Jeff's Best of the Rest of 2021

Have we mentioned how unexpectedly good this year in music was?

* Slothrust - Parallel Timeline
* Margo Cilker - Pohorylle
* Georgia Train - Needles and Pinches
* Carissa Johnson - Blue Hour
* TORRES - Thirstier
* Erin McKeown - Kiss Off Kiss
* Lung - Come Clean Right Now
* Vivian Leva and Riley Calgano - Vivian Leva and Riley Calgano
* Weakened Friends - Quitter
* Kylie V - Big Blue
* Squirrel Flower - Planet (i)
* Amythyst Kiah - Wary + Strange

* St. Lenox - Ten Songs of Worship and Praise for Our Tumultuous Times
* Little Hag - Leash
* Quivers - Golden Doubt
* Sydney Sprague - maybe i will see you at the end of the world
* Queen Esther - Gild the Black Lily
* Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World
* David Wax Museum - Euphoric Ouroboric
* Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams
* Carsie Blanton - Love & Rage

* Lula Wiles - Shame and Sedition
* Steven Wilson - THE FUTURE BITES
* Caroline Kingsbury - Heaven is a Flight
* TEKE::TEKE - Shirushi
* Altin Gun - Yol
* Bella White - Just Like Leaving
* Calicoco - Underneath
* Vanessa Peters - Modern Age
* Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
* Tropical Fuck Storm - Deep States

* Bad Bad Hats - Walkman
* Aaron Lee Tasjan - Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!
* Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
* Dana Dentata - pantychrist
* Smol Data - Inconvenience Store
* Covey - Class of Cardinal Sin
* Maple Glider - To Enjoy Is the Only Thing
* Claire George - The Land Beyond the Light
* Nana Yamato - Before Sunrise
* Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR
* Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham
* Poise - Vestiges

Ken's Best of 2021 - #1: Calicoco - Underneath

I first heard Calicoco's 2018 album in March of 2019. I made the comment that if I had heard Float when it was released it would have definitely made my top 10 of 2018. This year I heard Underneath on time and it's my #1 album of 2021. Underneath combines two of my favorite styles of music. Giana Calioli's vocals still embody that 1950's style crooner sound, but on this new album they are put over giant indie rock epics. The album starts off with "I Hate Living With Me," an absolute monster of a song that just swirls and swirls and swirls around itself with fuzzy and hypnotic guitars while Calioli's vocals somehow command your attention above all of the chaos. This is what sets an album like Underneath apart from so many others. Music this noisy or loud isn't usually this beautiful, and with such compelling vocals. It's almost like early 90's Sonic Youth mixed with early Smashing Pumpkins and a little bit of when Tori Amos started playing with a full band. There are also some songs of just quiet, simple beauty like "Cuore Mio" and "I Was the Devil" just to give you a sonic break. But Underneath is one of the best indie rock albums of the century.

Songs of note: "I Hate Living With Me," "Strangers," "Heal Me," and "I Was the Devil"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #1: Madi Diaz - History of a Feeling

On a typical new release week, I have a list and Ken has a list, and he sends over things he believes I might find interesting or that have been sent over to us via artists or publicists. Often, I go in knowing nothing about the artists at all, and thus "First Listen" is really and truly a "first listen" in all facets.

Every so often, Ken sends over an album that blows me away. This year, it was Madi Diaz.

History of a Feeling is Diaz's fifth(!) album, but a first for me. The album is probably the rawest and most honest record I've heard since Julien Baker's Turn Out the Lights from however long ago, and this is even more nakedly brutal in its approach. It's one thing to put a bad relationship on blast using metaphor and painting a picture; it's another to lead an angry chorus with "I hope you fuck her with your eyes closed/and think of me." The whole record is an exercise in rage, and it feels as cathartic to me as much as I hope it was for Diaz.

The raw, unadorned musicality of this album resonates in so many ways. I would have really loved this record during my more emotionally stunted college years. As a 40-year-old man in a wonderful marriage, I can still relate heavily to the purest forms of sentiment dripping from each song. It's stark and it's significant, and that goes a long way for me.

I don't know when I was sure this was my favorite album of the year, but I'm definitely not surprised. It's just an incredible work of art.

Songs of note: "Rage," "Crying in Public," "Think of Me," "Man in Me," "New Person, Old Place"

Ken's Best of 2021 - #2: Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I stumbled onto Sierra Ferrell's song "Jeremiah" a little over a year ago. It was one of those times when you hear a song from a new artist and just drop everything to hear more. It's combination of classic country mixed with a little jazz and some 60's groovy cool absolutely sucked me in. Once she released covers of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock" last year, I was completely smitten with Ferrell's music.

And then Long Time Coming was finally released. I had such an anticipation for this album that it should have been a disappointment, but it wasn't. I don't think any album this year is as fun as Long Time Coming is. The songs on this album mix together classic country, traditional folk, and jazz into one of the warmest and most familiar sounds I've heard in years. Plus, Ferrell is balancing between the worlds of serious folk musician and having a little throwback hokeyness masterfully. A song like "Bells of Every Chapel" has a birdsong in it like an early Disney animated movie, which should seem ridiculous, but in Ferrell's hands it's impossibly charming. This is the kind of album that can melt the heart of even the crustiest, cynical aging Gen-Xer.

Songs of note: "The Sea," "Jeremiah," "Bells of Every Chapel," "At the End of the Rainbow," "In Dreams," and "Whispering Waltz"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #2: Attacca Quartet - Real Life

I never expected a modern classical record to reach my top ten, never mind my top three, but here we are.

A year ago, I didn't even know Attacca Quartet existed. Then came Real Life, which is their "debut album" of new material that not only pushes through the boundaries of what you might think modern classical can do, but reshapes them along the way. They have traditionally been informed by electronica and synthesized drum beats, and this record leans into that a lot, up to and including enlisting a number of electronic/experimental artists to jump in on a few songs. It all works.

The music from this stayed lodged in my head all fall, and I'm so glad I tripped up on Real Life. It's an unexpected surprise and just an incredible achievement, and I can't wait to hear what they come up with next.

Songs of note: "Electric Pow Wow Drum," "Real Life," "Remind U," "Xetaka 1"

Ken's Best of 2021 - #3: Weakened Friends - Quitter

I'm always hesitant to put an album in my top 10 that came out in the past month. The new album excitement is still there, and a lot of times an album that I've gushed about doesn't seem as great after six months or so of listens. But... this is Weakened Friends here, so I'm more than a little confident that Quitter will still be a favorite album in a few years. 

I was a little nervous about this album. If you follow the band on social media, you would have seen them repeatedly posting about how much they were convinced everyone would hate this album. They were wrong. Quitter is far from an exact copy of 2018's Common Blah, but it's close enough that this new one won't lose them any fans. Quitter sees them edging a little more into pop territory and showing off their Avril Lavigne roots a bit, but this is still an indie rock album. It's filled with killer anthems and catchy hooks throughout. If Quitter isn't the album that has Weakened Friends headlining the biggest club in your town by this time next year, there is truly no justice in the world.

Songs of note: "Quitter," "Everything is Better," "Tunnels," and "What You Like"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #3: Bo Burnham - Inside (The Songs)

I'm not sure if I'm cheating or not with including this, but I don't really care.

I knew Bo Burnham was a YouTuber back in the day, I liked Eighth Grade, but my familiarity with him on a whole was pretty much zero. Then everyone went nuts over his comedy special, we threw it on, and were blown away. I've written before/elsewhere that this is likely the most brilliant pandemic-era piece of art we've gotten up to now, but it's also similarly brilliant in its execution of how it handles the current state of discourse and behavior in this country. That the music is incredible only adds to the brilliance, because weaker songs probably would have worked as well and we still got some crazy great songs out of this.

It's witty, it's fun, it's current, it's consistent, and it's addictive. I catch myself singing "How the World Works" constantly, "All Eyes on Me" appears to be the award choice and I hope it wins everything, and "That Funny Feeling" was so great it got a Phoebe Bridgers cover treatment. There's not a bad song on the record, and it works even outside the context of the overall special, which is probably the best testament I can give.

Make some time to watch the special on Netflix, and then get as addicted to these songs as I am. You won't regret it.

Songs of note: "How the World Works," "All Eyes on Me," "That Funny Feeling," "Shit," "White Woman's Instagram"

Ken's Best of 2021 - #4: Aaron Lee Tasjan - :Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!

I first discovered Aaron Lee Tasjan opening for Margo Price. He was a perfect opener for Price, with his "indie folk grit" dabbling into country with some pop sensibilities. On Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!, he blows up that sound completely. His 2021 album still has some of the sensibilities of folk and country, but it leans much more heavily into pop territory without being pop. The album also has a distinct 70's meets 2021 vibe to it. Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! mixes so many styles into its songs that it has basically created a genre since you wouldn't listen to this album and declare that it's folk, or country, or pop, or rock. On this album, Tasjan is also very open about his sexuality (particularly in songs like "Up All Night" and "Feminine Walk"), which also helps make this album feel like it's Tasjan truly being Tasjan. Plus, it's an incredibly fun album. It takes all the fun you would find in 70's AM radio, classic country, neo folk, and pop and makes it all a party. I mean, not a raging party, but more of a small gathering of close friends.

Songs of note: "Computer of Love," "Up All Night," "Feminine Walk," and "Dada Bois"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #4: Allison Russell - Outside Child

Allison Russell is a Canadian musician who I first heard of through the Our Native Daughters project, but the solo effort here (after working with a few Canadian bands in the past) is such a great listen in spite of its heavy subject matter. Russell has spoken at length about the inspiration for the album coming from the abuse she weathered as a child, but the album strikes a lighter and more optimistic tone in comparison.

I think we're all looking for catharsis these days, and Outside Child is probably an album that epitomizes that concept better than anything else I've listened to as of late. "Persephone," "4th Day Prayer," songs like that all strike the proper balance and make for not only a compelling listen, but an important and enjoyable one - yes, this is a traumatic record about traumatic things, but it is also about the strength and power to overcome those things that leave the deepest of scars.

I came back to this album a lot this year. It's really what we expect from roots music: stories rooted in reality with melodies that linger. This album accomplishes all of that and more.

Songs of note: "Nightflyer," "Persephone," "Hy-Brasil," "The Runner"

Ken's Best of 2021 - #5: TORRES - Thirstier

We've been fans of TORRES ever since Mackenzie Scott's 2015 album Sprinter. I saw her live shortly after the release of that album, and I left thinking that the show was OK, but TORRES was going to be great some day. That day came this year with the release of Thirstier. TORRES has been improving with every single release, and Thirstier might be Scott's masterpiece. The album is filled with huge rock songs with a strong pop sensibility. 2021 is the year that alt-pop edged its way into alt-rock, and this is the pinnacle of that moment. TORRES is blending the two genres perfectly, in a way that hasn't been seen since Tina Turner in the 80's. I had to miss a tour of small clubs earlier this year, and it was truly my loss since there is no way TORRES will be playing those venues by this time next year. If the Superchunk/TORRES tour is playing anywhere near you next year, I implore you to check it out.

Songs of note: "Don't Go Puttin Wishes in My Head," "Big Leap," "Hug From a Dinosaur," and "Thirstier"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #5: Adia Victoria - A Southern Gothic

How is Adia Victoria not the biggest singer on the planet?

I fell for Adia Victoria's work in 2016, when Beyond the Bloodhounds hit the scene. Silences was similarly solid, but it's A Southern Gothic that's really brought her in to her own as a songwriter and performer. This strikes a near-perfect balance of social commentary and traditional musicality, and it's an important and weighty album without feeling like one. It's a very difficult line to toe, and Adia Victoria handles it with ease and grace.

We were excited about this one when it was announced, and I know it exceeded my high expectations. Debuting in the top 10, a lot of other folks agree, too, but she should be massive after this one.

Songs of note: "Mean-Hearted Woman," "Magnolia Blues," "Whole World Knows," "Troubled Mind"

Ken's Best of 2021 - #6: Little Hag - Leash

To be completely honest, I didn't really like Leash that much when it first came out back in September. It was good, but considering how much I loved her 2020 album Whatever Happened to Avery Jane?, I wanted to love it more. So, like we did back in the 80's and 90's before we had virtually every single album at our fingertips and we were dropping anywhere from $8 to $20 on an album, I kept listening to it. Slowly I started finding more and more to love about the songs on Leash. Was it a little more poppy than the previous album? Definitely. But the more I listened the less pop it was. Or, it was at least this bizarre form of pop that would be the Taylor Swift of Bizarro world. A song like "Cherry" perfectly encapsulates this. It didn't click for a while. The first few times I listened it was ok, but it's slowly become one of my favorites on the album. It's this gloriously heartfelt song that brings the 50's crooner thing into modern pop... but only on some bizarre planet that appreciates better music than ours does. At this point I'm furious with myself for not enjoying this album properly for the first few months of its existence. 

Songs of note: "The Whole World," "Cherry," "Blood," and "Get Real!"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #6: Laura Stevenson - Laura Stevenson

There are two acts that are responsible for this blog existing, and one of them is Laura Stevenson.

We've been fans since "Master of Art," we've loved so much of what she's put out, but I personally found The Big Freeze to be a sharp turn from the edgier roughness of a lot of her previous work. Not bad, just different. Laura Stevenson acts as a sort of reintroduction and feels like a musical reset button from an artist dealing with a lot all at once, thus making it perfect for these pandemic times.

Stevenson approaches this record as a new mother while also recovering from some caretaking duties, and her confessional style that carried over from The Big Freeze is one I can relate to in a lot of ways as a current parent and on the other side of a traumatic caretaking period of time as well. It's kind of cliche to say that such-and-such artist "gets me," but I feel like this album may as well be a conversation with a friend over a few beers as we commisserate over all the stuff that probably should have killed us a few times over.

When I was going through my list this year, I was surprised that this made it as far up as it did compared to other albums I spent more time with on a whole. This one, however, is probably just a little more personal to me, and I get a little emotional even writing about it. In the inherent subjectivity of "best of" lists after eighteen months of collecting reconsiderings of who we are and what we do, this album persists. It's beautiful, it's wonderful, it's essential, it's meaningful. And Laura, if you see this? I hope you're doing okay.

Songs of Note: "Moving Cars," "Continental Divide," "State," "Don't Think About Me"

Ken's Best of 2021 - #7: Lucy Dacus - Home Video

Three years ago Lucy Dacus' Historian was my #1 album of the year, so I obviously heavily anticipated its follow up. Home Video comes in at #7 for me this year. The new album leans a little bit more towards the pop side of things than Dacus' previous albums did, but there is still a lot of her indie roots shining through on this one. Right from the album's opener, "Hot & Heavy," you know that this is going to be different. It's a dance song, but with an oddly hypnotic quality. There are also some gorgeous and powerful ballads on Home Video, especially "Christine" and the stunningly captivating "Thumbs." This album has catapulted Lucy Dacus from mid-sized clubs to much larger clubs and small theaters, and I'm willing to bet by the end of the summer she'll be headlining smaller amphitheaters. And very deservingly so.

Songs of note: "Hot & Heavy," "Cartwheel," "Thumbs," and "Brando"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #7: Nell and the Flaming Lips - Where the Viaduct Looms

I've never really been able to get into Nick Cave, but Nell Smith and The Flaming Lips changed that for me.

Nell Smith is a 14-year-old Flaming Lips fan, while "She Don't Use Jelly" was 14 years old when Nell Smith was born. She somehow struck up a friendship with Wayne Coyne, he sent her some Cave records, and they collaborated on this masterpiece. Nell Smith brings a unique, measured perspective to these songs, and The Flaming Lips do their thing to it and turn nine songs you've heard before into something fresh and different.

Granted, I think four or five different versions of "Red Right Hand" have dropped in recent years, slightly fewer versions of "The Ship Song" (a highlight here), and yet these feel both new and different while still keeping the haunting feel of the originals. That's difficult to do for any covers album, never mind accomplish at age 14 in a remote collaboration. This is just golden, and I'm glad it exists.

Songs of note: "The Ship Song," "Red Right Hand," "Weeping Song," "Into My Arms"

Ken's Best of 2021 - #8: Chris Brokaw - Puritan

I've been saying that Chris Brokaw is a criminally underrated artist for years now, and if you haven't believed me then you haven't listened to Puritan. His 2021 album shows off pretty much everything he does perfectly. There's some straight up alt-rock, some gorgeous ballads, noise rock, and an indie rock epic. While a lot of Brokaw's solo albums are either (mostly) acoustic or quite experimental, Puritan is a rock band album. He even brings in his Come bandmate Thalia Zedek in to sing lead on a pair of songs. This is one of the more diverse rock albums of the year, all while sounding like a cohesive collection of songs. It's the kind of album where a quiet ballad like the Zedek sung "The Bragging Rights" can lead into the quick and kinda punky "I Can't Sleep" and then into the monster indie rock epic of "The Heart of Human Trafficking" and it all just makes perfect sense.

Songs of note: "Puritan," "I Can't Sleep," and "The Heart of Human Trafficking" 

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #8: El Michels Affair - Yeti Season

You know an album is good when it sets off a new musical obsession. Yeti Season did exactly that.

Leon Michels, lead songwriter and producer of El Michels Affair, had prior stints with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and members of Wu-Tang, and now produces and backs other acts along with new material. This third album of originals feels like it should soundtrack a movie in the 1970s that hasn't aged as well as you remember, and is just as reliant on its specific and intentional production choices as it is on the actual quality of the songs.

I don't know how I found them, but El Michels Affair led me to Altun Gun, to TEKE::TEKE, to a whole world of retro/psych music I didn't know existed. Yeti Season is the best of the bunch, but I appreciate this for turning me onto such great music just as much as I appreciate it for the musical revelation it is.

Ken's Best of 2021 - #9: Melissa Carper - Daddy's Country Gold

While most artists on my top 10 of 2021 are ones we have covered previously, Melissa Carper came out of seemingly nowhere for me. Her album Daddy's Country Music sounds (and the cover kinda looks like) one of those cassettes you would have seen in truck stops and convenience stores with a "Nice Price" sticker. This album is filled with perfect classic country songs. If anything, it sounds like it could have been a legacy artist's greatest hits album since songs sound like they could be from different decades. Plus, Carper injects more than a little jazz into her classic country sound. Besides just killer classic country songs, Carper also has a little subtle sense of humor that pops up here and there. This is obvious with a song title like "Would You Like to Get Some Goats?" (although the song itself is quite heartfelt), but also pops up in "Makin' Memories" when she tries to remember someone's name. Daddy's Country Gold is the kind of album for people that complain that they just don't make music like that anymore.

Songs of note: "Makin' Memories," "I Almost Forgot About You," "Back When," and "Many Moons Ago"

Jeff's Best of 2021 - #9: th1rt3en - A Magnificent Day for an Exorcism

On one hand, th1rt3en is not your typical rap act, and not just because of the instrumentation and rock trappings. There's a different feel to this, a different... something that kept drawing me back again and again.

On the other, this is a relevatory rap album in many regards. Yeah, it's not Run DMC and Aerosmith, it's not Jay-Z and Linkin Park, although it arguably borrows at least partially from those collaborations. But this is more Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine without all the baggage while holding onto all the anger. No matter your political positioning, "Cult 45" hits hard, "Scarecrow" acts as a slice of horrorcore in the middle of the record, and the back portion of the record has "Kill 'Em All Again," an anthemic-style track with messages for days.

I was shocked at how much I liked this record when I first heard it, and I was also surprised at how much I still love it nearly a year after its release. Easily the rap album of the year for me, no contest.

Songs of Note: "Triskaidekaphobia," "Scarecrow," "Kill 'Em All Again."

Ken's Best of 2021 - #10: Tristen - Aquatic Flowers

At this point, it's pretty much a guarantee that any time Tristen releases an album it's going to end up on my top 10 for that year. Aquatic Flowers landing at #10 just proves how great of a year this was for new music! Tristen has moved more towards the indie pop side of things from the more alt-pop-country of 2014's Charlatans at the Garden Gate (although looking back that album was quite pop, too). Aquatic Flowers is eleven songs of perfect indie pop. "Complex" is one of the best songs of the year, and I wish I wasn't already married because "Wrong with You" would be a perfect song to play at my wedding. How great is this album? It even has a fantastic song about being a new parent ("Julian"), which is a subject that trips up even the best songwriters into mediocrity. I assume most of our readers are already huge Tristen fans, but if you aren't you need to check this one out ASAP.

Songs of note: "Complex," "Wrong with You," "Die 4 Love," and "Cool Blue"