I will add this as my favorite jazz release of the year! I can’t think of anything else that has come close in production value and sq, while adding texture and color to the sound, it’s just excellent. If that isn’t enough, they also made jazz covers of If 6 was 9 and Misty Mountain Hop, both are exquisite!
In no particular order, and I reserve the right to add more later…
[Modded swearwords]
Ouch, that must have been painful!
Reminds me of the night I got to drink with Lemmy post show til wee hours of the morning. He was a nice bloke.
I’m going to have to start listening to two albums at once to keep up. 
Working my way through OP list. Happy to say I’ve heard a few of these already. Happy to say there are plenty on here I have absolutely no interest in.
The one that made me smile the most was Dry Cleaning. I discovered this band via KEXP YouTube channel and thought their live set was really great (Nov 19 2020). I’ve listened to New Long Leg a dozens times now. The video for Scratchcard Lanyard is quirky and whimsically excellent as well. Just excited to see this band get recognition for what they do. And, of course, it’s its own genre:
OK, back to the music.
Lorna Shore - And I Return To Nothingness
Swallow the sun - Moonflowers
bicep - isles
Rüfüs du sol - surrender
Here are some albums that I’ve really enjoyed this year.
Just read through this list and a fair number of albums already mentioned in this thread.
It’s difficult to choose the best, cause there’re so many moods which fits to different music/albums. But these ones stayed in my memory.
There are more for sure with more time to reflect
Great thread.
Five top albums in no particular order:
Five more coming soon. 
Here’s another in my personal top 10 of 2021.
For some reason, I keep coming back to this:
Right. Me too.
I’ve listened to a lot of great new albums in 2021, but this one has the highest play count so far:
Here’s the second half of my top ten:
Roon tells me I’ve added 226 227 228 albums to my offline collection in 2021. Either I’ve been paying better attention this year or 2021 has been a bumper year for new releases.
Here’s my third favourite album of 2021, again not in any particular order.
