First Pitch: Day Thirty One – Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a safe New Year’s Eve, and a great New Year’s Day.

Beyond that, I hope MLB and the MLBPA start working toward an agreement, allowing us to see baseball in this new year.

We’ve got a few baseball links below. Pirates Prospects will be undergoing some changes this coming week, with more information in the Updates section below.

With 2021 wrapping up, and with Saturday’s theme being music, I wanted to do a “Best Of 2021” list. Except, music is subjective. What appealed to me might not appeal to others. What appeals to someone else might not appeal to me. And there’s so much music that it’s very easy to completely miss something that gets released.

I listen to a lot of music, and a lot of new music. Below, I put together a list of 25 of my favorite albums released in 2021. I also created a Spotify playlist with samples from each album, along with a few other favorite singles of mine that were released in 2021.

I’ve listened to every album below at least once, and some of them on a regular rotation, or at least parts making my daily playlists. I didn’t want to do a ranking for all 25, but if I had to give a top five, based on what I think I’d listen to long-term, it would be the following:

1. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee

2. Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

3. Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself

4. Leon Bridgers – Gold-Diggers Sound

5. CHVRCHES – Screen Violence

I didn’t include John Mayer’s album here, because if you follow these First Pitch articles, you’d know by now I’m going to be listening to that one. He’d be in the top ten with Aaron Frazer, Madlib, St. Vincent, and CZARFACE/MF DOOM.

Some of the albums below were actually recommendations from readers. I try to listen to everything sent my way. If you’ve got a “Favorites” list to share from your 2021 music discoveries, leave it in the comments below!

Here are my 25 favorite albums and 50 favorite songs released in 2021:

Favorite Albums of 2021

Aaron Frazer – Introducing…

Adele – 30

BADBADNOTGOOD – Talk Memory

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever

Cassandra Jenkins – An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

Cheekface – Emphatically No

CHVRCHES – Screen Violence

CZARFACE/MF DOOM – Super What?

Durand Jones and the Indications – Private Space

Hayley Williams – Petals For Armor

Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee

Julien Baker – Little Oblivions

John Mayer – Sob Rock

Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself

The Killers – Pressure Machine

Leon Bridgers – Gold-Diggers Sound

Lucy Dacus – Home Video

Madlib – Sound Ancestors

Magdalena Bay – Mercurial World

R.A.P. Ferreira – the Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures

Snail Mail – Valentine

Squid – Bright Green Field

St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home

Pearl Charles – Magic Mirror

Valerie June – The Moon and the Stars

50 Favorite Songs of 2021

Daily Links

**From Texarkana To The Pros: Braylon Bishop Starting To Find A Swing

**PBN Podcasts: Everyone Love Free Stuff, Join The Conversation!

**22 Things to Watch As We Hope For Improvement From the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022

**This Date in Pittsburgh Pirates History: January 1st, Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg

**Card of the Day: 1995 Topps Stadium Club Gary Wilson

PBN Updates

First Pitch: Day Twenty Eight – Pirates Prospects

Song of the Day

First Pitch Topic of the Day

MONDAY: JVB

TUESDAY: Binge

WEDNESDAY: Pirates Prospects

THURSDAY: Spider-Man: No Way Home

FRIDAY: Debate

SATURDAY: Music

SUNDAY: Love

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