These albums stood out from the rest of this year’s releases as genuine, unique, and refreshing experiences
“What Kinda Music” by Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes
Following 2018’s “Geography”, guitarist Tom Misch teams up with up-and-coming drummer Yussef Dayes to create a gratifying collection of jazzy grooves. This record feels effortless and inviting, unforced and relaxing such that listening to 45 minutes of music is a massage rather than a commitment.
Tom’s arrangements are put to good use to ensure every track feels distinct from the last. With the staple of electric guitar and drums, synths and acoustic strings are tastefully added to enhance the color of the music without interfering with the tone palate of the album as a whole. He also isn’t afraid of using various effect pedals. The interlude “Sensational” is a good example of this. It feels fun and new, a refreshing take on jazz rock between the ballads and funk numbers.
Yussef does not get lost in this, in fact, he sounds front in center in many of these pieces. In “I Did It For You”, the bass and guitar riff sounds like a basis for Yussef’s drums rather than the other way around. The tracks seem like they were mostly created with this in mind. The album does a good job with distributing its high and low energy points by interspersing slower ballads and virtuosic jams. The slow numbers are sweet, and nicely balance out some of the faster paced beats which leave the listener full but not exhausted.
Overall, this is an easy listen that has something fresh and highly enjoyable in every track. Rapper Freddie Gibbs makes a pleasant surprise appearance on “Nightrider”, a standout track on the album. Even when compared to the rest of the albums on this list, “What Kinda Music” is the one that I will not hesitate to replay over and over again.
Favorite Tracks: “What Kinda Music”, “Lift Off”, “Julie Mangos”, “I Did It For You”
“Fetch The Bolt Cutters” by Fiona Apple
Pitchfork gave this Fetch the Bolt Cutters a perfect score! While I won’t replicate those high marks, it still was a very engaging project that kept me captive until the end. Fiona Apple uses sparse instrumentation and unconventional song structure to lay the groundwork for a highly poignant, emotional record.
Songs range from explosive – like the fiery “Newspaper,” where Apple ruminates over her unexpected closeness with her abusive ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend – to tongue-in-cheek, like “Rack Of His,” where she compares a rack of guitar necks to women’s necks. In both cases, Apple lays it all out on the table and spares no one.
Many of the background instruments aren’t traditional drums and guitars but cabinets and silverware, but it doesn’t lack for quality. In fact, it keeps the sound grounded, like Apple is telling you a story from her kitchen rather than just tracking takes in some isolated studio chamber. She often employs repetition to emphasize her points, like in “Relay” where she chants, “Evil is a relay sport, when the one you burn turns to pass the torch.” She forces you to think about the nature of your relationships with your current loved ones, your past loved ones, and yourself. All and all, each song is thought-provoking, personal, yet universal, and it is well worth the listen.
Favorite Tracks: “Fetch The Bolt Cutters”, “Under The Table”, “Relay”
“Satin Doll” by Sam Gendel
These are not your dad’s jazz standards. Well, they were, but Sam Gendel plays them through a perverse, psychedelic lens. The standard jazz trio of piano, upright bass, and drum set becomes saxophone (Gendel), electric bass (Gabe Noel), and electronic drums (Philippe Melanson). Each track is only barely recognizable from its respective original recording. Sam’s saxophone is often harmonized with itself, often in fixed intervals, creating a strange sensation that starts to feel normal over the course of the album.
The saxophone sounds like synthesizer at times, whale sounds at times, and saxophone when it needs to. It succeeds in pushing the boundaries of tone and texture, and it lets the listener decide what sounds are pleasing and which are not. “Stardust” is one of the more conventional numbers on the album, featuring mostly unaltered saxophone and a steady clave rhythm on the electric drums. Yet, the instrumentation makes this classic feel like it was conceived on a slightly different planet from ours.
This album feels like an exploration, and gives the ears something new upon every listen. Jazz fans will enjoy a truly novel take on these standards and abstract hip hop fans will find the beats to be funky and glitchy enough for their taste. I loved the total weirdness of the sonic sculptures Gendel and friends have created, as a blend between the familiar and the foreign.
Favorite Tracks: “Afro Blue”, “Satin Doll”, “In A Sentimental Mood”
“Mutable Set” by Blake Mills
Producer and guitarist Blake Mills invokes incredibly beautiful and haunting images on his dynamic release, “Mutable Set”. Sweet acoustic guitar is often met with Mills’ warming voice and just as often met with harsh chords on strings. The album is about valuing what you have, and also about expecting things to change or disappear. Tender moments can be met with moments of doubt or moments of love. The opener, “Never Forever,” begins softly and sweetly with acoustic guitar and humming synths. At times the strings crescendo suddenly before fading back to nothing as quickly as they came. Mills’ talent as a guitarist and creative songwriter shines brightly and makes me want to listen to the other work that he has collaborated on with other artists (e.g. Perfume Genius).
“Money Is The One True God” is the standout track on the first half of the album. A brooding ballad on money and religion, Mills croons guiltily while the bass and piano maintain a sinister line. “I bear my soul to the one true god / I kneel before your prophet” now sounds like “I kneel before your profit”.
The attractiveness of the album comes from its ability to be blunt while remaining extraordinarily calm. The next track “Summer All Over” is the sweetest tune you can imagine, but Mills dives into climate change on it. Every piece has some element of this hard/soft duality which makes Mutable Set a more challenging listen, but it is a more rewarding one as well.
Favorite Tracks: “May Later”, “Money Is The One True God”, “Off Grid”
“Invisible People” by Chicano Batman
Funky, fun, light, danceable, Invisible People is the perfect album for when you are already in a good mood and you want to keep that feeling going. The keyboards and guitars provide splashes of color while the drums and bass lay down a solid foundation. Top it off with Bardo Martinez’s vocals, and you have a perfect formula for FUNK.
The whole album plays more like a pop album, with plenty of earworms and radio friendly track lengths. This works in the album’s advantage– no song overstays its welcome, but every song feels like it has its time in the sun. Speaking of sun, I see this playing in my car for a potential stereotypical summer road trip post-Covid. This is my first Chicano Batman experience, I actually saw them in Richmond live before I was familiar with their music, and they remind me of The Strokes crossed with Neon Indian but slightly more psychedelic than the former, and less electronic than the latter.
Trying to select standout moments from the album is surprisingly difficult upon 3rd and 4th listens. The quality of every song is very consistent, and each riff is incredibly catchy. “Manuel’s story” has the hardest hitting hook and feels like the energetic high point of the album, if there is one. The lyrical content is not always joyful, but the listener can’t help but smile while this is on.
Favorite Tracks: “Manuel’s Story”, “Color my life”, “Bella”
Honorable Mentions:
“Marigold” by Pinegrove (Indie Rock/Alt-Country)
“Through Water” by Låpsley (Pop)
“forever, ya girl” by KieyaA (Experimental R&B)
“It Is What It Is” by Thundercat (Jazz/Funk/R&B)
Note to the reader:
It’s been incredibly rewarding to me to listen to so much music this year, and so much good music for that matter. I would find an even greater reward in discussing music you’ve heard this year, dear reader, and hopefully discovering even more favorites that I can add to my next list. I’m sure this COVID hobby will stick with me for a long time, and I hope you give one of the above records a try.
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