Albums of 2024 Discussion Thread

[Maschine_Man]

It's been pretty dry this summer, though have some albums to swing back to from earlier this year.

Great, Good, Okay

John Grant - The Art Of The Lie
Jack White - No Name
St. Vincent - All Born Screaming

Nadine Shah - Filthy Underneath
Last Dinner Party, The - Prelude To Ecstasy
MGMT - Loss Of Life
Yard Act - Where's My Utopia?
Gossip - Real Power
Ibibio Sound Machine - Pull The Rope
Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us
Elbow - Audio Vertigo
Bolis Pupul - Letter to Yu
Reyna Tropical - Malegría
Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard And Soft
Jane Weaver - Love In Constant Spectacle
Charli XCX - Brat
Kali Uchis - Orquídeas
Lynks - Abomination
Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter
Kings Of Leon - Can We Please Have Fun
Empress Of - For Your Consideration
Tierra Whack - World Wide Whack
Lemon Twigs, The - A Dream Is All We Know
Peggy Gou - I Hear You

Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine
Empire Of The Sun - Ask That God
Justice - Hyperdrama
Smile, The - Wall Of Eyes
Bat For Lashes - A Dream Of Delphi
Jlin - Akoma
Julia Holter - Something In The Room She Moves
Gruff Rhys - Sadness Sets Me Free
Glass Animals - I Love You So F***ing Much
Future Islands - People Who Aren't There Anymore
Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism
Brittany Howard - What Now
A. G. Cook - Britpop
Villagers - That Golden Time
Chromeo - Adult Contemorary
Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well

[Schüttelbirne]

Here's my favorites so far:

1 | Ahmed | Wood Blues | Free Jazz
2 | Vijay Iyer / Linda May Han Oh / Tyshawn Sorey | Compassion | Avant-Garde Jazz, Post-Bop
3 | Moor Mother | The Great Bailout | Poetry, Electroacoustic
4 | Tyshawn Sorey & Adam Rudolph | Archaisms II | Free Improvisation
5 | Theo May‘s Odd Unit | Alive in the Forest of Odd | Avant-Garde Jazz
6 | Mary Halvorson | Cloudward | Avant-Garde Jazz, Chamber Jazz
7 | Alexander Hawkins & Sofia Jernberg | Musho | Vocal Jazz
8 | Einstürzende Neubauten | Rampen (apm: alien pop music) | Post-Industrial
9 | Susie Ibarra, Jeffrey Zeigler & Graham Reynolds | Insectum | Experimental
10 | Elegý | Graveflowers | Atmospheric Black Metal

11 | Hoplites | Παραμαινομένη | Progressive Metal, Black Metal, Avant-Garde Metal
12 | James Brandon Lewis Quartet | Transfiguration | Avant-Garde Jazz
13 | Arooj Aftab | Night Reign | Chamber Jazz, Chamber Folk
14 | YANG Jing | Singing Strings – Identity | Modern Classical, Chamber Music, Chinese Classical Music
15 | Simone Santi Gabini | The Black Exposition | Modern Classical, Chamber Music
16 | The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis | The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis | Jazz-Rock
17 | Les Amazones d‘Afrique | Musow danse | Mande Music, Electropop
18 | Fire! | Testament | Avant-Garde Jazz
19 | Kee Avil | Spine | Art Pop
20 | Michael Hersch | Poppaea | Modern Classical, Opera

21 | Sunny Five | Candid | Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Improvisation
22 | Allie X | Girl with No Face | Synthpop
23 | Matt Mitchell | Zealous Angles | Avant-Garde Jazz
24 | Keeley Forsyth | The Hollow | Art Pop
25 | John Cale | POPtical Illusion | Art Pop
26 | The Narcotix | Dying | Psychedelic Soul
27 | Tobias Eduard Schick | Turns and Tensions | Musique concrète instrumentale
28 | Kiran Leonard | Real Home | Progressive Folk
29 | glass beach | plastic death | Indie Rock, Art Rock, Progressive Rock
30 | Chelsea Wolfe | She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She | Darkwave, Post-Industrial

[Holden]

Here's my favorites so far:

I love your lists because I only ever know 5% of the albums on them.

[Nick]

The year is 2/3rds of the way over. Here's what I've heard:

Great:

1. Charli XCX- Brat
2. Vampire Weekend- Only God Was Above Us

Very Good:

3. Porter Robinson- SMILE! : D
4. Parannoul- Sky Hundred
5. Beyoncé- Cowboy Carter
6. MGMT- Loss of Life
7. Kamasi Washington- Fearless Movement

Good:

8. Magdalena Bay- Imaginal Disk
9. Peggy Gou- I Hear You
10. Fontaines D.C.- Romance
11. Jessica Pratt- Here in the Pitch
12. Cindy Lee- Diamond Jubilee
13. Adrianne Lenker- Bright Future
14. Waxahatchee- Tigers Blood
15. St. Vincent- All Born Screaming
16. Green Day- Saviors
17. Dua Lipa- Radical Optimism
18. Justice- Hyperdrama
19. The Smile- Wall of Eyes
20. The Last Dinner Party- Prelude to Ecstasy
21. Mannequin Pussy- I Got Heaven
22. Billie Eilish- Hit Me Hard and Soft

Decent:

23. Julia Holter- Something in the Room She Moves
24. Ariana Grande- Eternal Sunshine
25. Erika de Casier- Still

Poor:

26. Taylor Swift- The Tortured Poets Department

***
On My Radar:

MJ Lenderman- Manning Fireworks- September 6th
Floating Points- Cascade- September 13th
Jamie xx- In Waves- September 20th
Sophie- Sophie- September 27th

Caribou- Honey- October 4th
Coldplay- Moon Music- October 4th
Geordie Greep- The New Sound- October 4th
Godspeed You! Black Emperor- “No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead”- October 4th
The Smile- Cutouts- October 4th

[Nassim]

I haven't seen a lot of reviews about Joey Valence & Brae's NO HANDS but they are all surprisingly positive.
They all say the same things : "Beastie Boys" and "dumb fun" and I wholeheartedly agree, it sounds like 2 guys who stopped listening to hiphop when gangsta rap appeared, trying to have as much fun as possible and it really works. The delivery is Run DMC/Beastie Boys like, the beats will remind you of Afrika Baambaataa, ATBQ, House of Pain... it's a blast. I'll assume the lyrics are mostly dumb punchlines from what I got, but they don't aim higher than that.

[Archie77]

2024 has been an incredible year for music! The variety of albums released this year, from emerging artists to established stars, has been impressive. It’s been exciting to see how different genres are evolving. Can't wait to see which albums become classics in the years to come! youtube vanced

[Holden]

I haven't seen a lot of reviews about Joey Valence & Brae's NO HANDS but they are all surprisingly positive.

Easily my favorite hip hop album of the year, easily top five albums of the year, maybe even top three. I played it for my brothers and they looked at me like I was a crazy person, but it is an absolutely spectacular album.

[Jirin]

New Nick Cave album is instant AOTY contender. Reminds me of Ghosteen.

[prosecutorgodot]

Y'all should check out the new Joanna Wang - Hotel La Rut, I'm positive y'all would like it more than I did.

I hesitate to describe it as I'm not sure I would do it justice (and only one listen). It's like artsy indie pop, reminds me of Regina Spektor, Jockstrap. And actually, it kinda reminded me of the Fiery Furnaces, one of my least favorite "discoveries" of the 2000s.

[Rob]

While compiling the highlights for the MegaCritic playlist I decided to listen to Alan Sparhawk's new album, his first since the death of Mimi Parker dissolved Low. I didn't read or hear anything about it beforehand and it turns out I was not prepared for it. It is definitely not another Low album and also not the mourning record you'd expect. Instead it is surprisingly beat-driven music where Sparhawk changes his voice through a vocoder to something that isn't quite chipmunk-like, but way too close. I hated it from the first minute. Surely the shock that this of all things is what Sparhawk decides to release at this very point of his career might have influenced me, but I have a hard time believing this will be a grower. The vocals are annoying as hell and much of the music sounds poor to me, with I Made This Beat and Somebody Else's Room sounding like bargain bin Daft Punk and being two of the worst songs I heard in recent memory.

Has anybody else listened to this and been as baffled by it as I am? And frankly also by the good reviews?

[Gillingham]

I knew what I was getting into with Sparhawk's new album, because I had heard one or two singles before. The first one did surprise me too. Not a fan either, but I do respect his willingness to do something entirely different after his wife Parker passed away. Might just be a palate cleanser for him.

Also surprised by the critical acclaim it's apparently receiving. Not all his fans are as enamoured s the critics. I do wish him all the best though, especially now so am happy with the recognition it gets anyway, even if can't enjoy it much.

I am still looking forward to his next project though, which will probably be a more 'normal' direction, something like Americana is what I've read about it.

[Nick]

Anyone hear the Geordie Greep album? I'm not really much of a black midi fan, but this album is like Donald Fagen on methamphetamine (that's my attempt at a compliment, the album is good so far, I'm only a few songs in).

[Holden]

Three of the current top five albums on RYM of this year were released on Friday. (Geordie Greeg, Godspeed, and Blood Incantation). Kind of shocking, though Magdalena Bay managed to just squeak by in first (I’m pretty sure yesterday’s daily chart had Greep at No. 1)

[Jirin]

Godspeed never disappoints with the album titles. NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD

[Listyguy]

Three of the current top five albums on RYM of this year were released on Friday. (Geordie Greeg, Godspeed, and Blood Incantation). Kind of shocking, though Magdalena Bay managed to just squeak by in first (I’m pretty sure yesterday’s daily chart had Greep at No. 1)

This is pretty common for brand new releases. The diehard fans are the first ones to rate, and then after a few weeks the rating will come back down to earth.

[Jirin]

Updated list:
1. St Vincent - All Born Screaming
2. Nick Cave - Wild God
3. Mdou Moctar - Funeral For Justice
4. Erika Angell - The Obsession With Her Voice
5. Bonny Light Horseman - Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free
6 . Jessica Pratt - Here In The Pitch
7. Swamp Dogg - Blackgrass: From West Viriginia To 125th St
8. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown
9. Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us
10. Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She
11. AURORA - What Happened To The Heart?
12. The Smile - Wall Of Eyes
13. Pepe Deluxe - Comix Sonix
14. Ty Segall - Three Bells
15. Charlie XCX - Brat
16. Kali Uchis - ORQUIDEAS
17. Sheer Mag - Playing Favorites
18. English Teacher - This Could Be Texas
19. Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood
20. Kim Gordon - The Collective

[Nick]

Trying not to overreact here due to the obvious hype, but one listen in and the new Cure album is sounding fantastic.

[jamieW]

Trying not to overreact here due to the obvious hype, but one listen in and the new Cure album is sounding fantastic.

Agree completely, Nick. As a huge fan of The Cure (they may be favorite artist ever), I was trying not to get my hopes up too high, especially after all the delays and feeling that their last album in 2008 was easily their weakest. However, I love this one, and it was well worth the wait.

[BleuPanda]

Kendrick just surprise dropped a new album

[Harold]

Kendrick just surprise dropped a new album

This was already an interesting new-release day, with albums from Father John Misty and Opeth. Now this!

[Gillingham]

Kendrick just surprise dropped a new album

This was already an interesting new-release day, with albums from Father John Misty and Opeth. Now this!

And you're not even mentioning the most important one (for me anyway). Michael Kiwanuka's Small Changes.

[Holden]

Kendrick just surprise dropped a new album

This was already an interesting new-release day, with albums from Father John Misty and Opeth. Now this!

And you're not even mentioning the most important one (for me anyway). Michael Kiwanuka's Small Changes.

Can’t believe you all are sleeping on Kim Deal!

[Sweepstakes Ron]

I actually listened to La Femme's new album from last month. I haven't heard anything else they've done since Psycho Tropical Berlin (which I only got to last month), but that one was fun, and the new one is their first English album. People (the few who still remember them) don't seem so hot on it, but I'm personally willing to embrace its (almost certainly deliberate) cheesiness for at least some time.

[Nick]

First impression of GNX is that it's better than Mr. Morale but not as good as DAMN.

My Kendrick ranking:

1. GKMC
2. TPAB
3. DAMN
4. Section.80
5. GNX
6. Mr. Morale
7. Untitled Unmastered

[prosecutorgodot]

I'm loving GNX, to an extent that I thought I wouldn't again with a Kendrick project. Back in 2022, this was the album I wanted from Mr. Morale after hearing "The Heart Pt. 5". Loving the feeling of immediacy, conviction, directness and universality, just overall hard-hittingness of his musings [as Kenny says on the opener: "Fuck a double entendre, I want y'all to feel this shit"] (unlike Mr Morale - he was literally tap-dancing on that album), and the high-energy of production, ad-libs, everything (unlike DAMN).

Obviously, if you prefer those two other projects, more power to you.

Feels like a well-deserved victory lap after the amazing year he's had.

Favorite tracks might be "Luther", "Reincarnated" and "heart pt 6", but you really can't go wrong with this tracklist.

Easily a top 4 album of the year, maybe even #1.

[ManPerson]

Personally, GNX didn't feel as substantial as his previous projects, but it might grow on me with morel listens.

[Jirin]

The Smile has a second album this year now, and I think it's better than the first one. But both are probably top 20 for me at least.

[Lamerde]

Hi. I know I don’t post here often (I wish I did) but since the year is ending I feel like I should show you my fav albums of the year so far. I genuinely think this year has been great in terms of music and is arguably already a classic year in the reign of 1987, 1967, 1991, etc. I feel like mainstream pop music gets all the flowers this year (and to be fair BRAT is my #4 album of this year) but here’s my top 3:
1. Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few - The World Is On Fire
https://open.spotify.com/album/3dEmEout ... SJNJ3Qnocw
I don’t know how many of y’all are into jazz, but I genuinely believe this is the best album of the year and one of those IYKYK kind of records. I highly recommend this to any fellow jazz freak; such a great LP about the current state of the world. My favorite is the last one, “We Don’t Even Know Where We’re Heading”.
2. Dora Morelenbaum - Pique
https://open.spotify.com/album/0kLSMHP6 ... T9nrKS9JpA
I’m Brazilian and speak Portuguese, but admittedly I (embarrassingly) know much more about Anglo music than music from my native country. I discovered this album through RYM and I just completely fell in love with it. The best pop album of the year.
3. Deadletter - Hysterical Strength
https://open.spotify.com/album/4LFHxq2i ... otMD5BwKxQ
The best rock album of the year. I’m a huge need for art punk and post-punk and i also discovered this LP through RYM. A must-listen for anyone into unconventional punk. Just the bomb.
Thank you for reading all the way through and if you celebrate have a happy thanksgiving <3.

[Maschine_Man]

GNX puts the goat in 'gloat', it's all just a bit exhausting. There is more than a whiff of sore winner (or paranoid king) to the project.

Looking at my list, it has been the driest year for music since the post-COVID drought of 2021. There are 6 new albums in my top 300 compared to 18 last year.

[Dan]

Just felt like highlighting a few of my favourites from this year that won’t get much/any recognition from critics. I’ve read the room (for many years now) and I know that there won’t be much interest in these albums on this forum, but hey, I’m sharing anyway.

First off, a couple of (neo)traditionalist country albums that are progressive as well as traditional at the same time. It feels like there have been more and more acclaimed albums in recent years that were influenced by country music, but the two I’d like to point out perhaps don’t have enough of an indie sound to be admired by critics:

Sierra Ferrell comes across as a down-to-earth person with an unaffected charm on her album Trail of Flowers, but there are enough strong vocals and catchy melodies to give the album plenty of flair.

And Willi Carlisle tells some raw, heartfelt and engaging stories about relationships, drugs and being queer in rural America on his album Critterland.

Across the Atlantic from America, Grace Petrie in the UK energetically blends traditional English folk with rock music to bemoan a broken Britain and raise her middle finger to the resurgence of far-right political views on her album Build Something Better. But it’s not just an angry album from a left-wing protest singer – there’s a lot of hope in the razor-sharp lyrics and some uplifting folk tunes too.

And finally, a couple of album recommendations in the genre of regional music (or global music, or world music, or whatever you want to call it):

Swedish jazz pianist Joel Lyssarides and Greek bouzouki player Georgios Prokopiou collaborate on their album Arcs & Rivers to create a very pleasing marriage of jazz and traditional Greek music. The album was recorded in just one session.

Another album that was recorded in just one session was the self-titled debut by The Joy, a South African a cappella group who are reminiscent of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and who started singing together as teenagers in a small classroom in rural South Africa. The name of the group aptly describes how I feel when I listen to them.

My list as it currently stands:

1 | Vampire Weekend | Only God Was Above Us
2 | Adrianne Lenker | Bright Future
3 | Sierra Ferrell | Trail of Flowers
4 | Willi Carlisle | Critterland
5 | Grace Petrie | Build Something Better
6 | The Cure | Songs of a Lost World
7 | Joel Lyssarides, Georgios Prokopiou | Arcs & Rivers
8 | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | Wild God
9 | Brittany Howard | What Now
10 | Laura Marling | Patterns in Repeat
11 | Kendrick Lamar | GNX
12 | Father John Misty | Mahashmashana
13 | Billie Eilish | Hit Me Hard and Soft
14 | Sarah Shook and the Disarmers | Revelations
15 | Bonnie Light Horseman | Keep Me on Your Mind / See You Free
16 | Michael Kiwanuka | Small Changes
17 | Charley Crockett | $10 Cowboy
18 | Hurray for the Riff Raff | The Past Is Still Alive
19 | St. Vincent | All Born Screaming
20 | The Joy | The Joy

[luvulongTIM]

Seeing a band called Rick Rude in all the EOY lists is such a trip I have to say. No one in the band is jacked with washboard abs or has a distinctive mustache or tights with their enemies faces painted on. I don’t know if they insult the audience during their gigs but just the homage with the name alone is quite ravishing.

[TheLastEnemy]

Anyone heard 'Feet Always Cold' by Joey Duran? It's a shade over 5 hours, but great post-rock if you have the time and the inclination.