Hello world. Emerging from another year of cabin fever. Covid is still here, no end in sight. The country is as divided as ever. Even feeling the effects of global warming as we kick the new year off with record high temps. Wish I could say music was the one bright spot keeping me going, but it is more like music is helping me to cope. Lots of repetitive, atmospheric sounds – nothing too disruptive to the system. Sure, a few rock records slipped through, but mostly I looked for a mood. That said, here goes with what kept me afloat.
Top of the Heap
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Natural Information Society w/ Evan Parker – Descension (Out of Our Constrictions)
A modern day A Love Supreme. By far the record I listened to the most this year. Works both to mellow out to or at extreme, high volumes.-
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Parannoul – To See the Next Part of the Dream
Classic shoegaze for the new age. Imagine Cornelius fronting a more melodic, toned-down My Bloody Valentine. -
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The Weather Station – Ignorance (Deluxe Edition)
Super moody; works for both foreground and background listening. A tinge of jazz coupled with soothing vocals keeps me coming back. -
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Arooj Aftab – Vulture Prince
Such a haunting, beautiful sound. Tone is set early and continues throughout. -
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Nala Sinephro – Space 1.8
Soothing and meditative, the perfect soundtrack for a year of anxiety. -
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Sufjan Stevens & Angelo de Augustine – A Beginner’s Mind
A return to the simple, ethereal sound. The perfect soundtrack for pandemic era window gazing. -
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Turnstile – Glow On
Emo at it best. When I need that extra energy boost or something to bop my head up and down, this was 2021’s go-to. 15 tracks, all explode in under 3 minutes. -
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Snail Mail – Valentine
Eerie synths dominate this strong showing. The emotion shines through right from the onset – love gained and lost. -
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Anders Parker – Wolf Reckoning
Always loved our hometown hero, but for me, this record hits close to home. Tight arrangements, big sound. Give me more of this! -
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Pinegrove – Amperland, NY
Ok, it’s not exactly all new music, but I cannot get enough of these guys. They continue to blow me away with the restrained emo-rock. Hudson Valley represent! - Mac McCaughan – The Sound of Yourself I’ve always been a Superchunk fan, but from a distance. This record has made me re-evaluate my relationship with them – for the best.
- Julius Eastman – Femenine Perfectly capturing the Philip Glass spirit of repetition, it’s a slow build, but one well worth the wait.
- Lou Barlow – Reason to Love Underrated as a songwriter, this gem almost fell through the cracks. I’m not a mystic, but I think the negative energy that surrounds him finally passed.
- Marisa Anderson / William Tyler – Lost Futures Slow and spacey, just the way I like it. It feels like I was invited to an intimate recording session.
- Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime Hypnotic and mesmerizing throughout. The vibe is both old school and new school at the same time.
- Jose Gonzalez – Local Valley Beautiful sound, as usual. Mix of English and Spanish language fits perfectly together.
- Field Music – Flat White Moon Classic British rock. Melodic and poppy, with a slight edge to it.
- The Armed – Ultrapop Is ultrapop a new genre? Or is it meant mockingly? Hard to tell, but either way it works for me. Perhaps a bit too heavy, but who says they must play by the rules?
- Soccer96 – Dopamine Keyboard + Drummer = psychedelic jazz. Driving beats layered with deep grooves.
- Ryley Walker – Course in Fable What a busy year for Ryley Walker. Between the Dave Matthews cover record and the instrumental release, this solo record is the best of the bunch.
What a great year for reissues, tributes, and real oddities:
- Amy Winehouse – At the BBC I can never get enough of Amy and a reminder of how tragic a loss she was.
- The Beatles – Let It Be (reissue) Holy cow! What a great year to be a Beatles fan. The documentary was amazing and the volume of new stuff on this box set is incredible.
- Neil Young – Reissues 4 live records this year alone, led by a 1970 show at Carnegie Hall, a blistering Live Aid, a 1990 Crazy Horse show and 1971, pre-Harvest. Amazing.
- Velvet Underground – I’ll Be Your Mirror, Tribute If the Beatles doc didn’t come out this year, the VU doc would win for the best, ever. And this tribute is just icing on the cake.
- Joe Strummer – Assembly A tight collection of the best of post-Clash years. In my opinion, these songs stand on their own against many of the best Clash tunes.
- CSNY – Déjà Vu box set A massive collection of live and outtakes for one of the all-time great records.
- Can – Live in Brighton 1975 Can were not just a great studio band. These groundbreaking live shows sound fresh and relevant today.
- Bruce Springsteen – The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts There is a reason Bruce’s live shows have the reputation they do and now we have the proof of how good they were.
- John Coltrane – A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle A true masterpiece, it is the entire A Love Supreme suite played live.
- Radiohead – Kid A Mnesia Kid A & Amnesiac combined make this set worth it, but when you add all the bonus material, it’s like getting new Radiohead from the peak era.
And that my friends, is all she wrote. Until next time, stay safe!
Eric Fine NYC