Year-End Lists

Steve Erickson: The Best Music of 2021, as published by Gay City News

[see also 2022 • 2020 • 2019]

• Little Oblivions
  Julien Baker
• Screen Violence
  Chvrches
• -io
  Circuit Des Yeux
• Intra-I
  Theon Cross
• We're All Alone in This Together
  Dave
• Jubilee
  Japanese Breakfast
• Water
  Lotic
• DEACON'S Grove ("Hyacinth")
  serpentwithfeet
• If Orange Was a Place
  Tems
• The Asymptotical World
  Yves Tumor

Runners-up

• KicK iii
  Arca
• Piano Heat (DJ Mix)
  Dj Paak
• Vulture Prince
  Arooj Aftab
• Amapiano Now
  various artists
• As Days Get Dark
  Arab Strap
• Haram
  Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
• I Lie Here Buried with My Rings and My Dresses
  Backxwash
• Isles
  Bicep
• Leaving None But Small Birds
  The Body and BIG|BRAVE
• Arcade
  Citizen Deep
• Ma délire - Songs of love, lost & found
  Myriam Gendron
• Strung Figures
  Kristen Gallerneaux
• Drown to Float
  Iceboy Violet
• [&]
  Loona
• Hey What
  Low
• Weight of the World
  Maxo Kream
• Neon Genesis: Soul Into Matter²
  Meemo Comma
• Black Encyclopedia of the Air
  Moor Mother
• a softer focus
  claire rousay
• Mayan Space Station
  William Parker
• Prioritise Pleasure
  Self Esteem
• Space 1.8
  Nala Sinephro
• Red (Taylor's Version)
  Taylor Swift
• Glow On
  Turnstile
• Yaral Sa Doom
  Wau Wau Collectif
• Ignorance
  The Weather Station
• Stand For Myself
  Yola
• Raise The Roof
  Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Northern Transmissions: Top 20 Albums of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Glow On
   Turnstile
2. Hey What
   Low
3. Promises
   Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / London Symphony Orchestra
4. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
   Little Simz
5. For the First Time
   Black Country, New Road
6. New Long Leg
   Dry Cleaning
7. Ultrapop
   The Armed
8. Call Me If You Get Lost
   Tyler, The Creator
9. Seek Shelter
   Iceage
10. Bright Green Field
    Squid
11. Sling
    Clairo
12. Jubilee
    Japanese Breakfast
13. Afrique Victime
    Mdou Moctar
14. Ignorance
    The Weather Station
15. Home Video
    Lucy Dacus
16. Valentine
    Snail Mail
17. Drunk Tank Pink
    Shame
18. Fortitude
    Gojira
19. Sympathy for Life
    Parquet Courts
20. Things Take Time, Take Time
    Courtney Barnett

Darren Hughes: Favorite Theatrical/VOD Releases of 2021

[see also 2010s • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012]

1. Annette
   Leos Carax
2. Days
   Tsai Ming-liang
3. The Souvenir Part II
   Joanna Hogg
4. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
5. France
   Bruno Dumont
6. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
   Aleksandre Koberidze
7. The Salt of Tears
   Philippe Garrel
8. The Inheritance
   Ephraim Asili
9. Siberia
   Abel Ferrara
10. Azor
    Andreas Fontana

David Morgan: The 10 Best Films of 2021, as posted by CBS News

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. The Beatles: Get Back
   Peter Jackson
2. Dune
   Denis Villeneuve
3. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
4. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
5. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
6. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
   Questlove
7. The Tragedy of Macbeth
   Joel Coen
8. CODA
   Sian Heder
9. Faya Dayi
   Jessica Beshir
10. Don't Look Up
    Adam McKay

Tone Glow: Our Favorite Albums, 2021 as voted by their writers and grouped by the number of votes each received

[see also 2023 • 2022]

Received Five Votes

• Revolution Shuffle
  Michael Pisaro-Liu

Received Four Votes

• Freedom
  Yvette Janine Jackson
• Julius Eastman Vol. 1: Femenine
  Wild Up

Received Three Votes

• Gayest Tits & Greyest Shits 1998-2017 12-Inches & One-Offs
  DJ Sprinkles
• Occam Ocean 3
  Eliane Radigue
• Painful Enlightenment
  Jana Rush

Received Two Votes

• Black Metal 2
  Dean Blunt
• Made Out Of Sound
  Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt
• Weird Undying Annihilation
  Haptic
• By the Time I Get to Phoenix
  Injury Reserve
• Fatigue
  L'Rain
• Practice
  Lucy Liyou
• Delta Estácio Blues
  Juçara Marçal
• Disco!
  MIKE
• DILO
  Lucia Nimcová & Sholto Dobie
• Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World
  William Parker
• Established!
  RP Boo
• Slitherman Activated
  RXK Nephew
• Time of My Life
  Thouxanbanfauni
• CXXI
  Richard Youngs

Atwood Magazine: 2021 Albums of the Year

[see also 2010s]

• Glow
  Alice Phoebe Lou
• Comfort To Me
  Amyl and The Sniffers
• Collapsed in Sunbeams
  Arlo Parks
• Parasocial
  Bishop Ivy
• For the First Time
  Black Country, New Road
• Inside (The Songs)
  Bo Burnham
• +/-
  Boys Noize
• Note To Self
  Bre Kennedy
• Bullseye
  Charli Adams
• Hotel Surrender
  Chet Faker
• Voyager
  Current Joys
• Planet Her
  Doja Cat
• New Long Leg
  Dry Cleaning
• Alt Therapy
  Emanuel
• Smiling with No Teeth
  Genesis Owusu
• Graceful Rage
  Harmony Woods
• Afraid of Nothing
  Harrison Whitford
• True Love
  Hovvdy
• It Won’t Always Be Like This
  Inhaler
• Jubilee
  Japanese Breakfast
• Little Oblivions
  Julien Baker
• Blue Banisters
  Lana Del Rey
• Long Lost
  Lord Huron
• You Signed Up For This
  Maisie Peters
• Afrique Victime
  Mdou Moctar
• Shiny (little) Mind
  Milquetoast & Co.
• Carnage
  Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
• In Praise of Shadows
  Puma Blue
• bob’s son: R.A.P. Ferreira in the garden level cafe of the scallops hotel
  R.A.P. Ferreira
• Deacon
  serpentwithfeet
• An Evening with Silk Sonic
  Silk Sonic
• The Rise & Fall Of Loverboy
  Sir Sly
• Small Talk
  Soda Blonde
• Holy / Unholy
  Strange Boy
• Pressure Machine
  The Killers
• Good Woman
  The Staves
• Call Me If You Get Lost
  Tyler, The Creator
• A Billion Little Lights
  Wild Pink
• Blue Weekend
  Wolf Alice
• Dawn
  Yebba

Todd McCarthy: Best Movies Of 2021, as published by Deadline Hollywood

[see also 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

• Red Rocket
  Sean Baker
• Petite Maman
  Céline Sciamma
• Quo Vadis, Aida?
  Jasmila Žbanić
• The Worst Person in the World
  Joachim Trier
• West Side Story
  Steven Spielberg
• Jockey
  Clint Bentley
• The Velvet Underground
  Todd Haynes
• Licorice Pizza
  Paul Thomas Anderson
• Nightmare Alley
  Guillermo del Toro
• Dune
  Denis Villeneuve

honorable mentions, in no particular order

• The Power of the Dog
  Jane Campion
• Parallel Mothers
  Pedro Almodóvar
• The Rescue
  Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
• The Man Who Sold His Skin
  Kaouther Ben Hania
• King Richard
  Reinaldo Marcus Green
• Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
  Questlove
• The Green Knight
  David Lowery
• The Tragedy of Macbeth
  Joel Coen
• The Card Counter
  Paul Schrader
• CODA
  Sian Heder
• Pig
  Michael Sarnoski
• The Humans
  Stephen Karam
• The Hand of God
  Paolo Sorrentino
• Titane
  Julia Ducournau

Hanif Abdurraqib: 83 Favorite Albums Of 2021, posted with links to good writing and a list of favorite EPs

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Painful Enlightenment
   Jana Rush
2. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
   Little Simz
3. Tell Me What You Miss The Most
   Tasha
4. Glow On
   Turnstile
5. Mood Ring
   Kississippi
6. Puppies Forever
   Blackstarkids
7. Open The Gates
   Irreversible Entanglements
8. Absolutely
   Dijon
9. We're All Alone in This Together
   Dave
10. For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her
    McKinley Dixon
11. Engine of Hell
    Emma Ruth Rundle
12. I've Got Some Living To Do
    Jelani Aryeh
13. Sinner Get Ready
    Lingua Ignota
14. Call Me If You Get Lost
    Tyler, The Creator
15. Don't Go Tellin' Your Momma
    Topaz Jones
16. The Turning Wheel
    Spellling
17. By the Time I Get to Phoenix
    Injury Reserve
18. All is Beautiful. I'm Okay to be Alive. I'm Okay to Die.
    Hurry Up, Brothers
19. Parallel World
    Cadence Weapon
20. Crime and Punishment
    Regional Justice Center
21. Home Video
    Lucy Dacus
22. I Won't Care How You Remember Me
    Tigers Jaw
23. maybe i will see you at the end of the world
    Sydney Sprague
24. Fuck These Fuckin Fascists
    The Muslims
25. Waking the Dreaming Body
    Karima Walker
26. The Crashing Sound of How It Goes
    Cities Aviv
27. Decadence and Decay
    Silver Talon
28. Little Oblivions
    Julien Baker
29. I've Seen All I Need to See
    The Body
30. Epic
    Pink Navel
31. Heaux Tales
    Jazmine Sullivan
32. Medieval Femme
    Fatima Al Qadiri
33. Urban Driftwood
    Yasmin Williams
34. To See the Next Part of the Dream
    Parannoul
35. A Martyr’s Reward
    Ka
36. Jumbo Street
    Figmore
37. Forget Me Nots
    Helena Celle’s Haunted Mirror
38. And Then There Was Light
    Sndtrak
39. A Southern Gothic
    Adia Victoria
40. Deacon
    serpentwithfeet
41. Twin Plagues
    Wednesday
42. Consequences
    Joan Armatrading
43. Garden of Burning Apparitions
    Full of Hell
44. Fake Fruit
    Fake Fruit
45. Wary + Strange
    Amythyst Kiah
46. Let Me Do One More
    illuminati hotties
47. Collapsed in Sunbeams
    Arlo Parks
48. New Long Leg
    Dry Cleaning
49. Outside Child
    Allison Russell
50. Where I Left You
    BeMyFiasco
51. Celestial Blues
    King Woman
52. Both Feet En Th Infinite
    model home
53. Driver
    Adult Mom
54. Valentine
    Snail Mail
55. Before We Go
    India Shawn
56. Vweto III
    Georgia Anne Muldrow
57. To Enjoy is the Only Thing
    Maple Glider
58. Reflection
    Loraine James
59. All The Brilliant Things
    Skyzoo
60. Death of a Cheerleader
    Pom Pom Squad
61. Victory Belongs To Those Who Fight For A Right Cause
    Taqbir
62. Non-Fiction
    N0V3L
63. Moments in Between
    Ruth B.
64. Doomin' Sun
    Bachelor
65. hydrostudies
    yosi
66. Mythopoetics
    Half Waif
67. Like a Stone
    Remember Sports
68. Mother
    Cleo Sol
69. Afterglow
    Flying Raccoon Suit
70. Love Suite
    Contour
71. I Want to Live My Life
    Stars Hollow
72. SZNZ
    Mother Nature and BoatHouse
73. Haram
    Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
74. Black Encyclopedia of the Air
    Moor Mother
75. Black To The Future
    Sons of Kemet
76. South Sinner Street
    Solemn Brigham
77. A Diabolic Thirst
    Spectral Wound
78. Why Look Up, God's In The Mirror
    Lukah
79. Grief Museum
    Hotels On Mars
80. Vince Staples
    Vince Staples
81. Landlady
    Landlady
82. Green to Gold
    The Antlers
83. Came Down Different
    Pardoner

Nick Schager: The Best Movies of 2021, as published by Esquire

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. The Tragedy of Macbeth
   Joel Coen
2. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
3. About Endlessness
   Roy Andersson
4. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
5. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
6. Identifying Features
   Fernanda Valadez
7. Quo Vadis, Aida?
   Jasmila Žbanić
8. All Light, Everywhere
   Theo Anthony
9. State Funeral
   Sergei Loznitsa
10. Riders of Justice
    Anders Thomas Jensen
11. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
12. Procession
    Robert Greene
13. Pig
    Michael Sarnoski
14. The Village Detective: a song cycle
    Bill Morrison
15. No Sudden Move
    Steven Soderbergh
16. Memoria
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul
17. Passing
    Rebecca Hall
18. Petite Maman
    Céline Sciamma
19. Come True
    Anthony Scott Burns
20. Saint Maud
    Rose Glass
21. The Green Knight
    David Lowery
22. A Glitch in the Matrix
    Rodney Ascher
23. The Beta Test
    Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe
24. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
    Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
25. The Disciple
    Chaitanya Tamhane
26. Sabaya
    Hogir Hirori
27. Undine
    Christian Petzold
28. In the Earth
    Ben Wheatley
29. Dune
    Denis Villeneuve
30. Siberia
    Abel Ferrara
31. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
32. No Ordinary Man
    Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt
33. Beginning
    Déa Kulumbegashvili
34. 17 Blocks
    Davy Rothbart
35. The Amusement Park
    George A. Romero
36. The Velvet Underground
    Todd Haynes
37. Acasa, My Home
    Radu Ciorniciuc
38. The French Dispatch
    Wes Anderson
39. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
40. Night of the Kings
    Philippe Lacôte
41. Lapsis
    Noah Hutton
42. Wojnarowicz
    Chris McKim
43. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
    Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
44. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
45. Benedetta
    Paul Verhoeven
46. The Sparks Brothers
    Edgar Wright
47. Ema
    Pablo Larraín
48. The Last Duel
    Ridley Scott
49. The Killing of Two Lovers
    Robert Machoian
50. The Lost Daughter
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
51. The Power of the Dog
    Jane Campion
52. Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue
    Jia Zhang-ke
53. The Night House
    David Bruckner
54. Last Night in Soho
    Edgar Wright
55. Land
    Robert Wright
56. Nobody
    Ilya Naishuller
57. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Questlove
58. The Mitchells vs. the Machines
    Mike Rianda
59. Plan B
    Natalie Morales
60. I Carry You with Me
    Heidi Ewing
61. Cry Macho
    Clint Eastwood
62. The Vigil
    Keith Thomas
63. Cliff Walkers
    Zhang Yimou
64. Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters
    Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz
65. Honeydew
    Devereux Milburn

The Film Stage: Top 50 Films of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2018 • 2017]

1. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
2. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
3. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
4. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
5. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
6. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
7. West Side Story
   Steven Spielberg
8. The Card Counter
   Paul Schrader
9. Red Rocket
   Sean Baker
10. Annette
    Leos Carax
11. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
12. days
13. Petite Maman
    Céline Sciamma
14. Dune
    Denis Villeneuve
15. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
16. Titane
    Julia Ducournau
17. Spencer
    Pablo Larraín
18. Undine
    Christian Petzold
19. Parallel Mothers
    Pedro Almodóvar
20. The Last Duel
    Ridley Scott
21. The Matrix Resurrections
    Lana Wachowski
22. In the Heights
    Jon M. Chu
23. Zeros and Ones
    Abel Ferrara
24. What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
    Aleksandre Koberidze
25. Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time
    various directors
26. The Beatles: Get Back
    Peter Jackson
27. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    Questlove
28. Benedetta
    Paul Verhoeven
29. C'mon C'mon
    Mike Mills
30. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
31. Quo Vadis, Aida?
    Jasmila Žbanić
32. Mass
    Fran Kranz
33. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
    Josh Greenbaum
34. The Green Knight
    David Lowery
35. Shiva Baby
    Emma Seligman
36. The French Dispatch
    Wes Anderson
37. Wife of a Spy
    Kiyoshi Kurosawa
38. Slow Machine
    Joe DeNardo and Paul Felten
39. Passing
    Rebecca Hall
40. Cry Macho
    Clint Eastwood
41. All Light, Everywhere
    Theo Anthony
42. The Woman Who Ran
    Hong Sang-soo
43. Ema
    Pablo Larraín
44. The Tragedy of Macbeth
    Joel Coen
45. Test Pattern
    Shatara Michelle Ford
46. Flee
    Jonas Poher Rasmussen
47. Bad Trip
    Kitao Sakurai
48. CODA
    Sian Heder
49. Nine Days
    Edson Oda
50. This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
    Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese