Bingo’s Best of 2021

It’s that time of the year again!

Or rather, it’s a couple of weeks before that time of the year again. A particularly busy Christmas period in prospect has lead me to conclude that it would be a good idea to go early with the Best of the Year playlist, now traditionally released to the eager response of an audience of narcoleptic crickets. Plus, this has the added bonus of avoiding the single greatest risk to any end of year playlist (per Sewer Robot’s recent post): reading other people’s lists, hearing some great new music and reflexively adding stuff you’ve only heard a handful of times because you’re still in the first flush of love, before bitterly regretting said inclusions in years to come.

As the blog’s hopelessly witless advocate for new music, I’m here to tell you that 2021 has been a tremendous year, each and every month sending forth fresh treats to enchant and delight. There are numerous tracks I was convinced would be mainstays of this list which have fallen away in the final reckoning (how on earth did Like I Used To not make the grade? It seemed such a gimme).

Regrettably, I have to report some unfortunate negative feedback regarding last year’s List. A small but seemingly well financed and motivated group of individuals apparently submitted a number of formal written complaints to Trading Standards and a variety of other local regulators, alleging that some of the descriptions of the music contained within the List were (and I am required here to quote): “Misleading”, “Windy, over-blown and making insufficient use of weather metaphors”, “ Grossly distortive” and “flat out lies designed to make people listen to songs they are genetically inevitable to loathe”.

Having spent several long months in negotiations with the regulator, I am permitted to continue this fine tradition on the condition that I include in respect of each song and under the (charming) heading “Yes, Bingo – But What Does It Actually Fucking Sound Like”, the considered opinion of an independent auditor as to the qualities of the record in question. I would like to declaim all responsibility for these entries: they do not represent my opinion, and I urge you not to allow them to taint your enjoyment of these fine selections.

With that ugly formality out of the way: onwards!

Spotify link in comments.

1. Inaudible – Manchester Orchestra

The opening track from the best titled album of the year (“The Million Masks of God” – fuck yeah!), Inaudible was one of a gaggle of songs from Manchester Orchestra which competed for a place on the list (see also: Telepath, the fantastic Bedhead), finally winning out because its shimmering majesty delivered one of the year’s finest spine tingles. It’s not doing anything new or revolutionary, it just sounds quite lovely. A few weeks back it delivered unto me one of those transcendent, right-place-right-time moments that music sometimes can; walking down the side of a metal fence on a crisp, Autumn day, bright sun flickering through the slats, this on the headphones and an abiding sense that all is, was and ever will be right with the universe. I also really, really like the lyric: “After life? Some wasted light”/And the notion you’ll nevеr be free”.

Yes, Bingo – But What Does It Actually Fucking Sound Like – Spiritualised, if Jason Pierce was addicted to Haribo instead of smack.

2. Traitor – Olivia Rodrigo

SOUR is a clear contender for album of the year, a completely unexpected masterpiece of teenage regret and recrimination. I’ve spent months trying to figure out what makes it so magical and have landed on Rodrigo’s vocals: she completely sells every single song on the record and you believe that she truly means every damn word of it. I’m still not sure how much of this is acting vs singing, but whatever the precise measures of each, it works. The performance is only improved by the knowledge that her previous pedigree is a starring role in the fantastically titled High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. I could have chosen any of half a dozen songs off SOUR, but Traitor emerged as the favourite, partly because of how utterly direct it is (“You betrayed me” – alternative album title right there), partly because the lyric is so very good (“and I know if you were true/ there’s no damn way that you/could fall in love with somebody that quickly”) but mainly because of that amazing, soaring “you’re just, you’re just a traitor” towards the end. An instant classic. Apols to Drivers License, which for several months seemed a mortal lock to appear here, but fell by the wayside late on. It’s still epic though.

YB-BWDIASL – The bit in a Broadway musical where it’s not going well for the inadvertently disagreeable heroine.

3. Thin Lines – Paw Paw Rod

Aficionados of this list will recall that Paw Paw Road made last year’s selection with the excellent Hit Em Where It Hurts. He/they (who knows) repeated the trick in 2021 with the similarly enjoyable Thin Lines. The song helped ushered in the pleasures of a relatively lockdown free Summer with its strutting bassline, catchy as all hell chorus and pleasingly weird rap section. Pure good vibes and sunshine all the way. Paw Paw Rod make this stuff seem so easy: they appear to have recorded a grand total of 4 songs, and at least 2 of them are brilliant; a hit rate that makes them currently the greatest band of all time, bar none. Pencil me in for the 8 hour documentary come 2071.

YB-BWDIASL – A cartoon dog with rubber bones, moonwalking across a trampoline covered in jelly.

4. Be Sweet – Japanese Breakfast

I’m sure this one will make a fair few of the end of year lists. A mainstay of the Sonos since its release all the way back in March, a shift in style for the band, and responsible, I’m sure, for quite a lot of head nodding these last 8 months. Sounds like Tears for Fears with a disco/funk bassline, and that’s about as strong a recommendation as I can think of right now.

YB-BWDIASL – The kind of thing Elon Musk probably has on his slowjams playlist.

5. Bunny Is A Rider – Caroline Polachek

One of the most undeniable bops of the year. I have no idea what it all means, but “Bunny is a rider/satellite can’t find her” is about as strong an opening lyric as was heard all across 2021: it begs all sorts of wonderful questions. Loved the minimalist beat, the whistling and the mannered vocal; reminded me of Christine & The Queens and maybe Charlie XCX, in a very good way indeed.

YB-BWDIASL – Art school, and not in a good way.

6. Coming Back – James Blake (feat. SZA)

One of the songs I’ve listened to most this year. Has all the ingredients; an audacious beat switch, a great verse from SZA, and what sounds like some acapella action from a bunch of angry robot octopuses (octopi?) at the three quarters mark. Love the way it all builds from that chonky piano intro. Reminds me of that great point in the year where we were all permitted to leave the house again, and that has to be a good thing. Hope James Blake goes further in this direction; the glacial, haunted soundscapes are all lovely, but it’s lovelier still when there’s an actual song in there too. Also home to the year’s most satisfying lyrical “fuck yeah”. Fuck yeah indeed.

YB-BWDIASL – The kind of stuff that plays in a bar in Hoxton as you survey with concern the haircuts around you.

7. Ritual – Navy Blue

The James Blake leading us seamlessly into the List’s hip hop section. Former professional skateboarder Navy Blue dropped a series of great tracks this year, and 1491 in particular could very easily have made this selection for the awesome lyric “1491/It’s one and done/that shit is fucked up” alone. In the end though, Ritual was the one; it has a great 90s hip hop beat that sounds like something off a Jeru The Damaja album, and I really, really love the flow on it. Plus, it was the only track this year that referenced John Coltrane, Carlos Tevez, Edgar Davids, Lupe Fiasco and Reggie Bush.

YB-BWDIASL – Someone’s into martial arts movies and weed.

8. Repeat – J Hus

J Hus continued to enjoy a lot of mainstream success this year, but I think this is the best thing he’s done yet. Straddling several genres, very London sounding and an unapologetic party jam; Repeat was the sound of the Summer, the BBQ track that gets paper cups in the air.

YB-BWDIASL – A dancehall tune recorded in a submarine.

9. Corso – Tyler, The Creator

Already raved about on this hugely popular thread, the replies to which are still tumbling in by the thousand (https://theafterword.co.uk/a-short-invitation-to-bitter-remonstration/). Still probably the most exciting and interesting hip hop track I heard all year. Corso has everything; great flow, great verses, great beat, even a great video. Love the way it packs so many ideas into a little over 2 minutes and how it’s punctuated by those excellent “Woo”s. Also a particular fan of this verse, which has quite a complicated flow and does a nice line in vulnerability.

She still thinkin’ of me ’cause I’m that perfect
I’ma get that deep text when it first surface
Better send it to my ego ’cause that shit hurtin’
Hope y’all shit workin’ (true story), I’m a psycho, huh?
Don’t give a fuck, you left my heart twerkin’
Movin’, losin’ grip on my doin’s
Eyes is cryin’ on the jet, cruisin’
‘Bout to spend millions just to fill voids up
Drama, I need you (yessir), can you turn the noise up?
Can you turn the noise up? Can you turn the noise up? (go, go, go, go)
Turn the fuckin’ noise up, Odd nigga, my heart broken
Remember I was rich, so I bought me some new emotions
And a new boat, ’cause I rather cry on the ocean

I’m scheduled to go to Coachella next year and (having lost both Travis Scott and – sob – Frank Ocean) my secret hopes for replacement headliners are now Tyler and one of Adele or Taylor.

YB-BWDIASL – All the other hip hop he always bangs on about.

10. Bringing it Back – Digga D, A.J Tracey

Listened to a lot of Drill this year, but only this one makes the cut. It’s not doing anything new, or radically different, but I’ve been playing it all year long and I love the lyric “Please/please/babes/ease” and the way it’s delivered.

YB-BWDIASL – Top deck, back row of the night bus you wish you hadn’t got on.

11. Bliss – Santangelo

This, on the other hand, is doing something very interesting indeed. Hip hop has been playing with sounds from electronic/dance music for a good few years now, but this really does push the boat out into those early 90s rave dynamics. Sounds like it could have been produced by Joey Beltram; loud, urgent and full of menacing, swarming synths, for which I remain a total sucker. Santangelo currently has a grand total of 4 tracks to his name, so he’s another one to watch.

YB-BWDIASL – The exact opposite of bliss.

12. Atlas – Bicep

Bicep can generally be relied upon to release at least one brilliant thing each and every year, and in 2021 their brilliant thing was Atlas. First heard in deepest, darkest Winter lockdown, it’s been a reliable friend across the year, its frantic bleepings redolent of Josh Wink’s immortal Higher State of Consciousness played at half speed.

YB-BWDIASL – A computer malfunctioning.

13. JOY (Overcome) – Joy Anonymous

I realty, really, really liked the album this comes from (Human Again). Joy Anonymous were a new act to me, but I was intrigued by their habit of naming all their songs “JOY”, with an alternative title in parentheses. As opening gambits go from musical acts go, that’s one I’m always going to appreciate: it suggests that goals have been correctly established. Happily, the goals were also delivered upon; a whole album of delightful, uncomplicated Two Step, designed to put smiles on faces. The highlight was this – JOY (Overcome) – which is a total bop, and which is taken to another level by the addition of bubbling crowd noise, sporadic cheering and then that great little vocal sign off at the end: “We’re here to bring joy”. Amen to that, brother. Their Spotify play count suggests this act are well and truly under the radar. That’s a shame, because I think they’re on to something here, and their schtick is exactly what’s needed as the pandemic continues to trundle along unhelpfully.

YB-BWDIASL – Generic dance music. No idea what he’s on about.

14. Chemz – Burial

As noted here: https://theafterword.co.uk/to-be-born-again/, Chemz gave me one of the great feel-good moments of 2021, while driving to football. Still makes me smile every time I hear it; a genuine hands in air banger to let us know that some semblance of normality was returning, and that in this new normal Burial (freaking Burial!) was here to put smiles back on faces. 2021: what a royal headfuck of a year.

YB-BWDIASL – Generic dance music played at the wrong speed through a broken phonograph.

15. Amazonia – Gojira

OK – surely, surely someone else here has been listening to the albums this comes off (Fortitude)? Anyone? Kid Dynamite; I’m looking at you. This is in with a shout for my favourite thing I heard all year; it basically sounds like Sepultura circa Roots, Bloody Roots, and that’s about as glowing an endorsement as I can offer. Where to begin? Well, let’s start with that amazing, churning intro and then the way the main riff (and what a riff!) kicks in alongside the single best opening verse anyone wrote in 2021:

Incite a riot, put yourself in a trance
You rotate the frame in a world you rely on
A scar, a line has been drawn in the sand
Behold the life, the boundaries fools will crush
The greatest miracle
Is burning to the ground

Yes, that’s right: it’s an eco-themed, super-riffy banger from a French Progressive Death Metal group who have been knocking about for years and who have well and truly found their groove. Just what the world (and indeed the Afterword) has been waiting for! And if that wasn’t enough, check out the freaking awesome chorus and then the absolutely brilliant backing vocals that kick in as we exit said chorus. This song is amazing. I’m listening to it as I type this and it’s so good that everyone should be forced to listen to it. The album is brilliant too. Plus: “Gojira”. I mean, come on now.

YB-BWDIASL – The hairy men are here, and I can’t tell what they’re angry about.

16. Text Book – Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey put out two albums this year, both of them largely ignored. However, I’m here to tell you that Blue Bannisters is an absolute classic and may very well (in its own way) be as good as Norman Fucking Rockwell. I could have chosen any of 4 or 5 songs here (Violets for Roses, Thunder, Black Bathing Suit), but in the end I’ve gone for the opener: Text Book. Why? Because I love love love the way it wrong foots you by giving you the chorus and then effectively giving it to you again with greater urgency and slightly slowed down. Plus, the year’s least eyeball rolling lyrical reference to Black Lives Matter. I think this is really, really good. I also like the way I could have told you it contains the lyric:

You’ve got a Thunderbird
My Daddy had one too
Let’s rewrite history
I’ll do this dance with you

… and you’d have immediately known it was her.

YB-BWDIASL – Every other Lana Del Rey song, of which you’ve by now heard plenty.

17. That Funny Feeling – Phoebe Bridgers

Already written about at length here: https://theafterword.co.uk/that-funny-feeling/. The best song of 2021? It’s certainly up there. It’s also definitely the only song released this year where I have to ration how much I listen to it because it upsets and depresses me to do so. If anyone (by which I mean here: everyone) still hasn’t watched Bo Burnham’s Inside, please do so over Xmas – possibly the single smartest and most impressive piece of creative work I encountered this year. Hey, what can you say, we were overdue. Brrrr.

YB-BWDIASL – It’s still just a list of stuff, and she should bloody well sing up a bit.

18. Release – Poppy Aykroyd

I haven’t seen the new Poppy Aykroyd record spoken about on here, and that’s a great shame, because it’s quite, quite lovely. Stripped back, often just her and a piano, I’ve been listening to it a lot these last few weeks and it reliably sends me. So delicate sounding, so vibrant. She’s stupid talented.

YB-BWDIASL – That piano recital you once had to sit through at your kid’s school.

19. The Last Man on Earth – Wolf Alice

Another contender for track of the year, and in some ways a bookend to Inaudible. I have loved this from the first moment I heard it; the vocal, the way she croaks out “the last man on the earth” at the end of every verse, and the way it explodes into a constellation of choirs and angels at the halfway mark, before continuing to ascend further and further up that sonic stairway to heaven. The bit near the end where Ellie Rowsell, in full flight, sings:

A penny for your truth
Well I’ll hedge my bets on love?
‘Cause it’s lies after lies after lies
But do you even fool yourself?
And then a light shines on you

Well, that’s just about as good as music got for me in 2021. I’ve listened to it a hundred times and it gives me fresh chills on every occasion. A penny for your truth: that really is lovely.

YB-BWDIASL – Future John Lewis Christmas ad music.

20. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) – Taylor Swift

The haters can suck it, this is the moment from 2021 that a lot of us will remember for years to come. Oh yeah – 2021, wasn’t that when Taylor Swift fully crushed it on Saturday Night Live?

I’ve had it on repeat for weeks now and I’m convinced that this is one of THE great break up songs, and certainly one of the most artful and comprehensive lyrical monsterings on record. Every other line is a total quotable (currently loving “And I was thinking on the drive down/any time now/he’s gonna say it’s love/you never called it what it was”), the backing vocals are stellar and it contains my favourite actual frigging poetry of 2021: “I’m a soldier who’s returning half her weight”. A whole story told in 8 words, right there.

Obviously, it would all have been improved if she was an ugly geezer with a donkey jacket and a guitar pulling this stuff from her very soul, rather than her vulva, but we can’t have everything. Nonetheless; 10 minutes and it feels half that time; I wouldn’t lose a second of it. She knocked it right out the park, and she’s as authentic as they come in my book.

YB-BWDIASL – Chick music

So, there we have it. The usual half-baked hyperbole, this time undercut by the withering assessments of my court-appointed auditor. I will leave it to you to determine whose take was most reliable. What I will say is that this was a tremendous year for new music: I listened to tons of it and I could have comfortably filled this playlist three times over.

I will close by thanking you all for lots of entertaining chat in 2021. After a long hiatus, I’ve spent far more time on the blog this year, and I’ve enjoyed myself enormously doing so. I’ve also amused myself far too much, which is a character trait I will work on in 2022 (by which I mean: do more of it). Thank you for permitting me to once again play the role of hipster doofus, and for being such great sports.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Peace out

BL

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