2021: Your favourite music

i created a new sc account and remade my playlist. it's very short now. 

(that's what she said)

@species8472 those hoavi records are both so good. even tho it came out like a  month ago, music for six rooms is one of my most listened to records this year i think.

congrats to WATMM member Dalham for making the list
 

https://www.normanrecords.com/features/albums-of-the-year-2021?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Albums of the Year 2021&utm_content=Albums of the Year 2021+CID_e43c0ce62c8dabf3b0afb1696b83e1c0&utm_source=EmailMarketingSoftware&utm_term=The best albums of 2021

  On 12/30/2021 at 11:07 AM, Rubin Farr said:

congrats to WATMM member Dalham for making the list
 

https://www.normanrecords.com/features/albums-of-the-year-2021?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Albums of the Year 2021&utm_content=Albums of the Year 2021+CID_e43c0ce62c8dabf3b0afb1696b83e1c0&utm_source=EmailMarketingSoftware&utm_term=The best albums of 2021

pop/rock/folk/hiphop + postpostpost variants 

I haven't heard the terms post-folk or post-hiphop used yet, but the former could describe Jandek and the latter could be... Flying Lotus or Death Grips instrumentals or something.  Post-post-rock would be Hella, which makes Zach Hill in part responsible for two new post genres.  Also, Post should make a Rock cereal.

the 10 best releases i heard this year in a vaguely most-listened-to order:

Tom Hall - Failed Attempts At Silence
Bisk - Vacation Package
Rime Trails - Youth
Blush to the Snow - Nightfall / The Golden Hour
DJ Stingray 313 - Molecular Level Solutions
Andy Stott - Never The Right Time
Datassette - Zetex
Barker - BARKER002
Tony Jaguar - No Return
Taylor Deupree - Mur

and honorable mentions that i listened to a lot but not as much as those^ (or only recently heard) and are also very good, in no particular order:

Synalegg - Patchwork-02
exm - Post Acuem
Owen Gilbride - I heard the sound of violence, far off
Core Alter - m-Realizable
Holy Other - Lieve
Notien - Salire
Arovane - Reihen
André Gonçalves - Grnlr
D. Strange - Variants
Carrier Signal - Disconnected Trajectories
MPU101 - ITX022
Grandfather - Sundowner
mHz - Earth's Shadow
Marc Etel - to
Melted_Self - Distants
Minus the Bear - Farewell
Robbie Elizee - But Of Course We're Vanishing
Invisible Double - ROAM
Fronteirer - Oxidized
SDEM - Fliter
Dravier - Spring 2020 Euro Tour CD-R
Florian Kupfer - Unit
Sam Wilkes - One Theme & Subsequent Improvisations

i'm too lazy to link all of them but i think they're all obtained through Bandcamp so available on my collection list: https://bandcamp.com/araucariaceae

2020 was an amazing year for music. There weren't as many records that really grabbed me this year but these would be my picks for this 2021:

* Suryummy - Polynators
* LF58 - Live at Brancaleone
* Intelligent Life - Lost in Translation
* SEEKERSINTERNATIONAL - Presents Ragga Preservation Society
* Arian Shafiee - Pastorale
* Floatie - Voyage Out
* Eilien - Digital Lovers
* Onsy - MetaConc
* Joseph Shabason - The Fellowship
* Elephant9 - Arrival of the New Elders
* Path of the Sun - Path of the Sun
* Helado Negro - Far In
* Curved Light - A User's Guide to Existence

  On 12/30/2021 at 12:13 PM, Zephyr_Nova said:

I haven't heard the terms post-folk or post-hiphop used yet, but the former could describe Jandek and the latter could be... Flying Lotus or Death Grips instrumentals or something.  Post-post-rock would be Hella, which makes Zach Hill in part responsible for two new post genres.  Also, Post should make a Rock cereal.

post this, post that

all terms posers and wannabe use to sound as if they know what they talk about

  On 12/24/2021 at 5:22 PM, Nil said:

I forgot to list : Logos - North Vol.01 https://boomkat.com/products/north-vol-01

Bought it, excellent stuff.

  On 12/31/2021 at 9:23 PM, auxien said:

the 10 best releases i heard this year in a vaguely most-listened-to order:

Tom Hall - Failed Attempts At Silence
Bisk - Vacation Package
Rime Trails - Youth
Blush to the Snow - Nightfall / The Golden Hour
DJ Stingray 313 - Molecular Level Solutions
Andy Stott - Never The Right Time
Datassette - Zetex
Barker - BARKER002
Tony Jaguar - No Return
Taylor Deupree - Mur

and honorable mentions that i listened to a lot but not as much as those^ (or only recently heard) and are also very good, in no particular order:

Synalegg - Patchwork-02
exm - Post Acuem
Owen Gilbride - I heard the sound of violence, far off
Core Alter - m-Realizable
Holy Other - Lieve
Notien - Salire
Arovane - Reihen
André Gonçalves - Grnlr
D. Strange - Variants
Carrier Signal - Disconnected Trajectories
MPU101 - ITX022
Grandfather - Sundowner
mHz - Earth's Shadow
Marc Etel - to
Melted_Self - Distants
Minus the Bear - Farewell
Robbie Elizee - But Of Course We're Vanishing
Invisible Double - ROAM
Fronteirer - Oxidized
SDEM - Fliter
Dravier - Spring 2020 Euro Tour CD-R
Florian Kupfer - Unit
Sam Wilkes - One Theme & Subsequent Improvisations

i'm too lazy to link all of them but i think they're all obtained through Bandcamp so available on my collection list: https://bandcamp.com/araucariaceae

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That blush album really hits the right spot for me.

and wow that Taylor Deupree album.

thanks for sharing this.

Alice Coltrane - Kirtan: Turiya Sings (Impulse!, UMe) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMfLGKeM9pY
Ben Bondy - Glans Intercum (West Mineral Ltd.) https://westmineral.bandcamp.com/album/glans-intercum-ouest090
Booker Stardrum - CRATER (NNA Tapes) https://bookerstardrum.bandcamp.com/album/crater
Destiny71z - Six (Eglo Records) https://eglorecords.bandcamp.com/album/six
Don Zilla - Ekizikiza Mubwengula (Hakuna Kulala) https://hakunakulala.bandcamp.com/album/ekizikiza-mubwengula
Elko B. - Realm of Rides & Romance (Ekster) https://eksterlabel.bandcamp.com/album/realm-of-rides-romance
Exael - Flowered Knife Shadows (Soda Gong) https://exael.bandcamp.com/album/flowered-knife-shadows
Ilkae - Questionable Casino (Eerik Inpuj Sound) https://ilkae.bandcamp.com/album/questionable-casino
Interstate - Dominion Swing (Shall Not Fade) https://shallnotfade.co.uk/album/dominion-swing-lp
Kindohm - Internet Recluse (International Winners) https://internationalwinners.bandcamp.com/album/internet-recluse
Koreless - Agor (Young) https://koreless.bandcamp.com/album/agor
Laurine Frost - Nimfa (LYKA) https://laurinefrost.bandcamp.com/album/nimfa
Millsart - Think Again (Axis) https://www.axisrecords.com/product/millsart-think-again/
Perila - How Much Time it is Between You and Me? (Smalltown Supersound) https://perilazone.bandcamp.com/album/how-much-time-it-is-between-you-and-me
Pontiac Streator - Select Works . Vol II (Self-Released) https://pontiacstreator.bandcamp.com/album/select-works-vol-ii
Richie Hawtin - Richie Hawtin "Concept 1 96:12" (M_nus) https://richiehawtin.bandcamp.com/album/richie-hawtin-concept-1-96-12
Sophie Du Palais - Endurance Of Pain Is The Power Of Being (B.F.E Records) https://bferecords.bandcamp.com/album/endurance-of-pain-is-the-power-of-being
upsammy - Bend (Dekmantel) https://upsammy.bandcamp.com/album/bend

  On 12/31/2021 at 9:23 PM, auxien said:

the 10 best releases i heard this year in a vaguely most-listened-to order:

Interesting to think of a top # list in terms of most played. Certainly that plays a role in selecting favorite albums, as we wouldn't replay albums as much if we didn't like them. But I've never thought of making my list based strictly on that. The other day I generated my most-played list using last.fm (but normalized based on number of tracks per album), and it doesn't quite align with how I had ranked the albums. Some are close, sure. But in some cases I might have played an album a lot because I had high hopes and wanted to like it, then it fell lower in the rankings. Others had a lot of plays because they were in playlists I shuffled frequently. Anyway, just an observation. Maybe amount of plays should play a bigger role in my rankings, and would make it easier to finalize lists instead of agonizing over what's better based on I don't know what.

  On 1/4/2022 at 7:55 PM, sidewinder said:

Interesting to think of a top # list in terms of most played. Certainly that plays a role in selecting favorite albums, as we wouldn't replay albums as much if we didn't like them. But I've never thought of making my list based strictly on that. The other day I generated my most-played list using last.fm (but normalized based on number of tracks per album), and it doesn't quite align with how I had ranked the albums. Some are close, sure. But in some cases I might have played an album a lot because I had high hopes and wanted to like it, then it fell lower in the rankings. Others had a lot of plays because they were in playlists I shuffled frequently. Anyway, just an observation. Maybe amount of plays should play a bigger role in my rankings, and would make it easier to finalize lists instead of agonizing over what's better based on I don't know what.

well to be clear it's definitely not an exact 'most plays = higher ranking' list, i tried to insinuate that with my wording but wasn't terribly clear. if it were based totally on plays then BTTS's Off Season and Rime Trails' The Tunings of a Voice Divine would probably have knocked a couple non-BTTS/RT albums off the top 10 (they're some of the albums i play when going to sleep most nights but are also very good albums on their own but i didn't feel it necessary to rank the same artists twice on my list for brevity's sake: i am obviously being less brief now). i tried to present it more as 'these are the best ones of the year and i used my most-played estimate to sorta rank them but also ranking albums as better or worse is kind of lame' 

i never got far trying the last.fm thing, was just too much hassle to keep up with my sprawling methods of listening. but i really like the idea of it and i wish i could, it's cool that others do.

i've sorta trained myself over the years to not spend much time on things i don't like and got pretty good at it luckily.... but i've done some of what you're saying (but never been too into playlists) as to listening music a lot trying to like it. 

Here's a selection of albums from Bandcamp that caught my attention and ear in 2021; with the exception of the first one, I've culled compilations. I bought almost a thousand releases (I don't do single tracks) during the year, about 20 % physical (CDs and vinyl), but a third was disqualified because they were not released in 2021. The list is not exhaustive or in any particular order, and I apologise for filter failure - I hate making preference-based ordered lists.

Looks like an hour well spent

Damn I love this one, why wasn't it not on my list?

Baker's dozen of my favorites from 2021: 

Andy Shauf Wilds

Andy Stott Never The Right Time

 Body Meat Year of the Orc

 Dry Cleaning New Long Leg

Eli Keszler Icons

Exael Flowered Knife Shadows

Grouper Shade

Hoavi Invariant

Joyce Wrice Overgrown

Maxwell Sterling Turn of Phrase

Nala Sinephro Space 1.8

Rochelle Jordan Play With The Changes

 SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH

 

this was one of my favorites from last year and I don't think I saw it posted here or on watmm. Chain Reaction meets rave put through vaporwave filters because it's made by a kid born in 1999 (!) I think the CD even came in a metal tin. Lots of fun with some great builds and emotions.

What a world it is.... 

  On 1/10/2022 at 5:47 PM, dr lopez said:

https://nakedflames.bandcamp.com/album/247-365

 

this was one of my favorites from last year and I don't think I saw it posted here or on watmm. Chain Reaction meets rave put through vaporwave filters because it's made by a kid born in 1999 (!) I think the CD even came in a metal tin. Lots of fun with some great builds and emotions.

 

What a world it is.... 

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dude this is cool

dcom Thats was awesome really! Big Thanks! 

I like all the Dubby Acid alot.. Here is from TM404 2021:
 

  On 1/10/2022 at 6:45 PM, cern said:

dcom Thats was awesome really! Big Thanks! 

I like all the Dubby Acid alot.. Here is from TM404 2021:
 

 

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Don’t sleep on Syra people. The best of the TM404 albums imo.

For me it was mostly a classical music year. Outside of the classical realms it was a good year, but not one I found something that really makes me go crazy, i.e. on stellar levels of hype. I found out meanwhile it's more the conventional stuff that touches me most - e.g. 3:30 ff. in redSquare/exm - so lovely. exm is on a good way imo.

I was always saying IDM artists shall experiment as much as they can. But traditional elements/good melodies/vocals makes them real winners. Listened to quite some Beethoven Piano Sonatas recently and thought, "what if our IDM heroes were capable to write such incredible stuff?" Yeah, just lose thoughts. Here's my favourites of 2021:
 

The two albums of exm:

A few single tracks of exm. Standouts:

All WATMMers love Radiohead - and the video is awesome:

Don't tell anyone I+II.
I'm not exactly a fan of rapping, but Ghostemane is my thing there. Ängie/Antiparos, that refrain got burnt into my head.

  On 1/11/2022 at 9:15 AM, WurstPLUS said:

All WATMMers love Radiohead

No.

  On 12/20/2021 at 8:45 PM, ncrtx said:

https://karelvo.com/2021-music/

 

Will be updated sometime soon

Found lots of hidden gems on your list, thx!