Sufjan Stevens has arrived fashionably late to the year-end list party, taking to his official website to share his list of favourite albums of 2021 (only one of which actually came out in 2021) and, in a twist, a list of his least favourite albums (in a further twist, only one of which is actually an album).
Of Netflix's blockbuster phenomenon Squid Game, he writes: "I didn't actually see it but it looks really stupid," while J Balvin makes the list for "black face." Some of his least favourite "albums" of the year — COVID, Baby Boomer WASPs, Instagram, And Just Like That... — are pretty low-hanging fruit, but he also goes after musicals ("please stop singing and dancing," which is kinda funny, given Suf's entire deal), Dune ("A very long Zara ad"), and "any band that is still together after 10 years" ("Please. Break up. Do your solo albums. Move on.").
He also calls out Adele for being 33 despite the fact that her album is called 30, which, okay. However, she gets the only B+ in a list of otherwise exclusively F-, so good for her!
If you want to see Sufjan Stevens yell at clouds, you can attempt to decipher whether he's being ironic in the list below. Also check out the list of his favourite albums of the year, which include Todd Rundgren's 1973 record A Wizard, a True Star and Lomelda's 2020 release Hannah.
These were my least favorite albums of 2021, in no particular order:
1. Squid Game—I didn't actually see it but it looks really stupid. F-
2. A Quiet Place 2—It should have been shown after the credits for the first movie. F-
3. The Interminable Marvel Brand—If it's on Disney + it's for children. F-
4. Dune—A very long Zara ad. F-
5. J Balvin—Black face. F-
6. Matrix 4—Ugh. Computers. Hackers. Cyberpunks. Simulated Reality. The 90s. The color green. F-
7. Any band that is still together after 10 years—Please. Break up. Do your solo albums. Move on. F-
8. Instagram—Get over yourself. F-
9. Musicals—Please stop singing and dancing. F-
10. Baby Boomer WASPs—Get out of the way. F-
11. Sex & the City—And Just Like That? No. Not at all. Go away. F-
12. Conversations about supply chain issues—Stop making excuses. Make your own furniture. Forage for mushrooms or whatever. F-
13. Covid—Ugh. So over it. Please stop killing us! F-
14. Crypto, NFTs, The Metaverse, etc. — see #6. F-
15. The 90s revival—Please. It was bad enough the first time around. F-
16. Adele, 30—Girl, please. We know you're 33. It's on your Wikipedia page. B+
Here are my favorite albums of 2021, in no particular order:
1. Alain Goraguer—La Planète Sauvage (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2. Todd Rundgren—A Wizard, A True Star
3. Beverly-Glenn Copeland—Keyboard Fantasies
4. Various—Ladakh: Songs & Dances from the Highlands of Western Tibet
5. Peter Gabriel—Up
6. Can—Future Days
7. Alice Coltrane—Journey in Satchidananda
8. Sam Evian—Time To Melt
8. Ringo Starr—Beaucoups of Blues
10. Lomelda—Hannah
Of Netflix's blockbuster phenomenon Squid Game, he writes: "I didn't actually see it but it looks really stupid," while J Balvin makes the list for "black face." Some of his least favourite "albums" of the year — COVID, Baby Boomer WASPs, Instagram, And Just Like That... — are pretty low-hanging fruit, but he also goes after musicals ("please stop singing and dancing," which is kinda funny, given Suf's entire deal), Dune ("A very long Zara ad"), and "any band that is still together after 10 years" ("Please. Break up. Do your solo albums. Move on.").
He also calls out Adele for being 33 despite the fact that her album is called 30, which, okay. However, she gets the only B+ in a list of otherwise exclusively F-, so good for her!
If you want to see Sufjan Stevens yell at clouds, you can attempt to decipher whether he's being ironic in the list below. Also check out the list of his favourite albums of the year, which include Todd Rundgren's 1973 record A Wizard, a True Star and Lomelda's 2020 release Hannah.
These were my least favorite albums of 2021, in no particular order:
1. Squid Game—I didn't actually see it but it looks really stupid. F-
2. A Quiet Place 2—It should have been shown after the credits for the first movie. F-
3. The Interminable Marvel Brand—If it's on Disney + it's for children. F-
4. Dune—A very long Zara ad. F-
5. J Balvin—Black face. F-
6. Matrix 4—Ugh. Computers. Hackers. Cyberpunks. Simulated Reality. The 90s. The color green. F-
7. Any band that is still together after 10 years—Please. Break up. Do your solo albums. Move on. F-
8. Instagram—Get over yourself. F-
9. Musicals—Please stop singing and dancing. F-
10. Baby Boomer WASPs—Get out of the way. F-
11. Sex & the City—And Just Like That? No. Not at all. Go away. F-
12. Conversations about supply chain issues—Stop making excuses. Make your own furniture. Forage for mushrooms or whatever. F-
13. Covid—Ugh. So over it. Please stop killing us! F-
14. Crypto, NFTs, The Metaverse, etc. — see #6. F-
15. The 90s revival—Please. It was bad enough the first time around. F-
16. Adele, 30—Girl, please. We know you're 33. It's on your Wikipedia page. B+
Here are my favorite albums of 2021, in no particular order:
1. Alain Goraguer—La Planète Sauvage (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2. Todd Rundgren—A Wizard, A True Star
3. Beverly-Glenn Copeland—Keyboard Fantasies
4. Various—Ladakh: Songs & Dances from the Highlands of Western Tibet
5. Peter Gabriel—Up
6. Can—Future Days
7. Alice Coltrane—Journey in Satchidananda
8. Sam Evian—Time To Melt
8. Ringo Starr—Beaucoups of Blues
10. Lomelda—Hannah