2021 was supposed to be the year to negate all $hit that was 2020. What we got was inflated prices ( especially for concert tickets, yikes!), supply and people shortages, every road under construction, more versions Coronavirus ( folks, if we get to the ominous ‘Omega’ variant, it’s all over), murder records in tons of American cities, and an even more divided nation. Hell, even “working man” favorites Bob Dylan & Bruce Springsteen sold their music for Hundreds of Millions of dollars ( these two have ALWAYS been frauds, btw, and I have no clue how they duped so many people, the same way Bernie Madoff did, I guess… get “respectable” people to buy-in on the lie, and watch it spread like lice.)
It’s safe to say, we didn’t “bounce back.” Human brains are prone to negative bias ( thanks for exacerbating Metaverse!, whatever the Hell you are!), but there were some good things that arrived in 2021. While my opinion on what some of those good things are will probably lead to more division, here they are anyway. You can disagree, but in the words of the Dude, “That’s just like, your opinion man.”
The Best Albums from 2021:
- My Morning Jacket – ( Self Titled). They released Waterfall II last year; the companion album to their 2015 work, The Waterfall. The Waterfall II tracks were recorded during the same sessions as Waterfall, and they hadn’t recorded anything since. Reading interviews about the band, they were tired. Even thinking about not recording together anymore. Jim James worked on some solo stuff, and the other members of the band worked on other projects ( more on that later…turns out there’s a “connection” between some of these great 2021 works). After some concerts last year, the fire to create again was reignited. Glad they did. This album is one of their best. ( that’s saying something). From opener “Regularly Scheduled Programming” wryly lamenting our addictions to screens, and cultural commentary ( just like this!), “In Color” that drives home how much better things are in real life ( Metaverse be damned). A few songs later, the contradiction happens: Carl Broemel ( guitarist ) rips an amazing riff with Jim James singing about how he could only feel like himself outside of the real world, and at night. The album clocks in at an hour, with 11 tracks. It is their most “Jam Band” album. You can hear how they might take the songs and expand them on the live setting. I was lucky enough to see them do this, this past Summer at a Festival plagued with all kinds of supply issues ( including running out of water in 95 degree heat). They are right up there with the best shows on the planet. Go out and seem them; this wonderful band, that is impossible to categorize, while you can.
- Leon Bridges – ( Gold-Diggers Sound). I’m admittedly, a late-comer to liking Leon Bridges. In fact, I kinda didn’t ( and still don’t) like his album “Coming Home” ( I know, I know, blasphemy). I was originally turned off – We need people doing a retro-soul mime act like we need more inflation. I’m glad I didn’t shun him entirely. When Leon and Khruangbin collaborated to make the ridiculous good “Texas Sun” EP, I opened up on him. Then… “Gold-Diggers Sound” came out this past Summer. It changed my mind on him 180 degrees. It was never his voice; it’s obviously good. Gold-Diggers Sound is what any creative R&B album should be. After the opener, “Born Again”, Leon floors it with “Motorbike”, “Steam” and “Why Don’t You Touch Me.” I’d challenge you to find 3 better consecutive songs on any R&B album from the last 20 yrs. The production on the album is exquisite, while remaining loose. It reminded me of D’Angelos “Voodoo”, just a creative push from front to back.
- Futurebirds & Carl Broemel ( Bloomin’). My principal Summer 2021 activity was me kicking myself for not having come across Futurebirds earlier. ( Seriously, I don’t know how it happened, and I’m pretty pissed that I could have been listening to them for much longer than I’ve been. My Spotify 2021 Wrapped Stats noted my apparent attempt to make up for lost time). This short EP features My Morning Jacket guitarist, Carl Broemel ( more on him again, in a sec). The lead highlight of this one is “College Try”; a song that we can all relate to that’s about when the effort that used to get it done now fails you. What to do? What. To. Do? If I’m plugging anything here, it’s that you should be listening to Futurebirds – not just this short work, but everything they’ve made. Thank me later.
- Strand of Oaks ( In Heaven). Well, this album nomination should tie the Carl Broemel theme together with a pretty ribbon. Guess who does a ton of the guitar work on this album? Yup- him again. All roads lead to Carl, apparently! If you listened to early Strand of Oaks ( like the album “Heal”) then with this work, you’d notice some similarities, but it’s quite a different “vibe” as the kids say. Tim Showalter ( who is, essentially the band), used the same producer as the last breakthrough album “Eraserland” but the overall backing band is different as it’s no longer My Morning Jacket ( only Carl and Bo show up for this one, but so does James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle to play on standout track, “Easter”). The opener “Galacticana” – a play on words of Americana, is the right choice to begin the record- Great hook, great message of hope in togetherness, soaring guitar solo,…hard to go wrong. “Somewhere in Chicago” is a tribute to John Prine. Any song that does that, is probably going in the right direction. Though Tim says that this is a “new” chapter for ‘Oaks’, it doesn’t seem like a huge break from ‘Eraserland.’ Here’s the thing, it’s not fair to compare. But guess what? That’s what the human brain does, and how it learns – by making comparisons to what it already knows, and since we know what a transcendent ( yes, I really just used that word) piece of work Eraserland was, it’s natural to compare “In Heaven” to it. It’s a great follow-up and a fine record on it’s own; just not what Eraserland was, and thank goodness, it didn’t need to be. It’s still one of the best of the year.
- Gov’t Mule – (Heavy Load Blues). This album came out in November. Not a ton of fanfare. Not a lot of press. Sure, some folks that are familiar with the jam-band scene probably knew about it, but beyond that, eh, safe to say it wasn’t on the radar. It’s a shame. First, Warren Haynes is a National Treasure. His guitar work hasn’t mellowed any after all of the years. If anything, he proves that he can still stay true to hardcore blues ( which this record is) without sounding like he’s reaching. “Snatch it back, and hold it-Hold it Back – Snatch it back, and Hold it (medley)” is probably the most fun to listen to on the album – time change and all. It’s apparent that Warren Haynes has an affinity for Tom Waits-having previously covered some of his songs, including “Going Out West” – a scathing and unapologetic send-up of Hollywood ( which now means TikTok) culture. On Heavy Load Blues- Warren covers Tom again, but this time, it’s “Make it Rain”; it’s a wonderful version, as Haynes is one of the few people under the Sun that can cover Tom Waits without it sounding like a farce.
Honorable Mentions:
- Black Keys – Delta Kream – These dudes cover old Delta blues songs, and it’s good. ‘Nuff said.
- Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee. Think if Gwen Stefani with musical ability before she determined that money was more important than being “good”, combined with pop-hooks, synths, Wilco-style heart break, and on and on. Caught the end of one of their sets at a festival and was dissapointed I wasn’t there for the whole thing – they were a thrill live.
- Ryan Adams – Big Colors – Yup, I know he’s cancelled. But you all still listen to Michael Jackson’s Thriller at minimum every Halloween, and not seem to care what he did to kids so… not too worried about still LOVING Ryan’s music, and he’s still very much better at this songwriting gig than 99.9% of the known universe, and proves it here. This album was supposed to be out a couple of years back, but with his “canceling”, it was delayed.
- John Mayer – Sob Rock – The best and most versatile guitar player of our generation proves he is versatile enough to make the 80’s sound good, today. “Wild Blue” = Dire Straits, without remotely trying to hide it.
- Drake – Certified Lover Boy– Champagne Papi loves himself some more.
Some Other Things I loved ( Not necessarily all from 2021, but checked out this past year):
- Chuck Pahlaniuk’s Substack.– Most folks know Chuck’s book, Fight Club, but don’t know all of his other works. Chuck is piece by piece releasing a serialized novel called Greener Pastures on his Substack, while also giving out writing tips and all kinds of other interesting things that are odd, disgusting, beautiful, cringeworthy, and insightful – NEVER boring.
- Book- Chaos Monkeys – Antonio Garcia Martinez. – This book’s been out for some time, I just got to it in 2021. This unapologetic look at Silicon Valley is probably too much fun while realizing how screwed up it really is.
Andrew L Hamilton 