2021, In Conclusion
Rounding up the second half of 2021
At the midway point of the year I made a post rounding up what had happened in the year so far. Well this post is going to round up everything that happened since then.
Best Track Produced by an NBA player
PradadaBang has a production credit from none other than Phoenix Suns center JaVale McGee.
Best Music Substack (that’s not this one, obviously)
That belongs to the bizarre blog started by Perfume Genius. Amongst interesting content like demos and song recommendations, there are other articles including ‘some screaming’ , ‘I Love Spitting A Little Mist Out’ , and ‘I have had sex with every actor from the TV show “Supernatural.”’
Did King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Release an Album?
No studio albums (but three new live albums).
Worst Headline
Jimothy’s Flex Looks a Little Different from the New York Times.
The Yeehaw Section
I’m far from the biggest country fan in the word, but the genre often gets a bad rep, so this section is for the “I listen to everything but country” people. First of all, that’s hardly ever true. Second, country’s bad rep is from the commercial, patriotic, trucks & beer songs that top country charts. From a numbers standpoint these can overshadow genuinely great country albums, so I’m highlighting a few that are worth your time from this year.
Stand For Myself - Yola this one’s a no brainer, all the accolades around Yola are earned.
Fits of Laughter - Bendigo Fletcher nice blend of folk, americana, and country
A Color of the Sky - Lightning Bug kind of like country mixed with shoegaze, creates its own cozy world.
Safe Distance - Janet Simpson probably the most traditional country album on this list, but Simpson does it well
Sara Bug - Sara Bug stripped back country rock that Sara dubs ‘southern-kitsch’
The Ballad of Dood & Juanita - Sturgill Simpson Simpson’s been a critical country darling as far back as 2014, but to me he turns in his best album here by returning to country’s roots of bluegrass and mountain music. If you like the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou, this one’s for you.
Shittiest Headline of the Year
Someone Pooped In The Pit At Turnstile’s Santa Cruz Show And It Ended Up On The Stage
A crappy situation for the Baltimore hardcore band.
Best moment of the DONDA rollout
I know there’s a lot of news being thrown at us everyday, but I want to make sure we all haven’t forgotten about Kanye adding Pusha T to a group chat with Drake and sending a Joker meme. That sounds like something out of someone’s fan fiction, but we got to see it in real life.
There’s An Imposter Among Us!
Snoh Aalegra made a Solange song
Bleachers made a Bruce Springsteen album
Logic made a Juice WRLD song
Yeat made some Playboi Carti albums
The ‘Judge A Book By It's Cover’ Award
Unrelated, But
Still a good amount I’ve yet to watch, but my favorite movies of the year (that I saw) were Dune, Judas & the Black Messiah, The Suicide Squad, Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, & Some Kind of Heaven.
Acknowledging I Have A Problem
In full I listened to 726 unique albums and 378 unique EPs this year. I have a problem.
The Worst Album I Heard This Year
Last year this was a whole post, but this time I’ll keep it brief. The worst album I heard this year was Jordi by Maroon 5.
An already bland and shallow pop rock album made worse by the fact that it’s somehow a memorial to their recently deceased manager? Sure you can see the connection with the single “Memories,” but outside of that the album is totally unrelated. If I was Jordi’s ghost I would haunt the fuck out of Maroon 5 for releasing this bullshit in my honor.
Most Down Bad Fanbases Update
Patch updates since last edition: congratulations to Isaiah Rashad, Lorde, & Adele fans for making it out! New additions include Arctic Monkeys, Rae Sremmurd, Saba, Janelle Monáe, A$AP Rocky, Robyn, MGMT, & Rosalía
Here’s an up to date rankings of the most significantly down bad fanbases (measured in days since last album release).
Rosalía - 1143 days
Robyn - 1150 days
Pusha T - 1304 days
A$AP Rocky - 1304 days
Arctic Monkeys - 1318 days
Rae Sremmurd - 1325 days
Janelle Monáe - 1332 days
Saba - 1354 days
MGMT - 1409 days
Kelela - 1535 days
Alvvays - 1563 days
Arcade Fire - 1605 days
SZA - 1654 days
Paramore - 1682 days
Kendrick Lamar - 1710 days
Joey Bada$$ - 1717 days
Sampha - 1780 days
The xx - 1801 days
Ab-Soul - 1836 days
Frank Ocean - 1947 days
Abra - 1983 days
Radiohead - 2051 days
Rihanna - 2152 days
Neon Indian - 2266 days
Sky Ferreira - 2973 days
Sean Kingston - 3022 days
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 3173 days
Coming soon: my favorite albums of the year. Stay tuned!