22 Favorite Releases of 2021

In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share my favorite releases of the year. Not exhaustive, just some personal highlights. Happy new year!

Previously: 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory, 1991
buy
Beat Happening – Dreamy, 1991
buy / download
Carlos Maria Trindade & Nuno Canavarro – Mr. Wollogallu, 1991
buy / download
Dip In The Pool – Aurorae, 1991
buy / download
Enya – Shepherd Moons, 1991
buy
Flipper’s Guitar – Doctor Head’s World Tower, 1991
buy / download
Harold Budd – By The Dawn’s Early Light, 1991
buy / download
The Hilliard Ensemble – 
Carlos Gesualdo: Tenebrae, 1991
buy / download
Jean C. Roché – Rossignols: A Nocturne of Nightingales, 1991
buy / download
Keisuke Sakurai – Is It Japan ?, 1991
buy / download
Laurie Spiegel – Unseen Worlds, 1991
buy
LFO – Frequencies, 1991
buy / download
Main Source – Breaking Atoms, 1991
buy / download
Mariah Carey – Emotions, 1991
buy
Massive Attack – Blue Lines, 1991
buy
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless, 1991
buy
Mychael Danna – Sirens, 1991
buy / download
Nirvana – Nevermind, 1991
buy
The Orb – The Orb’s Adventures
Beyond The Ultraworld, 1991
buy
Primal Scream – Screamadelica, 1991
buy
Roberto Mazza – Scoprire Le Orme, 1991
buy / download
Talk Talk – Laughing Stock, 1991
buy

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 61

A kind of sequel to last month’s mix, this month’s episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is more deeply autumnal sounds: private press folk, psych, early Fleetwood Mac, a very good and strange Bono cameo, Bridget St. John covering Buddy Holly, and many more great things. I think of it, very loosely, as a “70s meltdown,” even though there are plenty of non-70s things in here–it feels very 70s in spirit. I hope you like it! If you do, you can download an mp3 version here.

Tracklist:
1. Hudson Brothers – So You Are A Star
2. Wool – If They Left Us Alone Now
3. Virginia Tree – Make Believe Girl
4. Gavin Bryars – Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet (Tramp With Orchestra III, No Strings)
5. Dave Van Ronk – Hang Me, Oh Hang Me
6. Fleetwood Mac – Man Of The World
7. Durutti Column – William B
8. The Fleetwoods – Truly Do
9. John Martyn – Don’t Want To Know
10. Emitt Rhodes – Lullabye
11. Bill Fay – I Hear You Calling
12. Fairport Convention – Who Knows Where The Time Goes
13. The Feelies – On The Roof
14. Karen James – The Morning Dew (James McHree)
15. Bridget St. John – Every Day
16. Daniel Lanois – Falling At Your Feet
17. Lou Reed – Satellite Of Love
18. Judee Sill – The Kiss

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 60

My newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is meant to evoke the mania that I feel every fall, though this year it feels even moreso. I tend not to listen to as much music in the summer, but as soon as the temperature starts to drop music feels much more compelling to me, much more intense and moving and somehow adjacent to my impulse to “burrow.” Lots of things in here that I really love, so I hope you do too–and you can download an mp3 version here. Flyer photo by Georgia Hilmer.

Tracklist:
1. Frank Sinatra – Nature Boy
2. Travesía – En Este Momento
3. Yo La Tengo – You Can Have It All
4. Faye Wong – 天使
5. Barbara Lewis – Hello Stranger
6. Holger Czukay – Persian Love
7. Aretha Franklin – Bridge Over Troubled Water (Long Version)
8. Penguin Cafe Orchestra – Perpetuum Mobile
9. Jane Siberry – The Lobby
10. Beat Happening – Godsend
11. John Prine – Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
12. The Roches – Losing True
13.  Brian Eno & John Cale – Spinning Away

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 59

My newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is a mix of some of my favorite high-drama extra slinky synth pop, and proof positive that my musical brain will perhaps always be trapped in the late 80s. I hope you like it! You can download an mp3 version here.

Tracklist:
1. Alexander O’Neal – Hearsay ’89 (Remix)
2. Cliff Richard – Lean On You
3. Icehouse – Paradise
4. Lauren Wood – Fallen
5. Freur – Doot-Doot
6. Billy Mackenzie – In Windows All
7. Level 42 – Children Say
8. Peter Cetera – Body Language (There in the Dark)
9. Vanessa Paradis – Joe Le Taxi
10. Martin Page – In the House of Stone and Light
11. Pet Shop Boys – Being Boring
12. Phil Collins – One More Night
13. Boy George – The Crying Game

[RIP] Franco Battiato – La Voce Del Padrone, 1981

After learning on Tuesday afternoon about Franco Battiato’s death at the age of 76, I spent a lot of the past two days trying, for the first time, to take in his body of work as a whole, to whatever extent that’s possible. It’s not possible, really, as he did and made too much. Even comparisons to Brian Eno’s trajectory fall short. Although Battiato began his almost five decade long career as an avant-garde experimental musician, he went on to not just infiltrate the mainstream, as Eno has done to great effect; rather, he’s been a dominant force in defining the Italian pop world. As a non-Italian it’s difficult for me to fully appreciate the extent of his belovedness and omnipresence, but nevertheless he achieved a level of household name recognition to which the outpouring of love and grief on social media is a firm testament.

Battiato began making music with a series of excellent and challenging records which shifted between leftfield electronic experimentation and pure acoustic minimalism, before trying his hand at post-prog, new wave, modern classical, and eventually Europop stardom (highly recommend his performance at the 1984 Eurovision contest with longtime collaborator Alice). Up until recently, I had only ever experienced his work in small pieces: his singular 1974 Clic, which places his avant-garde tendencies firmly in conversation with his Krautrock contemporaries; his 1977 self-titled record of dogmatically minimalist piano; his 1992 opera Gilgamesh; his 1994 choral mass Messa Arcaica, which made its live debut in Saint Francis Basilica in Assisi; fragments of his decades-long collaboration with Giusto Pio; his contributions to personal favorites like Prati Bagnati del Monte Analogo and Medio Occidente. In trying to look at his catalog from the top down–202 releases, 358 appearances, 758 credits, according to Discogs–I thought a lot about which record readers of this blog might like to hear if they were unfamiliar with his catalogue, but also about which records of his I enjoy listening to over and over, which are the warmest and most accessible. I’ll be honest, a lot of his pop work feels somewhat alienating to me as an American–not just because his notoriously brilliant lyrics, ranging from wry social commentary to more esoteric and occasionally religious themes, are mostly in Italian and so are lost on me. Tonally, too, many of his pop modes feel extremely European in a way that my pop sensibility just isn’t attuned to.

But La Voce del Padrone is an exception, and as the first Italian LP to sell more than a million copies, it also marks a huge turning point in Battiato’s career. It was his third foray into the pop world, after L’era del Cinghiale Bianco and Patriots, and of the three it feels, to me, like the one in which he most virtuosically stuck the landing. Though there are still some gentle post-prog inflections around the edges, Padrone is a new wavey synth pop record through and through, and it’s dotted with the spacious and euphoric tracks that feel destined for scoring movie credits. (Every time I hear the driving guitarpop of “Cuccurucucu” I fantasize about a version of Flashdance in which Jennifer Beals’s iconic dance training montage is scored by Battiato instead of Michael Sembello’s “Maniac.”) And though Padrone is irrefutably Italian, Battiato remains in dedicated dialogue with extra-national influences: he quotes Dylan in both “Bandiera Bianca” and “Cuccurucucu,” the latter of which is a riff on huapango classic “Cucurrucucú Paloma” and includes some funny nods to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Chubby Checker. I also can’t help but hear the dry, rolling cheekiness of Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain all over closer “Sentimiento Nuevo.” There is, in short, plenty here for American ears.

The music world has lost a visionary in the true sense of the world, an oddball genius who managed the rare feat of being unabashedly himself while achieving megastardom. Thank you for everything, Franco–you will be dearly missed.

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[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 54

Here’s my most recent episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. I wanted it to be an over-the-top shot of dopamine, songs that make me feel euphoric and credits-rolling optimistic. I’ve been trying to be a little bit more adventurous in combining genres and decades, so there are some odd transitions in here–hopefully they make you feel good as they do for me. I’m very pleased to say that this episode gave Jessica Simpson her first ever airtime on NTS. Happy spring–I hope you and your loved ones have all gotten vaccinated and that the world feels a little brighter. You can download an mp3 version here.

Tracklist:
1. Jun Miyake – Relaxn’
2. Jessica Simpson – I Think I’m In Love With You
3. Ahmed Fakroun – Nisyan (Edit)
4. Renée Geyer – Be There In The Morning
5. Blondie – Sunday Girl
6. Throwing Muses – Not Too Soon
7. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – C’mon Marianne
8. Bananarama – Shy Boy
9. The Three Degrees – When Will I See You Again
10. Forrest – Rock The Boat
11. Plustwo – Melody
12. Brandy – Top of the World ft. Mase
13. Pet Shop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This ft. Dusty Springfield
14. Ryuichi Sakamoto – You Do Me
15. Mr. Twin Sister – Expressions
16. George McCrae – Rock Your Baby
17. Jon Secada – Just Another Day

Jane Siberry – The Walking, 1987

I’m about to revert to a mode of musical description that I strongly dislike, which is: comparing female musicians with other singular female musicians, specifically female musicians who often get lazily categorized as “weird.” I’m sorry, I don’t like it either! But Jane Siberry is slippery to describe. I’ll do my best anyway.

The Walking is the fourth full-length from Canadian musician Jane Siberry. It’s the follow-up to No Borders Here, which was a highly ambitious record–and yet The Walking feels even moreso, both incredibly intricate and enormous, rapidly oscillating between macro and microcosmic. While Siberry found critical acclaim in Canada, her records–as I understand it–mostly flew under the radar in the US, in ways that feel both legible and surprising. There are elements of these songs which feel like they could have been commercially marketable to the art pop crowd, in spite of everything: there’s a theatrical spaciousness that’s difficult not to compare to Kate Bush or Laurie Spiegel, and a navy blue moodiness with cavernous percussion that suggests Talk Talk. Ultimately it seems that it was the songs’ length that kneecapped their commercial viability, at least for radio play, which is unfortunate given how easy it is to picture the jangly and ecstatic “Ingrid And The Footman” rolling through the ending credits of a John Hughes movie. The Walking functions as a series of eight mini-suites, only one of which is shorter than five minutes, and most of which comprise a series of movements, or, as Siberry refers to them, “emotional clearings”–which, if we are to take the title of The Walking at face value, starts to make sense as an extended metaphor.

And still, in spite of all of the tones and colors that she wrings out in less than an hour, she speaks in interviews of having “more to say than [she] could fit into a song,” and of having to abridge tracks that stretched over 30 minutes down to nine. Perhaps it’s this condensation which, in spite of how expansive these songs are, produces the feeling of rolling a many-faceted prism in your hands as it catches the light. It’s rare to hear a musician who so effectively combines poetic lyricism and razor-sharp, stunningly beautiful musicianship. Joanna Newsom’s Ys and its mode of mythical, longform, large-scale storytelling immediately come to mind. Not much else does.

For me, the most emotionally pointed track on the record is “The Lobby,” which, lyrically, paints in large, dreamlike gestures: it provides the flint-spark of pathos, gorgeous musical bones, and a lot of empty space. The rest is up to the listener, left to drape their own emotions and projections all over the structures that Siberry has built for us. I don’t know what this song is actually about, but I don’t need to, as I’ve already stuffed it full of my own stories. Listening to it provides the odd sensation of long fingers rooting around in your psyche, prodding deftly at the parts that hurt the most. There’s catharsis here too, though. If pain is a movement in Jane’s suite, then so is joy, and so is self-realization.

Thank you Nick for introducing me to Jane–you can read Nick’s post about her record No Borders Here from a few years ago, and read his more recent and very good interview with her here.

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[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 53

My newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is a very slow and drippy soundtrack to snowmelt season. Normally this time of year I make mixes that are explicitly springy, full of bird sounds and optimism. I’m definitely feeling some optimism–I imagine most people are, after the grimness of the past winter. But it’s difficult not to feel a little suspicious of that impulse, when everything seems like such a wash. So: this mix is drippy, with a few small green things poking out, but there’s plenty of mud in it too. I hope you like it. You can download an mp3 version here.

Tracklist:
1. The Seekers – I’ll Never Find Another You
2. Sundari Soekotjo – Bengawan Solo
3. The Sweet Inspirations – Why Am I Treated So Bad
4. Mojave 3 – Love Songs On The Radio
5. Scott Walker – It’s Raining Today
6. Eileen Farrell – Beau Soir
7. The Crystals – Please Hurt Me
8. Esther & Abi Ofarim – Oh Waly Waly
9. Woo – It’s Love
10. Connie Francis – Half As Much
11. Barbara Lewis – Baby I’m Yours
12. Céline Dion – Falling Into You
13. John Foxx & Harold Budd – Stepping Sideways
14. Ziemba – Brazil
15. Gordon Fergus-Thompson – Suite Bergamasque: III. Clair De Lune
16. Craig Armstrong ft. Elizabeth Fraser – This Love
17. The Roches – Losing True

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 49: Classic Kpop Special

My newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio is a classic K-pop special I made with very special co-host Bread Face. It’s mostly from the 90s, with a few early aughts tracks. Until recently I had been under the (false!) impression that K-pop was mostly limited to dance-oriented bubblegum synth pop, but I’ve been loving delving into all of its sub-genres: included here are moments of hip hop, trip hop, r&b, and even some ska influences. We had so much fun putting this together (my first time bringing a guest onto NTS!), so I hope you enjoy it. If you do, you can download an mp3 version here. Thanks as always for listening 💚

Tracklist:
1. Fin.K.L – 당신은 모르실꺼야 (You’ll Never Know)
2. 베이비복스 (Baby VOX) – Get Up
3. 엄정화 (Uhm Jung Hwa) – 초대 (Invitation)
4. 宋光植 (S.E.S.) – Feeling
5. 제이 (J) – 가사 첨부 (Time Out)
6. 영턱스클럽 (Young Turks Club) – 타인 (Ta In)
7. 지누션 (Jinusean) – How Deep Is Your Love
8. 룰라 (Roo’ra) – 날개 잃은 천사 (Angel Without Wings)
9. 宋光植 (S.E.S.) – Dreams Come True
10. 박지윤 (Park Jiyoon) – 아무것도 몰라요 (I Don’t Know)
11. 영턱스클럽 (Young Turks Club) – 정 (Jung)
12. 드렁큰 타이거 (Drunken Tiger) – 난 널 원해 (I Want You)
13. 宋光植 (S.E.S.) – Be Natural
14. 박지윤 (Park Jiyoon) – 박지윤 – (Coming Of Age Ceremony)
15. 타샤니 (Tashannie) – 경고 (Caution)
16. 이정현 (Lee Jung Hyun) – 와 (Wa)

[Mix for NTS Radio] Getting Warmer Episode 44

Here’s my newest episode of Getting Warmer for NTS Radio. Nothing too conceptual here, just an hour of gooey and pretty sounds and transportive ambient synth pop. I hope you like it–mp3 download is here. Cheers, sending love.

Tracklist:
1. Ingus Baušķenieks – Kur Tu Esi
2. Akira Inoue – アントルシャ・ディス (Entrechat Dix)
3. Mahae – Sailing On Board
4. Takashi Kokubo – Before You Dream
5. Kathi Pinto – Almost Daylight
6. Aragon – かかし
7. Barbara Young – No Game At All
8. Takashi Kokubo – Quiet Inlet
9. The Beach Boys – All I Wanna Do
10. Steve Kindler – Something From The Heart
11. Frank Chickens – Mothra
12. Mami Koyama – Love Song
13. Tetsu Inoue – Magnetic Field