It was another incredible year for music and I was lucky enough to witness such creativity during this second year of the pandemic. I had a longer list, but narrowed it down to fifty new albums to share with you. So many fantastic releases and reissues in all genres, but more importantly I saw live music once again. Only a handful of live shows, so far but each one unique and worth the price of admission. Highlights include Thee Oh Sees at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA and Richard Ashcroft at Royal Albert Hall in London.

Without further delay, here are my favorite new albums released in 2021, and in order.

1. Chris Schlarb & Chad Taylor, Time No Changes
2. Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, I Told You So
3. Teenage Fanclub, Endless Arcade
4. Floating Points (Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra), Promises
5. Lake Mary & Oxherding, With the Windows Open
6. William Parker, Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World, Vol. 1–10
7. Marisa Anderson/William Tyler, Lost Futures
8. The Weather Station, Ignorance
9. Gary Bartz, JID006
10. L’Rain, Fatigue
11. Molly Lewis, The Forgotten Edge
12. Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes, Music for Saxofone and Bass Guitar More Songs
13. John Zorn, Gnosis: The Inner Light (feat. Bill Frisell, John Medeski, Kenny Wollesen, Carol Emanuel)
14. Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble, NOW
15. Lucy Dacus, Home Video
16. Grouper, Shade
17. Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles, Keys
18. Madlib, Sound Ancestors
19. White Flowers, Day By Day
20. Huck Notari, Strange and Beautifully
21. Durand Jones & the Indications, Private Space
22. Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band, Expansions
23. The War on Drugs, I Don’t Live Here Anymore
24. Arooj Aftab, Vulture Prince
25. Little Simz, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
26. Golden Brown, Gems and Minerals
27. Carlos Niño & Friends, More Energy Fields, Current
28. Adeline Hotel, Good Timing
29. Yasmin Williams, Urban Driftwood
30. James Brandon Lewis, Jesup Wagon
31. Arlo Parks, Collapsed In Sunbeams
32. Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever
33. Godspeed You! Black Emperor, G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
34. Makaya McCraven, Deciphering the Message
35. Clarissa Connelly, The Voyager
36. Dry Cleaning, New Long Leg
37. Sons of Kemet, Black to the Future
38. Chelsea Carmichael, The River Doesn’t Like Strangers
39. DARKSIDE, Spiral
40. Kenny Garrett, Sounds from the Ancestors
41. Moor Mother, Black Encyclopedia of the Air
42. DJINN, Transmission
43. Tyler The Creator, Call Me If You Get Lost
44. BADBADNOTGOOD, Talk Memory
45. SUSS, Night Suite EP
46. Azita, Glen Echo
47. Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog, Hope
48. Nils Frahm, Old Friends New Friends
49. Patricia Brennan, Maquishti
50. Phantom Handshakes, No More Summer Songs