top 200 albums of 2021
In the past year, WRIR DJs played 52,000+ songs from 6,700+ albums, EPs, and singles released in 2021. These included 300+ recordings from local artists and bands. Below is a chart of the top 200 albums and EPs (local in bold).
| 1 | Lucy Dacus | Home Video | Matador |
| 2 | Prabir Trio | Haanji | self-released |
| 3 | PJ Sykes | Fuzz | Cherub |
| 4 | Book of Wyrms | Occult New Age | Desert |
| 5 | Dry Cleaning | New Long Leg | 4AD |
| 6 | Goat Girl | On All Fours | Rough Trade |
| 7 | Mdou Moctar | Afrique Victime | Matador |
| 8 | The Notwist | Vertigo Days | Morr Music |
| 9 | Squid | Bright Green Field | Warp |
| 10 | Vaudou Game | NOUSSIN | Hot Casa |
| 11 | La Luz | La Luz | Hardly Art |
| 12 | La Femme | Paradigmes | Disque Pointu |
| 13 | black midi | Cavalcade | Rough Trade |
| 14 | Evidence | Unlearning, Vol. 1 | Rhymesayers |
| 15 | Angélica Garcia | Echo Eléctrico – EP | Spacebomb |
| 16 | Low | Hey What | Sub Pop |
| 17 | Snapped Ankles | Forest of Your Problems | The Leaf Label |
| 18 | Johnny Ciggs | Paradise | Gritty City |
| 19 | Mogwai | As the Love Continues | Rock Action |
| 20 | Hiatus Kaiyote | Mood Valiant | Brainfeeder |
| 21 | Anika | Change | Sacred Bones |
| 22 | Tyler, the Creator | CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST | Columbia |
| 23 | Julien Baker | Little Oblivions | Matador |
| 24 | McKinley Dixon | For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her | Spacebomb |
| 25 | Japanese Breakfast | Jubilee | Dead Oceans |
| 26 | Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band | Expansions | Big Crown |
| 27 | Bachelor | Doomin’ Sun | Polyviny |
| 28 | Melissa Carper | Daddy’s Country Gold | Mae Music |
| 29 | Teenage Fanclub | Endless Arcade | Merge |
| 30 | Yola | Stand For Myself | Easy Eye Sound |
| 31 | Sierra Ferrell | Long Time Coming | Rounder |
| 32 | Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin | $mokebreak | Lex |
| 33 | Atmosphere | WORD? | Rhymesayers |
| 34 | Jon Batiste | WE ARE | Verve |
| 35 | Junnie Mac | Peace, Mercy & Blessings | Purple Republic/Monsta Inc |
| 36 | Sault | Nine | Forever Living Originals |
| 37 | Nas | King’s Disease II | Mass Appeal |
| 38 | Various Artists | Cameroon Garage Funk | Analog Africa |
| 39 | Beex | The Early Years: 1979-1982 | Beach Impediment |
| 40 | Madlib | Sound Ancestors | Fat Beats |
| 41 | Little Simz | Sometimes I Might Be Introvert | AGE 101 |
| 42 | Vanishing Twin | Ookii Gekkou | Fire |
| 43 | Clinic | Fantasy Island | Domino |
| 44 | Béla Fleck | My Bluegrass Heart | Renew |
| 45 | Amythyst Kiah | Wary + Strange | Rounder |
| 46 | Sally Rose | Tread Light | self-released |
| 47 | Dinosaur Jr. | Sweep It Into Space | Jagjaguwar |
| 48 | Mannequin Pussy | Perfect – EP | Epitaph |
| 49 | Matthew E. White | K Bay | Domino |
| 50 | Various Artists | Griselda & BSF: Conflicted (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | Griselda |
| 51 | The Mommyheads | Age of Isolation | Mommyheads Music |
| 52 | Gruff Rhys | Seeking New Gods | Rough Trade |
| 53 | Godspeed You! Black Emperor | G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! | Constellation |
| 54 | FACS | Present Tense | Trouble In Mind |
| 55 | IDLES | CRAWLER | Partisan |
| 56 | Sons Of Kemet | Black To The Future | Impulse! |
| 57 | St. Vincent | Daddy’s Home | Loma Vista |
| 58 | Mach-Hommy | Pray For Haiti | Griselda |
| 59 | Benét | Game Over! – EP | Bayonet |
| 60 | Various Artists | The Village Out West: The Lost Tapes of Alan Oakes | Smithsonian Folkways |
| 61 | Holiday Ghosts | North Street Air | FatCat |
| 62 | The Weather Station | Ignorance | Fat Possum |
| 63 | Flock of Dimes | Head of Roses | Sub Pop |
| 64 | Fake Fruit | Fake Fruit | Rocks In Your Head |
| 65 | DMX | Exodus | Def Jam |
| 66 | The Catenary Wires | Birling Gap | Shelflife |
| 67 | Altın Gün | Yol | ATO |
| 68 | JP Harris’ Dreadful Wind and Rain | Don’t You Marry No Railroad Man | Free Dirt |
| 69 | TV Priest | Uppers | Sub Pop |
| 70 | Fly Anakin | Pixote | Mutant Academy |
| 71 | Kiwi jr. | Cooler Returns | Sub Pop |
| 72 | Les Filles De Illighadad | At Pioneer Works | Sahel Sounds |
| 73 | Cassandra Jenkins | An Overview on Phenomenal Nature | Ba Da Bing! |
| 74 | Hovvdy | True Love | Grand Jury Music |
| 75 | Various Artists | Edo Funk Explosion, Vol. 1 | Analog Africa |
| 76 | Fruit Bats | The Pet Parade | Merge |
| 77 | Valerie June | The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers | Fantasy |
| 78 | DJ Harrison | Tales from the Old Dominion | Stones Throw |
| 79 | Matt Sweeney & Bonnie “Prince” Billy | Superwolves | Drag City |
| 80 | Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders | Promises (feat. London Symphony Orchestra) | Luaka Bop |
| 81 | Illa Styles | IllaVeRs | Monsta Inc |
| 82 | L’Rain | Fatigue | Mexican Summer |
| 83 | Butcher Brown | ENCORE – EP | Concord Jazz |
| 84 | Matthew E. White & Lonnie Holley | Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection | Spacebomb |
| 85 | Colleen | The Tunnel and the Clearing | Thrill Jockey |
| 86 | Peter Rosenberg | Real Late | Real Late |
| 87 | Cedric Burnside | I Be Trying | Single Lock |
| 88 | Gusher | Bleed Out | self-released |
| 89 | Giant | Big Talk | Vintage Youth |
| 90 | Nightshift | Zöe | Trouble In Mind |
| 91 | Mythic Sunship | Wildfire | Tee Pee |
| 92 | BlackLiq x Mopes | Time Is the Price | Strange Famous |
| 93 | TEKE::TEKE | Shirushi | Kill Rock Stars |
| 94 | Durand Jones & The Indications | Private Space | Dead Oceans |
| 95 | Reymour | Leviosa | Knekelhuis |
| 96 | Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine | A Beginner’s Mind | Asthmatic Kitty |
| 97 | João Selva | Navegar | Underdog |
| 98 | José Carlos Schwarz & Le Cobiana Djazz | Lua Ki Di Nos | Hot Mule |
| 99 | gnawing | You Freak Me Out | Refresh |
| 100 | Lord Huron | Long Lost | Whispering Pines / Republic |
| 101 | Armand Hammer & The Alchemist | Haram | Backwoodz Studioz |
| 102 | Ships in the Night | Latent Powers | Cleopatra |
| 103 | The Reds, Pinks & Purples | Uncommon Weather | Slumberland |
| 104 | Cimafunk | El Alimento | Terapia |
| 105 | Various Artists | As Has It | Never Met A Stranger |
| 106 | Umphrey’s McGee | YOU WALKED UP SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS BUT YOU STOOD TALL AND LEFT A RAGING BULL | Nothing Too Fancy Music |
| 107 | Shannon & The Clams | Year Of The Spider | Easy Eye Sound |
| 108 | Theravada | Xenophon | 2000 ENT. |
| 109 | The Umbrellas | The Umbrellas | Slumberland |
| 110 | Kev Brown & J Scienide | Stray From the Pack | Fat Beats |
| 111 | Doja Cat | Planet Her | Kemosabe |
| 112 | Enforced | Kill Grid | Century Media |
| 113 | Death from Above 1979 | Is 4 Lovers | Everything Eleven Inc. |
| 114 | Helado Negro | Far In | 4AD |
| 115 | Boldy James & The Alchemist | Bo Jackson | ALC / Boldy James |
| 116 | Gustaf | Audio Drag for Ego Slobs | Royal Mountain |
| 117 | Anansy Cisse | Anoura | Riverboat |
| 118 | Adele | 30 | Columbia |
| 119 | Mikrowaves | 20 Up 20 Down | Break Em Off |
| 120 | Charles Owens Trio | 10 Years | La Reserve |
| 121 | John Hiatt & Jerry Douglas | Leftover Feelings | New West |
| 122 | Bill and the Belles | Happy Again | Ditty Boom |
| 123 | Brijean | Feelings | Ghostly International |
| 124 | Deerhoof | Actually, You Can | Joyful Noise |
| 125 | Emma-Jean Thackray | Yellow | Movementt |
| 126 | AmirSaysNothing | Endless Brightside | Bright Side Entertainment |
| 127 | Watchhouse | Watchhouse | Thirty Tigers |
| 128 | Carcass | Torn Arteries | Nuclear Blast |
| 129 | Douglas Blue Feather | Time for Healing | self-released |
| 130 | The Rabbit | These Past Years | The Rabbit |
| 131 | James Yorkston and The Second Hand Orchestra | The Wide, Wide River | Domino |
| 132 | James McMurtry | The Horses and the Hounds | New West |
| 133 | Lloyd Banks | The Course of the Inevitable | Money By Any Means / EMPIRE |
| 134 | Sleaford Mods | Spare Ribs | Rough Trade |
| 135 | Ayuune Sule | Putoo Katare Yire | self-released |
| 136 | Downhaul | Proof | Refresh |
| 137 | naomiisaac | letters from richmond | self released |
| 138 | Hard Copy | Hidden Beat – EP | Birds Again |
| 139 | Painted Shrines | Heaven and Holy | Woodsist |
| 140 | Field Music | Flat White Moon | Memphis Industries |
| 141 | Cheekface | Emphatically No. | New Professor |
| 142 | Adia Victoria | A Southern Gothic | Atlantic |
| 143 | Monster Magnet | A Better Dystopia | Napalm Handels GmbH |
| 144 | Fiend | Thank God Its Fiend | FDE |
| 145 | The Bevis Frond | Little Eden | Fire |
| 146 | Dedikated Boyz | D-Boyz 4Eva | self-released |
| 147 | Icerocks | Crossing the Rubicon | 2 Piece Ent. |
| 148 | Nura | Auf der Suche | Vertigo Berlin |
| 149 | Prince | Welcome 2 America | Legacy |
| 150 | Middle Kids | Today We’re the Greatest | Domino |
| 151 | Lingua Ignota | Sinner Get Ready | Sargent House |
| 152 | Loraine James | Reflection | Hyperdub |
| 153 | Lou Barlow | Reason to Live | Joyful Noise |
| 154 | Slothrust | Parallel Timeline | Dangerbird |
| 155 | Night Beats | Outlaw R&B | Fuzz Club |
| 156 | Black Country, New Road | For the First Time | Ninja Tune |
| 157 | Drake | Certified Lover Boy | OVO |
| 158 | Hotspit | CC – EP | avery magoruims wonder emporium |
| 159 | pardoner | Came Down Different | Bar/None |
| 160 | Moor Mother | Black Encyclopedia of the Air | Anti/Epitaph |
| 161 | Cool Ghouls | At George’s Zoo | Melodic / Empty Cellar |
| 162 | LUMP | Animal | Chrysalis |
| 163 | Kacey Musgraves | star-crossed | MCA Nashville |
| 164 | Mopes | Mopes – EP | Strange Famous |
| 165 | Vic Spencer | Legend Laws of Power | Old Fart Luggage |
| 166 | Cloud Nothings | The Shadow I Remember | Carpark |
| 167 | Five Mile Mountain Road | Swingbilly Swagger | Patuxent |
| 168 | Motorists | Surrounded | self-released |
| 169 | Massage | Still Life | Bobo Integral |
| 170 | Spread Joy | Spread Joy | Feel It |
| 171 | Solemn Brigham | South Sinner Street | Mello |
| 172 | Robert Finley | Sharecropper’s Son | Easy Eye Sound |
| 173 | Dummy | Mandatory Enjoyment | Trouble In Mind |
| 174 | Bow Ever Down | Let It Burn | Audio SIC |
| 175 | Racquel Jones | IgnoRANT | Magnetic Moon |
| 176 | The Go! Team | Get Up Sequences Part One | Memphis Industries |
| 177 | Melinki | Where Do We Go from Here – EP | Fokuz |
| 178 | NewDad | Waves – EP | Fair Youth |
| 179 | Wednesday | Twin Plagues | Orindal |
| 180 | Six Organs of Admittance | The Veiled Sea | Three Lobed |
| 181 | Okuté | Okuté | Chulo |
| 182 | Andy Stott | Never the Right Time | Modern Love |
| 183 | Illa Styles | Mind Your Reality | Monsta Inc |
| 184 | Aborted | ManiaCult | Century Media |
| 185 | Quivers | Golden Doubt | Ba Da Bing! |
| 186 | Aesop Rock & Blockhead | Garbology | Rhymesayers |
| 187 | Molly Burman | Fool Me With Flattery – EP | Prolifica / PIAS |
| 188 | Young Flexico | Dawg | Flextopia |
| 189 | Beachy Head | Beachy Head | Graveface |
| 190 | Dumpstaphunk | Where Do We Go From Here | The Funk Garage |
| 191 | The Flatlanders | Treasure of Love (feat. Butch Hancock, Joe Ely & Jimmie Dale Gilmore) | Rack ‘Em / Thirty Tigers |
| 192 | Kidi Band | So Good | Earth Libraries |
| 193 | Smoke Bellow | Open For Business | Trouble In Mind |
| 194 | This Is the Kit | Off Off Oddities | Rough Trade |
| 195 | Cha Wa | My People | Single Lock |
| 196 | Le Ren | Leftovers | Secretly Canadian |
| 197 | Young Crazy | Interstate 110 | CrazyCamp Worldwide |
| 198 | Brandi Carlile | In These Silent Days | Low Country Sound/Elektra |
| 199 | Corvair | Corvair | self-released |
| 200 | UV-TV | Always Something | PaperCup Music |
Playlist
Playlist temporarily unavailable.