“Snail Mail retains the same wounded lover ethos and hazy, scorned vocals but with a noticeably more pop-inspired instrumental palette. Indie rock guitars and peppy drums provide a sturdy melodic base, while additions of piano or dreamy synths give this album a sometimes danceable effect.”

–Sydney Sjobakken

19. Lingua Ignota – Sinner Get Ready

“Lingua Ignota has always incorporated a regal and grandiose instrumental palette, but SINNER GET READY shows a slightly softer side to her work with elements of religious hymns and neofolk. Yet, despite drawing back a bit from her more abrasive tendencies, she still maintains the same level of harrowing torture and anguish that permeates her work.”

–read Sydney Sjobakken’s full review here,

18. Greta Van Fleet – The Battle at Garden’s Gate

Staffer Hadley’s Album of the Year

“Greta Van Fleet does not disappoint with their third album, which keeps their iconic sound while incorporating some of the most beautiful lyrics I’ve ever heard. They stray from their classic rock roots to incorporate a more worldly sound while still being amazing and technically sound. They play with a new, more diverse range of sounds that sets them apart from their usual comparison to Led Zeppelin and creates a sound all their own, with enough flair to show their growth as a band while still sounding like the group we know and love. Personally, I think it’s their best album yet.”

–Hadley Stewart

17. Rauw Alejandro – Vice Versa

Staffer Alejandro’s Album of the Year

“In a very limited genre like reggaeton, Rauw Alejandro breaks those limits to deliver Vice Versa, an album full of fun tracks that use the typical reggaeton and Latin pop beats in new and creative ways. The lead single and opening track of the album, “Todo de Ti”, is a funky introduction that sets the tone for what the rest of the album is going to be. However, the highlight of the album is “Cosa Guapa”, which mixes Latin pop and House to make a new classic for Latino nightclubs.”

–Alejandro Gonzalez

16. Shannon & the Clams – Year of the Spider

Staffer Ryan’s Album of the Year

“The newest from Shannon & the Clams combines elements of Rockabilly, 60s psych, & Doo Wop, creating a unique retro sound. Vocalists Shannon Shaw and Cody Blanchard achieve excellent chemistry.”

–Ryan Knipp

15. SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE – ENTERTAINMENT DEATH

Director Sydney’s Album of the Year

“As discordant as it is dreamy, SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE’s ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH easily excavated a place for itself in the top releases of 2021 with its irreverent sense of nostalgia, melancholy, and an eerie understanding that maybe all is not well. The twinkly yet jarringly off-kilter synths remind one of an old photograph being eaten away by time and sun-exposure, while the vocals are melancholic and ethereal. The constant shutters, glitches, and static present in the mix add to the unusual ethos of this record which is sure to lull its listeners into a dangerous state of naive ease.”

–Sydney Sjobakken

14. Armand Hammer & The Alchemist – HARAM

Director Jaden’s Album of the Year

“Billy Woods’ and ELUCID’s poetically confrontational bars hit as hard as ever. Now with smooth and jazzy beats from the Alchemist, the two reach new heights. It’s the contrast between Woods’ deep bellow and ELUCID’s rasp, as they deliver dizzying bars filled with emotional gut-punches. It’s how they seem to have pushed the Alchemist on some of these songs to create his most experimentally mind-bending beats yet, while still maintaining crisp production. Put simply, HARAM cements Armand Hammer as one of the best rap duos to ever do it.”

–read Jaden Amjadi’s full review here.

13. Backxwash – I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES

“On the newest album from Backxwash, she continues down the path of dark, industrial metal-infused hip hop, rapping verses that mix the personal with the occult. The first single and title track “I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES” is a perfect encapsulation of why this album rules.”

–read Jaden Amjadi’s full review here.

12. The Mountain Goats – Dark In Here

“It just so happens that this new set of songs on Dark In Here is some of the band’s best work in years. The instrumentation is never particularly showy–folk rock guitars, some keys across piano and organ, some spare woodwinds–restrained drums which only hit hard when the time is right. Attention is primarily on Darnielle’s lyricism and vocal performance, which he keeps on the softer end of his register. These songs are sad, or at least, they explore different aspects of loneliness and darkness.”

–read Jaden Amjadi’s full review here.

11. Tyler, The Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost

“Smooth and soulful, with lyrics that’ll make you ask, “Who hurt Tyler?”. It also has a fair balance of gritty or harder songs, and smooth, horn-filled soul pieces. It’s a nice middle-ground between IGOR and Flowerboy.

–Sydney Sjobakken

10. Doja Cat – Planet Her

It’s Doja Cat. What could we possibly say? Her new one is pretty great.

9. Viagra Boys – Welfare Jazz

“The brand of tongue-in-cheek, abrasive yet catchy songwriting that Swedish post-punk band Viagra Boys has engineered is on full display on their sophomore LP Welfare Jazz. The album certainly lives up to its name with instrumentation that is often jazzy, bluesy, and unrelentingly infectious.”

–read Sydney Sjobakken’s full review here.

8. Injury Reserve – By The Time I Get to Phoenix

“On the newest album from Injury Reserve, rapper Ritchie with a T and producer Parker Corey carve out a new lane for themselves in experimental hip hop, as they grapple with the passing of founding member Stepa J Groggs. The results are unlike anything the group, or any other artist for that matter, have made before. From the confrontational opening track, they make it clear what the listener is in for–Ritchie strikes a battle rap stance over enveloping synth lines with a verse that verges on mad rambling in the best way possible.”

–read Jaden Amjadi’s full review here.

7. black midi – Cavalcade

“To expect anything less than off-kilter and left-field from black midi is to underestimate them, but Cavalcade proves that being “left-field” is not a matter of luck or a lack of ingenuity. Across this album, the band employs a Coraline-esque balance of blissful fantasy and demented horror with contemporary jazz-inflected progressions, snappy drums, and perfectly spaced breaks into full-bodied blows of distortion and drive.”

–read Sydney Sjobakken’s full review here.

6. Illuminati Hotties – Let Me Do One More

“From atop Illuminati Hotquarters, singer/songwriter Sarah Tudzin pens tunes to capture the last gasps of a dying Summer on Let Me Do One More. The band’s variety of sounds range from catchy pop-infused punk to endearingly sincere folk and beyond.”

–read Jaden Amjadi’s full review here.

5. Low – HEY WHAT

Staffer Zachary’s Album of the Year

“Nothing is better than seeing a band you’ve grown up with expand their sound while keeping their core values the same. Hey What finds Low, nearly 30 years into their career, blowing out the speakers with harsh electronica and entwining the noise in their ethereal melodies and reigning them in. Sparhawk and Parker have always been masters of sparseness, and while that usually means playing with silence, here, they showcase how isolating and cold chaos can be while proving it ineffectual in the face of the human spirit. This is honestly the strongest album from them in years, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the future.”

–read Zachary Leboeuf’s full review here.

4. Lana Del Rey – Blue Banisters

Staffer Amelia’s Album of the Year

“When Lana Del Rey dropped three singles on a random Thursday in May, only about two months after Chemtrails came out, it became evident she was working on a new project that would move her forward as a singer and find her focusing on new themes. Blue Banisters explores themes of sisterhood, friendship, family, righting wrongs, and dealing with critics. Songs range from well-known bootlegs in the fandom to a closing song she wrote in 20 minutes with her sister and her dad. She strips many songs down to piano and voice, but standouts like “Dealer and “If You Lie Down With Me” use synths, horns, and screams. Blue Banisters rivals the Grammy-nominated NFR among fans because of this new style and maturation shown by Lana on this album, and sets a new standard for any project she creates in the future.”

–Amelia Johnson

3. girl in red – if i could make it go quiet

Director Daniela’s Album of the Year

“girl in red’s anticipated debut album, if i could make it go quiet, captivates listeners with its relatability, instrumental intensity, and variety. The intimate lyrics about relationships and moving through life resonated with me. The presence of numerous instruments such as piano, synths, drums, and guitar was deliberately and thoughtfully used to create a specific mood for each track. girl in red has the ability to write fast-paced bangers, heartfelt ballads, and nostalgic instrumental songs. The combination of all of these elements creates a memorable musical experience leaving me hungry for more of her work.”

–Daniela Rybarczyk

2. Genesis Owusu – Smiling With No Teeth

Staffer Ken’s Album of the Year

I’d never heard of Genesis Owusu before he was played during one of the music staff meetings, but I’ve been hooked ever since. I instantly got hooked to the many bangers present on Smiling with No Teeth the moment I started listening and haven’t left my thoughts since. Each track sounds so fun and surprisingly diverse from one another instrumentally and vocally, it makes my brain feel very happy!

–Ken Dompier

1. JPEGMAFIA – LP!

Staffer Evan’s Album of the Year

“On LP!, JPEGMAFIA plays perfectly into his strengths. The experimental hip hop titan revives his distinctive, engaging, and humorous attitude and delivers yet another project full of heart, intelligence, and musical brilliance. With bold and outlandish production, an infinitely wide arsenal of flows, and rebellious and sarcastic lyrics, Peggy drops another instant classic and advances his case to be considered not just one of the best experimental hip hop artists of our time, but one of the best hip hop artists, period.”

–read Evan Weidl’s full review here.

The post The Best of 2021: Music Staff Picks appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The term ‘album’ falls short of adequately describing the beast that is Moor Mother’s Black Encyclopedia of the Air. More appropriately, it is poetry, performance, and sound art expertly woven into a collection of pieces that are as diverse as they are succinct. While all sounding ‘wet’ in essence, with a perceptible fluidity of effervescent noise, the songs range in composition from jazzier and traditionally structured to winding experimentation that could double as ambient overlaid with intense spoken word poetry. Lyrically, the album centers around black identity, though takes a decidedly less straightforward approach to the politics that surround it. The messaging of each song feels soulful and spiritual, rather than fiery, or rigid in its politics. On songs such as “Tarot”, with instrumentation that includes ethereal pipes as well as natural sounds of wind chimes and the rustling of leaves, we are offered a look into a sense of power stored in the trauma of generations. This sentiment of a deeply rooted power is foreshadowed on the opener, “Temporal Control of Light Echoes”, where Moor Mother talks of monsters, gods, and carrying “my mother, your mother, her mother / The mothеr in my womb.” Perhaps the richness of the album lies then in this penetrating power, down through generations, cutting through the noise, flowing as the interstitial fluid within the living breathing organism that is this record.

–Sydney Sjobakken

Low – Hey What

For years, Low has made a name for themselves by sticking to the quieter side of indie rock. On HEY WHAT, the duo breaks for the opposite realm of the sound barrier, yet still retains the simplistic sensibilities and folk influences that have remained since the beginning. When “White Horses” begins to stutter with static, it’s difficult to believe that this is even the same Low renowned in 90s slowcore. And yet, as soon as Sparhawk and Parker begin to harmonize, the message in the static reveals itself. Coming hot off the heels of Double Negative, in which the electronics and noise threaten to subsume the group’s fragile melody, HEY WHAT is a sharp rebuke of the desire to simply live quietly and hope the storm passes overhead with little damage. No matter how loud the droning becomes, Low’s vocals are stronger, re-affirming the humanity beneath. Nowhere is this shown to greater effect than the far-too-short “More” in which the feedback sounds as if it’s struggling to get free until those angelic voices come back in and wrangle it to a point where it doesn’t sound frightening anymore. In “Hey,” the whirring drones sound just like the storms that appear over great lakes and plains alike, but instead of a fearsome phenomenon, it’s almost comforting in its size. And, in what might be the best track of the album “Days Like These” where Sparhawk and Parker’s vocals are modulated into the drift, the country twang is only accentuated, lending emotion and passion to the message of striving for meaning in times that feel only more apocalyptic by the day. Low may not have the answers to these questions. But what they do have is the drive and motivation to inspire, to fight back against apathy and negligence with the determination that is inherent to the human condition.

–Zachary LeBoeuf

Injury Reserve – By The Time I Get to Phoenix

On the newest album from Injury Reserve, rapper Ritchie with a T and producer Parker Corey carve out a new lane for themselves in experimental hip hop, as they grapple with the passing of founding member Stepa J Groggs. The results are unlike anything the group, or any other artist for that matter, have made before. From the confrontational opening track, they make it clear what the listener is in for–Ritchie strikes a battle rap stance over enveloping synth lines with a verse that verges on mad rambling in the best way possible. The second track and single, “Superman That” is more somber in tone–with heavily autotuned repetition of the words “Ain’t no saving me or you.” The beat here, as on most tracks that follow, is absolutely unhinged–shuffling drums and melodic lines that are as melancholy as they are groovy. Ritchie’s voice is more sultry and weathered than ever and often appears in ad-libbed grunts and moans in layers, ensuring each track is imbued with a sense of controlled chaos. On “Top Picks For You”, however, Ritchie pens his most direct verse to the late band member over a drumless beat –a poignant meditation on seeing Groggs’ recommended content on a streaming platform. Injury Reserve has always incorporated an interest in technology into their music, and this song places this theme in its saddest context. The first single, “Knees” is a beautifully heartswelling sendoff to the album before its final closing track, and contains one of the two Stepa J Groggs verses on the album–a patiently thoughtful meditation on growth. By The Time I Get to Houston signals an end of one era for Injury Reserve, and the start of a beautiful new one.

–Jaden Amjadi

Petey – Lean Into Life

Petey’s fusion of synths and sarcastic, shouted lyrics on Lean Into Life guide the audience through subject matter ranging from mental illness to relationships. Synths, drums, and electric guitar establish the foundation for “California” creating an upbeat song with tinges of dark humor in the lyrics. “Apple TV Remote” is the first track to feature the hoarse scream-like vocal effects found throughout this album. “Pitch A Fit!” combines these raw vocal effects and smooth melodic lines overlayed upon the electronic instrumental lines. Possibly the highlight of the entire album, “DON’T TELL THE BOYS” is an emotionally driven song with turbulent drums and fast-paced synths contrasted by the mellow, heart ache inducing chordal sections. Petey’s ability to tell a story shines on “Microwave Dinner” by matching the intensity of a quarter-life crisis with panic-riddled vocals. Much like earlier tracks, “Lean Into Life” has a heavy synth-pop sound with retro vibes forming an energetic song. The album ends with “Tell the Boys” which is an instrumental track with hymnal synths emulating a heartbeat leaving the listener in a state of peace. With synth-pop elements and cathartic vocal delivery, listeners are sure to find a song that speaks to them on Lean Into Life.

–Daniela Rybarczyk

Kero Kero Bonito – Civilisations

Japanese-British indie-pop group Kero Kero Bonito combines their two latest EPs, Civilization I and II, into one funky 7-track compilation album, perfect for feeling like the main character of a flop 80s movie with a cult following, and I mean that in the best way possible. The opening track, “Battle Lines”, shows us that although K.K.B. dabbles in retro synthpop, their signature quirky lyrical and vocal style is as present as ever. This arcade-like tune is followed by two more 80s inspired tracks, “When The Fires Come” and “The River”, before introducing us to the second part of this album: the Civilization II tracks. After the mystical and almost ethereal interlude, the album transitions into Kero Kero Bonito’s signature indie-synth style of instrumentals. The last three songs, especially “21/04/20”, could have fit perfectly in the group’s previous full-length album, Time ‘N’ Place. Nevertheless, the tracks stand out more as a 3-song EP (or in this case, a 7-song compilation), and they’re easier to appreciate, creating a relaxed mood that can only be felt with these songs. Although Civilization is simply a compilation of two EPs glued together with a minute-long interlude, the tracks in each project complement each other perfectly and give us something to listen to while we wait for K.K.B’s next full album.

–Alejandro Gonzalez

Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert             

On her most recent release, Little Simz struts a delicate balance between graceful orchestration and beat-heavy synths, as well as the boundary between intimacy and power. On the opener, “Introvert”, the instrumentation would suggest anything but the timidness of an introvert. Rather, it boasts powerful horns and strings that could soundtrack an oncoming war. The posturing of the first song, quickly fades into suppler, jazz-infused raps on the next couple of tracks that explore womanhood and personal aspirations, as well as Simz’s Nigerian cultural background. Much of the album luxuriates in smooth orchestration and jazz samples, but let it be known there are still certainly songs that veer into edgier spaces. A song like “Speed” features potent, bass-y drums and sizzling synths, all of which feel very reminiscent of the funky, off-kilter beats featured on many Gorillaz tracks. In all, with its 19 tracks and just over an hour-long run-time, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert feels both groovy and whimsical, introspective and proud, and above all, gracefully artistic.

–-Sydney Sjobakken

Park Hye Jin – Before I Die

There’s a trend that’s very common among electronic musicians, intentional or not: the dehumanization of the human voice. Whether it’s through such techniques as pitch-shifting, chopping up syllables, or just rendering it unintelligible, losing that aspect of humanity can allow the soundscape being created to affect the listener more intently. On Park Hye Jin’s latest album Before I Die, the 26-year old Korean-American can convey this uncanny valley of the voice with almost no technical wizardry: it’s all in the delivery. Nowhere is this put to more chilling use than in the titular track of the album. Over a repetitive beat that brings a ticking clock to mind, Park intones a litany of sorts, “I miss my mom, I miss my dad, I miss my sister, I miss my brother.” The delivery is so deadpan as to sound genuinely emotionless, the result of separation from loved ones and family. This is a pattern throughout the album. By using the power of repetition, she creates a sense of continuity, that, instead of being comforting becomes almost clinical. This makes the descent into near-chaos in the second half of the album more surprising. The beats are stumbling over each other, becoming ever darker, as Hye Jin’s voice stays, as always, unchanging and impervious. In “Hey, Hey, Hey” a thudding techno beat underpins the track as she simply repeats the title.. In “Sex With Me (DEFG)” her desire to form a relationship is reduced to the most primal and loveless form over a deep house backing. And, just like life, there’s not always a resolution. The ending song, “i jus wanna be happy” simply … ends. There’s no grand realization, no emotional reckoning. And for an album like this, there’s not a more fitting ending.

—Zachary LeBoeuf

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