Introduction

This year may as well have started on March 30th when I drove to Pontiac to get my first vaccine dose. Everything before that (and, to be honest, a lot after that) just feels like endless extra innings of 2020. The year also kind of feels like it ended after Thanksgiving with the spread of the Omicron variant and another round of uncertainty, caution, and fear. I’m trying hard to push back against the tidal wave of “everything is terrible” and focus on the best moments. I felt utterly alive and in the moment on stage at Nightshop in July when Pelafina played our first show back. I went to Riot Fest in September and hugged friends I hadn’t seen in two years. I turned 30 in October. I was able to celebrate the holidays with families that are happy and healthy.

Music I Worked On This Year

It’s been tough getting back into the rhythm of writing, recording, and releasing new music, so this section is pretty short this time. Lots more in the works for 2022 though, including a new Pelafina single very early in the year.

• Jeff Schaller and the Long Way Home – Reckless Life – guitar, recording, mixing, mastering
• Apocalypse Quest – Journal of the Plague Years – Mixing, mastering

My Favorite Albums of 2021

I had a harder time than usual making this list. There was no runaway favorite album, no artist that completely dominated my listening (besides maybe Taylor Swift, but I’m deeming Red (Taylor’s Version) ineligible for this list), but what I ended up with actually feels like a good summary of my listening habits this year.

I did less digging and discovering than usual. There are only a few debut albums on this list, and one of them was of course the most ubiquitous and inescapable release of the year. I was delighted to see some left turns and exciting, vibrant work from established band eight or nine albums deep in their careers.

I also put together a Spotify playlist with my favorite songs from each of these releases, as well as a bunch of singles and tracks from other albums that didn’t quite make a the cut.

1. The Killers – Pressure Machine
2. Olivia Rodrigo – Sour
3. You, Me, and Everyone We Know – Something Heavy
4. Adjy – The Idyll Opus (I-VI)
5. The World Is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Illusory Walls
6. Noah Gundersen – A Pillar of Salt
7. Telethon – Swim Out Past the Breakers
8. Dan Campbell – Other People’s Lives
9. Every Time I Die – Radical
10. Bleachers – Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
11. Dave Hause – Blood Harmony
12. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions
13. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee
14. Origami Angel – Gami Gang
15. The Wallflowers – Exit Wounds
16. The Hold Steady – Open Door Policy
17. Porter Robinson – Nurture
18. Monobody – Comma
19. The Dirty Nil – Fuck Art
20. Parting – Unmake Me

A few EPs I loved:

• Future Teens – Deliberately Alive
• Counting Crows – Butter Miracle: Suite One
• Camp Trash – Downtiming
• Brett Conlin and the Midnight Miles – Brett Conlin and the Midnight Miles

My Favorite Live Shows of 2021

I played or went to 31 shows this year, and nearly every one felt like a celebration of live music, of how lucky we are be able to share art and community again after the past two years. It may have been a short-lived celebration, with case numbers rising again and tours for next year already getting canceled, but I’m hoping for the best.

1. Titus Andronicus – 11/12 at Subterranean
2. Spanish Love Songs – 9/3 at Beat Kitchen
3. The Mountain Goats – 8/24 at Space
4. The Killers – 12/7 at Aragon Ballroom
5. Signals Midwest – 12/17 at Burlington

My Favorite Movies of 2021

All the usual caveats about not yet having the chance to see all of the new releases aside, I don’t see anything topping Dune as my favorite movie of the year. It’s a true accomplishment of science fiction filmmaking.

1. Dune
2. Inside
3. The Last Duel
4. The Power of the Dog
5. King Richard
6. Judas and the Black Messiah
7. No Time To Die
8. No Sudden Move
9. Summer of Soul
10. Luca

My Favorite TV Shows of 2021

It sure feels like I watched less TV this year than I have in the decade and change since I discovered Dexter (and binge-watching) during finals week of my freshman year of college. Maybe it was a slight shift in entertainment priorities. Maybe it was due to most of my reliable favorites taking the year off. Regardless, what I did watch was really great.

1. Midnight Mass
2. Succession (Season 3)
3. Squid Game (Season 1)
4. What We Do In the Shadows (Season 3)
5. Loki (Season 1)

Honorable Mention (only because the entire season hasn’t aired yet): Station Eleven

My Favorite Books of 2021

I hardly ever end up with new releases among my favorite books list at the end of a year. My book backlog is so long that only new releases from my favorite authors jump to the top. However, I set a goal in 2021 to read more non-fiction and ended up reading more new books than usual as a result. These were my favorite reads of the year, in no particular order and not limited to new releases.

• Punks In Peoria: Making a Scene In the American Heartland by Jonathan Wright and Dawson Barrett
• Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner
• The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross
• Killers of the Flower Moon: Listening To the Twentieth Century by David Grann
• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Next Year

• A new Long Way Home album (I swear it’s actually happening this time)
• A new Pelafina song in January and hopefully another release later in the year