New Commute Albums of the Year 2021

Here are the records that caught and held our attention throughout the year. The list is unranked, but limited to one hundred releases. With hundreds of albums that passed through the New Commute headphones, it was no easy task to narrow this down.

We’re thankful for all of the time and attention anybody has given the blog this year. Cheersing a cold seltzer to all of you.

Enjoy the selections on Spotify / Apple Music but it’s better to support your local record store.

81355- This Time I’ll Be of Use
[37d03d]

Austin Leonard Jones- The Wonder Years of Austin Leonard Jones Vol. 1 & 2
[Perpetual Doom]

Badge Epoch- Scroll
[Telephone Explosion]

Bedouine- Waysides
[The Orchard]

Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles- Keys
[Drag City]

Black Marble- Fast Idol
[Sacred Bones]

Bnny- Everything
[Fire Talk]

Bobbie Lovesong- On The Wind
[self-released]

Bobby Lee- Origin Myths
[Tompkins Square]

Cactus Lee- Texas Music Forever
[709 Recording Co]

Calvin LeCompte- Laughed At An Attachment
[Maximum Exposure]

Cameron Knowler & Eli Winter- Anticipation
[American Dreams Records]

Celestial- I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night
[Ecstatic Recordings]

Channelers- Another Entrance
[Inner Islands]

Chet Sounds- Chet Sounds
[Third Eye Stimuli]

Cities Aviv- The Crashing Sound of How It Goes
[D.O.T.]

Colloboh- Entity Relation
[Leaving Records]

CV Vision- Insolita
[Growing Bin Records]

Daniel Romano- Cobra Poems
[You’ve Changed Records]

Dawuna- Glass Lit Dream
[O___o?]

Dean Blunt- BLACK METAL 2
[Rough Trade]

Dummy- Mandatory Enjoyment
[Trouble In Mind Records]

E Bobby G- Giving You M.O.R.E.
[PHC Films]

Eight Point Star- Eight Point Star
[VHF Records]

Elke- No Pain For Us Here
[Congrats Records]

Elko B.- Realm Of Rides & Romance
[Ekster]

Endangered !- Sally In Her Coat
[self-released]

Endless Boogie- Admonitions
[No Quarter]

Flanafi with Ape School- The Knees Start To Go
[Boiled Records]

Floating Action- Jinx Protecting
[People In A Position To Know]

Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra- Promises
[Luaka Bop]

Flowertown- Flowertown
[Mt. St. Mtn.]

Future Museums- Harpoon of Sunlight
[Aural Canyon]

Golden Brown- Gems and Minerals
[Inner Islands]

Grady Strange- Getting Stranger
[Perpetual Doom]

G.S. Schray- The Changing Account
[Last Resort]

Hayden Pedigo- Letting Go
[Mexican Summer]

Helado Negro- Far In
[4AD]

Izzy Johnson- Earth Tones
[Driftless]

James Corrigan- Drum Circle
[Cimiotti Recordings]

Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders- Elixor of Life
[Centripetal Force]

Jeffrey Silverstein- Torii Gates
[Arrowhawk]

John Andrews & The Yawns- Cookbook
[Woodsist]

John Carroll Kirby- Septet
[Stones Throw]

John Moods- So Sweet So Nice
[Arbutus Records]

John Myrtle- Myrtle Soup
[Sad Club Records]

Jonny Kosmo- Pastry
[Dinosaur City Records]

J.R.C.G.- Ajo Sunshine
[Castle Face]

Katy Kirby- Cool Dry Place
[Keeled Scales]

L’Rain- Fatigue
[Mexican Summer]

Le Ren- Leftovers
[Secretly Canadian]

Lee Baggett- Just A Minute
[Perpetual Doom]

Library Baby- Signs & Clues
[Crying Cat Records]

Linkwood- Mono
[Athens of the North]

Lionlimb- Spiral Groove
[Bayonet Records]

Magic Tuber Stringband- When Sorrows Encompass Me ‘Round
[Feeding Tube]

Marinero- Hella Love
[Hardly Art]

Mark Tester- Oblivion Rhythms Revisted
[Moon Glyph]

Massage- Still Life
[Mt. St. Mtn.]

Maston & L’Eclair- Souvenir
[Innovative Leisure]

Mega Bog- Life, and Another
[Paradise of Bachelors]

Michael Hurley- The Time of the Foxgloves
[No Quarter]

Midnight Sister- Painting the Roses
[Jagjaguwar]

Monde UFO- 7171
[Universal Freeing Object]

Mountain Movers- World What World
[Trouble In Mind]

Nala Sinephro- Space 1.8
[Warp Records]

Nana Yamato- Before Sunrise
[Dull Tools]

Natalie Jane Hill- Solely
[Dear Life Records]

Nightlands- Moonshine EP
[Western Vinyl]

Pachyman- The Return Of…
[ATO Records]

Pearl & The Oysters- Flowerland
[Feeltrip Records]

Pearl Charles- Magic Mirror
[Kanine Records]

Porches- All Day Gentle Hold !
[Domino]

Rachika Nayar- Fragments
[RVNG Intl.]

Rosali- No Medium
[SPINSTER]

Rose City Band- Earth Trip
[Thrill Jockey]

Rubber Band Gun- Cashes Out
[Earth Libraries]

Ryan Pollie- Stars
[Forged Artifacts]

Ryley Walker and Kikagaku Moyo- Deep Fried Grandeur
[Husky Pants Records]

Sam Evian- Time To Melt
[Saddle Creek]

Sam Wilkes- One Theme & Subsequent Improvisations
[Leaving Records]

Scott Hirsch- Windless Day
[Echo Magic]

Shay Martin Lovette- Scatter & Gather
[self-released]

Silicone Prairie- My Life on the Silicone Prairie
[Feel It Records]

Smoke Bellow- Open For Business
[Trouble In Mind]

Sylvie- Sylvie
[Terrible Records]

Tex Crick- Live In… New York City
[Mac’s Record Label]

The Person- The Tide
[Growing Bin Records]

The Zenmenn- Enter The Zenmenn
[Music From Memory]

Tobacco City- Tobacco City, USA
[Scissor Tail Records]

Tonstartssbandht- Petunia
[Mexican Summer]

Vapour Theories- Celestial Scuzz
[Fire Records]

Watchhouse- Watchhouse
[Thirty Tigers]

Winds- Look At The Sky
[Natural Music]

Winter McQuinn- A Rabble Of Bees
[Third Eye Stimuli]

Writhing Squares- Chart For The Solution
[Trouble In Mind]

Yasmin Williams- Urban Driftwood
[SPINSTER]

Yaya Bey- The Things I Can’t Take With Me
[Big Dada]

Yuma Abe- Fantasia
[Temporal Drift]

Zero Percent APR- Gilgamesh II
[Spared Flesh Records]