Category: BestOf

10. Pool kids – Pool Kids

 

9. Yumi Zouma – Present Tense

 

8. Just Mustard – Heart Under

 

7. Soccer Mommy – Sometimes, Forever

 

6. Russian Circles – Gnosis

 

5. Spoon – Lucifer On The Sofa

 

4. Porridge Radio – Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky

 

3. Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There

 

2. The Beths – Expert In A Dying Field

 

1. Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

 

 

10. Turnstile – GLOW ON 
The hardcore punk band from Baltimore have been on my radar for awhile but never surprised me. Glow On however brings a dreamier undertone and some new ideas to hardcore. Their musical experimentation adds a new angle to their incredibly catchy songs. Although they aren’t doing anything entirely new, they are breaking conventions and establishing a promising future. This ambitious and innovative record is just the beginning.

9. Backxwash- I Lie Here Buried With My Rings And My Dresses
This album is what happens when you open a door full anguish and dread. Ashanti combines experimental hip hop, industrial and heavy metal to give shape to her terror. It is harrowing and hellish but the songs are justified in their pain and anger. Not for the faint of heart but a little bit of pain is certainly a good thing to endure every so often.

8. Illuminati Hotties – Let Me Do One More 
If you were to combine the new sounds of The Coathangers and That Dog, you’d get the raucous fun this album has. The songs are direct with high octane riffs that are full of surprises. The album is so versatile in its styles and had unexpected depth for a catchy fun listening experience.

7. Blu – The Color Blu(e)
A clever and and incredibly creative album. Every song, title and sample is related to the color Blu(e). Intricate wordplay and solid sampling makes the thematic gimmick intriguing and impressive.

6. Weather Station – Ignorance 
Although it came out very early in 2021, I revisited
Tamara Lindeman’s heart-felt album many times throughout the year. Her introverted style is ornamented with orchestral sections to expand her musical style. Her songs contrast joy and sadness but always anchored by her beautiful lyrics.

5. Viagra Boys – Welfare Jazz 
Their 2nd release is full of entertaining post-punk hits. Some are punchy and aggressive while others are quite funny. The story telling is powerful with its boisterous vocals which are punctuated and embellished with saxophone. Adrenaline fueled fun with lots of mischief.

4. Injury Reserve – By the Time I get to Phoenix 
An experimental and emotional release that straddles hip-hop, industrial and psychedelia. Nervousness and anxiety is layered throughout this downward spiral. The lyrical despair is no doubt related to Jordon Grogg’s untimely passing last year. An abstract and surreal tribute. The glitchy and unpredictable directions are held up by its impeccable production. It is abstract, angry and emotionally resonant.

3. Porter Robinson – Nurture
An emotionally complex album filled with glitchy electronic sounds and interlocking melodies. On the surface it sounds so artificial with its intricate synth programming and processed vocals. These manufactured compositions are juxtaposed with an underlying passion and human sensibility. It may seem chaotic but the kaleidoscopic rhythms make this such a fun and reassuring listen. Nuture is an album full of energy and hope where you can safely escape into.

2. Middle Kids. – Today We’re The Greatest
This Australian trio came with a sophomore album full of indie anthems and clever hooks. Although not a complete package, it is full of sing along dynamic pop songs. The album is joyful and full of emotionally charged songs with swelling melodies that straddle between indie bangers and wonderful sentimental pop.

1. Low – HEY WHAT 
HEY WHAT is progression from Double Negative’s disintegrated melodic themes and energy. The sonic expressions unfolds emotional responses of both despair and passion. Each track rumbles and dissolves into each other and the arrhythmic flourishes sustains the uneasiness throughout the record. The impending doom struggles to break through to simply die away leaving the listener trapped. “Days Like These” captured a degrading soundscape of anxiety and impending doom that became my anthem for 2021.

Best Debut Album. Samia – The Baby
Twenty three year old Samia Finnerty’s debut album deals with the bad feelings of becoming an adult with soft and subtle lyrics.

10. Dan Deacon- Mystic Familiar
A cohesive album of lush bubbly digital compositions. A bit experimental, but always joyful and fun. A kaleidoscope of trippy sounds to make the day a bit brighter.

9. Sylvan Esso – Free Love 
Short & sweet but full of bouncy pop music. Folksy minimal melodies paired with synths and quirky sounds. It feels experimental but you’ll be dancing and head nodding to their fun spectral sound collages.

8. Code Orange – Underneath 
Pittsburgh’s hardcore punk quintet brings a maelstrom album full of technical and genre bending songs. Underneath explores how we can possibly exist in a digital landscape. Songs explode, skip, shift and splinter away. Futuristic and punishing. A powerful and creative result from this chaotic musical blender.

7. Land Of Talk – Indistinct Conversations 
Lizzie Powell’s bruised vocals on this a home-recorded album fits the emotional and intimate narratives. The album leaves you feeling vulnerable yet hopeful. A satisfying blend of guitar and lyrical musings but with Land of Talk’s distinctive ambiguity.

6. Adrianne Lenker – Songs 
Somber storytelling over hypnotic and rich melodies. Nostalgic imagery of love & loss over patient melody builds. Despite being quiet and shy, the album is a slow burn into examining complex emotions. An extraordinary rich album.

5. HAIM – Women in Music Pt III 
A tuneful and jammy soundtrack pulling from many styles & genres. This is easily HAIM’s boldest and polished album yet. It tackles several themes about self discovery and how to cope with loss and grief. The sisters crafted a wonderful album capturing what it’s like being young and sensitive in our current world. The album is full of soothing and vulnerable pop songs that are overflowing with infectious hooks and harmonies. This album is like a great summer book for the beach, but one you’ll want to read again and again.

4. Nation of Language – Presence 
This Brooklyn trio brings their take on synth pop on their stellar debut. The crisp production and high craft is found in every sound and beat. Dense synths adequately compliment Ian Devaney’s deep rich and melancholy voice. Although this genre is nothing new, NOL weaves the nostalgia tropes of interlocking synths and electronic drums with purpose and emotion. They are bringing some needed personality into synth-pop, creating an exciting new chapter.

3. Idles – Ultra Mono 
I loved every single dropped before this album finally came out. From the first song Ultra Mono grabs you by the face, sits your ass down and forces you to pay attention to its abrasive and incisive commands. This adrenaline fueled album came out at the perfect time of such ambiguously lost year. It is confidant, angry and full of rage towards this modern reality we live in now. By the end of it you’ll be armed to combat anything that’s thrown at you. Whether to drop kick your anger into the other room or to scream and dance it away.

2. Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher 
This album will take you through all the emotions. It’s a subtle record but over time you become overwhelmed with all the sentiments hidden in every song. The production is so tight with its lush and hypnotic melodies punctuated by brilliant lyricism. Punisher plays like a movie soundtrack criss crossing between memories of a life figuring things out the hard way. Every time I play this album I am still moved and captivated with all the beauty and sadness Phoebe examines in every song.

1. clipping. – Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Clipping’s 2019 horror-core album There Existed an Addiction to Blood ends with nothing but the sound of a piano slowly burning to death. This is a peculiar end for such anxious ridden album. However, it is the ending you would expect from a horror film where the uneasiness of knowing whether the killer is finished or not. The band returns with Visions of Bodies Being Burned which could be a logical sequel to this nightmare. However, it’s not merely an album of extra tracks but rather an evolution of these established themes and builds upon them into unexpected directions. It’s dynamic & devastating and a fitting album for the top spot on 2020.