Music & More

Joni Mitchell - Jack Robinson / Hulton Archive / Getty Welcome to the best music of 2021.  For whatever reason, there was more good music released this year than ever. The most likely scenario is simply that musicians, forced off the road by the pandemic, had plenty of time to do what they do best.  In late spring it seemed (for about five minutes) like we had really turned the corner and that, as a result, venues began booking shows and some musicians ventured out upon the road. Japanese Breakfast had no sooner announced a mostly sold out five show run at Philadelphia's Union Transfer than the Delta variant kicked in with a vengeance. Although some vaccinated people got mildly infected, the unvaccinated filled hospitals to the breaking point. Most folks returned to preventive measures to avoid Covid infection. The music industry, like most others, is caught in the middle of trying to open up while the pandemic still rages.  Now, as I complete this post, the Omicron varia...

So, at least 2021 was a better year than 2020. At least you might think that if you didn't watch the news. I could never actually do that, but that's a story for another day, possibly another blog. Maybe the solution is to just surround yourself with music.  Just when you thought that nothing could be new in holiday music, that it's all been said and done before, along comes this year's batch of holiday creations. I genuinely like all of the new releases listed below, but if you'd like to see my top ten, they're shown within the title of this article.  Below, you will find select titles from the 2021 releases. Listen to them on your favorite streaming service, download them from your favorite platform, or swim upstream and buy a physical copy (direct from the artist, if you can) and enjoy. Here at Music & More, we wish you a safe, happy and healthy holiday season with our best wishes for a happy new year in 2022. New goodies for 2021 :  Cain - Wonderful (E...