So here we are at the end of another strange year where I have to say that music has never been better. Technically that is always the case. Unless there was literally nothing you liked listening to, just place this year’s releases on top of all the previous years, and hey presto, the best year ever.
I felt in 2021 that although there was no obvious winner – which is to take nothing away from English Teacher’s excellent number 1 – there was more I liked listening to from a greater range of artists. The artists in this episode are pleasingly widespread as well. Virginia, Connecticut, Brisbane, Montreal, Cork City, Essex, Leeds (twice!), Cambridge, North and South London and Newcastle are represented here. Japan and South Korea are source material in the previous two episodes.
It seems that the canonical genres are also disintegrating. I’ll take two examples. Madlib are described as hip-hop / instrumental / soul / jazz fusion / funk / electronic / psychedelic. Matty Pywell of GigWise’s description of Sorry could equally stand for many of the other artists here: "Listening to Sorry's discography is to hear a safari of different sounds, as eye catching as the next. One area might contain the grumbled discontent of punk and rock, whilst if you look close enough you can catch a flash of hip-hop and jazz. Grouping them into a single genre is a fool's errand".
People often ask what my plans for expansion are, and how am I going to make money out of this podcast. I’m not particularly interested in either. It would be nice if we spread the net a little wider each year, of course. But we’ve created a community now. And the plan was never to make money. If I’d wanted to do that I’d have invented a machine that allows you to look inside other people’s heads and finds out what they’re thinking. On second thoughts, if you have just perfected that machine, keep it to yourself. It’ll only cause trouble.
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all our listeners.
Tracklist:
Porcelain slightly, Lil Ugly Mane
Did my best, Xenia Rubinos
In the Stone, The Goon Sax
Moment feed, Land of Talk
You are wrong, The Altered Hours
Send me, Tirzah
Land of the blind, Yard Act
Instrumental, Black Country New Road
Cigarette packet, Sorry
Strong feelings, Dry Cleaning
Anything at all, Bachelor
Lily, Richard Dawson with Circle
R&B, English Teacher