Number Five: Portico Quartet – Monument VIDEO Art in the Age of Automation was one of my favourite albums from 2017, and Portico are back with yet another really strong album in Monument . This electro-jazz album is full of highlights and filled with delights, and if you missed it (what are you doing?), now’s the time to hop on the train!
Number Four: Sofra – Pockets VIDEO Pockets . Released early in 2021, this neo-soul, R&B-jazz record stayed on my mind all year long. Totally a discovery that ought to be made!
Number Three: Monobody – Comma VIDEO Comma , the band feels as fresh as ever, and no second is wasted on this marvellous album!
Number Two: Panam Panic – Love for Humanity VIDEO Love for Humanity is one of the grand injustices of the year! I mean, why isn’t it talked about way more? This album has it all: the grooves, the chops, the licks… What’s there not to love, really?
Number One: Emma-Jean Thackray – Yellow VIDEO Yellow is on the latter end of that scale. This funk and soul-infused jazz is very, very, very good, and you should definitely have that one on your list as well!
Hover over foreign scripts for pronunciation and romanization.
Friday, 29 January Sofra – Pockets 39:27Philadelphia, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Antibody (ft. Bryn Bliska, Peter Enriquez, Haiku, Leke) [03:42]
2. Wrapped Up (ft. Elysse, Bryn Bliska, JaMichael) [04:07]
3. Pockets (ft. Qil, Rachel Feldhaus, Sunhyun Yoo) [07:23]
4. Page 53 [01:19]
5. Page 161 [01:56]
6. Flowers to Fool Them (with Olivia Reid) [05:42]
7. Proximity Brings Us Closer [08:30]
8. Son Sayfa / Veda (ft. Nicole Davis) [06:48]
Friday, 5 February Elinor – Von Oben 44:54Graz, Austria
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Addis Abeba [04:58]
2. Magnet [06:58]
3. Von Oben [03:18]
4. Urlaub in Lappalien [05:28]
5. Smoke [07:27]
6. Pastell [03:46]
7. Aquarius feat. Atzin “Atlas” Zwettler [05:01]
8. Hymne für Niemand [07:58]
Wednesday, 3 March Emanative & Liz Elensky – The Volume of the Light 43:25UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Curve & Flow [01:19]
2. Fall In To Me feat. Ben Hadwen [04:39]
3. Raw Wonder feat. Rocketnumbernine [07:38]
4. Lost My Way feat. DJ Khalab [04:02]
5. Love & Light feat. Dan Jose & Deoke [06:10]
6. Dark As feat. The Maghreban & Tamar Collocutor [04:52]
7. Tea Leaf Dancers feat. Vince Vella [03:58]
8. The Volume Of The Light feat. Jessica Lauren [04:39]
9. Love & Light feat. Dan Jose & Deoke (Radio Friendly Mix) [06:08]
10. Curve & Flow (Instrumental) [01:17]
11. Dark As feat. The Maghreban & Tamar Collocutor (Instrumental) [04:44]
12. Fall In To Me feat. Ben Hadwen (Instrumental) [04:38]
13. Lost My Way feat DJ Khalab (Instrumental) [04:02]
14. Love & Light feat. Dan Jose & Deoke (Instrumental) [05:39]
15. Raw Wonder feat. Rocketnumbernine (Instrumental) [07:37]
16. Tea Leaf Dancers feat. Vince Vella (Instrumental) [03:56]
17. The Volume Of The Light feat. Jessica Lauren (Instrumental) [04:18]
Friday, 9 April Steiger – The New Lady Llama 34:15Ghent, Belgium
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Mazurka de la Muerte [05:01]
2. Lambda [02:37]
3. Just a Rite [04:35]
4. Slivovitsj [03:27]
5. (I cannot hear what you say) for the thunder that you are [03:39]
6. Sun Dog [02:45]
7. The New Lady Llama [05:28]
8. The Happiest Thought of my Life [01:12]
9. Absolution of a French Fry [05:31]
Friday, 23 April Alfa Mist – Bring Backs 39:21UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Teki [06:00]
2. People (feat. Kaya Thomas-Dyke) [02:59]
3. Mind The Gap (feat. Lex Amor) [03:28]
4. Run Outs [04:52]
5. Last Card (Bumper Cars) [04:26]
6. Coasting [04:49]
7. Attune [07:04]
8. Once A Year [01:22]
9. Organic Rust [04:36]
Monobody – Comma 33:01Chicago, Illinois
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Eighty Eight [04:38]
2. Sylphina [04:23]
3. Cloudless Sulphur [05:53]
4. Atala [03:20]
5. Mimic [04:15]
6. Harvester [03:53]
7. Phaon Crescent [06:40]
Saturday, 8 May Panam Panic – Love of Humanity 55:31Paris, France
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Love of Humanity [06:45]
2. Takuya [04:06]
3. Anomalie [05:12]
4. What is necessary feat Yagomeans [03:41]
5. Stay Safe [05:12]
6. Ombre et Lumière [05:00]
7. Chaos feat MATTIC [04:19]
8. Just A [01:30]
9. Fast and Furious [05:47]
10. Gravity [02:51]
11. Free Your Mind [05:18]
12. RH [05:50]
Friday, 23 July Emma-Jean Thackray – Yellow 49:11London, UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Mercury [05:44]
2. Say Something [03:49]
3. About That [02:15]
4. Venus [06:34]
5. Green Funk [02:01]
6. Third Eye [02:49]
7. May There Be Peace [01:24]
8. Sun [03:06]
9. Golden Green [04:04]
10. Spectre [04:27]
11. Rahu & Ketu [04:13]
12. Yellow [02:02]
13. Our People [04:46]
14. Mercury (In Retrograde) [01:57]
Slowly Rolling Camera – Where the Streets Lead 46:10Cardiff, UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. You Are the Truth [04:39]
2. Where the Streets Lead [05:43]
3. Lost Orbits [04:44]
4. The Afternoon of Human Life [07:03]
5. Widest Possible Aperture [05:55]
6. Illuminate [04:30]
7. Feels Like Fiction [06:58]
8. A Force for Good [06:38]
Friday, 13 August Aaro Laitinen Quintet – From 3 to 23 50:27Finland
Tracklist (click to display) 1. 11 [06:10]
2. Corona [07:15]
3. Peace [08:50]
4. Patajumi [07:00]
5. Saturday 10 AM [06:40]
6. Still Water [10:50]
7. 118 § [04:00]
Tuesday, 31 August Ilili – Il 53:17Japan
Tracklist (click to display)
1. 彼の動機 [0:01:34]
2. 風見時計 [0:04:43]
3. 桶屋の少女 [0:03:36]
4. 夏祭回転二十二分 [0:04:31]
5. ハァ [0:02:47]
6. 猿の本棚 [0:03:56]
7. 機景廊下 [0:01:33]
8. 振り子の部屋 [0:05:46]
9. Schrödinger G [0:06:59]
10. 夏祭低音式集二氏 [0:05:34]
11. Saru no waltz [0:00:51]
12. 花火大会 [0:05:06]
13. 銀の機動 [0:06:33]
Friday, 24 September Echt ! – Inwane 34:27Brussels, Belgium
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Permanent [04:21]
2. Dunes [04:48]
3. Charlier [03:51]
4. 500 gr. [03:37]
5. More Tape [01:45]
6. Champi [03:45]
7. Parakeet [05:20]
8. Kiekebiche [03:00]
9. Drache [04:00]
Fungi – Canicule 20:52Paris, France
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Exode [04:14]
2. Canicule [11:29]
3. La graine (feat. Rebecca Baby) [05:09]
Tauk – Chaos Companion 39:54New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Chandara [03:06]
2. Make Your Move [04:26]
3. Moon Dub [04:00]
4. New Age Trip [03:46]
5. Dormammu (feat. The Shady Horns) [05:00]
6. The Let Out [04:23]
7. Technodrome [05:17]
8. Lonely Robot [05:54]
9. Yasuke [04:02]
Monday, 4 October Fairtrade Narcotics – Spaced 22:11Melbourne, Australia
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Addy [03:57]
2. Closure [04:37]
3. Another Nighttime [08:03]
4. Secure the Galactic Perimeter [05:34]
Thursday, 7 박제신 – Deep Mind 25:19Seoul, South Korea
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Deep Mind [03:47]
2. (Some)Keepers [02:19]
3. Awakening [04:39]
4. Color Dropping [04:02]
5. Purple Wave [02:43]
6. Goodbye-Goodhi [06:10]
7. im [01:39]
Friday, 8 October Lucid Lucia – Lucid Lucia 28:48Belgium
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Stuck In The Well [03:59]
2. New Era [05:57]
3. Diggin’ [04:27]
4. Maya Dofo [04:49]
5. Birth Sin [06:16]
6. Vijver [03:20]
Friday, 12 November Portico Quartet – Monument 43:56London, UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Opening [02:50]
2. Impressions [03:44]
3. Ultraviolet [05:12]
4. Ever Present [04:48]
5. Gateway [01:14]
6. Monument [04:40]
7. A.O.E [05:35]
8. Warm Data [08:16]
9. Portal [01:09]
10. On the Light [06:28]
Notable Releases Best of 2021 01/01 – Best of Afrobeat 01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal 01/03 – Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal 01/04 – Best of Brutal Death Metal 01/05 – Best of Classical 01/06 – Best of Death Metal 01/07 – Best of Deathcore 01/08 – Best of Doom Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore 01/16 – Best of Math Rock 01/17 – Best of Mathcore 01/18 – Best of Metalcore 01/19 – Best of Modern Jazz 01/20 – Best of Noise Rock
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