also loved it).
Top songs: Motorbike, Steam, Why Don’t You Touch Me, Magnolias, Details, Don’t Worry (feat. Ink)
6. Bo Burnham
Inside
This is a little out of the ordinary for one of my lists since the album is comedic, but there’s no denying that this musical special that takes a long look at what we’ve all been going through during the pandemic is catchy and has had a cultural moment. The special is self-aware, insightful, satirical, and emotionally engaging. Like Burnham, I also turned 30 this year, so maybe that’s why it resonated with me.
Top songs: Content, Comedy, Bezos I and II, 30, Welcome to the Internet, That Funny Feeling, All Eyes On Me
5. Bruiser Wolf
Dope Game Stupid
From the most self-serious comedy album on the list, to the most comedic rap unselfconscious album on the list. Dope Game Stupid is the type of album that upon first listen you could brush it off as just a silly, irreverent, druggy album but there are so many hooks that crawl inside your brain, and so much clever wordplay that it deserves many repeat listens. I heard about Bruiser Wolf from watching a conversation with Danny Brown who mentioned how much he liked him, and enjoyed collaborating. Behind all of the fun, the album delivers on the central assertion of the title that indeed, “the dope game is stupid,” but it is incredibly hard to break out of the “game.”
Top songs: Use Me (I’m Dope), Dope Game $tupid, Freak Accident, Wip Test, Chess Move$, I’m A Instrument, Momma Was a Dopefiend.
4. The Artisanals
Zia
The Artisanals is another band on this list where I was first introduced to them at a concert. It was at an extremely small venue down in Jackson, MS, and they were just one of two bands that was doing a live set for a local radio station. No one knew who they were, they only had a few songs during the radio hour and then had to wait till almost the event was over before they were allowed to play some of their other songs, and yet when they got up to play they rocked the house as if there were thousands of adoring fans in front of them. The show was great and I was able to hang out with them after it was over and unsurprisingly, they were hilarious. They’ve had a couple of projects since that time, but none of them have been as complete and satisfying as Zia. The album is enjoyable from beginning to end.
Top songs: Fear to Fail, Heading Somewhere, Way Up, The Road, Violet Light
3. The War on Drugs
I Don't Live Here Anymore
The War on Drugs has been a favorite band for me over the last 6 years, and are in an elusive category of bands that get better and better not by changing their sound, but by perfecting it. The band has gone from being lost in a dream, to seeking a deeper understanding, and now realizing that they’re no longer living here anymore… ok, that was a bit corny, but that’s to be expected from me on occasion. This new album seems to be both a culmination, and a reduction of the band’s sound to the most essential building blocks. This album is simply beautiful and powerful for anyone with a wandering spirit. Adam Granduciel is a friendly guide on your journey, regardless of where you end up.
Top songs: Living Proof, Harmonia’s Dream, Change, I Don’t Wanna Wait, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, Wasted, Occasional Rain
2. Big Red Machine
How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?
This album is basically a collaboration of a bunch of artists that I really love… Taylor is also on it. I really enjoyed parts of Big Red Machine’s eponymous first album, and was looking forward to how they would expand their sound with this new project. Hard to imagine a collaboration between Vernon and Dessner’s going poorly, and they did not disappoint. The collabs on this project have taken the pair to new heights. A personal highlight for me is Robin Pecknold’s feature on Phoenix. The strengths of all artists are on full display. The churning, hypnotic production of Dessner sets the table for Vernon, Anais Mitchell, and Pecknold to soar beautifully.
Top songs: Phoenix, Renegade, the Ghost of Cincinnati, Mimi, Magnolia, June’s a River, New Auburn
1. Sufjan Stevens &
Angelo De Augustine
A Beginner's Mind
Sufjan does it again. Probably the artist that I’ve listened to the most over the last 8 years, has returned to a softer and more restrained melodic sound, but has come with a new song writing approach. He uses movies as touchstones for each track and walks through an imaginative world of possibilities. Stevens shares the mic with Angelo De Augustine on every song on the album to great effect. The duet’s voices rise and fall over and into each other through the different tracks in an almost crystalline melodies and countermelodies. The project feels at once both mythic in scope and immediate and personal in relation to the listener. As if Carrie and Lowell and Planetarium were combined and refined into displaying a cosmic-interior. I’m of course not a great unbiased reviewer of this album, but I have a hard time finding a song on this album I want to skip. So there it is. That’s the review. Anything else would be treacle.
Top songs: Reach Out, Lady Macbeth in Chains, Back to Oz, You Give Death a Bad Name, Beginner’s Mind, Olympus, (This Is) The Thing, Fictional California, Cimmerian Shade, Lacrimae
Throw Back Album Of The Year
Bob Dylan
Blood on the Tracks
2021 was the year of Dylan for me. I’ve been, like many people before me, caught up in the fandom of an artist that has just been so prolific and instrumental (pun intended) to not only to music, but to the culture at large. I’ve always known who Dylan was, and knew 5-6 of his greatest hits, but it wasn’t until this past year that I dug in a little deeper into his catalogue and for a solid month, couldn’t stop playing this album. Knowing just the slightest thing about the context surrounding the album’s release and the relationship that had preceded it makes this album hit hard. Love, loss, confusion, fate, elaborate stories about the Jack of Hearts, and idiot winds swirling all around make this album an absolute standout to me. If you are like I was and only know just a handful of Dylan tracks and you’re interested in taking another small step into his discography, I highly recommend you start right here, where the blood can be heard seeping onto the tracks.
Top songs: Tangled up in Blue, Simple Twist of Fate, You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts, If You See Her, Say Hello, Shelter from the Storm, Buckets of Rain