Soundtrack to the Collective Meltdown (2021) :: A Holiday At The Sea (MEGA) Playlist

The next time you’ve got nearly 5 hours to kill, I’ve got the mix for you! These are not necessarily my “favorite songs of 2021.” Instead, these are choice cuts; one representative track from each of my favorite 50 albums of the year. Regardless of length.

Get ready for a ride.

Tracklist:

1. Pray for Peace by Ustad Saami from East Pakistan Sky

2. Recessinater by Birds of Maya from Valdez

3. The People vs. the Rest of Us by Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble from NOW

4. Bell Song by 75 Dollar Bill featuring Barry Weisblat from Social Music at Troost Vol. 1

5. Ya Rossoul by Khaira Arby from Khaira Arby In New York (Live In 2010)

6. Movement by Bell Orchestre from House Music

7. Broken Mirror (A Selfie Reflection)/Composition 9 by Matthew E. White and Lonnie Holley from Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection

8. Riddim Rek Sa Niouy Mom by Wau Wau Collectif from Yaral Sa Doom

9. All That They Left You by Six Organs of Admittance from The Veiled Sea

10. Days Like These by Low from Hey What

11. VBS by Lucy Dacus from Home Video

12. Brothers by Phil Cook from All These Years

13. Dark In Here by the Mountain Goats from Dark In Here

14. Djougoh by Nahawa Doumbia from Kanawa

15. The Call by Madlib from Sound Ancestors

16. Beat Up Born Where I Come From by Ghost of Vroom from Ghost of Vroom 1

17. Dovetail by Girls in Airports from Leap

18. descension (Out of Our Constrictions) III by Natural Information Society and Evan Parker from descension (Out of Our Constrictions)

19. Beowulf’s Trip by Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders from Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders

20. World is Turning by Rose City Band from Earth Trip

21. Disposable Thumbs by Endless Boogie from Admonitions

22. Staggering With a Lantern by Mountain Movers from World What World

23. Albuquerque by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis from CARNAGE

24. OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN (for D.H.) by Godspeed You! Black Emperor from G_d's Pee At States End!

25. Juvenescence by Yasmin Williams from Urban Driftwood

26. Invisible Map by Derek Piotr from Making and Then Unmaking

27. You Can Regret What You Have Done by Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy from Superwolves

28. This Old World by Billy Strings from Renewal

29. Kelp Highway by Drew Gardner from Drew Gardner

30. Jnoun ! by Bachar Mar-Khalifé from Ghost Songs

31. In Remembrance Of Those Fallen by Sons of Kemet from Black To The Future

32. Bertha The Cool by Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog from Hope

33. Give Me Back My Loving by Leo Nocentelli from Another Side

34. Don’t Let The Tears by Howlin’ Rain from The Dharma Wheel

35. Tree of Tule by Daniel Lanois from Heavy Sun

36. Way To Cairo by Native Soul from Teenage Dreams

37. Ethiopian Sunshower by Adrian Younge And Ali Shaheed Muhammad from Brian Jackson JID008

38. Zengadyw Derekou by Hailu Mergia from Tezeta

39. Ya Habibti by Mdou Moctar from Afrique Victime

40. Tropicale Moon by Mouth Painter from Tropicale Moon

41. Natural Facts by Wet Tuna from Eu’d To A Fake Boogie Volume 4

42. Shrinks the Day by Ryley Walker and Kikagaku Moyo from Deep Fried Grandeur

43. Musungu Elongo Paints His Face White to Scare Small Children by Kasai Allstars from Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound

44. Trap Life by Sault from Nine

45. Désert by Dobe Gnahoré from Couleur

46. Part 1 by Elkhorn from The Golden Lag

47. If It Comes In The Morning by Hiss Golden Messenger from Quietly Blowing It

48. Morning River by Steve Gunn from Other You

49. Shiva With Dustpan by Ryley Walker from Course In Fable

50. Cortez the Killer (live) by Neil Young and Crazy Horse from Way Down In The Rust Bucket

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• Browse my favorite albums of the year

• Browse my “2021 Yearly Wrap-it-Up” which is really a ramble about seeing Phish

• Browse my favorite books of 2021

• Browse my favorite movies of 2021

• Browse my favorite television of 2021

• Listen to a nearly 5-hour very low quality mix of one song from each of my favorite albums of 2021 called “Soundtrack to the Collective Meltdown”

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2021 Year In Review :: Favorite Albums

Here’s the dealio, my coolios.

Each year, I keep a running diary of sorts of all of the things I liked each year. If you’re interested (which I doubt you are), you can follow along with my real-time unedited yearly bookkeeping here.

At the end of each year I try to cull down the music section to what really defined my year musically. No ranking. Just great music. Here are 50 of my favorite 2021 albums in alphabetical order.

Albums In Visual Alphabetical Order:

Albums In Alphabetical Alphabetical Order:

1. Social Music at Troost Vol.1 by 75 Dollar Bill

2. Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders by Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders // Elixor of Life by Jeffrey Alexander and the Heavy Lidders

3. Khaira Arby in New York (Live in 2010) by Khaira Arby

4. House Music by Bell Orchestre

5. Valdez by Birds of Maya

6. Carnage by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

7. All These Years by Phil Cook

8. Home Video by Lucy Dacus

9. Kanawa by Nahawa Doumbia

10. The Golden Lag by Elkhorn

11. Admonitions by Endless Boogie

12. Drew Gardner by Drew Gardner

13. Ghost of Vroom 1 by Ghost of Vroom

14. Leap by Girls in Airports

15. Couleur by Dobet Gnahoré

16. G_d's Pee At States End! by Godspeed You! Black Emperor

17. Other You by Steve Gunn

18. Quietly Blowing It by Hiss Golden Messenger

19. The Dharma Wheel by Howlin’ Rain

20. Brian Jackson JID008 by Brian Jackson, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Adrian Younge

21. Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound by Kasai Allstars

22. Heavy Sun by Daniel Lanois

23. Now by Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble

24. Hey What by Low

25. Sound Ancestors by Madlib

26. Hope by Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog

27. Ghost Songs by Bachar Mar-Khalifé

28. Tezeta by Hailu Mergia

29. Afrique Victime by Mdou Moctar

30. Dark In Here by the Mountain Goats

31. World What World by Mountain Movers

32. Tropicale Moon by Mouth Painter

33. Teenage Dreams by Native Soul

34. descension (Out of Our Constrictions) by Natural Information Society/Evan Parker

35. Another Side by Leo Nocentelli (1971)

36. Making and Then Unmaking by Derek Piotr

37. Earth Trip by Rose City Band

38. East Pakistan Sky by Ustad Saami

39. Nine by Sault

40. The Veiled Sea by Six Organs of Admittance

41. Black to the Future by Sons of Kemet

42. Renewal by Billy Strings

43. Superwolves by Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

44. Deep Fried Grandeur by Ryley Walker And Kikagaku Moyo

45. Course In Fable by Ryley Walker

46. Yaral Sa Doom by Wau Wau Collectif

47. Eau’d To A Fake Boogie Volume 4 by Wet Tuna

48. Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection by Matthew E. White and Lonnie Holley

49. Urban Driftwood by Yasmin Williams

50. Way Down in the Rust Bucket by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

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• Browse my favorite albums of the year

• Browse my “2021 Yearly Wrap-it-Up” which is really a ramble about seeing Phish

• Browse my favorite books of 2021

• Browse my favorite movies of 2021

• Browse my favorite television of 2021

• Listen to a nearly 5-hour very low quality mix of one song from each of my favorite albums of 2021 called “Soundtrack to the Collective Meltdown”

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2020 Year-End Music Round-Up Wrap-Up Extravaganza

No one could have predicted a year like 2020. The live music industry is on life support. Bandcamp came through just about better than anyone else to support music. And there was a ton of great music released this year.

Per the norm, I do not rank albums. Music is not a competition and my taste is not your taste. So, after lots of thought and list-shuffling and winnowing, these are the 75 albums that really stood out for me. My original list was quite a bit longer (and you can always keep up in real-time by following the Yearly Bookkeeping page), so I can tell you that this list provides a great overview of my music listening for this crazy year.

Here are my favorite 75 albums of 2020.

The Visual List:

The Alphabet List:

1. Live at Tubby's by 75 Dollar Bill Little Big Band

2. Shaman! by Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids

3. Time is A Gift Which We Share All The Time by Afriquoi

4. Rejoice by Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela

5. Live by Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood

6. Fu Chronicles by Antibalas 

7. Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

8. Roy Ayers JID002 by Roy Ayers, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad

9. Ex-Voto by Jamie Barnes

10. Please Advise by Beauty Pill

11. Crash Test Kid by Sammy Brue

12. Long In The Tooth by the Budos Band

13. Regresa by Buscabulla

14. Shadow Talk by Café Racer

15. Echo Mine by Califone

16. Gold Record by Bill Callahan

17. Have We Met by Destroyer

18. I Just Wasn't Made For These Set Times by Dire Wolves (Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band)

19. Rough and Rowdy Ways by Bob Dylan

20. Afternoon Tea at Six by Eishan Ensemble

21. Acoustic Storm Sessions by Elkhorn

22.  Kahil El’Zabar’s Spirit Groove by Kahil El'Zabar & David Murray

23. Wake Up! by Hazel English

24. Shore by Fleet Foxes

25. A Hero’s Death by Fontaines D.C.

26. Peoples Motel Band by Chris Forsyth and Garcia Peoples

27. SOURCE by Nubya Garcia

28. Nightcap at Wits' End by Garcia Peoples

29. Big Dark Bright Futures by Growing Concerns Poetry Collective

30. Women In Music Pt. III by Haim

31. Infinity Of Now by the Heliocentrics

32. National Freedom by Lonnie Holley

33. Muerto, Carcel o Rocanroll by Huntingtons

34. Beginners by Christian Lee Hutson

35. Reuinions by Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit

36. Babani Koné by Babani Koné

37. Mutation by Les Freres Smith

38. 2020 by Magik Markers

39. Eno Axis by H.C. McEntire

40. Joshua Massad & Dylan Aycock by Joshua Massad & Dylan Aycock

41. Microphones in 2020 by the Microphones

42. Circles by Mac Miller

43. Dimensional Stardust by Rob Mazurek/Exploding Star Orchestra

44. Annual by Modern Nature

45. Getting Into Knives by the Mountain Goats

46. Staunch Honey by David Nance

47. Three by the Necks

48. Rob Noyes & Sam Moss by Rob Noyes & Sam Moss

49. We No Be Machine by Onipa

50. Jams From The Sun by Oregon Space Trail of Jazz

51. High Upon The Mountain by Pacific Range

52. Suite For Max Brown by Jeff Parker

53. Summerlong by Rose City Band

54. RTJ4 by Run The Jewels

55. Landwerk demos by Nathan Salsburg

56. Acoustic by Oumou Sangaré

57. Untitled (Black Is) by Sault

58. We Are Sent Here By History by Shabaka and the Ancestors

59. The Don of Diamond Dreams by Shabazz Palaces

60. Ocean Bridges by Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk

61. Companion Rises by Six Organs of Admittance

62. Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? by The Soft Pink Truth

63. Optimisme by Songhoy Blues

64. Swirling by Sun Ra Arkestra

65. Oh Yeah? by Sunwatchers

66. Wooden Flower by Tambourinen

67. Folklore by Taylor Swift

68. Nomad by Tengger

69. Sun Racket by Throwing Muses

70. Siftorde by Tidiane Thiam

71. New Vanitas by William Tyler

72. The Great Mountain by Waterless Hills

73. Eau’d To A Fake Bookie Volume 3 by Wet Tuna

74. Strange to Explain by Woods

75. Homegrown by Neil Young

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• Browse Volume 01 of my 2020 favorites playlist

• Browse Volume 02 of my 2020 favorites playlist

• Browse Volume 03 of my 2020 favorites playlist

• Browse Volume 04 of my 2020 favorites playlist

• Browse Volume 05 of my 2020 favorites playlist

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Holiday At The Sea's Favorite 2020 Music Mix (Volume 05)

Volume 05 of some of Holiday at the Sea’s favorite 2020 music. I chose 75 albums this year and the playlists total 74 songs since “Microphones in 2020 by the Microphones” is 45 minutes long and I didn’t want to include the whole album as part of a mix.

Anyways, enjoy!

Tracklisting:

1. “Sam Sam” by Afriquoi

2. “Fight Am Finish” by Antibalas

3. “Tulips” by Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk

4. “Sixth Hammer” by the Budos Band

5. “Signs” by Eishan Ensemble

6. “Acoustic Storm Part One” by Elkhorn

7. “Further” by the Necks

8. “Wooden Flower” by Tambourinen

9. “Walkin’ In Rhythm” by Wet Tuna

10. “Snake Mouth” by Rob Noyes & Sam Moss

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Elkhorn's Acoustic Storm

I don’t live somewhere with seasons. I live in a place that is hot or less hot. In the middle of a desert and I don’t understand why anyone ever thought it was a good idea to build a major metropolitan city here, Phoenix (or its adjacent suburbs.

But I still have a soul. And I miss seasons. I mean, I have experienced them, they’re just currently part of my imagination and not my life.

And even though I don’t like Christmas music, music, music often has a strong seasonal element for me. Not that this is Christmas music, but it was recorded in the midst of a snow storm. Elkhorn (usually a guitar duo made up of childhood friends, Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner was scheduled to play a show with (third guitarist) Turner Williams Jr. but the show was snowed out as the group was snowed in (see what I did there?). Making the most of the night, the group hunkered down in Gardner’s home studio and improvised some jams. The first installment, The Storm Sessions was released earlier this year and we are now treated to the acoustic counterpart, The Acoustic Storm Sessions.

The resulting two pieces evoke the crispness of winter and the crackle of a first snow. Meditative but not lulling. Meandering but not lost. These are musicians at ease with themselves and the music flowing through them. Slowly unfolding, the first song plays with interlocking and intertwining patterns that sometimes resolves themselves and sometimes simply morph into something else.

The record is hitting mailboxes this week and I can’t wait for you to hear this one.

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• Visit Elkhorn’s official website

• Follow Elkhorn at Facebook

• Follow Elkhorn at Twitter

• Support Elkhorn at Bandcamp

• Purchase Elkhorn’s music at Amazon

• Browse all Holiday at the Sea Elkhorn posts

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Elkhorn: Acid Folk Guitar For The Discerning Ear

Elkhorn often includes a rotating cast of musicians but is centered on the dynamic guitar duo of Jesse Sheppard and Drew Gardner. The group’s Bandcamp bio says:

“Folk/psych-rock guitar duo featuring Jesse Sheppard on twelve-string acoustic and Drew Gardner on electric, interweaving the extended folk tradition with psychedelic improvisation, moving freely from pre-rock to post-rock, from the 1860s to the 1960s and beyond.”

The group recently released two albums of fantastic guitar explorations: Sun Cycle and Elk Jam on Feeding Tube Records, both of which are highly recommended. The terrific sweetblahg recently posted a terrific recording of Elkhorn with drummer Charles Rumback at Elastic Arts in Chicago, saying:

“Most appropriate for this first-time meeting of the minds, only one of these jams has been released - Song of the Son on the aforementioned Sun Cycle. The opening Raga > Distances, while technically two songs, plays as one flowing multi-section suite that I hope gets studio treatment sooner than later. The closing number, Train, is one that they try to play whenever they encounter a capable drummer, and Rumback really shines on it.”

Here’s the deets including setlist:

Elkhorn + Charles Rumback
4.14.2019 @ Elastic Arts
Chicago, IL

Raga > Distances
Song of the Son
Train

Watch the official video for “To See Darkness” from the album Sun Cycle on Feeding Tube Records.

• Visit Elkhorn’s official website.

• Follow Elkhorn on Facebook.

• Purchase Elkhorn’s music at Bandcamp.

• Visit the recording’s page at sweetblahg.