With the holidays almost upon us, it's time to put a pin in our 2021 album rankings. Below is McQ's Best Of's first pass take on the best 2021 had to offer, 114 titles, followed by a list of another 30 or so I did take in in 2021 and received some critical buzz, but that I just didn't hear enough times to form a solid opinion on.
Highest Recommends
1. Promises - Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra
2. HEY WHAT - Low
Strong Recommends
3. Blue Weekend – Wolf Alice
4. The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers - Valerie June
5. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert - Little Simz
6. Jubilee - Japanese Breakfast
8. Collapsed In Sunbeams – Arlo Parks
9. Carnage - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
10. Smiling With No Teeth - Genesis Owusu
Solid Recommends
11. Bright Green Field - Squid
12. Stand For Myself - Yola
13. Prioritize Pleasure - Self Esteem
14. Daddy's Home - St. Vincent
15. Sour - Olivia Rodrigo
16. An Overview On Phenomenal Nature - Cassandra Jenkins
17. I Don't Live Here Anymore - War On Drugs
18. As The Love Continues - Mogwai
19. Heaux Tales - Jazmine Sullivan
20. Afrique Victime - Mdou Moctar
21. In These Silent Days - Brandi Carlile
23. Drunk Tank Pink – Shame
24. Glow On - Turnstile
25. 30 - Adele
26. Flock - Jane Weaver
27. G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
28. Welfare Jazz - Viagra Boys
29. The Art Of Losing - The Anchoress
30. I'll Be your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground - Various Artists
31. Vulture Prince - Arooj Aftab
32. Sympathy For Life - Parquet Courts
33. Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
34. Montero - Lil Nas X
35. Flying Dream 1 - Elbow
36. On All Fours - Goat Girl
37. For the first time – Black Country, New Road
38. California Soil - London Grammar
39. Long Lost - Lord Huron
40. New Long Leg - Dry Cleaning
41. Cavalcade - Black Midi
42. For Those I Love - s/t
43. Comfort To Me - Amyl & the Sniffers
44. Little Oblivions - Julien Baker
45. Urban Driftwood - Yasmin Williams
46. Good Woman - The Staves
47. A Beginner's Mind - Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine
48. Van Weezer - Weezer
49. They're Calling Me Home - Rhiannon Giddens & Francisco Turrisi
50. Infinite Granite - Deafheaven
51. A Few Stars Apart - Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real
52. Blame Game - Beach Bunny
53. Seek Shelter - Iceage
54. As Days Get Dark - Arab Strap
55. Dream Weapon - Ghengis Tron
56. Outside Child - Allison Russell
57. Conflict Of Interest - Ghetts
58. Pressure Machine - The Killers
59. Call Me If You Get Lost - Tyler, The Creator
60. Cooler Returns - Kiwi Jr.
61. Seventeen Going Under - Sam Fender
62. Playground In A Lake - Clark
63. CRAWLER - IDLES
64. American Noir - Creeper
65. A Common Turn - Anna B Savage
66. Home Video - Lucy Dacus
67. Delta Kream - The Black Keys
69. Chemtrails Over The Country Club - Lana Del Rey
70. The Path Of The Clouds - Marissa Nadler
71. Senjutsu - Iron Maiden
72. Death Of A Cheerleader - Pom Pom Squad
73. Epic Ten - Sharon Van Eten
74. Seeking New Gods - Gruff Rhys
75. Dear America - Eric Bibb
76. Black Metal 2 - Dean Blunt
77. The Apple Drop - Liars
78. J.T - Steve Earle
79. Quietly Blowing It - Hiss Golden Messenger
80. Pale Horse Rider - Cory Hanson
81. Skin - Joy Crookes
82. Raise The Roof - Robert Plant & Alison Kraus
83. SINNER GET READY - Lingua Ignota
84. Screen Violence - Chvrches
85.We're All Alone In This Together - Dave
86. If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power - Halsey
87. I Know I'm Funny Ha Ha - Faye Webster
88. Endless Arcade - Teenage Fanclub
89. Open Door Policy - The Hold Steady
90. Ultrapop - The Armed
91. Pray For Haiti - Mach-Hommy
Mild Recommends
92. DEACON - Serpentwithfeet
93. Former Things - LoneLady
94. Things Take Time, Take Time - Courtney Barnett
95. Flat White Moon - Field Music
96. The Asymptotical World EP - Yves Tumor
97. Coral Island - The Coral
98. Forever Isn't Long Enough - Alfie Templeman
99. Modern Fiction - Ducks Ltd.
100. Losing Light - Antlers
101. Vanities - W. H. Lung
102. Far In - Helado Negro
103. to hell with it - Pink Pantheress
104. Any Shape You Take - Indigo De Souza
105. Valentine - Snail Mail
106. I've Been Trying To Tell You - Saint Etienne
107. Fatigue - L'Rain
108. Let Me Do One More - Illuminati Hotties
109. Greatest Hits - Waterparks
110. Black To The Future - Sons of Kemmet
111. KID A MNESIA (Disc 3 only) - Radiohead
112. Pink Noise - Laura Mvula
113. Boy From Michigan - John Grant
114. ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH - SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
Other 2021 Albums of Critical Note
Angel Tears In Sunlight - Pauline Anna Strom
Detroit Blues - Danny Kroha
Donda - Kanye West
Fat Pop - Paul Weller
Fever Dreams - Villagers
Fire - The Bug
Glowing In The Dark - Django Django
How Long Do You Think It's Going To Last - Big Red Machine
Illusory Walls - The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die
King's Disease II - Nas
Mood Valiant - Hiatus Kaiyote
My Morning Jacket
Planet Her - Doja Cat
Shade - Grouper
Sling - Clairo
Soberish - Liz Phair
Sound Ancestors - Madlib
Spiral - DARKSIDE
star-crossed - Kacey Musgraves
Still Over It - Summer Walker
Talk Memory - Badbadnotgood
The Blue Elephant - Matt Berry
The Myth Of Happily Ever After - Biffy Clyro
The Shadow I Remember - Cloud Nothings
The Turning Wheel - Spelling
These 13 - Jimbo Mathus & Andrew Bird
Typhoons - Royal Blood
Vince Staples
Last Updated 12.19.22
2 comments:
Dear David.
I am a huge fan of your quora and I’m not happy to have found your website. If you have the time, I would love to know your best track of each year. Maybe you could add that best number one spot track of each year on these album pages as we wait for the complete track lists.
Dear Anonymous,
I will try to address that going forward and thanks so much for your support.
I can tell you that my favorite track of 2020 was either Porridge Radio's Lilac or Low Cut Connie's Help Me, my favorite of 2021 was definitely The Weather Station's Robber, and my favorite cut so far in 2022 is Fontaine DC's In ar gCroithe go deo (fascinating, troubling story behind the title of this one!).
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