Top 100 Songs of 2021

After listening to 62,510 minutes of music, 1,377 Artists, and 149 genres, I’ve digested a lot of tunes in 2021! There are so many different sounds and styles to this year’s playlist, it may be the most eclectic mix yet! We have a West African artist (Falle Nioke), a Turkish band with all sorts of influences (Altin Gun), a rock band in Niger (Mdou Moctar), a rapper from Chattanooga, Tennessee (Isaiah Rashad), an indie band from Minneapolis (Hippo Campus), masters in electronic music from across the pond in England (Disclosure), one of the more consistent electro-pop bands out there from Scotland (Chvrches), the best rock band I’ve heard in years, hailing from Baltimore (Turnstile), and so many more!

There’s rap, rock, soul, ballads, electro-pop, electronic, spoken word, funk, and who knows what other “genres” Spotify might class these songs as.

Nonetheless, there’s something for everybody, and hopefully a ton of new music* to discover.

*If you really like a song, check to see if that artist’s album is on my Top 25 Albums of 2021, and that’s a good indicator it’s a great album :)

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 196

I’ve never given Halsey a chance, mainly due to the fact that she got famous because of a feature on a Chainsmokers song, a band that hits about every note for my stereotype of shitty bands.

But did anyone else see her performances on Saturday Night Live this weekend?? I thought they were both phenomenal. Her vocals, something that time and time again, ESPECIALLY with pop artists, sounds terrible on SNL was spot on.

And of course she gets bonus points for bringing our Lindsey Buckingham for her second song, “Darling.”

Buckingham’s acoustic Taylor guitar (I have one myself) has such a gorgeous tone. It’s bright, clear, and sings in reverb. THAT sound is a Taylor guitar.

Talk about two different songs! The album versions start and end this week’s mixtape.

Enjoy the other jams and have a good week!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 8

Good Morning! Hope the weekend treated you well. It's especially a good Monday because The Maccabees are back on Spotify! For some reason (due to their record label I imagine), their amazing album, Given To The Wild, written up and loved by yours truly, is not on Spotify, but their new album is set to release sometime in 2015, and their first single, "Marks To Prove It," IS on Spotify, so hopefully the album will be as well. The single is an in-your-face rock song that I've been listening to incessantly for a few weeks. Their sound changes constantly from song to song, so I still have no idea what the new album may sound like, but needless to say, I'm pretty excited.

Halsey, a 20 year old American, just released this track that should instantly remind you of another talented young singer, Lorde. This song is pure pop. It's catchy as hell, and I love the disdainful lyrics about the music industry complex, again like Lorde. 

Although I wasn't overly impressed with Strange Names' debut album, "Ricochet" is a great track!

For the hip-hop heads out there, "Countdown" has to be right down your alley. Great beat, great hook, and Consequence and Lupe Fiasco together on a track?? Yes please.

Jamie xx's (member of The xx) debut album, In Colour, has been getting a ton of love from critics all over. I've been enjoying the album as there are so many different types of music packed into the album which really showcase the true ability of a DJ - to understand and appreciate the multitudes of elements and genres of music yet make them intertwine seamlessly to the listener. It's a hell of an accomplishment of an album to veer so heavily in different directions yet still be listenable from front to back. Jamie xx's track on this mix, "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)," starts will some old soul sample then veers into a reggae-ish beat with "it" rapper Young Thug giving his off-kilter signature delivery. Yeah, it's a bit weird, but we all need to keep it weird (right, Austin?). 

Finally, Moses Sumney is a singer/songwriter I just stumbled upon because Pitchfork named one of his tracks Best New Track. This track, "Plastic," is just a simple ballad that spoke to me. Simplicity at its best.