Best of 2021

 

So, half of 2022 is already past, but who really cares, right? You probably haven't heard half of these records here, as we're living in this nightmarish, endless cycle of ethereal information, where everything slips through our fingers, so enjoy this opportunity, take a deep breath, and finally give a chance to these records, or have your opinion validated, if you already know and enjoy any of them.

Anthony Linell - Winter Ashes

Have you ever imagined if Dungeon Synth was hi-fi and influenced by Techno (and actually any good)? Well, here it is. Another great Ambient set by the Northern Electronics co-founder (just wish the other half would start producing good music again).

Arushi Jain - Under the Lilac Sky

Modular synth Ambient jams and Indian Classical music, how could this go wrong? Super interesting sounds, avoids falling into New Age pastiche. 

Forankring - Fredsliljer

Another mysterious project from Janushoved, releasing an amazing debut from out of nowhere. Just beautiful, ethereal, synth & piano sound collages. Easily in my top 10 from the label.

Kajsa Lindgren - Momentary Harmony

At the risk of repeating myself: Beautiful, ethereal, sound collages. Pianos, strings, voices, field recordings. Hazy and murky, but light and calming.

Gersemi - Ajna

It's Janushoved, so you know the drill. One of those projects, that releases the occasional EP here and there, but that slowly develops its own voice. Just two side-long, untitled tracks. Blissful synth-heavy Ambient; it's a generic descriptor, but it's the best form I can describe it.

Lea Bertucci - A Visible Length of Light

It's so great when an artist, that you've been following since almost the beginning, releases what, you consider to be, their best one yet. I like pretty much everything she does; the ensemble and site specific pieces were pretty interesting experiments, but I mostly enjoying when it's scaled back to 100% "solo project" mode. Just reeds, flutes, organ, and field recordings. Not much loops either, just pure, organic, drones/clusters, scale runs, minimalist atmosphere. Awesome!

Midori Hirano - Soniscope

Ambient electronic piano manipulations (sometimes just raw piano). Basically picking up from where the last record left of. Just solid.

Razen - Blue Rot

Ritualistic sounding, organic, all acoustic Ambient drones. Not ominous sounding, though.

Sarah Davachi - Antiphonals

And she continues to be just THE best in the game; there's no one doing anything like it. Prog Rock distilled into the must pure, abstract, minimalist, dusty form. Lots of organ, Mellotron, and many other keyboards from the past far gone.

Vanessa Amara - Music For Acoustic Instruments & Feedback

A collage of piano, strings, etc. Beautiful, melodic, abstract, etc. You're probably already noticing a theme here, right? Anyway... the best thing to come out from, whatever the heck is Posh Isolation nowadays.

Sunn O))) - Metta, Benevolence

It's Sunn O))), so you know... A live on radio record. The gimmick here is that Anna von Hausswolff is featured on a couple tracks. Still proving (togheter with "Pyroclasts") that "Life Metal" could be way more interesting.

Altar Of Flies - Bortom Reven

Masterful Swedish nasty tape loops noise collages. 

Sewer Election - Antarktis

Masterful Swedish nasty tape loops noise collages. [2]

Circuit Des Yeux - -io

Super original, dramatic, avant-garde... Folk? Whatever you wanna call it, there's no one quite like her. The first half may be the project's most accessible moments (with some unexpected Post-Punk/Krautrock flavor), I guess, but it descends into uncharted territories real fast. Not for the faint of heart.

Erlend Apneseth Trio - Lokk

Great fusion of Norwegian Folk, Jazz, and modern danceable rhythms. Experimental, minimalist, original.

Frode Haltli - Avant Folk II

Another great fusion of traditional Norwegian Folk and Jazz, but here with a large ensemble. Not afraid of dissonance, free imrpov, and Rock guitar solos.

Geir Sundstøl - St.Hanshaugen Steel

Who would have thought that Jazz + Country would sound so good (and that it would come from Norway)? But don't expect notes acrobatics, it's slow and atmospheric, and also not afraid to experiment. There are synths and even a choir.

Nils Økland - Glødetrådar

Folk and Jazz and atmospheric? Yep, you guessed it! Can't recommend this enough. Words are not enough to describe.

Leila Bordreuil - Not An Elegy

Two side-long Free Improv noisy cello workouts. Acoustic, no effects. Noisy, drone-y, full of field recordings noise (one of them was actually recorded in a subway).

Okkyung Lee - Na-Reul

Of course, you can't talk about noisy cello improvs without mentioning her. Her first solo record in a long time, after a stream of band/ensemble releases, and also the first to feature an extensive use of overdubs. Great stuff.

Patrick Shiroishi - Hidemi

Another solo artist, of the noisy variety, doing many overdubs. But instead of his usual Free Jazz mode (though you will find plenty of solos), this is some Minimalist (as in, the genre, Minimalism) workout, and reminds me a lot of Dickie Landry's "Fifteen Saxophones". You should listen to both, both are great.

Antediluvian - The Divine Punishment

They experiment a lot here with their trademark sound. Songs are stretched out, lots of repetition, samples, effects, noise, etc. Gottta admit I don't find this to be their best one, but a) I certainly admire the will to experiment; b) No Metal band sounds anything close to this;

Beyond Man - Beyond Man

Norwegian Black Metal is alive and well, much well. Coming from the ashes of  One Tail, One Head, here they worship the early 90's sound (with a healthy dose of Morbid Angel and Black Sabbath, according to the band themselves) with the usual ritualistic atmosphere of the Nidrosian scene, and with a superb organic/analog vintage sounding production.

Circle Of Ouroborus - Kiromantia

I mean, do I even need to write anything here? It's Circle doing what they do best: weirdo Black Metal. If you know, you know. If not, well, you could start here

Phrenelith - Chimaera

Brutal old school Death Metal, which was a pretty decent band to begin with, suddenly start developing a personality of its own, gets all melodic and epic, while still remaing brutal, nasty, ominous.

MNK Project  - 妄想族 (Mōsozoku)

Actually a compilation, not new stuff, but does feature unreleased tracks. One of the most nasty, gnarly, rough-all-around Punk/Post-Punk bands from Japan. Such a shame they never got to release much more than a few EP and Flexis at the time.They trully rank amongst the best. 

Wolves in the Throne Room - Primordial Arcana

Wolves get all hi-fi, Pagan Metal, and add those synths to the forefront. They're now long gone from the Cascadian/Atmospheric era. Not really a change I was expecting, or wanting, but it's so competent that I can't help but admire.

Necronomidol - Vämjelseriter

Alt-Idol group with a heavy dose of Metal and 80's Synth Pop. Yep, it's awesome!

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END

Post-hiatus GY!BE continues to get better, and irritate purist fans. Win-win.

Body/Dilloway/Head

Completly unexpected colab. Dilloway mangles Body/Head's sound almost beyond recognition. Not for the casual Sonic Youth fan.

Honorable mention:

Merzbow & Prurient - Black Crows Cyborg

Didn't see this one coming too. Although it's pretty good, it could be better, and much longer. Just left you wanting for more.