This is in a random order, except for #1, which isn’t the “best” album of the year, just the one I loved the most. Make up your own mind lmao.
10. TEENAGE HALLOWEEN – TEENAGE HALLOWEEN LP
A few years ago I was obsessed with the band RVIVR. Their 2013 album The Beauty Between was one of the principal pieces of culture that helped me start to work through my gender, and it doesn’t hurt that it was an absolute fucking ripper of a record. TEENAGE HALLOWEEN captures a lot of the vibe of that record while being considerably more “mainstream.” I wouldn’t be surprised if this band eventually broke through the rotten vestiges of “rock radio” or whatever passes for it in 2021. This shit really does it for me, and I’ll be listening to this in regular rotation for a while.
9. LANDOWNER – IMPRESSIVE ALMANAC LP
I don’t know how to describe this, but I’m going to try: this music is all acute angles. It honestly sounds like if Marc Rebillet played bass and like two strings on a guitar at a time TOPS. It’s not the most complex or interesting thing I’ve listened to all year but it drilled its way into my fucking brain all the same, and now I’m making it your problem.
8. MOOR MOTHER – BLACK ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE AIR LP
“WE WALK THIS LAND OF MONSTERS/ ON TOP OF THE GRAVES OF GODS/ AND WE KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT GOD.” The lyrics/poetry of Camae Ayewa and her collaborators intermingle with harsh and dissonant soundscapes in fascinating ways. It’s hip-hop, noise, punk, ambient, so much more. It’s challenging but it’s a good kind of challenge and I would go so far as to say this is an absolute must-listen record.
7. WRETCHED OF THE EARTH – COLLAPSE // REBIRTH LP
There is a particular amalgamation of crust and metal that only hardcore environmentalists ever seem to be able to play that coincidentally is entirely my shit, and COLLAPSE // REBIRTH is exactly this. Seven songs of apocalyptic hardcore reminiscent of FALL OF EFRAFA, TRAGEDY, and CATHARSIS. I’m definitely interested to learn more about this band, since they hail from Portland but their second track, “Kū’e,” prominently features the Hawaiian language and song no. 5, “Razme Mellat,” appears to be sung mostly in Arabic.
6. SLANT – 1집 LP
I don’t know how Iron Lung Records keeps doing this. Year after year they publish shit that melts my ears and infects my bones with violence. Slant’s first full-length record, “1집,” is no exception. This album screams through ten songs in 17 minutes, and I’ll be honest, I went back in for a second play immediately after I finished the first one. Vocalist Yuji sounds extremely reminiscent of Meghan O’Neil from PUNCH, and the rest of the band isn’t all that far behind (no blastbeats in this recording though). Just an incredibly tight, mean and fast hardcore album. Another album that will probably find itself on constant rotation long into the future.
5. GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR – G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! LP
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR makes the kind of music that soundtracks a weird-ass public radio project that is only allowed to air at midnight or later on Thursdays. Each composition sets an emotional stage, even if that emotion is just allowing oneself to be washed away in the chaos and turmoil of too many feelings all at once. This one is for me and for me alone, I think.
4. JEFF ROSENSTOCK – SKA DREAM LP
This will not be the only ska record on this list, and I won’t apologize for it. This is a re-recording of Rosenstock’s 2020 album NO DREAM, but all the songs are played in the style of ska and reggae. This was on heavy, heavy rotation for me this year, particularly the song “S K A D R E A M.” It’s eminently listenable and danceable, and I love it to fucking pieces.
3. AKINTOYE – CENTREPIECE LP
Toronto hip-hop artist Akintoye is probably the first musical act I’ve ever learned about from Twitter, and I’m glad I did. His second album, CENTREPIECE, is 10 tracks of tightly-woven lyrics over lush and driving melodies, ruminating on success, relationships, social media, and record label/music scene politics. Absolutely go listen to it.
2. TSUSHIMAMIRE – SAKE MAMIRE LP
This came out of nowhere back in November, and I’m glad it did. I’ll be honest with you – the last couple TSUSHIMAMIRE albums have felt kind of lackluster to me, as they discarded their punk sound for something more akin to psych rock on NEW (and to a lesser degree on ABANDON HUMAN). On SAKE MAMIRE the band goes back to basics, somehow also getting louder in the process.
1. WE ARE THE UNION – ORDINARY LIFE LP
I don’t know if this is strictly the best ska album of the year as that field was extremely competitive, but it’s the album that hit me the hardest this year, for damn sure. I was a sobbing mess in my car by the time the album got to its terminal point with “December,” and that’s how you know you’ve been Touched By The Music.