My favorite records from 2021
Here are my top 20 albums of 2021, in alphabetical order:
- A Winged Victory for the Sullen — Invisible Cities
- Akira Rabelais — À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu
- Balmorhea — The Wind
- Biosphere — Angel's Flight
- Dustin O'Halloran — Silfur
- ★ El Michels Affair — Yeti Season
- Enfant Sauvage — Petrichor
- Jay-Jay Johanson — Rorschach Test
- José González — Local Valley
- Kazuya Nagaya — Microscope of Heraclitus Reworked
- Keaton Henson — Fragments
- Meitei — Kofū II
- Mogwai — As the Love Continues
- Saint Etienne — I've Been Trying To Tell You
- Sebastian Plano — Save Me Not
- Slow Meadow — Upstream Dream
- Sofia Kourtesis — Fresia Magdalena
- The Weather Station — Ignorance
- Various Artists — @0
- WhoMadeWho — Live at Abu Simbel, Egypt
More great albums released this year:
- Alex Somers — Siblings and Siblings 2
- Altın Gün — Yol
- Alva Noto — HYbr:ID I
- Amandra & Karim — Sqala
- Andy Stott — Never the Right Time
- Angel Olsen — Aisles
- Arushi Jain — Under the Lilac Sky
- Bicep — Isles
- Big Red Machine — How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?
- Blanck Mass — In Ferneaux
- Blawan — Woke Up Right Handed
- Bleachers — Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
- Burial + Blackdown — Shock Power of Love
- Burial — Chemz / Dolphinz
- Cassandra Jenkins — An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
- Caterina Barbieri & Lyra Pramuk — Knot of Spirit
- Colleen — The Tunnel and the Clearing
- Daniel Avery — Together in Static
- DARKSIDE — Spiral
- David Walters — Nocturne
- Deafheaven — Infinite Granite
- Devendra Banhart & Noah Georgeson — Refuge
- Driftmachine — Spume & Recollection
- El Michels Affair — The Abominable EP
- Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou — The Helm of Sorrow
- Fabrizio Paterlini — LifeBlood
- Flying Lotus — Yasuke
- GAS — Der Lange Marsch
- Godford — I YOU SHE
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor — G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!
- Grouper — Shade
- Haiku Salut — The Hill, The Light, The Ghost
- Hammock — Elsewhere
- Hania Rani — Music for Film and Theatre
- Heinrich Köbberling, Laurel Halo, Moritz Von Oswald Trio — Dissent
- Helado Negro — Far In
- Jean-Michel Jarre — Amazônia
- Jon Hopkins — Music for Psychedelic Therapy and Piano Versions
- Jóhann Jóhannsson — Gold Dust
- Jónsi — Obsidian
- kangding ray — Branches
- Lana Del Rey — Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Banisters
- KMRU — Logue
- Laurent Garnier & The Limiñanas — De Película
- Library Tapes — Dusk
- Lisa Gerrard & Jules Maxwell — Burn
- Lonely Guest — Lonely Guest
- Marianne Faithfull — She Walks in Beauty (with Warren Ellis)
- Max Richter, Kristjan Järvi, Baltic Sea Philharmonic — Exiles
- Murcof — The Alias Sessions
- Nick Cave & Warren Ellis — CARNAGE
- Nightmares On Wax — Shout Out! To Freedom...
- Nils Frahm — Old Friends New Friends
- Ólafur Arnalds — When We Are Born
- Perfume Genius — IMMEDIATELY Remixes
- Perila — How Much Time it is Between You and Me?
- Radiohead — KID A MNESIA
- Ryuichi Sakamoto & David Toop — Garden of Shadows and Light
- Sarah Davachi — Antiphonals
- Slow Meadow — Happy Occident Reworks
- Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine — A Beginner's Mind
- Sufjan Stevens — Convocations
- Sunn O))) — Metta, Benevolence
- The Black Dog — Music For Photographers
- The Jungle Giants — Love Signs
- The War on Drugs — I Don’t Live Here Anymore
- Tindersticks — Distractions
- Vanishing Twin — Ookii Gekkou
- Viagra Boys — Welfare Jazz
- Vladislav Delay — Rakka II
- Xiu Xiu — OH NO
Found after the year was over:
- Enzo Favata The Crossing (found 2023)
Timeline of favorite records: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.
Other 2021 lists: Rough Trade UK, Rough Trade US, Bleep, The Quietus, Boomkat, The Wire.