2021. The second (and kind of last) ‘COVID’ year. The year my Dad died (the day after I witnessed an incredible feat of manipulative communication, kind of admirable/remarkable, but really, nobody decent or with empathy would ever do that to someone who just lost their Dad, however they perceive things, but mental illness is mental illness). The year 8 years of enmeshment ended (though it’s the year after that I truly felt free), the year I started reacquainting with friends, the year I started to go to gigs again. The year I started to understand better someone else’s probable mental illness and found some of the keys to understanding some of my own issues (more of that in the Books section at some point). Had over a month where I started to feel the freedom in February/March and it helped long term before the final throes of that particular relationship (generic word there). A year of changes and progress, dealing with new situations and sticking to some plans. Anyway, here’s some of the tracks that rhythmed my year. At this stage, I’m trying to be selective rather than do albums chronicles like the old days. Might get back to that. Might also mention good albums tracks near the bottom of the page, but I want to focus on the (personal) essential tunes.
Also, don’t ask me why I start with 2021, there are reasons, but none really decisive. It’s a bit random, very much like me. I gather the elements, I proceed in a completely unordered fashion (it’s not very healthy) but get it all right in the end most of the time. I’m hard to follow though, I know I’m often not helping myself.
Also….the order is not significant (I should probably put that on every page), possibly slightly chronological at times, but that’s about it. I’m not too much into rankings. I love things for a variety of reasons. You can have a table for football leagues or other perfectly quantifiable things, and yes I’ve had to make top 5 lists for the twitter #5albums series (an interesting exercice), I can make choices, but it’s not always necessary. Also, remember with me it will always be mostly about sounds. Doesn’t mean I cannot appreciate the lyrics (and they often match in songs I enjoy, to be fair), but never try to read too much into some of the selections in that respect.
There was some great music in 2021 (though sometimes I wonder if it’s just when music and my own emotional state align, and at times they really did that year).
You Me At Six : SUCKAPUNCH. The album actually has two standouts for me. Released early in the year, full of energy. Beautiful Way is the other song.
Sleaford Mods: Mork’n’Mindy (feat. Billy Nomates). Another early album. Got to thanks Jez for getting me into it. Sure it’s not the kind of music I would necessarily be on naturally, but I actually like their style and Jason’s delivery. Sure, it’s also one band where the lyrics matter most, and they make a lot of sense in today’s Britain. They get more melodic with each album. There’s a slightly hypnotic vibe to this tune that I really appreciate.
Claud: Pepsi. Some decent stuff on the album, though it was nowhere near the top, but somehow this song stands out, with a good slightly dreamy/floating vibe. A good riff (sometimes I can’t even tell if it’s a guitar or a keyboard, obviously as an ex-pianist, I’m always keen on a little piano motif in the middle of a song, it’s not quite the case there) in the middle there helps , and so I love this song (as ever with me, I’m actually writing this while listening to the songs….which means this will take longer than I wish but…)
The Pretty Reckless: 25. I’m possibly slightly lowering the bar of ‘tracks that made my year’ (I’m selecting from my iPod playlist), but there’s a cinematic amplitude to it, feels like a great film soundtrack, and this is a truly superb song. And yes, it also has decent piano in there!
TV Priest: Decoration. Something completely different, but somehow I remember listening to that track on a walk and thinking: ‘yes! it’s very cool’. Maybe it’s just all in the ‘D-d-d-d-decoration’ line delivery, but there’s also a good driving rhythm to it.
Julian Baker: Hardline. There was a portion of the year when I discovered a lot of artists I’d never heard about, and was very impressed. The opening track from Little Oblivions (a very good album in itself) made me think of new beginnings (not about lyrics again, just a state of mind I was in when I first listened to that on what were becoming my regular sunny midday walks, a big pleasure in my life those months) and again, there is something majestic about this tune and instrumentation.
The Anchoress: Unravel. A fantastic song on a superb album. I come back to this track with delight any time. Check the whole album, it’s worth it.
Taylor Swift: All Too Well (10 min version). OK, cheating a bit as she re-recorded everything, so I don’t know if this technically qualifies as 2021, but for me it does. So there you are. 10 minutes might seem like overkill, but it holds very well, you honestly don’t feel it’s too long at all.. Plenty of other good stuff on the album, this edition with 30 tracks maybe too long to digest in one piece though. Won’t post another one, but as far as re-recordings of her works go, check Change (Taylor’s version) from Fearless.
Still Corners: White Sands. I actually don’t have much to say about this or no particular memory….but it’s good and part of another good album I enjoyed, kind of a calm time inbetween storms, another rather cinematic track.
London Grammar: How Does It Feel. Another one associated with walks in Parc de Sceaux. Plenty of tracks to choose from this album really. So I’ll just give you this absolutely beautiful song. Still gives me goosebumps (well I feel well today…). Try also ‘Lose Your Head’
renforshort: lust to love. This from an EP rather than album, and I just love it. It’s cool and has that ‘snap your fingers’ to the rhythm feeling, just a great little song.
Sarah Kinsley: Karma. Another one from an EP. And another great song that got stuck in my head for a while. Just love it. Beautifully sung. Sometimes it really is the voice that makes a difference, as it is the instrument that is truly unique to each artist. I’m feeling these songs again, and I don’t know if this says more about 2021 or about now as I was feeling down the dumps a month ago….or maybe it just says more about beautiful music connecting.
MARINA: Venus Fly Trap. I don’t even remember my exact top 5 albums (I’ll look for it and post the tweet at the bottom), she was in that, maybe even number one. Anyway, this track got me dancing in the streets on the way back home. Oddly I pointed that track to someone for the lyrics, thinking they might like it, but I didn’t understand everything then, and as I like flipping things around, some of the lyrics connect with me. Anyway, fantastic track from a very underrated album. Gutted her gig was sold out by the time I saw it was even happening. I Love you but I love me more is also worth your time, but then the whole album is.
Kings of Leon: The Bandit. I was never a big KoL fan, and this album flew under the radar and I don’t remember any of it, but somehow I like this song, perhaps because it reminds me of another one in the chorus (can’t pin it down right now).
twenty one pilots: formidable. Just one of these joyous light indie pop songs that’s a little gem, sometimes it’s all you need.
CHVRCHES & Robert Smith: How not to Drown. Well, well, well, in the continuing absence of a new Cure album, anything Robert Smith is appreciated. But this was more than that. A truly special song at a special time, gave me some fighting spirit when I needed it, the will to survive. A standout track from CHVRCHES’ excellent album (check Final Girl too on that album).
Birdy: Surrender. Young Heart, another beautiful album. Seeing her live in just about a month, I wonder what an artist like that sounds in a big venue like Olympia. Certainly will be different from most concerts I get to.
Japanese Breakfast: Paprika. Another one I file next to Julian Baker and Sarah Kinsley in ‘great stuff I was unaware of and just enjoyed during a quiet and happy month’.
Wyldest: Monthly Friend. Possibly slightly lowering the bar again, but really it’s from a sweet album and it’s a nice song. Shades of Woman’s Hour on this tune possibly, I like it.
Madison Beer: Blue. I think I might be veering slightly towards great songs from albums that I enjoyed but didn’t have time to dwell upon as much as they deserved territory, despite wanting to make it a separate section without youtubes, about good albums. There is so much good music, but yes this is an excellent one, so I post it here.
Olivia Rodrigo: traitor. Similarly, a great album. Check also the far more upbeat ‘good 4 u’. So many good albums that year, and this was one of the best. So yeah 2021-2022 were great.
Desperate Journalist: Personality Girlfriend. Memory of listening to this for the first time when on a bus trip to working at a customer’s in Malakoff. Another song that makes me want to snap my fingers in rhythm with the beat. Great album. Check also Everything You Wanted.
Inhaler: Who’s Your Money On? (Plastic House). Yeah Bono’s son band. I can see how I’d get bored of this over time, but another memory of a sunny walk in the park, felt like a happy listen, this track in particular makes me want to dance, positive energy there(though I could do without the slow second part, not sure why it’s not a separate song).
Jade Bird: I’m getting lost. Her first album was very good, her second is even better. Many great tracks. This is possibly the standout.
Kacey Musgraves: What doesn’t kill me. Definitely veering off tracks that marked me, but again going through all these, these are great tracks and her album was excellent, and this one could easily have been on repeat if I hadn’t had so much other music to listen to, or depending on the ups and downs. So it’s worth inclusion in this now very long page (and I’m not yet done…but will have to take a break as going out for a few hours…and yes I know, real time updates are not needed, writing everything…but I’m not publishing a work of art….this is kind of live and alive….you can ignore the ‘waffle’’…………but it gives you a better insight into the process)….actually quick look, end of year was more difficult, might not be so many tracks left….well there were a few, but not released in 2021 so will keep them in a separate section.
Arab Strap: The Turning of Our Bones. Earlier in the year actually, again I remember at the start of feeling so good with listening music while walking. This is the opening track from a great album. Plenty of other treats like Kebabylon. And a great gig one year later.
Lissie: Just Because I Can. Cheating, but not really, as this is from the Catching A Tiger tenth anniversary edition. But like with Taylor Swift above, this was not released initially so is very much 2021. And it happens to be one of the best songs on this, possibly the best. From one of my favourite artists, and I’m indebted to David Lynch for introducing me to her. I’ll try not to overload you with Lissie, but in 2021 I also got her two EPs of covers from 2011 and 2020, so check Bad Romance (Lady Gaga) on the first, and Wrecking Ball (Miley Cyrus) on the second.
Some other albums not mentioned above were very good and worth a listen(some actually excellent), but maybe didn’t have a standout track good enough for me to post given the high standards above, or were out at the ‘wrong’ time:
Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever
FRITZ: Pastel
Mogwai : As The Love Continues
Black Honey: Written & Directed
Architects: For Those That Wish To Exist
Deafheaven : Infinite Granite
WILLOW: lately I feel EVERYTHING
Gracie Abrams : This is What It Feels Like
Indigo de Souza: Any Shape To Take
Bobby Gillespie & Jehnny Beth: Utopian Ashes
TORRES: Thirstier
girl in red: if i could make it go quiet
5 albums tweet, actually slightly surprised with some of the choices…..this was done end of 2021 and 2022 got in the way with different mindset and emotions.
And, as I am changing ways (and not even keeping a coherent structure or this would be a little above, but I do as if you only want to see the new things despite never having seen the old I guess!), I am now putting below other stuff listened to that year.
Beach House: Wishes. Inspired by Harry Hole listening to it in a novel. Dream pop it is indeed.
Piroshka: What’s Next? I know I posted this elsewhere on the site, but it really was one of the tunes of 2021 for me when I got it. And 2022. and as the first page ever written for this site attests, also the start of 2023. Just superb. Check also Blameless (much more quiet) from the same 2019 album, Brickbat. Even though the 2021 album from them is Love Drips and Gathers, but I was slightly less impressed. Check V.O. on it though. There’s still some Lush heritage here, if only for Miki’s amazing voice. But this here song has a rhythm that makes me want to dance. Or march, I’m not sure.
DIIV: Doused. From the 5 albums series, 2012, this track off Oshin stands out.
PVRIS: Heaven. Caught up with their 2017 album, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell and the opening track was an instant and memorable hit.
Ride: Lannoy Point. Catching up with their first post-reunion album from 2017, Weather Diaries, and once more it’s the opening track that hit the sweet spot, nice melodies and rhythm.
MC Solaar: Caroline. And to finish, something unusual: a little French rap. But it’s a classic. Can’t remember if I got this because of a re-edition or because of one of the 5 albums series (I definitely posted some MC Solaar as part of it). This is from his 1991 debut Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo. Check also Le Nouveau Western from his classic 1994 album Prose Combat. He’s got a way with words, it’s very clever (but you might need to speak/understand French relatively well to get it).