Catt’s Favorite Albums of 2021
Listening to these albums again helps give me respite from the surreal year we have all endured and hopefully learned and grown from. All the hard work, commitment, and talent that goes into all these wondrous releases warm my heart and soul with nostalgia, joy, and insight for the strong, focused, and intuitive global connection we all share in this Modern Dystopic Age of insanity and isolation. Thank you to all the musicians, artists, writers etc. that help make this crazy world a more tolerable place to exist.
- BLANCHE BIAU – “Maraudé” – Zurich, Switzerland [Choléra Cosmique]
A cool, introspective celestial stratosphere of inebriating and combatant textures surrounds the sentimental, misunderstood alienation of beautifully haunted vocalizations with a harmonized flow of tragic and revealing Dark Wave and Post Punk sensibilities.
- ZACK ZACK ZACK – “Album 1” – Vienna, Austria [Reclusion Records]
Restless moods lurk beneath the surface of unique and intriguing experimental combinations, including the exotic beauty of the Cümbüs Saz to form an arousing and addictive sound scape drenched in international Retro-Futuristic auras.
- LA MÉCANIQUE – “L’oubli des Origines |Forgetting the Origins” – Montreal, Quebec [Cold Transmission Music]
An enveloping euphoria of dancing Synth Pop/ Dark Wave vibes carry the moody, moving French vocals of haunting sadness into an intoxicating universe of chilly, bittersweet catharsis.
- ST. DIGUE – “Everything Hits at Once” – Copenhagen, Denmark [Totentanz]
An entrancing neon Synthwave melancholy of metropolitan despair casts retro angst into an intoxicating cosmos of dystopic dancefloor drama.
- PARIS ALEXANDER – “Renaissance” – Brighton, UK [Blue Door Productions]
Brooding anxiety, sensual tension, and rousing desire mold an immersive brew of riveting Post Punk dystopia heightened by the nocturnal ambience of Eirene’s bewitching backup vocals.
- ENZO KREFT – “A Different World” – Belgium [Wool-E Discs]
Enzo Kreft fuses sprawling electronic New Wave/Dark Wave landscapes with compelling contemporary lyrics and signature Sci-Fi vocal frequencies to project an eerie and suggestive sonic vision of the current global dystopia playing at a dancefloor near year.
- ECHOBERYL – “Mother Solitude and Other Dark Tales” – Paris, France [Mother Solitude Records]
Feminine archetypal characters, gorgeous, haunted vocalizations, and a dark atmospheric seduction of Dark Wave and Minimal Wave devotions cut an inviting and immersive dancefloor drama.
- SYZYGYX – “I(m)mortal” – Washington D.C, U.S.A. [Cold Transmission Music]
A dazzling, uncensored and timeless evocation of heartfelt solo energy infuses modern, highly danceable, and edgy New Wave/ Synth Pop sonics with transcendent lyrics of self-discovery to construct a culty urban discotheque vibe of raw and invigorating dancefloor sensations.
- MALE TEARS – “Trauma Club” – California, U.S.A. [Starfield Music]
Dark Dramatic, Psychological Dark Wave climates transport the listener onto a cold and sinister Gothic Castle dancefloor where a ruminating ghost haunts and taunts the hallowed dim icy- bright hallways with atmospheric menace and vexing flair.
- THE VIOLENT YOUTH – “Ostavaites Na Linii | Remain on Lies” – Minsk, Belarus/Augsburg, Germany [Media Cube Music/Sierpien Records/A La Carte Records]
Evocative, crystalline Post Punk and Synth Pop nostalgia carries beautiful, emotional Russian vocals through a moody and groovy reflection of emotional sentiments.
- LADDERMEN – “Special Kind of Violence” – Lucerne, Switzerland [Waterfall of Colours]
Gritty encompassing Alternative Rock tissues weave a dynamic, intense, and heady aural extraction of broken and bitter memories from a thoughtfully constructed lyrical tragedy of soul-stirring intuitions.
