It has been a very busy year music wise and whittling this list down to 40 has been extremely difficult. There are no German Shepherd Records releases in this list as I am directly responsible for the marketing and promotion of those and I would be engaging in rank nepotism if I included any of them. Suffice to say all of the German Shepherd Releases are good enough, from my perspective, to join this list.
The top 24 of these releases will be featured in Aural Delights 474 on December 30th.
Looking at other peoples top lists for 2021 I am pleased that I’ve not gone for the obvious with this selection demonstrating that this is all about “Different Noises”.
The Australian/Victoria/Melbourne contingent here is high and dominates the top slots – rightly so, the standards/quality are exceptional and the resistance to embrace what might be perceived as popular is strong.
All of these albums have been featured on the shows during the year.
I’ve not been to a gig for a year and a bit and things don’t look as though they are getting any better soon so thanks to those musicians who have shared pre-recorded videos and actual live shows through the magic of the interweb, with a special nod to Dave and Clare for making it real.
I was considering doing a separate Jazz top 40 but time and the sheer amount of new jazz music coming in made it impossible to do. The three jazz artists in this list would have been the top three in that list if I had ever managed to finish it.
Thanks also to all of the musicians , promotion companies, and SD, Monty and The Great Gibbo for being sources for new music throughout the year. I hope you find something here that you have not heard before and that you like.
40 The Speed of Sound – Museum of Tomorrow
39 Fatherfigures – Any Time Now… And High Time Too/Lockdown Sessions
The two releases straddle last year and this so i’ve included them as one item on the list
38 Elli De Mon – Countin’ The Blues
37 Godspeed You! Black Emperor – G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
36 Damn Vandals – You Me The Devil And The Sunshine
35 BIG | BRAVE – Vital
34 Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band – Ancient Chain
33 Fly Pan Am – Frontera
32 Melvins – Five Legged Dog
31 Hareitis Harper – Draft
30 Kammahav – Distans
29 Lignua Ignota – Sinner Get Ready
28 Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys – Transit Tapes
27 Melvins – Working With God
26 Sarah McQuaid – The St Buryan Sessions
25 Struggles WIth Syntax – Perichor
24 The Antikaroshi – Extract.Transform.Debase
23 Various – The Magnolia Sessions – Series Two
This ones another cheat as it covers a series of albums releases by Anti-Corp. All recorded live below a magnolia tree in Nashville. I can’t separate any of the albums so i’ve lumped them all together under this heading. The second series started this year and has proved to be consistently excellent. Proper country music without all the usual flummery that Nashville exudes.
22 The Nearlys – Someone I Used To Know
21 Charlie Nieland – Divisions
20 Agent Starling – European Howl
19 Harry Stafford and Marco Butcher – Bone Architecture
18 Bunny and The Invalid Singers – The Flight of the Certainty Kids
17 Eamon The Destroyer – A Small Blue Car
16 Divide and Dissolve – Gas Lit
15 Dead Sea Apes Black Tempest Adam Stone – Dataland
14 Cathal Coughlan – Song of Co-Aklan
13 Léanie Kaleido – How To Weigh A Whale Without A Scale
12 Playfield – Volume 1 – 3
Another cheat with this – three great albums from an amazing collection of musicians from New York including the great Daniel Carter who co-owns the label, Orbit 577, which the music was released on. Orbit 577 has proved to be a consistently excellent label throughout 2021 with some truly remarkable releases. Playfield is an improvising collective who create amazing soundscapes.
Different Noises 