Best of 2021: Sigh's Mirai Kawashima Picks Favorite Album, Book, TV of Year | Revolver

Best of 2021: Sigh's Mirai Kawashima Picks Favorite Album, Book, TV of Year

Mike Patton live actions, Eighties crossover discoveries and more
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Courtesy of Sigh

Revolver has teamed with Sigh for an exclusive "neon green with white splatter" vinyl variant of their 2001 album Imaginary Sonicscape. It's limited to 200 — get yours before they're gone!

2021 has been, without a doubt, one of the most memorable years in modern music history. The invisible elephant in the room was obviously COVID-19, which triggered the unprecedented year-plus blackout on nearly all live shows. Thankfully this spring's widespread vaccination rollout proved effective enough for the restrictions to lift, and by summer bands were finally able to hit stages throughout the country.

While we're not quite in "post-COVID" times just yet, the sheer joy of experiencing the cranked sounds and singular live energy of gatherings big and small — from sweaty Turnstile club gigs and raucous Slipknot road shows to massive Metallica-led festivals — was beyond rejuvenating.

Plus, there's also been a bunch of killer albums released this year to keep us entertained in between mosh pits. Old-school heavies Iron Maiden, Carcass and At the Gates brought the heat, scene leaders Mastodon and Gojira upped the ante, Converge and Chelsea Wolfe dropped a bomb collab and a clutch of up-and-coming trailblazers — Spiritbox, Jinjer, Turnstile, Scowl, Portrayal of Guilt and more — pushed heavy music into exciting new territories. (See Revolver's 25 favorite albums of 2021 here.)

As we close the books on 2021, we're catching up with some of our favorite artists to get their picks for the best of the best of the past year. Below, Sigh bandleader Mirai Kawashima shares his favorite shit: from new Mike Patton live actions to Eighties crossover discoveries and more.

Best Album: 'The Night They Came Home' by Mr. Bungle

Reason? Well, Mr. Bungle is always great.

Best TV Show: Burn Notice

Obviously it's not from 2021, but I watched all the seasons during the quarantine.

Best Books: Crossover the Edge: Where Hardcore, Punk And Metal Collide and Contract in Blood: A History of UK Thrash Metal

I read Crossover the Edge [by Alexandros Anesiadis] and Contract in Blood [by Ian Glasper], both of which are not from 2021, but were definitely interesting reads.

Best New Band: The Six and Violence

They are a crossover band from the Eighties and Nineties. I found them via Crossover the Edge. I've been a huge crossover fan and how did I miss them for a long time? Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull did a guest appearance on their [1990] album Lettuce Prey, which is a brilliant album.

Best Musical Moment

The metal shows haven't come back yet here in Japan, except for the domestic artists … So I haven't attended any!

What Are You Most Excited for in 2022?

Sigh's new album will be coming out. Again, this will be something completely different from any of our past releases. And hopefully we'll come to the U.S. and Europe for some shows.