The Big End Of Year Roundup Post: 2021

Hello and welcome to my annual end of the year roundup post!

I'm sticking to the format I used last year as it seemed to work well and seemed a good structure to use when trying to sum up what had been a mind boggling year. 

Needless to say, 2021 has been similarly mind boggling, hence clinging to the security blanket provided by my 2020 end of year roundup post structure.

Hopefully you will discover in these lists some interesting reads and listens, and some food for thought. 

As has been the case in previous years, I will be running a countdown of my favourite songs of the year on a one track per day basis, starting on the 2nd of December and continuing until the 31st of December. For those of you who use Spotify, a playlist of my Top 30 songs will also be compiled in real time. As usual, a disclaimer: For me, when it comes to compiling the Songs of the Year list, the year runs from November to November. This means I can include any songs I just missed out on including on the previous years list.

Albums of the year

12) Delilah Bon, Delilah Bon

11) Courtney Barnett, Things Take Time Take Time

10) Lana Del Rey, Blue Bannisters

9) Self Esteem, Prioritise Pleasure

8) Noga Erez, KIDS

7) Ruby Fields, Been Doin' It For A Bit

6) Sleater-Kinney, Path of Wellness

5) Olivia Rodrigo, SOUR

4) Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever

3) Penfriend, Exotic Monsters

2) Albertine Sarges, The Sticky Fingers

1) Pom Pom Squad, Death of a Cheerleader

12 books I've read and loved this year 

Philip Pullman, La Belle Sauvage (Book of Dust vol 1)

Elizabeth Gilbert, City of Girls

Emma Glass, Rest and be thankful

Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk

Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, Mother Country: Real stories of the Windrush children

Dr. Phil Hammond, Dr Hammond's Covid Casebook

Helen Reddington, She's At The Controls

Elif Shafak, 10 minutes 38 seconds in this strange world

Kiley Reid, Such a fun age

Sosuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved Books

Ellis Peters, A Morbid Taste For Bones

Adam MacQueen, The Prime Minister's Ironing Board

Podcasts and Radio from 2021

To be honest, I haven't listened to as many podcasts this year as I have in the past. Over in radio land, the highlight of the year was definitely the ninth series of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, which treated the restrictions of lockdown as a chance to experiment with form and, in doing so, created something very special indeed. 

Long term film podcast Best Pick reached the end of its initial odyssey and, having survived both the project itself and the confines of lockdown, elected to carry on with a different and evolving film related mission. The exit interview episode is worth a listen, as is the (fairly) recent episode on The Taking of Pelham 123.

I hadn't expected to enjoy (and 'enjoy' is perhaps the wrong word anyway for this podcast...) Pandora Sykes' most recent project Pieces of Britney, but I found myself getting sucked in despite myself. The final episode raises some intelligent and thought provoking points about the nature of fame in the late 90s and early 2000's, and now, and has the advantage of being less reliant on the dramatised scenes used in earlier episodes. 

One of the highlights of the Private Eye calendar is the magazines annual Paul Foot Award, which is awarded for high quality investigative journalism work. Every year the Private Eye Podcast, Page 94, introduces listeners to the journalists nominated and their investigations before announcing the winner. It's always a really interesting, inspiring and thought provoking listen that leaves you feeling positive about the future of investigative journalism. You can listen to this years episode here. 

12 articles I've found interesting/enjoyable this year [Non Covid articles] 

The Masked Vigilantes Coming for Your Horrible Boss (Alessio Perrone, Narratively)

Writers are scared. How could they not be? (Eleanor Halls, Pass The Aux)

The country rejecting throwaway culture (Peter Yeung, BBC)

Meet the womxn bus driver baddies of TikTok (Ashley Tan, ID)

Young, male and anti-feminist - The Gen-Z Boys Who Hate Women (Hannah Ewens, Vice)

Bristol bus stop to nowhere installed as a joke 15 years ago is still there (Tristan Cork, Bristol Live)

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme might just be a work of radio genius (Jonn Elledge, The Big Issue)

This will end with President Tucker Carlson (Helen Lewis, The Atlantic)

What I learned working in a public library (Sam Parker, Penguin Books blog)

A place to sit down (Tom Taylor, Salt)

Life after the bomb (Susan Griffin, The Big Issue North)

How two BBC journalists risked their jobs to reveal the truth about Jimmy Savile (Poppy Sebag-Montefiore, The Guardian)

8 articles I've found interesting/enjoyable this year [Covid articles]

Would you climb a mountain for internet access? (Alizah Kohari, Rest of World)

Dr Feel Good? The NHS DJ helping lift Covid gloom for millions (Jessica Murray, The Guardian)

Pandemic lessons from the North (Jennifer Williams, Manchester Evening News)

'I've learned the importance of hope' - how North Manchester General's Victorian infirmary got through a 21st Century pandemic (Jennifer Williams, Manchester Evening News)

The Argument for Everyone Taking This Entire Summer Off (Amelia Tait, Vice)

Life on the door (Jack Dulhanty, The Mill)

London council worker's bus odyssey sparks Twitter storm (Sam Francis, BBC)

She was studying during lockdown. Then she fell into a virtual world (Jack Dulhanty, The Mill)

Image one by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Image two by Shunya Koide on Unsplash

Image three by Catalin Pop on Unsplash

Image four by Museums Victoria on Unsplash

Image five by CDC on Unsplash

Songs of the year: Number 1

It was very tough deciding my song of the year for 2018. It was also very tough deciding my favourite Florence + The Machine track of the year. Was it going to be the incredibly brave, self exposing anthem that is 'Hunger'? The June 2016 swan song 'June'? the breathtaking 'The End Of Love'? 'Sky Full of Song' was a contender for a while, mainly because it was the soundtrack to a particularly tumultuous period in my life but, in the end, I settled on '100 Years'.

'100 Years' is one of the tracks on High As Hope that Florence Welch wrote on her own. It's got a very interesting, idiosyncratic approach to melody and rhythm, which only adds to it's charm. There's also that intriguing contrast between the sections describing a burgeoning relationship and those describing the horrors of the wider world outside.

When it was performed live, both here on Jools Holland but also on the High As Hope tour, it took on a life of it's own, with a greater clarity and sense of purpose perhaps than the recorded version. This one will endure I think, and will stand the test of time.

Songs of the year: Number 2

Let's Eat Grandma's 'Falling into me' has come very, very close to being my number one song of the year. It felt like such an exciting, refreshing listen when it was released.

The product of two teenage geniuses from Norwich, already releasing their second album, 'Falling into me' combines everything that is good about pop music, electro, and creativity. It's a sprawling sonic landscape of possibility that seems to take in and reinterpret every possible aspect of dance music possible. It's an exhilarating ride.

Great things continue to be expected of this duo.

Songs of the year: Number 3

Self Esteem is the new project of Slow Club's Rebecca Taylor. Every song has been a winner so far, with irresistible hooks and hypnotic beats. She seems to be on a mission to recreate R&B into something altogether more arch and knowing while not losing the danceability of the thing.

'Rollout' is the standout track in a run of incredibly high quality tunes, and it will absolutely make your dancefloor this party season.

Songs of the year: Number 4

In many ways, 'Deadbody' was the perfect anthem for the #MeToo era. It seemed to be about everything that that particular movement was fighting against.

Folick's rage is apparent from the start, but it's a thoroughly controlled performance, albeit one with a blistering delivery. She has been equipped with a voice that can travel to the higher octaves and bewitch just as she has been given the gift of roaring with the best of them and, in this case, she is choosing to roar. It's an exhilarating listen.

Songs of the year: Number 5

Tancred's album, Nightstand, is a slick, interrogative record underpinned by fine observational songwriting on the part of Jess Abbott.

'Underwear', with it's swaggering sense of lust coupled with self loathing, harks right back to the glory days of artist such as Juliana Hatfield, Mary Lou Lord and Liz Phair. It swings in all the right places, and stuns with it's impeccable riffs and frankness.

Songs of the year: Number 6

Laura Gibson's 'Domestication' came as something of a surprise, but perhaps it shouldn't have done. Last year's single 'The Cause' showed a definite tilt towards feminism and, while 'Domestication' is a very different song, it does share that sense of observation if not a campaigning spirit. This song is so very 2018, and the video was pitch perfect as well.

Songs of the year: Number 7

We started 2018 with Mint Field's bewitching Sophia Coppola esque video for 'Ojos En El Carro', and it's remained a favourite of mine throughout the year. There's a dreamy quality to the post rock soundscape they create here, and the soaring vocals perfectly compliment the thrash of the guitars. It is beautiful.

Songs of the year: Number 8

North London streetwise edge meets crunchy electro beats and a post party weariness in a young up and coming voice.

'Taken care of' was blessed with a catchy hook, and Wu has been similarly blessed with the kind of rough edges that create charm rather than caution. She's been picked up by BBC Introducing in 2018 and should go on to do well thanks to the laconic and imaginative nature of her songwriting.

Songs of the year: Number 9

SOAK's 'Everybody Loves You' has the easy charm of a great slice of pop, coupled with a fragility of vocal that puts her more on the post twee indie pop spectrum. There are swirling strings, lovely melodies, a bit of sweariness, and the result is utterly beguiling and bewitching. 6music fell in love with it as soon as it came out, and many a critic did too.

Songs of the year: Number 10

Lydmor has been a comparatively recent discovery for me. Her song 'Vild' is blessed with a catchy melody, pounding drums, and a kind of fierce intensity of vocal to keep you listening. I think she's a lot bigger in her native Denmark than she is in the UK, but that could change.

Songs of the year: Number 11

Santigold seems to have been quiet for a while. 2015's 99 cents didn't engage me, and I felt rather disappointed by it. I've been longing for a return to the days of her 2009 debut and it's 2012 follow up, Master of My Make Believe, ever since and I don't want: The Gold Fire sessions seemed to hit the spot. 'Run the road' stood out as a favourite for me right from the first listen, with it's loping reggae charm, and I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Songs of the year: Number 12

It seems impossible to sonically describe The Orielles. There are so many different influences going on in there that they sound like they could burst. Imagine a post punk inspired Pigbag esque global rave and you're some way to imagining what 'It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)' sounds like. This will be a good track for any parties you might have planned this month.

Songs of the year: Number 13

Ruston Kelly has that real world weary tone to his voice, the voice of experience, the troubadour on the road. He makes me think of a young Bruce Springsteen and, of the songs released this year, 'Big Brown Bus' was my favourite slice of his particular brand of Americana. It's a tough life on the road.

Songs of the year: Number 14

Another slice of beguiling and slightly woozy electro pop. This time courtesy of Becky and the Birds. 'Concept Store' was the standout track from the self titled E.P, it was also a chapter in the accompanying film which, in itself, challenged the perceptions of what you can do with a piece of promo footage.

On this track she comes across like a more jazz tinged FKA Twigs, which is not her usual sound, so it will be interesting to see what develops. I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Songs of the year: Number 15

Farao's 'The Ghost Ship' has a similar beguiling and dreamy quality to it as Jenny Hval's 'Spells'. In both cases, the songs in question transport you to a different world, a sonic landscape you can inhabit and live within for the duration of the song.

'The Ghost Ship' starts modestly enough but it's soon spiralling off into ever dizzying landscapes of sound, so that it almost feels like a surprise when the song ends.

Of the other songs she's released this year, I don't think any of them came close to touching this one for me, but I am ever hopeful.

Songs of the year: Number 16

While I did enjoy Tracey Thorn's solo album, Record, I didn't like it enough to buy. I suspect I probably just need to listen to it more though. This song, 'Dancefloor', is one of the tracks I did particularly like.

Thorn's voice works well with electro, just as it did in the 90s with drum 'n' bass and jungle. There's a sort of wistful nostalgia to this track that contrasts well with the bass and slightly chilly melodies. It feels like 80s period Dusty Springfield, vocally speaking, but is bang up to date, ultimately transcending categories.

Songs of the year: Number 17

Freya Ridings is one of those artists who has been blessed with a particularly arresting and powerful voice. 'Ultraviolet' is not the song that really took off for her this year (three of her songs were used on the soundtrack to Love Island apparently...) but it is the one I like the best. It builds and builds into a sonic tour de force, and it also showcases her voice well.

She could be one of those artists who travels down the MOR pop route, but she could also be the kind of songwriter who decides to pursue a more idiosyncratic path. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Songs of the year: Number 18

I interviewed Emma Back earlier this year, about her (then) upcoming album Little World. Of the tracks on the album, 'Shadow' was the one that I liked the most. There's a real edge to it and a sense of barely contained anger that works really well with Back's violin and loop pedal. The result is intense and emotionally charged, and it feels like it will be a song that transcends this moment and stands the test of time.

Songs of the year: Number 19

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash

Rié's creative electro masterpiece, 'Blood in the water', isn't available on YouTube, but I can refer you to Spotify in this instance to listen to it.

It's an abrasive mix of modern electro pop, hypnotic vocals, glitchy effects, harp sounds, and is the sound of a young musician really coming into her own.

I expect great things from her in 2019.