It’s been an awful year for movies, to the point that I won’t be writing a top ten films list this year – but thankfully, we still have good music. This year’s group of albums was a particularly strong one, with a few instant classics topping the list, and one album in particular that ranks among the finest musical achievements in recent memory.
Check out my top ten favorite records of the year below.
10. Slowdive – Everything Is Alive
It’s been six years since the legendary shoegaze outfit made a triumphant comeback with their uneven, but mostly excellent self-titled record. On this new album, their fifth overall, consistency is once again an issue, with a few tracks standing head and shoulders above the rest. I also would’ve liked to hear more vocals on these songs from Rachel Goswell, whose angelic voice has aged much better than frontman Neil Halstead’s.
However, there’s still a lot to love here – opening track “Shanty” is a spellbinding intro, building layers upon layers of hypnotic synths, wailing guitars, and ghostly vocal harmonies that lull the listener into a deep trance. “Alife” and “Kisses” find the group at their most accessible, with soaring guitar riffs and anthemic hooks that lodge immediately in the brain. Best of all is “Chained to a Cloud,” featuring gorgeous swells of instrumentation and whispery vocals that swirl together into a sound bath of epic proportions.
Though Everything is Alive can’t match the band’s classic 90’s releases, it’s still a memorable listen that will make longtime fans grateful for their return.
9. Colin Stetson – When We Were That What Wept For The Sea
Colin Stetson is an experimental musician who uses the saxophone in ways I’ve never heard before. On this album, he builds an immersive world of sound through his instrument, incorporating rhythmic breathing, spoken word poetry, and more into his usual approach. The album has a nautical theme to it, evoking imagery of a mysterious lighthouse beaming its signal through a thick blanket of fog.
This is an ideal late-night listening record, the kind of album that will make you space out to the point you forget what you’re listening to. At 70 minutes, it feels a bit longer than it needs to be, but Stetson’s brilliant playing and singular style are enough to keep the experience engaging from start to finish.
8. Tim Hecker – No Highs
Tim Hecker is a model of consistency – all of the ambient drone master’s records offer an intoxicating experience, pulling the listener deep into a meditative trance with subtle melodies and textures that seem to emerge directly from the subconscious. On No Highs, he incorporates horns for the first time in his discography (including a guest appearance by Colin Stetson), adding a dynamic new layer to his singular ocean of sound.
Coming on the heels of three consecutive masterworks (Virgins, Love Steams, and Konoyo), this album doesn’t quite reach the same level. The transitions between tracks aren’t his smoothest and the sound palette doesn’t feel as unique as those recent triumphs. Still, tracks like “Monotony,” “Lotus Light,” and “Living Spa Water” are mesmerizing soundscapes, offering a potent reminder that no one else can do what Hecker does.
7. Mndsgn – Snaxxx
Mndsgn is one of the most skilled producers working today, shifting between Dilla-esque beat collages and more traditional R&B music that showcases his soothing vocals. On Snaxxx, the final and best installment of a trilogy that began in 2018, he blends everything together into a psychedelic swirl that offers a little bit of everything I love about his music.
With a runtime just under 30 minutes, Snaxxx doesn’t allow any melody or idea to overstay its welcome, gently guiding the listener from track to track with smooth transitions. It has the loose feel of a beat tape, but also incorporates lots of vocal hooks and features some of the musician’s best songwriting to date. Whether you’re bumping it in the car, listening on headphones, or blasting it with friends, Snaxxx provides an instant mood lift that will leave you hungry for more.
6. George Clanton – Ooh Rap I Ya
George Clanton has been making music under a variety of aliases for over a decade now, but his popularity has increased significantly over the last few years, with many listeners such as myself stumbling across his unique brand of hypnagogic pop and quickly becoming fans. The charmingly-titled Ooh Rap I Ya is his first album in five years and finds the singer/songwriter/producer pushing his signature sound in a more psychedelic direction.
Tracks such as “Vapor King/SubReal” and “You Hold The Key And I Found It” eschew traditional song structures, entrancing the listener with glossy synth textures, bouncy percussion, and abstract vocal hooks that are practically dripping in reverb. For listeners who find these songs too spacey, there are more accessible tracks spread throughout the record, most notably “I Been Young,” which features possibly the most memorable hook that Clanton has written to date.
Every track here is enjoyable, but it’s the final two songs that really solidify this record among the year’s best. “Ooh Rap I Ya” features arguably Clanton’s best vocal performance to date, building up to a rhythmic chant that explains the album’s enigmatic title over an explosive, head-bopping beat. Finally, closing track “For You, I Will” ends the listening experience on a triumphant high, with ethereal guest vocals from Australian musician Hatchie mixing seamlessly into a shoegaze-meets-vaporwave symphony that makes me feel like I’m soaring through the air.
5. Lavarr The Star – Illusions Ago
Ishmael “Ish” Butler is, without a doubt, my favorite rapper alive. After establishing himself in the 90’s with Digable Planets, he reinvented his sound over the last decade-plus as Shabazz Palaces with instant classics such as Black Up and Lese Majesty. Now, he’s back with yet another alter-ego that finds him singing more than rapping, often with heavy effects on his voice. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this project, but as it turns out, Illusions Ago is my favorite new release from him in a while.
The record is short but sweet, taking the listener on a half-hour journey that will leave you eager to dive right back in. Opening track “Luxury Us Love” sets the tone beautifully, with auto-tuned vocal harmonies swimming in layers of sci-fi synths and bass tones that are sure to rattle the walls when played through a good speaker system.
Other highlights include “Mind Glow Rodeo,” showcasing Ish’s buttery-smooth flow and knack for iconic one-liners over a woozy beat that eventually explodes into disco-funk ecstasy; “Real Frenz,” a heartfelt tribute to the people you can count on in your life with a killer hook; and “Glass Top Roof (The One),” a bass-heavy romantic ballad that feels like the sonic equivalent of a warm embrace. Whether he continues to use this alias or not, I’ll always look forward to whatever Ish comes up with next.
4. Avey Tare – 7s
Released almost ten months ago, this fourth full-length solo effort from singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and Animal Collective frontman Avey Tare has remained in my top five all year long. While I don’t think it quite measures up to his best solo albums (Down There, Eucalyptus), it’s another brain-melting journey that takes the listener through a whirlwind of sonic universes, each of the record’s seven tracks standing on its own as a crowning achievement.
Opener “Invisible Darlings” finds Avey at his most unabashedly sentimental, with beautiful lyrics that alternately thank and comfort the listener, his unmistakable voice morphed through swampy effects over an outrageously catchy piano loop. “Lips At Night” is a wistful love song built on acoustic guitar strums accented with unusual percussion, such as the sound of a baseball thumping into a catcher’s mitt. “The Musical” is a song about the love of music itself, featuring Avey waxing poetic about what drew him to become a musician in the first place as layers of guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums build to a stunning crescendo.
As good as the first three tracks are, the second half of the album is even better. “Hey Bog”, the record’s nearly ten-minute centerpiece, feels like a perfect example of everything Avey does well, swirling layers of textures and melodies together into a psychedelic stew that invites you to sink in and melt away. The end of the song flows right into “Sweeper’s Grin,” another long track that disorients the listener with a hypnotic structure that seems to keep building upon itself.
Yet another seamless transition brings the album to “Neurons,” an explosion of sound with an addictive hook that features Avey playing the Kalimba (a small, wooden piano originating from Africa that’s played with your thumbs). Finally, “Cloud Stop Rest Start” ends the album on a haunting note, with Avey’s tender vocals reassuring the listener as a restlessly droning synth seems to signal imminent doom. Overall, 7s is the most sonically diverse record to date from one of the most unique and talented musicians on the planet – don’t sleep on it.
3. Oneohtrix Point Never – Again
Oneohtrix Point Never is one of my favorite musicians, but I have to say I felt a bit underwhelmed by his last two efforts. Thankfully, Again is a triumphant return to form that digs back through his large discography to re-explore the many sounds that made me fall in love with his music in the first place.
This isn’t his most unique or cohesive effort, with most of the album reminding you of previous things he’s done and none of the tracks seeming to connect to each other in any sort of meaningful way. This is my one complaint about the record that leaves it just short of reaching masterpiece status for me – with thirteen borderline structureless tracks that feature a multitude of starts and stops and run nearly an hour combined, it’s a bit of an exhausting listen that I find difficult to absorb all at once.
However, this feels like nitpicking considering how incredible nearly every song on here is individually. The title track mesmerizes with its glitchy vocal samples pitching up and down over a wall of siren-like synths that suck the listener down into a bottomless rabbit hole. “Locrian Midwest” conjures powerful swells of emotion and nostalgia with its arpeggiated chords tinged with lush textures, while “Plastic Antique” jars the listener with unpredictably shifting rhythms before dissolving into a massive sea of swelling synths, one of the most gorgeous and awe-inspiring moments in his entire discography.
Other highlights include “Gray Subviolet,” with its overwhelming blend of strings, piano, and choral vocals that merge together into a glorious cacophony, and “Memories of Music,” an electro-prog jam that evokes what the band Yes might sound like if they were active today and utilized modern production methods. Closing track “A Barely Lit Path” ends things on a fittingly epic note, running back through all the sounds of the record in what feels like a well-earned victory lap for one of the most accomplished composers making music today.
2. Alan Palomo – World Of Hassle
Alan Palomo (better known as chillwave pioneer Neon Indian) hadn’t released a new album in eight years, a long enough gap that longtime fans like me worried he might be gone for good. Thankfully, he made a glorious and triumphant return this year with World of Hassle, the first record he’s released under his real name and his most accomplished work to date. With its combination of irresistible hooks, danceable rhythms, and flawless production, all filtered through Palomo’s lovably idiosyncratic personality, this is an immensely gratifying listening experience that offers a little bit of something for everyone.
Opening track “The Wailing Mall” sets the tone perfectly with a sound palette that somehow feels both retro and modern at the same time, blending seductive saxophone passages with melodic synth pads and booming bongos as Palomo weaves an amusing tale from a childhood memory of being lost in the mall. “Meutrière” makes me feel like I’m in a classic giallo film (shoutout Dario Argento), with its club-ready beat offering a perfect backdrop for guest vocalist Flore Benguigui to serenade the listener in French.
Continuing the multicultural vibes, “La Madrileña” and “Nudista Mundial ’89” are both absolute bangers that feature Palomo singing in Spanish for the first time in his career. From there, the mood shifts to disco-jazz fusion with “The Return of Mickey Milan,” “Stay-At-Home-DJ,” and “Club People,” all of which offer unforgettable hooks and rhythms that may lead you to discover new dance moves you didn’t even know you were capable of.
Palomo gives his listeners a much-needed breather with “Alibi For Petra,” a laid-back instrumental interlude that transitions beautifully into “Nobody’s Woman,” a dub-inspired jam that gives new meaning to the word smooth. “Is There Nightlife After Death?” is a slow, sax-heavy groove that finds Palomo questioning the existence of party culture in the afterlife, while he uses “Big Night of Heartache” to transform a painful memory of romantic rejection into humorous, self-deprecating lyrics sung over alluring keyboard washes punctuated with trippy, pitch-shifted vocal samples (“I’m not crying, it’s just the spice”).
“The Island Years” begins with the gentle sound of ocean waves before launching into a tropical beach bop in which Palomo invites a lover to escape with him into sexual bliss and live out the rest of their days in paradise. Just as the track feels like it’s peaking with a crescendo of synths, flute, and percussion, it suddenly cuts out, giving the impression that perhaps this has all been just an elaborate romantic fantasy and now reality has cut back in.
The sound of the ocean carries the listener along into “Trouble in Mind,” a short instrumental outro that brings the album full circle and ends the experience with an exclamation point. While I really hope Palomo never goes eight years without releasing music again, the long wait is a small price to pay for a masterwork like this.
1. Animal Collective – Isn’t It Now?
After tiding us over with the remotely-recorded Time Skiffs (released in February of last year), Animal Collective are back with their longest studio album to date, finally releasing the remainder of the new songs they’ve been playing live since 2019 and bringing this pandemic-marred era to a close. Even with the far-from-ideal recording process, Time Skiffs turned out great and felt like the group’s strongest effort in a while. But as much as I loved that record, Isn’t It Now? absolutely blows it out of the water and ranks among my favorite albums they’ve ever done.
The hour-plus journey begins with “Soul Capturer,” a warm hug of an opener that slowly lulls the listener into a deep trance with its repetitive rhythms and flawless harmonies, climaxing with a mind-blowing transition that makes me feel like I’m slipping through a portal into another universe. On the other side of the portal is “Genie’s Open,” a subtle and mysterious epic that dazzles the listener with gorgeous vocals and a complex structure that takes you through a variety of moods, finishing with a bouncy tropical jam that never fails to put a smile on my face.
After two longer tracks, “Broke Zodiac” offers a perfect breather with its surprisingly simple construction, building to a sugary hook that will have you instantly humming along. From here, things cross back into epic territory with the nearly-ten-minute “Magicians From Baltimore,” an absolute stunner of a track that evolves from a spacey, ambient intro laden with effects to a head-banging psych-rock jam, complete with soaring harmonies, wailing guitar riffs, and a honky-tonk piano solo.
Up next is the album’s 22-minute centerpiece, “Defeat,” a true epic in every sense of the word. Consisting of two long, slow sections with a short, upbeat interlude in the middle, it feels like a mini-album of its own, taking the listener on a sonic journey that reaches a breathtaking crescendo. The emotional power of this song is nothing less than staggering, to the point I have to take a deep breath when it’s over – even after dozens of listens, I still find myself getting chills and tearing up nearly every time. I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say it’s among the most brilliant and affecting pieces of music I’ve ever heard in my life.
Moving into the final stretch of the record, “Gem and I” provides a much-needed pick-me-up after the emotional odyssey of “Defeat,” with its jaunty rhythms and addictive chorus delivering an instant serotonin boost. “Stride Rite” slows things down again with raw, earnest vocals over a lovely piano riff backed with jazzy percussion.
“All The Clubs Are Broken” is a short loop that feels like a barbershop quartet on acid, complete with hand claps and doo-wop backing vocals. Though it may feel out of place to some listeners, I think the jarring effect of the track is intentional, acting as a warning that it’s almost time to leave the vast musical universe of the album and return to reality.
As you reckon with these thoughts and the accompanying sadness of realizing the journey is coming to an end, “King’s Walk” closes the album on a transcendent note with goosebump-inducing three-part harmonies over a backdrop of eye-popping sound effects and acoustic guitar strums. The final lyric of the record perfectly expresses the primal terror of living in the modern world while retaining a spirit of optimism: “This old world is almost getting cooked, this old world is tougher than it looks.”
How many bands continue to experiment with their sound and try new things over twenty years into their career? The answer is very few, and I would argue that no group has done it as successfully as Animal Collective. Every member feels at the peak of their powers here, with this collection of songs allowing each of them to shine individually while simultaneously showcasing their unparalleled chemistry. Given the chance to all record together in person for the first time in a decade, the sense of love and gratitude on this album is palpable.
Though they’ve reached the age when many bands start winding down, content to coast on old songs and fan nostalgia, Animal Collective feel like a group that’s still restlessly exploring the limits of their capabilities. After a relatively slow decade that saw each member more focused on solo releases and side projects, Isn’t It Now? offers a resounding reminder that this band hasn’t lost a step at all – and they aren’t anywhere close to being finished yet.