No one can deny how taxing 2021 was, and though we can’t make any guarantees for 2022, we’d be remiss if we didn’t recognize some gems that made the Winter season a little less bleak. Case in point: two of Austin’s most outspoken hip-hop creators, Ben Buck (who’s had a fruitful solo career as a rapper-beatboxer-producer on top of endeavors with Aux Cutter and Big Wy’s Brass Band) and BoomBaptist (a sample-based producer who’s taken Bandcamp by storm with his Rick James and NBA Jam themed beat tapes in addition to his work as one half of The Vapor Caves).

Both masters of their craft in their own right, these equal-and-opposite personalities collided once again for last year’s The Marquee, a seven-song balance of bops, braggadocio, overall a cavalier conquest of their preferred musical styles. The Marquee is short and sweet, but still packs plenty of firepower from these two B.B.s, enough to get you out of your 2021 stumble and somersault straight into the new year just like “Gene Wilder”!

Here we are at the final Song of the Day for 2021 and with just one week away until Christmas Eve, this one’s an extra sentimental seasonal pick. It comes from the mind of L.A.’s Stephan Moccio, who, outside of a successful solo career has some seriously impressive co-writing credits: “Wrecking Ball” from Miley Cyrus, the title track from Celine Dion’s A New Day Has Come, and The Weeknd’s “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Gray)”, on which he also played the pivotal piano parts.

This Ontario-born Grammy-and-Oscar-nominee’s had a pretty busy year, releasing his serials Vol. 4 through Vol. 6 (all compiled together on THE ARCHIVES) alongside a breathtaking full-length, Lionheart. But with an almost unquenchable sense of ambition, Moccio’s managed to squeeze out just one more masterpiece in 2021. Less a remix and more a spiritual companion to one of his originals off last year’s Winter Poems, “Winter Waltz (The Music Box Version)” will warm you with its incandescent chords and whisk you away from any Christmastime anxiety.

Song of the Day returns Monday, January 3rd.

Born in Minneapolis and now based out of New York, guitarist-vocalist José James continues to inspire joy at the intersection of jazz and hip-hop. His discovery in London about a decade back led to legendary jazz label Blue Note Records signing James and releasing five of his albums between 2012 and 2018.

Since then José James has been operating through his own independent label, Rainbow Blonde Records, who shared No Beginning No End 2 last year, the live album José James: New York 2020 earlier this year, and Merry Christmas from José James just a month ago. With Merry Christmas James recaptures the glee of his younger yuletide experiences with some familiar jazz favorites and two originals – all of which feel more multi-faceted and nuanced than their surface-levels may suggest – particularly the melancholy “Christmas in New York”.

Like so many others before him, blue-eyed, Mississippi-born vocalist Jeremy Lister first fell in love with singing in his childhood church. Fast forward to 2003 when Lister relocated to Nasvhille and released his debut EP Shooting Star and jump ahead again to 2010, when he joined acclaimed a cappella outfit Street Corner Symphony, who landed second place on NBC’s The Sing Off and earned the group a touring spot alongside Ben Folds.

In the decade that’s passed since then, Lister’s chops as a crooner have only improved, scoring the jazz singer a duet with Allison Krauss, a family record alongside The Lister Brothers, and several high-level commercial and television spots. The latest from Lister is Happy Holidays, Everyone (though we would’ve also accepted Meremy Listmas), a big-band full-length featuring ten outstanding originals. But if brassy mid-century swing isn’t your cup of hot chocolate, bask instead in the sunny Southern-Hemispheric swagger of “Christmas in Rio”!

Even if you haven’t tied the voice to the name, you’ve likely heard Amanda Shires, be it with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, supporting the late John Prine on tour, or as one quarter of country supergroup The Highwomen. But it may surprise some of you to learn that this Lubbock-born/Nashville-based singer-fiddler’s just released her own Holiday album, simply titled For Christmas.

For Christmas features the Grammy winner performing nine originals and two covers alongside an impressive cast of collaborators and a healthy balance of genuine joy and irreverent humor, heard best on “Gone For Christmas” featuring The McCrary Sisters.

Like it or not, Christmastime is officially upon us. And with no apologies to the Scrooges, Song of the Day‘s final week of 2021 is dedicated strictly to the seasonal stuff. First up is Austin’s Patricia Vonne, an actress who’s not only had a fruitful relationship with Robert Rodriguez, but is also an award-winning filmmaker, animator, and singer.

Patricia Vonne recently released her LP My Favorite Holiday, featuring ten original tunes and one cover, all recorded with an impressive cast of collaborators and produced by fellow Austinite Rick Del Castillo. It’s a genuinely enthusiastic take on what’s historically been a polarizing genre, and Vonne’s vocal fervor is infectious throughout, especially on the Latin-leaning, Spanish-language “Cumbia Navidad”!

Beginning with their 2010 debut LP Getting Down from the Trees, Valencia quintet Polock (pronounced like the pop art painter) has historically penned all their songs in English, referred to by the group as the “language of rock”. That tradition was only broken last year with Polock’s bilingual full-length Romance, which also marked a further refinement of their unapologetic indie-pop-rock arrangements and irreverent lyrical themes.

It’s been a whole year since Polock’s last single – the Phoenix-evoking, Spanish-language “Mar Dorado” that ended up being the opening track on Romance. But now at the tail end of 2021, despite its bitter title, Polock’s got another super sweet one fresh off the presses – “Amargo” – that keeps in tune with their Phoenix-adjacent aesthetic but punches it up with trap-style 808 drums and bass.

Pittsburgh-born poet Jac Carson was inspired early on by ’90s alt-rock soundtracks (Van Wilder and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater to name a couple) before getting his chops up onstage in Philadelphia and eventually moving down to Austin. And it’s here that Carson’s project Jac with No K has really flourished – blurring the lines between alternative blues and Americana into a style that the three-piece has deemed “New Texas Groove”.

If you want to check out Jac with No K live, you’ve got a couple good opportunities this weekend; this Saturday Carson plays solo 3-6pm at Lone Star Court and the full band performs that same evening 9pm to midnight that same evening at The Drafting Room. Either way, let Carson’s crystalline vocals help you crest over the rest of the work week with his charmingly-calm composition “Caroline”!

Under the handle Heaven the Dude, multi-instrumentalist producer Lucas Gorham’s already gotten some serious love from the electronic/beat crowd. Not too long ago he produced Houston MC Fat Tony’s 10,000 Hours record, making the country-rap concepts a beyond-satisfying reality. But more recently Gorham’s been hankering to tap into something a little more idiosyncratic, leading us to his new solo moniker, Lucas/Heaven.

Lucas/Heaven shares his debut LP Blues of the World early next year, covering a ton of sonic territory from acid jazz to cumbia, funk and beyond – all underneath biting societal commentary in the vain of Gil-Scott Heron. Blues of the World is out February 18th, and Lucas/Heaven’s given us a taste of his exalted acoustics with the urban-meets-tropical, yacht-rock-adjacent “Every City Has a Rhythm”,just in time for your Best Of 2021 playlists.

Although Minneapolis brothers Page Burkum and Jack Torrey didn’t begin singing together until they were in their thirties, The Cactus Blossoms and their handsome harmonies have already flourished a reputation that gives The Everly Brothers a run for their money. A half decade after The Cactus Blossoms released their debut LP You’re Dreaming and just two since their 2019 sophomore Easy Way, Burkum and Torrey have just announced a new full-length, One Day.

One Day drops February 11th of next year and The Cactus Blossoms have shared a little bit of its pollen early to keep our honey jar healthy, courtesy of the record’s soft-spoken, indie-folk-foot-tap lead single, “Hey Baby”!