Best Music of 2021

I haven't been grabbed by many of the new releases this year. Here's my mid-year list.

Top Tier (Bought For Sure):
Olivia Rodrigo - Sour
The Alchemist - This Thing of Ours (EP)
Flying Lotus - Yasuke

Most Anticipated
I pre-ordered the new albums by Billie Eilish and Little Simz, based solely on my enjoyment of their previous work.

Second Tier (I liked a lot once but couldn't stream over and over and over)
Faye Webster - I Know I'm Funny haha
Julien Baker - Little Oblivions
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

Third Tier (I liked a little but also couldn't really get into for whatever reason)
Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall - The Marfa Tapes
Squid - Bright Green Field
 
New Caroline Polachek! 🔥 LETS GO!!

I was just OK on this. Seems that she partially eschewed that art pop sound I was enamored with from her debut.
It seems like a lot of indie rock/indie adjacent artists and bands are going more pop. Not something that I'm a fan of personally, thought there is the benefit of broader appeal from casual fans. Not to get too long winded, but over the past decade more pop music has been "accepted" more often by indie musicians/circles/publications so artists are freer to express themselves by creating more pop-friendly music. I'm not complaining, just an observation.
 
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