Best of 2021: The AOTY Post
Fifty favourites -- half new to 2021 and half just new to me. It's what you've all been waiting for!
Well, it has certainly been a year. I had high hopes for what this post was going to look like — I’ve listened to an astonishing amount of music this year, a lot of it very good, and I wanted to do justice by it when putting this list together. November and December, though, were rough, and I’ve had to rein in my ambitions accordingly. So we’ll be doing something simpler — two lists (one new, one old) of 25 albums each. No blurbs, though I’ll try to at least give some indication of genre (as ever, I’m mediocre at applying genre labels). I’m listing them alphabetically by artist rather than ranking them, but I’ll indicate my particular favourites; if you can only listen to a few things off this list, those are the ones to start with.
Broad Observations
Like I said, I’ve listened to a lot this year — I think around 510-520 albums, all told? Unsurprisingly, given that quantity, there was a lot of genre exploration, but as I began to put this list together I definitely saw patterns to what stayed with me. Some of these align with the listening habits I’ve had for years — you’ll see a lot of pop music here, a lot of folk, a fair showing from indie singer-songwriters. There’s new habits too, though. In particular, this year I began to cultivate an appreciation for jazz (I’ve never disliked it, but nor have I really spent significant time exploring it) and soul, and I dipped my toe into the waters of experimental and avant-garde work. These are things I’m hoping to take with me going forward; there’s so much cool music out there, and I know I’ve only begun to scratch the surface.
Without further ado, here are the lists. Twenty-five albums from this year. Twenty-five albums I’ve never listened through before now (though several have songs I — and you — most definitely know well). And as a final bonus, five EPs that might have been on the list had I not decided to rule them out just to make the task more manageable.
It’s been a strange year. Good in some ways, bad in a lot of others. But music has been a major refuge for me, and hopefully some of what I found can be that for you as well.
List the First: 2021 Releases
Afterglow - ONE OF US Anison/JPop
Aimee Mann - Queens of the Summer Hotel Contemporary Folk/Singer-Songwriter
***Allison Russell - Outside Child Americana/Folk***
Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince Jazz/Neo-Classical
Baby Queen - The Yearbook Bedroom Pop
Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion - Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part Contemporary Classical/Experimental
The Danish Radio Big Band & Miho Hazama - Imaginary Visions Jazz
Enji - Ursgal Jazz
Fatima al Qadiri - Medieval Femme Ambient/Experimental
***FloruitShow - What Can I Hold You With Folk/Mandopop***
***Kumi Takahara - See-Through Ambient/Contemporary Classical***
Lady Blackbird - Black Acid Soul Jazz/Soul
***Leanne Betasamosake Simpson Experimental/Folk/Spoken-Word***
Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World Synth-Pop
Maria Arnal & Marcel Bagés - CLAMOR Experimental Pop
Proc Fiskal - Siren Spine Syssex Experimental/Grime
Shubh Saran - Inglish Jazz Fusion
SPELLLING - The Turning Wheel Avant-Pop
***Valerie June - The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers Folk/Alt-Soul***
Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood Fingerstyle Guitar
Yola - Stand for Myself Americana/Soul
List the Second: New Discoveries
ABAO - Kinakaian Indigenous Music/Mandopop
Ayano Tsuji - Renren Huka Acoustic JPop
***Barbara Dane - I Hate the Capitalist System Protest Folk***
Catriona McKay - Harponium Celtic
Chiaki Mayumura - Mejameja Monja Idol/JPop
The Cranberries - No Need to Argue Alt Rock
Elza Soares - A Mulher do Fim do Mundo Samba/Vanguarda Paulista
***Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan Chamber Folk***
Isabel Frey - Millenial Bundist Protest Folk/Traditional
Jamie Drake - Everything’s Fine Singer-Songwriter
***Lizzie No - Vanity Alt-Folk/Americana***
Lous and the Yakuza - Gore Hip-Hop/R&B
***Okan - Espiral Latin Jazz***
Shania Twain - Come On Over Country
Shemekia Copeland - Uncivil War Traditional Blues
Somi - Petite Afrique Jazz/Soul
Tan Weiwei - 3811 Folk/Mandopop
Uri Nakayama - 11 Folk/Jazz
***Yuki Nakashima - Chapter I JPop***
Bonus List: Five EPs Worth Your Time
Ayra Starr - Ayra Starr Afropop/R&B
GLOR1A - METAL Experimental/Punk
Grove - Queer + Black Dark Dance/Hip-Hop
***Ruba Shamshoum - Risha Jazz/Pop***