Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

2021 in Review: Berklee Artists Who Made Best-of-the-Year Lists

26/01/2022

2021 in Review: Berklee Artists Who Made Best-of-the-Year Lists From indie to progressive pop, minimalist jazz to retro rock, listen to songs by Berklee artists that media outlets from around the world cited as the years best.

By

Bryan Parys

December 21, 2021

Well, 2021 didn't wind up being the full comeback the world had hoped for, but around here, students were able to return to campus, and they brought live music back, cautiously, to many stages. Berklee took an opportunity to take stock of our past, and we moved forward into new educational territory. We were immortalized on the big screen and made Emmy nomination history.

Meanwhile, Berklee artists continue to create music that brings comfort and pushes boundaries. While a complete list would be beyond the scope of one page on the internet, many artists in the Berklee community were namechecked as the best of 2021-some of them numerous times-on lists from major media outlets around the globe. In the following playlist, you can listen to a portion of these musicians. Read on below the playlist to find more information on the artists and the lists on which they appeared.

Credits Arooj Aftab B.M. 10

Pitchfork: Best Albums, no. 12, Vulture Prince

Pitchfork: Best Songs, no. 9, Mohabbat

Pitchfork: Best Jazz and Experimental Music, Vulture Prince

NPR: Best Albums, no. 7, Vulture Prince

The Guardian: Best Albums, no. 20, Vulture Prince

Adrianne Lenker B.M. 12, Buck Meek B.M. 10, James Krivchenia B.M. 14 (Big Thief)

Pitchfork: Best Songs, no. 15, Best Songs, Little Things

Sarah Tudzin B.M. 14 (Illuminati Hotties)

Consequence of Sound: Best Albums, no. 10, Let Me Do One More

Pitchfork: Best Albums, no. 35, Best Albums, Let Me Do One More

Pitchfork: Best Songs, no. 40, MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA

NPR: Best Albums, no. 19, Let Me Do One More

Rolling Stone: Best Albums, no. 42, Best Albums, Let Me Do One More

The New York Times: Best Albums (Lindsay Zoladz's list), no. 5, Let Me Do One More

Jess Wolfe B.M. 07, Holly Laessig B.M. 07 (Lucius)

Pitchfork: Best Songs, no. 50, I Don't Live Here Anymore, (The War on Drugs featuring Lucius)

Annie Clark 04 (St. Vincent)

USA Today: Best Albums, no. 2, Daddy's Home

Rolling Stone: Best Albums, no. 50, Daddy's Home

The Guardian: Best Albums, no. 27, Daddy's Home

Spin: Best Albums, no. 21, Daddy's Home

Consequence of Sound: Best Albums, no. 50, Daddy's Home

Xenia Rubinos B.M. 06

Pitchfork: Best Albums, no. 33, Una Rosa

Stereogum: Best Albums, no. 33, Una Rosa

NPR: Best Songs, no. 55, Sacude

Spin: Best Albums, no. 28, Una Rosa

Jilian Medford B.M. 15 (IAN SWEET)

Consequence of Sound: Highest-Rated Albums, no. 27, Show Me How You Disappear

Jeff Parker 90

The Quietus: Best Albums, no. 69, Forfolks

Linda May Han Oh, Bass Department

Pitchfork: Best Albums, no. 42, Best Albums, Uneasy (with Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey)

Pitchfork: Best Jazz and Experimental Music, Uneasy (with Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey)

Shubh Saran B.M. 14

Pitchfork: Best Jazz and Experimental Music, inglish

Julian Lage 09

Slate: Best Jazz Albums, no. 6, Squint

Esperanza Spalding B.M. 05

NPR: Best Songs, no. 36, Formwela 10

The New York Times: Best Jazz Albums, no. 10, Songwrights Apothecary Lab

The New York Times: Best Albums (John Pareles's list), no. 9, Songwrights Apothecary Lab

Jihye Lee '14 (Jihye Lee Orchestra)

The Guardian: Best Jazz Albums, no. 6, Best Jazz Albums, Daring Mind

JazzTimes: Best Albums, no. 35, Daring Mind

Miguel Zen n B.M. 98

Slate: Best Jazz Albums, no. 7, El Arte del Bolero (with Luis Perdomo)

Joe Lovano '72 '98H (Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas Soundprints)

Slate: Best Jazz Albums, no. 10, Other Worlds

JazzTimes: Best Albums, no. 39, Other Worlds

Related Categories

Playlists

Most Popular

2021 in Review: Berklee Artists Who Made Best-of-the-Year Lists From indie to progressive pop, minimalist jazz to retro rock, listen to songs by Berklee artists that media outlets from around the world cited as the years best.

Latest

Image by Getty Images

Berklee Celebrates Taylor Swift in Signature Series Concert Great American Songbook: Fearless-The Music of Taylor Swift will showcase the diverse talents of Berklee performers in an immersive journey through the career of a living legend.

Applications Open for Berklee in Puerto Rico 2022 Registration for the program launches on February 24 and runs through April 15.

Berklee Online and BreakFree Education Collaborate to Offer Music Courses to Incarcerated Youth The partnership began with an initiative called the Unsung Songwriting Contest.

Read All

Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
LINK: https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/2021-in-review-berklee-artist...
See more stories from berklee

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

24/03/2026

Utah Scientific to Showcase a Variety of Hybrid SDI/IP Innovations at the 2026 NAB Show

Utah Scientific to Showcase a Variety of Hybrid SDI/IP Innovations at the 2026 N...

24/03/2026

NAB 2026: Mediaproxy Highlights Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Show 2026

Mediaproxy will showcase an updated version of its LogPlayer interface at NAB Sh...

24/03/2026

Canada's Cgep de Jonquire and Calrec Take Five With a TV Studio Upgrade

C gep de Jonqui re, a public college in Qu bec, has upgraded its TV studio complex with five Calrec Brio consoles and a Dante IP network. The installation was c...

24/03/2026

American Association of Professional Baseball Expands Broadcast Partnerships with RYZ, Bally Sports Live, NLSE, FTF Sports, and SLVR

The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has announced new and r...

24/03/2026

Ateme KYRION Enabled NT's Nationwide Contribution Network During Southeast Asian Games 2025

National Telecom Public Company Limited (NT) used Ateme's KYRION platform fo...

24/03/2026

FDJ United Upgrades Lottery Production with Grass Valley UHD Cameras

Grass Valley has expanded its relationship with ImSoPROD, the TV production entity of FDJ United, with the deployment of LDX C98 compact cameras across its nati...

24/03/2026

Scripps Sports Launches Free Streaming Channel Scripps Sports Network on March 24

The E.W. Scripps Company is launching Scripps Sports Network (SSN), a free, ad-s...

24/03/2026

SVG Sit-Down: NEP Platform VP Dan Murphy on Software-Driven Production and the Future of Live Sports Workflows

NEP Group has launched NEP Platform, a new software orchestration system that un...

24/03/2026

Daktronics Installs New Video Display and Ribbon Boards at Chase Field

Daktronics has partnered with the Arizona Diamondbacks to design, manufacture and install a new LED video display and three ribbon boards at Chase Field in Phoe...

24/03/2026

Grass Valley Upgrades University of Pittsburgh Athletics to ST 2110 IP Production Infrastructure

Grass Valley has completed an upgrade of University of Pittsburgh Athletics'...

24/03/2026

Daktronics to Upgrade LED Displays at Wrigley Field

Daktronics is upgrading eight LED displays at Wrigley Field in Chicago, totaling more than 8,300 square feet, using the Daktronics Renew product line. The upgra...

24/03/2026

ASG Appoints Kevin Poole as Senior Project and Support Manager

Advanced Systems Group has appointed Kevin Poole as Senior Project and Support Manager within the ASG Workflow and Tools practice. The position is newly created...

24/03/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Verimatrix's Juan Martinez on Safeguarding Live Sports Content

In an increasingly streaming-centric world, protecting high-value live sports co...

24/03/2026

The Countdown Is On! Prep for Vegas with SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog

Mediaproxy will showcase an updated version of its LogPlayer interface at NAB Show, April 19-22 in Las Vegas, booth W1423. The update includes AI tools, native ...

24/03/2026

The Creator Economy's Growing Impact: Building the Modern Production Studio With Second Rodeo Productions' CEO Scott Brown

The production studio has worked with content juggernauts such as MrBeast, The R...

24/03/2026

MLB Local Media To Keynote Regional Sports Production Summit, June 29-30, Denver

The event will also feature a State of the Industry address from sports-media veteran and strategic advisor Patrick Crakes....

24/03/2026

Victory+ Launches NWSL Sunday Night Soccer Franchise

Victory , a free sports streaming service owned by A Parent Media Co. (APMC), has launched its NWSL Sunday Night Soccer franchise. The platform says the launch ...

24/03/2026

FAST Sports: Contrary to Some Data, Sports Does Have a Future on FAST

Sports content in free streaming is still relatively scant, but it's growing, right along with its monetization capabilities Streaming-tech company Wurl re...

24/03/2026

New Doc Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN' Produced by ESPN Historian Mike Soltys Arriving April 6

Directed by Greg DeHart, the doc will feature Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famers...

24/03/2026

Tubi Unveils Plans for Creator-Driven Formula 1 Altcasts in Partnership With Apple TV

For the first time ever, Tubi - Fox's free streaming service - is working w...

24/03/2026

What Does 19% Year-Over-Year Growth Sound Like? For Canadian Artists, It Sounds Like a Career

As the music industry gathers for Canada's Juno Awards, the local edition of...

24/03/2026

Meet SongDNA, a New Beta Feature That Reveals the Creative Connections Behind Your Favorite Tracks

Behind every great song is a complex web of people, stories, and inspirations th...

24/03/2026

The Big Picture' Co-Host Sean Fennessey on Spielberg and the Art of the Interview

Few filmmakers have shaped popular cinema as profoundly as Steven Spielberg. So ...

24/03/2026

ALM/Busy Circuits announce the Quaid Gigaslope & FMco

Latest Eurorack modules revealed ALM/Busy Circuits have just introduced another two Eurorack modules, delivering a powerful new modulator that builds on the...

24/03/2026

Akai Pro unveil the MPC Sample

Smallest, most affordable MPC to date Akai Pro have just introduced their most accessible standalone sampler to date, making the iconic MPC experience avail...

24/03/2026

Electro-Harmonix release Oceans Abyss editor

Create & manage presets on Windows & macOS Electro-Harmonix have announced that their free Mac/Windows application now allows users of their Oceans Abyss re...

24/03/2026

Rohde & Schwarz amplifiers enable high-field immunity testing expansion at IB Lenhardt Lab

Rohde & Schwarz amplifiers enable high-field immunity testing expansion at IB Le...

24/03/2026

NFVF CALL FOR PROPOSALS: FEMALE FILMMAKER PROJECT FACILITATING COMPANY 2026

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites eligible Tier 1 and 2 South African production companies to submit proposals to serve as the Facilitating ...

24/03/2026

L3Harris Ramps Up Production for Counter-Unmanned Systems

L3Harris ramps up production of its VAMPIRE C-UxS system....

24/03/2026

Delivering Victory Through Fuzing Precision and Scale

For more than 70 years, L3Harris has delivered essential fuzes and safe-and-arm solutions that bring the might to multi-domain battlefields across the globe, ...

24/03/2026

Clear-Coms EQUIP Wireless System Keeps Youth With A Mission - South Korea Connected

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

24/03/2026

Craft Interview: Rick Bernier, Senior Broadcast Audio A1 Engineer

Rick Bernier reflects on a career that has taken him to the very top of live broadcast audio. As a Senior Broadcast Audio A1 Engineer and Music Director, he has...

24/03/2026

FDJ United Leaves Nothing to Chance with UHD Lottery Prod...

Grass Valley has strengthened its long-standing relationship with ImSoPROD, the TV production entity of the FDJ United, with the deployment of Grass Valley LDX ...

24/03/2026

Utah Scientific to Showcase a Variety of Hybrid SDI IP In...

At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Utah Scientific will spotlight its expanding portfolio of hybrid SDI/IP routing, conversion, control, and signal management s...

24/03/2026

Miri V410 Live 4K Encoder-Decoder to Make North American...

Fresh off its global reveal at ISE 2026 in Barcelona, the new V410 live 4K encoder/decoder from Miri Technologies Inc. will make its North American debut at the...

24/03/2026

Cinegy delivers software defined television for the real...

Cinegy GmbH, premier provider of software-defined television technology, will show how its solutions answer the real challenges facing content creators and broa...

24/03/2026

ArtSound FM Futureproofs with DHD Audio Production Consol...

Canberra-based radio and online broadcast network ArtSound FM (https://artsound.fm/) has invested in DHD audio mixing consoles for two new studios at its headqu...

24/03/2026

IBC unveils 2026 Accelerator projects tackling industry c...

IBC today announced the nine projects selected for its 2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, bringing together organisations from across broadcast, strea...

24/03/2026

Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its Log...

Mediaproxy, the global standard for software-based IP compliance monitoring and multiviewing solutions, will showcase the next generation of its industry-leadin...

24/03/2026

Cegep de Jonquiere and Calrec take five with a substantia...

Underscoring its global reputation as one of Canada's most renowned colleges for television production, the C gep de Jonqui re public college in Qu bec has ...

24/03/2026

Synamedia launches industry-first edge watermarking solut...

Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced the launch of the industry's first edge watermarking solution that enables faster disruption of pi...

24/03/2026

Experience Commerce Wins Social Media Mandate for Fintech...

Experience Commerce, a leading full-service digital marketing agency and part of the Cheil SWA Group, has secured the annual social media mandate for Fiat Payme...

24/03/2026

FCC Approves TV Station License Transfers to Gray

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/03/2026

Study: Globally HBO Max Is Most Widely Bundled Streaming Service

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/03/2026

Charter Communications Names John Lee Head Of Intelligence Ventures

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...