Most Popular New Albums on Discogs in January 2021

Our regular roundup of the most popular new albums is determined by how many Discogs users added the release to their Collections during the month. To be included on each genre-specific list, the album must have been released in 2021 in a physical format (meaning vinyl, CD, or cassette), so it won’t take into consideration digital streams.

We wrapped up 2020 with a nice mix of Record Store Day releases, year-end drops (Paul McCartney, Com Truise, Bill Evans), and extremely popular records that made regular appearances since we started the monthly chart back in June (Mac Miller, Phoebe Bridgers, Thundercat, Khruangbin).

However, the first edition of 2021 looks a lot different. For starters, we’ve kicked off a new release year, which means all of those 2020 favorites will not be found in our January ranking. On top of that, we’re only one month in, so there won’t be as many records that qualify for the ranking. All of the records below will have been released, then copped by Discogs users in January 2021.

What this really means, though, is that we have a much more diverse lineup right now. Some of the “smaller” artists with new albums cracked the top 10 before the big-name acts dropped their 2021 work. We also included EPs to keep things interesting.

What are we listening to? Everything. There are some serious gems. Obscure electronic EPs, crooning pop artists from outside of the U.S., doom metal full-lengths, tunes from a professional skateboarder (and former Bones Brigade member), traditional Nordic folks music with a twist — everything has a moment in the spotlight. It’s wild down there. Enjoy.