It's that time of year! Time to show off the top 10 chill albums from 2021. In the non-electronic world of music, I was a bit disappointed. I mean, all these rock and pop and country groups had all of 2020 sitting at home to put together really great material, but it seems like re-releases, remix albums, and crummy EP's were all anyone did! Not so, in the electronic world. It was very difficult this year picking a #1. And a #2. And a #3... you get the hint. There was a lot of good music this year in the chillout world. It was hard to narrow it down, so let me just say congrats to all of these Top-10-ers, they put out some great work!
#10. Zero Cult - Eclectica
I'll start you off with a gem from Zero Cult. Perfectly smooth and hitting all the right spots, Eclectica is a smart album with plenty of subtle psychedelic hints and emotional melodies that make it beautiful.
#9. Dense - Reflux Compressor
Reflux Compressor is only one of the albums Dense came out with in 2021, but to my ears it was the more psychedelic, more magical of them. This is an album you could definitely turn off the lights, put some headphones on, and tune yourself into another dimension.
#8. 121569 - Mermaid Marmalade
Mermaid Marmalade is an album by one of Side Liner's projects, 121569. I didn't find information on the unique artist name, but I did find that the album cover was a drawing done by his daughter. This album has some pretty cool lo-fi hip and trip hop beats with some pizazz thrown in for good measure. The tracks are all pretty short, but it is a fun jam.
#7. Eelison - When The Sea is Cooling Down
Some mellow liquid dubstep for you here. Blissful beats, soothing melodies, and vocals. Can I just say, I hate vocals in my electronic music? It's true. But these are actually very lovely and haunting, and fit the tracks perfectly. I had this album on repeat for about a week without listening to anything else, it was very nice.
#6. Hidden Frequency - Thoughts of Imagination
Thoughts of Imagination is a truly jazzy trip hop album that surpasses the others. It blends some truly phat beats with that very chilled out groovy sound to make a mellow evening more fun. Play this one while driving in your car under the moon with your windows rolled all the way down.
#5. Tengri - Best of Chillout
This one was #1 for a good part of the year because the beauty was so intense. Most of these songs were previously released on other albums, so it sort of breaks my rules, but it is such a great collection of psychedelic tribal psychill that I absolutely could not help put it on the list. The amount of mysticism goes far on this album, with enchanting tribal drums, chanting vocals, didgeridoos, and shimmering sequences. Haunting and psychedelic.
#4. Cosmic Touch - Nirvana
This turned into #1 for a long time after Tengri's album. This psybass album is seemingly perfect, fun, oozing with incredible psychedelic beats and sounds, twisting around in your brain, driving you crazy. The overall aura and vibe, alone, of this album is worth mentioning. A very fun listen, but I recommend some psilocybin if you want to make the experience go off the rails, in a good way.
#3. Kiphi - Move The Stars Here
Then, this album became my #1 spot when I first heard it. It has a rather old-school psychill/psybient flavor to it, circa 2008/2009 or earlier, that I just love. The pacifying pads and soft hints of melody and wonder delight the senses, no doubt about it. You'll feel like you are floating on a cloud while listening to this album.
#2. Sundial Aeon - Synthesis
Wow, talk about psychedelic! I hear some acidic 303 sounds in this album, very tasty and crunchy. The soft squelch just gets me every time. Reassuring pads, satisfying synths, and effective beats really put you in a psychedelic mind frame inside a joyful atmosphere. I wouldn't skip a single track, and this quickly shot up to #1 as I listened more and more.
Are you ready for #1.?
Drum Roll...
#1. Ten Madison - Borealis
This album is #1 because I couldn't stop listening to it. I was surprised by this one, too, because all those many years ago before discovering psychedelic downtempo music, I discovered jazzy/housey chillout music, and Ten Madison provided that for me. I could imagine this album being played in outer space. Dreamy and spacey, surpassing time. At times epic, at other times thoughtful, the pace and the sentiment on this album was blatantly perfect. Time to cough up 6 million dollars for a trip on Blue Origin. Stick this in your earbuds and off you go!
I hope you can click on all the links to have a listen to the song I picked to represent each album, and as always, be sure to support the artists! Have a happy 2022... and may music be even BETTER than it was in 2021!
Cheers.
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