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Drawing on elements of deep house, techno house, kwaito, and dibacardi, it incorporates familiar dance motifs and flips them. – GHīorn in the townships surrounding the major cities of Gauteng province in South Africa, Amapiano has been steadily rising in global mainstream popularity. Fittingly, this is also as good a metaphor for 2021 as any. Her considered cacophonies break way to twinkling moments of harmony. Marrying the two genres in symbiosis, she perches you directly on her shoulder during the album’s sonic movements. Quite the opposite in the case of Naoko Sakata’s Dancing Spirits. Many succumb to familiar pitfalls along the way, as their musings descend into compositions that are like endlessly long noodles: no end, no beginning, just middle. – Lazlo RugoffĮxperimentalism in both jazz and classical forms can be a tricky beast to tame.
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In a surprise twist, this year saw Kingston’s dancehall outfit Equiknoxx team up with Minneapolis–Saint Paul-based sound system Feel Free Hi Fi for a collection of what they term “experimental electronic dancehall.” While the album is often too obtuse to be danceable beyond unspecific limb flailing, these abrasive and chuggy electronics are wholly engaging. Equiknoxx & Feel Free Hi Equiknoxx meets Feel Free Hi Fi Rather that, when taken alongside her subversions, they further Billie’s unique duality: she is one of the world’s biggest as well as one of its burgeoning anti-heroes. That’s not to say her heart-tugging, stadium-ready ballads like ‘Your Power’ and ‘Happier Than Ever’ aren’t beguiling, because they are. Arguably her most memorable moments happen when she is diverging from it – take the glitched synth of ‘I Didn’t Change my Number’, or the fractured bass of ‘Oxytocin’ for example. Eilish is perfectly capable of putting her megastar, mega-voice spin on paint-by numbers-pop. Thankfully, listening to the record elicits a different type of emotion. Listen to our playlist featuring the best music from the year here.īillie Eilish’s latest album may be called Happier Than Ever, but she doesn’t exactly appear to be thrilled, a sentiment reflected in the songs contained within. VF Magazine’s end-of-year coverage highlights the albums we adored from the past twelve months – music the editorial team returned to over and over again in 2021. Special mention goes to those albums we loved that weren’t released on vinyl in 2021, including music by: Megan Thee Stallion, Jazmin Sullivan, Pink Siifu, Ghetts, anaiis, Slikback, aya, as well as compilations by Beautiful and Daytimers. Same as it ever was – music, our sanctuary. The feelings of reuniting and dancing with others was triumphant.
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Beloved venues and festivals forged ahead into the unknown to bring us live music – the place where many of these records truly come into their own. Like 2020, life felt frequently suspended, but unlike last year there were more glimmers of hope, re-starting in fits and burst. Even when we couldn’t leave our nanoscopic-foot abodes, artists also spoke to our harrows and our joy, building togetherness and connection amidst the ongoing isolation. Musicians soothed our weary psyches, abrasively seared through our numb fugue, conjured a club inside our homes, turned the personal and the political upside down. Reactions to 2020 also began to emerge this year, time capsules of sonic humanity – from wonky club songs to ambient tonics to growling poetics. 2021: A seemingly never-ending rollercoaster pandemic ride that so many would like to exit immediately.ĭuring this year’s extreme lows, middles, and highs, music remained ever steadfast in its ability to lift us up out of all doldrums – along with heroic first responders, of course.