Here Are Check This Out!'s Ten Favorite Albums of 2021
Here Are Check This Out!'s Ten Favorite Albums of 2021
Featuring Flamingosis, Lake Haze, Helado Negro, Telethon, Turnstile, CHAI, Here Lies Man, Genesis Owusu, Ol' Burger Beats & Vuyo, Floating Points, and Pharoah Sanders
Each year I continue my music journey, I find myself less satisfied with lyrics and traditional pop structures and gravitating towards instrumental music. As a guitarist in my former life, I’ve always been more interested in the construction of a song instead of the words. Sure, there are plenty of pop-oriented albums on this year-end list, but ultimately soundscapes are what excites me these days.
Over the past five years or so, electronic music has become the therapy I crave for my ears. If you were to ask me about this all-encompassing genre a decade ago, I would have easily said “no thanks.” But here’s the thing: I’ve always listened to more electronic music than I realized. Whether it’s The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, or Four Tet, the appeal has been there for twenty-plus years (maybe the requirement was that it had to be made by pasty Brits?).
It’s taken until recently to realize how much the genre can touch emotionally, though, which is how I ended up with my two favorite records of the year, Daymaker by Flamingosis, and Sun Rising on Concrete Landscapes by Lake Haze. Two years into the pandemic, these albums represent a duality in electronic music: Flamingosis has made a celebratory ray of aural sunshine that brings the party to you when you can’t take any more of the current times. Meanwhile, Lake Haze offers retro melancholic club beats that harken back to the acid house music heyday of the 90s… when you can’t take any more of the current times.
So even if you think electronic music isn’t your thing, give ‘em a chance - it may unlock a whole new world.
ICYMI - catch up on the rest of the list: 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, and 20-11.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed expanding my list to fifty records this time around, in a year that has gifted so much great music - any of the albums I’ve mentioned the past few weeks could have been at the top. Check This Out! will return after the new year - in the meantime, follow me on Spotify and Apple Music for all of these records and the latest playlists. I love your feedback and hearing what new songs you’re digging!
Also, I appreciate all of my readers who have been here for the last year, as well as the new ones who continue to subscribe - I already have some great stuff lined up for early next year!
Have a great break, and stay safe!
Kiley 🕶️✌️
10. Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and the London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
Promises, the magic collaboration between electronic producer Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders, one of the most gifted saxophonists of our time, may be Time’s Record of the Year and on plenty of year-end lists. Still, I don’t think this album is getting its proper due amongst the general public. David Byrne’s record label has released something extraordinary here, and with time, will be considered some of the most essential music of the decade.
What I said in my review: “At first glance, having an octogenarian jazz legend team up an artist at the forefront of the electronic scene may seem like an odd couple, but it's a match made in heaven… Promises isn't meant to play out of your computer or phone's speakers - some good headphones are necessary to truly appreciate every contribution and all of the layers in the quiet. Refusing to be jazz, electronic, classical, or ambient, Promises is one of the most important listens of the year.”’
Promises is available on Luaka Bop.
9. Ol’ Burger Beats & Vuyo - Dialogue.
It pains me that my year-end list doesn’t have as much hip hop as I want. After a stellar 2020, the genre didn’t have much that stuck out this year (I love Tyler, the Creator’s CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, but the whole point of this site is to expose people to something outside the usual algorithms). This feeling is due to Ol’ Burger Beats and Ole Vuyo setting the bar so high back in February with Dialogue. The Oslo duo combines dusty jazz beats with socially conscious lyrics with spectacular results. If this is the kind of hip hop that floats your boat, there’s plenty more from both artists this year. Ol’ Burger Beats teamed up with his sister, who performs under Née Pauline on her debut EP, I Am Leaving, and Vuyo’s work with Giddy Gang on the Sour EP deliciously harkens back to the heyday of the Soulquarians collective. I can’t wait to see what both have in store.
What I said in my review: “On the record’s best moment, ‘Summer of George,’ Vuyo strikes out at the corporatization of race identity and politics. The juxtaposition of discussing everything that has happened following the murder of George Floyd while working in clips of Jason Alexander self-declaring his ‘Summer of George’ is absolutely brilliant. We can be down with the cause, but there is still the underlying prerogative of spending your summer reading a book and playing frisbee golf. Vuyo declares, ‘I'm only left hoping that we learn from what I call ‘The Summer Of George.’ The beats are mellow, and the flow is conversational, leading to an easily digestible but essential work. This hip-hop record from Norway’s approach to race and pop culture is just as pertinent as anything released recently in the States.”
Dialogue. is available on Jakarta Records.
8. Genesis Owusu - Smiling with No Teeth
Barack Obama’s year-end singles list can be a meme generator, but he’s always great at sneaking in unsuspecting tracks. This year included indie powerhouses like Mitski, Wye Oak, and big label jumpers The War on Drugs, but the inclusion of Genesis Owusu has me smiling with teeth. Although it’s impossible to classify Owusu’s debut record, I’m going to say it joins Ol’ Burger Beats & Vuyo as my favorite hip hop adjacent record of the year.
What I said in my review: “Smiling With No Teeth is a revelation and breath of fresh air. The Ghanan-born and Canberra-based artist Genesis Owusu sends the listener on a genre-bending odyssey. While running through alternative hip-hop, neo-soul, funk, and early 00’s indie territory, Owusu is here to talk about mental health and racial inequality... The record kicks off with a bang, but it’s the groovy run in the middle of the album that makes Smiling With No Teeth a must-hear album. ‘Waitin’ on Ya’ is a soulful yearner in the styling of André 3000 before Owusu confronts the black dog on ‘Don’t Need You.’ Going back to R&B’s funky roots, the song would already be considered a classic if Prince had released it.”
Smiling with No Teeth is available on House Anxiety, Ourness.
7. Here Lies Man - Ritual Divination
Here Lies Man’s Ritual Divination is a psychedelic, stoned-out record full of riffage that acts as a middle finger to anyone who says “they don’t make good rock music anymore” while chucking another crushed Bud Light can in the back of their pick-up. The combo of Sabbath riffs and Afrobeat rhythms has always given the band their calling card in the past, but Doug Organ’s paranoid detuned synths really kick things up this time. Turn Ritual Divination up to 11 - the record deserves it.
What I said in my review: “While the riffs stand out immediately, Mann’s drums are also can’t miss. My favorite example of this is the mid-album run of ‘Can’t Kill It,’ ‘Run Away Children,’ ‘I Wander,’ ‘Night Comes,’ and ‘Come Inside.’ These tracks are mostly built around the clave rhythm pattern that holds Afro-Cuban music together, which keeps them fresh and sets Here Lies Man apart from other Black Sabbath worship bands.”
Ritual Divination is available on RidingEasy Records.
6. CHAI - WINK
Japan’s CHAI mostly ditches their distorted guitars for phat grooves and hypnotic textures on their third record, which works out wonderfully. WINK is a bubbly affair that’s exquisitely saccharine despite being written and recorded early on in the pandemic. Here’s your record if you’re looking to keep everything 100% posi.
What I said in my review: “On ‘Nobody Knows We’re Fun,’ their latest single for their new album WINK, Chai sings, ‘uh, wow, oh my gosh, nobody knows we are fun, this is a big issue.’ I wholeheartedly agree. It is a big issue, and the upbeat grooves and chant alongs on their third record prove that even the biggest cynic will find Chai to be fun…Bouncing around from R&B to city pop and electronica, Chai is ready to take on the world with WINK. With one listen, you’ll be rooting them on as well.”
WINK is available now on Sub Pop.
5. Turnstile - GLOW ON
This year has been massive for Turnstile, culminating in their TV debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers last week. I thought they did a great job, shredding through “Mystery” and “TLC (Turnstile Love Connection),” but the comments on social media the next day were disappointing, to say the least.
GLOW ON is by far and away the most refreshing take on guitar music this year, but comments lazily comparing them to Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and At the Drive-In if they played at the mall (har har), makes me realize that most of the country still listens to Lithium on SiriusXM.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
What I said in my review: Turnstile has never been a straightforward hardcore band in their decade together, but their last album, Time & Space, hinted at their refusal to be labeled as it explored alternative sounds. With their third record, GLOW ON, the band has thrown any genre expectations out the window in a crafty move that makes them appealing to an endless audience. The chugging guitar riffs and shout-along vocals of their earlier work are still present, but the effervescent synths and forrays into shoegaze, new wave, and hints of R&B elevate Turnstile to the next level.”
GLOW ON is available now on Roadrunner Records.
4. Telethon - Swim Out Past the Breakers
Swim Out Past the Breakers is one of those records I was stoked about when I wrote the review this past summer but has somehow only sounded better with time. Careening through emo, power pop, and ska-punk for good measure, Telethon has created that “crank it up in the car” album you know you need. You just haven’t found it yet.
What I said in my review: “With its soaring choruses, tight chops, and sense of adventure, Telethon has created one of the highlights of the year with Swim Out Past the Breakers. Like their Milwaukeean forefathers, The Promise Ring, Telethon comes up with endless emo-pop hooks, and every song on here is must-hear. I’m also almost certain no other record will reference both Everclear and the Grateful Dead this year.”
Swim Out Past the Breakers is available on Take This To Heart Records.
3. Helado Negro - Far In
Far In, the masterful flowing follow-up to 2019’s This is How You Smile, is the latest addition to this list, having released at the end of October. Enveloping the ears like a warm yet airy blanket, Roberto Carlos Lange, aka Helado Negro, takes the listener on a calming sojourn through the stars. It’s almost impossible to make an album this substantial sound so effortless, but Far In is the capstone of Lange’s career so far.
What I said in my review: “Lange describes the songs as ‘mind meanderings drawn in sound,’ and it’s easy to hear why as he sings about modern anxieties and finding kindness while effortlessly grooving between soothing danceable numbers like ‘Gemini & Leo’ and ‘Outside the Outside.’ The tender moments are just as enjoyable with ‘Aguas Frías’ and ‘Agosto,’ as Lange sings in an airy falsetto with Buscaboulla. This bilingual voyage is a much-needed salve for our times and is the record that I am genuinely excited about at the moment. Far In will indeed be vying for my AOTY next month.”
Far In is available on 4AD.
2. Lake Haze - Sun Rising on Concrete Landscapes
Portuguese producer Gonçalo Salgado, aka Lake Haze, made his long-awaited return to the Shall Not Fade label, and the results of this acid house record are nothing short of stunning. Full of haunting reverb, throwback beats, and Salgado’s signature “droid chatter,” Sun Rising on Concrete Landscapes defies expectations of what electronic music can be.
What I said in my review: “This retro deep house record is an atmospheric journey full of reverb-y beats that rise to the times. Simultaneously melancholy yet hopeful, it’s the music of limbo as we wait for the pandemic to subside and summer to arrive.”
Sun Rising on Concrete Landscapes is available on Shall Not Fade.
1. Flamingosis - Daymaker
By employing a live band, Aaron Velasquez, aka Flamingosis, has taken his funk and soul sampled stylings to an astonishing level on Daymaker, a much-needed celebratory record. An impossibly cool effort full of melodies that will be stamped straight on your brain, Daymaker confirms that Velasquez has carved his own luminous niche in electronic music. Besides being my most-listened-to record of the year, Flamingosis has released the latest two volumes in his Mood Provider series. Available on YouTube, these mixtapes have been great companion pieces.
What I said in my review: “The Brooklyn-based artist has a natural gift for melding electronic music and funk by looking to the genre’s past and morphing it into something beyond current… Daymaker finds Flamingosis not only in the studio for the first time but writing and recording with a live band, and the results are out of this world. Meant to reflect the transition from afternoon into evening, Daymaker is a melodic journey that seamlessly blends genres for any occasion that could use an effortless pick me up…a massive jump in his career, opening paths for new approaches to sampling wizardry. It’s also one of the most relaxing albums of the year while never losing its celebratory vibes.”
Daymaker is self-released and available now.