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Mike Nikolich writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2021: Mike Nikolich
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2021. Our next list is from DJ and Music Reviewer Mike Nikolich (DJ Mike on the Friday Spin).
Best of lists are always difficult to compile, but 2021 was an exceptional year for music. I picked LPs that I either personally reviewed for CHIRP and/or played multiple times on my CHIRP shows.
Leave The Bones by Lakou Mizik & Joseph Ray (Anjunadeep)
Joseph Ray is a Grammy-winning electronic musician who began his career in the UK and now is based in Los Angeles. In 2015, he visited Haiti and discovered the Audio Institute, a music school for Haitian children. There he met Steeve Valcourt, one of the nine members of local band Lakou Mizik, and result is one of the best albums of 2021.
The sixteen tracks, which combine traditional Haitian roots music and electronic beats, are hypnotic and thoroughly mesmerizing, using indigenous instruments like the minuba, ogaan, plus lots of shakers, synths and samples. The tracks “Kite Zo A,” “Bade Zile,” Lamizè Pa Dous,” and Ogou” are pure delights, but every track is worth exploring.
Stop The Hate by Femi Kuti (Partisan)
Back in the eighties, when Chicago haunts like the legendary Equator Club were operating on full throttle, it wasn’t difficult to catch acts like Femi Kuti live. Musicians love Kuti both for his incredible saxophone playing, politically charged lyrics and thoroughly danceable beats.
Now approaching sixty, Kuti, son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and father of musician Made Kuti, delivers a powerhouse performance in Stop the Hate. Every song is great, but the jazzy “As We Struggle Everyday,” with it’s call-and-response vocals, and the killer jam “Young Boy/Young Girl” earned repeated plays on my 2021 CHIRP shows.
Promises by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra (Luka Bop)
British electronic artist Sam Shepherd’s collaboration with 80-year-old jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra is a modern masterpiece, consisting of nine movements. Each movement flows into the next, creating an immersive, 45-minute headphone-worthy experience, featuring elements of jazz, classical, electronic and ambient music.
La Vita Olistica by The Orielles (Heavenly/PIAS)
The members of this UK band were interested in writing music for films, so they used the COVID-19 lockdown as an opportunity to rewrite their second LP, “Disco Volador” into a continuous score for their film “La Vita Olistica,” which was scheduled to premiere in the USA at a Philadelphia film festival last summer.
While we wait for Netflix or another streaming service to carry the film or the immersive live concert that will support the film and movie, all we have is a weird YouTube trainer and this awesome soundtrack, which is infinitely superior to the original LP. I played the grooves off the Stereolab-flavored “7th Dynamic Goo Rework/Reprise” and “Come Down on Jupiter,” and I suspect you’ll do the same if you give the LP a spin. Who says there’s no such thing as a second chance???
Pick A Day to Die by Sunburned Hand of the Man (Three Lobed)
Massachusetts rock collective knocks it out of the park with seven tracks recorded between 2007 and 2017. The album opens with Jeremy Pisani’s lovely acoustic instrumental, “Dropped Like a Rock,” and quickly transforms into the funny psych-flavored title track with weird spoken lyrics from lead singer Shannon Ketch. “Solved” sends the band off in an alt-rock direction with Ketch channeling Captain Beefheart’s spoken vocals over groovy acoustic guitar. The highlight, however, is the garage-flavored hard rocker, “Prix Fixe,” featuring a killer solo from Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis.
Projector by Geese (Partisan)
Brooklyn teens get my vote as the most promising new artist of 2021, with nine snappy Strokes-inspired songs recorded in their crappy basement apartment. While they pissed off the neighbors, the album earned raves from Pitchfork and NME, and definitely inspired listeners to give me the thumbs up during my show when I played tracks like “Rain Case,” “Low Era,” and “Disco.”
The anthemic “Exploding House” literally explodes out of the gate, reminding me of the urgency, innocence and innovation of U2’s brilliant debut. This is a solid album that fans of Black Country/New Road, Fontaines DC and Television will enjoy.
Present Tense by FACS (Trouble In Mind)
I remember seeing FACS as the opening act at a Thurston Moore gig, and being knocked out by their live energy, but underwhelmed by their studio LPs. My mind was changed by their fourth LP, with the band reduced to a trio featuring guitarist Brian Case, bassist Alianna Kalaba and drummer Noah Leger.
From the opening bass of “XOUT” to the chilling guitar effects on “Strawberry Cough,” this confident band honed its craft and is poised for a major breakout in 2022. Dig the LP, catch ‘em live at the Bottle or Lincoln Hall next year, and brag to your friends that you always knew FACS would be big!
Freedom Fables by Nubiyan Twist (Strut)
London-based ten-piece band collaborates with saxophonist Soweto Kinch, 75-year-old Ghanaian vocalist Pat Thomas, and UK dance-pop singer Cherise on nine jazzy afropop-flavored tracks that simmer with energy. “Morning Light,” “Buckle Up” and “Wipe Away Tears” are stellar tracks, but the band takes it to another level with “Tittle Tattle,” featuring Cherise’s sneering vocals and an impossibly infectious brass-infused melody that always elevated my sets to a higher level.
Hushed and Grim by Mastodon (Mastodon)
Atlanta sludge-metal quartet honors its late manager, Nick Johns, who passed away in 2018 from pancreatic cancer (the same fate that took my Mom’s life). While the songs have plenty of angst, the fifteen tracks simmer with energy, hook-filled choruses and plenty of proggy hooks. Only one track, “Pushing the Tides,” clocks in less than 4 minutes, but the band is so tight that it’s easy to get lost in the 6-minute “Sickle and Peace” or the 8-minute-plus “Gobblers of Dregs.”
The album was panned by Pitchfork but praised by the heavy metal press. While hard rock isn’t always my cup of tea, I’ve played tracks from this LP repeatedly in 2021.
Faltering Light by Haunted Shed (Strolling Bones)
Another terrific album from the fertile artistic grounds of Atlanta, Haunted Shed is the solo project of Etienne de Roche, with songs about raising kids, dreams and nightmares. The musician moved from San Francisco to Athens and recruited some local musicians to provide ambience and spooky vibes for a haunted house he created out of a shed in his backyard.
This tight LP sounds like the “band” has been playing together for years. Highlights include jangly rocker “Collections,” the brooding rocker “Impending Machines,” and the jangly “Old Joy,” which has more hooks than a Bass Pro Shop.
Honorable Mentions
Senor Kaos & Illustrate - Kings of Vice
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
Alician Blue - Collection
Beautify Junkyards - Cosmorama
Jackson Scribner - Self-Titled
Spirit of the Beehive - Entertainment Death
Field Music - Flat White Moon
Rob Frye - Exoplanet
New Madrid - Self-Titled
Amythyst Kiah - Wary + Strange
Shungudzo - I'm not a mother, but I Have Children
Cochema - Vol. II Baca Sewa
Rodridgo Amarante - Drama
Amusement Parks on Fire - An Archaea
Kowloon Walled City - Piecework
Stranded - Midnight Sun
The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Illusory Walls
Helado Negro - Far In
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raise the Roof
Turnstile - Glow On
The Bevis Frond - You Owe Me
Girl K - Girl K is for the People
Macie Stewart - Mouthful of Glass
Helene Barbier - Regulus
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