I'm pleased to declare that
voting is now open for the RAWK Album of the Year 2021.Almost all of the short introduction that I wrote last year remains true, and I'm sure that in years to come we'll look back on this period as a sprawling whole rather than as a pair (hopefully no more) of neatly defined calendar years.
In a year affected by the onset of global pandemic, music will no doubt have offered a refuge and represented a small mercy for many. We'll all have been keeping up to date with the activities of our favourite artists in this most unusual of years, as well as taking opportunities to engage with those of who are new to us - whether via the radio, recommendations of friends, family, and fellow RAWKites, or other means. I always enjoy the '...in Music' discussions on RAWK, as well as the 'Album of the Year' threads, and it's pleasing in this day & age that there remain lots of people out there will an appreciation for the album format. Grateful for the periods during which record stores have been able to open, as well as for the many who've adapted their operations to coordinate an increased home-deliver offering - I'm sure many will also have enjoyed engaging with albums via the streaming services (the governance of which is currently under the scrutiny of the cross-party DCMS Committee).
One thing that does occur to me, twelve months on, is that whilst 2020 could perhaps be defined as having been something of a year of shared experiences (the newness of it all, along with periods of enforced lockdowns), 2021 has perhaps been about the different experiences we've had in our individual relations to that shared context. Vaccinations have become widely available and most of the year has been free of any form of enforced lockdown, but we - along with our families & friends - have received our vaccinations and engaged with our relative freedoms at significantly different rates. 2021's music will, for some, represent a soundtrack to renewed freedoms - music perhaps experienced out & about, with friends, and in live settings; for others, it my represent soundtracks to periods of caution, ill health, and even of loss. Recent news of course suggests that we're by no means out of the woods with this pandemic, but hope is important - I hope, that if 2020 had a sense of collective distress about it and 2021 has been about disparate freedoms, that the music that we go on to discover and listen to in 2022 can represent the soundtrack to a happier time and a more collective celebration of appropriate & equal freedoms.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to hearing what you've all been enjoying & experiencing 2021 to. Write-ups, as always, are very much encouraged.
Voting will remain open for just short of a six week window, closing at 23:59:59 GMT on Friday 7th January.
The Rules- Albums must have a 2021 UK release date. Please check your release dates if you are unsure.
- You can list as many albums as you like but only the top 10 will score points and they must be in order.
- People that list less than 10 albums will still score points. However 5 albums or less will result in a restricted points tally for that list, but a number one album will always score maximum points.
- For the most part no live or compilation albums. These are banned if they are a collection of previously released stuff but are admissible otherwise. Re-issues are frowned upon.
- Lists can be amended/changed right up to the closing date. If you replace an album on your list with another please let me know what album has been removed. Or if you shimmy the order of your list about, let me know what albums have moved positions.
- EPs and other digital-format releases have been subject to debate in the last couple of years, and - particularly in the unusual circumstances that 2020 has presented - will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please state your case along with your post if any of your votes fall into such grey areas.
ScoringThe Formula One style scoring system will remain in place for RAWKites selections. People's top 10 albums will score as follows:- 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1.
In keeping with a tweak to F1 scoring in recent years, I'm also going to award a single bonus point for each voter's song of the year ("year" being of album release), as long as the song features on an album in your list - top 10 or otherwise. I'm binning that bit again for 2021, as I don't think anyone engaged with it.
DiscussionDiscussion to be encouraged. Feel free to stick any magazine or website Top 10's, Top 50's, etc, on here as they may help jog our memories. If you're a lurker and don't normally contribute to the ‘...in music’ threads, please feel free to vote anyway - and you're more than welcome to join the conversation:
https://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=346763.0RAWK AOTY Roll of Honour2020: Taylor Swift -
Folklore2019: Lana Del Rey -
Norman Fucking Rockwell!2018: Sons of Kemet -
Your Queen is a Reptile2017: War On Drugs -
A Deeper Understanding2016: David Bowie -
Blackstar2015: Kendrick Lamar -
To Pimp a Butterfly2014: The War On Drugs -
Lost In A Dream2013: Arcade Fire -
Reflektor2012: Chromatics -
Kill for Love2011: PJ Harvey -
Let England Shake2010: Arcade Fire -
The Suburbs2009: Animal Collective -
Merriweather Post Pavilion2008: Kings of Leon -
Only By The Night2007: The National -
Boxer2006: Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins -
Rabbit Fur Coat2020's Standings- Folkore - Taylor Swift (152)
- Fetch the Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple (122)
- Women in Music pt.III - Haim (93)
- A Hero's Death - Fontaines DC (74)
- Saint Cloud - Waxahatchee (70)
- Rough & Rowdy Ways - Bob Dylan (65)
- We Will Always Love You - The Avalanches (62)
- Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers (57)
- Song for Our Daughter - Laura Marling (55)
- RTJ4 - Run the Jewels (55)
