{"id":47909,"date":"2021-12-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2021-wtf-indeed\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:17","slug":"2021-wtf-indeed","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2021-wtf-indeed\/","title":{"rendered":"2021: WTF, Indeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a year that started out in WTF mode and only got stranger. Musically, it was all over the map as artists emerged from a year of lockdown and socio-political turmoil with albums that either embraced or chose to ignore such concerns. Both approaches yielded surprising and sometimes spectacular results. As someone who produced a book<\/a> this year that felt bracingly personal, I can only tip my hat to the musical brothers and sisters who found their songs and played them out loud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Wait, What? Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Peter Frampton Band \u2013 Frampton Forgets The Words<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

An aging former teen idol singer-songwriter with a neurological disorder threatening his ability to play guitar cuts an album of rock instrumentals that absolutely no one asked for\u2026 and it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Wait, What? Award #2<\/b><\/p>\n

Carmine Appice \u2013 Fernando Perdomo Project \u2013 Energy Overload<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

A 74-year-old veteran hard rock drummer pairs up with a generation-younger musical chameleon and together they turn out an explosive album of rock instrumentals.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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The Reason Boxed Sets Exist Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Music From The Motion Picture \u2013 Almost Famous 5 CD Super Deluxe Edition<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Just. Take. My. Money. They did, and I\u2019m glad of it. An absolutely perfect boxed set celebrating an absolutely perfect film celebrating the magic of music for both artist and audience.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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The Holy Grail Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band — The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t many albums that deserve to have the word \u201clegendary\u201d in the title. This is one. The greatest bar band ever plays one of the biggest gigs of their lives at the height of their powers\u2014and then they keep the tapes in the vault for 40 years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Best Mixing Of Music And Politics<\/b><\/p>\n

Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit \u2013 Georgia Blue<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

On election night 2020, Twitter king and son of the South Jason Isbell impulsively pledged that he\u2019d record an album of Georgia-themed covers if the state voted blue. It did, and he proved to be a man of his word, delivering this guest-star-studded platter of melodic beauty.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Getting Better All The Time Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Courtney Barnett \u2013 Things Take Time, Take Time<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Gentle longing amidst domestic suburban bliss is not a look you necessarily expected from the more typically acerbic Courtney Barnett, but damn if she doesn\u2019t make it feel at least as compelling. A remarkable songwriter and performer whose range and sonic palette continues to expand.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Musical Event of the Year<\/b><\/p>\n

The Beatles: Get Back<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Sorry Beatles haters, but they\u2019ve done it again, this time with a huge assist from Peter Jackson. The three-part, eight-hour documentary The Beatles: Get Back<\/i> is a fascinating and at times exhilarating look inside the creative process of the most important and influential musical act of the 20th century. Is it messy? Genius usually is. Is it too long? Only if you don\u2019t care about context, and in this case, context is the entire point. It\u2019s a live-on-your-screen \u201cSong Exploder\u201d for an entire classic album by the band that paved the way for every band since.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Independent Album of the Year Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Ben Bostick \u2013 Grown Up Love<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

What do you do when your young child is diagnosed with a rare and incurable condition that will affect every aspect of her life? If you\u2019re singer-songwriter Ben Bostick, you double down on love, writing songs of purest devotion for the spouse sharing in the struggle day after day, and then you record them and share them with a world that feels like it’s been craving an album this big-hearted and beautifully crafted. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Prog Album of the Year<\/b><\/p>\n

Big Big Train \u2013 Common Ground<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Am I a tad sentimental about this pick, given the tragic death of Big Big Train lead singer David Longdon<\/a> just last month? Almost certainly, and what of it? Common Ground<\/i> is the latest in a string of terrific releases from a band whose history has been one of nearly constant evolution and change. No one knows what the future holds for Big Big Train at the moment, but the musical legacy they created with Longdon at the microphone is tremendous.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Album of the Year<\/b><\/p>\n

Jon Batiste \u2013 We Are<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not often you pencil in your album of the year pick in the first half of the year and it actually sticks. But We Are<\/i> is not just a musical triumph, showing tremendous range and craft\u2014it\u2019s also both timeless and timely, a rangy album of songs that describe America in 2021 as accurately, poignantly and pointedly as anyone could hope to. We crave connection, and freedom, and justice, and love, and Jon Batiste gives every fiber of his being to the task of singing those ideals into existence.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Also Notable For One Reason Or Another<\/b><\/p>\n

Greta Van Fleet \u2013 The Battle At Garden’s Gate<\/i><\/a>
Yes, they sound just like 1969-76 Led Zeppelin. What of it? When choosing a band to sound just like, you could do a hell of a lot worse. The boys continue to grow into the role here.<\/p>\n

Kansas \u2013 Point Of Know Return Live And Beyond<\/i><\/a>
A \u201970s band that many had left for dead comes roaring back with fresh blood helping them deliver dynamic performances on this double-live treat.<\/p>\n

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real \u2013 A Few Stars Apart<\/i><\/a>
It might fall short of 2019\u2019s Turn Off The News (Build A Garden)<\/i>, but A Few Stars Apart<\/i> is a solid new entry from the talented second-generation singer-songwriter.<\/p>\n

Yes \u2013 The Quest<\/i><\/a>
You know those albums that you really really want to like, but find for one reason or another that you just can’t? Me too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a year that started out in WTF mode and only got stranger. Musically, it was all over the map as artists emerged from a year of lockdown and socio-political turmoil with albums that either embraced or chose to ignore such concerns. Both approaches yielded surprising and sometimes spectacular results. As someone who produced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":48577,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"feature_type":[5609],"class_list":["post-47909","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","feature_type-best-of"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/feature"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"feature_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature_type?post=47909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}