#26 on the 2021 Bacon Top 31 — Sault
NINE by Sault
I’ve talked at length about the prolific output of the secretive British R&B collective known as Sault. Nine, their fifth album in just over two years, and fifth effort to appear on The Bacon Top 31 (_5_ and _7_ were at #7 in 2019, and Untitled (Black Is) and Untitled (Rise) were at #5 in last year’s Top 31).
Go back and read those previous posts to learn more (or least as much as you can) about the band. NINE fits in very nicely with their previous works. The one twist with this album is that when it was released on June 25, the band announced that it would only be available for purchase, stream, or download for 99 days. On Oct 3, 2021, true to their word, the album disappeared. Hence the fan-made video shown above – there’s no longer any official way to listen to this album. If you don’t have it, well, you’ll just have to track it down illegally I guess.
Like the Sufjan and the Jurado albums that appeared earlier in the Top 31, this is the lowest point the band has appeared on the Top 31. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s a trend of some kind – me not liking previously much-loved artists as much as I used to. It’s a thought that hadn’t occurred to me until just now, but I’ll keep thinking on it and see how the rest of the Top 31 plays out here in the bottom third before making any sweeping judgments of my changing musical tastes.
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27. Observatory by Aeon Station
28. The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania by Damien Jurado
29. A Beginner’s Mind by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
30. Where the End Begins by Knathan Ryan
31. Private Space by Durand Jones & The Indications
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Full Album
All albums in their entirety.
Radio Station
A single song selection pulled from each album.