Month: December 2021

In many ways, 2021 can be seen as transitional. The year began at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as both the nation and the world battled a new wave of infections that triggered a second round of lockdowns, leaving millions of people feeling less than optimistic about the future. As the winter months wore on, traces of hope in the form of the new vaccines broke through an otherwise pervasive feeling of gloom, so that by the time spring started in the Northern Hemisphere, normalcy, once again, began to feel attainable.  This reigning sense of optimism lingered through the…

I found 2021 to be a fantastic year for music. Perhaps a silver lining due to the pandemic, plenty of musicians spent considerable time crafting new records – many of which were artists or bands who were dormant for many years. Sadly, there was no new music from The Weakerthans or Banner Pilot, though. Here are my 10 favorites from the year, in no particular order, although I could have easily found 20 great albums from 2021 to blather on about...Too Much Joy – Mistakes Were MadeThe New York alt-rockers end their 25 year hiatus with a post-punk, New Wave,…

It was a year that started out in WTF mode and only got stranger. Musically, it was all over the map as artists emerged from a year of lockdown and socio-political turmoil with albums that either embraced or chose to ignore such concerns. Both approaches yielded surprising and sometimes spectacular results. As someone who produced a book this year that felt bracingly personal, I can only tip my hat to the musical brothers and sisters who found their songs and played them out loud.Wait, What? AwardPeter Frampton Band – Frampton Forgets The WordsAn aging former teen idol singer-songwriter with a…