MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 non-album releases

Here are my favorite releases, which you cannot consider albums. This includes EPs, 7" records and compilations.
I've also only chosen releases which I own in physical format, so some great stuff is missing! Most worth mentioning among those is one of the finest EPs of this year, "K69996ROMA:EP" by Nick Hudson, but also Murderbait's goth rock highlight "When The Sun Goes Down, It Goes Down Forever". My favorite releases, which are - as of now - exclusively available in digital form are Lingua Ignota's "Agnus Dei" and one of the very best songs of the year, "Anhedonia" by Chelsea Wolfe feat. Emma Ruth Rundle.

I've already covered live albums in a previous MUSIC 2021 post.

So now that we've got all that out of the way, here are my...

TOP 7 NON-ALBUM MUSIC RELEASES 2021:

1. DEAD NEANDERTHALS - Rat Licker
   
   
   
   No year is complete without at least one brain-demolishing release from the Dutch Neanderthals. On their 7" EP - which you could arguably call a time lapse album - "Rat Licker", Otto and René go back to their own beginnings as well as the roots of the jazz grind genre and smash through an insane bunch of twelve sax and drums only bangers, of which only two even exceed the one minute mark. Pure fun!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. EMMA RUTH RUNDLE & THOU - The Helm Of Sorrow
   
   
   
   Heavy fucking hell! As a whole an even more diverse and balanced work than the previous full album of this collaboration "May Our Chambers Be Full", from whose sessions these recordings were left, "The Helm Of Sorrow" showcases the greatest strengths of both the singer / guitarist and the sludge metal band, while also featuring lead vocals by Emily McWilliams and an excellent cover version of "Hollywood" by The Cranberries. A mighty, rifftastic fuck yeah of an EP!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. ELECTRIC MOON - Phase
   
   
   
   Now for something a little bit longer, which is a 2 CD best of and more compilation of the German krautrockers Electric Moon. Filled with remastered versions of familiar studio album songs and more obscure cuts from EPs and samplers, as well as Beatles and Tangerine Dream cover versions, this lovingly packaged psychedelic must-have guarantees electric elevation, levitation and elation. Excuse me while I hug the orbit!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. LUCIFER - Gone With The Wind Is My Love
   
   
   
   I must admit that I haven't gotten the new Lucifer album yet, as I had planned to do that at a live show, to which I then ultimately didn't go. But it will surely come to me rather sooner than later. Until then I'll continue enjoying the duet of Johanna Platow Andersson with Blues Pills soul powerhouse Elin Larsson for the cover version of the doo-wop song "Gone With The Wind Is My Love" from Rita And The Tiaras. The B-side of this 7" is a great live version of "Cemetery Eyes" from "Lucifer III".
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. NOKTI - Cockschmerzen
   
   
   
   Gestatten Sie, this is Nokti from Croatia! With six tracks in fourteen minutes their CD "Cockschmerzen" (which is a german/english wordplay on two different kinds of headache) scratches a similar itch as Dead Neanderthal's "Rat Licker", yet it uses not only avant-garde jazz noise, but also brings to minds a multitude of further references, among which Oranssi Pazuzu and The Mars Volta are only two of the most obvious. Excellent brainfuckery.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. HIERONYMUS DREAM - Clairvoyance
   
   
   
   Ok, so strictly speaking this may not be a 2021 release, but fuck this shit, the Weird Beard tape came out this year, boosted with a bonus track of thirteen minutes. And this is just too good to fall by the wayside!
   As soon as I heard the warm and crystal clear sound of the Greek instrumental band, I immediately knew that I had to get my hands on this flawless floydish krautrock EP. Its combination of constant drive and flittering space guitars is just too darn addictive.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. ZOMBI - Liquid Crystal
   
   
   
   The master synthwave rock duo at work again. Even though the creative approach of this EP isn't too far from Zombi's previous album "2020" and also brings a lot of guitar into the established mix of 80's space and horror synths with bass and spectacular drumming, I enjoy "Liquid Crystal" quite a lot more. The fitting artwork helps too, but first and foremost these five tracks just gather the strengths of the Pennsylvanian group in the best possible way. This feels fresh, vivid, adventurous.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

The last part of of MUSIC 2021, being the main dish of the TOP 21 studio albums, will probably take me a bit longer and follow in a couple of weeks!

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 live shows

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 live albums

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 non-album releases

MUSIC 2021: TOP 21 albums