Here we are, the very last day of 2021 and it was…a year. Ups and downs, ins and outs – suffice it to say, it was a pretty wild year. And throughout that year, A LOT of incredible music thankfully came into the world to help anchor us when times were hard and uplift us even more when times were brighter; I myself don’t know where I’d be without some of these releases. To celebrate this weird and wild year, I asked everyone on the FTA crew who wanted to contribute something to send in their lists on what moved them this year.

 

These lists come from each individual contributor as their own, so they serve more as personal snapshots into what we were all listening to and loved rather than a definitive list as one monolith called Full Time Aesthetic. We all have different tastes and things we love and we all bring just a little something different to the table to coalesce into our own slice of music nerddom on the internet. This blog truly is a sum of its parts and I am so lucky for everyone who contributes to it, all of whom have chosen to do so graciously and passionately, in fact that’s what makes me the proudest and most excited about FTA.

 

And while it’s true there have been many ups and downs as the world of music continues to navigate the pandemic, and even with things taking a darker turn again this last month with things being very precarious once again, I am very much looking forward to seeing what 2022 brings. I am hopeful for the world of music in both the DIY sense (which is where you know my heart always has and always will lay) and into the indie rock realm at large, that more incredible and vital music will be released and that somehow, some way we will be able to enjoy that music live. But you know that no matter what happens, this rag tag band of music nerds will be sharing plenty of our thoughts about music new and old with you.

 

Also on that note, I’d also like to say on behalf of all of us, thank you for reading this blog and supporting us in the first year of our existence. This project started out around this time last year as a pretty random idea I tossed over to Jenifun and it lived just among the two of us for quite a while. We spent some time getting it ready to go before it launched at the very end of June and we are just about seven months old now. The amount of amazing support in that time has been incredible and while there are still a lot of goals I have for this project, just where we have gone so far and the talented group of people contributing to it have made me beyond happy and grateful. So now, without further ado, our favorites releases for 2021!

 

All lists in no particular order/ranking, again it’s stuff we all really loved and that resonated with each of us. Let us know what you think in the comments!

 

Kate Hoos– Editor In Chief

• Julien Baker– Little Oblivions (Matador)
• F. Emasculata– “Mulder It’s Me” (self-released)
• The Muslims– Fuck These Fuckin Fascists (Epitaph)
• Mdou Moctar– Afrique Victime (Matador)
• Catpuke– K.T.M. (self released)**
• LAPECHE– Blood In The Water (New Granada)
• IDLES– Crawler (Partisan Records)
• Lung– Come Clean Right Now (Sofa Burn)
• The Cocker Spaniels– Are Still Alive and So Are You (Evil Island Fortress)
• Canal Irreal– S/T (Beach Impediment)
• Snapped Ankles– Forest of Your Problems (The Leaf Label)
• Gustaf– Audio Drag for Ego Slobs (Royal Mountain)
• TVOD– Victory Garden (Bleecker Boyz)
• Big $ilky – Big $ilky Vol. 3 (self released)
• Nihiloceros– Self Destroy (Totally Real)
• Gel– Violent Closure (Atomic Action!)
• Sons of Kemet– Black to the Future (Impulse!/UMG)
• Zach Barocas New Freedom Sound– Four Freedoms (self released)
• Shilpa Ray– “Bootlickers of the Patriarchy” (Northern Spy)
• Silence Is A Dangerous Sound- A Tribute To Fugazi compilation (Ripcord Records)
• Mogwai– As The Love Continues (Temporary Residence)

 

**released December 2020 but I included it because FTA didn’t exist yet and it was released too late for it to have made other 2020 lists. Also it rips.

 

Jenifun- Webmaster

• John Grant– Boy from Michigan (Partisan)
• Arab Strap– As Days Get Dark (Rock Action)
• Grand Collapse– Empty Plinths (self-release)
• Courtney Barnett– Things Take Time, Take Time (Mom+Pop)
• Burning Flag– Matador (self-release)
• JOHN (TIMES TWO)– Nocturnal Manoeuvres (Brace Yourself)
• F. Emasculata- “Mulder It’s Me” (self-released)
• Dream Nails– “They/Them” (Dine Alone)
• The Linda Lindas– “Oh!” (Epitaph)
• Witch Fever– Reincarnate (Music For Nations)
• Cherym– Hey Tori (Alcopop!)

Nick AD- Contributing Writer 

• Big $ilky- Big $ilky Vol. 3 (self-released)
• The Cocker Spaniels- The Cocker Spaniels Are Still Alive and So Are You (Evil Island Fortress)
• Creek & Kills– Unstitching (self-released)
• Dope Purple– Grateful End (Riot Season Records)
• Matt LaJoie– Red Resonant Earth (Flower Room Records)
• Lamp of Murmuur– Submission and Slavery (self-released)
• Little Simz– Sometimes I Might be Introvert (Age 101 Music)
• Georgia Anne Muldrow– VWETO III (FORESEEN Entertainment)
• Rosali– No Medium (Spinster)
• Jane Weaver– Flock (Fire Records)
• Wild Powwers– What You Wanted (self-released)

 

Chantal- Contributing Writer

• Desert Sharks– “Voices Carry” (Substitute Scene)
• Islands– Islomania (Royal Mountain)
• St. Lenox– Ten Songs of Worship And Praise For Our Tumultuous Times (Don Giovanni)
• Tom Cardy– Artificial Intelligence (self-released)
• The Mountain Goats– Dark In Here (Merge)
• The History of Heavy Metal: Vol 1 Heavy Rock and Early Metal

 

Ellen Qbertplaya- Contributing Photographer

• Lucy Dacus– Home Video (Matador)
• Dry Cleaning– New Long Leg (4AD)
• Mdou Moctar- Afrique Victime (Matador)
• Xenia Rubinos– Una Rosa (Anti)
• Nation of Language– A Way Forward (Play It Again Sam)
• Irreversible Entanglements– Open the Gates (International Anthem)
• Helado Negro– Far In (4AD)
• Sons of Kemet- Black to the Future (Impulse!/UMG)
• Japanese Breakfast– Jubilee (Dead Oceans)
• Low- Hey What (Sub Pop)

 

Ray Rusinak- Contributing Photographer

• Laura Stevenson– S/T (Don Giovanni)
• UV-TV– Always Something (PaperCup Music)
• Catbite– Nice One (Bad Time Records)
• Jeff Rosenstock– Ska Dream (Polyvinyl)
• Fritz– Pastel (Inertia)
• Golden and Rust– S/T (self-released)
• Throttle Elevator Music– Final Floor (Wide Hive)
• The Umbrellas– S/T (Slumberland Records)
• The Hold Steady– Open Door Policy (Positive Jams/Thirty Tigers)
• Jesse Malin– Sad and Beautiful World (Wicked Cool)

 

Amanda Meth- Contributing Writer

• Fiddlehead– Between the Richness (Run For Cover)
• girl in red– if i could make it go quiet (AWAL)
• Terror Jr.- Road To Grapeness (Independent)
• Jazmine Sullivan– Heaux Tales (RCA)
• Wolf Alice– Blue Weekend (RCA)
• Julien Baker- Little Oblivions (Matador)
• Lucy Dacus- Home Video (Matador)
• Olivia Rodrigo– SOUR (Geffen)
• Tiger’s Jaw– I Won’t Care How You Remember Me (Hopeless)

 

Emilio Herce- Contributing Photographer 

• Japanese Breakfast- Jubilee (Dead Oceans)
• Tyler, the Creator– CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST (Columbia)
• Haim– Women In Music Pt. III (Columbia)
• Porches– All Day Gentle Hold! (Domino)
• Cassandra Jenkins– An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (Ba Da Bing!)
• Charley Crocket– Music City USA (Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers)
• Katy Kirby– Cool Dry Place (Keeled Scales)
• Liz Cooper– Hot Sass (Sleepyhead/Thirty Tigers)
• Rostam– Changephobia (Matsor)
• Vince Staples– S/T (UMG)