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The veiled Moroccan punk band Taqbir are serious: ‘By pushing their anger towards the sexism, homophobia and racism that lingers like a dark, poisonous fog around Moroccan culture, Taqbir play a very dangerous game.

 

They are putting themselves on the frontline, risking potential imprisonment, death threats and more, just to escape the cultural prison they’ve grown up in.’ Frontwoman Aicha (a pseudonym) and her band perform behind veils to conceal their true identities out of fear for repercussions.

 

Their debut EP ‘Victory Belongs To Those Who Fight For A Right Cause’ features only four songs and clocks in at seven minutes. Think Cocaine Piss meets The Slits meets X-Ray Spex. Live, they are ‘a blast of compressed rage.

 

thequietus.com/articles/31582-taqbir-interview

www.thebentmoustache.com/

 

The full version of my interview with Ajay Saggar of the Bent Moustache is now up on the neate blog.

A slightly edited version appeared on the Quietus.

 

More neate photos.

best_of_2021: The Wire, Uncut, Resident Advisor, The Quietus, Rough Trade UK, Gorilla vs Bear, Mojo, Rolling Stone, Louder Than War, Stereogum, Billboard, AllMusic, Consequence of Sound, Pitchfork, NME, Slant, NPR, PopMatters, Gigwise, The Guardian & deepskyobject.

 

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The 50 Best Albums of 2021 by deepskyobject

 

1. Crystal Canyon - Yours With Affection and Sorrow [shoegaze]

2. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend [alternative]

3. Черноплодь/Чернохор - И З Г О Р А [drone, russian avantgarde metal]

4. Nation of Language - A Way Forward [new wave]

5. Amyl and The Sniffers - Comfort To Me [punk]

6. Trigg & Gusset - Black Ocean [dark jazz]

7. TRPP - TRPP [dream pop]

8. Biosphere - Angel's Flight [ambient]

9. Alessandro Cortini - Scuro Chiaro [drone, electronic]

10. Divide and Dissolve - Gas Lit [doom]

11. Flyying Colours - Fantasy Country [shoegaze, dream pop]

12. Stereolab - Electrically Possessed [Switched On vol. 4] [lo-fi]

13. НОМ - МАЛГИЛ [Посвящается ОБЭРИУ] [russian avantgarde]

14. Kraków Loves Adana - Follow The Voice [darkwave]

15. Kælan Mikla - Undir Köldum Norðurljósum [icelandic post-punk]

16. Soft Blade - Softic [minimal wave, russian electronic]

17. Drug Store Romeos - The World Within Our Bedrooms [indie pop]

18. Vollam - Mirror EP [shoegaze, dream pop]

19. Ethereal Shroud - Trisagion [atmospheric black]

20. Olivia Rodrigo - Sour [pop]

21. Goat Girl - On All Fours [indie pop]

22. Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny Haha [indie pop]

23. The Splashers - Homesick EP [dream pop]

24. Françoiz Breut - Flux Flou de la Foule [french pop]

25. Jarvis Cocker - Chansons D'Ennui Tip-Top [pop]

26. Tape Waves - Bright [dream pop]

27. 김민하 [BrokenTeeth] - 편지​(​The Letters) [shoegaze, dream pop]

28. Blankenberge - Everything [shoegaze]

29. Midwife - Luminol [ambient pop, shoegaze, slowcore]

30. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg [indie rock]

31. Minuit Machine - Sainte Rave [darkwave]

32. Leila Abdul-Rauf - Phantasiai [dark ambient]

33. Alice Phoebe Lou - Glow [pop]

34. Wednesday - Twin Plagues [dream pop]

35. Lucid Express - Lucid Express [shoegaze, dream pop]

36. Suffering Hour - The Cyclic Reckoning [black, death]

37. Vessel of Iniquity - The Doorway [death, industrial]

38. Space Afrika - Honest Labour [ambient]

39. Still Corners - The Last Exit [dream pop]

40. Seefeel - St / Fr / Sp [unreleased][electronic]

41. Pia Fraus - Now You Know It Still Feels the Same [shoegaze, dream pop]

42. BadBadNotGood - Talk Memory [jazz fusion]

43. White Flowers - Day By Day [dream pop]

44. Dummy - Mandatory Enjoyment [noise pop, kraut]

45. Mogwai - As The Love Continues [post-rock]

46. Elephant9 - Arrival of the New Elders [nu-jazz]

47. Shamblemaths - Shamblemaths 2 [avant-prog]

48. Ora Clementi - Sylva Sylvarum [electroacoustic]

49. BRUIT ≤ - The Machine is burning and now everyone knows it could happen again [post-rock, drone]

50. Valentina Goncharova - Recordings 1987-1991, vol. 1,2 (2020-2021) [musique concrète]

 

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The Wire's Releases of the Year 2021

 

1. L'Rain - Fatigue

2. Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia of the Air

3. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

4. Low - Hey What

5. Daniel Bachman - Axacan

6. Apartment House - Number Pieces

7. Hamid Drake, Elaine Mitchener, William Parker, Orphy Robinson & Pat Thomas - Some Good News

8. Jana Rush - Painful Enlightenment

9. Circuit Des Yeux - -io

10. Phew - New Decade

11. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

12. Angel Bat Dawid - Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1 Doxology

13. James Brandon Lewis - Jesup Wagon

14. Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Made Out Of Sound

15. Les Filles de Illighadad - At Pioneer Works

16. Tomaga - Intimate Immensity

17. Anthony Braxton - 12 Comp (ZIM) 2017

18. The Bug - Fire

19. Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future

20. Maggie Nicols - Creative Contradiction: Poetry, Story, Song & Sound

21. BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra - Minds in Flux

22. Muqata'a - Kamil manqus

23. Alpha Maid - CHUCKLE

24. William Parker - Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World (Volumes 1–10)

25. Aaron Dilloway & Lucrecia Dalt - Lucy & Aaron

26. Space Afrika - Honest Labour

27. Clarissa Connelly - The Voyager

28. Perila - How much time it is between you and me?

29. Grouper - Shade

30. Sourdure - De mòrt viva

31. Madlib - Sound Ancestors

32. Moor Mother & Billy Woods - BRASS

33. Divide And Dissolve - Gas Lit

34. RP Boo - Established!

35. Eliane Radigue - Occam Ocean 3

36. Karkhana - Al Azraqayn

37. Pauline Anna Strom - Angel Tears in Sunlight

38. Pamela Z - A Secret Code

39. Patricia Brennan - Maquishti

40. Rambutan - parallel systems

41. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

42. Azita - Glen Echo

43. Raed Yassin - Archeophony

44. Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble - Now

45. William Parker - Mayan Space Station

46. Meemo Comma - Neon Genesis: Soul Into Matter²

47. Patrick Shiroishi - Hidemi

48. Ahmed [حمد] - Nights on Saturn (Communication)

49. Ben LaMar Gay - Open Arms to Open Us

50. IZ Band - IZ: 路过旧天堂书店 Drop by Old Heaven Books

 

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Uncut's 75 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. The Weather Station - Ignorance

2. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

3. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

4. Low - Hey What

5. SAULT - Nine

6. Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince

7. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature

8. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

9. Black Country, New Road - For the first time

10. Richard Dawson & Circle - Henki

11. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club

12. Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future

13. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

14. Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You

15. Mogwai - As the Love Continues

16. Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs

17. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

18. Hiss Golden Messenger - Quietly Blowing It

19. John Grant - Boy from Michigan

20. Modern Nature - Island Of Noise

21. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

22. The Coral - Coral Island

23. St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

24. Valerie June - The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers

25. Jane Weaver - Flock

26. Paul Weller - Fat Pop (Volume 1)

27. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

28. Ryley Walker - Course In Fable

29. Steve Gunn - Other You

30. Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade

31. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof

32. The Hold Steady - Open Door Policy

33. Chuck Johnson - The Cinder Grove

34. Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time

35. John Murry - The Stars Are God's Bullet Holes

36. Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark

37. Dean Wareham - I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of L A

38. Madlib - Sound Ancestors

39. Squid - Bright Green Field

40. Sturgill Simpson - The Ballad of Dood & Juanita

41. Damon Albarn - The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows

42. Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny haha

43. My Morning Jacket - My Morning Jacket

44. Rhiannon Giddens With Francesco Turrisi - They're Calling Me Home

45. Bobby Gillespie & Jehnny Beth - Utopian Ashes

46. Israel Nash - Topaz

47. Elephant9 - Arrival of the New Elders

48. David Crosby - For Free

49. Sunburned Hand Of The Man - Pick A Day To Die

50. Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham

51. Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood

52. Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble - Now

53. The Black Keys - Delta Kream

54. Daniel Bachman - Axacan

55. LoneLady - Former Things

56. Damon & Naomi - A Sky Record

57. Haiku Salut - The Hill, The Light, The Ghost

58. Big Red Machine - How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?

59. Strand of Oaks - In Heaven

60. Grouper - Shade

61. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings

62. Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner’s Mind

63. Chris Schlarb & Chad Taylor - Time No Changes

64. Pino Palladino & Blake Mills - Notes With Attachments

65. Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia of the Air

66. Sarah Davachi - Antiphonals

67. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

68. Cathal Coughlan - Song of Co-Aklan

69. Dave - We're All Alone In This Together

70. black midi - Cavalcade

71. Buffalo Nichols - Buffalo Nichols

72. Marianne Faithfull With Warren Ellis - She Walks In Beauty

73. Sleater-Kinney - Path of Wellness

74. Rosali - No Medium

75. Rose City Band - Earth Trip

 

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Resident Advisor's Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Space Afrika - Honest Labour

2. AceMoMa - A Future

3. Eris Drew - Quivering in Time

4. Emeka Ogboh - Beyond the Yellow Haze

5. Erika De Casier - Sensational

6. George Riley - interest rates, a tape

7. Hoavi - Invariant

8. Virtual Dreams: Ambient Explorations In The House & Techno Age, 1993-1997

9. Various Artists - The Sound Of Limo

10. Skee Mask - Pool

11. Yu Su - Yellow River Blue

12. Perila - How much time it is between you and me?

13. Andy Stott - Never the Right Time

14. Wanton Witch - Wanton Witch

15. Dawn Richard - Second Line

16. L'Rain - Fatigue

17. Various Artists - Amapiano Now

18. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

19. DJ Manny - Signals in My Head

20. Dean Blunt - Black Metal 2

21. Tirzah - Colourgrade

22. aya - im hole

23. HTRK - Rhinestones

24. Joy Orbison - still slipping vol. 1

25. Mr. Mitch - Lazy

26. Loraine James - Reflection

27. Arushi Jain - Under the Lilac Sky

28. Conclave - Conclave

29. Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8

 

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The Quietus Albums Of The Year 2021

 

1. The Bug – Fire

2. aya – im hole

3. Dean Blunt – Black Metal 2

4. The Weather Station – Ignorance

5. William Doyle – Great Spans Of Muddy Time

6. Loraine James – Reflection

7. Richard Dawson & Circle – Henki

8. Scotch Rolex – Tewari

9. Sleaford Mods – Spare Ribs

10. Gazelle Twin & NYX – Deep England

11. Tanz Mein Herz – Quattro

12. Liars – The Apple Drop

13. Divide And Dissolve – Gas Lit

14. The Armed – ULTRAPOP

15. L'Rain – Fatigue

16. Tomaga – Intimate Immensity

17. Tirzah – Colourgrade

18. Arab Strap – As Days Get Dark

19. Rắn Cạp Đuôi – Ngủ Ngày Ngay Ngày Tận Thế

20. black midi – Cavalcade

21. Natalia Beylis & Eimear Reidy – Whose Woods These Are

22. Eris Drew – Quivering In Time

23. audiobooks – Astro Tough

24. Ben LaMar Gay – Open Arms To Open Us

25. MICROCORPS – XMIT

26. Joy Orbison – still slipping vol. 1

27. Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

28. The Transcendence Orchestra – All Skies Have Sounded

29. HARD FEELINGS – HARD FEELINGS

30. Part Chimp – Drool

31. Rochelle Jordan – Play With The Changes

32. ioulus – oddkin

33. Kìzis – Tidibàbide / Turn

34. Black Country, New Road – For The First Time

35. Space Afrika – Honest Labour

36. Shirley Collins – Crowlink

37. Skee Mask – Pool

38. Shackleton – Departing Like Rivers

39. Grouper – Shade

40. Ed Dowie – The Obvious I

41. Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg

42. ---__--___ ‎– The Heart Pumps Kool-Aid

43. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – G_d's Pee At STATE'S END!

44. Erika de Casier – Sensational

45. Hawthonn – Earth Mirror

46. Rufus Isabel Elliot – A/am/ams (come ashore, turn over)

47. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee

48. Ruth Goller – Skylla

49. Succumb – XXI

50. Melvins – Working With God

51. Frog Of Earth – Frog Of Earth

52. Oliver Leith – 'Me Hollywood'

53. Andy Stott – Never The Right Time

54. Goodbye World – At Death's Door

55. Slikback – MELT

56. Max Syedtollan / Plus-Minus Ensemble – Four Assignments

57. Time Binding Ensemble – Nothing New Under The Sun

58. William Parker – Mayan Space Station

59. NONEXISTENT – NONEXISTENT

60. Årabrot – Norwegian Gothic

61. Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson – Searching For The Disappeared Hour

62. Manic Street Preachers – The Ultra Vivid Lament

63. Claire Rousay – a softer focus

64. Helm – Axis

65. Clairo – Sling

66. Aging ~ Land Trance – Embassy Nocturnes

67. Rien Virgule – La Consolation Des Violettes

68. Jane Weaver – Flock

69. Jeff Parker – Forfolks

70. Vapour Theories – Celestial Scuzz

71. At The Gates – The Nightmare Of Being

72. GNOD – La Mort Du Sens

73. Ursula Sereghy – OK Box

74. Bloody Head – The Temple Pillars Dissolve Into The Clouds

75. Jorja Chalmers – Midnight Train

76. Leather Rats – No Live 'Til Leather '98

77. Koreless – Agor

78. Snapped Ankles – Forest Of Your Problems

79. Hedvig Mollestad – Tempest Revisited

80. Richard Youngs – CXXI

81. Squid – Bright Green Field

82. Mirage – Mirage

83. Laura Cannell & Kate Ellis – May Sounds

84. My Bloody Sex Party – Vol. 2

85. Taqbir – Victory Belongs To Those Who Fight For A Right Cause

86. The Altered Hours – Convertible

87. Perkins & Federwisch – One Dazzling Moment

88. Converge & Chelsea Wolfe – Bloodmoon. I

89. Fluisteraars – Gegrepen Door De Geest Der Zielsontluiking

90. Angharad Davies – gwneud a gwneud eto / Do And Do Again

91. Vanishing Twin – Ookii Gekkou

92. Antonina Nowacka – Vocal Sketches From Oaxaca

93. Turnstile – GLOW ON

94. Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime

95. Senyawa – Alkisah

96. Ruth Mascelli – A Night At The Baths

97. LoneLady – Former Things

98. Low – HEY WHAT

99. Marco Shuttle – Cobalt Desert Oasis

100. Celestial – I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night

 

...

 

Rough Trade UK's Albums of the Year 2021

 

1. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

2. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

3. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

4. Black Country, New Road - For the first time

5. Idles - CRAWLER

6. Squid - Bright Green Field

7. Jane Weaver - Flock

8. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

9. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature

10. Madlib - Sound Ancestors

11. The Weather Station - Ignorance

12. black midi - Cavalcade

13. For Those I Love - For Those I Love

14. Bicep - Isles

15. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

16. St Vincent - Daddy's Home

17. Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time

18. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

19. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

20. 박 혜진 [Park Hye Jin] - Before I Die

21. Leon Vynehall - Rare, Forever

22. L'Rain - Fatigue

23. Koreless - Agor

24. Alfa Mist - Bring Backs

25. Vanishing Twin - Ookii Gekkou

26. Viagra Boys - Welfare Jazz

27. Snapped Ankles - Forest of Your Problems

28. Pip Blom - Welcome Break

29. Jungle - Loving In Stereo

30. Damon Albarn - The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows

31. shame - Drunk Tank Pink

32. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!

33. Lady Blackbird - Black Acid Soul

34. Amyl & The Sniffers - Comfort to Me

35. Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs

36. Altın Gün - Yol

37. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

38. Marina Allen - Candlepower

39. Clairo - Sling

40. Tindersticks - Distractions

41. Tirzah - Colourgrade

42. Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You

43. LUMP - Animal

44. Durand Jones & The Indications - Private Space

45. Joy Orbison - still slipping vol

46. Sunroof - Electronic Music Improvisations Vol

47. Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner’s Mind

48. Desire Marea - Desire

49. Mogwai - As the Love Continues

50. Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready

51. SAULT - Nine

52. Public Service Broadcasting - Bright Magic

53. Martha Wainwright - Love Will Be Reborn

54. Julien Baker - Little Oblivions

55. Orla Gartland - Woman on the Internet

56. Low - Hey What

57. FUR - When You Walk Away

58. Nao - And Then Life Was Beautiful

59. Goat Girl - On All Fours

60. Drug Store Romeos - The world within our bedrooms

61. Jordan Rakei - What We Call Life

62. Portico Quartet - Terrain

63. Sedibus - The Heavens

64. Elder Island - Swimming Static

65. Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future

66. dodie - Build a Problem

67. Paul Weller - Fat Pop (Volume 1)

68. Greentea Peng - MAN MADE

69. Manic Street Preachers - The Ultra Vivid Lament

70. The Joy Formidable - Into the Blue

71. Bobby Gillespie & Jehnny Beth - Utopian Ashes

72. Parquet Courts - Sympathy for Life

73. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

74. John Grant - Boy from Michigan

75. TORRES - Thirstier

76. Django Django - Glowing in the Dark

77. Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny haha

78. The Goon Sax - Mirror II

79. Tot Taylor - Frisbee

80. Pom Pom Squad - Death of a Cheerleader

81. Yann Tiersen - Kerber

82. Squirrel Flower - Planet (i)

83. Spencer Cullum - Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection

84. Hannah Peel - Fir Wave

85. Berwyn - DEMOTAPE/VEGA

86. Skee Mask - Pool

87. slowthai - TYRON

88. Kojaque - Town’s Dead

89. Pearl Charles - Magic Mirror

90. Stephen Fretwell - Busy Guy

91.Steve Earle - J.T.

92. Flock of Dimes - Head of Roses

93. Geese - Projector

94. Nation of Language - A Way Forward

95. Rostam - Changephobia

96. Villagers - Fever Dreams

97. Gruff Rhys - Seeking New Gods

98. Sleater-Kinney - Path of Wellness

99. Chubby and The Gang - The Mutt's Nuts

100. serpentwithfeet - DEACON

 

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Gorilla vs Bear’s Top 50 Albums of 2021

 

1. Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World

2. Tirzah - Colourgrade

3. HTRK - Rhinestones

4. Grouper - Shade

5. Mach-Hommy - Pray For Haiti

6. Dean Blunt - Dean Blunt

7. Space Afrika - Honest Labour

8. Wet - Letter Blue

9. Dorothea Paas - Anything Can't Happen

10. Karima Walker - Waking the Dreaming Body

11. Enumclaw - Jimbo Demo

12. Doss - 4 New Hit Songs

13. Jessy Lanza - DJ-Kicks

14. Mr Twin Sister - Al Mundo Azul

15. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - Haram

16. Erika de Casier - Sensational

17. Men I Trust - Untourable Album

18. Wednesday - Twin Plagues

19. Loraine James - Reflection

20. Small Black - Cheap Dreams

21. Hildegard - Hildegard

22. Ada Lea - one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden

23. Sun June - Somewhere

24. Nana Yamato - Before Sunrise

25. Rosie Lowe & Duval Timothy - Son

26. DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ - The Makin' Magick II Album

27. Madlib - Sound Ancestors

28. Buzzy Lee - Spoiled Love

29. Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost

30. Sangre Nueva - Goteo

31. Indigo Sparke - echo

32. harvey_dug - Nu Grip

33. Snail Mail - Valentine

34. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

35. Nite Jewel - No Sun

36. Skee Mask - Pool

37. Renée Reed - Renée Reed / J’ai rêvé

38. Cleo Sol - Mother

39. Low - Hey What

40. JPEGMAFIA - LP! (OFFLINE)

41. Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters

42. Hand Habits - Fun House

43. Holy Other - Lieve

44. Sloppy Jane - Madison

45. VA - I can't complain but sometimes I still do

46. Navy Blue - Navy’s Reprise

47. Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince

48. Equiknoxx - Basic Tools

49. You’ll Never Get to Heaven - Wave Your Moonlight Hat for the Snowfall Train

50. Wau Wau Collectif - Yaral Sa Doom

 

...

 

Mojo's 75 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

2. St Vincent - Daddy's Home

3. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club

4. Low - Hey What

5. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

6. Paul Weller - Fat Pop (Volume 1)

7. The Coral - Coral Island

8. Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future

9. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof

10. Villagers - Fever Dreams

11. John Grant - Boy from Michigan

12. The Weather Station - Ignorance

13. Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs

14. Black Country, New Road - For the first time

15. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

16. Manic Street Preachers - The Ultra Vivid Lament

17. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

18. Idles - CRAWLER

19. David Crosby - For Free

20. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

21. The Bug - Fire

22. Amyl & The Sniffers - Comfort to Me

23. Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade

24. SAULT - Nine

25. The Black Keys - Delta Kream

26. Mogwai - As the Love Continues

27. Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham

28. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

29. Field Music - Flat White Moon

30. Yola - Stand for Myself

31. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - L.W.

32. Paul McCartney - McCartney III

33. Endless Boogie - Admonitions

34. Greentea Peng - MAN MADE

35. The Stranglers - Dark Matters

36. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

37. Sturgill Simpson - Cuttin' Grass - Vol. 2 (Cowboy Arms Sessions)

38. Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You

39. Jane Weaver - Flock

40. Chrissie Hynde - Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Dylan

41. Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8

42. Durand Jones & The Indications - Private Space

43. Damon Albarn - The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows

44. Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark

45. Jungle - Loving In Stereo

46. Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny haha

47. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

48. Squid - Bright Green Field

49. Public Service Broadcasting - Bright Magic

50. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Matt Sweeney - Superwolves

51. Dean Blunt - Black Metal 2

52. Nathan Salsburg - Psalms

53. Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood - LIVE

54. Tony Joe White - Smoke from the Chimney

55. BADBADNOTGOOD - Talk Memory

56. Lorde - Solar Power

57. Reigning Sound - A Little More Time with Reigning Sound

58. Ryley Walker - Course In Fable

59. Billy F Gibbons - Hardware

60. Cedric Burnside - I Be Trying

61. Steve Gunn - Other You

62. Parquet Courts - Sympathy for Life

63. Howlin' Rain - The Dharma Wheel

64. Tony Allen - There Is No End

65. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!

66. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

67. AC/DC - Power Up

68. Loretta Lynn - Still Woman Enough

69. Dinosaur Jr. - Sweep It Into Space

70. black midi - Cavalcade

71. Emma-Jean Thackray - Yellow

72. Hiss Golden Messenger - Quietly Blowing It

73. Stephen Fretwell - Busy Guy

74. Gruff Rhys - Seeking New Gods

75. BLK JKS - Abantu/Before Humans

 

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Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

2. Adele - 30

3. Rauw Alejandro - VICE VERSA

4. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

5. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

6. Lil Nas X - MONTERO

7. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales

8. Turnstile - GLOW ON

9. C. Tangana - El Madrileño

10. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

11. Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red

12. He has never been more enigmatic

13. PinkPantheress - to hell with it

14. Morgan Wade - Reckless

15. Polo G - Hall Of Fame

16. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

17. Low - Hey What

18. Tems - If Orange Was A Place

19. Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

20. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

21. Leon Bridges - Gold-Diggers Sound

22. Doja Cat - Planet Her

23. Dawn Richard - Second Line

24. Cimafunk - El Alimento

25. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

26. Carly Pearce - 29

27. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

28. This is how free rock & roll should sound

29. The Weather Station - Ignorance

30. Mabiland - Niñxs Rotxs

31. Young Thug - Punk

32. Mustafa - When Smoke Rises

33. Madlib - Sound Ancestors

34. Snail Mail - Valentine

35. Summer Walker - STILL OVER IT

36. Adult Mom - Driver

37. Silk Sonic - An Evening with Silk Sonic

38. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

39. Pooh Shiesty - Shiesty Season

40. Yola - Stand for Myself

41. Topaz Jones - Don't Go Tellin' Your Momma

42. Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight

43. Mickey Guyton - Remember Her Name

44. illuminati hotties - Let Me Do One More

45. Myke Towers - LYKE MIKE

46. Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

47. Boldy James & The Alchemist - Bo Jackson

48. TOMORROW X TOGETHER - The Chaos Chapter: FIGHT OR ESCAPE

49. Jhay Cortez - Timelezz

50. Drake - Certified Lover Boy

 

...

 

Louder Than War Albums of the Year 2021

 

1. Amyl & The Sniffers - Comfort to Me

2. JOHN - Nocturnal Manoeuvres

3. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

4. The Courettes - Back in Mono

5. Mogwai - As the Love Continues

6. The Stranglers - Dark Matters

7. Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs

8. Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure

9. Cold Water Swimmers - Holiday At The Secret Lake

10. Squid - Bright Green Field

11. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

12. Gazelle Twin & NYX - Deep England

13. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - L.W.

14. Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future

15. Carol Hodge - The Crippling Space Between

16. Hello Cosmos - Golden Dirt

17. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

18. Idles - CRAWLER

19. CHIHUAHUA - Violent Architecture

20. Greentea Peng - MAN MADE

21. Rats On Rafts - Excerpts From Chapter 3: The Mind Runs A Net Of Rabbit Paths

22. The Mudd Club - Bottle Blonde

23. Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark

24.St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

25. black midi - Cavalcade

26. Matt Berry - The Blue Elephant

27. Mad Daddy - Mad Daddy

28. Private Function - Whose Line Is It Anyway?

29. Stephen Fretwell - Busy Guy

30. Pink Suits - Political Child

31. Blue Orchids - Speed The Day

32. Jane Weaver - Flock

33. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

34. ZoZo Ginzburg - Blue Mountains

35. Steve Conte - Bronx Cheer

36. James - All the Colours of You

37. 24/7 Diva Heaven - Stress

38. Deathretro - Deathretro

39. The William Loveday Intention - Will There Ever Be A Day That You’re Hung Like A Thief?

40. Damon Albarn - The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows

41. Marissa Nadler - The Path of the Clouds

42. Lola In Slacks - Moon Moth

43. Neighborhood Brats - Confines of Life

44. The Catenary Wires - Birling Gap

45. Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

46. Turner - Daydreams & Stars

47. LUMP - Animal

48. Reigning Sound - A Little More Time with Reigning Sound

49. Slow Down, Molasses - Minor Deaths

50. The Stan Laurels - There is No Light Without the Dark

51. Low - Hey What

52. La Luz - La Luz

53. Gojira - Fortitude

54. Viagra Boys - Welfare Jazz

55. Kiwi Jr

56. Manic Street Preachers - The Ultra Vivid Lament

57. Dark Mark & Skeleton Joe - Dark Mark Vs Skeleton Joe

58. The Bug - Fire

59. The Shadracks - From Human Like Forms

60. Amigo the Devil - Born Against

61. shame - Drunk Tank Pink

62. LoneLady - Former Things

63. Night Beats - Outlaw R&B

64. Fightmilk - Contender

65. Johnny Mafia - Sentimental

66. Jim Bob - Who Do We Hate Today

67. The Coral - Coral Island

68. Field Music - Flat White Moon

69. Jim McCulloch - When I Mean What I Say

70. Alan Vega - Mutator

71. Kiss Me, Killer - 2020 Vision

72. John Grant - Boy from Michigan

73. Lou Barlow - Reason To Live

74. Parquet Courts - Sympathy for Life

75. Snapped Ankles - Forest of Your Problems

76. Sonny Vincent - Snake Pit Therapy

77. The Chills - Scatterbrain

78. Sister John - I Am By Day

79. Du Blonde - Homecoming

80. Hooveriii - Water for the Frogs

81. Erica Nockalls - Dark Music From a Warm Place

82. Piroshka - Love Drips And Gathers

83. Amy MacDonald - The Human Demands

84. Francis Lung - Miracle

85. Cult Figures - Deritend

86. ANTHRAX - Serfs Out

87. VEX - Average Minds Think Alike

88. Freya Beer - Beast

89. Digital Resistance - Alternative Facts

90. Divide And Dissolve - Gas Lit

91. Mush - Lines Redacted

92. Filthydirty - The Rise And Fall Of Blasphemouth

93. Gary Numan - Intruder

94. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!

95. Rutger Hoedemaekers - The Age of Oddities

96. The Bevis Frond - Little Eden

97. Blowers - Blowers

98. The Brothers Steve - Dose

99. Delilah Bon - Delilah Bon

100. Primitive Knot - A New Ontology of Evil

101. TV Priest - Uppers

 

...

 

Stereogum's 50 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

2. Snail Mail - Valentine

3. Turnstile - GLOW ON

4. Low - Hey What

5. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

6. serpentwithfeet - DEACON

7. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Matt Sweeney - Superwolves

8. The Weather Station - Ignorance

9. Polo G - Hall Of Fame

10. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature

11. Wednesday - Twin Plagues

12. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

13. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

14. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

15. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

16. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

17. Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark

18. Tirzah - Colourgrade

19. Clairo - Sling

20. Fiddlehead - Between The Richness

21. Water From Your Eyes - Structure

22. KA - A Martyr's Reward

23. Julien Baker - Little Oblivions

24. The Armed - Ultrapop

25. Nation of Language - A Way Forward

26. Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

27. SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH

28. Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed

29. Squid - Bright Green Field

30. 파란노을 [Parannoul] - To See the Next Part of the Dream

31. Boldy James & The Alchemist - Bo Jackson

32. One Step Closer - This Place You Know

33. Xenia Rubinos - Una Rosa

34. Madlib - Sound Ancestors

35. Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future

36. Men I Trust - Untourable Album

37. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - HARAM

38. Summer Walker - STILL OVER IT

39. Home Is Where - I Became Birds

40. Erika De Casier - Sensational

41. Ada Lea - one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden

42. Portrayal of Guilt - We Are Always Alone

43. Loraine James - Reflection

44. Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Made Out Of Sound

45. Iceage - Seek Shelter

46. CHVRCHES - Screen Violence

47. Mach-Hommy - Pray For Haiti

48. Flock of Dimes - Head of Roses

49. Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days

50. Closer - Within One Stem

 

...

 

Billboard's 50 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

2. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

3. Lil Nas X - MONTERO

4. Adele - 30

5. Doja Cat - Planet Her

6. Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

7. Silk Sonic - An Evening with Silk Sonic

8. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

9. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales

10. C. Tangana - El Madrileño

11. Baby Keem - The Melodic Blue

12. Bo Burnham - Inside (The Songs)

13. Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed

14. PinkPantheress - to hell with it

15. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

16. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

17. Summer Walker - STILL OVER IT

18. Drake - Certified Lover Boy

19. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

20. Snail Mail - Valentine

21. Isaiah Rashad - The House Is Burning

22. Giveon - When It's All Said And Done

23. Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days

24. Karol G - KG0516

25. Taylor Swift - Red (Taylor's Version)

26. girl in red - if i could make it go quiet

27. Turnstile - GLOW ON

28. Lucky Daye - Table For Two

29. Elton John - The Lockdown Sessions

30. Porter Robinson - Nurture

31. Carín León - Inédito

32.J. Cole - The Off-Season

33. Mon Laferte - SEIS

34. Vince Staples - Vince Staples

35. Carly Pearce - 29: Written In Stone

36. Justin Bieber - Justice

37. Rauw Alejandro - VICE VERSA

38. Joy Oladokun - In Defense of My Own Happiness

39. Kanye West - Donda

40. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

41. Willow - lately i feel EVERYTHING

42. Tems - If Orange Was A Place

43. Don Toliver - Life of a DON

44. Fred Again

45. Myke Towers - LYKE MIKE

46. Julien Baker - Little Oblivions

47. SG Lewis - times

48. Young Dolph & Key Glock - Dum and Dummer 2

49. Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert & Jon Randall - The Marfa Tapes

50. Clairo - Sling

 

...

 

AllMusic's Best of 2021 (alphabetic)

 

Adele - 30

Aimee Mann - Queens Of The Summer Hotel

Allison Russell - Outside Child

Amyl & The Sniffers - Comfort to Me

BADBADNOTGOOD - Talk Memory

Ben LaMar Gay - Open Arms to Open Us

Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

Billy F Gibbons - Hardware

Bo Burnham - Inside (The Songs)

Bomba Estéreo - Deja

Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days

C. Tangana - El Madrileño

Cadence Weapon - Parallel World

Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature

Chelsea Carmichael - The River Doesn’t Like Strangers

CHVRCHES - Screen Violence

Clark - Playground in a Lake

Cleo Sol - Mother

Cola Boyy - Prosthetic Boombox

Colleen - The Tunnel and the Clearing

Converge & Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I

Curtis Harding - If Words Were Flowers

Damon Albarn - The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows

Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

Ed Dowie - The Obvious I

Eivind Aarset - Phantasmagoria or a Different Kind of Journey

Eric Bibb - Dear America

Field Music - Flat White Moon

Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight

Geoffrey O'Connor - For As Long As I Can Remember

Grouper - Shade

Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

Helado Negro - Far In

Helsinki Chamber Choir / Nils Schweckendiek - Pärt: Passio

Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant

Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert & Jon Randall - The Marfa Tapes

James McMurtry - The Horses and the Hounds

Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

Jazzmeia Horn And Her Noble Force - Dear Love

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet - Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 9

Jerry Cantrell - Brighten

John Carroll Kirby - Septet

Jon Batiste - WE ARE

Jorge Elbrecht - Presentable Corpse 002

Karol G - KG0516

Kenneth Whalum - Broken Land 2

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Butterfly 3000

Klenke Quartett, Nicola Jürgensen & Stephan Katte - Mozart: Clarinet Quintet; Horn Quintet

L'Rain - Fatigue

Laura Mvula - Pink Noise

Lil Nas X - MONTERO

Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham

Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

Liz Phair - Soberish

LoneLady - Former Things

Los Lobos - Native Sons

Makthaverskan - För Allting

Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

Marisa Monte - Portas

Marissa Nadler - The Path of the Clouds

Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

Matthias Goerne / Seong-Jin Cho - Im Abendrot: Wagner, Pfitzner, Strauss

Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

Mocky - Overtones for the Omniverse

Mogwai - As the Love Continues

Mouse on Mars - AAI

Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8

Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

Olivier Latry - Liszt: Inspirations

PinkPantheress - to hell with it

Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red

Polo & Pan - Cyclorama

René Jacobs - Beethoven: Missa Solemnis

Robert Finley - Sharecropper's Son

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof

Rochelle Jordan - Play with the Changes

Roxana Amed - Ontology

Saint Etienne - I've Been Trying To Tell You

Smile Machine - Bye For Now

Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future

Squid - Bright Green Field

Steve Gunn - Other You

TEKE::TEKE - Shirushi

Terrace Martin - DRONES

The Armed - Ultrapop

The Coral - Coral Island

The Hold Steady - Open Door Policy

The Mountain Goats - Dark in Here

The Reds, Pinks & Purples - Uncommon Weather

 

...

 

Consequence of Sound's Top 50 Albums of 2021

 

1. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

2. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

3. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

4. Turnstile - GLOW ON

5. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

6. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

7. CHVRCHES - Screen Violence

8. Lil Nas X - MONTERO

9. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - HARAM

10. illuminati hotties - Let Me Do One More

11. serpentwithfeet - DEACON

12. Snail Mail - Valentine

13. Doja Cat - Planet Her

14. Manchester Orchestra - The Million Masks Of God

15. Julien Baker - Little Oblivions

16. Idles - CRAWLER

17. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

18. Boldy James & The Alchemist - Bo Jackson

19. Geese - Projector

20. Adele - 30

21. Pom Pom Squad - Death of a Cheerleader

22. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

23. McKinley Dixon - For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her

24. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

25. Hovvdy - True Love

26. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

27. SAULT - Nine

28. Indigo De Souza - Any Shape You Take

29. Remi Wolf - Juno

30. Bo Burnham - Inside (The Songs)

31. Taylor Swift - Red (Taylor's Version)

32. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

33. Isaiah Rashad - The House Is Burning

34. Jon Batiste - WE ARE

35. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

36. Mach-Hommy - Pray For Haiti

37. Black Country, New Road - For the first time

38. The Armed - Ultrapop

39. Amigo the Devil - Born Against

40. Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

41. Injury Reserve - By the Time I Get to Phoenix

42. The Weather Station - Ignorance

43. Squid - Bright Green Field

44. Haviah Mighty - Stock Exchange

45. Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time

46. BROCKHAMPTON - ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE

47. Yola - Stand for Myself

48. Amyl & The Sniffers - Comfort to Me

49. Katy Kirby - Cool Dry Place

50. St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

 

...

 

Pitchfork's 50 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales

2. L'Rain - Fatigue

3. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

4. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

5. Low - Hey What

6. Turnstile - GLOW ON

7. The Weather Station - Ignorance

8. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

9. Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red

10. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

11. Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny haha

12. Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince

13. Tirzah - Colourgrade

14. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

15. Snail Mail - Valentine

16. MIKE - Disco!

17. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature

18. Grouper - Shade

19. Dean Blunt - Black Metal 2

20. Mach-Hommy - Pray For Haiti

21. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

22. Dawn Richard - Second Line

23. black midi - Cavalcade

24. Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8

25. Indigo De Souza - Any Shape You Take

26. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - HARAM

27. Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia of the Air

28. Spirit Of The Beehive - Entertainment, Death

29. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

30. Claire Rousay - A Softer Focus

31. Wiki - Half God

32. Adele - 30

33. Xenia Rubinos - Una Rosa

34. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

35. illuminati hotties - Let Me Do One More

36. Lost Girls - Menneskekollektivet

37. RP Boo - Established!

38. Navy Blue - Navy's Reprise / Song of Sage: Post Panic!

39. Loraine James - Reflection

40. Erika De Casier - Sensational

41. Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready

42. Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh & Tyshawn Sorey - Uneasy

43. Hand Habits - Fun House

44. Sofia Kourtesis - Fresia Magdalena

45. aya - im hole

46. Helado Negro - Far In

47. dltzk - Frailty

48. KA - A Martyr's Reward

49. Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World

50. Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood

 

...

 

NME's 50 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

2. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

3. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

4. Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure

5. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

6. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

7. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

8. Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

9. Turnstile - GLOW ON

10. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

11. For Those I Love - For Those I Love

12. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

13. Ghetts - Conflict Of Interest

14. Clairo - Sling

15. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

16. Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs

17. Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters

18. Dave - We're All Alone In This Together

19. Lorde - Solar Power

20. Lil Nas X - MONTERO

21. London Grammar - Californian Soil

22. Silk Sonic - An Evening with Silk Sonic

23. Bicep - Isles

24. Snail Mail - Valentine

25. Royal Blood - Typhoons

26. CHVRCHES - Screen Violence

27. Summer Walker - STILL OVER IT

28. Idles - CRAWLER

29. Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth

30. The Killers - Pressure Machine

31. slowthai - TYRON

32. Laura Mvula - Pink Noise

33. AJ Tracey - Flu Game

34. Remi Wolf - Juno

35. Big Red Machine - How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?

36. girl in red - if i could make it go quiet

37. Ray BLK - Access Denied

38. TOMORROW X TOGETHER - The Chaos Chapter: FREEZE

39. Easy Life - Life's a Beach

40. Black Country, New Road - For the first time

41. Joy Crookes - Skin

42. Vince Staples - Vince Staples

43. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

44. Bleachers - Take The Sadness Out of Saturday Night

45. Young Thug - Punk

46. Nao - And Then Life Was Beautiful

47. SAULT - Nine

48. Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed

49. Inhaler - It Won't Always Be Like This

50. Doja Cat - Planet Her

 

...

 

Slant Magazine's 50 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

2. St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

3. Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters

4. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club

5. Low - Hey What

6. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

7. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

8. serpentwithfeet - DEACON

9. PinkPantheress - to hell with it

10. Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time

11. Suzanne Santo - Yard Sale

12. Taylor Swift - Red (Taylor's Version)

13. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

14. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

15. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature

16. Lost Girls - Menneskekollektivet

17. TORRES - Thirstier

18. Erika De Casier - Sensational

19. Spellling - The Turning Wheel

20. Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

21. Loraine James - Reflection

22. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

23. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

24. Snail Mail - Valentine

25. The Killers - Pressure Machine

26. Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner’s Mind

27. James McMurtry - The Horses and the Hounds

28. Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant

29. Doja Cat - Planet Her

30. Porter Robinson - Nurture

31. Kanye West - Donda

32. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

33. DJ Seinfeld - Mirrors

34. Helado Negro - Far In

35. Tinashe - 333

36. LSDXOXO - Dedicated 2 Disrespect

37. For Those I Love - For Those I Love

38. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

39. Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready

40. Valerie June - The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers

41. Julien Baker - Little Oblivions

42. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

43. Squid - Bright Green Field

44. Young Stoner Life, Young Thug & Gunna - Slime Language 2 (Deluxe)

45. Vince Staples - Vince Staples

46. Lightning Bug - A Color of the Sky

47. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist - HARAM

48. Black Country, New Road - For the first time

49. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales

50. MARINA - Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land

 

...

 

NPR Music's 50 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales

2. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

3. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

4. Allison Russell - Outside Child

5. C. Tangana - El Madrileño

6. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

7. Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince

8. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

9. Vince Staples - Vince Staples

10. Wild Up & Christopher Rountree - Julius Eastman, Vol. 1: Femenine

11. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

12. Helado Negro - Far In

13. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

14. Adele - 30

15. Tems - If Orange Was A Place

16. Baby Keem - The Melodic Blue

17. Willow - lately i feel EVERYTHING

18. Mach-Hommy - Pray For Haiti

19. illuminati hotties - Let Me Do One More

20. Injury Reserve - By the Time I Get to Phoenix

21. Low - Hey What

22. PinkPantheress - to hell with it

23. Mickey Guyton - Remember Her Name

24. Turnstile - GLOW ON

25. Eris Drew - Quivering in Time

26. Cleo Sol - Mother

27. Toumani Diabaté & The London Symphony Orchestra - Kôrôlén

28. Summer Walker - STILL OVER IT

29. Lukah - When The Black Hand Touches You

30. Lil Nas X - MONTERO

31. Doja Cat - Planet Her

32. Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant

33. James Brandon Lewis - Jesup Wagon

34. Emily D'Angelo - enargeia

35. Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia of the Air

36. Spellling - The Turning Wheel

37. Amythyst Kiah - Wary + Strange

38. Mon Laferte - SEIS

39. MIKE - Disco!

40. Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood

41. Susana Baca - Palabras Urgentes

42. Kenny Garrett - Sounds from the Ancestors

43. Yebba - Dawn

44. Adia Victoria - A Southern Gothic

45. Rodrigo Amarante - Drama

46. Vadim Repin, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig & Andris Nelsons - Sofia Gubaidulina: Dialog: Ich und Du; The Wrath of God; The Light of the End

47. Artifacts - ...and then there's this

48. Pink Siifu - GUMBO'!

49. Circuit Des Yeux - -io

50. Silk Sonic - An Evening with Silk Sonic

 

...

 

PopMatters' 75 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

2. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

3. Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

4. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

5. Dawn Richard - Second Line

6. Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs

7. Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed

8. Dave - We're All Alone In This Together

9. Lil Nas X - MONTERO

10. Rochelle Jordan - Play with the Changes

11. Injury Reserve - By the Time I Get to Phoenix

12. Deafheaven - Infinite Granite

13. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

14. Black Country, New Road - For the first time

15. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

16. St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

17.Pepe Deluxé - Phantom Cabinet, Vol. 1

18. Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days

19. The Bug - Fire

20. Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World

21. Loraine James - Reflection

22. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

23. Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready

24. Damon Albarn - The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows

25. Public Service Broadcasting - Bright Magic

26. Snail Mail - Valentine

27. Valerie June - The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers

28. The Weather Station - Ignorance

29. Genesis Owusu - Smiling With No Teeth

30. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

31. Elbow - Flying Dream 1

32. Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia of the Air

33. Headie One - Too Loyal for My Own Good

34. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club

35. Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood

36. Rhiannon Giddens With Francesco Turrisi - They're Calling Me Home

37. Amythyst Kiah - Wary + Strange

38. Julien Baker - Little Oblivions

39. Helado Negro - Far In

40. Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming

41. Backxwash - I Lie Here Buried With My Rings and My Dresses

42. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

43. Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure

44. Yola - Stand for Myself

45. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

46. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

47. Maisie Peters - You Signed Up For This

48. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature

49. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!

50. CHVRCHES - Screen Violence

51. Goat Girl - On All Fours

52. Hayes Carll - You Get It All

53. Vince Staples - Vince Staples

54. Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant

55. Jungle - Loving In Stereo

56. Turnstile - GLOW ON

57. Jane Weaver - Flock

58. Between the Buried and Me - Colors II

59. John Grant - Boy from Michigan

60. Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time

61. Anz - All Hours

62. Mastodon - Hushed and Grim

63. Alessia Cara - In The Meantime

64. Bremer/McCoy - Natten

65. King Woman - Celestial Blues

66. John Hiatt With The Jerry Douglas Band - Leftover Feelings

67. Jon Hopkins - Music for Psychedelic Therapy

68. Low Cut Connie - Tough Cookies: Best of the Quarantine Broadcasts

69. Aaron Lee Tasjan - Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!

70. Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

71. Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power

72. Portico Quartet - Terrain

73. black midi - Cavalcade

74. Altın Gün - Yol

75. Mogwai - As the Love Continues

 

...

 

Gigwise's 51 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure

2. Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs

3. Amyl & The Sniffers - Comfort to Me

4. Sons of Kemet - Black To The Future

5. PinkPantheress - to hell with it

6. McKinley Dixon - For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her

7. For Those I Love - For Those I Love

8. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

9. Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark

10. Du Blonde - Homecoming

11. Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

12. Emma-Jean Thackray - Yellow

13. Charli Adams - Bullseye

14. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

15. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

16. Silk Sonic - An Evening with Silk Sonic

17. Mogwai - As the Love Continues

18. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales

19. Idles - CRAWLER

20. Surfbort - Keep On Truckin'

21. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

22. Drug Store Romeos - The world within our bedrooms

23. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

24. Lil Nas X - MONTERO

25. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

26. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

27. Tommy Genesis - goldilocks x

28. The Vaccines - Back In Love City

29. Summer Walker - STILL OVER IT

30. Indigo De Souza - Any Shape You Take

31. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

32. Clairo - Sling

33. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

34. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

35. JPEGMAFIA - LP!

36. St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

37. Laura Mvula - Pink Noise

38. Bicep - Isles

39. CHAI - WINK

40. Paris Texas - BOY ANONYMOUS

41. Low Hummer - Modern Tricks For Living

42. Nation of Language - A Way Forward

43. Parquet Courts - Sympathy for Life

44. James Blake - Friends That Break Your Heart

45. Doja Cat - Planet Her

46. Joe & The Shitboys - The Reson for Hardcore Vibes Again

47. Iceage - Seek Shelter

48. Royal Blood - Typhoons

49. Bull - Discover Effortless Living

50. Ashnikko - DEMIDEVIL

51. Remi Wolf - Juno

 

...

 

The Guardian's 50 Best Albums of 2021

 

1. Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure

2. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

3. Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

4. The Weather Station - Ignorance

5. Tyler, the Creator - CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST

6. SAULT - Nine

7. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

8. Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR

9. Arlo Parks - Collapsed In Sunbeams

10. Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

11. Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under

12. Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales

13. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee

14. Lil Nas X - MONTERO

15. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE

16. Deafheaven - Infinite Granite

17. Tirzah - Colourgrade

18. Turnstile - GLOW ON

19. Dave - We're All Alone In This Together

20. Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince

21. The Coral - Coral Island

22. Laura Mvula - Pink Noise

23. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

24. Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

25. Madlib - Sound Ancestors

26. Mogwai - As the Love Continues

27. St. Vincent - Daddy's Home

28. Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed

29. Clairo - Sling

30. Greentea Peng - MAN MADE

31. Low - Hey What

32. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature

33. PinkPantheress - to hell with it

34. The War on Drugs - I Don't Live Here Anymore

35. Aly & AJ - a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet...

36. aya - im hole

37. Erika De Casier - Sensational

38. Goat Girl - On All Fours

39. Hayley Williams - FLOWERS for VASES / descansos

40. Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club

41. Eris Drew - Quivering in Time

42. Gojira - Fortitude

43. Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Made Out Of Sound

44. Black Country, New Road - For the first time

45. For Those I Love - For Those I Love

46. Stephen Fretwell - Busy Guy

47. CHAI - WINK

48. Lucy Dacus - Home Video

49. Møl - Diorama

50. Agnes - Magic Still Exists

 

...

 

2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014

 

2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006

 

#topofthepops #top2021 #best_of_2021 #uncut #thequietus #roughtrade #gorillavsbear #mojo #residentadvisor #rollingstone #louderthanwar #theguardian #stereogum #billboard #allmusic #albumoftheyear #thewire #consequenceofsound #pitchfork #nme #slant #npr #popmatters #gigwise #deepskyobject

On 21st June 2012 saxophonist Rowland Sutherland bought his "re-envisioning" of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" to the glorious setting of King's College Chapel in London.

 

Preview here:

ancienttofuture.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/summer-solstice-...

 

Review here:

thequietus.com/articles/09173-john-coltrane-a-love-suprem...

Robert Plant & The Sensational Space Shifters perform at iTunes Festival in London, UK. 8th September 2014.

 

See more images from the show on The Line of Best Fit: www.thelineofbestfit.com/photos/live-photo-gallery/robert...

 

This particular photo is also featured alongside a review on The Quietus: thequietus.com/articles/16206-live-report-robert-plant-an...

 

This image is © 2014 Steve Asenjo. All rights reserved. No reproduction without prior written permission.

On 21st June 2012 saxophonist Rowland Sutherland bought his "re-envisioning" of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" to the glorious setting of King's College Chapel in London.

 

Preview here:

ancienttofuture.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/summer-solstice-...

 

Review here:

thequietus.com/articles/09173-john-coltrane-a-love-suprem...

All Tomorrow's Parties

Camber Sands

2006

 

Part of Neate at ATP, All Tomorrow's Parties first photo exhibition. August 2014 update: Exhibition now on show at the 13th Note, Glasgow. Exhibition views.

 

Neate at ATP colour album.

Quietus preview.

ATP page

 

"Yeah Yeah Yeahs were the weekend's main draw of the ATP that I was shooting for Plan B magazine. However, I nearly missed this, as by the time I ambled up to the photo pit, security had stopped all pass holders from entering as there was no more room.

 

My only option was to take up a position on the crowd's side of the barriers and in front of the speakers. Fortunately I was carrying a 300mm telephoto lens that I rarely used and although I couldn't see the band when they came on stage, I turned out to be extremely well placed for when Karen O moved to the centre of the stage.

 

I came away with three stand out photographs of Karen in profile, one of which is in black and white with an extended arm and a raised middle finger. This photograph of her singing delightedly into a dangling microphone had publishable potential for text to be added on the right side and it was considered for Plan B's double page spread but in the end that was filled with a raw capture of Liars."

Codpiece made from "Viners" Sheffield stainless-steel table knives, corroded iron spring washers, silver, shibuichi and set with cubic zirconia stones.

 

The text to accompany this, should anyone be interested, reads:

 

"Empire State Human [1] – A Post-Industrial Codpiece

 

"The 1980s saw an emasculation of Britain, nowhere more so than in the heart of steel-producing cities like Sheffield where a political agenda cut away at the core values described by Marx as 'The Dignity of Labour'. The destruction of this pure ideal lead to the current hubristic - in the Ancient Greek sense of ὕβρις - political thinking, endless recession and the crushing humiliation of a service-drone population.

 

"Taking a cue from the Nitzchean and Marxist ideals of the music which evolved in Sheffield [2,3] at the very point of transition from industrial to post-industrial – music by bands like The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire – this piece seeks to protect the steel-worker from both literal and figurative castration by the god/dess Mammon, leaving the wearer’s ideals and body Stain-less.

 

"[1] The title 'Empire State Human' is taken from a track by The Human League, written in 1979. In this song the lyrics express a Nietzschean ideal:

 

"'I never wanted to be human size

“'So I avoid the crowds and traffic jams

“'They just remind me of how small I am...

“'...if I'm not tall, tall, tall, then I will grow, grow, grow

“'Because I'm not tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall'

 

"See also David Stubbs, 'The Battle Between Thatcherite Pop and Marxist Funk', The Quietus, March 27th 2009.

 

"http://thequietus.com/articles/01376-david-stubbs-explores-the-battle-between-thatcherpop-and-marxist-funk

 

"[2] 'Made In Sheffield', Plexifilm DVD, ASIN B0009I7NGC 2001 - interviews with Philip Oakey (The Human League) and Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire).

 

"[3] 'Synth Britannia', BBC Enterprises, Broadcast on BBC 4, 2nd August, 2010 – interview with Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire)."

 

Photograph by Simon Murphy, all rights reserved.

 

www.simonmurphyphotographer.com/

As part of the “Festival of the Unconscious” exhibition, the Freud Museum presents “The Portrait of Jean Genet” by Disinformation. “The Portrait of Jean Genet” is a potentially infinite sound and video installation, based on the final interview given by the French burglar, prostitute and playwright Jean Genet, shortly before Genet’s own death. As a vivid articulation of the psychoanalytic concepts of Eros and Thanatos, Genet mishears the interviewer Nigel Williams, asking “Vous avez dit, L’Amour?” (“Did you say… Love”), because “J’ai entendu La Mort” (“I heard… Death”). In terms of “Rorschach Audio” type mishearings, the terms “L’Amour” and “La Mort” sound essentially identical, and are disambiguated by understanding their use in context. “The Portrait of Jean Genet” draws an analogy between the way in which listeners disambiguate perceptions of so-called “homophonic” sounds, and the way viewers project contradictory interpretations onto ambiguous visual figures, such as the spontaneously-reversing cube discovered by the Swiss crystallographer and geographer Louis Albert Necker.

 

“The Portrait of Jean Genet” is based on a static artwork of the same name, first published on Flickr in 2011, then re-published in the book “Rorschach Audio” in 2012. “The Portrait of Jean Genet” video has been screened at PoetryFilm events at The ICA (London, 2014) & CCCB (Barcelona, 2015), and is exhibited with thanks to Alex Hammond, James Register, Claire Craig and MOT International.

 

The Festival of the Unconscious

24 June to 4 October 2015

The Freud Museum

20 Maresfield Gardens

London NW3 5SX

 

rorschachaudio.com/2015/06/12/the-freud-museum/

ATP 2004, Camber Sands

 

Part of Neate at ATP, All Tomorrow's Parties first photo exhibition. August 2014 update: Exhibition now on show at the 13th Note, Glasgow. Exhibition views.

 

Neate at ATP colour album.

Quietus preview.

ATP page

 

"When Lightning Bolt played the Director's Cut ATP I couldn't get anywhere near and I also completely missed their outdoor chalet set. This was the next chance I had when they were the first band to play at Jake and Dinos Chapman's ATP. I arrived only minutes before they were due to start and found them set up in the upstairs room in the corner next to the can bar.

 

Behind Brian Chippendale's drums were a set of barriers with just enough space to squeeze between them and the wall. From there, I couldn't see the other Brian [Gibson] but it became clear that the action was in the crowd. While the young guys at the front initially sat patiently in anticipation, within seconds of the band starting, they would stand up and increasingly encroach forward as more people pushed from behind. The band stopped a number of times to get people to move back and sit down, only for the cycle to repeat itself again.

 

There was barely any light so I had to guess with my focus and the timing of my shot; it's only because of my flash that details in the crowd can be seen. I have a print taken in black and white that includes a sliver of a masked Brian Chippendale in action, but what I really like about this colour shot is that it's one of the few times you can tell which band are playing by seeing a picture of the crowd."

 

© Greg Neate, www.neatephotos.com

Codpiece made from "Viners" Sheffield stainless-steel table knives, corroded iron spring washers, silver, shibuichi and set with cubic zirconia stones.

 

The text to accompany this, should anyone be interested, reads:

 

"Empire State Human [1] – A Post-Industrial Codpiece

 

"The 1980s saw an emasculation of Britain, nowhere more so than in the heart of steel-producing cities like Sheffield where a political agenda cut away at the core values described by Marx as 'The Dignity of Labour'. The destruction of this pure ideal lead to the current hubristic - in the Ancient Greek sense of ὕβρις - political thinking, endless recession and the crushing humiliation of a service-drone population.

 

"Taking a cue from the Nitzchean and Marxist ideals of the music which evolved in Sheffield [2,3] at the very point of transition from industrial to post-industrial – music by bands like The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire – this piece seeks to protect the steel-worker from both literal and figurative castration by the god/dess Mammon, leaving the wearer’s ideals and body Stain-less.

 

"[1] The title 'Empire State Human' is taken from a track by The Human League, written in 1979. In this song the lyrics express a Nietzschean ideal:

 

"'I never wanted to be human size

“'So I avoid the crowds and traffic jams

“'They just remind me of how small I am...

“'...if I'm not tall, tall, tall, then I will grow, grow, grow

“'Because I'm not tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall'

 

"See also David Stubbs, 'The Battle Between Thatcherite Pop and Marxist Funk', The Quietus, March 27th 2009.

 

"http://thequietus.com/articles/01376-david-stubbs-explores-the-battle-between-thatcherpop-and-marxist-funk

 

"[2] 'Made In Sheffield', Plexifilm DVD, ASIN B0009I7NGC 2001 - interviews with Philip Oakey (The Human League) and Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire).

 

"[3] 'Synth Britannia', BBC Enterprises, Broadcast on BBC 4, 2nd August, 2010 – interview with Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire)."

 

Photograph by Simon Murphy, all rights reserved.

 

www.simonmurphyphotographer.com/

Various Artists + Disinformation "Antiphony"

Ash International [Ash 3.4] 2xCD 1997

Sound Mirror photo © Julian Hills, Feb 1996

Sound Mirrors video © Barry Hale, 1997 -

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsR3qyJDk0c

Imber village photo © Joe Banks, Jan 1996

 

The Sound Mirrors video – “Blackout” by Disinformation – has been widely exhibited in the UK and internationally since being filmed by Barry Hale and first exhibited in 1997. In 1999 and 2000 the video formed the centrepiece of the Arts Council funded “Blackout” exhibition, which toured to the Waygood Gallery (Newcastle), Broadway Centre (Nottingham) and ICA New Media Centre (London), since when the video featured in numerous group exhibitions and several Disinformation solo shows. The Sound Mirrors video has most recently been exhibited in the “Digest Sound” exhibition at the Witte Zaal [gallery] (Gent), as part of the Courtisane Film Festival in 2010, and at Le Bon Accueil [sonic arts gallery] (Rennes) in 2014.

 

Artangel and Imber - www.flickr.com/photos/disinfo/7042948343/

Codpiece made from "Viners" Sheffield stainless-steel table knives, corroded iron spring washers, silver, shibuichi and set with cubic zirconia stones.

 

The text to accompany this, should anyone be interested, reads:

 

"Empire State Human [1] – A Post-Industrial Codpiece

 

"The 1980s saw an emasculation of Britain, nowhere more so than in the heart of steel-producing cities like Sheffield where a political agenda cut away at the core values described by Marx as 'The Dignity of Labour'. The destruction of this pure ideal lead to the current hubristic - in the Ancient Greek sense of ὕβρις - political thinking, endless recession and the crushing humiliation of a service-drone population.

 

"Taking a cue from the Nitzchean and Marxist ideals of the music which evolved in Sheffield [2,3] at the very point of transition from industrial to post-industrial – music by bands like The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire – this piece seeks to protect the steel-worker from both literal and figurative castration by the god/dess Mammon, leaving the wearer’s ideals and body Stain-less.

 

"[1] The title 'Empire State Human' is taken from a track by The Human League, written in 1979. In this song the lyrics express a Nietzschean ideal:

 

"'I never wanted to be human size

“'So I avoid the crowds and traffic jams

“'They just remind me of how small I am...

“'...if I'm not tall, tall, tall, then I will grow, grow, grow

“'Because I'm not tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall'

 

"See also David Stubbs, 'The Battle Between Thatcherite Pop and Marxist Funk', The Quietus, March 27th 2009.

 

"http://thequietus.com/articles/01376-david-stubbs-explores-the-battle-between-thatcherpop-and-marxist-funk

 

"[2] 'Made In Sheffield', Plexifilm DVD, ASIN B0009I7NGC 2001 - interviews with Philip Oakey (The Human League) and Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire).

 

"[3] 'Synth Britannia', BBC Enterprises, Broadcast on BBC 4, 2nd August, 2010 – interview with Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire)."

 

Photograph by Simon Murphy, all rights reserved.

 

www.simonmurphyphotographer.com/

Various Artists + Disinformation "Antiphony"

Ash International [Ash 3.4] 2xCD 1997

Sound Mirror photo © Julian Hills, Feb 1996

Sound Mirrors video © Barry Hale, 1997 -

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsR3qyJDk0c

 

The Sound Mirrors video – “Blackout” by Disinformation – has been widely exhibited in the UK and internationally since being filmed by Barry Hale and first exhibited in 1997. In 1999 and 2000 the video formed the centrepiece of the Arts Council funded “Blackout” exhibition, which toured to the Waygood Gallery (Newcastle), Broadway Centre (Nottingham) and ICA New Media Centre (London), since when the video featured in numerous group exhibitions and several Disinformation solo shows. The Sound Mirrors video has most recently been exhibited in the “Digest Sound” exhibition at the Witte Zaal [gallery] (Gent), as part of the Courtisane Film Festival in 2010, and at Le Bon Accueil [sonic arts gallery] (Rennes) in 2014.

 

The audio content of “Antiphony” consists (in large part) of remixes, by the contributing artists, of electromagnetic noise recordings, originally released by Disinformation in 1996, published by the record label Ash International.

 

While the exhibition claims to “shine new light on Sid’s chaotic life in the spotlight” what we get - along with well trodden scenes of contract signing outside Buckingham Palace, TV appearances and band promo shots against brick walls - is countless similar images of Sid looking vacant whilst eating, drinking and sleeping. And though we’re spared any more intimate bodily function shots you will be yawning too at the live photography which - nevermind his lack of musicianship " nearly all rely on him holding a bass guitar with all the vaguely threatening manner of a confused drunk hanging on to a bar rail for support.

 

In case there’s any doubt that these less than pretty images were victim to camera shutter gremlins, this seemingly ad hoc selection of photographers confirm Sid’s pitiful presentation with such insightful observations as: ’Sid was not in a good mood’ and ’he seemed depressed’. In particular, Eileen Pollock recalls; ’Sid kept saying over and over again that he was hungry and asking us to buy him food so we bought him two kebabs’. An understandable gesture and not a bad return on one’s investment should there be any takers for her limited, signed, archival digital black & white prints of Sid viewed from behind, sitting on a curb and with his head on his knees going unframed for £425 ex VAT.

 

John Simon Ritchie was only a Sex Pistol for less than a year before their last gig (nevermind the reunions) and the range of photographs here are similarly limited in any sense of development of the man during his time with the band. That is except to say that things look bad during the Queen’s jubilee, worse on their ill fated American tour and downright disastrous by the time he’s being encouraged to do solo versions of ’My Way’ and is accompanied by the equally wretched with ’No Future’, Nancy Spungen; both of whom would die by the age of 21.

 

continues, go to next photo...

 

Following the (packed) “Rorschach Audio” lecture-demonstration at The University of Leeds Chemistry Building in Oct 2014, Leeds University’s School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies invited 12 guest speakers to offer “a short answer to a big question”, with a very loose brief… “If you could give 200 words worth of advice to a Fine Art student in 2015, what would it be?”, for publication in an A5 chapbook, published in May 2015.

 

The authors (contributing one page each) include Tim Etchells (performance artist and co-founder of Forced Entertainment), Richard Forster (sculptor and draughtsman), Oona Grimes (artist and story teller), Melissa Gronlund (writer and editor, Afterall), Mishka Henner (photographic and web artist), Jennifer Higgie (writer and editor, Frieze), Pavilion (commissioning agency), Grace Schwindt (sculptor and film and performance artist), Molly Smyth (sculptor), Alison Turnbull (painter), Covandonga Valdes (painter) and Joe Banks (founder of the art project Disinformation). The “200 Words” booklet was edited by Nick Thurston and is published in association with the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery, Pavilion and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

 

“Art is not necessarily science, but science is always art”

“All artworks are psychology experiments”

“Don’t destroy all rational thought”

“The medium isn’t the message”

“Art should never be boring”... etc

 

rorschachaudio.com

 

www.fine-art.leeds.ac.uk/events/visiting-artists-talk-joe...

Supersonic Festival, Birmingham

October 2011

 

Collapse Board neate photos review

 

Lead image for Supersonic review on the Quietus

 

"Scorn has primarily been the solo dance project of Mick Harris for nearly two decades, creating proto-dubstep over a decade before that genre had been given a name. While this is stiff, asexual, oppressive and aptly named it is still a joy to dance to and contains unbelievable heaviness that happens without having to resort to fairground bass drops a la Skrillex. It's one of Supersonic's best shows to date and is only made all the more intense by Chris Plant's hypnotic visuals, which are part Orwellian future broadcast, part Fritz Lang's Metropolis and part unpleasant psychedelic mishap. Harris is a master of delayed gratification and dishes out relief to his audience exactly when they need it rather than when they want it." - John Doran, the Quietus

  

© All Rights Reserved. More neate photos

Codpiece made from "Viners" Sheffield stainless-steel table knives, corroded iron spring washers, silver, shibuichi and set with cubic zirconia stones.

 

The text to accompany this, should anyone be interested, reads:

 

"Empire State Human [1] – A Post-Industrial Codpiece

 

"The 1980s saw an emasculation of Britain, nowhere more so than in the heart of steel-producing cities like Sheffield where a political agenda cut away at the core values described by Marx as 'The Dignity of Labour'. The destruction of this pure ideal lead to the current hubristic - in the Ancient Greek sense of ὕβρις - political thinking, endless recession and the crushing humiliation of a service-drone population.

 

"Taking a cue from the Nitzchean and Marxist ideals of the music which evolved in Sheffield [2,3] at the very point of transition from industrial to post-industrial – music by bands like The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire – this piece seeks to protect the steel-worker from both literal and figurative castration by the god/dess Mammon, leaving the wearer’s ideals and body Stain-less.

 

"[1] The title 'Empire State Human' is taken from a track by The Human League, written in 1979. In this song the lyrics express a Nietzschean ideal:

 

"'I never wanted to be human size

“'So I avoid the crowds and traffic jams

“'They just remind me of how small I am...

“'...if I'm not tall, tall, tall, then I will grow, grow, grow

“'Because I'm not tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall'

 

"See also David Stubbs, 'The Battle Between Thatcherite Pop and Marxist Funk', The Quietus, March 27th 2009.

 

"http://thequietus.com/articles/01376-david-stubbs-explores-the-battle-between-thatcherpop-and-marxist-funk

 

"[2] 'Made In Sheffield', Plexifilm DVD, ASIN B0009I7NGC 2001 - interviews with Philip Oakey (The Human League) and Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire).

 

"[3] 'Synth Britannia', BBC Enterprises, Broadcast on BBC 4, 2nd August, 2010 – interview with Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire)."

 

Taken with Panasonic 20mm f1.7 lens on Panasonic GH2.

All Tomorrow's Parties

Camber Sands

2006

 

Part of Neate at ATP, All Tomorrow's Parties first photo exhibition.

August 2014 update: Exhibition now on show at the 13th Note, Glasgow. Exhibition views.

 

Neate at ATP colour album.

Quietus preview.

ATP page

Codpiece made from "Viners" Sheffield stainless-steel table knives, corroded iron spring washers, silver, shibuichi and set with cubic zirconia stones.

 

The text to accompany this, should anyone be interested, reads:

 

"Empire State Human [1] – A Post-Industrial Codpiece

 

"The 1980s saw an emasculation of Britain, nowhere more so than in the heart of steel-producing cities like Sheffield where a political agenda cut away at the core values described by Marx as 'The Dignity of Labour'. The destruction of this pure ideal lead to the current hubristic - in the Ancient Greek sense of ὕβρις - political thinking, endless recession and the crushing humiliation of a service-drone population.

 

"Taking a cue from the Nitzchean and Marxist ideals of the music which evolved in Sheffield [2,3] at the very point of transition from industrial to post-industrial – music by bands like The Human League and Cabaret Voltaire – this piece seeks to protect the steel-worker from both literal and figurative castration by the god/dess Mammon, leaving the wearer’s ideals and body Stain-less.

 

"[1] The title 'Empire State Human' is taken from a track by The Human League, written in 1979. In this song the lyrics express a Nietzschean ideal:

 

"'I never wanted to be human size

“'So I avoid the crowds and traffic jams

“'They just remind me of how small I am...

“'...if I'm not tall, tall, tall, then I will grow, grow, grow

“'Because I'm not tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall, tall'

 

"See also David Stubbs, 'The Battle Between Thatcherite Pop and Marxist Funk', The Quietus, March 27th 2009.

 

"http://thequietus.com/articles/01376-david-stubbs-explores-the-battle-between-thatcherpop-and-marxist-funk

 

"[2] 'Made In Sheffield', Plexifilm DVD, ASIN B0009I7NGC 2001 - interviews with Philip Oakey (The Human League) and Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire).

 

"[3] 'Synth Britannia', BBC Enterprises, Broadcast on BBC 4, 2nd August, 2010 – interview with Richard H Kirk (Cabaret Voltaire)."

 

Photograph by Simon Murphy, all rights reserved.

 

www.simonmurphyphotographer.com/

All Tomorrow's Parties

Camber Sands

2006

 

Part of Neate at ATP, All Tomorrow's Parties first photo exhibition. August 2014 update: Exhibition now on show at the 13th Note, Glasgow. Exhibition views.

 

Neate at ATP colour album.

Quietus preview.

ATP page

 

"Yeah Yeah Yeahs were the weekend's main draw of the ATP that I was shooting for Plan B magazine. However, I nearly missed this, as by the time I ambled up to the photo pit, security had stopped all pass holders from entering as there was no more room.

 

My only option was to take up a position on the crowd's side of the barriers and in front of the speakers. Fortunately I was carrying a 300mm telephoto lens that I rarely used and although I couldn't see the band when they came on stage, I turned out to be extremely well placed for when Karen O moved to the centre of the stage.

 

I came away with three stand out photographs of Karen in profile, one of which is in black and white with an extended arm and a raised middle finger. This photograph of her singing delightedly into a dangling microphone had publishable potential for text to be added on the right side and it was considered for Plan B's double page spread but in the end that was filled with a raw capture of Liars."

  

a Tuff Life Boogie event

Night & Day Cafe, Manchester

October 2012

 

Bent Moustache website and Quietus interview

New neate photos facebook page with more Un-Peeled scenes.

 

© All Rights Reserved. More neate photos

 

Thank you Poly Styrene, and X-Ray Spex

 

"The inimitable Poly Styrene, real name Marian Said-Elliot, is now at peace after her battle against cancer, leaving us for a higher place at the age of just 53 on Tuesday [April 25, 2011]"

thequietus.com/articles/06171-poly-styrene-obituary

 

youtu.be/xjVVhJ-INWQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSrOJ1ig6tI

 

I clambered over mounds and mounds

Of polystyrene foam

And fell into a swimming pool

Filled with fairy snow

And watched the world turn day-glo

you know you know

The world turned day-glo you know

 

I wrenched the nylon curtains back

As far as they would go

And peered through perspex window panes

At the acrylic road

 

I drove my polypropolene

Car on wheels of sponge

Then pulled into a wimpy bar

To have a rubber bun

 

The X-rays were penetrating

Through the latex breeze

Synthetic fibre see-thru leaves

Fell from the rayon trees

 

l-r the Professor of Rude Gestures, Joe, Tom, Roxanne & Ben.

circa 1993.

 

As featured today in the Quietus alongside an interview with drummer, photographer, motorcyclist, Joe Dilworth; finally published after 20 years in the Neate vaults.

 

thequietus.com/articles/16965-joe-dilworth-interview

We talk to the one and only Mr Lemmy Kilminster about his love of rock & roll, Hawkwind, his love of punk rock & Nirvana, and why humans can learn a lot from the ants... but for now, "You can love the individual, but you can't love the race... we're arrogant bastards. We're like a dose of crabs"

   

Watch this video on Vimeo. Video created by theQuietus.

In June 2008, I went to see what was going on at the Proud Gallery at Camden before one of the My Bloody Valentine shows at the Roundhouse. I ran into John Doran, editor of the Quietus and told him how ridiculous this exhibition looked. I thought about it some more and went back later in the week to look again when the Mencap gallery was open as well. You couldn't make up two such inappropriately placed exhibtions. I saw my story.

 

The words over the next four photographs are from the review that appeared as an opinion piece on the Quietus website on July 4th. Link here:

thequietus.com/articles/00122-dead-horse-flogging-with-si...

 

The photographs were taken with a compact Coolpix camera and are just for visual illustration. Both exhibitions are now over but I'm showing the photos with the review now as I wasn't using flickr then and want to post the review in some form before the end of the year. I didn't feel it was my place to take photos of the Mencap gallery but you can see the photographs they selected here:

www.mencap.com/news.asp?id=3607&pageno=&year=&...

 

In it's defence, I enjoyed Proud's Keith Morris (Nick Drake, Elvis Costello) exhibition in October and hope they continue to do more with Mencap. However, it's hard to see the value of this Sid exhibition and hopefully in the Depression of 2009, bright ideas like the punk themed lounge will be a thing of the past - as if they would ever allow filthy cider-swilling punks with dogs on strings to chill out in their corporate Hate lounge.

 

continues, go to next photo...

All Tomorrow's Parties

Minehead

2007

 

Part of Neate at ATP, All Tomorrow's Parties first photo exhibition.

 

August 2014 update: Exhibition now on show at the 13th Note, Glasgow. Exhibition views.

 

Neate at ATP colour album.

Quietus preview.

ATP page

On 21st June 2012 saxophonist Rowland Sutherland bought his "re-envisioning" of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" to the glorious setting of King's College Chapel in London.

 

Preview here:

ancienttofuture.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/summer-solstice-...

 

Review here:

thequietus.com/articles/09173-john-coltrane-a-love-suprem...

Collective Endeavours presents a music/dance group improvised performance with

 

Solène Weinachter, Jer Reid, Brian Hartley, Joseph Quimby, Joan Clevillé, Rachele Rapisardi, Luke Sutherland

 

Counterflows

Langside Halls

 

Neate at ATP preview in the Quiteus

thequietus.com/articles/15626-greg-neate-at-atp-an-era-of...

 

www.neatephotos.com

Supersonic Festival, Birmingham

October 2011

 

New neate photos facebook page with Supersonic Scenes.

 

Supersonic Quietus review.

 

© All Rights Reserved. More neate photos

All Tomorrow's Parties

Minehead

2007

 

Part of Neate at ATP, All Tomorrow's Parties first photo exhibition.

August 2014 update: Exhibition now on show at the 13th Note, Glasgow. Exhibition views.

 

Neate at ATP colour album.

Quietus preview.

ATP page

The Windmill, Brixton

February 2008

 

More Bent Moustache at Un-Peeled here.

 

The full version of my interview with Ajay Saggar of the Bent Moustache is now up on the neate blog.

A slightly edited version appeared on the Quietus.

 

More neate photos.

  

Having had a downloaded version of Drokk for sometime I eventually splashed out on the vinyl format yesterday at Underground Solu'shn.

 

thequietus.com/articles/08687-drokk-music-inspired-by-meg...

www.undergroundsolushn.com/

Supersonic Festival, Birmingham

October 2011

 

Collapse Board neate photos review

 

Supersonic review on the Quietus

© All Rights Reserved. More neate photos

All Tomorrow's Parties

Camber Sands

2005

 

Part of Neate at ATP, All Tomorrow's Parties first photo exhibition. August 2014 update: Exhibition now on show at the 13th Note, Glasgow. Exhibition views.

 

Neate at ATP colour album.

Quietus preview.

ATP page

On 21st June 2012 saxophonist Rowland Sutherland bought his "re-envisioning" of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" to the glorious setting of King's College Chapel in London.

 

Preview here:

ancienttofuture.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/summer-solstice-...

 

Review here:

thequietus.com/articles/09173-john-coltrane-a-love-suprem...

Glasgow, October 2011.

More Bent Moustache at Un-Peeled here.

 

The full version of my interview with Ajay Saggar of the Bent Moustache is now up on the neate blog.

A slightly edited version appeared on the Quietus.

 

More neate photos.

St. Andrew's Church, Glasgow

April 2012.

More neate photos.

 

Interview in the Quietus.

  

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