I didn’t review as much music in 2021 as I did in previous years because I spent a lot of time reading and at my day job. Also because it was the first year I didn’t work with an editor and had to find my own copies of stuff, which was a learning experience.
But I did listen to a lot of music, some of it new and some of it simply new to me, and more than a few records have stuck here in heavy rotation. What follows is a collection of some of the best stuff I listened to, and where available, links to relevant Bandcamp pages. Failing that, remember that pretty much anything you’d ever want is for sale on Discogs and that each of these get the four-star treatment from Milner on Music.
New Music
Apartment House - John Cage: Number Pieces (Another Timbre, 2021)
Available either digitally or in an expensive box set, thos four-disc collection has one of my favourite working ensembles tackling a difficult set of music: John Cage’s “Number Pieces.” These are minimal, often extended works (the longest runs over 50 minutes). The pieces have a dreamy, almost otherworldly quality to them: “Fourteen” has a slowly building tension built around long tones, while “Five2” seems like it’s built around blocks of sound. Meanwhile, five different versions of “Five” offer different takes of the same piece and it’s hard for me to pick just one. I’ll openly admit I’m not the strongest listener when it comes to contemporary classical, but I find I enjoy just about anything Apartment House does.
Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days (Low Country Sound/Elektra, 2021)
I came to this one thanks to Carlile’s wonderful performance on Saturday Night Live, where she did a knockout performance of “Broken Horses,” a country rocker with a searing guitar solo and Carlile shouting like her life depended on it. The album isn’t quite as rollicking as that one, but maybe that’s for the best? On the quieter, more-key tracks like “RIght on Time” or “Letter to the Past” Carlile’s voice steals the show with a charming, singer-songwriter vibe that’s right out of the 70s.
Sons of Kemet - Black to the Future (Impulse, 2021)
The latest from one of the best groups to emerge from London’s competitive jazz scene, Black to the Future has a plethora of guests (Moor Mother, Joshua Idehen and more), but also some of the best workouts yet. “Think of Home” is built around a call and response from the horns while Theon Cross thunders away on his tuba in the background, while on “Envision Yourself Levitating” the horns trade off riffs, building off each other and working up a storm.
Matty Grace - Dysphoria City Limits (Bandcamp, 2021)
Copped this one on a Bandcamp Friday on the recommendation of a friend and was pleasantly surprised. This EP, recorded in the summer of this year, is a raw listen: just Grace and her guitar, a killer slice of folk-punk about dysphoria and depression. “I’m alive but barely moving / Nicotine and THC keep me awake,” she shouts at the end of “I Live My Life With Enormous Tension,” repeating “keep me awake” over and over like it’s the only thing keeping her going. I listened to this one a lot this fall in recovery, it’s vibes matching my headspace as I went in for surgery.
Mel Stone - Princess, Pt. 1 (Bandcamp, 2021)
I’ve been a fan of Stone’s music for a couple of years now and it’s been great watching their music grow by leaps and bounds in that time. I think her latest EP is the first one with a full band, but if it’s a sign of things to come, I’m game. On a short set of sharply-written songs, Stone digs deep into broken relationships and being queer. “Simone” is the lead single here - the EP even comes with a radio edit - but throughout the music latches on with layers of guitar, driving rhythms and Stone’s voice at turns imploring you, making you feel what they’re going through. I can’t wait for Part Two.
Roy Brooks / Woody Shaw - Understanding (Real to Real, 2021)
In 1970, Shaw was best known as a sidesman, likely from Larry Young’s seminal Unity, released a little while earlier. But here, on a newly-released live record from that year, he shows himself as more than capable and indeed, a force to be reckoned with. He’s a key part of Brooks’s group (who’s no slouch himself: just listen to his propulsive drumming, and the storm he’s able to whip up at a moment’s notice), providing gorgeous leads on “Prelude to Understanding” and “Billie’s Bounce”, not to mention contributing an original, “Zoltan.” But it’s the whole group that shines, stretching each of these tunes deep into the 20-plus minute zone. Indeed, “Taurus Woman” is long enough to merit an entire vinyl disc to itself. An incredible find.
Maya Beiser - Maya Beiser x Philip Glass (Islandia Music Records, 2021)
Normally, I wouldn’t think of Glass when I think of a solo cello record, but Beiser made a believer out of me. Using a Boss RC-300, she created loops and overdubs, layering lines on top of others, making this music come alive with just one instrument. At times it’s beautiful - her arrangement of Glass’s “Etude No. 2” is especially moving in it’s slow, melodic lines - and at times it’s a swirl of sound, like her arrangements of pieces from Naqoyqatsi. As unconventional as an album of cello overdubs may sound, this one will convince you.
Bill Evans - On A Friday Evening (Craft Records, 2021) / Behind the Dykes (Elemental Music, 2021)
This was a good year for Bill Evans fans, with two remarkable archival releases. The first is a show from 1975, recorded live in Vancouver for a radio program. It has Evans, Eddie Gomez and Eliot Zigmund, a lineup that’s sort of overlooked for this era of Evans’s music: typically people focus on the Evans/Gomez/Morell or Evans/Johnson/LaBarbera group. The music’s not a revelation or anything, but it’s a good performance by Evans and gives you an idea of what this band sounded like on the road: Evans’s playing is on par with his mid-70s records and the interplay between this group is good.
Meanwhile, Behind the Dykes is the classic lineup with Gomez and Morell, but from very early in their association: a few shows from 1969. Over two CDs, you can hear this group feeling each other out, with little pushes from Morell behind the kit and Gomez’s steady bass. There’s also a nice cross section between originals and standards here - it’s always a treat to hear Evans play Monk - and there’s a lot of music for Evans fans to chew on.
Anthony Braxton - Quartet (Standards) 2020 (New Braxton House, 2021)
Braxton is maybe not known for his interpretation of standards, but this set should rectify that somewhat. Over a dozen hours and taken from several different gigs, this expansive box set shows him as both versatile and expressive, able to make standards into something wholly his own. From when he’s covering old warhorses like “Impressions” or “You Go To My Head” to deeper cuts like “Sue’s Changes” or “Black Nile” to even the Paul Simon tunes he deftly mixes in here, his playing is instantly recognizable and this set has to rank among his best standards playing in a long career.
Faye Webster - I Know I’m Funny Haha (Secretly Canadian, 2021)
Webster’s latest is also her best record, alternating between slinky 70s grooves and 90s indie, with touches of country and singer-songwriter. At times I was thinking about Liz Phair or Soccer Mommy, at others John Prine or . But mostly I didn’t think too much: this was a record that blew me away, from it’s little sprinklings of keyboards and pedal steel to the way Webster’s voice just sneaks up on you. There’s “Dream of a Baseball Player,” her ode to Roland Acuna, which glides along on a laid back rhythm and touches of horn and Webster’s voice swirling around you as she asks “How did I fall in love with someone I don’t know?” There’s “Kind Of,” which builds up slowly, where she says she’s the kind of person who “sees all the bad before the good things.” And there’s “Both All the Time,” a song about being lonely, depressed and sleeping with the lights on while the band lays down a slow country groove. Don’t sleep on this one.
New To Me Music
Shock - Shock (Fantasy, 1981)
Slick electro-funk with a generous slash of horns. It’s like the hard grooves of Funkadelic or Slave, but with the tight horn arrangements of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I don’t know much about the band - a brief Google search suggests they’re from the Pacific northwest and released a string of now-deleted items for Fantasy in the early 80s - but one thing I know is that this was funkiest thing I heard all year and I’ve listened to “Let Your Body Do the Talking” like a dozens times this week alone.
Bill Frisell - In Line (ECM, 1982)
Basically a solo record (there’s a couple duo tracks) what this one lacks in swing it more than makes up for in ambience. Frisell’s guitar makes long, lonely sounds that expand to fill the room with the gentle, ringing tone. On “Start” and “Two Arms” he’s practically making ambient music with the way his playing seems to slowly drift off into the ether. Meanwhile on “The Beach” there’s a swirling backdrop that, at times, almost anticipates Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois’s pedal steel excursions on Apollo. I don’t think it’s the best introduction to Frisell, but it’s a compelling, atmospheric listen.
The Arms of Someone New - Susan Sleepwalking (Projekt, 1985)
One that slipped through the cracks upon release, Susan Sleepwalking is a slow, eerie affair with lots of drum machines, chirping keyboards and a cool, late-night sort of ambience that makes this one great for the winter, when the evening comes early. I’ve heard comparisons to The Cure, Cocteau Twins and other famously moody English bands, but I think this one holds its own compared to them. It’s admittedly a pretty lo-fi record, but that’s part of the charm: it doesn’t have any of those dated 80s synth or drum sounds, but a timeless, dark kind of vibe.
Various Artists - NuLeaf (Numero Group, 2020)
Who knew smooth jazz could be this interesting? Well, calling this smooth jazz is maybe a bit of a stretch: some of it’s closer to light-fusion: “Born With A Desire” by Tony Palkovic has some slick guitar work before settling into a keyboard-led groove, while “Tropical Chill” by Plunky mixes a soprano sax with a straight-ahead rhythm and slap bass. But when it does get smooth it doesn’t settle into the background: George Shaw’s horn takes short, tasteful little darts around the music, but never overwhelms his gentle backings, while Frank Potenza does a worthwhile Metheny impression, his little passages sounding almost Latin at times.
Wally Badarou - Back to Scales Tonight (Rivera LM/Barclay, 1980)
Maybe best remembered as a session man (he part of the Compass Point All-Stars) or his work with Level 42, Badarou has put out a handful of solo records. On this one, his debut, he’s fully in Stevie Wonder mode, layering keyboards on top of drum machines and rhythm tracks, whipping out soul that’ll liven up any room it’s playing in. I especially love the title track, with it’s layers of vocals and late-summer vibes, and Badarou comparing a love with his love of music. It’s a charming record and one that I’m surprised isn’t in on streaming services, let alone in print.
Loudon Wainwright III - Attempted Moustache (Columbia, 1973)
“This summer I sang in a public place and a reservoir to boot / at the latter I was informal, at the former I wore my suit,” sings Wainwright over a gentle folk-rock backing, and if that doesn’t make you smile, I don’t know what will.