♫ Selections from 2021
Last year's can't-miss cuts.
We begin 2022 by looking back at 2021.
I asked the aces in our rotation one question:
What's the one song from 2021 that you think everybody should hear?
Maybe these are the "best" songs of the year. Maybe they're just favorites. Maybe they're neither. Maybe they’re diamonds in the rough or uncut gems or righteous gemstones or have nothing to do whatsoever with rock.
We'll never know. There is no judge, jury, or courtroom. There are only these songs, presented not as a substantial and cohesive mixtape, but rather as just, like, a bunch of songs all in one place. 🍌 🍌 🍌
▶︎ Hear our Selections from 2021.
Here are our selections from 2021:
“Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan
Technically released in 2020, but if Vulture can call it the song of summer 2021, I'm claiming it. Transcendent, joyous, a little melancholic, and probably the catchiest song of the past two years.
— Writer Kathleen Martinelli of Attention Kmart Shoppers
"Desperately Seeking Answers" by all under heaven
Just like Marty McFly realizing that his young parents and their peers were not yet ready for rock n' roll - I'm not sure the culture is ready for a full on shoegaze revival. While I sit patiently and wait for everyone to catch up, I'll be listening to all under heaven from Freehold, New Jersey. Soaring vocals, woozy guitars, and a great hook. Criminally re-listenable.
— Writer and musician Dan Svizeny of Weekend Guide
Maxo Kream has one of the most unique and hypnotic flows I’ve ever come across. While the issues he talks about are profound, his perfunctory deliveries make his songs incredibly approachable. The writing in “CRIPSTIAN” is moody but juvenile, best displayed in the brilliant line: “…feel like my wins low / ‘Cause I been dealin’ with these family matters”.
— Writer and producer Zack Zimbler
While many tracks from Dijon's debut album are "Absolutely" worth listening to (sorry), this one stands out. Sometimes described as a hybrid of Bon Iver and Frank Ocean, Dijon manages to fit a seemingly impossible number of lyrics and syllables into the 2-minute jam. It's manic while also being meticulously crafted, and it's catchy as hell.
— Future mixtape-maker Alex Robbins
In 2018 Urban Cone and announced they were taking a break as a band which was a bummer to hear as someone who discovered them by going to a show at Bowery Ballroom. It was a pleasant surprise this year when they released a few new songs that will put you in an up beat mood.
— Musician and television-maker Kyle DeLash
While this is worthy of a listen based on the band’s name alone, the song itself also rules and is the most singular and refreshing thing in recent memory. It’s weird, cool, fun, funny, stupid, clever, sympathetic, apathetic, artful, and possesses the same strange magnetism of “Da Da Da” by Trio.
— Writer and newsletter-haver Joe Petro
There are more mixtapes coming in 2022, but also more of this. Sometimes you don’t need a full-course meal. Sometimes you just need a convenient, yet nutritious, grab-and-go snack like, I dunno, a banana 🍌 .
Big things coming this year. Big things. But also little things—little things, too.
Until then: Stay safe. Stay sane.