GENRE: NEOCLASSICAL
BANDCAMP: https://timlinghaus.bandcamp.com/album/memory-sketches-ii

i really liked both of Tim Linghaus’s previous Memory Sketches albums and this is more of the same, which i don’t think is a bad thing. it feels a little more polished which makes it hard for me to say anything interesting about it, because i just put it on and am kind of carried away. “Maybe More Than You Knew” is a great sample of what this is like.

GENRE: NEOCLASSICAL

this album reminds me a bit of ‘Night’ by Ola Gjeilo, which is a very good thing. it’s less “night” and more “morning”, though. put on “Promise of Sun” and you’ll see what i mean.

very good album for just chilling; has a Windham Hill vibe.

GENRE: ALTERNATIVE POP

my first real exposure to CHVRCHES was ‘Love Is Dead’, which some CHVRCHES fans think is too poppy, so i wasn’t sure how i would like this one. after a few listens: i really like it. “Lullabies” is probably my favourite track; “Killer” makes the director’s cut worth it.

GENRE: INDIE POP

this album sounds kind of like a romcom in a good way, and it’s just incredibly easy to listen to. i didn’t have particularly high expectations for it, and when i was still listening to it on repeat after a month begrudgingly had to admit that it might actually be really good. “Nicer” is a brilliant track, and “All Our Friends are Splitting Up” is a very more‐mature love song.

GENRE: Dance

look i hate that my top album is an incredibly poppy dance album but this one earned it. basically all the songs are about the world ending or wanting to die or some shit, and it is both incredibly 2021 and really good dance music?? “Alice” is a good sample of what they’re capable of, and “Yatzy” is probably the saddest track i’ve heard this year.

you thought i was done but NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE E·P’S!!!

GENRE: ALTERNATIVE ELECTRONIC
BANDCAMP: https://hannahpeelmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fir-wave

i’m still not sure how i feel about this one, except i think that “Ecovocative” is a very good track. it’s definitely… some kind of mood, and i think it really captures the theme of ecological pattern and change.

GENRE: DANCE PUNK?? RIOT GRRRL??

you might know this artist as the lead singer of MS MR, but this is much rawer and more punky than anything MS MR ever put out. put on the cover of “Deceptacon” and rock out like it’s 1999.

GENRE: INDIE ALTERNATIVE
BANDCAMP: https://mehro.bandcamp.com/album/sky-on-fire

this guy reminds me of those heartthrob boys like Harry Styles or whoever, but i also think he’s better than Harry Styles or whoever?? it’s soft and really easy to chill to and reminds me of the sort of thing i used to hear all over 8tracks back in the day. “hideous” is a good example.

GENRE: AMBIENT ELECTRONICA
BANDCAMP: https://janicekwan.bandcamp.com/album/five-colour-bird

if you haven’t listened to ‘Primitive’ by Tukico, you should listen to ‘Primitive’ by Tukico, and if you have listened to ‘Primitive’ by Tukico, you should listen to janice kwan because she’s like Tukico with a bit more heart. “azure blue” completely blew me away the first time i heard it, and “flower monk of the forest” has some amazing (ghibli?) vibes.

GENRE: ALTERNATIVE POP

this is probably actually my favourite release this year and it is only 21 minutes. every song is a banger and i just want to play “Thursday” on repeat.

when she goes « And the band played that song you remember: It was Earth, Wind & Fire, “September” » 😭 i cry

okay that’s all i got lmao

albums which WEREN’T released last year but which were new to me and i quite liked include :—

• わたしの小さなGALAXY | ミカヅキBIGWAVE (Instrumental Hip‐Hop)
• Primitive | Tukico (Ambient Electronic)
• Emerald Seas | Seven Spires (Metal)
• Count Your Blessings | SPARTA (Hip‐Hop)
• DEMOTAPE/VEGA | BERWYN (Hip‐Hop / R&B)