How can it be that time already? Time to look back on a year that feels like it just got here? But it is, indeed, time to give a shout-out to the 2021 releases that gave me the full monty music thrills. I'm not going to post a comprehensive list all at once, that's way too much reading (and writing) during a busy time of year. Over the next few weeks, I’ll shine a spotlight on a couple favorites at a time, in easier to digest chunks. Some are new releases from known and unknown artists, others are new-in-2021 reissues and compilations. I won’t be ranking them, primarily because getting that kind of perspective over a whole year’s worth of releases takes some time, and a couple of these are fresh off the printing press. For rankings, check with me next June or so.
I read a lot of “best-of” lists from different places at the end of every year, but my favorites are totally personal. These are all records that I heard, lived with, and loved, not necessarily what’s hot or trending on social media. You’ll see pop, rock, jazz, and a few harder to pigeonhole titles. If you see a * next to the title, that means I added it to the vinyl collection, and it's spent a whole lot of time spinning on the turntable. So let’s dive in!
*The City Champs, Luna ’68 (released March 19) – I’ve written about this one before, and included the trippy collage on the cover in my favorite album art post. It was an instant grabber of an album. Even though these guys are Memphis studio musicians, I first read a glowing review in a British music magazine while their home country was busy ignoring them. I immediately streamed Luna ’68 on Qobuz and ordered a vinyl copy from their website before it was done playing. Things can happen that fast these days, which still blows my mind.
100% instrumental, with Hammond B-3 master Al Gamble on keyboards, funk and soul guitarist Joe Restivo, and first-call studio drummer George Sluppick. These guys get together and do this for fun every couple of years or so, in between their day jobs. Think Booker T & the MGs with a little psychedelia thrown in for good measure. It sounds a little soundtrack-y at times, but soulful, funky, jazzy, and always catchy as hell. Try listening to this one without a smile creeping onto your face. I can’t.
EARWORM: “A-Meld-a-Marcos” (2021) – Listening to the guitar and organ trade licks is so much fun you may not even notice how great the drummer is on first listen.
*REM, New Adventures in HiFi (25th anniversary reissue, released October 29) – For me, this was easily the best album reissue of the year. New Adventures wasn’t one of their biggest sellers back in the day, but it was the last time the band recorded with founding drummer Bill Berry, and their last truly genius record. The releases following this one proved to all doubters that Mr. Berry was one of the musical cornerstones of the band, even though the other three, Stipe, Buck, and Mills, took up most of the spotlight. With Bill gone, they never reached quite as far, or as creatively, again, and their steadily falling album sales reflected the change.
Most of New Adventures was written and conceived while the band was on tour for their previous album, Monster. It was a difficult tour, to put it mildly, three of the four principals required medical attention at some point. Bill Berry suffered a brain aneurysm on stage in Switzerland that ultimately led to his retirement. Once the tour ended they took the new songs they had managed to cobble together on the road and finished them in the studio. That the album turned out so brilliant is amazing, considering its difficult birth. The band is more experimental with their arrangements than previous albums, fascinating soundscapes rather than straightforward rock and roll on quite a few, a definite left-turn from Monster’s nouveau glam-rock. Stipe’s singing is constantly moving and impressive, even while his lyrics are decidedly impressionistic. They rock out like R.E.M. of old on tracks like “The Wake Up Bomb,” "Leave," and the delightfully obtuse “Binky the Doormat,” but it’s the more introspective stuff that really sticks. For a band that could always add some romantic and lovely songs to their harder-edged albums ("Everybody Hurts," "Nightswimming"), “Electrolite” and “E-bow the Letter” are two of their finest, with the latter getting tender, spooky vocal support from Patti Smith. This isn’t the R.E.M. album to pull out when you want their big, familiar college-radio hits, but it’s the one that demonstrates the creative heights the original band was capable of, even under adverse circumstances.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the quality of the 25th anniversary reissue itself. The album is remastered spectacularly well, the sound quality far superior to any version I remember from back in the day. The gatefold cover is printed beautifully on high quality stock and the vinyl is heavy, black, and dead quiet. All reissue campaigns should take note of how it’s done right.
EARWORM: “Electrolite” (1996) – New Adventures closes with one of the band’s most beautiful ballads. A glimmer of peace among the chaos.
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