So what were my ten most played records of the year? Surprisingly not of a lot of loud music made the cut. The only Death Metal album I listened to non-stop (MEFITIS) is some kind of a weird experience for the uninitiated, as if non-carbon-based alien lifeforms were trying to retro-engineer Sentenced's "North From Here" classic from 1993. Only two straight to the point hardcore bands made it too, EXIL and QUARANTINE but if you haven't heard those two records yet, boy are you in a for a treat. The ZORN EP would have been higher up in the list if these recordings hadn't first appeared in 2019. I listened to a lot of Rap which has always been my next go-to music genre, although I'd never consider myself as well-versed as my old pal Laurent T. who turned me on to so many classics back in the glorious 90s. PENPALS and Hugo TSR were two of my favourite releases this year. It's very odd to see Post Punk (or whatever you wanna call 'em) bands popping up in my list as I've never considered myself a fan of the genre, but I was pretty obsessed with that OI BOYS debut LP (I have very conflicted feelings about this band which is a very good thing) and of course the SCREAMERS reissue which sounds manic! Nick Cave & Warren Ellis not only made one of their best albums of their career but their show in Paris was one of the highlights of the year. And of course, the ALVILDA EP was a breath of fresh air too. But let's move on to my most played record of the year which came out in... January. EL MICHELS AFFAIR, another very complex and multilayered re-imagining of past world music (think 70s Turkish Pop, Giallo soundtracks, Hip Hop) by a very very talented New York producer called Leon Michels (no relation haha).

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Runner ups

Of course it's almost impossible to select just ten records. Here are the other releases that caught my fancy/were listened to more than once at some point in 2021.

Altin Gün - Yol
Barren? - Distracted To Death… Diverted From Reality
Catisfaction - Kill ‘Em All
Camera Silens - Classe Criminelle
Cerebral Rot - Excretion Of Mortality
Cherokee - Blood Gold
Chronic Hate - Demo
Cosmic Psychos - Mountain of Piss
Cuir - Album
Dream Unending - Tide Turns Eternal
Ekulu - Unscrew My Head
Fashion Pimps and the Glamazons - Jazz 4 Johnny
Fatal -Six Songs
Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon
Gravesend - Methods Of Human Disposal
Heavy Sentence - Bang To rights
Homeboy Sandman - Anjelitu
Hooded Menace - The Tritonus Bell
Horse The Band - Your Fault
Ideation - Blunt Instrument Demo
Island Of Love - Songs Of Love
Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman
KISSA - Vaarallinen bändi
La Morte Viene Dallo Spazio - Trivial Visions
Lords Of Quarmall - Demo
Melvins - Working With God
Mystic Storm - From The Ancient Chaos
Nekromantheon - Visions Of Trismegistos
Nightfeeder - s.t.
Outre-Tombe - Abysse Mortifère
Pete Rock - 80 Blocks Instrumentals
Phane - s.t.
Pharaoh - The Powers That Be
Richard Dawson & Circle - Henki
Sick Sinus Syndrome - Rotten To The Core
Significant Point - Into The Storm
Slant - 1집
Stalled Minds - Shades
Straw Man Army - Age Of exile
Taqbir -Victory Belongs To Those Who Fight For A Right Cause
Tentation - Le berceau des dieux
Terminus - The Silent Bell Toll
The Chisel - Retaliation
The Limit - Caveman Logic
The Watcher - Your Turn To Die
Turnstile - Turnstile Love Connection
Tyrann - Djävulens Musik
Venefixion - A Sigh from Below
Vision Master - Demo
Zone Infinie - Dégâts
Zorn - Hardcore Zorn

V.A. - Dynam’hit Europop Version Française 1990-1995
V.A. - Bootboy Discotheque