Favorite Electronic Albums | AllMusic 2021 in Review

Andy Stott

Never the Right Time

Distinct from his 2019 double EP, the producer's stirring fifth LP evokes emotional disintegration with help from returning vocalist Alison Skidmore.

Basic Rhythm

Electronic Labyrinth

Oblong club constructions drawing from U.K. bass styles like grime and garage as well as classic techno and electro.

Bicep

Isles

The Belfast-raised duo continue delivering their distinctive, high-impact blend of garage, house, trance, and other styles on their second full-length.

Black Dice

Mod Prog Sic

On their first studio album since 2012, this abstract electronics trio find new details in the extremes they've been exploring for decades.

Blanck Mass

In Ferneaux

Crafted during the COVID-19 lockdown out of years of field recordings, Benjamin John Power's fifth album is a haunting expression of the need to connect.

CFCF

Memoryland

Mike Silver takes a deep dive into his formative influences, channeling trance, big beat, and U.K. garage as well as alternative rock and post-grunge.

Clark

Playground in a Lake

The producer/composer's Deutsche Grammophon debut combines folk, orchestral, and electronic elements into a haunting meditation on climate change.

Danny L Harle

Harlecore

The producer's debut album is a loving reinvention of late-'90s and early-2000s rave culture.

Darkside

Spiral

Second full-length from electronic composer Nicolas Jaar and multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington's collaborative project is dense and shapeshifting while maintaining exacting control.

DJ Manny

Signals in My Head

The Teklife affiliate's first Planet Mu release blends footwork with R&B slow jams, while branching out into several other styles of dance music.

Eris Drew

Quivering in Time

Spiritually charged psychedelic house from lauded DJ and producer Eris Drew.

Fire-Toolz

Eternal Home

Angel Marcloid's ambitious seventh album as Fire-Toolz contains some of her most accessible songwriting to date.

Flying Lotus

Yasuke [Music from the Netflix Original Anime Series]

Riveting score for LeSean Thomas' anime series inspired by a real-life 16th century African samurai.

Gaspard Augé

Escapades

A bombastic yet tightly focused prog-disco epic from one-half of French electro-house pioneers Justice.

Gerald Cleaver

Griots

A second album of enthralling electronic compositions from the veteran jazz drummer.

I. Jordan

Watch Out!

The breakout producer's Ninja Tune debut is a propulsive five-song EP celebrating the joy of simply being alive and active.

Jana Rush

Painful Enlightenment

Chicago's Jana Rush channels her struggles with depression on her challenging yet captivating second album.

Jayda G

DJ-Kicks

The Grammy-nominated DJ, producer, and singer's first commercially issued set mixes jazz-funk and post-disco favorites with soulful house gems.

Jessy Lanza

DJ-Kicks

A cosmopolitan and ecstatic mix featuring an exclusive collaboration with Hyperdub labelmate Loraine James.

John Carpenter

Lost Themes III: Alive After Death

The third volume in the director's series of imaginary soundtracks spans wonderfully spooky atmospheres to gonzo set pieces.

Joy Orbison

Still Slipping, Vol. 1

Joy Orbison's first full-length release is a reflective, scrapbook-style mixtape threaded with samples of his family members.

Kasper Marott

Full Circle

Debut LP from the Copenhagen producer, containing ambient house and trance epics as well as mutated breakbeat experiments.

Kedr Livanskiy

Liminal Soul

Kedr Livanskiy's self-produced third album is a reflective set of dreamy indie dance, with her most creative vocalizations to date.

KMRU

Logue

Early recordings from Kenyan sound artist KMRU, presenting some of his most accessible, cinematic work.

Lee Gamble

Flush Real Pharynx 2019-2021

Triptych of EPs which artfully express the physical rush and paranoia of city life and virtual technology.

Leon Vynehall

Rare, Forever

Vynehall's second Ninja Tune full-length is another left turn, filled with angular club experiments and ambient jazz daydreams.

Little Snake

A Fragmented Love Story, Written by the Infinite Helix Architect

The logic-defying, fourth wall-breaking full-length debut from the Brainfeeder-signed Canadian producer.

Loraine James

Reflection

Loraine James' second Hyperdub full-length is another eclectic, personal expression, leaning closer to drill and R&B than her previous album.

Loscil

Clara

The producer's nuanced, mysterious yet revealing portraits of light make for another impressive album.

Lotic

Water

Progressing from experimental club music to post-industrial avant-pop, Lotic's second album is a song cycle about intimacy and desire.

Lucrecia Dalt / Aaron Dilloway

Lucy & Aaron

This collaborative album from two distinctive personalities of experimental music reaches the highest articulation of their respective styles.

Mouse on Mars

AAI

The tirelessly creative duo synthesize the soul of artificial intelligence, challenging conventions of authenticity and emotion in the process.

Nicolay

Analog Dreams

Triple-pack of inviting and adventurous electronic EPs from one-half of the Foreign Exchange.

Ouri

Frame of a Fauna

Remarkable full-length debut from the Montréal-based artist, fusing classical instrumentation with post-industrial beat constructions.

Pauline Anna Strom

Angel Tears in Sunlight

Chiefly inspired by her pet lizards, the final album from the new age composer contains her brightest, most tropical-sounding work.

Phew

New Decade

The innovative Japanese artist reaffirms she's at the peak of her powers with haunting pieces that challenge notions of the perception of time.

Polo & Pan

Cyclorama

The Parisian electronic duo's sophomore set is a cinematic wonder of exotic, bouncy pop with heaps of class.

Porter Robinson

Nurture

The EDM superstar's second album contains his most introspective songwriting as well as some thrilling experiments.

Quickly, Quickly

The Long and Short of It

Lo-fi beatmaker transitions into vibrant singer/songwriter with electronic production tendencies on this collection of vibrant, warm, and rapidly changing sounds.

Róisín Murphy

Crooked Machine

Crooked Man's Richard Barratt reimagines Róisín Machine in elegant, hypnotic, and possibly even more danceable ways.

Shawn Rudiman

Flow State

A surprising set of ambient techno pieces that stands out as one of the Pittsburgh synth master's best releases.

Skee Mask

Pool

Skee Mask's boundlessly creative third album is a nearly two-hour epic that effortlessly flows through numerous styles.

Teno Afrika

Amapiano Selections

An intriguing instrumental variation on amapiano, a South African dance music style reminiscent of deep house and kwaito.

The Bug

Fire

Kevin Martin delivers another guest-heavy dystopian epic in the vein of London Zoo and Angels & Devils.

Vangelis

Juno to Jupiter

A conceptual work based on space probes and space travel, threaded through with rich metaphor from Greek mythology.

Various Artists

Sounds of Pamoja

Nyege Nyege Tapes' second compilation drawn from Tanzania's singeli scene, focusing on Pamoja Records.

The AllMusic 2021

Year In Review

Whether it was the heady ambitions of The Bug, Vladislav Delay and Jana Rush, or more traditional electronic recordings from Flying Lotus, Vangelis, and Mouse on Mars (pictured), there was no shortage of new sounds in electronic music to discover in 2021.