Love, love loved Madra! Same with Maggie Rogers' record.
I really wanted 2024 to be the year that Hurray for the Riff Raff truly won me over. It's an incredible record, but it just couldn't break through to that next level for me. Maybe I just need to listen to it a bit more?
Madra and the Maggie Rogers albums were both fantastic. When Madra first came out I thought it would be a top ten for me but too many better releases kept coming out and it got pushed down the list
There always seems to be one or two albums like that each year. Usually it’s an album that comes out early, first half of the year, that feels like a lock when it’s released but slowly gets overtaken.
So it’s incredible, but it didn’t win you over? That’s a high bar to surpass! :-) It’s in my honorable mentions, and almost made my top 10. But I decided to go with albums that were lesser known or lesser praised in the music press.
I wanted to mention that I played the Loma song and was thinking "I know this artist." And that's because I have her two earlier albums! It's been a while since her last one (I think 2020?) and I remember really digging the mood/s her songs convey.
It's funny that she has a song on her first album titled, "I Don't Want Children," when "How it Starts" is all about her pregnancy/birth. Of course "IDWC" is not really about not wanting children, but it shows the growth (literally) in her songwriting.
I’d been aware of their earlier albums but they never resonated with me until this year. I can definitely appreciate the evolution of the songwriting over their three albums
Love Maggie Rogers, St. Vincent, sort of weirdly on the fence with The Smile and thank you for including Hurray For Riff Raff…. One of my favs of the year. But I keep mine to 20, lol!!
Cool list! A LOT I don't know at all. And I imagine it would take much longer to find write-ups from other magazines to include than your own, so I applaud and bow to how well you incorporated them!
I need to give many of these a listen to offer specific feedback, but I can say that Hurray For the Riff Raff, IDLES, Kacey Musgraves, St. Vincent, and Torres would all be on my top 11-30 somewhere. I just listened to NewDad and loved it, so that might make the list too.
I have a weird block where I cannot get into Khruangbin no matter how hard I try. I think I'm the only person in the world who finds them boring. I did like the album with Leon Bridges though. Same with The Smile, but that's connected to my Radiohead issues as well.
Have you heard the EP that Torres did with Fruit Bats? I love it. Expect to hear a song from it in an upcoming "favorite songs" post.
I'm playing your playlist as I type and "ClarOscure Rose" is on and it's friggin' beautiful. I think I've gravitated to quieter music this year and this one is hitting me in all the right places. Duets especially are working for me.
I was not familiar with Amiture, Emily Barker, Liela Moss, Lionlimb, Loma, and Yama Uba. Will check those out and get back to you.
Thanks Steve! On Khruangbin, did you ever listen to their 2021 album “Ali” with Vieux Farka Touré? If not, I suggest giving it a listen as you may like that one.
I don’t think I’m aware of an EP with TORRES and Fruit Bats!?! I’ll definitely check that out given my love for both artists.
I’d very much recommend checking out Bruno Sanfilippo’s 2019 Pianette which includes the solo piano version of Claroscuro. It fell just outside my top ten that year but is a stunning album, one I go back to regularly. I expect to be writing about some of my favorite instrumental music in the new year.
Definitely interested to hear your thoughts on some of those unheard albums whenever you get around to them.
I haven’t had a chance to work my way through part 2 of your favorite 80 songs but will be on an 8+ hour flight tomorrow and will hopefully get to it then. It’s at the top of my “to read/listen” list!
I don't think I did listen to the Khruangbin album with Vieux Farka Toure! That might do the trick! And you definitely need to check out the Torres/FB EP. Eric D. Johnson has had a busy year!
Hope your flight is/was smooth and event-free. I know traveling (I assume internationally) in December can be a bit chaotic. I went to Brazil in December 7 years ago and it was nuts.
I'll be curious what you think of my "radio" show, or if you just play the YouTube clips. I think the audio clips aren't getting much playtime (Brad told me he skimmed around), but it's fun putting them together.
Part three will go up tomorrow and it's all dance-floor bangers. I'm gonna try and find time to listen to your playlist as soon as I get some spare time. The moving/new house stuff plus work plus my 8-part favorite songs project (what was I thinking?) and the 4-way best-albums project, on top of trying to write a speech for my friend's wedding next weekend, has filled up the days.
I really like the fact you allowed yourself to relax and enjoy the music a little bit more. Not that you weren’t enjoying it before, but sometimes we need a break from our own minds/obsessive tendencies and just be one with the music. I also celebrate the wording you chose — favourites, and/or albums that brought you joy. Takes a lot of the pressure off and helps you focus on the music.
Thanks Andy! Gotta admit, it’s been kinda nice giving myself a break on the album of the year posts. It’s been a refreshing change of pace to be a little less obsessive. To your last point, I’ve been a little more intentional in the language around my album picks this year, motivated in part by your last post and a couple other end of year posts I’ve seen on Substack.
Ever the jokester! 🤣 That would be the definition of torture for me right now. By the way, I've had a look at new releases from this year that I bought on vinyl and I found two (TWO!!! 😂): "Blue Electric Light" by Lenny Kravitz, and "Leon" by Leon Bridges. That's it. That's my list.
🤣🤣🤣 All right, here's as far as I will go: I love both albums, but Lenny's latest is not, in my opinion, his absolute best work. Leon's latest effort is clearly his best so far.
They are at such different junctures in their respective careers that it's only fair to make them compete with themselves instead of with each other. One of the many problems I have with most of these rankings is that everything gets thrown into the kitchen sink 😂
Love, love loved Madra! Same with Maggie Rogers' record.
I really wanted 2024 to be the year that Hurray for the Riff Raff truly won me over. It's an incredible record, but it just couldn't break through to that next level for me. Maybe I just need to listen to it a bit more?
Madra and the Maggie Rogers albums were both fantastic. When Madra first came out I thought it would be a top ten for me but too many better releases kept coming out and it got pushed down the list
Same here! In a “lesser” year, it might’ve been a lock.
There always seems to be one or two albums like that each year. Usually it’s an album that comes out early, first half of the year, that feels like a lock when it’s released but slowly gets overtaken.
So it’s incredible, but it didn’t win you over? That’s a high bar to surpass! :-) It’s in my honorable mentions, and almost made my top 10. But I decided to go with albums that were lesser known or lesser praised in the music press.
This is why music and music lists are so subjective. It's funny how things resonate with different people.
lol. Both things can be true!
I felt the same way about that record Kevin!
I wanted to mention that I played the Loma song and was thinking "I know this artist." And that's because I have her two earlier albums! It's been a while since her last one (I think 2020?) and I remember really digging the mood/s her songs convey.
It's funny that she has a song on her first album titled, "I Don't Want Children," when "How it Starts" is all about her pregnancy/birth. Of course "IDWC" is not really about not wanting children, but it shows the growth (literally) in her songwriting.
https://open.spotify.com/track/23HyI5stpTNVkhB0yR6rx0?si=77007123443a4385
I’d been aware of their earlier albums but they never resonated with me until this year. I can definitely appreciate the evolution of the songwriting over their three albums
Love Maggie Rogers, St. Vincent, sort of weirdly on the fence with The Smile and thank you for including Hurray For Riff Raff…. One of my favs of the year. But I keep mine to 20, lol!!
Looking forward to seeing your list Chris!
Cool list! A LOT I don't know at all. And I imagine it would take much longer to find write-ups from other magazines to include than your own, so I applaud and bow to how well you incorporated them!
I need to give many of these a listen to offer specific feedback, but I can say that Hurray For the Riff Raff, IDLES, Kacey Musgraves, St. Vincent, and Torres would all be on my top 11-30 somewhere. I just listened to NewDad and loved it, so that might make the list too.
I have a weird block where I cannot get into Khruangbin no matter how hard I try. I think I'm the only person in the world who finds them boring. I did like the album with Leon Bridges though. Same with The Smile, but that's connected to my Radiohead issues as well.
Have you heard the EP that Torres did with Fruit Bats? I love it. Expect to hear a song from it in an upcoming "favorite songs" post.
I'm playing your playlist as I type and "ClarOscure Rose" is on and it's friggin' beautiful. I think I've gravitated to quieter music this year and this one is hitting me in all the right places. Duets especially are working for me.
I was not familiar with Amiture, Emily Barker, Liela Moss, Lionlimb, Loma, and Yama Uba. Will check those out and get back to you.
Thanks Steve! On Khruangbin, did you ever listen to their 2021 album “Ali” with Vieux Farka Touré? If not, I suggest giving it a listen as you may like that one.
I don’t think I’m aware of an EP with TORRES and Fruit Bats!?! I’ll definitely check that out given my love for both artists.
I’d very much recommend checking out Bruno Sanfilippo’s 2019 Pianette which includes the solo piano version of Claroscuro. It fell just outside my top ten that year but is a stunning album, one I go back to regularly. I expect to be writing about some of my favorite instrumental music in the new year.
Definitely interested to hear your thoughts on some of those unheard albums whenever you get around to them.
I haven’t had a chance to work my way through part 2 of your favorite 80 songs but will be on an 8+ hour flight tomorrow and will hopefully get to it then. It’s at the top of my “to read/listen” list!
I don't think I did listen to the Khruangbin album with Vieux Farka Toure! That might do the trick! And you definitely need to check out the Torres/FB EP. Eric D. Johnson has had a busy year!
Hope your flight is/was smooth and event-free. I know traveling (I assume internationally) in December can be a bit chaotic. I went to Brazil in December 7 years ago and it was nuts.
I'll be curious what you think of my "radio" show, or if you just play the YouTube clips. I think the audio clips aren't getting much playtime (Brad told me he skimmed around), but it's fun putting them together.
Part three will go up tomorrow and it's all dance-floor bangers. I'm gonna try and find time to listen to your playlist as soon as I get some spare time. The moving/new house stuff plus work plus my 8-part favorite songs project (what was I thinking?) and the 4-way best-albums project, on top of trying to write a speech for my friend's wedding next weekend, has filled up the days.
At least I'm not bored!😀
I really like the fact you allowed yourself to relax and enjoy the music a little bit more. Not that you weren’t enjoying it before, but sometimes we need a break from our own minds/obsessive tendencies and just be one with the music. I also celebrate the wording you chose — favourites, and/or albums that brought you joy. Takes a lot of the pressure off and helps you focus on the music.
Thanks Andy! Gotta admit, it’s been kinda nice giving myself a break on the album of the year posts. It’s been a refreshing change of pace to be a little less obsessive. To your last point, I’ve been a little more intentional in the language around my album picks this year, motivated in part by your last post and a couple other end of year posts I’ve seen on Substack.
That’s great! It’s so important to give ourselves a break every now and then.
Truly humbled by what you said at the end of your comment 🙏🏻🙏🏻 Thank you!
No breaks! You can take a break when you're dead! Now get those headphones back on now and hit play on another new release!
Ever the jokester! 🤣 That would be the definition of torture for me right now. By the way, I've had a look at new releases from this year that I bought on vinyl and I found two (TWO!!! 😂): "Blue Electric Light" by Lenny Kravitz, and "Leon" by Leon Bridges. That's it. That's my list.
But Andy, which one is the BEST?!? Inquiring minds want to know!! 😂
🤣🤣🤣 All right, here's as far as I will go: I love both albums, but Lenny's latest is not, in my opinion, his absolute best work. Leon's latest effort is clearly his best so far.
They are at such different junctures in their respective careers that it's only fair to make them compete with themselves instead of with each other. One of the many problems I have with most of these rankings is that everything gets thrown into the kitchen sink 😂