This week just gone (and yes, I’m already falling behind on these!) saw the first 2021 release I was actually looking forward to rather than just listening to out of a sense of routine and habit, but two others grabbed my attention as well. Let’s have a look at them!
Continue reading “2021 Albums/EPs: Week 2 (January 8 – 14)”Top 107 Albums of 2020
2021 Albums/EPs: Week 1 (January 1 – 7)
I’ve settled on weekly roundups of releases as the future direction of this blog. January often tends to be fairly slow for albums, and the first Friday of 2021 happened to fall on New Year’s Day. Who in their right mind releases anything then?
Continue reading “2021 Albums/EPs: Week 1 (January 1 – 7)”Album #366: Asian Dub Foundation – Access Denied

- Released: 2020
- Origin: London, England
- Label: X-Ray Production
- Best Track: Comin’ Over Here
Album #365: Tangerine Dream – Phaedra

- Released: 1974
- Origin: Berlin, Germany
- Label: Virgin
- Best Track: Phaedra
Album #364: Heads. – Push

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Berlin, Germany
- Label: Glitterhouse
- Best Track: Paradise
Album #363: Unwound – Fake Train

- Released: 1993
- Origin: Tumwater, Washington, USA
- Label: Kill Rock Stars
- Best Track: Pure Pain Sugar
Album #362: Deep Sea Diver – Impossible Weight

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Seattle, Washington, USA
- Label: High Beam/ATO
- Best Track: Eyes are Red (Don’t Be Afraid)
Album #361: I Tpame I Tvrame – Ikin Vijnë

- Released: 2018
- Origin: Tirana, Albania
- Label: RaveWave/Oráculo
- Best Track: Who You Used to Be
Album #360: The Kunts – Kunts Punk in Your Face

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Basildon, England
- Label: Disco Minge
- Best Track: Boris Johnson is a Fucking Cunt
Album #359: Haim – Women in Music, Pt. III

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Los Angeles, California
- Label: Columbia
- Best Track: Leaning on You
Album #358: Jehnny Beth – To Love is to Live

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Poitiers, France
- Label: Caroline
- Best Track: Flower
Album #357: Grivo – Elude

- Released: 2018
- Origin: Austin, Texas, USA
- Label: Holodeck
- Best Track: Opia
Album #356: Kirsty MacColl – Kite

- Released: 1989
- Origin: Croydon, England
- Label: Virgin
- Best Track: Mother’s Ruin
Album #355: The Pogues – Rum Sodomy & the Lash

- Released: 1985
- Origin: London, England
- Label: Stiff/MCA
- Best Track:
Album #354: Dif Juz – Extractions

- Released: 1985
- Origin: London, England
- Label: 4AD
- Best Track: Gunet
Album #353: The Telescopes – The Telescopes/# Untitled Second

- Released: 1992
- Origin: Burton-on-Trent, England
- Label: Creation
- Best Track: Ocean Drive
Album #352: The Chameleons – Script of the Bridge

- Released: 1983
- Origin: Middleton, Greater Manchester, England
- Label: Statik
- Best Track: Up the Down Escalator
Album #351: Indian Queens – God Is a Woman

- Released: 2020
- Origin: London, England
- Label: Cool Thing
- Best Track: Some Kinda Blue
Album #350: Ganser – Just Look at that Sky

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Label: felte
- Best Track: Emergency Equipment and Exits
Album #349: Depeche Mode – Violator

- Released: 1990
- Origin: Basildon, England
- Label: Mute
- Best Track: Enjoy the SIlence
Album #348: beabadoobee – Fake It Flowers

- Released: 2020
- Origin: London, England
- Label: Dirty Hit
- Best Track: Together
Album #347: Boris & Merzbow – 2R0I2P0

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Tokyo, Japan
- Label: Relapse
- Best Track: Absolutego
Album #346: Less Than Jake – Silver Linings

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Gainesville, Florida, USA
- Label: Pure Noise
- Best Track: The Test
Album #345: Damien Jurado – What’s New, Tomboy?

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Seattle, Washington, USA
- Label: Mama Bird
- Best Track: When You Were Few
Album #344: Hypernova – Through the Chaos

- Released: 2010
- Origin: Tehran, Iran
- Label: Narnack
- Best Track: Empty Times
Album #343: The National – Boxer

- Released: 2007
- Origin: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Label: Beggars Banquet
- Best Track: Mistaken for Strangers
Album #342: Nadine Shah – Kitchen Sink

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Whitburn, Tyne and Wear, England
- Label: Infectious
- Best Track: Ukrainian Wine
Album #341: Helmet – Meantime

- Released: 1992
- Origin: New York City, USA
- Label: Interscope/Amphetamine
- Best Track: Unsung
Album #340: Desmond and the Tutus – Desmond

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Pretoria, South Africa
- Label: Self-released
- Best Track: Hard Work
Album #339: Chris Kamara -…And a Happy New Year

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Middlesbrough, England
- Label: So What?/Silva Screen
- Best Track: I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day
Album #338: Calexico – Seasonal Shift

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Tucson, Arizona, USA
- Label: City Slang
- Best Track: Hear the Bells
Album #337: Pillow Queens – In Waiting

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Dublin, Ireland
- Label: Self-released
- Best Track: Gay Girls
Album #336: Slift – Ummon

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Toulouse, France
- Label: Stolen Body
- Best Track: Lions, Tigers and Bears
Album #335: Dead Mellotron – Glitter

- Released: 2012
- Origin: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Label: Sonic Cathedral
- Best Track: Can’t See
Album #334: Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth

- Released: 1980
- Origin: Cardiff, Wales
- Label: Rough Trade
- Best Track: Music For Evenings
Album #333: Sports Team – Deep Down Happy

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Cambridge, England
- Label: Big Desert
- Best Track: Here it Comes Again
Album #332: Adulkt Life – Book of Curses

- Released: 2020
- Origin: London, England
- Label: What’s Your Rupture
- Best Track: Room Context
Album #331: Billie Joe Armstrong – No Fun Mondays

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Rodeo, California, USA
- Label: Reprise
- Best Track: A New England
Album #330: The Smashing Pumpkins – CYR

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Label: Sumerian
- Best Track: Wyttch
Album #329: The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar

- Released: 2011
- Origin: Mold, Wales
- Label: Atlantic
- Best Track: A Heavy Abacus
Album #328: Lush – Spooky
Album #327: A. E. Bizottság – Kalandra fel!!

- Released: 1983
- Origin: Szentendre, Hungary
- Label: Hungaroton
- Best Track: Egy Lány Kéne Nekem
Album #326: Tom Tom Club – Tom Tom Club

- Released: 1981
- Origin: Nassau, The Bahamas
- Label: Island/Sire
- Best Track: Genius of Love
Album #325: The Cribs – Night Network

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Wakefield, England
- Label: PIAS
- Best Track: Never Thought I’d Feel Again
Album #324: Clan of Xymox – Spider on the Wall

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Label: Trisol
- Best Track:
Album #323: Affet Robot – Röntgen

- Released: 2017
- Origin: Istanbul, Turkey
- Label: 1061484 Records
- Best Track: 18-80
Album #322: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – K.G.

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Melbourne, Australia
- Label: KGLW (Self-released)
- Best Track: Honey
Album #321: Soft Kill – Dead Kids R.I.P. City

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Portland, Oregon, USA
- Label: Cercle Social
- Best Track: Matty Rue
Album #320: Rum Lad – Vandalism

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Derbyshire, England
- Label: R. T Young
- Best Track: Frauds
Album #319: Magazine – Real Life

- Released: 1978
- Origin: Manchester, England
- Label: Virgin
- Best Track: Shot By Both Sides
Album #318: Kino – Gruppa Krovi

- Released: 1988
- Origin: Leningrad (Saint Petersburg), Russia
- Label: Moroz
- Best Track: Boshetunmai
Album #317: Thousand Yard Stare – The Panglossian Momentum

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Slough, England
- Label: Stifled Aardvark
- Best Track: It Sparks!
Album #316: Jim Bob – Pop Up Jim Bob

- Released: 2020
- Origin: London, England
- Label: Cherry Red
- Best Track: Truce
Album #315: William Basinski – Lamentations

- Released: 2020
- Origin: New York City, USA
- Label: Temporary Residence
- Best Track: O, My Daughter, O, My Sorrow
Album #314: The Wytches – Three Mile Ditch

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Peterborough, England
- Label: Cable Code
- Best Track: Fly Inside
Album #313: Moor Jewelry – True Opera

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Label: Don Giovanni
- Best Track: Look Alive
Album #312: Molchat Doma – Monument

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Minsk, Belarus
- Label: Sacred Bones
- Best Track: Udolil Tvoy Nomer
Album #311: Spectres – It’s Never Going to Happen and This is Why

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Bristol, UK
- Label: Self-released
- Best Track: On Nepotism
Album #310: Flipper – Generic Flipper

- Released: 1982
- Origin: San Francisco, California, USA
- Label: Domino
- Best Track: Life Is Cheap
Album #309: Songhoy Blues – Optimisme

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Bamako, Mali
- Label: Transgressive Records
- Best Track: Badala
Album #308: The Angelic Process – Weighing Souls with Sand

- Released: 2007
- Origin: Macon, Georgia, USA
- Label: Burning World
- Best Track: Weighing Souls with Sand
Album #307: The Slow Readers Club – 91 Days in Isolation

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Manchester, England
- Label: SRC
- Best Track: Two Minutes Hate
Album #306: Sadness – I Want to Be There

- Released: 2019
- Origin: Oak Park, Illinois, USA
- Label: Self-released
- Best Track: I Want to Be With You
Album #305: Tunng – Tunng Presents…Dead Club

- Released: 2020
- Origin: London, England
- Label: Full Time Hobby
- Best Track: Sdc
Album #304: Bitch Falcon – Staring at Clocks

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Dublin, Ireland
- Label: Small Pond
- Best Track: Turned to Gold
Album #303: Slow Pulp – Moveys

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Madison, Wisconsin, USA
- Label: Winspear
- Best Track: Channel 2
Album #302: The House of Love – The House of Love (Butterfly Album)

- Released: 1990
- Origin: London, England
- Label: Fontana
- Best Track: Shine On
Album #301: President Evil – President Evil

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Unknown
- Label: Corpus
- Best Track: Two Years Later
Album #300: Hundredth – Somewhere Nowhere

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA
- Label: Self-released
- Best Track: Cauterize
Album #299: Eels – Earth to Dora

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Label: E Works/PIAS
- Best Track: Of Unsent Letters
Album #298: Control Top – Covert Contracts

- Released: 2019
- Origin: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Label: Get Better
- Best Track: Straight Jackets
Album #297: Tobacco – Hot Wet & Sassy

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA
- Label: Ghostly International
- Best Track: Chinese Aquarius
Album #296: The Wake – Perfumes and Fripperies

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Glasgow, Scotland
- Label: Blaylox
- Best Track: Perfumes and Fripperies
Album #295: Nothing – The Great Dismal

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Label: Relapse
- Best Track: April Ha Ha
Album #294: R.E.M. – Up

- Released: 1998
- Origin: Athens, Georgia, USA
- Label: Concord
- Best Track: Hope
Album #293: Nation of Ulysses – 13-Point Program to Destroy America

- Released: 1991
- Origin: Washington, D. C., USA
- Label: Dischord
- Best Track:
Album #292: The Adolescents – Russian Spider Dump

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Fullerton, California, USA
- Label: Cleopatra
- Best Track: Back Door
Album #291: Run The Jewels – RTJ4

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Brooklyn, New York/Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Label: Jewel Runners/BMG
- Best Track: A Few Words for the Firing Squad
Album #290: The Metatrons – Deconstruction

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Hitchin, England
- Label: Chapter 22
- Best Track: Again
Album #289: USA Nails – Character Stop

- Released: 2020
- Origin: London, England
- Label: HEX
- Best Track: I Don’t Own Anything
Album #288: Joe & The Shitboys – The Reson for Hardcore Vibes

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Faroe Islands
- Label: Farmstead
- Best Track: Pretend Serious
Album #287: Bootblacks – Thin Skies

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Label: Artoffact
- Best Track: Parallel
Album #286: Butthole Surfers – Psychic… Powerless… Another Man’s Sac

- Released: 1984 (1985 in UK)
- Origin: San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Label: Touch and Go/Fundamental
- Best Track: Woly Boly
Anything completely weird like the Clown Core album I did earlier this week instantly makes me think of Butthole Surfers. They’re a band I’ve dipped in and out of rather than exhausting their catalogue, so let’s hear what their first album sounds like.
It sounds a lot like Butthole Surfers, is the answer. There’s more of a straight-up punk sound in parts, like on ‘Butthole Surfer’ and the brilliant ‘Woly Boly’, but it’s always laced with psychedelia, and often unsettling experimentation.
‘Lady Sniff’ sees Gibby Haynes add sounds like spitting, vomiting, belching and loud fart noises to the mix, while ‘Cherub’ wobbles and hovers, sounding like a dystopian but low-budget sci-fi film.
I like this a lot, with the conventional punk edge a welcome antidote to Haynes’ comfortingly standard strangeness.
Album #285: Sneaks – Happy Birthday

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Washington D.C., USA
- Label: Merge
- Best Track: This World
Album #284: Clown Core – Van

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Emigrant Valley, Nevada, USA
- Label: Self-released
- Best Track: You Are Pregnant
Album #283: The Fall – Grotesque (After the Gramme)

- Released: 1980
- Origin: Prestwich, England
- Label: Rough Trade
- Best Track: The NWRA
Album #282: The Wedding Present – George Best

- Released: 1987
- Origin: Leeds, England
- Label: Reception
- Best Track: Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
Album #281: The Bodines – Played

- Released: 1987
- Origin: Glossop, England
- Label: Magnet
- Best Track: Therese
Album #280: Autechre – SIGN

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Rochdale, England
- Label: Warp
- Best Track: Metaz form8
Album #279: Can – Ege Bamyası

- Released: 1972
- Origin: Cologne, Germany
- Label: United Artists
- Best Track: Pinch
Album #278: Coastlands – Death

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Portland, Oregon, USA
- Label: Dunk!
- Best Track: Dead Friends
Album #277: Future Islands – As Long As You Are

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Greenville, North Carolina, USA
- Label: 4AD
- Best Track: For Sure
Album #276: Drop Nineteens – National Coma

- Released: 1993
- Origin: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Label: Caroline
- Best Track: Royal
I mentioned when writing on Yo La Tengo’s latest that ‘Sugarcube’ by them is one of my favourite songs of all time. Another is ‘Winona‘ by Drop Nineteens.
I can’t explain my absolute adoration of this song. Perhaps it’s because, as some people in the YouTube comments allude to, it’s hard to imagine a more 1990s song. It came from the band’s 1992 debut Delaware – an album I would only rate as average-to-good despite that one sublime track.
The other day I discovered an article that caught up with the band. Before reading it, I’m not sure I was even aware that they put out a second album, National Coma, the following year, so I stuck it on.
If Delaware is average-to-good, then I’d have to say National Coma is closer to average. Even some of the band said in the aforementioned interview that they don’t listen to it often. It seems like they were trying to be a bit more arty and experimental, but the result is a bitty album. The production doesn’t do it any favours either – I can go with lo-fi, but it sounds rather thin, and quiet.
Still, they could write a tune, and some moments shine through. ‘Rot Winter’ is choppy and sloppy yet raw and abrasive, while ‘Skull’ is the catchiest track. It peaks on final track ‘Royal’ though, where a grungy, brooding verse is kicked into touch by an infectious chorus.
Album #275: Andy Bell – The View From Halfway Down

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Oxford, England
- Label: Sonic Cathedral
- Best Track: Love Comes in Waves
Album #274: Touché Amoré – Lament

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Label: Epitaph
- Best Track: Exit Row
Album #273: Yo La Tengo – We Have Amnesia Sometimes

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
- Label: Matador
- Best Track:
Album #272: METZ – Atlas Vending

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Ottawa, Canada
- Label: Sub Pop
- Best Track: A Boat to Drown In
Album #271: Public Practice – Gentle Grip

- Released: 2020
- Origin: New York City, USA
- Label: Wharf Cat
- Best Track: Moon
Album #270: Rose City Band – Summerlong

- Released: 2020
- Origin: Portland, Oregon, USA
- Label: Thrill Jockey
- Best Track: Only Lonely