Best of 2021 Music Bullshit
By Darin Brock
In 2020 we had lots of COVID but a ton of music that I thought was fantastic. 2021 proved to be a bit of a shitshow, but with a little less COVID, a little more live music but I struggled to find 10 albums I thought were really great. Don’t get me wrong. There was plenty of good music, just nothing that blew me away. Great moments on good-to-goodish albums. Being a music person for so long, you live through a ton of musical movements and trends to the point where you can almost predict what an album is going to sound like before you hear the second song. I think that sums up my 2021 year in music. Most everything I purchased sounded exactly like I thought it would – this includes new music from some of my established favorites. Courtney Barnett, Viagra Boys, Dean Warham, James, Parquet Courts, War on Drugs and a dozen others all released new albums and they were fine. And that’s it. Not the best, not the worst, but necessary to keep the collection complete. Saying that, this year’s list contains the first music I’ve purchased from seven artists. Some predate 2021, others are choices that I made after buying the artist’s 2021 effort.
Cheekface – Emphatically No.
Released January 2021 – New Professor Music
Every couple of years a band will come along and they just speak to you. At one time I was in a band. This is the band I would have loved to have been. Stream of thought lyrics that are sarcastic, sardonic, silly, and completely unpredictable are rattled off over some of the catchiest guitar riffs and groovin’ bass lines. Singer/guitarist Greg Katz is in the vein of Jonathan Richman and Lou Reed, but without the childlike simplicity of the former and overtones of asshole like the latter. Musically there’s nothing complicated going on, just great riffs and the bouncing groove of bassist Amanda Hatten (formerly of Stellastar and easy on the eyes) in two-to-three-minute bursts that leave your head-bobbing to the tunes and then wondering, “what did he say?” You’ll hit the back button/raise the stylus over and over on these little guitar pop jangles from another world. It’s a perplexing, rewarding experience. Not a single weak track on the LP (Emphatically No) and accompanying EP (Emphatically Mo’) Love, love, love this album. A bright spot in an otherwise bleak year.
Top tracks: Emotional Rent Control, Don’t Want to Go Calabasas, & Ted Talk City
Nervous Daters – Call in the Mess
Released March 2021 – Counter Intuitive Records
The Brooklyn quartet’s sophomore album can sometimes sound like a hot mess, but it never goes off the rails. There’s some angst mixed in with some humor. Primary vocalist Rachel Lightner delivers lyrics dealing with being nonbinary to growing up on a farm with a kind of velvety smoothness that holds the crunchy guitars and rabid drumming together.She’s magnificant on “Violent Haiku,” one of my choices for song of the year. It’s downright beautiful and heartbreaking on “Everything Right.” Drummer Matt Goetz turns in a couple of fun vocals on “The Dirt” and “Tin Foil Hat.” Power chords, power emotions, but never overwrought. Great album.
Top Tracks: Violent Haiku, Tin Foil Hat, & Red String Map
Ducks Ltd. – Modern Fiction
Released October 2021 – Carpark Records
From the opening guitar riff from “How Lonely Are You?” one vaults to many of the Wedding Presents classic tunes – and that’s a huge compliment in my book. Australia has recaptured the “big jangle” of 80-90’s guitar pop. Ducks Ltd. proudly pick up the flag and run with it. While drawing in comparisons to Wedding Present, Rolling Blackouts, and even Close Lobsters, Ducks Ltd. find a nice space in between these bands to create their own sound. A no-skip song album.
Top tracks: Under The Rolling Moon, Fit To Burst, & Grand Final Day
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort to Me
Released September 2021 – ATO Records
If ever an album cover fit the music inside, the face-melting speed, anger, and breakneck guitar playing of Amyl & The Sniffers sophomore album lives up the cover. The land down under, Australia, is turning out some great music the last few years. Both punk revivalists and traditionalists will find something to love here. Vocalist Amy Taylor channels the best, most-famous, snotty punk singers and delivers her lines with piss and vinegar but never goes off the rails. The band is tight. Plenty of power chords, lead riffs and hyperspeed tribal drumming to keep the pace moving along at the speed of sound. Don’t be looking for any mid-tempo dirges, power ballads, or love songs – unless “Don’t Need A Cunt Like You To Love Me” is a love song. Nothing too heady, just pure power punk not even Johnny Lydon could bitch about.
Top Tracks: Guided By Angels, Freaks to the Front, & Don’t Fence Me In
The Jazz Butcher – Dr. Cholmondley Repents
Released November 2021 – Fire Records
This one a tough one to write. The final Fire Records release of the Jazz Butcher’s Glass and Creation Records material. It collects singles, B-sides, 12-inchers, and live recordings, some of which are damn hard to find or were never made available in the states. It captures the maturation of one of the greatest songwriters in pop music history, from the early joke-filled, boozy days with Max Eider to the sonic force and complexity of the later years with “Girl Go” and “New Invention.” Pat Fish’s B-sides were often better than most band’s A-sides and this compilation provides the proof. The Seaside disc (disc 4) is also a huge surprise and welcome send-off. This live recording at an LA radio station shows the immense talent of the Jazz Butcher’s band in 1989 and what a talented live performer Fish could also be. I use the term “send-off” because sadly Pat Fish passed away in October, leaving a huge hole in my heart and the music industry in general. This collection became available just after his passing. R.I.P Pat and thank you forever for all the great music.
Top Tracks: Seasides disc, We Love You (the Great Awakening), & Vodka Girls
Remember Sports – Slow Buzz
Released May 2018 – Father/Daughter Records
So here is an album that is a couple of years old. I bought 2021’s Like A Stone first and liked it. It won’t make this list, but I liked it enough to pick up Slow Buzz, the band’s third album. It kicks ass so it counts. Slow Buzz earns a place in my heart for the ramshackle, garage, DNA of its soul. At times it seems like each musician of the quartet is playing in different corners of that garage, singer Carmen Perry holds things together with short sharp singing style. Everything comes together on the great slow build of the album closer, “Unwell.” Great do-it-yourself power pop played quickly and messy enough to be interesting, catchy enough to keep the playlist on repeat.
Top Tracks: You Can Alone Time When You’re Dead, Calling Out, & Unwell
Beach Bunny – Honeymoon
Released February 2020 – Mom & Pop Records
This band won me over during a surprisingly powerful, rain-soaked set at Riotfest 2021. They produced a string of singles and EP’s this year (Oxygen, Christmas Caller, Blame Game-EP), that lead me to the purchase of their 2020 debut full-length debut, Honeymoon. It made several “best of” lists last year and it lives up to the hype. Vocalist/lyricist writes perfect guitar pop tunes full of typical drama. Angst never sounded so good. And I would recommend catching them live.
Top Tracks: Good Girls Don’t Get Used (Blame Game EP), Cloud 9, & Colorblind
The Black Watch – Here and There
Released November 2021 – ATOM Records
John Andrew Frederick is the The Black Watch in the way Pat Fish was the The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy. It was a duet Fish did with the Black Watch on 2014’s “Jiggery Pokery” album that led me to dive into Frederick’s material. Frederick released his 20th album in 2021 – “Here and There.” The album comes fresh on the heels of three albums in the previous 18 months. Frederick has a knack for cranking out infectious grooves and always thoughtful lyrics. I have frequently referred to him as close to an American Jazz Butcher that you could get – a huge compliment in my book. With “Here and There,” he continues to expand on his sound with some electronics and strings. But at its core, the jangly chords and lead melodies drive the music. Frederick proves that the older dudes can still write songs that sound like right now and still be an adult about it. In a just world, this album would have been huge.
Top Tracks: Days When the Rain, Marysummertime, Lora, Not a Day Goes By When I Don’t Very Wonder How You Are
The Connells – Steadman’s Wake
Released October 2021 – Black Park Records
In the intro to this list I know I said a lot of music has become predictable. That’s not necessarily a bad thing when what you expect is the sound that made you love a band in the first place. The Connells returned in 2021 with their first album in 20+years. Yes, it sounds just like the Connells have always sounded, and that is why the album is so fantastic. Despite his rapidly aging outside, Doug McMillan’s voice never ages and remains the smooth, easily recognizable voice that made the Connells late 80-90’s era college staples. Album opener “Really Great” re-establishes that Connell sound and makes my list as one of the the top individual songs of 2021. The band always had the propensity to lean on mid-tempo ballads. Nothing has changed here – but they’ve always managed to pull it off with enough melody, and life to keep it from getting boring. Album closer Helium puts that on fine display. A welcome return to form.
Top Tracks: Really Great, Burial Art, Helium
The Copyrights – Alone In A Dome
Released October 2021 – Fat Wreck Chords
I still love good pop punk, powder punk, old-school punk – whatever you want to call it. Every year I seek to stumble across a new band who does it really well. The band’s bio page claims The Ramones, Undertones and early Jam as influences. That’s a good start. The Copyrights’ 8th album “Alone in a Dome” is 12 anthems clocking at 3:30 or less. Power chords, group yell choruses, thrashing about in a carefree fashion, smokin’ riffs, and the desire to have a bitchin’ summer no matter how old you are – they’re all on this pop punk gem.
Top Tracks: Part of the Landscape, Before Midnight, Brush Off
Honorable Mentions
- Wet Leg – based solely on their three singles: Chaise Lounge, Wet Dream, Too Late Now
- Guided By Voices – Earth Man Blues and It’s Not Them, It Couldn’t Be Them, It is Them. Two really solid albums in one year.
- Dadi Freyr – Welcome
- Dave Hause – Blood Harmony
- Night Beats – Outlaw R&B
Top 10 of 2021
By Steve May
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me
Released September 2021 – ATO Records
Fun album from this Australian quarter. Some solid post-punk angst on this release. I’m looking forward to following their career. Stand out tracks include “Guided By Angels”, “No More Tears” and “Don’t Fence Me In.”
Mike and The Moonpies – One To Grow On
Released August 2021 – Prairie Rose Music
I’ve gotten into this Austin, TX based band over the last few years. Great musicianship and fun lyrics are a nice throwback to mid to late 80s country music. A bit of a departure from my normal tastes, but I do love this album. Choice cuts are “Paycheck to Paycheck”, “Growing Pains” and “Brother.”
Dave Hause – Blood Harmony
Released December 2021 – Soundly Music
Dave went fully into nostalgia mode for this album and it makes for an easy listening experience. Took a few listens for it to finally grow on me. If you’re looking for something similar to his “Bury Me In Philly” album, you won’t find it here, but it’s still a solid album. Top tracks are “Surfboard”, “Leave It In That Dream” and “Sandy Sheets.”
Civic – Future Forecast
Released December 2021 – ATO Records
Another Australian act on my list. This five piece band formed in 2017 and have released a few Eps leading up to this full length album. Good mix of hard rock and punk. Solid tracks include “Radiant Eye”, “Back To You” and “Sunday Best”
Foo Fighters – Medicine At Midnight
Released February 2021 – Roswell Records
I like the Foo Fighters AND Dave Grohl. There I said it and I’m not ashamed. Grohl should probably learn to say “no” a bit more often and lessen his exposure, but I think he’s genuinely a nice guy and likes to make music as often as possible. This 2021 release has some great songs on it including “Waiting On a War” and “Shame Shame”.
Mammoth WVH – Mammoth WVH
Released June 2021 – EX1 Records
Being an Eddie Van Halen fan, I wanted this album from Wolfgang Van Halen to be good and it didn’t disappoint. The fact that he plays every instrument on the album is, in my opinion, pretty amazing. He can’t change the fact that he’s Eddie’s son, so I admire him for putting out an album that really doesn’t sound like Van Halen at all. Stand out songs include “Epiphany”, “You’re To Blame” and “Distance”
War On Drugs – I Don’t Live Here Anymore
Released December 2021 – Atlantic Records
Another solid album from this Philadelphia band. Adam Granduciel has really grown into a damn solid songwriter. The song “Living Proof” has a touch of Springsteen in it which is very nice. Other stand out tracks include the title track and “Rings Around My Father’s Eyes”.
Danko Jones – Power Trio
Released August 2021 – Sonic Unyon
It’s hard to imagine that Danko Jones has been around for 25 years. This album, their 10th, is simply some straight forward hard rock with some power pop thrown in for good measure. They’ve become a bit like AC/DC for me in that you know exactly what you’re going to get with each release and that’s not a bad thing at all. Best tracks include “Good Lookin’”, “I Want Out” and “Get To You”.
The Dead Deads – Tell Your Girls It’s Alright
Released August 2021 – Rumble Records
Love this band and this album. This all female trio emerged on the scene from Nashville around 2014. Their website says they are a hard rock, grunge, classic rock and punk band and that’s a fairly accurate description. This is their fifth full length release and I think it’s their best. Give these tracks a listen – “Hey Girlfriend”, “Deal With Me” and “Thinkers and Preyers.”
The Wildhearts – 21st Century Love Songs
Released September 2021 – Graphite Records
This is the second release since the reunion of the “classic” 90s lineup of Ginger, CJ, Danny and Ritch got back together in 2018. It’s solid from start to finish with a good mixture of power pop and metal. Reportedly, Ginger had a rough bout of depression a few years back, so it’s good to see him sounding healthy. Solid tracks include “Sleepaway”, “Remember These Days” and “Sort Your Fucking Shit Out”.
Honorable Mentions
- Iron Maiden – Senjutsu
- Blackberry Smoke – You Hear Georgia
- Todd Snider – First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder
- Ryan Hamilton – 1221
Top 10 of 2021
By Rob Cox
I did not feel the need to write an intro paragraph as some of my fellow members of 4 Cylinder Fury did. That would take away from the sanctity of the list.
Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg
Released April 2021 – 4AD
With the exception of The Hold Steady, I’m not the biggest fan of bands that have lead singers who talk sing their lyrics. There seems to be a rash of them coming out of England nowadays ( Fontaines D.C., Shame, Squid, Black Country, New Road). Not much separates these bands musically either. They all sound the same to me. Maybe it’s the fact that the lead singer is a woman that drew me to it. But I like to think that it’s because the music is just that damn good and she happens to be an essential part of it. I’ve liked everything I’ve heard from this band. I’m interested to seeing how they sound live. It’s not fair to choose songs off of this record because they’re all good.
Kiwi Jr. – Cooler Returns
Released January 2021 – Sub Pop
Credit is due to Wes at Control Records for knowing my tastes. I went up there to look one day, which was the day this record came out. I walked in and he said, “I know what you’re here to get….the new Kiwi Jr.”. I wasn’t but got it anyway. It received mediocre reviews. It’s a great record. Has a little of that Pavement style to it but perhaps a bit more poppy. Nothing groundbreaking, just a fun record.
Choice Cuts – Nashville Wedding (my overall favorite song of the year) , Only Here for a Haircut, Highlights of 100, Cooler Returns, Norma Jean’s Jacket
The Fratellis – Half Drunk Under a Full Moon
Released April 2021 – Cooking Vinyl
This band (I’d heard of them) was never really on my radar. I kind of remember one song from the early 00s that didn’t really capture my attention. So I really never gave them another thought. Then Bruce played the title song on his show on CHIRP Radio. I thought it was great. So then I played a different song on my show. It was great too. I ran through about 4 or 5 songs and realized I liked them all and decided I needed to give this album a try. And then I forgot about getting it. Months went by. And then Bruce played it again. I immediately ordered it. Now it’s one I have to stop making myself listen to. I’m not familiar with their last few albums but apparently their fans are pissed off because they changed their style. Whatever.
Choice cuts – Need a Little Love, The Last Songbird, Oh Roxy, Half Drunk Under a Full Moon
The Mountain Goats – Dark In Here
Released June 2021 – Merge Records
Taking a page from the Guided By Voices playbook, the Mountain Goats released 3 albums in a year. That’s good for a band like GBV but I didn’t have much hope for this one. Well when you’re not expecting much is usually when you’re surprised the most. (see Arab Strap live story in #8) This is a 3 sided effort that surpassed the first 2 records by a long margain. I’ve only become a fan of the band over the last few years but they have managed to maintain my interest.
Choice cuts – Dark in Here, Lizard Suit, Let me Bathe in Demonic Light, The Destruction of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower (side 4 is etched with a picture of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower)
Fruit Bats – The Pet Parade
Released March 2021 – Merge Records
Gold Past Life was my favorite record of 2019. So expectations were high when this came out. I’ll admit to being mildly disappointed at first. It’s a little more on the mellow side than GPL. I kept returning to it and it grew on my. So here it is in the top 5.
Choice cuts – Gullwing Doors, The Balcony, Cub Pilot, Holy Rose
Cloud Nothings – The Shadow I Remember
Released February 2021 – Car Park Records
It’s no secret that I’m a Cloud Nothings fan. Their song, Enter Entirely is one of those I could put on and turn around and listen to again immediately. They don’t stray too far from their path on this record. But that’s ok. I like it.
Choice Cuts – Am I Something, Open Rain, The Spirit Of
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me
Released September 2021 – ATO Records
Why are all the best bands coming from either Australia or New Zealand? It’s like old-school punk. Female lead screaming vocals. Great guitars. Solid hooks. Just a damn good record. Choice cuts – Security, Hertz, Choices
Arab Strap – As Days Get Dark
Released March 2021 – Rock Action Records
There’s a back story…. Bruce and I went to Pitchfork in 2017. We were waiting to see another band but had an hour before they started. We just happened to be standing at the stage that Arab Strap was about to play on. I’d heard of them but not sure I’d ever bothered to listen. I wasn’t expecting 2 overweight Scottish men. And I sure as hell wasn’t expecting to be blown away by them
Fast forward to 2020. They released “The Turning of Our Bones” as a single. It’s fantastic. Then the album came out early this year after a lengthy period of time. It’s also fantastic. Lots of cursing and suggestive material on the record. Never judge a book by its fat Scottish cover.
Choice Cuts – The Turning of Our Bones, Compersion Pt. 1, Sleeper
Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime
Released May 2021 – Matador Records
This guy from Africa can play the hell out of the guitar. And the songs are great. Never been one for the international music scene but good music is good music. Some are a bit long for my tastes (any song over 4 minutes should be re-evaluated). But the longest track is one of my favs so no evaluation is necessary on that one.
Choice cuts – Chismiten, Afrique Victime
The Goon Sax – Mirror II
Released July 2021 – Matador Records
A few more strong tracks and this one would have been higher. The first 2 cuts hit hard and then it fell like the sequence fell off. Yes, there are other decent tracks on the album, but none hit as hard as In the Stone and Psychic.
Choice cuts – In The Stone, Psychic, Desire
Collections/Reissues
SOMETHING SHOULD BE MENTIONED ABOUT THE SPIRITUALIZED REISSUES. THE FIRST FOUR RECORDS WERE REDONE WITH NEW ARTWORK AND REMASTERING. NO MAN SHOULD BE THAT TALENTED. IT’S JUST NOT FAIR.
Pandemic Music Collecting Year 2 and My Top 10 For 2021
By Bruce D. Cummings
Another year of nearly no live shows, no international travel (for work anyway), and DJing at CHIRP Radio resulted in lots of additions to my music collection. As a result it was particularly hard to pare down things to a top 10, but I’ve given it a shot below.
We lost many great musicians over the course of 2021. None hit me as hard as the sudden passing of Pat Fish (aka The Jazz Butcher) in October. Fish’s music had been a part of my life since the early 1980s. His style of smart, funny, and at times absurd pop and rock just worked for me at all levels. Over the course of the pandemic I felt like I’d gotten to know him a bit through chats on Facebook and his series of Live From Fish Mansions streams.
In that context, one special mention here before diving into my top 10 for 2021. It was bittersweet when Dr Cholmondley Repents: A-Sides, B-Sides and Seasides, the third archival collection of Jazz Butcher songs, arrived last month. I left it unopened until recently. Most of the songs I already had on vinyl or CD. What I dreaded most was reading the liner notes. But ultimately the anecdotes, asides, and quips about the tracks and the band made me feel better. So RIP Pat Fish and cheers to you wherever you are.
Trees Speak – PostHuman
Released May 2021 – Soul Jazz Records
Trees Speak (Daniel Martin Diaz and Damian Diaz) started in 2017 and hail from Tucson, Arizona. But you’d be forgiven if you thought they just dropped out of Germany in the early 1970s after hanging out with Cluster, Harmonia, and Neu! PostHuman is the group’s fourth album. It is a seamless 16-track excursion through sci-fi landscapes pulsing to fragments of motorik beats, analog synth washes, and vocoder vocals. Just a perfect experience all around. Put it on, close your eyes, and travel.
Philip Parfitt – Mental Home Recordings
Released November 2020 – A Turntable Friend
As he wrapped up one of his wonderful Live from Fishy Mansions streams in 2020, the late Pat Fish (aka The Jazz Butcher) quickly rattled off a list of some of his favorite records. His friend Philip Parfitt’s Mental Home Recordings was one of them.
Parfitt’s previous band The Perfect Disaster has been an inspiration and obsession of mine for many years. Their records are ridiculously difficult to find. That they still remain out of print is a crime. I managed to pick up a few by chance in Osaka, Japan back in the summer of 2019.
This is a deeply personal and melancholic set of songs. Reportedly it was inspired in part by Parfitt’s time as a psychiatric nurse in a Victorian asylum. Parts of it harken back to the quieter moments on Up and Heaven Scent by The Perfect Disaster. For me its themes of loss, reflection, and regret provided a much needed release in the wake of Fish’s death in October of this year.
Various Artists – The Problem of Leisure (A Celebration of Andy Gill & Gang of Four)
Released June 2021 – Gill Music
Andy Gill, co-founder and lead guitarist of Gang of Four, passed away at the age of 64 in February 2020. His innovative jagged, angular guitar style influenced countless others over the years. But what really comes through on this collection of covers by various artists is the quality of his songwriting.
I’ll admit that when I saw Tom Morello and Serj Tankian (covering Natural’s Not In It) as well as Flea and John Frusciante (covering Not Great Men) on the track listing I had some initial misgivings. But they do these songs justice and it all works much better than I would have expected. But if you really want to understand how much Gill’s songs hold up check out Sekar Melati’s live Javanese gamelan take on Not Great Men. Just incredible.
Hands down one of the best tribute collections ever.
The Fratellis – Half Drunk Under A Full Moon
Released April 2021 – Cooking Vinyl
I don’t buy into the idea of guilty pleasures when it comes to music or anything else really. But I suppose if I did this album by The Fratellis, their sixth to date, would fit into that category.
The band’s song Chelsea Dagger, from their 2006 debut Costello Music, became the goal song for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008. To me it is pretty forgettable, but I guess it works for a lot of people.
This album is stuffed from start to finish with sharp, catchy pop songs. The production is bright, but not overwhelmingly so. But most importantly it just makes me happy to listen to it. Something I definitely needed this year.
Circuit Des Yeux – -io
Released October 2021 – Matador
Haley Fohr (aka Circuit Des Yeux) first popped up on my musical radar with 2015’s In Plain Speech. The Indiana native’s unique vocal and song style immediately grabbed my attention and I’ve been fan ever since. This new album -io builds on and transcends her previous work. The epic sweep of Vanishing, the driving pulse of Dogma call back to earlier tracks, but in a more accessible style. The album’s second half drags a bit with the sequencing of tracks. Still overall it is a remarkable and pleasing effort. Looking forward to what Fohr does next.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – B-Sides & Rarities Part II
Released October 2021 – Mute
Nick Cave has been on quite a journey since 2012’s Push The Sky Away. That album started a process of stripping down his sound that continued on Skeleton Tree (2016) and culminated in the stunning Ghosteen (2019). This 27-track collection of b-sides, rarities, and unreleased tracks provides a map of how he got to Ghosteen. It also points towards this year’s Carnage, his album with longtime collaborator Warren Ellis, which made my list of honorable mentions below.
Though it took me some time to appreciate, I have come to love the path Cave’s charted since Push The Sky Away. I’m very curious to see where he goes next.
Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime
Released May 2021 – Matador
Like many people I first heard Mdou Moctar on 2011’s Music From Saharan Cellphones collection. I found that album a few years after its release in a London record shop stuffed behind a bunch of other records. After picking up 2019’s Ilana: The Creator I was definitely a fan.
A phenomenal and original guitarist, Moctar (real name Mahamadou Souleymane) is a Tuareg musician and is originally from Tchintabaraden, Niger. He is credited as one of the first musicians to perform modern electronic adaptations of Tuareg guitar music. There’s a powerful and dynamic trancelike quality to many of his tracks with layers of percussion, repetitive vocals/chants, and Souleymane’s alternately fluttering and hammering guitar style all weaving around each other.
Afrique Victime is a solid record from start to finish. I think it is meant to be listened to as each track builds upon and flows into the other. By the time you reach the epic title track at the end its explosion of sound provides a satisfying wrap up to a remarkable journey.
Amyl and The Sniffers – Comfort To Me
Released September 2021 – ATO Records
Lots of bands succumb to the sophomore slump following their debut. Amyl and The Sniffers avoid doing so with a new collection of songs featuring better songwriting, sharper lyrics, and excellent hooks. Solid all the way around.
The Connells – Steadman’s Wake
Released October 2021 – Black Park Records
If the Fratellis’ album is a guilty pleasure then The Connells Steadman’s Wake is the musical equivalent of comfort food and a good craft beer. I mean that in the best way possible. This record drew me in from the start and made me feel happy and nostalgic. That’s not to say it sounds dated or retro in any way. It sounds like the Connells. Listening from start to finish, which I did more times than I care to admit, was like catching up with an old friend. Great to see them back in such good form.
David Bowie – Brilliant Adventure (1992 – 2001)
Released November 2021 – Parlophone Records
This most recent archival collection of Bowie’s work follows 2018’s Loving The Alien [1983–1988]. Both these cover eras where I’d tuned out of what Bowie was doing. And both have made appreciate much more his work during this time.
Revisiting Black Tie White Noise, 1. Outside, Earthling, and ‘hours…’ along with the overlooked The Buddha Of Suburbia and various tracks from this era of his career has been both enjoyable and revelatory. I haven’t made it to the previously unreleased Toy album yet, but the BBC Radio Theatre, London, June 27, 2000 live collection is an amazing snapshot of Bowie and his excellent band at this time.
Honorable Mentions
- Arab Strap – As Days Get Dark
- The Black Watch – Here & There
- Civic – Future Forecast
- Mono – Pilgrimage of the Soul
- Nick Cave and Warren Ellis – Carnage
- Dean & Britta – Quarantine Tapes (album version)
- Diagonal – Diagonal
- FACS – Present Tense
- Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – This Is A Mindfulness Drill
Reissues
- The Jazz Butcher – Dr Cholmondley Repents: A-Sides, B-Sides and Seasides. See my earlier comments on this one.
- Spiritualized – excellent reissue series of the band’s first four albums. All remastered and with reimagined artwork that does them justice. Well done Fat Possum.
- Seefeel – beautiful reissues of Ch-vox and Succour along with a new compilation of EPs St/Fr/Sp.
- Autechre – appropriately minimal, but well done reissues of Chiastic Slide and LP5.
