This year, I thought it was time to resurrect an old tradition here at Flannel Enigma—a list of my 20 favorite albums of the year. The last few years, I’ve been focused far more on building out my record collection and filling in gaps from times long gone by, even though I continued to purchase new music and enjoy it in a variety of formats (digital, vinyl, and even a few CDs). This year, however, I’ve found that new music has been occupying my attention a lot more, and I thought there was a sufficient enough sample size to build a best of list.
I acquired (legally!) a lot music this year, so this list, including the honorable mentions, represents about 10% of the total, all things considered. I think that sample size is enough to make this at least a little valid in the overall scheme of things.
A few observations. First, stunningly, there are three debuts on this (well four sort of kind of if you count The Smile).
Second, the music that made it’s way into my consideration, is a lot more diverse than it has been historically. The list may not fully reflect that, but it is true nonetheless.
Finally, my list contains more projects led by women or projects that have women heavily involved in their creative direction than I’ve ever listed before—fully half. I wish I could say that I made an additional conscious effort to seek them out. I did not. They found me by the usual avenues through which I discover music. But I am certainly happy that that many have found me this year. I think that is a good indication of where the industry is now, though it’s not to say that everything is good, but that progress has been made in this area.
Those last two points please me greatly.
Enough with the introductions, on with the list. I haven’t bothered with actually ranking them in any particular order, so here they are presented alphabetically by artist. I will however save my album of year for last.
Note: I’ve marked certain links as preferred for purchase or streaming (the artist’s own site or their label’s site and Bandcamp) for a pretty simple reason. I like the artists to receive as much monetary support as possible form our consumption of their art. It ain’t an easy way to make a living folks. When in doubt, Bandcamp is usually a great option.
I’m not exactly a music critic, but I really enjoyed these albums
The Afghan Whigs — How Do You Burn?
Could I be any more predictable? Really. Death. Taxes. An album by The Afghan Whigs on my year end list. I know, I know, we’ve been through this before (with Do to the Beast, their long awaited comeback), and in retrospect, I probably let my excitement about their return make me to overrate it (would it have made the list, probably. Would it have been top, probably not).
But that was then, and this is now, and the is a whole new album to consider, How Do You Burn?, their first in over five years, with a lot of water under that particular bridge. For all the darkness that clouded its creation (the Pandemic and a pair of deaths—fellow Gutter Twin Mark Lanegan earlier this year and guitarist Dave Rosser in 2017), How Do You Burn? vibrates with an irrepressible ecstatic energy, which makes for one hell of a return.
This is their best album since 1965 or maybe even Black Love, and that includes all the projects in between. This is a band and album that is less interested in living up to expectations by following the script, than it is upending them and charting a sonically familiar but still new course. It doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes a little. “I’ll Make You See God” is the most straightforward rocker since “Honky’s Ladder.” But the album saves a even greater surprise, with the return of Marcy Mays for the song “Domino and Jimmy,” which is sort of like an update to her previous turn on Gentleman’s “My Curse.” This was an unlooked for but welcome in every way.
It doesn’t totally shy away from subjects and sounds in the band’s wheelhouse though. A line of Shots certainly revisits familiar territories for the band, while not being any kind of xerox copy of what has gone before.
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Aldous Harding – Warm Chris
I’m not entirely sure what to make of Aldous Harding if I’m totally honest. The music defies easy categorization for me. What I do know, that the songs on Warm Chris are unfailingly beautiful and immersive. I lose myself in it every time I listen. And I’ve listened to this one a lot.
She moves easily between sounds akin to Cat Power, Kate Bush, and Annie Lennox—sometimes in the same verse. And it is the voice that is the unquestioned star here. A lot of the instrumentation on the album is as quiet or sparse as something from early Sufjan Stevens.
I don’t know what else to say but give it a listen to see what I cannot easily describe.
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Alvvays — Blue Rev
The return of 80s dream pop in a big way. Paste declares this to be, “perhaps the single biggest no-brainer” on their list (while still putting it at #3). Blue Rev is their third album, but definitely there is big step up for the band. Unlike their previous releases, both of which were very good, this feels like their truly creating and inhabiting a world rather than merely evoking it.
More than anything, Blue Rev is just a hell of a lot of fun, whether you lived through the 80s or not. It take those nods to the past seriously, but it puts the music in a purely modern context at the same time. The pure vocals sit beside the layers of synth and textured guitars in a way that seems anything but programmed.
The world got a nice preview of this world with the early release of “Pharmacist,” and I can’t think of a better representation of the album as a whole.
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The Beths – Expert in a Dying Field
On Expert in a Dying Field, The Beths turn quite the trick. They take a painful subject (a break up with a long time partner) and turn it into incredible catchy power pop. I haven’t seen this trick turned this well since Lloyd Cole in his heyday.
The opening track “Expert in a Dying Field,” sets the stage for this exploration of heartbreak, mourning the loss of a shared language. That’s not to say they can’t shift tempos and moods. For example, “Silence is Golden,” brings a bouncing noise that just cries out for a crowd to jump up and down.
While recognizably the same band that debuted with the effervescent Future Me Hates Me in 2018, this is a much richer experience over all. While retaining the debt to pioneering indie band Superchunk, they’ve added a different layer of feeling that bring to mind Aimee Mann. And all the time, the attention to musical detail in the songs shine through behind the sad lyrics.
The end result, a meditation on sadness cloaked in some of the most upbeat sounds. This leaves you, as Pitchfork notes, with the sense that, it’s the hope that kills you.”
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Big Thief — Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
Big Thief have shown themselves to be a big band that isn’t afraid to do big things. Let’s rewind a little. They released two albums that would have both made my list in 2019 (U.F.O.F. and Two Hands). And this year, they follow those up with an ambitious double album that stretched them in to new places artistically with Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You.
Springing from the longest touring break they’ve had in quite a while due to the pandemic, the album was recorded at a leisurely pace in four places and sessions. To call this a ramshackle epic is a compliment of the highest order—Big Thief have never had the most polished sound. But what they give up in polish is made up by raw feeling.
It’s an album that revels in it’s influences while creating them anew. From the circular “Simulation Swarm”—each loop building on and reinforcing everything before—to more folk-ish sounds of “Certainty,” this is a band exploring its vision to the utmost.
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Black Country, New Road – Ants from up There
Black Country, New Road defy easy classification. Their debut, For the First Time, was my album of the year last year (even though I didn’t write up a list then). Their second release, Ants from up There, continues to exemplify this. Released about a year after their debut, it at once sounds cut from the same cloth, while also sounding like something entirely different. It exudes the sense that they band is constantly reexamine it self despite all the plaudits they have received (and continue to do so).
This record demands to be listened to repeatedly to fully plumb its depths. It’s not simple. But in its complexity lies its reward.
It careens wildly between moods and tempos. Look at “Chaos Space Marine” and “Basketball Shoes,” just to provide to examples. The band asks for the listener to shine the spotlight on them, and they do not shy from it throughout. Even though their lineup and direction will be changing once again, now that the lead vocalist has left the band amicably, I still can’t wait to see what they bring into this world next.
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Destroyer – LABRYRINTHITIS
Dan Bejar as Destroyer has always been a bit of an enigma. He seems to operate with a logic that is all his own, not only as Destroyer but also when he takes his concessional turn with The New Pornographers.
LABYRINTHITIS offers no exception. Here, he doubles down or the disco and electronic sounds he has dabbled with on other records, most notably on ken and Have We Met. The left turns he constantly provides here are at times unexpected but always rewarding. On “Tintoretto, It’s for You,” this tendency is perhaps most apparent (and to my ear has a bit of Art of Noise).
And he is always lyrically trenchant. He observes that “it’s insane in here, it’s a lunacy out there” on the lead single “Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread.” This is as about as perfect an observation of what we all endured during the pandemic that I can think of.
This is album to totally immerse yourself in from start to finish.
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Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia
Of all the albums on this list, this is one of the most traditional, propulsive rock and roll record. The very first notes of the album immediately recall the driving sound of Joy Division. It doesn’t stop there. The album lives firmly in the sharp edged post-punk tradition.
This is an album that shows Fontaines D.C. living up to the promise of their earlier works. Throughout they are getting more comfortable in their Irish skin, even as they wrestle with it as they navigate living in England.
The ricocheting rhythms and anxiety at the heart of the album show a band realizing their power and exercising it at full voice and volume more often than not. How can you not hear “Jackie Down the Line” and not think of the anthems that came before. But it is that opener again, “In ár gCroíthe go deo,” that really sets the tone and themes the records explores in stone.
And if you get a chance, see them live.
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Horsegirl – Versions of Modern Performance
It’s been an incredible year for first records. More on that elsewhere here. One of the standouts is Versions of Modern Performance.
What can I write about Horsegirl that hasn’t been written to death? Best friends? Check! Debut? Check! In high school? Check!
All of that and more. I love this album. I mean it ticks all the boxes for me. A group of friends geeking out on the same music I did: Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement. But it does the remarkable thing of sounding like all of that and none of that at the same time. From the Sonic Youth vibe of ”Antiglory” to the full on My Bloody Valentine background of ”Electrolocation 2,”
It all hits me like a hug from my younger self.
Yes, it’s all inspired by the late 80s and early 90s noisier sounds, but they managed to throw all these influences into a sonic hopper and stamp it down to make their own thing.
And they are only getting started it the best part.
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Mitski – Laurel Hell
Laurel Hell is a quick listen. But it packs a lot into its slim 30+ minutes. I only half expected to hear an LP from Mitski again after Be the Cowboy. Acclaim and success always seemed to be a double edged sword for her. I am very happy to have been wrong about because I think this is her best collection of songs to date. On it she has extended and refined what I most loved about her previous work.
And at the same time, it totally sounds like a creature unto itself.
The songs on Laurel Hell are wispier and more atmospheric that what she has produced before. I think to great effect. While I really liked her earlier work, Laurel Hell is by far my favorite album of hers. “Working for the Knife” immediately cuts to the chase of her ambivalence with where she was making this records, but the rest of the album belies that weariness and ends up being something wonderful beyond compare.
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Kevin Morby – This is a Photograph
I’m really late coming around to Kevin Morby. The first time I really listened to him, even after hearing folks rave about him, was his collaboration with Hamilton Leithauser (“Virginia Beach”). After that, and a lot of recommendations, I finally gave This is a Photograph a go. I was not disappointed. Of all the albums on this list, this is the one most infused with the sense of a place—Memphis.
Not only that, to my ear, it is an incredible meditation on family and love, all situated squaely within our current context. Musically it is a blender of the most American styles: blues, folk, gospel, and rock, with a barely detectable but distinct nod to Tennessee’s other musical city.
There isn’t a clanger on the entire album, but the stand out tracks for me are “This is a Photograph,” which sets the tone for the rest of the album, and “Goodbye to Good Times,” which echoes the same beats and sounds of the former in a more mournful and introspective way.
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The Mysterines – Reeling
Is this the next great sound out of Liverpool, a city that’s given us a lot. I’d like to think it might be based on this debut LP.
The Mysterines are brash, loud, and unrepentant in their sound, which is at the same very much a throwback but without feeling the least bit dated. The opening track, “Life is a Bitch (But I Like It So Much),” serves notice of what is to come right out of the gate.
Reeling is a full-bore romp of a record. Just when you think they’ve hit their top level, they seem to find another gear. That’s not to say that the tempo is madcap all the way through, but it’s very confident. “Under Your Skin” and “The Bad Thing,” in the record’s middle third, slow things down quite nicely. Then, the latter speeds to a crescendo ready for a Reading or Glastonbury sing-along. All that said, I keep coming back to “All These Things.”
Why am I the only one who seems to rate this record? For some reason, Reeling went almost entirely unnoticed on this side of the pond. NME gave it four stars in March, but good luck searching for it on Pitchfork or Paste. You won’t find anything.
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Angel Olsen – Big Time
Big Time features Angel Olsen’s voice at it’s most powerful. It needs to be because she’s lost the big, symphonic backing sounds that featured on her previous albums. Here, minimalist pedal steels and country sounds skitter lightly below her massive voice.
Her twang here isn’t affected, but it does open her songs to a sound of vulnerability that the lyrics belie. On the albums opener, she lays down her marker: “I can’t say that I’m sorry when I don’t feel so wrong anymore.”
But she really hits her stride with the title track, “Big Time.” The later single version where she sings it with Sturgill Simpson (who is no slouch) brings it to even greater heights.
Big Time is a stake in the ground marking a direction I hope she continues to follow further.
I mean, I have have to something with twang right?
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The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention
It’s difficult at times to separate A Light for Attracting Attention from its Radiohead DNA. Not that that is a bad thing, but you expect it connect those dots. However, The Smile mostly manage to avoid that.
The addition of Sons of Kemet drummer, Tom Skinner, manages to peel away from the expected more often than not. He brings a different rhythm and urgency to the project that you wouldn’t expect to find on a Radiohead release. A Light for Attracting Attention has a spark and a recklessness that hasn’t been so present in decades, particularly on “You Will Never Work in Television Again.” It’s a revelation. It’s Thom Yorke back in rock-star mode with a supercharged delivery and urgency hat you didn’t know you’d sort of missed.
In the end, The Smile use this record to stand on their own feet even though one of the most recognizable bands in the universe always lurks in the background.
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Spoon – Lucifer on the Sofa
In advance of this album’s release, Spoon leader Britt Daniel stated that he’d spent the pandemic lock-down listening to a lot of ZZ Top. While Lucifer on the Sofa doesn’t sound all that much like little old band from Texas all the way down, the rock and rock vibes and live take energy are all there from start to finish.
Minor chord guitar riffs, true to his word, abound throughout. And Lucifer on the Sofa is not afraid to rock. From radio friend stalwarts “The Hardest Cut” and “Wild,” to deeper tracks like the opener, “Held” and “On the Radio,” you can clearly see the vibe Daniel and company are going for.
Simply put, this is the best Spoon album since Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (a look through the archives here will show you how much I loved that release.
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Soul Glo – Diaspora Problems
Soul Glo are the future of punk rock. There I said it,and I stand behind it.
The shift is seismic. Diaspora Problems is an earthquake. It shows the white suburban males that have long dominated the genre how real rage sounds. They know and cut their teeth in this genre, and song by song, the album dismantles the conventions and myths that have long lived within it.
And what a potent album it is—an album that brings new soundscapes into it along the way (just listen to “Driponomics” and see). When you take away the stale conventions, this is what is left. (And some bands are already jumping on board: see Bob Vylan and Upchuck).
It should have happened a long time ago.
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Superchunk – Wild Loneliness
Since Superchunk returned after a seven-year hiatus with 2010’s Majesty Shredding, they moved from strength to strength: I Hate Music in 2013 and What a Time to Be Alive in 2018. Each album has been better than the last. I’d even argue that thee albums since then are all among their best. There’s no fluff found on them.
Which brings us to the fourth album of their current run, Wild Loneliness. This is very much an album of the pandemic. Even it’s title calls that to mind. All of its parts were recorded remotely for the first time due to the shut down and isolation measures. The result is their most subdued and introspective record since Indoor Living (natch).
Don’t get me wrong. I love it when they’re raucous and rocking as much as the next fan, but I also enjoy it when they go to places they don’t usually go, as they do on this record.
The opener, “City of the Dead,” sets the tone for the record. The album really finds it’s legs with “Endless Summer,” which evokes “Driveway to Driveway” in my mind. Of course, there’s always at least one song, “Refracting,” that could fit on any of their albums too.
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Titus Andronicus – The Will to Live
Titus Andronicus bill themselves as the rock fan’s rock band. I’d only amend that to the “thinking fan’s rock band.” In those terms, The Will to Live certainly doesn’t disappoint.
This is probably their most focused record since Local Business. I loved that album, but it isn’t remembered by most in those terms. I guess anything coming after their masterpiece, The Monitor, would suffer in its considerable shadow. The Will to Live is full of tight and shortish songs for the most part that are straight up rock and roll. They do indulge themselves of a couple of seven minute bangers, which is no surprise for anyone who has listened to them for any length of time. The album doesn’t suffer at all for it.
My personal favorites on the album are “An Anomaly” and “(I’m) Screwed” (and if you haven’t seen the video of them playing it on a parade float, you’re missing out.
It’s good to see them back to doing what they do best—bringing smart, high-energy rock and roll to the masses.
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Wet Leg – Wet Leg
I’ll be honest here. I had gotten a little tired of “Chaise Lounge.” I didn’t have high hopes for the full record based on what easily could be called a tongue-in-cheek gimmick song. So, I held back for quite a while, pretty much avoiding the songs that followed once the album actually came out. After seeing much praise for the album on various quarters online though, I caved in and listed to it a few times (first streaming, and then eventually on vinyl). I obviously like what I heard. This collection of songs show quite a range a depth beyond the initial gimmick, and the strongest songs aren’t even the first single.
From straight up hard-edges indie rock with “Angelica,” moving seamlessly to the melodic “Ur Mom,” they take everything in stride. The raucous guitar is here, but at the heart of all the songs is a playful generous vocal spirit and sound. I’ve listened to this album a lot more than I every thought I would have after hearing the initial single. “Supermarket” might be my favorite of the bunch though.
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Hurray for the Riff Raff – Life on Earth
This is my album of the year. The stats bear it out too.
I had never heard of Hurray for the Riff Raff until this year, but grabbed Life on Earth based on a recommendation from Paste. Based on the album cover, I had assumed a Florida connection, but upon a bit of research found out they hail from New Orleans. It kind of makes more sense that way now that I look at it again. Cover aside, I found myself returning to this one again and again (and again).
This is the fifth album for Alynda Segarra and the rotating cast of musicians that make up Hurray for the Riff Raff, and it’s the only one I’ve really listened to. The marketing materials bill this as “nature punk”. I don’t know what this means honestly. The music does move between quiet and loud pretty effortlessly, while switching tempos as well.
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The inevitable playlist
I write a lot about music here, and one of the reasons I do this is to share things that I like with others, hoping they may find something they like too. And I really don’t trust my blathering on about this album or that band will inspire anyone quite like actually hearing the music will, so here is playlist of songs, two from each of the selected albums above. I’ve picked an obvious one (the wisdom of charts or crowds) as well as a more personal choice. The difference may be intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer, but…
I certainly hope that you find something that you like as much as I do (or even more). As always, if you have something you think I should give a listen to, don’t hesitate to let me know.
And honorable mentions (or albums I just didn’t spend enough time with)
These list above are the albums that I like the most that I spent the most time with. There are others that didn’t quite make the cut. In many cases, it’s merely because I wasn’t able to listen to them as much as the others here. Had my time worked out a little differently this year, some of these probably would have replaced a few of those above. In the the others, they just didn’t make the top 20. In any case, I’ll be watching the new artists on this list very closely as well. They are listed in alphabetical order below.
- Beach House – Once Twice Melody
- The Black Angels – Wilderness of Mirrors
- Stella Donnelly – Flood
- Duster – Together
- Let’s Eat Grandma – Two Ribbons
- Rolling Blackouts, Coastal Fever – Endless Rooms
- Soccer Mommy – Sometimes, Forever
- Spiritualized – Everything Was Beautiful (because duh)
- Sudan Archives – Natural Brown Prom Queen (Might have the best song of the year here, but I haven’t really listened enough yet… late to the game)
- Widowspeak – The Jacket
Note: all images copyright of their original owners. Images sourced from Wikipedia or Label sites.
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