The Glide 20- Glide’s 20 Best Albums of 2021 & Honorable Mentions

Dry Cleaning

If there ever was a time that narrowing a list down to 20 best albums seemed shameful, 2021 had to be it. It appeared everyone was throwing down with quality even Olivia Rodrigo. Yet, while we didn’t include the new pop princess on Glide’s 2021 list, we did include a variety of artists that we felt most represented our tastes and what we strive to cover here. Blues, R&B, world, and fascinating realms of folk led our list (Cedric Burnside, Amythyst Kiah, Amigo the Devil, Jon Batiste, Yola, Joanna Serrat, Mdou Moctar) while Iron Maiden, Iceage, Squid, and Turnstile brought the heavy with their own unique turns on hard rock. And Dry Cleaning (pictured above), nailed perhaps the year’s most eccentric album with a spoken word post-punk jazzed up affair that is crisp, jangly and ferocious

So here we go with our 19th version of the Glide 20 – Glide’s 20 best albums of 2021 followed by 20 honorable mentions – all in alphabetical order….

Aaron Lee Tasjan Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!

This is unquestionably Tasjan’s most ambitious and sprawling record to date and helped kick off 2021 best of lists early on. The record finds Tasjan embracing a sunny, harmony-heavy sound that feels simultaneously rooted in melodic pop of acts like the Beatles and ELO while also coming across as some sort of futuristic glam rock in his most listenable record to date.

Amigo the Devil – Born Against

Danny Kiranosmusic is a remembrance to those who came before him, scattering raw feels across the sonic landscape, forged in a creative process of openness and a pulsing vibration from a world riddled with lackluster renditions into a more hopeful future. Singing like a southern version of Nick Care- Born Against is splendidly dark. 

Amythyst Kiah – Wary and Strange

Kiah blends the alternative, slightly punkish rock with old-timey sounds on her breakout solo LP. The howling soulful voice laces political commentary with personal observations examining grief, alienation, and ultimately self-acceptance along the way. Kiah is onto something good and this release will pave the way to an illustrious solo career.

Billy Strings- Renewal

Strings and his musical cohorts have somehow managed to follow up their 2019 Grammy winning LP Home with an even stronger collective effort that is 16 songs. This generous helping features an eclectic mix of traditional material with fiery instrumentals and roots rock-oriented vocal cuts that prove Strings can really do it all – the Grammy committee seemed to agree again this year.

Bloodkin – Black Market Tango

Bloodkin does what few bands can do: deliver a double album with no filler, bringing uncompromising, literate, exhilarating rock n’ roll. This 15 song/double album is Athens, GA-based Daniel Hutchens and Eric Carter’s first album of new material in over a decade and possibly their last as Hutchens passed away shortly after the release- a grand yet unplanned final statement indeed. 

Cedric Burnside- I Be Trying

Burnside’s blues is delivered with a sense of optimism and hits the sweet spot and when the players deliver the goods during the smoking hill country blues sprinkled throughout. Burnside confidently carries on traditions while successfully injecting his own spin on the genre.   

Dry Cleaning-  New Long Leg

While the spoken word vocals of Florence Shaw stand out as the lynchpin of this unconventional band, it’s the free-flowing musicianship that wrangles with a free jazz approach that is as appealing. Think Nico Velvet Underground meets Sonic Youth and we have a snapshot of this exhilarating poetic band.

Iceage-  Seek Shelter  

On past albums, Iceage had found a few excuses to incorporate country and psych-rock into their more defined sound, but on Seek Shelter, the band is happy to finally succumb to whatever stylistic impulse strikes them. The album finds its success in the band’s need to experiment farther more than they ever have before.

Iron Maiden – Senjutsu

Far from resting on the success of their past, Iron Maiden has released their best album since Brave New World. Senjutsu is a towering work of heavy metal intensity that’s as good as anything the band has ever done before. Face melting, mind-bending, and ear shredding, their latest is a testament not only to their storied history but also their continuing talent and relevance in the metal world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIjNthG-_SU

Joana Serrat-  Hardcore From The Heart

The end result is a painfully honest and moving album, which grows on you with each hearing as new and rich complexities are discovered. Hardcore From The Heart showcases Serrat’s strongest vocal performance to date and marks a literary peak in her songwriting career where her lush dreamlike folk proves fluid.

Jon Batiste – We Are

Carrying the consciousness of Marvin Gaye, the optimism of Stevie Wonder, the unpredictability of Thelonious Monk, and the swagger of hip-hopper Mannie Fresh. This album is a treatise on an amalgam of Black Music in all its glory and all its forms.

Margo Cilker –  Pohorylle

Oregon-based Margo Cilker’s debut is a well-lived, road-worn collection of songs that transcend genre, dipping in and out of folk, Americana, and modern roots offering a nearly flawless record from the opening track on. Her lyrical prowess alone is enough to make this one of the strongest Americana records to come out this year, but her vocals are just as strong.

Menahan Street BandThe Exciting Sounds of Menahan Street Band

Daptone really cant do no wrong as this outfit’s first in over ten years returns to craft glorious sounds in the vein of late seventies extravagant funk and soul. That cinematic scope the band displays is clear on every tune (with a huge debt owed to Ennio Morricone) and the band achieves a collaborative groove.

Mdou Moctar- Afrique Victime

On Afrique Victime Moctar wanted to focus more on acoustic instrumentation and programmed electronic beats which are a staple of the Agadez sound. The results are a shining wide net of Saharan guitar with a riveting western rock attitude that might be one of the best rock albums of 2021.

Reigning Sound –  A Little More Time With Reigning Sound

Reaching back to the early days of the band, Reigning Sound brings back their “Memphis lineup,” and ropes in smoky garage soul/rhythm & blues along with slight punk/country tendencies. Greg Cartwright leads the troops through his backward-sounding/forward-looking songs that hit all the right genre-blending spots.

Sierra Ferrell – Long Time Coming

Ferrell’s unique approach and broad sonic palette uses bluegrass as its base and creates and spills over tango rhythms, jazz phrasing, and classic country in an intoxicating, unique mix. This high-profile effort draws participation from a group of luminary guests that herald in a newfound vintage flair.

Squid – Bright Green Field

Squid made a dent with perhaps the most spazzy and uncompromising meaty album that salutes the bands heroes yet finds its own voice underneath a gargle of new-wave mayhem. Angular and disarming this is a middle finger to the post-punk revival of the early aughts.

Turnstile –  Glow On

Although the huge muscular riffs that characterized their old moshpit anthems are mostly gone here, their method of attack is no less energetic and fun, as the band sounds generally quicker and leaner, with a punkier, more refined delivery on most of their songs. 

War on Drugs – I Don’t Live Here Anymore

I Don’t Live Here Anymore is jubilant, a record that sounds like it’s celebrating its place in Granduciel’s life, even when it isn’t. Writing and recording took three years, and the result is rousing, combining the anthemic celebration of community and progress during a pandemic with some of Granduciel’s best ballads.

Yola – Stand For Myself

On her second album, everything is amplified as Yola injects more power, passion, and purpose, elevating her craft even higher. Working again with producer Dan Auerbach at his Easy Eye Sound studios, Yola and company have crafted a golden pop winner that country, R&B, and rock devotees will relish.

20 Honorable Mentions

Aaron Frazer – Introducing..
Allison Russell – Outside Child
Amyl and the Sniffers- Comfort To Me
Bela Fleck – My Bluegrass Heart
Cochemea- Vol. II: Baca Sewa
Deafheaven – Infinite Granite
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio – I Told You So
Dinosaur Jr. – Sweep It Into Space
Faye Webster- I Know I’m Funny Haha
Felice Brothers- From Dreams to Dust
Ghalia Volt – One Woman Band
Hayden Thorpe – Moondust for My Diamond
Jackson Browne- Downhill From Everywhere
James McMurtry – The Horses and the Hounds
John Hiatt/Jerry Douglas – Leftover Feelings
Low – Hey What
Riddy Arman – Riddy Arman
Shame – Drunk Tank Pink
Silver Synthetic – Silver Synthetic
Viagra Boys – Welfare Jazz

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