The 15 Best Indie Rock Albums of 2021
In 2021 indie rock was a guitar-led extravaganza with artists drawing from an ever-widening musical well. These are the 15 best indie rock albums of the year.
Music Features
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2021
The 20 Best Metal Albums of 2021
We are lucky to have received such an excellent bunch of records under what has been an incredibly stressful year. These are the 20 best metal albums of 2021.
25 Years Ago Whitney Houston Released the Album She Was Destined to Make with ‘The Preacher’s Wife’
The Preacher’s Wife is the ideal Whitney Houston album, ticking off many sides of the diva’s talents while marrying her commercial side with her sacred roots
K-Pop’s Sunmi on the Joy of Collaboration with Ed Sheeran and Jessi for “Shivers”
At the top of her career since debuting in Korea 14 years ago, K-pop star Sunmi chats with PopMatters about her collaborative work on “Shivers” and what’s next.
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2021
The 15 Best Folk Albums of 2021
These 15 folk albums are the year’s best because they represent folk music’s expanding roots while best serving a unifying, underlying hope.
Questlove Drums Circles Around Music History
Circles are central to Questlove. He loves a circular connection and a sidelong glance. Circles overlap and connect in his artful book, Music Is History.
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2021
The 11 Best Ambient Albums of 2021
Studies have shown how the global pandemic has changed our listening habits, and for those seeking calm, these 11 are the best ambient albums of the year.
Guitarist Matthew Stevens Ties Threads Together for the Singular ‘Pittsburgh’
Dynamic jazz guitarist Matthew Stevens’ new album comes after a bad accident, but its history proves it to be more than just a lucky break.
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2021
The 10 Best Progressive Rock/Metal Albums of 2021
The ongoing pandemic led to a brilliant year in the best progressive rock albums. Many artists translated their 2020 hardships into artistic gems.
Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Lists/Music/Music Features/PopMatters Picks/The Best Music of 2021
The 20 Best K-Pop Albums of 2021
Synthpop, traditional Korean music, pop-rock, and experimental production marked the music of the best K-pop releases of 2021.
Phoebe Bridgers’ Lyrical Melancholy Soothes and Challenges
Phoebe Bridgers’ lyrical concern with boredom is not just creative wordplay or the avoidance of cliché but argues a more engaged stance on the melancholic.