Best music of 2021 (first impressions)

[dougo]

At the end of 2022, I posted about my favorite music of 2020, and laid out a plan to eventually catch up with current music. Well, today is July 2nd, the middle day of the year, so I'm calling time's-up on my 2021 listening and will move on to 2022. I didn't make it through my queue of all the music I wanted to listen to (not even close, really!) but I did manage to listen to 193 releases in six months, which is a definite improvement over my previous listening rate. (More than one a day!)

Like last time, I'm not going to sort my list in total order of preference, I'll just break it up into buckets of Great, Good, Pretty good, and Okay, and sort alphabetically within each.

Great:

Book of Wyrms - Occult New Age
Deerhoof - Actually, You Can
Dope Purple - Grateful End
Dummy - Mandatory Enjoyment
Film School - We Weren't Here
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
GLOK - Pattern Recognition
Jane Weaver - Flock
Julia Kent - The Gyres EP
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - L.W.
Kiwi Jr - Cooler Returns
Low - Hey What
MX-80 - Hougher House
Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime
Mogwai - As the Love Continues
Mono - Pilgrimage of the Soul
Møtrik - MØØN ∞ The Cosmic Electrics of MØTRIK
Mythic Sunship - Wildfire
Nicholas Britell - The Underground Railroad score
Pays P. - Ça v Aller
Shred Flintstone - Unlimited Power
Steven R. Smith - In the Spires
Tape Deck Mountain - True Deceiver
The Black Keys - Delta Kream
Tropical Geometry - Luck Mountain
Various Artists - Stars Rock Kill (Rock Stars)
Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood

Good:

Aesop Rock x Blockhead - Garbology
Amor/Lemur - Amor/Lemur EP
Autogramm - No Rules
Band-Maid - Unseen World
Bardo Pond - "Shadow Puppet"
Ben Chasny - The Intimate Landscape
Bevis Frond - Little Eden
Blanck Mass - In Ferneaux
Bongzilla - Weedsconsin
Braids - "Slayer Moon" / "2020"
Colleen Green - Cool
cOncernn - Dariacore
cOncernn - Dariacore 2: Enter Here, Hell to the Left
Consolidated - We're Already There
Corvair - Corvair
Darsombra - Call The Doctor/Nightgarden EP
Dave Pizarro - Beats Without Rhymes vol. 5
Derby Motoreta's Burrito Kachimba - Hilo Negro
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
Dumb Numbers - "My Mantra/Manic Mechanic"
Dumb Numbers - "Scars" / "Essence//Existence"
Editrix - Tell Me I'm Bad
Elderbrook - Inner Light EP
Endless Boogie - Admonitions
Engine Kid - "Angel Dust"
Engine Kid - Special Olympics EP
Feeble Little Horse - Hayday
GusGus - Mobile Home
Halsey - If I Can't Have Love I Want Power.
Here Lies Man - Ritual Divination
Herzog - Fiction Writer
Iceburn - Asclepius
Julia Kent - Stories From the Sea (Original Soundtrack)
Kathy Snax - Changeling/On a Winter's Day
Kilbey Kennedy - Jupiter 13
King Buffalo - The Burden of Restlessness
Kungens Män - Den nya skivan
La Luz - La Luz
Leah Callahan - Short Stories
Lewsberg - In Your Hands
Maha Sohona - Endless Searcher
Mainliner - Dual Myths
Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr - Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons
Marissa Nadler - The Path of the Clouds
Mute Swan - Only Ever
Noveller - Aphantasia
Noveller - Red Room EP
Paul McCartney - McCartney III Imagined
Postcards - After the Fire, Before the End
Rachika Nayar - Fragments EP
Ritualz - Rare Tracks I + II
Rose City Band - Earth Trip
SIZ - "From the Sea to your Mind"/"The Aquatic Life"
Seefeel - Rupt and Flex (1994 - 96)
Sendelica - And Man Created God
Silver Stairs Of Ketchikan - EDEIDA
Six Organs of Admittance - The Veiled Sea
Sleater-Kinney - Path of Wellness
Smoke Bellow - Open for Business
Sonic Demon - Vendetta
Springtime - Springtime
Stefan Christensen - Loimaa
Stereolab - Electrically Possessed
Steven R. Smith - The Growing Surface EP
Stöner - Stoners Rule
Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner's Mind
The Chills - Scatter Brain
The Green Pajamas - Sunlight Might Weigh Even More
The Martha's Vineyard Ferries - Suns Out Guns Out
The Prefab Messiahs - Music For Concerned Citizens
Thought Partner - Work Cake
Thurston Moore - "Sketch of Light"
Tibetan Miracle Seeds - Inca Missiles
Trialogos - Stroh Zu Gold
Tricot - Jodeki
Tropical Fuck Storm - Deep States
Vapour Theories - Celestial Scuzz
Various Artists - Stars Rock Kill (Rock Stars): Deerhoof Sandwich EP
Various Artists - Undulating Waters 6
Wednesday - Twin Plagues
Weezer - OK Human
Weezer - Van Weezer

Pretty good:

Aaron and the Lord - Aaron and the Lord
Abul Mogard - In Immobile Air
Andre Antunes - Sound of Victory
Andy Bell - Another View
Arcade Fire & Owen Pallett - Her (original score)
Becca Mancari - Juniata EP
Benoît Pioulard - Bloodless
Black Fortress of Opium - Slow Burn EP
Black Midi - Cavalcade
Blvck Hippie - If You Feel Alone At Parties
Chuck Johnson - The Cinder Grove
Drew Gardner - s/t
Dutch Tulips - Double Visions
Elder & Kadivar - Eldovar: A Story of Darkness & Light
Elkhorn - Southern Star
Garbage - No Gods No Masters
Gregory King - Music for Biodomes
Jane Remover - Frailty
John Massoni - Sex Under LSD EP
Julie Doiron - I Thought of You
King Buffalo - Acheron
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Butterfly 3000
Kutiman - Surface Currents
Lauri des Marais - Cosmic Alien Dancers
Lee Ranaldo - In Virus Times EP
Lee Ranaldo, Jim Jarmusch, Marc Urselli, Balazs Pandi - Churning of the Ocean
Lou Barlow - Reason to Live
Lowrider - Sesizim
Lynx 196.9 x Cut Beetlez - Die Eyes Open
Matt Sweeney and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Superwolves
Melvins - Five Legged Dog
Melvins - Working with God
Middle Kids - Today We're the Greatest
Miminokoto - Mayoiga
Moby - Reprise
Monster Magnet - A Better Utopia
Mr. Airplane Man - Winter Psalm EP
Neil Young Crazy Horse - Barn
NightShift - Zöe
Noveller - Wrapped in Plastic EP
Pet Shop Boys - My Beautiful Laundrette EP
Piroshka - Love Drips and Gathers
Rachika Nayar - Our Hands Against the Dusk
Roy Montgomery - Rhymes of Chance
Ryley Walker and Kikigaku Moyo - Deep Fried Grandeur
Sault - Nine
Snail Mail - Valentine
Sonic Boom - Almost Nothing Is Nearly Enough
Stefan Christensen - Cheap Things
Sunburned Hand of the Man - Pick a Day to Die
Sunn O))) - Metta, Benevolence
Susanna Hoffs - Bright Lights
Tadpoles - Nine Rays of Sunshine
Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade
The Catenary Wires - Birling Gap
The Chemistry Set - Paint Me A Dream EP
The KVB - Unity
The Notwist - Vertigo Days
The Paper Sea - Shadow Falls
The Sellwoods - Demented Planet EP
Thingy - Two Covers and a Sequel EP
Thurston Moore - An Electric Noise Guitar Tribute to Peter Rehberg
Various Artists - Cloud Compilation (Priapus)
Writhing Squares - Chart for the Solution

Okay:

27 - A Billion Searchlights
ABBA - Voyage
Billy F. Gibbons - Hardware
Chvrches - Screen Violence
Damon & Naomi with Kurihara - A Sky Record
Dinosaur Jr - Sweep it into Space
Eleventh Dream Day - Since Grazed
Eric Arn - Higher Order
Guided By Voices - Earth Man Blues
Iceage - Seek Shelter
Kid Millions and Jan St. Werner - Imperium Droop
Konstrukt feat. Thurston Moore - Turkish Belly
Lana del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club
Liz Phair - Soberish
Nancy Wilson - You and Me
Olivia Rodrigo - Sour
Rosali - No Medium
Sincere Engineer - Bless My Psyche
The Reds, Pinks, and Purples - Uncommon Weather
Yes - The Quest

Over this past week, I made a point of spending nearly all day every day listening to music, which has been pretty fun; I've also used it as an opportunity to make a big dent in my giant reading backlog (mostly Feedly feeds and Substack newsletters). So I'm going to try to get into the habit of spending more time listening to music and reading, and maybe the 2022 list will be longer. We'll see!

For the record, here's what was left on my queue to listen to. There were several other lists that I was also working from, but this is all the stuff I ran across in other places and specifically kept a note of. Maybe someday I'll get a chance to come back and listen to these... someday....

Bat Fangs - Queen of My World
Bitchin' Bajas - Switched on Ra
Blue Ocean - Blue Ocean
Boobs of Doom - The Transmission
Chris Brokaw - Puritan
Crumb - Ice Melt
Cut Beetlez - Gold Pyramids on Black Sand
Danny Elfman - Big Mess
Deathchant - Waste
DickLord - Pre Menstrual Attitude
Dos Santos - City of Mirrors
Electric Moon - Live at Kozfest 2019
Foam Giant - Acetate Parade
Gnod - La Mort du Sens
Harry Pussy - Superstar
Jose Gonzalez - Local Valley
Lana del Rey - Blue Banisters
Los Masticantes - Abstracción Sensorial Galáctica Modo B
Lycopolis - The Procession
Lycopolis - Viper Land
Matt LaJoie - Red Resonant Earth
Mess Esque - s/t
Mod Con - Modern Condition
Naked Raygun - Over the Overlords
Nik Turner - I Do What I Like
Ningen Isu - Kuraku
No Buses - s/t
Pelt - Reticence/Resistance
Poison Ruïn - s/t
Porto Geese - Duck
Seven Rivers of Fire - Hail Star of the Sea!
Slift - Levitation Sessions
Squid - Bright Green Field
Stefan Christensen - Circular Ruins
Sunblinders - Live at Arlene's Grocery
Sunburned Hand of the Man - Exile on Broadway
Sunburned Hand of the Man - The Air Itself
Sunburned Hand of the Man - Vulgarisms
Tashi Dorji - The Power of Water
The Backlash - Passing By
The Home Current feat. Peter Wix - Unfortunes
Turnstile - Glow On
Various Artists - Electric Jesus (Music From and Inspired By the Motion Picture)