Nigel from London shares his Top Tens for 2021
ALBUMS
1. Black Country, New Road - For The First Time
This record manages something extraordinary. It captures the spirit of pop music in some kaleidoscopic explosion of crypto-jazz and pseudo-rock. The splurge of creativity here is brilliantly incomprehensible and explosively enjoyable at the same time. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time but didn’t know it. It’s the musical equivalent of Red Bull & vodka and while it tips a nod here and there, it’s all so very fresh and new - I so envy the 18 year olds hearing this.
2. Celeste - Not Your Muse
3. The Weather Station - Ignorance
4. Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature
5. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
6. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
7. Shame - Drunk Tank Pink
8. Squid - Bright Green Field
9. Portico Quartet - Terrain
10. Greentea Peng - Man Made
LIVE
1. Celeste - Union Chapel, London
2. Black Country, New Road - Castle & Falcon, Birmingham
3. Stephen Fretwell - St Pancras Old Church, London
4. Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard - The Social, London
5. Max Richter - Crystal Palace Bowl, London
6. Black Midi - St John at Hackney, London
7. Gruff Rhys / Bill Ryder-Jones - Electric Ballroom, London
8. Albertine Sarges - The Windmill, London
9. Golden Dregs - The Lexington, London
10. Shame - Chalk, Brighton