( AP Photo/Jim Mone )
Listeners call in to share their picks for the best in movies, television and music from 2021.
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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We're going to end the show today with the best of 2021 according to you. You are now invited to call up and name your very best culture and entertainment items of the year from whatever category you feel passionate about. Movies, books, music, theater, or pick something else. Best podcast, best moment in sports, best tech gadget, or alternative social media site, or whatever you want. What was the best piece of culture you consumed this year, that was made this year? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692, or tweet it at @BrianLehrer.
We're inviting you not only to name your picks, to be perfectly clear, but to name your own category for your picks. Can you do it with that little structure? 212-433-9692. You are invited, and we'll give out extra points for deep cuts, like got a foreign language film that came out in 2021 that you don't think a lot of people have seen. What about an Indie album that didn't quite make it on everyone's radar, or a new book from a debut novelist? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.
I'll go through a few things that people are talking about just as some examples. There were lots of remix and film adaptations that came out this year. What did you think of Cowboy Bebop, Netflix's live action adaptation of the anime, or the highly anticipated remake of Dune? Did it live up to the hype? Dune-heads, 212-433- WNYC. What about albums? Did you know, for example, that the 1980s band Duran Duran came out with a new album this year that Rolling Stone critics are calling one of the best of the year? That one was called Future Past. Speaking of music icons, Adele came out with 30. Did you give it a listen and love it or not so much? The album Afrique Victime by Mdou Moctar that's been making all the best of lists, it seems. Thought I would share with you a short clip of the title track.
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Brian Lehrer: Rolling Stone calls it the year's most exhilarating guitar jam album, infused by both traditional desert music and Eddie Van Halen fandom. How's that for a combination? How would you describe your favorite album of 2021, and why did you have it on repeat? 212-433-WNYC, or we could get into music documentaries. Who saw Summer of Soul directed by Questlove? Is it really worth sitting through The Beatles: Get Back, that nearly eight-hour docuseries? What would you recommend from any genre?
212-433-WNYC, or you can also throw in what you felt was overrated and what you thought people should skip, because that's valuable too, but it is your best culture and entertainment items of the year from whatever category you feel passionate about. Kyle in Brooklyn has a TV show, I think. Hi, Kyle, you're on WNYC.
Kyle: Hey, Brian. I just wanted to mention this show I've been watching on HBO called How To with John Wilson. I think it's just about the best thing on TV right now.
Brian Lehrer: Describe it a little for people who don't know it.
Kyle: It's a memoir documentary about this guy's experience of just living in New York. He tackles really mundane topics, like how to find a parking space, or how to taste wine, and just uses that as an entry point into telling the story of what it's like to live in New York city, and just what it's like to be a human being on earth in 2021.
Brian Lehrer: Sounds really cool. I didn't know about it. I'll have to check that one out. Kyle, thank you very much. Lisa in Norwalk, you're on WNYC. Hi, Lisa.
Lisa: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. My favorite documentary this year is Count Me In, which is about drummers and their love of drumming. It's mostly famous rock drummers, but their interviews are really great, and they reference some of the classic jazz and early drummers that they took a lot of lessons from mentally, I should say. I'm in my 60s, and I started playing drums when I was in my 50s, and watching the documentary is just so joyful. It doesn't talk a lot about the arc of each drummer's life and maybe the tragedies that they have, it's really just about how much they love drumming, and they compliment each other. It's just a really cool piece to watch.
Brian Lehrer: Are you a drummer yourself or just a fan of the art?
Lisa: I'm a fan of the art and I'm a very, very amateur drummer, but it's been a while since I've been able to do it. We downsized from our house to an apartment, so I haven't picked it up in several years, but I love percussion. Anybody can watch this even if they haven't even touched the drum. It's just really joyful.
Brian Lehrer: I love the title of it, Count Me In, which is of course so much what a drummer does, keeping the rhythm. Like any musicians, drummers really have to be able to count, and sometimes it's the other musicians who rely on the drummer to literally count me in.
Lisa: Absolutely, yes.
Brian Lehrer: Lisa, thank you very much. By the way, my producers are chiming in about How To with John Wilson. One of them wrote, "+1 for How To with John Wilson." Another one then chimed in, "+2," and another one said, "So good." Obviously, I have to catch up on that one. Scott in Cocoa Village, Florida, you're on WNYC. Hi, Scott.
Scott: Hi, Brian. It's great to be on your show. I would like to nominate Anne Kadet for her blog she started this year, Café Anne. Anne is a former Wall Street Journal journalist who had a regular series, and then I understand that The Wall Street Journal disbanded their New York unit there, and then Anne began this blog. It's a wonderful alternative to all the news that most of us are probably tired of hearing so much of. There's a lot of humor to it. She just profiles a lot of people in New York that most of us would never get to meet.
Brian Lehrer: Yes, there was a Wall Street Journal section for a while, a discrete section called Greater New York, but they don't have that anymore. There used to be a discrete section in the New York Times called the Metro Section. I don't think they have that anymore as opposed to Metro Pages.
Scott: Yes, it's a shame.
Brian Lehrer: Just talking about the print edition. Scott, make me hate you, what's the temperature in Cocoa Village right now?
Scott: Actually, you won't hate me. For here, it's a cold day. People are wearing winter jackets today. I'm not, because I'm from New York City. It's probably not going to get past 60 degrees today.
Brian Lehrer: Okay, I don't hate you so much then. Thank you for calling in. Yoichi in Berkeley, California, as the calls on this are coming in from everywhere around the country. Hi, Yoichi you're on WNYC. Hi from New York.
Yoichi: Hi. I would like to nominate The Linda Lindas, that's a very young punk band. The youngest is a drummer, 10 years old, and 13-year-old bassist, 14-year-old guitarist, and 16-year-old guitarist, all girls. They actually became viral May 21st, this year. They had a gig at Los Angeles Public Library. The only audience was librarians. They actually sing a song titled Racist, Sexist Boy, because Mila, the drummer, was told by one boy, stating that his dad actually said, "You shouldn't get close to Chinese people." Mila is biracial. Her dad is Mexican descent, her mom is Chinese descent. She said, "Hey, I'm Chinese," and the boy backed away from her, and she wrote the punk rock song. It became a huge hit, and they actually became more and more popular in [unintelligible 00:09:42] I highly recommend.
Brian Lehrer: Yes, one for the all-women punk rock band The Linda Lindas. Among their songs, Racist, Sexist Boy. Yoichi, thank you so much for calling from Berkeley today. Call us again. Ross in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Ross.
Ross: Hey, Brian, how are you? Long time listener, huge fan, thanks for letting me call in. Wanted to basically recommend, for a cultural impact, this small piece of technology that I picked up this year. I think it came out in January, but I didn't get it until around March or so. It's called COVE. I put it on during the day, and essentially, considering how scary and anxious life has been for me with COVID and everything, it helps me sleep and has actually impacted my life in a very positive way. I think it could have a huge, profound cultural shift for anyone else that decided to pick it up.
Brian Lehrer: This is a headset called COVE?
Ross: Yes.
Brian Lehrer: How is it different from other headphones that you could put on and play something through?
Ross: It's not like headphones for music, it's a headset you put on during the day and it vibrates. As it's vibrating, it adjusts something in my brain, I don't know really, but honestly, after about a 20-minute session at night, instead of trying to fall asleep for 20, 30, 40 minutes, I hit the pillow and I am done, helps me sleep. Best part about it for me is also helping me to manage my stress, especially considering Omicron and everything else going crazy.
Brian Lehrer: We can all use tools to do that, thank you for that tip. Nick in Michigan, as people continue to call from all around the country with your favorite culture and entertainment items from any genre. Hi, Nick, you're on WNYC.
Nick: Hi, Brian, good morning. I want to nominate the Chvrches album that came out this year entitled Screen Violence. You can read into that title, whatever you like. I found it very inspiring. It was made remotely. Two of the bandmates were in California and the third was in Scotland, and they were stuck that way because of lockdowns last year. They made the album remotely, and it's a great album. There's great songs, but I also found it very inspiring. Just the idea that pandemic life is not fun, but there's ways to stay creative and there's ways to use the time productively and create cool things, cool art.
Brian Lehrer: Nick, thank you so much for that one. Todd in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Todd.
Todd: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. I wanted to recommend The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson's new movie.
Brian Lehrer: For people who haven't seen it-
Todd: For anyone who hasn't seen it, anyone that's a fan of Wes Anderson, even for those that aren't, I was very excited about this film coming out last year, and when the pandemic interrupted its release, I was so disappointed, and I've been dying to see it this year. I was worried my lofty expectations would fall short, but they didn't at all. It's a wonderful film. For fans of The New Yorker magazine, you'll love it, and for fans of James Baldwin, there's a wonderful James Baldwin-esque character played by Jeffrey Wright, that's just excellent.
Brian Lehrer: Thank you for that. One of my producers chimed in, "Was prepared to hate it, loved it," on French Dispatch. Todd. thank you. Alyssa in Chicago, as people continue to call with their 2021 picks from around the country. Hi, Alyssa, you're on WNYC.
Alyssa: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. The recommendation I'd like to make is a musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol. It's called A VHS Christmas Carol, and it's an '80s pop retelling of the story.
Brian Lehrer: Give us a twist in it, without doing a spoiler, if you can do it, one twist in there that makes it new.
Alyssa: It's set to beautiful, emotional, powerful music. I personally have always found the story to be dry and boring. This musical version made me just absolutely fall in love with it. I cry every time I listen to the album. I dance, I sing along with it. It's so much fun, and it's on Spotify.
Brian Lehrer: VHS Christmas Carol, Alyssa thanks so much. Oh, here's a genre I didn't think of, outside art. Tara in Westchester, you're on WNYC. Hi, Tara.
Tara: Hi, Brian. Thanks for taking my call. I'd love to recommend best outdoor art this year. Fallen Sky At Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, New York. Full disclosure, I do work there, and it is our first permanent commission in over 10 years.
Brian Lehrer: I love Storm King, first of all, let me say. Anything that's outdoors right now is an advantage. It's great that Storm King even exists, even greater than before that Storm King even exists. Tell us one thing about this installation, Fallen Sky.
Tara: It's this beautiful, reflective, very large piece that's in a concave space in a hillside, and it changes all day, every day with the reflection of the sky. It's really an incredible piece, we're happy to have it.
Brian Lehrer: That's great, Tara. Thank you for name-checking that, even if you work there. Owen in New Rochelle, you're on WNYC. Hi, Owen.
Owen: Hi, Brian. How are you?
Brian Lehrer: Good. What you got for us?
Owen: Good to speak to you. I'd like to enthusiastically recommend what I think is the best album, if we can still call it that, this year. The artist is Alex Orange Drink and the record is named Everything Is Broken Maybe That's Okay. This is the front man of the great indie band, The So So Glos, and it's his second solo project. It's deeply personal with introspective lyrics that are universally relevant now. You can listen to it and think, or you can get up and dance. From the current zeitgeist to much needed empathy, this album speaks to all of that. It's truly a great piece of music, great piece of work.
Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much for that. Let's see, here's one coming in on Twitter, "The Women's Final Four was outstanding. Competitive games except for one, the games plus the uncovering of the gender disparities in college basketball made this a very memorable year." Let's squeeze in one more. Tim in Crown Heights, we've got about 15 seconds for you to do it. Hi, Tim.
Tim: Hi, Brian. Thank you so much. I'll recommend Joe Firestone's Good Timing on Peacock. It's a documentary that she did about a group of senior citizens who took a stand-up comedy course over Zoom during the pandemic. They were able to do a live show during the middle of the pandemic, whatever we're calling the time where we could go outside. It's very heartwarming, and touching, and sweet, and Joe is amazing. I recommend everyone watch it this holiday.
Brian Lehrer: Senior citizens who take up stand-up, Good Timing. Good timing by you, Tim, you got it in real quick. That concludes this call-in. Wow, wasn't that fun? So much stuff for you to consume, folks. If you're suddenly asymptomatic but quarantined because of your rapid test, or just have to spend a lot of time indoors because it's cold during the holidays, there you go. Hope that's great stuff for you. Brian Lehrer on WNYC.
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