2021: Top Albums
It’s that the time of the year again. It’s the time for End Of Year Lists.
Frankly, I’m always a little mixed on these sorts of articles. Sure, they’re a great way to remind readers of noteworthy works that may have gotten lost in the fray. Many times I’ve read a “Best Films of” list and thought, “THAT’S RIGHT! I’VE BEEN MEANING TO WATCH THAT!” So, in that way, they’re nice. But there’s also certain clickbait-ness to them. “See if your favorite biopic made the cut- or the cutting room floor!”
Nevertheless, Year End Lists are here to stay, and I’m (sort of) going to participate in the trend.
Writing one of these is tough for me, though. I’ll likely need a good portion of 2022 to catch up on all of the great albums that came out in 2021. Plus, there are some amazing works which are only suitable for specific moods and settings (see my discussion on By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Injury Reserve).
So, instead of rattling off all the 2021 albums I’ve liked and mindlessly ranking them, I’ll just highlight three albums that I’ve consistently returned to this year. Note: I left off albums I’ve already written positively about this year. As you can imagine, I recommend those, too.
Animal by LUMP
Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay each have noteworthy music careers outside of LUMP. Marling is a highly accoladed folk artist with a lengthy career. She’s released seven decorated solo albums and four others with the group Noah and the Whale. And Lindsay is a member of the the Folktronica outfit Tuning.
I must admit, I’m only slightly versed with these artists’ bodies of work. I know Marling is critically celebrated and that her music has a devout fan base. I’m also vaguely aware of Lindsay’s band Tuning. I think someone once told me they were seminal in the Folktronica scene, maybe.
Either way, I know one thing: I love the duo’s second album Animal. My love began with the opening notes. “Bloom At Night” starts with floating 3/4 arpeggios in a 4/4 song. The polyrhythm reinforces the airiness. Reminds me of those helicopter seeds from a maple tree, taken by the wind to their next destination.
Moments like these can be found all across Animal, and they’re the reason for the album’s intrigue. “Gamma Ray” functions on a peculiar drum groove, but Marling and Lindsay’s knack for songwriting makes unconventional choices like this seem natural. And while the musicians’ Folk backgrounds may inform parts of the writing, the album is decidedly something other than Folk.
“Climb Every Wall” could perhaps be a Folk song. The vocals are simultaneously haunting and comforting. But the drums in the verses move forward with 2000s indie flair. And the bass lines, while possibly played on an electric bass, have a synthetic quality. All of this comes to create a distinct, but strangely familiar, sound.
LUMP incorporates grimy synths (“Paradise”), dancing percussion (“We Cannot Resist”), and haunting piano (“Oberon”) to help the listener become lost. I must like getting lost though, because this record hasn’t left my rotation since I discovered it this past summer. And you should probably get lost, too.
Jubilee by Japanese Breakfast
A quick Wikipedia search tells me that the bandleader, Michelle Zauner, is indeed not Japanese. Korean, to be clear. But I suppose that’s neither here nor there. She could be Martian and I wouldn’t care, as long as she and her band keep delivering albums as charming as 2021’s Jubilee.
I can’t say that anything on this album is necessarily groundbreaking. In fact, each of these songs I might’ve sworn I’d heard before. One has to be from the ‘90s. Another is definitely that one ‘80s song, which is actually from the early 2010s, that used to show up on my Pandora. And another is that song I used to think was by Aimee Mann, but it’s not.
Nope. Jubilee is all new and it came out in 2021. And that’s fine, because it’s damn good.
Perhaps the band’s name, Japanese Breakfast, subconsciously tells me to listen to this album in the morning. But that’s exactly when I listen to it. It’s full of positive vibes and optimism. Even the sadder-sounding songs only put me a little bit into my feels. Just enough to help me appreciate the beauty of a new day.
So whether you’re having French toast or a Spanish omelette, try pairing your meal with Japanese Breakfast. It’ll be your best and brightest important meal of the day.
LP! by JPEGMAFIA
I’ve mentioned JPEGMAFIA before. “Peggy” (as his fans affectionately call him) has played a pretty important role in the recent popularization of Experimental Hip-Hop. His 2018 album Veteran was an ear-bomb that garnered him plenty of attention, and his 2019 follow-up All My Heroes Are Cornballs was one of my favorites from the past decade.
It’s hard not to at least appreciate Peggy. He’s wholly self-made. He makes all of his own beats, writes all of his own raps and hooks, and even masters his own albums (rare, if you didn’t know). His experience as a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, mixed with his growing-up as a black teen in Alabama, makes his vantage point unique. And he’s unlike anyone you’ve heard, which is itself an accomplishment.
He tackles topics such as racism, gun ownership, cultural appropriation, and other touchy subjects with an offensive level of cleverness and humor. And his rapping style is distinct; a blend of Punk, Trap, Pop, old-school Hip-Hop, and the occasional autotune.
His newest project is titled LP! I call it a project because it’s a simultaneous release of, essentially, the same album (one labeled “Online Version” and the other “Offline Version”).
Immediately, the format of his release intrigued me. Almost like an official version and a real version. The track listings are similar, but the “Offline Version” contains a handful of tracks that he couldn’t properly release because he didn’t get permission to use the samples.
This is a shame. The “Offline Version” is the best, and real, version in my eyes. The *extra* tracks are some of my favorites on the album, especially “HAZARD DUTY PAY!” and “GOD DON’T LIKE UGLY!” Each sees Peggy venture into Soul and R&B sampling. His use of “Ain’t No Need to Worry” by The Winans and Anita Baker makes for one of the most infectious beats I’ve heard in a long time.
Elsewhere on the album, Peggy changes inspiration as if he were a bad dart player throwing at a music genre board. He samples metal, marching drums, and, in my favorite sequence of tracks, Reggae and Dub. On some of his wilder productions, he underpins spastic synthesizer and unintelligible samples with those infectious Reggae bass lines, anchoring the grooves, while exploring a new style of music at the same time.
If LP! sounds a little disoriented (and disorienting), it is. JPEGMAFIA is deft, though, at turning something that sounds questionable on paper into something wonderful in practice. (The whole is greater than the sum of its parts?)
Peggy’s charisma and vulnerability (on the mic and in the lab) are essential to his success.
The only caveat about JPEG’s music is that there’s a good probability he’ll make fun of you or a culture you associate with. That’s fine though, because it’s all in jest. Or, probably not. But maybe you need to hear it.
Obviously, this Year End List is premature. We still have the rest of November and all of December before we reach 2022. I know I’ve yet to get around to some albums, Low’s Hey What being at the top of my list. (For immaculate harmonies and songwriting, check out their 2007 album Drums and Guns.)
The overly-emotional yet always great Adele is releasing her album 30 on Nov. 19. Even sooner, the Retro-Pop-Soul-R&B duo Silk Sonic is releasing An Evening With Silk Sonic at midnight (Nov. 12). If you’re not already aware, Silk Sonic is the byname of mega-star Bruno Mars and multi-instrumentalist/singer virtuoso Anderson Paak. (See Paak.’s performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk if you wanna watch him sing lead and play perfect drums at the same time).
Surely there will be other wonderful unexpected releases before the year’s end, especially since surprise drops have become more popular.
As for 2022, it’s hard to say what the year will bring in music. When I think of possible classics to come, two geniuses come to mind: Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean. I’m definitely not alone in thinking that. Each of them has let years pass since their last full-length release, and both artists have a knack for creating only masterpieces.
In all likelihood though, the best albums of next year will be from talents on the rise or not yet even heard of. To me, that’s a beautiful thing.
LUMP’s Animal and Japanese Breakfast’s Jubilee can be found on Apple Music, Spotify and other mainstream platforms.
JPEGMAFIA’s LP! “Offline” (the fully-realized version) is only available on Bandcamp and Youtube. Bandcamp will limit your listens, but for a donation of any amount over US$ 1.00, you can “own” the songs and listen as much as you’d like. “Online” can be found through all major platforms.
