HCTF's best of 2021 (20-16)

• 20-16
• |
• 15-11
• |
• 10-6
• |
• 5-1

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HCTF's annual list of the 20 albums that will be in regular rotation for many years to come. As per usual many genres are represented. Here Comes The Flood covers a lot of ground and it shows in this eclectic, final tally.

Today: countdown from number 20 to 16.

Please shop at your local record store. Most of them have a website where you can order your stuff. Buy directly from the artist, attend live shows when it's safe to do so again. Tell your friends. Word-of-mouth can't be beat as the prime source to discover new music.

Soda Sun: Stay Here

For those with a craving for some top shelf folk-tinged Americana meets indie rock music, the debut album by Tucson, AZ quartet Soda Sun is an essential addition to their collection. On Stay Here melancholy and recently found happiness are playing catch. Songwriter Johnny Goraj makes every word count and the ringing of Johny Vargas' guitar offers comfort. Derek Cerretani (bass) and David Foley (drums) keep it all together, weaving a gentle swaying backdrop.

Setting up shop in their home studio they captured the songs on a 35-year-old reel-to-reel 8-Track Tascam 388, a cherished piece of recording equipment with superb specs. This is a band that allows the songs to breathe. There won't be many albums where 12th Century German mysticist St. Hildegard of Bingen rubs shoulders with a song about Junkies or looks back on growing up in South Dakota (Horse and Home). The common ground on Stay Here is that each song is a story that needs to be told. Serious listeners with an open mind might even learn something.