Top 30 Songs of 2021

[Shrykespeare]

#19

Leestu (Wet Leg) - I've heard this one before. It has its charms, but I love how the naughty lyrics clash with the puritan attire.

Tranny (C Wolfe & Converge) - Chelsea's got a great voice, but that was all I liked about the song.

Six (Yard Act) - You'll have to let me know how the album is, Six. Strangely, the beat reminded me of "I'm An Adult Now" from 1986. Yeah, my brain goes to strange places when I hear songs for the first time. That scream at the 2:19 mark was hysterical!

Surfer (Dry Cleaning) - Sonic Youth is a very apropos comparison. And do you mean Sue Tompkins of Life Without Buildings? I also got a little Siouxsie Sue in Florence's intonations. The guitars were killer.

Ron B (Ladyhawke) - I love that this woman took her name from one of my favorite 80s movies (didn't we all fall in love with Michelle Pfeiffer after seeing that?). As for the song, I was worried after the overly poppy start that I wouldn't like it, but the needle eventually worked it's way out of the red zone.

JohnErle (Laurel Premo) - By an interested coincidence, I have a singer coming up with the same initials as Laurel. Question - does she only do instrumentals? Anyway, this was really cool,

[JohnErle]

#19


JohnErle (Laurel Premo) - Question - does she only do instrumentals?

She sings occasionally, but you'll wish she hadn't. The album is mostly instrumental, and that's when it's at its best.

As I mentioned to Shryke already, I won't be commenting much this year, but if I hear something I really like you'll hear about it.

[Leestu]

#20

Shryke (UMO): That is a nice chord progression. I like UMO, and this is a cool example of their usual sound (although they have done an experimental psychedelic jazz instrumental album which is great - II is their best album though and a good one to start off with). They are an awesome live band. I didn't know who they were when I saw them at a festival but I watched the whole set and got so caught up in it. Been following them ever since.

Tranny (Tyler The Creator): He is always interesting to listen to but he is an album artist for me, like with this song: It's good but doesn't stand out on its own. Likeable as part of the album though.

Six (Sufjan Stevens and whoever): nice, but a boring nice...I just drift away from it, instead of drifting along with it...I found the album a bit of a slog to get through unfortunately

Surfer (Spread Joy): Huh! a 10 song album in under 14 minutes...how punk! Fun retro punky post-punk, but yeah I could tell I liked it because I was disappointed it ended so soon.

Ron (Blanke): a bit too dancey for my tastes

John: great soulful vocals, overall a bit too smooth for my tastes but I did like the vocals

[transformers2]

Everyone can breathe easy now, I'm finally making my commentary debut.

#20
Shryke: Pretty fuckin great. The subtle changes in the chord progressions paired with the subdued yet catchy vocal harmonies made this an oddball delight.

Leestu: This is a debut single?!?! What a start. Great mix of raw punk energy/instrumentation and pure melancholy.

Six: Only Sufjan Stevens could make a song told from the perspective of Buffalo Bills so boring.

Surfer: Sounds like Silent Alarm-era Bloc Party on helium, codeine and cocaine simultaneously. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

Ron: While it was repetitive and the instrumental leaned a little too hard into dubstep-adjacent shit at times, the vocals were pretty, and the synths were really hypnotic.

John: Excellent stuff. The emotion in his voice is overwhelming and the music is beautiful.

[Shrykespeare]

SONG #18


Shrykespeare

Grouplove, Deadline

Everybody's got a place they like to go
I'll never, never, never make it on my own
I get the feeling that you wanna lose control
And you know that I'll go there with you
Everybody's got a place they like to hide
I think I lost my teeth down the street, come marry me
I'm gonna smash my face in the cake and celebrate

Coincidentally, my #18 of 2020 was “Deleter”, my first introduction to Grouplove. They kicked off 2021 with this teaser from their latest album This is This, which they dropped without telling anyone. “Deadline” explodes with a rubbery, ecstatic energy punctuated by swirly, distorted guitar riffs. Hannah Hooper and Chris Zucconi remain the cutest couple in music today, feeding off each other’s energy and giving us yet another danceable groove that’ll get your blood pumping.





Leestu

Chad Vangaalen, Spider Milk

Chad Vangaalen is a Canadian DIY musician who has been making music since the early 2000s and recorded both Women albums. This is his eighth studio album, but I have only recently discovered him. The album this song comes from is a loving exploration of the history of psychedelic music, with Chad putting his own modern neo-psychedelic spin on different types from Grateful Dead type ‘70s melodious psychedelic rock, to Donovan like ‘60s psychedelic folk, to Animal Collective like ‘00s psychedelic pop, to ‘80s psychedelic synth. Add a dash of lo-fi indie and you have one of my favourite albums of the year. Obviously once you hear it, but here is his homage to classic British ‘60s psychedelia, taking The Beatles into a strange new place I hope they would have liked.





Tranny

Rivers of Nihil, Wait

How far down the prog weirdo rabbit hole can Pennsylvania metal outfit Rivers of Nihil go? If "Wait" is any indication, the answer is damn near close to the bottom.





Six

Floating Points (with Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra), Movement 7

UK electronic act Floating Points surprised many with a record this year that is arguably more a classical work than anything else. Teaming up with saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, Promises is a single piece of music, all based around 7 notes repeated over and over, with other instruments joining in and ascending into something powerful. It’s beautiful and hypnotic, something to drift away to late at night as you bathe in serene darkness. The 7th movement is to me the strongest, demonstrating the power of Sanders’ sax as it helps build to a powerful climax.





Surfer

Sour Widows, Crossing Over

It was a slight surprise when Sour Widows returned last year, with a departure from the alt-pop sound of their debut to something much more tender and expansive than previously heard. Deriving their strength from meditation and tenderness, Crossing Over begins with a whisper, as a pair of sparse guitars and drums provide a guiding light through the loneliness and isolation of the song's eight minutes until we reach a full cathartic release by its conclusion. The atmosphere created in this sound is touching and enveloping, and just what many of us needed in such times.





RON B

Foals, Wake Me Up





JOHNERLE

Jennifer O’Connor, Born at the Disco

[numbersix]

#18

Shryke: There was just enough off-ness to make it more interesting than the usual indie-pop

Leetsu: Definite Beatles vibe here, which didn't do much until it went a little more psychadelic and interesting. Very different from the whistling indie folk I'm used to from him.

Tranny: Was quite pleasant, but with a name like that I was waiting for the ROOOOOAHHHHHH, which of course came

Surf: Quite nice. Reminded me a lot of UFOF era Big Thief, which I love.

Ron: Well, at least Foals aren't trying to be stadium rock gods on this song, as that's when I stopped liking them. Can't say the upbeat funk works here, but it's passable. Still a million miles away from the greatness of their first two records, though.

John: Quite pleasant, though not sure if it'll stick with me.

[transformers2]

#19
Shryke: Morrissey's solo stuff doesn't typically do much for me and this stuck to that pattern.

Leestu: Instrumentation was pretty catchy. The whispery vocals and seemingly endlessly looping hook didn't work for me at all though.

Six: A solid, groovy song with a really sick guitar solo, but my primary thought is that the vocalist sounds like if Brandon Flowers from The Killers were British and got into making much more abrasive, garagey music.

surfer: Man, it feels like Groundhog Day when I'm listening to a lot of your picks. The noisy, dissonant guitars and chaotic drumming draw me in then the overwhelmingly monotone vocals come in and the momentum immediately screeches to a halt.

Ron: Blah. Sounds like the soundtrack to an early 2010's Apple commercial.

John: Damn, this was immense. Great mix of blues and country guitarwork with a little bit of an ambient undercurrent. Will definitely be revisiting.

[Leestu]

#19

Shryke (Morrisey): I liked this one better, more interesting musically and lyrics are fine.

Tranny (Converge and Chelsea Wolfe): this is really good...I have a different song from this album in my top 100, where I think they work even better together, more as one entity than a collab.

Six (Yard Act): this is great...there is some good lines in there, both lyrically and musically...good to hear the spirit and influence of The Fall as well as VU...I'll be listening to this album for sure when it comes out

Surfer (Drycleaning): great song, love the guitarwork...I'm guessing from watching this video it would sound even better live

Ron (Ladyhawke): some good musical flourishes to keep my interest but ultimately a bit too poppy for me to like too much, more okay when it's on type of like

John(Laurel Premo): oh yes very nice...I got a bit of a desert blues vibe for a while that I liked a lot

[Shrykespeare]

#18

Leestu (Chad Vangaalen) - Yeah, the 60s comparison is apropos. Sounds like something any number of Woodstock bands might have sang.

Tranny (Rivers of Nihil) - Interesting. I thought this was one of your screamin' demon groups. If that's true, this was a welcome surprise.

Six (Floating Points et al.) - This was nice, but it felt background music for something Carl Sagan narrated.

Surfer (Sour Widows) - Though I tend to gravitate to much more upbeat songs, this was really nice. Got a kind of Nicks/McVie vibe with their harmonies that I like.

Ron B (Foals) - I've heard a few Foals songs over the past two years, but nothing's really blown my skirt up. This didn't either, but it was a'ight.

JohnErle (Jen O'Con) - Pleasant but unmemorable.

[Shrykespeare]

SONG #17


Shrykespeare

Roosevelt, Feels Right

We're late for the show
Yeah, now the race is almost run
'Cause before you know
We'll set into the morning sun
Let's do it again
We can run into the dusk of dawn
Time to pretend
It ain't that hard to carry on

Synthpop singer Roosevelt (aka Marius Lauber) has been around since 2013, and he seems to spread his wings more with each passing year. His 2021 album Polydans was pretty good, but it’s this track that really stuck out to me. It’s about, according to Lauber, “the feeling of stoic empowerment” that began with a funk-hook that felt “euphoric and playful”. Couldn’t have said it better myself.





Leestu

Tropical Fuck Storm, The Donkey

TFS released their third album, Deep States, and it is again great. That is three from three now. There were some great singles from the album, and this is not one of my most played songs of the year (probably the only one in my top 20 that isn’t) but this album track really impressed me. It’s a story of Noah’s Arc from the viewpoint of an old donkey left behind. (The whole album lyrically is saying a lot of interesting things about the state of society right now!) The way they make their noisy art punk blues sound like a mournful braying donkey and evoke so much pity just blows my mind every time.





Tranny

BROCKHAMPTON feat. Danny Brown, Buzzcut

"Buzzcut" is a 3-minute ride through a nightmare where disorientation, fear and anger are swirling around with the hopes of swallowing you whole until it makes a sharp turn into an ethereal, Heaven-like place that begs the question: was this even a nightmare at all? Enjoy the ride folks.





Six

Tyler The Creator, Runitup

I admittedly don’t know a huge amount of Tyler The Creator, despite his massive critical and commercial success over the years, not to mention plenty of controversy. And while lyrically this is just another braggadocious rap song, there’s something about the music and the catchy chanting that makes it addictive.





Surfer

Sweeping Promises, Pain Without A Touch

Following their stunning debut a couple of years back with "Hunger For A Way Out" (my no.1 record of 2020), Sweeping Promises gave us a glimpse of the world they are occupying at the end of last year with Pain Without A Touch. Using the continued quarantine and pandemic as a platform for this sonic assault, the song is almost an echo of their debut, fervently energetic and wildly catchy, with Mondal wailing away atop a twitchy new wave groove and chorus-laden guitar so brittle it could break apart into little bits of neon. If the band were trying to send my anticipation into the stratosphere for the new record, mission accomplished.





RON B

Lime Cordiale & Idris Elba aka Cordi Elba, What's Not to Like





JOHNERLE

Dion, My Stomping Ground

I had no idea Dion from Dion & the Belmonts was still alive, let alone that he was still making music. This album features collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, Mark Knopfler, and (ahem!) Eric Clapton, among others.

[Leestu]

#18

Shryke (Grouplove): this is a cool song. Grouplove know how to get a good balance between catchy upbeat positive pop and quirky weirdness. Although it doesn't quite reach the level of their first two excellent albums where they had that perfect.

Tranny (Rivers of Nihil): this just passed me as I waited for something interesting to happen, but in an acceptable way

Six (Floating Points): interesting to be able to pick out a single piece from this album. It was a nice, relaxing, lay down on the couch listen but speaking for myself there is an emotional detachment to my appreciation. Pharoah Sanders is great though, he always gets my attention and admiration, and like throughout the album, he is the highlight of this movement.

Surfer (Sour Widows): at first this was nice, even if it's alt-country twanged slow-core is not quite to my taste, and then the second half kicked in and grabbed my attention, and that was to my taste. Glad I heard it, and I would listen to it again.

Ron (Foals): There was no instant appeal when I first heard this. I wasn't keen on the chantlike chorus, but as it grew on me I realised it suits the dance funk vibe they are going for here, and I know think it's another great Foals song...I should have known better with reliable Foals, whose music always grows on me.

John (Jennifer O'Connor): that was good, liked it.

[numbersix]

#17

Shryke: Pleasant synthpop. Reminds me a lot of the last COldplay song I heard - not sure which came earlier.

Leetsu: Keep meaning to catch these guys live. Love how heavy they get

Tranny: Musically it was okay but Brown's involved definitely made it rise in my estimation.

Surf: I got their debut album based on your recommendation, and love it. didn't know they put out new music last year but this is just as good as anything they've previously done.

Ron B: Odd pairing. Reminded me of The Strokes... featuring Stringer Bell.

John: Not a big fan of big band blues like this.

[Shrykespeare]

#18.

Leestu (T-Fuck) - This was definitely...a song. Probably not one I'll rush to listen to again.

Tranny (BH & DB) - Not a rap fan, but this was a trip.

Six (TtC) - See above.

Surfer (Sweeping Promises) - This was awesome. I heard a lot of Blondie, Go-Go's, and Berlin in this tune. Great retro musicianship.

Ron B (New James Bond?) - He doesn't have the greatest voice ever, but Idris is so cool you don't care.

JohnErle (Dion) - 82 years old and still rockin'. Gotta respect that.

[Shrykespeare]

SONG #16


Shrykespeare

LP, Goodbye

The loveless, the what's next
The subtext is complex
And in the end we're all
Just having the same sex
Your heroes, your demons
You're taught to believe in
They change with the seasons
Yeah, fuck 'em, don't need 'em

LP (real name: Laura Pergolizzi) has been around the block a few times, having done what she does for over twenty years. She’s written songs for the likes of Cher, Leona Lewis, Celine Dion, and Christina Aguilera. It just so happens she has an amazing voice of her own, and when her new album Churches dropped only a month ago, I gave it a listen (the last album I listened to in 2021). Darn her – I had my Top 30 all set in stone, and then this song met my ears and I just had to make room for it. The song is an ode to joy, to just saying “fuck it” and letting it all go. I can get behind that message.





Leestu

Goat, Queen of the Underground

One of the strangest bands I’ve seen live, and I’ve seen some very strange bands. Heavy psychedelic funky afrobeat desert rock jam with folky pan pipes and a wacky backstory – that includes anonymity, secrecy, voodoo, communes etc. They don’t write songs, they play music.





Tranny

Lana Del Rey, Wild at Heart

While Chemtrails from the Country Club overall pales in comparison to Del Rey's 2019 masterpiece Norman Fucking Rockwell, this hazy yet adventurous tune that feels tailor made for the 1967 editon of Burning Man represents her in her top bygone era-worshipping form.





Six

Snail Mail, Ben Franklin

I was charmed by the first album of Lindsey Jordan, which captured teen longing along to some aural references to what I listened to at that age. Her second record took a different sonic tact, embracing 80 electro-pop. While initially disappointing as that’s what every singer-songwriter is doing these days, it’s her vulnerable vocals which make her as fascinating as ever, especially in this groovy track which plays with the similarities between leaving rehab and trying to recover from an ex.





Surfer

The Body/Big Brave, Oh Sinner

At first, a collaboration between the noise rock of Big Brave and the experimental metal duo The Body seemed perhaps a little intriguing. Yet, as The Body have proved time and time again, they are not an act who can be pigeonholed, and taking inspiration by drawing from the country and folk roots of The Band and traditional folk lyrics, what resulted was quite astonishing. Oh Sinner finds the compositional and textural bliss of both bands fused together to form something new. The song is sparse and hypnotic, but airy and dare I say somewhat twangy. Rather than the apocalyptic sludge either band are known to produce, they’ve created something closer to cosmic Americana and timeless folk, and it’s quite astonishing.





RON B

The Rubens, Waste a Day





JOHNERLE

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Can't Let Go

I was pretty indifferent to this song at first because I love the Lucinda Williams version, plus this sound is identical to what Plant and Krauss were doing the last time they collaborated. Over time it grew on me and earned a spot on my list in a pretty weak year. It's a fun little raver, and sometimes that's all you need.

[JohnErle]

Just to prove I'm paying attention, those songs from Goat and Snail Mail were both good enough to get added to my 2021 playlist for further investigation. I didn't even think Goat was all that weird, certainly not when compared to Tropical What The Fuck Storm. I heard an awful lot of Black Sabbath in there, with some added flourishes on top.

Oh Sinner and Lana Del Rey were also decent enough, but I doubt either will stick with me. One felt too predictably indie and the other was too mainstream pop for my tastes.