(Non-Rap) Albums of the Year 2021

I haven't put out a list like this since 2013, but it was a great year for music releases, and I felt there were just too many great albums I wanted to share. So here's a list of my top 75 non-rap albums of 2021. It's a diverse selection, hopefully with something for everyone. (Beat makers will no doubt find some sounds of value here, too.) There's a playlist down below with one highlight track/selection per album. Enjoy... and turn it up!

Alice Coltrane - Kirtan: Turiya Sings
Amaro Freitas - Sankofa
Archie Shepp & Jason Moran - Let My People Go
Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince
BADBADNOTGOOD - Talk Memory
Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy - Blind Date Party
Bitchin Bajas - Switched on Ra
Bob Dylan - Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16
Brigid Mae Power - Burning Your Light
Calvin Keys - Shawn-Neeq (Remastered)
Carlos Niño & Friends - More Energy Fields, Current
Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt - Made Out of Sound
Colleen - The Tunnel and the Clearing
Cool Ghouls - At George's Zoo
David Sanford Big Band - A Prayer for Lester Bowie
Dinosaur Jr. - Sweep It Into Space
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
Ducks Ltd. - Modern Fiction
Endless Boogie - Admonitions
Failure - Wild Type Droid
Female Species - Tale of My Lost Love
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & the London Symphony Orchestra - Promises
Gloria Ann Taylor - Be Worthy
Goon Sax, The - Mirror II
Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power



Hand Habits - Fun House
Heather Valley - Wildflower Radio
Helado Negro - Far In
Howlin Rain - The Dharma Wheel
Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales
Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Sound Prints - Other Worlds
John Andrews & The Yawns - Cookbook
John Dwyer - Witch Egg
Julian Lage - Squint
KAYTRANADA - Intimidated
Keith Hudson - Flesh of My Skin Blood of My Blood
KHAN JAMAL - Infinity
Kiwi jr. - Cooler Returns
Lee Morgan - The Complete Live at the Lighthouse
Leo Nocentelli - Another Side
Low - HEY WHAT
Lucy Dacus - Home Video
Madlib - Sound Ancestors
Marisa Anderson & William Tyler - Lost Futures
Matt Sweeney & Bonnie Prince Billy - Superwolves
Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime
Meatbodies - 333
Mogwai - As the Love Continues
Mountain Goats, The - Dark in Here
Mouth Painter - Tropicale Moon



Nathan Salsburg - Psalms
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Barn
New Bums - Last Time I Saw Grace
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - CARNAGE
Nina Simone - The Montreux Years (Live)
Pachyman - The Return of…
Papir - Jams
Rosali - No Medium
Roy Brooks - Understanding (Live)
Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller - In Harmony (Live)
serpentwithfeet - DEACON
Silk Sonic - An Evening with Silk Sonic
Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH
St. Vincent - Daddy's Home
Sun Ra - Lanquidity (Definitive Edition)
Sunburned Hand of the Man - Pick a Day to Die
Telescopes, The - Songs of Love and Revolution
Tonstartssbandht - Petunia
Ty Segall - Harmonizer
Various Artists - Kimbrough
Weather Station, The - Ignorance
William Parker - Painters Winter
Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
Writhing Squares - Chart for the Solution



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