The year in (Wil’s favorite) music: 2021
We’re over a year into a new decade now and while the years can blend together lately (enter “twenty-twenty, two” reference), 2021 did see some noticeable shifts in the industry. And I’m not just talking about the dates of concerts we’ve had tickets for since jeans were still tight. A few things that caught my attention were distribution gimmicks, an endless trove of reissues and first-time releases of older music, and of course the great vinyl shortage.
I kept up where I could, and let go when I couldn’t. Here I offer up the music I revisited, found solace in, or was surprised by the most (note: I don’t include much older music that just got released in my annual review because let’s be real — the cards get stacked against any given year when you compare it to all of recorded history). I’m closer than ever to finishing my feature film project, I work with a dedicated team of economic justice activists, I’m now trained in avalanche preparedness, and my family somehow still mostly tolerates my listening to a lot of underwhelming noise as I seek my own personal gems.
The Mix
Listen to wk21: lost & found, a mixtape featuring 90 minutes of songs I enjoyed from 2021. (As always, I encourage you to listen responsibly by making sure crossfade is turned up to 12).
10. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra: Promises
How lucky are we to bear witness to Pharoah Sanders still releasing new material? This collaborative album was not likely on anyone’s bingo card. More ambient than jazz, it was my escape record of the year, providing a glimmer of peace.
9. LUMP: Animal
Laura Marling has wide appeal — but to date, that appeal has primarily been powered by her pristine vocals, intimate songwriting, and pop sensibility. Her sophomore album in partnership with Mike Lindsay, this record struck me as quite different and the production reminded me of favorites like Broadcast and The Slits. Our family devoured it on a road trip through CA’s North Coast.
8. serpentwithfeet: DEACON
Irresistibly catchy while sounding singularly fresh. I’m not sure there was a 2021 record that I felt the urge to share with others more throughout the year. At times sparse and other times sprawling, serpentwithfeet proves he can do more than create a feel-good tune here and there. This is an album where comforting songs sound even more comfortable together.
7. Sonny & The Sunsets: New Day with New Possibilities
Sonny Smith and his gang of off-kilter musicians have had me hooked for a decade now. So when he told me after a show that he was putting out a country-ish follow-up to 2012’s Longtime Companion, I jumped on my saddle to wait. It was worth it as this record and I rode the dark trail of 2021 together.
6. Low: HEY WHAT
If you’ve discussed new music with me lately, you’ve heard a common lament: it’s all mood, rarely song. Most of the time that leaves me yearning for things that stick. But Low proves that they know how to make a song, they just want you to walk with them in their universe so that you can find it together. HEY WHAT is full of my kind of paradoxical mood music, equal parts dissonant and gorgeous.
5. Juan Wauters: Real Life Situations
I found myself having so much fun listening to all the nooks and crannies of this album that I could only imagine how much fun Juan Wauters and his diverse array of collaborators had while they made it. You never really know what vibe will be up next — ‘90s throwback jam, earnest bedroom confessional, indie Latin traditional, freestyle rap — you just know it’s pure JPW.
4. Michael Hurley: The Time of the Foxgloves
I live in Oregon where the 80-year old legend often dubbed variations of Snock reigns as a folk hero. I even happened upon an intimate masked outdoor performance while chowing lunch one day. But I had no idea a new album was coming in December, right when I needed one. I put it on repeat driving through snowy Snoqualmie, WA, and haven’t stopped yet.
3. Dijon: Absolutely
I see what Dijon did there: gripped me with amazingly intimate home recordings full of handclaps, stray backup vocals, and a humble roughness reminiscent of Phil Elverum’s oeuvre, and then hit me with some of the cleanest, most polished, soulful takes of the year. I will Absolutely be listening to this variety act well into 2022, and I look forward to where he takes his music next.
2. Mexican Institute of Sound: Distrito Federal
I had been following a steady drip of songs from them for years, but this collection hit when I wanted an ole standby. It became my most played album of the year, pleasantly shocking my wife and me with a rendition of “The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum” — a song we used for our ridiculous wedding dance.
1. Myriam Gendron: Ma délire — Songs of love, lost & found
A scrapbook of endless intrigue combining drone, sound collage, and folk covers from across regions and time. It was a sweet surprise I stumbled upon after I saw a friend listening to her great debut release from Mama Bird Recording, and wondered if she had a new record. Sometimes, you get your wish. I got a whole album full of them.
After hearing the mix, check out 101 tracks from wil’s top releases of 2021 in order.
