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Entries categorized as “Best Albums of the Year” 499 results
Patrick Masterson writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2021: Patrick Masterson
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2021. Our next list is from volunteer Patrick Masterson.
Per usual, my year-end list below is strictly Chicago. Hopefully you find and enjoy something new.
#1 Soul Trap by Tree (self-released)
I don't know why it bothers me so much that Soul Trap received such a muted reception upon its release, but even down the darker alleys of Rap City where guys like Ka and Boldy James and Roc Marciano (who guests on this record!) are talked about in hushed tones on cracked pavement and extended metaphors are parsed like the Voynich manuscript, Tremaine Johnson still doesn't seem to be getting his due.
That needs to change; nobody served up a better two-way game as both emcee and producer than Tree this year, and I'd put this record up against almost any other project the genre had to offer in 2021. His grizzled delivery has come to feel like a worn-in sweater over the years, his sample-based beats served up like piping fresh soup, his topics earthen, relatable. None of that changed for Soul Trap and it is — consequently, maybe — his finest full-length. I'm getting too old to make too much noise on a fellow adult's behalf about the lack of respect here, but I'm not too old to say you really owe yourself a listen. Don't be foolish.
Matt Garman writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2021: Matt Garman
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2021. Our next list is from DJ Matt Garman.
#1 Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz (Age 101)
subtextclapper writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2021: subtextclapper
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2021. Our next list is from Assistant Music Director subtextclapper.
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#1 Bo Jackson by Boldy James and The Alchemist (ALC)
Bobby Evers writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2021: Bobby Evers
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2021. Our first list is from DJ Bobby Evers.
In spite of everything, this has been an incredible year for music. I am a little self conscious about my list being predominately white women writing sad breakup songs, but this is where I'm at right now in the year 2021. I do have a top 3, but the rest are unranked and equal in my eyes.
#1 Home Video by Lucy Dacus (Matador)
Lucy Dacus came back with a vengeance this year in an album that was both a shower AND a grower. She gives us glimpses into her past relationships and friendships, turmoil with sexuality and religion and the insecurity of living in a small community. She presents herself as the kind of friend who will tell you the hard truths you need to hear and destroy herself for her love for you. May we all try to be that friend to someone. AOTY.
CHIRP Radio writesCHIRP Radio’s Top Albums of 2020
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2020.
As we get ready to turn another page, it’s time to present CHIRP Radio’s collective list of the Top Ten albums of the year. Of the 300+ records mentioned by our volunteers in their individual lists, these are the ones cited the most often.
In the summer of 2020, an enigmatic UK entity released one set of songs in June and then another in September, during the latest historic period in America’s struggle for equality. The powerful style and messages of these two releases resonated with many of our volunteers the rest of the year; Almost every reviewer who cited one of the albums on their year-end list mentioned the other one with equal praise. All things considered, it just doesn’t make sense to think of them as separate items.
Therefore, for the first time in the history of CHIRP Radio list-crafting, the same artist claims the #1 and #2 albums of the year, topping a list of new and veteran musicians who helped the rest of us keep it together during these savage times.
CHIRP Radio thanks all of the musicians, labels and venues who keep on making their art, because that’s what artists do. And a special Thank You to our listeners who never stopped supporting us through this year. It’s an honor and a joy to be part of your community.
Here’s to better days for all of us. See you in 2021.