It’s been a long time since I’ve posted an annual chart, but this year a wealth of amazing music has helped me cope with pandemic stress. Here are two alphabetical lists of what I’ve been digging, grouped roughly by genre. I hope to help readers discover an unfamiliar artist or two.
House/Footwork/Experimental
- Sarah Davachi: Antiphonals (Late Music)
- DJ Manny: Signals In My Head (Planet Mu)
- Hieroglyphic Being: When Love Knows No Bounds (Mathematics)
- Loraine James: Reflection (Hyperdub)
- Jeff Mills & Rafael Leafar: The Override Switch (Axis)
- MMM (Errorsmith & Fiedel): On the Edge (MMM)
- Moodymann: Taken Away (KDJ)
- RP Boo: Established! (Planet Mu)
- Jana Rush: Painful Enlightenment (Planet Mu) [Jana Rush feature]
- VA: Unity Vol. 1 (Upstairs Asylum Recordings)
Jazz
- Artifacts: Tomeka Reid, Nicole Mitchell, Mike Reed : …And Then There’s This (Astral Spirits)
- David Boykin: Love Power Magic (Sonic Healing Ministries)
- Jamie Branch: Fly Or Die Live (International Anthem)
- Angel Bat Dawid: Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1 Doxology (International Anthem)
- Irreversible Entanglements: Open The Gates (International Anthem)
- James Brandon Lewis, Red Lily Quintet: Jesup Wagon (Tao Forms)
- Damon Locks – Black Monument Ensemble: NOW (International Anthem) [Damon Locks feature]
- Roscoe Mitchell: Dots – Pieces For Percussion And Woodwinds (Wide Hive Records)
- Mankwe Ndosi & Body MemOri: Felt /not said (Auspice NOW)
- Henry Threadgill’s Zooid: Poof (Pi Recordings)