The best albums of 2021 (update April 15)
The numbers presented next to each album title are the weighted average rating, and, in brackets, average and number of ratings (out of 33 included sources). The weighted average is based on a formula that includes a) the average of ratings and b) the number of sources that have rated the album.
The magazines I used for the ratings were:
EUR + Australia: Dansende Beren (New this year thanks to Chilton's proposal); Gaffa-dk; Gaffa-sw; Humo; Indiestyle; Jenesaispop; Laut; Mondosonoro; Musikexpress; Nojesguiden; Ondarock; Plattentests; Sentire Ascoltare; The Music
UK: Clash; DIY; God Is In The Tv; Load And Quiet; Music OMH; NME; The Guardian; The Line Of Best Fit; The Skinny
USA + Canada: Allmusic; Beats Per Minute; Consequence Of Sound; Exclaim!; Nothern Transmissions; Paste; Pitchfork; Popmatters; Rolling Stone; Spectrum Culture; Under The Radar
Highlights: Rob makes the top three songs from the album according to Allmusic, Consequence of Sound, Jenesaispop, Plattentests, The Skinny, etc…
Albums that have obtained new reviews but worsened the score
New entry or Re-entry
Albums that have obtained new reviews and improved the score
Out:
None
35 - Celeste: Not Your Muse - 75,2 (77,2 / 15)
Highlights: Stop This Flame – Strange - Ideal Woman
Neo-Soul
34 - Madlib: Sound Ancestors - 75,2 (76,9 / 16)
Highlights: Road of the Lonely Ones – Dirtknock - Chino
Instrumental Hip Hop
33 - The Hold Steady: Open Door Policy - 75,2 (75,6 / 20)
Highlights: Family Farm – Spices - Lanyards
Indie Rock
32 - Virginia Wing: Private Life - 75,7 (80,0 / 8)
Highlights: I’m Holding Out for Something – St. Francis Fountain – Moon Turn Tides
Art Pop
31 - Taylor Swift: Fearless (Taylor’s Version) - 75,8 (80,4 / 7)
Highlights: Love Story (Taylor’s Version) - You Belong With Me (Taylor’s Version) - Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)
Country Pop
30 - Ghetts: Conflict Of Interest - 75,9 (80,6 / 7)
Highlights: IC3 – Little Bo Peep - Mozambique
UK Hip Hop
29 - Cassandra Jenkins: An Overview On Phenomenal Nature – 75,9 (80,3 / 8)
Highlights: Hard Drive – Crosshairs – New Bikini
Singer-Songwriter
28 - Genesis Owusu: Smiling With No Teeth - 76,0 (80,0 / 9)
Highlights: Gold Chains – Drown - Whip Cracker
Neo-Soul
27 - Kiwi Jr.: Cooler Returns – 76,1 (78,1 / 15)
Highlights: Undecided Voters – Waiting in Line – Only Here for a Haircut
Indie Rock
26 - Bicep: Isles – 76,2 (75,5 / 23)
Highlights: Atlas – Sundial - Saku
Future Garage
25 - Pauline Anna Strom: Angel Tears in Sunlight – 76,5 (80,4 / 9)
Highlights: Tropical Convergence – Temple Gardens at Midnight – The Pulsation
Ambient
24 - Jazmine Sullivan: Heaux Tales – 76,7 (79,7 / 12)
Highlights: Lost One – Pick Up Your Feelings – Girl Like Me
Neo-Soul
23 - Viagra Boys: Welfare Jazz - 76,7 (75,7 / 24)
Highlights: Creatures – Girls & Boys – Ain’t Nice
Post-Punk
22 - Slowthai: Tyron – 77,1 (74,1 / 30)
Highlights: Feel Away – Cancelled - Mazza
UK Hip Hop
21 - Sleaford Mods: Spare Ribs – 77,2 (76,2 / 24)
Highlights: Mork n Mindy – Shortcummings – Nudge It
UK Hip Hop
20 – Tribulation: Where The Gloom Becomes Sound - 77,6 (82,3 / 7)
Highlights: Hour of the Wolf – Daughter of the Djinn – Dirge of a Dying Soul
Gothic Metal
19 - Goat Girl: On All Fours – 78,2 (78,1 / 21)
Highlights: Sad Cowboy – Badibaba – The Crack
Post-Punk
18 - Django Django: Glowing in the Dark - 78,3 (77,6 / 23)
Highlights: Spirals – Waking Up – Glowing in the Dark
Indie Pop
17 - Steve Earle & The Dukes: J.T. - 78,5 (82,2 / 10)
Highlights: Champagne Corolla – Last Words – I Don’t Care
Americana
16 - The Anchoress: The Art Of Losing - 78,5 (82,9 / 8)
Highlights: Unravel - The Art of Losing - Show Your Face
Art Rock
15 - Anna B Savage: A Common Turn - 78,6 (81,6 / 12)
Highlights: Corncrakes – BedStuy - Two
Psychedelic Folk
14 - Serpentwithfeet: Deacon - 78,7 (78,0 / 23)
Highlights: Hyacinth - Sailor’s Superstition - Fellowship
Alternative R&B
13 - Mogwai: As The Love Continues - 78,8 (76,2 / 29)
Highlights: Midnight Flit – Ritchie Sacramento – Dry Fantasy
Post Rock
12 - Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails Over the Country Club - 78,9 (76,9 / 27)
Highlights: Chemtrails over the Country Club - White Dress - Wild at Heart
Singer-Songwriter
11 - Arab Strap: As Days Get Dark - 80,2 (80,2 / 21)
Highlights: The Turning of Our Bones - Here Comes Comus! - Tears on Tour
Slowcore
10 - Shame: Drunk Tank Pink – 81,2 (78,5 / 29)
Highlights: Alphabet – Water in the Well – Snow Day
Post-Punk
09 - Dry Cleaning: New Long Leg - 81,3 (79,3 / 27)
Highlights: Scratchyard Lanyard - New Long Leg - Strong Feelings
Post-Punk
08 - For Those I Love: For Those I Love - 81,9 (86,3 / 8)
Highlights: I Have a Love - Birthday/ The Pain - Top Scheme
Progressive House
07 - Godspeed You! Black Emperor: G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! - 82,1 (80,4 / 26)
Highlights: "Government Came" (9980.0kHz 3617.1kHz 4521.0 kHz)/Cliffs Gaze/Cliffs' Gaze at Empty Waters' Rise/Ashes to Sea or Near to Thee - A Military Alphabet (five eyes all blind) (4521.0kHz 6730.0kHz 4109.09kHz) / Job’s Lament / First of the Last Glaciers / where we break how we shine (ROCKETS FOR MARY) - Fire at Static Valley
Post-Rock
06 - Black Country, New Road: For The First Time – 83,0 (81,0 / 27)
Highlights: Sunglasses – Track X - Instrumental
Experimental Rock
05 - The Weather Station: Ignorance - 83,5 (82,8 / 23)
Highlights: Robber – Parking Lot – Tried to Tell You
Art Pop
04 - Arlo Parks: Collapsed In Sunbeams – 83,9 (80,9 / 30)
Highlights: Hurt – Eugene – Black Dog
Bedroom Pop
03 - Julien Baker: Little Oblivions – 84,2 (81,2 / 30)
Highlights: Hardline – Ringside – Favor
Singer-Songwriter
02 - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis: Carnage – 84,8 (83,8 / 24)
Highlights: White Elephant - Hand of God – Old Time
Art Rock
01 - Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra: Promises – 88,2 (87,8 / 22)
Highlights: Movement 1 - Movement 6 - Movement 8
Modern Classical
MCCh 2021 (06) April 15
- Otisredding
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MCCh 2021 (06) April 15
Last edited by Otisredding on Mon May 17, 2021 9:02 am, edited 5 times in total.
- Otisredding
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Re: MCCh 2021 (06) April 15
36 - Jane Weaver: Flock - 75,0 (77,7 / 13)
37 - Katy Kirby: Cool Dry Place - 75,0 (79,0 / 9)
38 - Tomahawk: Tonic Immobility - 74,9 (78,6 / 10)
39 - The Staves: Good Woman - 74,3 (76,3 / 15)
40 - Diivde And Dissolve: Gas Lit - 74,0 (78,0 / 9)
41 - Du Blonde: Homecoming - 73,9 (78,6 / 7)
42 - Valerie June: The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers - 73,4 (77,1 / 10)
43 - Tune-Yards: Sketchy. - 73,3 (74,0 / 19)
43 - Chad VanGaalen: World's Most Stressed Out Gardener - 73,3 (77,3 / 9)
45 - Claud: Super Monster - 73,3 (75,0 / 16)
46 - Noga Erez: Kids - 73,3 (78,0 / 7)
47 - The Antlers: Green To Gold - 72,7 (74,7 / 15)
48 - William Doyle: Great Spans of Muddy Time - 72,5 (75,8 / 11)
49 - Flock of Dimes: Head of Roses - 72,3 (76,0 / 10)
50 - The Body: I've Seen All I Need To See - 72,2 (75,9 / 10)
51 - Cloud Nothings: The Shadow I Remember - 72,1 (73,8 / 16)
52 - The Besnard Lakes: The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstom Warnings... - 72,0 (75,4 / 11)
53 - A Winged Victory for the Sullen: Invisible Cities - 71,9 (74,9 / 12)
54 - Brockhampton: Roadrunner: New Light, New Machine - 71,9 (75,9 / 9)
55 - Puma Blue: In Praise of Shadows - 71,8 (74,8 / 12)
56 - Weezer: OK Human - 71,5 (70,8 / 23)
57 - Lael Neale: Acquainted with Night - 71,5 (76,1 / 7)
58 - Foo Fighters: Medicine at Midnight - 71,4 (69,7 / 26)
59 - Ryley Walker: Course In Fable - 71,0 (74,4 / 11)
60 - Tindersticks: Distractions - 71,0 (73,4 / 14)
61 - Psychedelic Porn Crumpets: SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound - 71,0 (75,0 / 9)
62 - Spirit Of The Beehive: Entertainment, Death - 70,9 (75,6 / 7)
63 - Still Corners: The Last Exit - 70,8 (74,5 / 10)
64 - James Yorkston And The Second Hand Orchestra: The Wide, Wide River - 70,7 (74,4 / 10)
65 - Pearl Charles: Magic Mirror - 70,5 (74,9 / 8)
- Rob
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Re: MCCh 2021 (06) April 15
We're live again (not that this was ever not live):
About the Godspeed album, on Spotify it does not appear as four tracks, but all subdivisions are separate songs too. On the highlights you'll see the total tracks, but in the playlist you'll just get three 'sub-tracks', which I could luckily deduce because one of the highlight providers actually ranked the subtracks.
Also, please forgive Godspeed for their song and album titles, they know not what they are doing.
About the Godspeed album, on Spotify it does not appear as four tracks, but all subdivisions are separate songs too. On the highlights you'll see the total tracks, but in the playlist you'll just get three 'sub-tracks', which I could luckily deduce because one of the highlight providers actually ranked the subtracks.
Also, please forgive Godspeed for their song and album titles, they know not what they are doing.
Re: MCCh 2021 (06) April 15
Post-rock bands do come up with some ... interesting titles. For my money, nothing's ever going to top the title of the final epic track from Stars of the Lid's And Their Refinement of the Decline: "December Hunting for Vegetarian Fuckface."
Re: MCCh 2021 (06) April 15
Bumping this up because I listen to one album from this list daily and don’t want to have to go to the second page. Truly a great service and I thank otisredding for his continued work on it!
"The better a singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying."
- Otisredding
- Keep On Movin'
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