2021 Top 50 Favorite Music Releases

This might have been the most difficult Top Albums List to assemble since I started in 2003. I thought this year was one of the most prolific for great albums by artists working today in a long time. 2009 comes to mind as another amazing year with albums like Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, Veckatimest, Fever Ray, It’s Blitz!, Actor, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, xx, Manners, Bitte Orca, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Hospice, Album (Girls). But that was a phenomenal year for indie — this was a phenomenal year for virtually all genres. This year had incredible indie, hip-hop, metal, pop, experimental, ambient, folk, and more. There are dozens of albums that anyone could name as there #1 pick for the year and I’d think, “Yeah, I can see that. Makes sense.”

What happened?: Before I begin, I usually do some sort of retrospective for the year. I only have a couple things I want to add. First: why I think there were so many great albums this year. This might have been forced by difficult times. Last year saw a record number of albums that were *delayed* because of the pandemic. This forced them into the Q1/Q2 2021 calendar year. Furthermore, few bands were touring in 2020, so that forced them to sit at home or in the studio and write/record music. That created this supernova of great creativity released in the mid/latter half of 2021.

Second, I also thought it interesting how many collaborations there were for albums released in 2021. I may even do a separate list at some point just rating all the best collaborations there were, because there were so many. I have a handful this list itself. Once again, I think this was a result of the pandemic. So many artists had the simultaneous *availability* to collaborate, not having conflicting schedules due to touring. Many artists at home also likely collaborated virtually, trying to stay connected through an exceedingly challenging calendar year. And as we now, switching the calendar from 2020 to 2021 didn’t magically end the madness. There was still much struggle, isolation, tour cancellations, etc.

At the end of the day… it’s not worth it. I’d have traded all those we lost for this “great year of music” in a heartbeat. But this is the reality in which we live, and you look to make the best of it and celebrate whatever good we do have. This list is a celebration of some of the many great things that came from the pandemic: a fountain of simultaneous creativity from some of the most talented musicians working today, inspired by the challenging times and conditions in which they lived.

How I order these albums: There’s no metric that makes sense for these things. That’s what I’ve learned along the way. I hesitate to ever rate an album in any kind of numeric way. It’s such a difficult, unwieldy judgment to me. But when you put things into a numbered list, you numerate them against one another. Thus, I judge things based on a few factors: A) How much did I actually listen to the album and want to come back to it; B) How much of an impact did it make on me while listening to it; and C) How creatively interesting was it and/or how much of an impact do I think it will have in the future? Most albums do at least one of these really well, some do a couple well, and a few (mostly the top 10) do all three. This year, my #2 was most heavily weighted towards how much I actually listened to the album according to my metrics (Criteria A), but my #1 hit all three out of the park.

Bonus for this year: I made a video! I have never done this before for any list, or any musical topic to be precise. It took me such an incredible long time to produce. I have doubts as to whether or not I’ll be able to produce another next year – especially because I have my first child on the way. That’s also super exciting. I wonder if they’ll ever read their dad’s crazy rantings about musical times. I wonder what their taste in music will be like. The video follows this paragraph, followed by a break and the rest of the list in text format for those that want the music links and/or find my voice grating.

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2020 Top 50 Favorite Music Releases

Another year, another list. Yep. Nothing special about 2020. Hahaha. I mean, other than the global pandemic, racial injustice, riots, and mass isolation leading to what is probably going to end up being a worldwide mental health crisis on top of everything else. Life’s been crazy. It’s hard to believe I got married early on in 2020 only weeks before the pandemic arrived in America. Marriage, cats, and work have been my top priorities, in that order. But I always need to find time to make this list, even if it’s two months late.

I usually do some deep reflections on alternative music evolutions in the year. I think what I said in 2019 still remains to be true. But in 2020–especially the middle and latter portions–anxiety has been dialed up to 11. A lot of albums featured dissonance and angst in the face of the crisis. But others sought to escape from it through trying to go in the exact opposite direction. Escape through music and other media has been therapeutic for many, and it’s good to see artists keep putting out material. It had to be a strange, awkward time to drop new music. Many even felt that they didn’t want to overshadow the voices of the black community that needed to be heard. But it was Phoebe Bridgers who made a great comment on that topic. I’ll have to paraphrase because I can’t find the exact quote, but essentially she didn’t want to “wait until things cool down” because that suggests waiting for a time when the topic of police brutality can go back to being ignored by the majority of the population. We can’t. So if we want to establish that conversation as normal — not just an election year conversation — we can’t tiptoe around it. It has to be an everyday thing as Phoebe dropping her album. It took courage to come out with such a deeply personal and introspective album in the midst of all of everything going on. That much is true for many of the artists on this list, such as (spoilers) Charli XCX and Phil Elverum. I’m glad they kept their creative output going in the middle of it all. It helped a return to normalcy for us all, and helped us all feel less alone in these trying times. 

Without further ado, here’s the list below.

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2019 Top 50 Favorite Music Releases

I’m way late getting this list out, but if we’re going by last year, then I’m right on time because I guess this is my new normal. I’d like to also do a Best of the 2010s List, but that will be even later in the year.

Personal life win: I’m getting married this year! Now I can listen to love songs without feeling bitter. But seriously, I’ve been doing these lists since I got out of high school in 2003 back on my LiveJournal. It’s wild how far it’s all come. I’d like to do a deeper reflection on the decade of music, but once again, that will be saved for that list. Until then, I’ll just say that 2019 was fantastic for both music and me.

I typically discuss new trends and other observations here. I mean, this is a format that evolves slowly as I only do them once a year. I guess it’s a good idea to have continuity. Firstly, from a personal observation. I’m turning 35 in 2020, and that means I’m starting to feel… older. I wouldn’t say old — just older. But the age gap between me and some of the artists I listen to has become increasingly apparent to me. And I’m pleased to say that it doesn’t really impact my ability to enjoy or respect it. Artists like Clairo and beabadoobee (still waiting on her full LP!) have wowed me this year. And while not every latest trend has appealed to me (looking at you, mumble rap) I’m happy to try to keep up with as much new and progressive music that’s being put out there by younger people. I hope this never changes, because it keeps me feeling young and open minded myself.

What I notice most about new music coming out today… is that it’s all over the fucking place. I mean that in a good way, and I honestly don’t think it will ever change. I had pondered this idea almost a decade ago: as a culture, we’re building this insane electronic library of media that’s accessible globally. Not just music, but movies, TV, video games, fiction, non-fiction, you name it. The tools of music creation have already become more widely accessible, but now information media itself has become ever-present. Obviously it has been for some time – I mean, the Internet wasn’t invented yesterday. But people who are entering maturity and creating art today are people who essentially grew up on the Internet from a young age (whereas my generation started up with that a bit later). Now, not every kid is on Wikipedia reading about musique concrète and the history of experimental music and shit, but I think plenty of them are. And that’s already having an impact on the music that’s out there.

I’ve noticed the new generation being more accepting, open-minded, and diverse in their interests. I’m thinking about Denzel Curry and how influenced by death metal and punk he is, despite his primarily Miami hip-hop pedigree. I think it’s awesome how much crossover appeal music is having these days, and I think that’s also going to lead to a lot of new creative energy. I think we will see more and more genre blending artists in the decade to come. But we will see a lot of everything to come.

Popular trends will come and go as always – but I think from now until we burn the planet down, there will be a giant layer of independently produced music that will satisfy just about every urge. There will always be some shoegaze revival bands, there will always be some artists progressing IDM even further, there will always be heartfelt singer songwriters, there will always be Japanese bands making Western punk music and American bands making J-pop inspired music until we’re done with all these silly geographic labels. Maybe eventually all labels will go away, and we’ll all just be listening to the same random sonic frequencies designed by some monolithic music algorithm to appeal to all human tastes. Maybe humans will overpopulate and play all their music all so loud that it creates a gigantic, thunderous wall of noise that deafens everyone until we’re left with the greatest song of all – silence. Or maybe kids will just get high and cover Pink Floyd, fuck if I know. Here’s my favorite albums of 2019, see you next year.

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2018 Top 50 Favorite Music Releases

2018 Favorite Albums List

2018 was such a diverse year of great music. So many genres are experiencing creativity and progression. It’s resulted in what I think will become some of the best albums of the decade upon reflection. There’s so much music out there that I’m sure I could make a Top 50 out of all of the “#1s” out there from other people and publications’ lists that are completely missing from this list. The year was stolen by no particular artist or genre. It was won by everyone, artists and listeners alike. I’ve ranted in past years about the developments of listening technologies, music sharing, random developments in particular sub-genres, etc. But this year, I felt like everyone was free to explore and create, confident in what our generation has to offer from a technological and artistic perspective. So instead of a multi-paragraph rant that I doubt anyone reads, I’ll jump right into the list and the music.

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2017 Top 50 Favorite Music Releases

2017

Here it is: my fashionably late list of favorite albums for 2017. I kept putting it off because I wanted to do write-ups for at least the top 20… but it’s already 20 days in to January and who am I kidding? So I only did write-ups for the Top 10. Well, technically for the Top 11, but you’ll see what I mean about that.

Warning: a huge wall of text and embedded music players are to follow.

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50 Favorite Music Releases of 2016

2016

Our generation seems to have agreed that 2016 sucked. But for those of us who survived, still navigating through the strange networks of reality and society, great music keeps pouring out. New music does not bury what came before it. It does not stack on top of it. It grows within it, expanding in every direction in a three dimensional axis. New music influenced by old music influenced by music older than it influenced by music newer than it.

Attempting to map musical history has become as complex as etymology. Words like “terrible” and “terrific” can mean something completely different even though they pull from the same root word. Just the same, music can take influences in completely different directions, contrasting interpretations and deepening the original listen.

As hard as I’ve tried to keep up with all new music that comes out, I’m still surprised by what I find. Music that came out 10 or 20 or 30 years ago I never heard of that sounds as if it could have been recorded today frequently comes into my ears. Some of them like Cornelius’s Fantasma from 1997 had been under my radar my entire life, seemingly sitting in a pocket of their own isolated genius. Studio’s Yearbook 1 from 2007 (a cool 10 years ago) had snuck under my nose since then but sounds as if it was a textbook for chillwave which would flourish just two years later. It’s understandable that things would go by unnoticed during pre-Internet eras, but this is the era of Spotify’s music recommendation algorithms, Bandcamp’s ease-of-publishing, Wikipedia’s endless editing, and Google’s data ubiquity. Somehow, despite all of this, it’s just as difficult to stay up-to-date. With enough time, I could just as easily have a List of 500 Favorite Albums of 2016.

Of course, time is the problem. Time is always the problem. The more tools we have to discover, the more overwhelmed we can become. This is both exhilarating and debilitating. But we still need more time. We never have enough time.

This is 2016. Retro has become a redundant word. Remix is part of any standard paint set. Revolutionary is commonplace. We often wonder what the future of music will sound like, and I think we now know: everything.

But I am biased. Anyone who says they like “all” music is either fooling their friends or fooling his or herself. My interests these days lead me to quirky pop hooks, entrancing soundscapes, gorgeous walls of sound, insatiable wit, ingenious creativity, and unbridled emotion. And the albums that tend to nail more than one of these things tend to be closer to the top of my list of favorites–which begins after the break.

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Top 50 Favorite Music Releases of 2015

Sort of dropped the ball this year. I usually do write-ups for at least the top twenty, but I only had time for the top ten. I blame the gym.

This was one of the most quality-rich years of music in recent memory. It was not only a monumental year for hip-hop and a wide range of electronic subgenres, but indie rock felt like it was more prevalent than recently as well. Much of this is thanks to shoegaze/dream pop becoming popular again, as well as post-rock and noise rock.

As I said, I’m short on time, so I’ll keep it concise and continue on to the list:

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Favorite Albums of 2014


Every year I offer a bit of reflection on the last four quarters of music more so for my own personal musings. I have an annual personal journal (yes, I only update it once a year) for much the same reason: experiencing time is weird and full of paradoxes. It seems to go by fast, but so much happens. Little details go missing in the blur. Attempting to assign some descriptors known as words onto the experiences seems almost futile. But here I am.

For music, 2014 was an exceptional year. There were a few headline leaders taking a lot of acclaim as usual, but there is incredible volume of high quality artists making music. This is in thanks both to the democratization of the tools used in making/producing music as well as the continued improvement of digital distribution/streaming. Obviously we’ve been heading in this direction for a while now, but now that it’s being more frequently embraced by both content creators and listeners, the result has been incredible.

If you have the urge to listen to something new of any genre, it’s easier than ever. There are services that will even do the hard work of finding those artists for you. It used to be only a few crazies like me who would take the time to dig up and research new artists, but now, anyone with Pandora or Spotify can dive into something new. And I’m not being elitist about that — I think it’s awesome, and I’m glad people can experience new content so easily. Thanks, information age: you have officially become digital crack cocaine. And the masses are euphoric.

I felt so passionately about so many albums this year that 50 albums was starting to feel like too few. But the limitation helps me be more critical about the quality. I almost did narrative for the entire lot, but once again, it’s only for the top 20. I mean, for that alone, it’s nearly 10 pages of text in Google Documents. I don’t think people care what I have to say that much.

Okay, here we are. The list follows at the break:

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Favorite Albums of 2013

Technically this is my Favorite Albums *10th Year Anniversary Edition (there may be a total of two people who’ve read them since that year, so it’s worth celebrating).

I started writing these in 2003 (originally on LiveJournal). They started as lists and eventually expanded into narrative discussions as well. As I’ve always said: it’s not my attempt at deciding what is better than what, but what I personally enjoyed the most. That’s sort of a cheap cop out, but I don’t consider myself a critic; I’m only a listener who occasionally enjoys sharing what I think and making recommendations.

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