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Peter Zimmerman writesCHIRP Radio Best of 2021: Peter Zimmerman
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2021. Our next list is from Saturday DJ, 2pm-4pm Peter Zimmerman.
It was another great year of music and here are my favorites:
#1 Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz (AGE 101)
#2 Jubilee by Japanese Breakfast (Dead Oceans)
#3 Home Video by Lucy Dacus (Matador)
#4 Collapsed in Sunbeams by Arlo Parks (Transgressive)
#5 Three Little Words by Dominique Fils-Aime (Ensoul)
#6 Outside Child by Allison Russell (Fantasy / Concord)
#7 Modern Fiction by Ducks Ltd. (Carpark)
#8 Glow On by Turnstile (Roadrunner)
#9 Kəˈmyo͞onədē by Kuf Knotz & Christine Elise (Hightide)
#10 Due North by Liam Kazar (Woodsist / Mare)
Honorable Mentions
And the next 15:
11. Faye Webster / I Know I'm Funny haha / Secretly Canadian
12. Yola / Stand for Myself / Easy Eye Sound/Concord
13. Claud / Super Monster / Saddest Factor/Dead Oceans
14. Kiwi Jr. / Cooler Returns / Sub Pop
15. Pom Pom Squad / Death of a Cheerleader / City Slang
16. Julien Baker / Little Oblivions / Matador
17. Dawn Richard / Second Line / Merge
18. serpentwithfeet / DEACON / Jagjaguwar
19. The Reds, Pinks, and Purples / Uncommon Weather / Slumberland
20. Katy Kirby / Cool Dry Place / Keeled Scales
21. Goat Girl / On All Fours / Rough Trade
22. Valerie June / The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers / Fantasy/Concord
23. Sault / 'Nine' / Forever Living Originals
24. Strand of Oaks / In Heaven / Galacticana/Thirty Tigers
25. Fauvely / Beautiful Places /(self-released)
And then there were a bunch of others that brought me great joy this year:
The Weather Station "Ignorance" (Fat Possum)
tune-yards "sketchy." (4AD)
Tobacco City "Tobacco City, USA" (Scissor Tail)
Joy Crookes "Skin" (Speakerbox)
Angel Du$t "YAK: A Collection of Truck Songs" (Roadrunner)
FUR "When You Walk Away" (777)
Ben Lamar Gay "Open Arms to Open Us" (International Anthem/Nonesuch)
Damu the Fudgemunk "Conversation Peace" (Def Presse)
Justice Hill "Room with a View" (Miner Lake)
Course "A Late Hour" (self-released)
Penelope Isles "Which Way to Happy" (Bella Union/PIAS)
Munya "Voyage to Mars" (Luminelle)
Cleo Sol "Mother" (Forever Living Originals)
Deafheaven "Infinite Granite" (Sargent House)
The Umbrellas "The Umbrellas" (Slumberland)
The Ophelias "Crocus" (Joyful Noise)
The Shivas "Feels So Good // Feels So Bad" (Tender Loving Empire)
Arthhur "Occult Fractures" (self-released)
The Bevis Frond "Little Eden" (Fire)
Laura Jane Grace "At War with the Silverfish" (Polyvinyl)
Lala Lala "I Want the Door to Open" (Hardly Art)
The War on Drugs "I Don't Live Here Anymore" (Atlantic)
Mazes "PEACE BRIDGE" (Sanzimat International)
Lightning Bug "A Color of the Sky" (Fat Possum)
Valley Maker "When the Day Leaves" (Frenchkiss)
Shungudzo "I'm not a mother, but I have children" (BMG)
Piroshka "Love Drips & Gathers" (Bella Union)
Pip Blom "Welcome Break" (Heavenly/PIAS)
Dream Version "Dream Version" (self-released)
Low "Hey What" (Sub Pop)
Spud Cannon "Good Kids Make Bad Apples" (Good Eye)
Kississippi "Mood Ring" (Triple Crown)
The Natvral "Tethers" (Kanine)
Soft Speaker "Priestess of Carnality" (self-released)
Shad "TAO" (Secret City)
Hovvdy "True Love" (Grand Jury)
CLOUDLAND "Where We Meet" (self-released)
Molly Burch "Romantic Images" (Captured Tracks)
Split Single "Amplificado" (Inside Outside)
Courtney Barnett "Things Take Time, Take Time" (Mom+Pop/Milk)
Serengeti "Have a Summer" (self-released)
Aeon Station "Observatory" (Sub Pop)
Foxing "Draw Down the Moon" (Grand Paradise/Hopeless)
Mia Joy "Spirit Tamer" (Fire Talk)
Alicia Walter "I Am Alicia" (Sooper)
The Toms "Tomplicated" (Western Vinyl)
Anthonie Tonnon "Leave Love Out of This" (Slow Time)
Amythyst Kiah "Wary + Strange" (Rounder)
Snail Mail "Valentine" (Matador)
Tristen "Aquatic Flowers" (Mama Bird)
Lily Konigsberg "Lily We Need to Talk Now" (Wharf Cat)
Charlotte Cornfield "Highs in the Minuses" (Polyvinyl and Double Double Whammy)
Parquet Courts "Sympathy for Life" (Rough Trade)
Chime School "Chime School" (Slumberland)
Big Red Machine "How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?" (Jagjaguwar/37d03D)
Indigo De Souza "Any Shape You Take" (Saddle Creek)
Makthaverskan "For Allting" (Run for Cover)
The Connells "Steadman's Wake" (Black Park)
Greenlights Music "The Art of Poise" (self-released)
David Singer & The Sweet Science "Vicious Kicks" (self-released)
Emily Jane Powers "Isometry" (self-released)
Kaley Rutledge "Tender Heart" (Tone Tree)
Bnny "Everything" (Fire Talk)
Natalie Bergman "Mercy" (Third Man)
Tonstartssbandht "Petnunia" (Mexican Summer)
La Luz "La Luz" (Hardly Art)
LowDown Brass Band "The Reel Sessions" (Dibs)
Electric Looking Glass "Somewhere Flowers Grow" (We Are Busy Bodies)
Torres "Thirstier" (Merge)
Clairo "Sling" (Fader/Republic)
Johanna Samuels "Excelsior!" (Mama Bird)
Macie Stewart "Mouth Full of Glass" (Orindal)
Bachelor "Doomin' Sun" (Polyvinyl)
Rata Negra "Una Vida Vulger" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Du Blonde "HOMECOMING" (Daemon T.V.)
Rosie Tucker "Sucker Supreme" (Epitaph)
Maks the Fox "That We Exist" (self-released)
Mello Music Group "Bushido" (Mello Music Group)
Rosali "No Medium" (Spinster Sounds)
The Pink Stones 'Introducing..." (Normaltown)
Noga Erez "KIDS" (City Slang)
Ryley Walker "Course in Fable" (Husky Pants)
Steve Dawson "At the Bottom of a Canyon in the Branches of a Tree (Pravda)
Iceage "Seek Shelter" (Mexican Summer)
The Goon Sax "Mirror II" (Matador)
Madlib "Sound Ancestors" (Madlib Invazion)
2nd Grade "Wish You Were Here Tour Revisited" (Double Double Whammy)
Silver Synthetic "Silver Synthetic" (Third Man)
Cedric Noel "Hang Time" (Joyful Noise)
Makaya McCraven "Deciphering the Message" (Blue Note)
David Christian and the Pinecone Orchestra "For Those We Met on the Way" (Tapete)
Curtis Harding "If Words Were Flowers" (ANTI-)
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra "Promises" (Luaka Bop)
Man's Body "A Set of Steak Knives" (NocturnalSol)
Durand Jone & The Indications "Private Space" (Dead Oceans)
Son Volt "Electro Melodier" (Transmit Sound/Thirty Tigers)
Illimunati Hotties "Let Me Do One More" (Snack Shack Tracks/Hopeless)
Middle Kids "Today We're The Greatest" (Domino)
The Chills "Scatterbrain" (Fire)
Bowerbirds "becalmyounglovers" (Psychic Hotline)
WheelUP "Good Love" (Tru Thoughts)
Matt Sweeney & Bonnie "Prince" Billy "Superwolves" (Drag City)
Citrus Clouds "Collider" (Lolipop)
Adult Mom "Driver" (Epitaph)
Snow Ellet "Suburban Indie Rock Star" (4 Three!)
Eleventh Dream Day "Since Grazed" (Comedy Minus One)
Liz Phair "Soberish" (Chrysalis)
Genesis Owusu "Smiling With No Teeth" (House Anxiety/Ourness)
Ratboys "Happy Birthday, Ratboy" (Topshelf)
Neptune's Core "Evolving" (self-released)
Azita "Glen Echo" (Drag City)
Sonic45 "Space and Time" (Pravda)
Massage "Still Life" (Mt. St. Mtn)
Jorja Smith "Be Right Back" (FAMM)
Marinero "Hella Love" (Hardly Art)
Quivers "Golden Doubt" (Ba Da Bing!)
Mdou Moctar "Afrique Victime" (Matador)
Karate School Dropout "HokuPsychosister" (self-released)
Waves "Hideaway" (Fat Possum)
Squirrel Flower "Planet (i)" (Polyvinyl)
Maple Glider "To Enjoy is the Only Thing" (Partisan)
Tasha "Tell Me What You Miss the Most" (Father/Daughter)
Sydney Sprague "maybe i will see you at the end of the world" (Rude)
HLDY MAGIK "MUSIC 4 UR EARS" (self-released)
Pixel Grip "ARENA" (Feeltrip)
The Purcells "Landscape Listens" (self-released)
Dinosaur Jr. "Sweep It Into Space" (Jagjaguwar)
Fruit Bats "The Pet Parade" (Merge)
Waltzer "Time Traveler" (Side Hustle)
Sunny War "Simple Syrup" (Hen House Studios / ORG)
Minor Moon "Tethers" (Ruination)
Wild Pink "A Billion Little Lights" (Royal Mountain)
Rat Columns "Pacific Kiss" (Tough Love)
Reigning Sound "A Little More Time with Reigning Sound" (Merge)
Vanessa Peters "Modern Age" (Idol)
Sun June "Somewhere" (Run for Cover)
Sarah Mary Chadwick "Me and Ennui are Friends, Baby" (Ba Da Bing)
Sincere Gifts "Ghosts of America" (self-released)
Fleshtones "Face of the Screaming Werewolf" (Yep Roc)
Cassandra Jenkins "An Overview on Phenomenal Nature" (Ba Da Bing)
Beach Bunny "Blame Game" EP (Mom + Pop)
Hiss Golden Messenger "Quietly Blowing It" (Merge)
Jazmine Sullivan "Heaux Tales" (RCA)
Aaron Frazer "Introducing..." (Colemine)
Flock of Dimes "Head of Roses" (Sub Pop)
Buck Meek "Two Saviors" (Keeled Scales)
Caution "Caution" (Born Yesterday)
Oberon Rose "Holographic Blues" (ThouART)
Jane Weaver "Flock" (Fire)
Chai "WINK" (Sub Pop)
Girl K "Girl K is for the People" (self-released)
Teenage Fanclub "Endless Arcade" (Merge)
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