If you were looking for it, 2021 was a fantastic year for tunes. And like last year, good tunes were desperately needed. Here are my 30 favorites of "2020 the Sequel." I think it's a pretty decent and relatively eclectic mix of goodness; from instrumental ambience to energetic rockers, from artists both refreshingly new and reliably old.
I wish I had the time and temperament to comment on each of these. But it's just not there. However, the Top 10 indeed comes equipped with a few choice words. So feel free to take a gander.
Each song links to a video or stream of it when available. Dig in.
30 \\ Two Face \\ L'Rain
"I can't build no new nothing, no new life \\ No new nothing for me \\ I've gotten all of my bricks aligned \\ but mortar's escaping me"
29 \\ Ceiling Granny \\ Mogwai
Instrumental
28 \\ Making A Fire \\ Foo Fighters
"But if this is the last time \\ Make up your mind \\ I've waited a lifetime to live \\ It's time to ignite \\ I'm making a fire
27 \\ The Limit \\ DARKSIDE
"Don't single it out \\ Don't simplify it \\ Don't kill what you know \\ Don't sleep and you'll reach \\ the limit"
26 \\ Catholic Country (feat. Feist) \\ Kings of Convenience
"To be with someone so precious \\ that it makes me anxious \\ To be there by the target \\ and know that I could miss it"
25 \\ BLACKOUT \\ Turnstile
"Blackout in the middle of your life \\ Just like a blackout in the middle of the night \\ you know it won't be long until the end \\ Let the spotlight shine on me"
24 \\ Entropy Polychord \\ Clark
Instrumental
23 \\ The Tower of Montevideo \\ Damon Albarn
"Drinking coffee and scrutinized by the black cat \\ Who lies on the day bed and abandons the world \\ As the hours slide off the page \\ Like clouds somewhere else"
22 \\ Chudoku \\ SHISHAMO
"Ah, what is the meaning of love? \\ It's full of tears, sufferings, and hardships \\ But why am I \\ still not able to stop myself from falling in"
21 \\ Tectonic \\ Tirzah
"Close, touch tips where our emotions \\ attract the meeting of our lips \\ Pursued as a rhythm \\ Magnetize our hips \\ Techno to tectonic plates"
20 \\ Voodoo \\ Still Corners
"It's voodoo \\ It's no fluke \\ Haunted by a dream I have of you"
19 \\ Cimmerian Shade \\ Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine
"Save me from everything I ask for \\ Soil from the sod, Lamb of God, rest in peace \\ I’m still just running from the answer \\ Safe in the cell, kiss and tell, my Clarise"
18 \\ Patterning \\ Alex Somers
Instrumental
17 \\ Be Sweet \\ Japanese Breakfast
"So come and get your woman \\ Pacify her rage \\ Take the time to undo your lies \\ make it up once more with feeling"
16 \\ Welcome to the Internet \\ Bo Burnham
"We set our sights and spent our nights \\ Waiting \\ For you, you, insatiable you \\ Mommy let you use her iPad \\ You were barely two \\ And it did all the things we designed it to do"
15 \\ Loretta \\ Ginger Root
"Forget her, and everything she said, she lied \\ I met her, morning noon and night \\ Well I'd say I fooled ya \\ So Loretta, you never won the fight"
14 \\ Nobody's Fault (feat. Tom Misch) \\ Benny Sings
"Hey, what can you say \\ It’s better this way \\ It’s time to sing your song \\ So I’m letting you go"
13 \\ Lady Macbeth In Chains \\ Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine
"All about Eve \\ Queen Tragedy \\ All that you need is a throne to receive \\ Now go sleep in the bed \\ That you made while she bled from her open wounds"
12 \\ I Lie Awake \\ Lightning Bug
"And in the night, I see \\ All the people that I used to be \\ And then, I dream \\ About the love I used to hold \\ So close and dear to me \\ The visions fill my eyes until I ache \\ I lie awake"
11 \\ Disappearing \\ Low
"That disappearing horizon \\ It brings cold comfort to my soul \\ An ever-present reminder \\ The constant face of the unknown"
- Top 10 -
10 \\ Rocky Trail \\ Kings of Convenience
"There was a world on your shoulders that needed lifting \\ Maybe I could have helped you with that \\ The weight is not easy I know \\ But you never know"
When one of your all-time favorites drops a new song after 12 years, and it's exactly what your soul needed in 2021, it sticks with you. "Rocky Trail" is quintessential KoC and a desperately needed breath of fresh air.
When one of your all-time favorites drops a new song after 12 years, and it's exactly what your soul needed in 2021, it sticks with you. "Rocky Trail" is quintessential KoC and a desperately needed breath of fresh air.
9 \\ ACTION \\ CHAI
"It's ok \\ It's ok \\ It's going to be ok \\ Action is more than words \\ It's ok \\ It's ok \\ Everything is ok \\ Because I believe in you and me"
Nagoya's CHAI turned a simple positivity mantra into the dance party jam of the year. And I was absolutely here for their perpetual upbeat charm.
Nagoya's CHAI turned a simple positivity mantra into the dance party jam of the year. And I was absolutely here for their perpetual upbeat charm.
8 \\ Enemy \\ Midwife
"My body is against me \\ My body wants to kill me \\ My body is an army \\ My body's out to get me"
Madeline Johnston’s self-proclaimed "heaven metal" drone manages to do quite a lot with very little, and nowhere was that more potent than this slow motion descent into the physical pain of womanhood.
Madeline Johnston’s self-proclaimed "heaven metal" drone manages to do quite a lot with very little, and nowhere was that more potent than this slow motion descent into the physical pain of womanhood.
7 \\ Lumina \\ Loscil
A song so delicate it must be turned up to 11 to fully bask in its anesthetic glory. If you can't feel the low-end bass envelope your soul, you're doing it wrong. A track that eased the tension of many sleepless nights.
6 \\ Are You Listening \\ Ours
"Are you listening to me? \\ Is there anyone, anywhere out there? \\ Can you hear me? \\ Are you listening to me?"
In 2001, Ours had a minor alt-radio hit with the gothic pop jam "Sometimes." I loved that song and the album it came from, but I hadn't really thought of the work of Jimmy Gnecco much since. 20 years later, I happened upon this bombastic gem and was floored. And like a fine wine, Gnecco still rips through the sky with a falsetto that's rarely matched in contemporary music. A spiritual hymn of simultaneous gratitude and desperate uncertainty. Sounds like my last couple years.
In 2001, Ours had a minor alt-radio hit with the gothic pop jam "Sometimes." I loved that song and the album it came from, but I hadn't really thought of the work of Jimmy Gnecco much since. 20 years later, I happened upon this bombastic gem and was floored. And like a fine wine, Gnecco still rips through the sky with a falsetto that's rarely matched in contemporary music. A spiritual hymn of simultaneous gratitude and desperate uncertainty. Sounds like my last couple years.
"Beautiful woman \\ Spend some time with me \\ Just look at my face \\ Oh, I've come a long way \\ From that bitter sound"
Mike Milosh's Rhye project has produced quite a few sultry jams over the years. And this just might be the best of them all. Which is why it was extra painful to hear of some unsavory allegations lodged against Milosh this year. "Beautiful" was already one of my most repeated listens at that point, and I spent the rest of the year trying to separate art from artist. Because...dayum... this is a near perfect tune.
Mike Milosh's Rhye project has produced quite a few sultry jams over the years. And this just might be the best of them all. Which is why it was extra painful to hear of some unsavory allegations lodged against Milosh this year. "Beautiful" was already one of my most repeated listens at that point, and I spent the rest of the year trying to separate art from artist. Because...dayum... this is a near perfect tune.
4 \\ Goodbye \\ Land Systems
December of last year, I had a unique health scare that landed me in the ER for an evening. I'm ok, but it was quite a stressful ordeal at the time. My mom sent me a link to Apple Music's Pure Ambient playlist to calm my nerves, and I've been in and out of there ever since, picking out standout nuggets as I hear them. And that's where I stumbled upon this ethereal gem. It quickly became my most played track of the year, and has never left that spot. I even put it on as I went to get my first COVID shot. It was that kind of year, and the serene melancholia of "Goodbye" was a constant throughout.
3 \\ White Horses \\ Low
"There isn't much past believin' \\ Only a fool would have had the faith \\ Though it's impossible to say \\ I know \\ Still, white horses take us home"
My absolute favorite thing about the current iteration of Low, is that I can't tell what instruments I'm listening to. Are these guitars? Synths? What exactly is making these sounds that are crunching their way through my brain and taking the paint off of my walls? I don't know, and I'm not sure I care. Because it's so wonderful. Alan and Mimi's crystal clear vocal performance gliding over the top of the chaos is icing on the distorted cake, and the questions of faith from the best Mormon band around are all too relatable.
My absolute favorite thing about the current iteration of Low, is that I can't tell what instruments I'm listening to. Are these guitars? Synths? What exactly is making these sounds that are crunching their way through my brain and taking the paint off of my walls? I don't know, and I'm not sure I care. Because it's so wonderful. Alan and Mimi's crystal clear vocal performance gliding over the top of the chaos is icing on the distorted cake, and the questions of faith from the best Mormon band around are all too relatable.
2 \\ Slide Tackle \\ Japanese Breakfast
"Don't mind me while I'm tackling this void \\ Slide tackling my mind \\ This weight feels like I'm wrestling with my head \\ Obsessing in the dark"
"Slide Tackle" is relatively simple. It's sandwiched between a handful of barn burners on the impeccable Jubilee, and one could be forgiven for perhaps losing it in the shuffle. But for my money, there was not a more euphoric musical moment this year than the horn crescendo of this song's finale. I get goosebumps every. single. time. Seeing it live was almost overwhelming. Michelle had quite a breakthrough year, and it was perfectly embodied in this sonic and thematic masterwork of pop bliss.
"Slide Tackle" is relatively simple. It's sandwiched between a handful of barn burners on the impeccable Jubilee, and one could be forgiven for perhaps losing it in the shuffle. But for my money, there was not a more euphoric musical moment this year than the horn crescendo of this song's finale. I get goosebumps every. single. time. Seeing it live was almost overwhelming. Michelle had quite a breakthrough year, and it was perfectly embodied in this sonic and thematic masterwork of pop bliss.
1 \\ That Funny Feeling \\ Bo Burnham
"The surgeon general's pop-up shop, Robert Iger's face \\ Discount Etsy agitprop, Bugles take on race \\ Female Colonel Sanders, easy answers, civil war \\ The whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door \\ There it is again \\ That funny feeling"
Bo Burnham's Inside will be remembered as a pandemic cultural landmark, as it should be. A humorous, nihilistic, whip-smart caricature of American life in this moment. I laughed uncomfortably throughout the "comedy" special, but when "That Funny Feeling" played, I sat stunned with my mouth agape for its duration. I did not laugh. "That Funny Feeling" is not that kind of funny, and the irony of the title only serves to enhance its effect. Burnham's delivery is not technically impressive (a fact he knowingly acknowledges in preface). But it easily sits alongside the Americana works of Bon Iver, Sufjan, Father John Misty or even say... I dunno... Phoebe Bridgers. A devastating, timely, instant classic that defies any and all boundaries.
Bo Burnham's Inside will be remembered as a pandemic cultural landmark, as it should be. A humorous, nihilistic, whip-smart caricature of American life in this moment. I laughed uncomfortably throughout the "comedy" special, but when "That Funny Feeling" played, I sat stunned with my mouth agape for its duration. I did not laugh. "That Funny Feeling" is not that kind of funny, and the irony of the title only serves to enhance its effect. Burnham's delivery is not technically impressive (a fact he knowingly acknowledges in preface). But it easily sits alongside the Americana works of Bon Iver, Sufjan, Father John Misty or even say... I dunno... Phoebe Bridgers. A devastating, timely, instant classic that defies any and all boundaries.
