Doof Top Albums 2024
Same format as previous years - these albums are ordered by scrobbles (track listens) rather than by my own ranking of preference. My traditional rankings are listed too, as are 'Top 30' song of the year picks (and the number one song of the year is marked up too). This was an incredible year for music so also check out the extra albums from my Top 100 that didn't make the list (see position 101), this was due to me discovering them too late to pick up enough listens in many cases.... Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4O2tyEnGk8v0BNIoVQFTtw |
| 1 |  | Cigarettes After Sex
X's
Scrobbles: 319
While it now seems likely they'll never top the debut in terms of novelty or in boasting such a high proportion of standout cuts, what 'X's' does prove is that this band can still deliver a more than worthwhile set of new material within their carefully cultivated niche. Here you have the easy melodic charm of 'Hideaway' and 'Holding you, Holding me' on one side and the atmospheric excellence of the closing pairing of 'Bunker Hill' and 'Ambien Slide' on the other, and scoff if you must, but that's about all the level of variety I need when it comes to Cigarettes After Sex.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 24th
Top 30 song of the year: Hideaway |
| 2 |  | Bonny Light Horseman
Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free
Scrobbles: 309
An eighteen song double album where the biggest weakness is three or four tunes drop to merely ‘quite good’ level must be something close to a miracle of consistency right? That’s how it’s landing for me, a bumper set of by turns soul stirring and poignant cuts that prove faith in this trio of effectively ‘musical journeymen’ was warranted. There’s something life affirming in that.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 2nd
Top 30 song of the year: Old Dutch |
| 3 |  | Perry Blake
Death Of A Society Girl
Scrobbles: 233
It’s a source of great pleasure to announce that ‘Death of a Society Girl’ feels one hundred percent the follow up to previous classic ‘California’, boasting a consistent aesthetic and also going as far as seeming to have a loose story flowing through the track list. Once again the surrounds are opulent, at times intoxicating, but at the heart something is amiss - there’s 'something rotten in the state of Denmark'. On ‘California’ there was an air of faded glamour, and of not feeling like you belong in your new home, whereas this time there’s a fragility, a spectre of death lingering in the peripheral, a feeling of being manipulated by fakes and phoneys.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 3rd
Top 30 song of the year: Nobody's Child |
| 4 |  | The Cure
Songs of a Lost World
Scrobbles: 231
A year of comebacks both unexpected (The The, Beth Gibbons) and surprisingly solid (Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins) is topped by the most unexpected and solid of the lot - who had an excellent Cure album on their bingo card for 2024? No one, that’s who (ok, maybe Robert Smith did). Sometimes you wonder why a long dormant band even bother returning; they no longer seem connected to their original muse and the new material feels without fundamental purpose. No such issue here as this music screams ‘emotional depth’ and ‘labour of love’ from start to finish, notions backed up by Smith’s interviews supporting this release.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 1st
Top 30 song of the year: Endsong |
| 5 |  | Mount Eerie
Night Palace
Scrobbles: 231
Ok, so this being 26 tracks long didn't hurt its placing on this list but still, for me there’s really not much between this and ‘The Glow Pt. 2’ and that’s surprising. Elverum nearly always releases worthy work, and of course the intensely personal and downright tragic ‘A Crow…’ was one in particular that resonated with a huge audience, but this album feels substantial and weighty unlike anything he’s released since the early ‘00s.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 21st
Top 30 song of the year: I Walk |
| 6 |  | The The
Ensoulment
Scrobbles: 223
Despite all the expected darkness and despair ‘Ensoulment’ registers as a comforting listen overall and in particular the closing elegiac ‘A Rainy Day in May’, with its wordless singalong refrain and tender strings, works like a soothing balm calming our collective worries. Johnson has always known what note to finish an album on, frequently The The album closers are highlights, and it’s reassuring that happy habit has continued here. It would be hard to argue it’s the neat bow that ties up a perfect return, but encouragingly we’re still somewhere close to a ‘perfectly imperfect’ attempt; even if ‘Ensoulment’ proves to be the most substantial ‘parting statement’ Johnson ever gives us, it was well worth him coming out of that self imposed semi-exile to find his voice again.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 11th
Top 30 song of the year: Cognitive Dissident |
| 7 |  | Crippling Alcoholism
With Love From a Padded Room
Scrobbles: 218
A strange near-concept album about murder and depravity, only this album makes Nick Cave’s ‘Murder Ballads’ sound like a Teddy Bear’s picnic. The monstrous larger than life 'Ottessa' was my song of the year but special mention goes to the next song on the album 'Liquid Jesus' which would have made a Top 5 if artists could have multiple song picks on this list.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 4th
Top song of the year: Ottessa |
| 8 |  | BIG SPECIAL
POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES
Scrobbles: 210
This puts 90% of the landfill post-punk revival bands operating in 2024 to shame - there’s a good boy, have a treat 🐕
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 22nd
Top 30 song of the year: Shithouse |
| 9 |  | Empire Of The Sun
Ask That God
Scrobbles: 200
What I love about this list format is it throws up all the anomalies and guilty pleasures - and this latest build up of fluff from the Empire of the Sun belly button is one such example. A 'wife approved' summer trash album that grew on me a great deal and had me wondering whether these lads should just be commissioned to write every Eurovision song from now on....
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 10 |  | Everything Everything
Mountainhead
Scrobbles: 199
Another more than solid addition to the EE catalogue and the ‘dark side of deep state capitalism’ dystopian fable is a lyrical device that suits the band to a tee as you’d have predicted - but in terms of appeal this release still falls between two stools; it doesn’t have the sprightly pop ‘hit after hit’ chemistry of ‘Raw Data Feel’ while it also doesn’t quite go back to the snarl and shock factor of ‘Get to Heaven’ either. At the final judgement ‘Mountainhead’ takes on the role of a steady Eddie in their catalogue…and there’s a lot worse possible fates than that.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 52nd
Top 30 song of the year: Cold Reactor |
| 11 |  | Fontaines D.C.
Romance
Scrobbles: 196
So can this one be declared the pinnacle of the band's sound so far? It's a tough call, because 'Skinty Fia' in particular had such an enveloping atmosphere and style it's hard to overlook. What 'Romance' can claim, thanks to the diverse song writing and Chatten's smoother and more conventionally agreeable vocal delivery, is being the most repeat plays enjoyable start to finish listen in the band's canon. They've delivered the sort of 'hit album' the big boys of yore would release at this career stage - look around, none of their current peers seem capable of that, so hats off.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 5th
Top 30 song of the year: In the Modern World |
| 12 |  | Little Kid
A Million Easy Payments
Scrobbles: 189
Anyone who was sulking at the lack of a new Big Thief album this year could have done a lot worse than head to this seventh album by a largely unheralded indie act instead - there's a similar atmosphere and approach to composition going on, but more than this Kenny Boothby sings a little like a male version of Adrianne Lenker at times too.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 16th |
| 13 |  | Devon Welsh
Come With Me If You Want to Live
Scrobbles: 179
At the final judgement I’m still confused by this release, as it contains some of my favourite songs of the year, but equally I can imagine many rightly dismissing it as messy, unfinished sounding or too unfocused. All I can say is ‘Come With Me…’ is the 2024 release that's commanded the most replays in the shortest time period for me - so I think I’m maybe looking for something here better than a ‘classic’ or ‘confounding’ album…a classic AND confounding album. I hope this proves to be that, but it’ll still take at least another twenty listens to know for sure….
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 43rd
Top 30 song of the year: Best Laid Plans |
| 14 |  | Arab Strap
I'm Totally Fine With It Don't Give a Fuck Anymore
Scrobbles: 171
An enjoyably rambling exploration of our state of semi shell shock and our deepening love affair with our online second life, best summarised by album closer ‘Turn Off the Light’; this song makes it clear that the impact of the ‘shock’ of the pandemic has directly accelerated this relationship for many through lyrics like ‘I was scared to go out, was crippled with danger and doubt…you came with the answers…who needs family, who needs friends?…I’ve found my people now’. It’s hard to pass judgement, especially when one way or another we’re in some sort of a similar hold ourselves.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 10th
Top 30 song of the year: Allatonceness |
| 15 |  | Grandaddy
Blu Wav
Scrobbles: 168
There's a slight instrumental shift in focus here to a more organic, almost country, type of approach; perhaps a little more novelty for Grandaddy but in reality it makes the material LESS unique, as a track like ‘You’re Going to Be Fine…’ ends up sounding eerily similar to the defunct Sparklehorse. Strangely the lack of variety or uniqueness barely harms the album (if it’s afforded time to unfold) as the subtle writing still boasts the usual appeal with cute ideas like imagining a jukebox that follows your ex around playing ‘our songs’ over and over, or the evocative storytelling on the disarmingly touching weepy ‘Ducky….’ that seems to carry more weight each time you spin it.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 39th
Top 30 song of the year: East Yosemite |
| 16 |  | Tindersticks
Soft Tissue
Scrobbles: 165
The smoothest Tindersticks album since ‘Simple Pleasure’ going all the way back to ‘99…and the most consistent Tindersticks album since 2003’s ‘Waiting for the Moon’. Most of their albums usually contain at least a couple of outliers (‘Chocolate’, ‘See My Girls’, ‘4:48 Psychosis’, etc) but ‘Soft Tissue’ has outlawed the curveballs; this is pure nocturnal soul. As such this is one you can just sink into and it makes for either an undemanding (though addictive) set of offbeat soul nuggets or alternatively some superior nighttime background ambience.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 12th
Top 30 song of the year: Always a Stranger |
| 17 |  | Terrorvision
We Are Not Robots
Scrobbles: 154
'We Are Not Robots'? "We Are Not Defunct' more like it. So here we have this year's entry in the 'you made it through Covid then?' '90s survivor category - yes Terrorvision are still 'at it' and if only half the 'pub rock' songs on this album were much cop...that's still a 50% better hit rate then was anticipated.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 18 |  | Ed Rush
Light of the Void
Scrobbles: 153
Shorter track lengths and more consistently dance floor targeted, Ed Rush knows what he wants here - the sci-fi atmosphere still peaks through any remaining spaces in the mix, but this is less conceptual and more a flat out body shaker. One of the best in the neurofunk business has returned in style - was it ever in doubt?
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 48th |
| 19 |  | Wunderhorse
Midas
Scrobbles: 144
Most improved band of 2024? The Wunderhorse debut was the plainest ‘just fine’ opening effort I’d heard in a while, its brand of mild indie/alt rock resulting in a textbook 6 out of 10 release. Nothing so wrong about that you could say…but still it left you wondering (wundering?) ‘what would it take for these songs to make a real impression?’. The answer was for the band to up the intensity while channelling ‘post-grunge’ acts like latter day Silverchair and Bush at their heaviest. So we’re still dealing with a ‘meat and potatoes’ style but this time utilising a far higher quality of ingredients.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 23rd
Top 30 song of the year: Midas |
| 20 |  | Pearl Jam
Dark Matter
Scrobbles: 134
A resounding triumph from whatever angle you look at it, ‘Dark Matter’ is the comeback special that shows why fans of ‘long past their best’ acts will always cling to that flicker of hope in their hearts; after at least four false dawns this is the real deal.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 88th |
| 21 |  | Fat Dog
WOOF.
Scrobbles: 128
Incredibly unlucky not to be crowned 'laddish album of the year' but 2024 also gave us the quite brilliant BIG SPECIAL so that's unfortunate for them. Another album that's perhaps mostly a guilty pleasure but I believe there's some craft here too, hence the qualifying rating - the way the rave and eastern European flavours are worked in is reasonably unique I'd say.
'I am the King' into 'Running' was one of my favourite track pairings of 2024, the first more an extended intro that got me picturing King Charles (a sorrowful character for me) crying while watching Karate Kid 2 and then if we extend that image into 'Running' now you have an AI Charles armed with shotgun like in a Dor Brothers video with what sound like a chorus of robotic corgis behind him. Or something. Dumb fun anyway.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 76th
Top 30 song of the year (and fugly masterpiece): Running |
| 22 |  | Alora Crucible
Oak Lace Apparition
Scrobbles: 128
Has an ambient release ever had so much traction on this site? Ok, this is the work of the mostly sput beloved Toby Driver but credit to Johnny for relentlessly pushing this bad boy for at least six months. The closing 'I Destination' was the most transcendent 16 minutes of music you could hope to find in 2024.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 13th
Top 30 song of the year: I Destination |
| 23 |  | The Felice Brothers
Valley of Abandoned Songs
Scrobbles: 121
This one does what it says on the tin, ‘Valley of Abandoned Songs’ collects songs that didn’t make the cut for inclusion of any of the last three Felice Brothers albums and gives them a home. The resulting collection has no right to be as consistent and unified as ‘Valley’ surely is and I’m not alone in that conclusion; Conor Oberst started a new label with this album becoming the first release on the roster, so impressed was he by it. If you’ve been on board the Felice train for the last few albums then you’ll feel right at home here as the song writing style is much the same. Where ‘Valley…’ differs is in the presentation, where the production is more basic and the recorded takes a little more off the cuff.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 28th |
| 24 |  | Redd Kross
Redd Kross
Scrobbles: 119
A band that I'd just started listening to after putting them on my 'must get round to' list for decades suddenly released a new album...and it was one of their best. Quite a mix of styles, sometimes they're a bit similar to power pop'ers like The Posies , also some Beatles'y melodies. Very agreeable stuff.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 94th |
| 25 |  | MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks
Scrobbles: 118
A more consistent effort more befitting a 'big mainstream artist' which he now near enough is, though maybe his following is still more a cult one for now I don't know. Lyrical nods to Berman and Malkmus flex his indie credentials and he's certainly not embarrassed by such comparisons - the world's still his oyster.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 7th
Top 30 song of the year: On My Knees |
| 26 |  | Joan Armatrading
How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean
Scrobbles: 114
This is the most normie album I’ve put my full support behind in a long time…there’s just something refreshing about this time capsule of mainstream ‘radio ready’ disco, rock and ballads. The last time I tried to get into a recently recorded Armatrading album I wasn’t convinced by her aged, deeper voice - here for some reason her singing sounds great, perhaps it just suits the bold music presented this time?
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 87th |
| 27 |  | Iron And Wine
Light Verse
Scrobbles: 110
2024 offers up another strong comeback album with Sam Beam showing he’s still in fine (and youthful sounding) voice at 49. Immediately ‘Light Verse’ falls into line with recent impressive releases by Andrew Bird and Damien Jurado - two artists who operate with a very similar old timey folk sound to that presented here. Evocative songs like ‘Taken By Surprise’ and ‘Tears that Don’t Matter’ really hit the mark, and if others like the duet ‘All In Good Time’ and the ramshackle ‘Bag of Cats’ don’t fully amaze to the same degree they still show off some range.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 89th |
| 28 |  | Jon Hopkins
Ritual
Scrobbles: 108
Nothing illustrates how ambient has started gobbling up a larger proportion of my listening than the fact this 'better then ok' Hopkins release still qualified for a top 100 placing.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 29 |  | Memotone
Fever of the World
Scrobbles: 108
Squiffy ambient aligned nu jazz/electroacoustic/mild IDM that also got a lot of plays in my regular ambient listening slot...
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 98th |
| 30 |  | Adrianne Lenker
Bright Future
Scrobbles: 106
The confident portrait on the cover gets us thinking that Lenker solo could become a bigger draw than Big Thief in the near future while also hinting that the country influence on ‘Big Thief’s ‘Dragon’ was likely to continue across to the songwriting here. So it proves, with plenty of fiddle and other rustic instrumentation accompanying a more prominent country twang in the singing. A surprising release that can initially feel like somewhat of a ‘cold fish’ but slowly goes about dismantling your defences; it’s the first album in a while where on each of my initial seven or eight listens a different song made the deepest emotional impact and staked a claim to be considered the standout. I’m taking that as a good sign, the future is bright, why not?
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 14th
Top 30 song of the year: Ruined |
| 31 |  | Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Wild God
Scrobbles: 106
When it comes to pop, rock and hip hop the very laziest influence to incorporate into the writing is frequently gospel; it’s rare that I’d consider a gospel influence one of the most creative aspects of an album, but ‘Wild God’ bucks the trend this time. Here the gospel vocals and melodies emphasise the desperate and pained nature of much of the material, these sections adding to the grandiose rumination and all the associated melancholy. This in itself isn’t a new angle for Cave, but the approach is given a twist here and the end result is that everything feels surprisingly fresh.
TL/DR “It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah”: The Album
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 17th
Top 30 song of the year: Cinnamon Horses |
| 32 |  | John Grant
The Art of the Lie
Scrobbles: 105
A tough sell, there’s an element of ‘more of the same’, and also of ‘switching to the John Grant maximum difficulty setting’ here. The glib summary is ‘it’s the most John Grant-y John Grant album’, and I guess I’m running with that. For me that equates to it being first and foremost a great album, but also it must class as an idiosyncratic labour of love that perhaps requires a little more empathy and patience than most; it’s demanding, he’s demanding.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 26th
Top 30 song of the year: The Child Catcher |
| 33 |  | The Hard Quartet
The Hard Quartet
Scrobbles: 105
One of the hidden gems of the year, Malkmus (Pavement) and Sweeney (Chavez, Superwolf) take it in turns as lead singer (and I’d also imagine lead song writer) and both are in inspired ‘loose and jammy’ form here. It’s like the ‘90s never ended, an endearing ramble.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 45th |
| 34 |  | Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band
Loophole
Scrobbles: 103
‘Loophole’ attempts to pick up where its predecessor left off, and for the most part it’s successful; while not as consistent it still carries the same attractive breezy feel. The vocals have always been a bit ‘pub singer’ but occasionally here they sound alarmingly flat and a couple of the tunes border on becoming irritating, but overall a solid follow up to a gem of a release.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 62nd |
| 35 |  | Young Jesus
The Fool
Scrobbles: 102
One that requires patience, the most obvious 'grower' of the year so far for me, and similar to the Devon Welsh I find this one somewhat confounding and hard to get a grip on even after ten or so full listens. The tracks with Anohni style vocals are initially a little off putting - but at a certain point they started to reveal themselves as my favourites.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 51st |
| 36 |  | Underworld
Strawberry Hotel
Scrobbles: 100
It’s a long head trip and there are moments that are less engaging though it feels that this is by design - you the listener are supposed to zone in and out while checked into your Strawberry Hotel room. I’m always impressed when an electronic act are so long lived and have displayed a huge amount of variety in their work while retaining an instantly identifiable trademark sound (almost a ‘brand’ in this case) - a highly impressive latter career work.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 53rd |
| 37 |  | High Vis
Guided Tour
Scrobbles: 99
Sounds like a '90s alt rock band reinterpreting '80s era Killing Joke and U2? Something like that...it's far more refreshing/different than that description would have you anticipating anyway.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 78th
Top 30 song of the year: Gone Forever |
| 38 |  | Skee Mask
Resort
Scrobbles: 99
One of the few truly essential electronic works of the decade so far, the atmospherics here are unreal and to make things that more impressive the variety is huge too. The run from ‘Daytime Gamer’ to ‘Terminal Z’ is the collective highlight.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 15th |
| 39 |  | The Smashing Pumpkins
Aghori Mhori Mei
Scrobbles: 99
The first Pumpkins album since 'Machina' to boast an indispensable Billy tune, wisely placed as the opener, and by the time you'd heard that the amount of goodwill built up was enough to get you through a remainder of material that was truthfully no better than the salvageable songs from 'Oceania' and the aforementioned 'Machina'. Still, enough for me to call this the best Smashing Pumpkins album since 1998's 'Adore' !!
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify
Top 30 song of the year: Edin |
| 40 |  | Jamie xx
In Waves
Scrobbles: 98
A little disposable at times maybe, but this delivered what I'd hoped for - a few big choons Kenneth.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 38th |
| 41 |  | John Moreland
Visitor
Scrobbles: 98
The big man does it again, this time returning with a more trademark understated acoustic country set after the more electronic/experimental previous album. One of the most consistent song writers operating in any genre right now, and that distinctive voice never lets you down either.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 36th |
| 42 |  | Bill Ryder-Jones
Iechyd Da
Scrobbles: 95
A walking (slumbering?) contradiction of an album in that it at once feels very intimate and domestic but also there’s a grandiosity, as well as a call to engage collectively with all that sadness, all the depression. So despite starting off at the level of a Velvet Underground whisper on ‘I Know That It’s Like This (Baby)’ by the mid album interlude ‘…And the Sea…’ Ryder-Jones is channelling ‘Dark Side of the Moon’.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 37th
Top 30 song of the year: Thankfully for Anthony |
| 43 |  | Greg Foat
The Glass Frog
Scrobbles: 95
It's a 'cool jazz'/'nu jazz' album based around the concept of a glass frog, so of course it rules hard.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 63rd |
| 44 |  | Kendrick Lamar
GNX
Scrobbles: 94
A more focused and approachable album than 'Mr. Morale', in a slightly quiet year for mainstream hip hop Lamar easily bested the competition once again.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 49th |
| 45 |  | Richard Thompson
Ship to Shore
Scrobbles: 94
As ever with RT we’re operating in a blues and folk informed type of ‘dad rock’ at heart but that combination of guitar virtuosity, addictive sardonic vocals and a keen melodic sensibility always elevate whatever genre this is to something unique and compelling. Thompson’s style sits somewhere outside of current trends, it always has more or less, but here we are anyway; he’s an institution, he’s royalty, he’s still sneering at each and every indignity the world dare throw at him. For those on board the good ship, he’s a musical hero plain and simple.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 54th |
| 46 |  | Hamish Hawk
A Firmer Hand
Scrobbles: 93
He's not one of those larger than life characters like John Grant or Rufus Wainwright but there's a certain charisma all the same and a few solid dollops of wit in the lyrics - the album's not about to set anyone's world on fire but this is still promising and low key diverting stuff.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 86th |
| 47 |  | Geordie Greep
The New Sound
Scrobbles: 92
Here on his solo debut Greep can be as theatrical and campy as he desires (which is 'very') and gets to combine the proggy pop of 'Discipline' era Crimson with the 'none more seventies' production wash of Steely Dan -nothing's holding him back, he's having such a good time he don't wanna stop at all, yeah.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 8th
Top 30 song of the year: Holy, Holy |
| 48 |  | Eels
EELS TIME!
Scrobbles: 92
The best Eels album since...I guess since the last Eels album I can remember the name of...erm 'Wonderful Glorious' :/
This was decent, no standouts but then only a couple of duffers - basically he's a reassuring presence...in reality I probably just gave this more spins than any of his other recent releases is the truth. No regrets.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 49 |  | The High Llamas
Hey Panda
Scrobbles: 92
O’Hagan started his career in the equally polished though pessimistic Microdisney alongside Cathal Coughlan who sadly passed away last year, and it seems that either consciously or subconsciously this has influenced him to take a big risk in attempting to make a last ‘grand artistic statement’ that is more contemporary and could even vibe with a new set of fans. Perhaps difficult to recommend with any true degree of confidence, it’ll be hard to remove the ‘now for something completely different!’ sticker that’s surely affixed to the cover art, but if you fancy being gently bamboo’zled (yes) then give this one a try.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 100th |
| 50 |  | Beth Gibbons
Lives Outgrown
Scrobbles: 89
A morbid chamber folk album from Beth, on the Portishead albums she always sounded depressed by romantic relationships and society at large (and she still sounds depressed by those) but now she's even more distraught at the prospect of old age and death. Most years have 'an objectively excellent album you don't actually feel like listening to too often' - for me, this was that. Still, respeck!
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 31st |
| 51 |  | Christopher Owens
I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair
Scrobbles: 88
Another unexpected super duper 2024 comeback, this time from the sporadically prolific former frontman of Girls. His most satisfying solo album so far, one that returns to a lot of the best ideas Girls had while also going deeper into his own established mellow, baked and faintly psychedelic solo style.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 25th |
| 52 |  | Fennesz
Mosaic
Scrobbles: 87
My second favourite Fennesz after the masterful ‘Endless Summer’, so this album is a big deal - it marks the true return of the surprising warmth, a return of the obscured beauty, a return of the deep mystery.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 6th |
| 53 |  | Sam Lee
Songdreaming
Scrobbles: 87
We last caught up with Sam Lee back in 2020 with the quietly revelatory ‘Old Wow’, a set of reimagined folk standards given new life thanks to some surprising but no less sympathetic arrangements and performances. The headline difference on this follow up is (and I had to look this up to know for sure) that all these songs are originals, and that’s admittedly a huge change; can his own writing conjure up the same authentic and timeless quality? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’, a more emphatic one than I would perhaps have expected.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 18th |
| 54 |  | Jessica Pratt
Here In the Pitch
Scrobbles: 86
‘Retro’ can so often equate to tired or even lazy predictable song writing but here Pratt shows how you can breathe new life into a mix of classic styles. A faintly hypnagogic or psychedelic feel works its way into her compositions but interestingly this comes mostly through the vocals where she mixes up the production and delivery to create different effects. On tracks like ‘Get Your Head Out’ and ‘Nowhere it Was’ you even get some European or Latin flavours in there too, so I feel this is Pratt’s most varied and sophisticated set of songs so far.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 57th |
| 55 |  | Four Tet
Three
Scrobbles: 85
Really wasn't anticipating 'Three' ending up possibly the most consistent and life affirming Four Tet album yet. Think half my scrobbles might have gone to the deluxe edition so this should probably sit higher...
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 34th |
| 56 |  | Still House Plants
If I don’t make it, I love u
Scrobbles: 85
Still House Plants are either a mostly improvised experimental act disguised as something more approachable …or a songful one hiding behind layers of seeming chaos. What creates this confusion is Jessica Hickie-Kallenbach’s singing which behaves somewhat like conventional lead vocals at times, only to then either lock into some trancelike mantra or even more intriguingly, adopts the role of another freewheeling lead instrument. Combined with the ever chopping and churning, skeletal Storm and Stress'ish post-rock backing of drums and guitar these vocals somehow feel totally intuitive and ‘ideal’.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 68th |
| 57 |  | Wand
Vertigo
Scrobbles: 85
The sound palette is close to a mix of ‘Ok Computer’ and ‘Laughing Stock’ but the compositions themselves stay resolutely psych rock for the most part. At times it’s like Thom Yorke singing over vintage Mercury Rev and there’s nothing wrong with that combo in my book. I’m not entirely sure who the audience for Wand were in 2024… I hope they found one anyway.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 19th |
| 58 |  | Amyl and the Sniffers
Cartoon Darkness
Scrobbles: 84
Always difficult for a greasy punk band to branch out but Amyl and crew give it a go here and emerge from the other side of the experience relatively unscathed.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 60th |
| 59 |  | Tyler, the Creator
Chromakopia
Scrobbles: 83
I must be the only person out there who prefers the previous album which was looser, more fun, goofier, more hip hop aligned and just registered as a solid summer listen. This one heads more for the melodically (sometimes vocally) super twee neo soul once again, as well as a load of 'not always very engaging' middle aged rumination...if there's a more disastrous pairing of tracks on a hyped album in 2024 than 'Judge Judy' and 'Sticky' I don't think I want to hear them. Overall this one was hit and miss.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 60 |  | The Smile
Wall of Eyes
Scrobbles: 82
Straight away the second Smile album is welcome for how it confirms that this is a ‘full focus’ venture from Yorke and Greenwood and (hankies on standby) all but confirms this is the official replacement to Radiohead. This second album also sounds more consistent in tone and the songs feel like they were written and developed in the same sessions (on the debut you couldn’t help but have suspicions some material had probably been floating around in one guise or another for a while before being committed to that project) - this now sounds like a new band in earnest. ‘Wall of Eyes’ boasts an all enveloping atmosphere which is by far its biggest strength and most unique feature - the only limitation to this approach is the mood requires these songs remain fairly ‘one paced’, that pace being mostly slow, so it’s an album that can wash over you if you let your concentration dip.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 41st
Top 30 song of the year: Read the Room |
| 61 |  | Gemma Hayes
Blind Faith
Scrobbles: 81
Here Gemma Hayes thrives on her return releasing a mature, measured and intimate set of tunes; tracks like 'Eye for An Eye' and 'Can't Kill a Hunger' have a purity to them that's disarming, while 'Hardwired' and 'Central Hotel' show that there's still a canny rockist side to her approach. Another surprising 2024 comeback - easily one of the best folk releases of the year.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 33rd |
| 62 |  | Common and Pete Rock
The Auditorium Vol. 1
Scrobbles: 81
This laidback old school collaboration ended up taking 'hip hop album of the year' for me, marks something of a comeback for Common.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 42nd |
| 63 |  | Clem Snide
Oh Smokey
Scrobbles: 80
Josh Kaufman had a great 2024; he's already released one of the best albums of the year as part of Bonny Light Horseman and now here he provides all the musical backing for Eef Barzelay's latest set of song ideas and vocal performances. I was a massive fan of the previous Clem Snide album (2020's 'Forever Just Beyond') and was smitten with it's understated and tender approach, but if anything this release has doubled down on that album's strengths - a lot of that can be credited to Kaufman who provides a truly sympathetic and elegant instrumental backdrop throughout.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 20th |
| 64 |  | ScHoolboy Q
Blue Lips
Scrobbles: 80
Another entry in the 2024 'surprising comebacks' catalogue, on another day I'd have awarded this 'hip hop album of the year'.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 50th |
| 65 |  | English Teacher
This Could Be Texas
Scrobbles: 78
Major worries this would remain as 'precocious and twee in a bad way' as how I find much of BCNR's material but actually it ended up 'precocious and twee in a mostly good way'. 'Broken Biscuits' gets a bit close to the bad stuff ('Can a river stop its banks from bursting? Blame the council, not the rain' isn't a lyric that'll ever sound good) but in the spirit of peace and love, I give even this song a pass. Surprisingly decent considering the 'worst of all time' level band name.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 91st |
| 66 |  | The Smile
Cutouts
Scrobbles: 78
More new Smile material? Cut that out you scamps.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 61st |
| 67 |  | 40 Watt Sun
Little Weight
Scrobbles: 77
This album is very strong but I imagine destined to remain somewhat overlooked as returning listeners experience initial fatigue encountering more of this same 'eyes closed straining emotional vocals/doom laden slowcore' style. Take 'Feathers', an unassuming song at first but given five or so plays all the subtlety unfolds; the main melody is understated greatness, and then the Red House Painters style acoustic coda with faint backing vocals is tender brilliance - all the tracks included here will reveal similar qualities if given the time to make an impression.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 9th
Top 30 song of the year: Feathers |
| 68 |  | Kim Gordon
The Collective
Scrobbles: 77
My issue with ‘The Collective’ is in terms of longevity of appeal; what is going to make me think listening to this is what I want to do a year down the line? Are any of these tracks ‘mixtape playlist champions’? Possibly the more direct material like ‘I’m a Man’? I’m not convinced, this still feels like an art gallery exhibition - novel at the time, but do you need to return?
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 69 |  | Richard Hawley
In This City They Call You Love
Scrobbles: 76
His song writing and performance style reminds me so much of the late Mark Lanegan now - this is a sturdy late career set of songs.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 56th |
| 70 |  | Fink
Beauty In Your Wake
Scrobbles: 75
Here Fink occupies the middle ground between the warm vocal led approach of Ry X and a type of acoustic folk that recalls the chord sequences and atmosphere of Radiohead. It’s an effective approach but the issue is that every element of these songs remains ‘just good’…the vocals are ‘just good’ without the personality of a Vernon or the power of Ry X; the lyrics are serviceable but nothing leaps out; the melodies are decent enough while you’re listening but will they draw you back to return to them? This ends up ‘superior background music’ in the male vocal showcase mode,
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 71 |  | Johnny Blue Skies
Passage Du Desir
Scrobbles: 75
If it took changing his name to move away from the very different (and not entirely successful?) directions 'Sound & Fury' and 'The Ballad of Dood & Juanita' had suggested then I fully embrace our new Blue Skies overlord. This might just rate as the man's most varied and easily digestible album yet, one that practically begs for repeat plays. So everything here is super smooth, whether 'Johnny' goes soulful ('If the Sun Never Rises Again'), close to Fleetwood Mac adult contemporary ('Right Kind of Dream') or trad country ('Scooter Blues') - it all goes down just as easy.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 27th |
| 72 |  | Saint Etienne
The Night
Scrobbles: 75
How substantial and satisfying is this loosely conceptual night time 'playlist' type release really? Probably not majorly, but it's still an attractive place to visit.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 73 |  | This is Lorelei
Box For Buddy, Box For Star
Scrobbles: 75
This solo offshoot from the Water From Your Eyes band member is surprising, quite scattershot but nevertheless pretty consistent in terms of quality. Flavours of Alex G, Elliott Smith, Elvis Depressedly...is that screaming 'bedroom pop'? More or less.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 90th |
| 74 |  | Zach Bryan
The Great American Bar Scene
Scrobbles: 75
Zero memories of listening to this, all his stuff largely sounds identical. He's alright, he keeps churning it out...
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 75 |  | Mercury Rev
Born Horses
Scrobbles: 74
The musical backdrop skirts closest to the kind of rich textural, atmospheric magic that was evident on the Rev's career best outing 'Deserter's Song' (the colour palette used on the cover art alluding to this?) but...and it's a big but...Jonathan Donahue's usual Willow the Wisp'ishness has now been passed through a 'full fat Shatner' filter and it results in many unintended face palm cringe moments. Do they add or reduce my enjoyment? I'm still working that out.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 96th |
| 76 |  | Ministry
HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES
Scrobbles: 73
This is what can happen when a couple of songs hit the gym rock and metal playlist...a nu Ministry album ends up qualifying for inclusion on my end of year list. Face palm.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 77 |  | And Also The Trees
Mother-of-pearl Moon
Scrobbles: 72
Dependable workhorses are the Trees, this isn't their most memorable work but I still found some time for it.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 78 |  | Jamey Johnson
Midnight Gasoline
Scrobbles: 72
Strong return from the outlaw country veteran, his voice seems to have hardly aged in the twelve years that have passed since the release of his last full length (ok maybe they have a little bit more gruff and grit if you listen close, as you should). The highlights are fantastic, especially the reassuringly familiar 'No Time Like the Past' and the evocative 'Saturday Night in New Orleans' which are up their with his very best.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 77th |
| 79 |  | Sprints
Letter to Self
Scrobbles: 72
A solid post-punk effort, this one starts like a house on fire but just gets a tiny bit calculated on the closing run. The pairing of 'Cathedral' and 'Shaking Their Hands' show all the best parts of their sound and are the double highlight.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 97th |
| 80 |  | Vera Sola
Peacemaker
Scrobbles: 72
Gothic and ‘old time’ atmospheres, occasional rock influences, songs about gunslingers….a shame she didn’t get to duet with the late Mark Lanegan. A little unlucky not to qualify but 2024 was a monster.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 81 |  | Father John Misty
Mahashmashana
Scrobbles: 71
The problem here is I feel the first four songs cover all his established styles straight off the bat and then there's quite literally nowhere else for Tilman to go after that early winning (if familiar) run of toons...so he gets desperate really; modern bombastic production touches pop up on the chorus of 'Screamland'; you have the 'tiring near-funk' of 'I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All' that goes on and on; and then you're then left with two soporific near-filler tunes that bring back bad memories of 'Chloe...'.
'Mahashmashana' (bless you)...it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. He's back?
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 82 |  | Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Woodland
Scrobbles: 70
Not sure if I did this particular Welch recording justice in what was a busy year for great releases but this collab was a decent effort in her established style.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 59th |
| 83 |  | Loscil
Umbel
Scrobbles: 70
Loscil has become my favourite ambient artist at this stage I think it's safe to say and while this wasn't his absolute best work it still did the job.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 84 |  | Alcest
Les Chants de L'Aurore
Scrobbles: 68
‘New age metal', ‘uplifting metal’…’blackgaze’ (ugh) if you must. A genre to strike fear into the most hardened of hearts, but Alcest are probably ‘best in class’ and surprisingly consistent.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 84th |
| 85 |  | Iglooghost
Tidal Memory Exo
Scrobbles: 67
Definitely his best release so far, this is an album that has some big highs and then a sort of base level outside of that, so overall it can end up a tiny bit fatiguing.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 81st |
| 86 |  | Pixies
The Night The Zombies Came
Scrobbles: 67
My favourite Pixies album since the reunion but again, as with a couple of other albums from established acts here, it might just be a case of me affording it the most replays.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 87 |  | State Faults
Children of the Moon
Scrobbles: 67
I'm not sure I'm totally sold on me preferring this to the very impressive previous album, but I welcomed the more experimental, atmospheric and expansive touches. An ambitious one that I can see would massively appeal to others who dig this era of hardcore aligned stuff more than I do.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 79th |
| 88 |  | Sunset Rubdown
Always Happy to Explode
Scrobbles: 67
Always happy to have more Spencer Krug work - a Sunset Rubdown album? Kinda, still carries a strong whiff of his solo output though. This matters not, it's more high quality eccentricity.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 93rd |
| 89 |  | Oneida
Expensive Air
Scrobbles: 66
I feel a bit sorry for psych rock in the 21st century, stuff like this sounds decent enough…but at the same time also massively underwhelming. The lack of hype and plaudits the genre receives confirms I’m not alone in feeling this way.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 90 |  | Soft Play
Heavy Jelly
Scrobbles: 66
Another punk aligned album that was more fun than this year's IDLES album. As enjoyable as this is it only gets truly indispensable on the jangly closer 'Everything and Nothing' - one of the songs of the year.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify
Top 30 Song of the Year: Everything and Nothing |
| 91 |  | Chat Pile
Cool World
Scrobbles: 64
This sophomore bump casts the net wide and it seems to have mostly plumbed the mid '90s for inspiration with recognisable tones of Godflesh, Korn, Helmet and (maybe surprisingly) Nirvana adding to the more contemporary noise rock influences evident before. 'Cool World' just feels a lot more settled - it locks in a groove and pummels away within that framework for maximum impact. It's still intense, somewhat unhinged, but now it flexes with newfound confidence and precision. It's a follow up that states 'we've got the substance, we're in for the long haul'.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 58th |
| 92 |  | IDLES
TANGK
Scrobbles: 64
Some kind of a wasted opportunity because on occasion I can appreciate the quality of Talbot's voice operating outside of his usual punk mode - producer Godrich was right, it is interesting hearing him sing in a more conventional fashion...but a lot of these songs just aren't quite right. Perhaps transitional?
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 93 |  | Willi Carlisle
Critterland
Scrobbles: 62
Impressive, 'The Money Grows on Trees' alone is the plot of two seasons of Ozark in one song.
It's even more 'vocal/lyrics centric' than the previous album, which holds it ever so slightly back for me - but saying that, he's a phenomenal vocalist and wordsmith so it hardly matters.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 40th
Top 30 song of the year: When the Pills Wear Off |
| 94 |  | Helado Negro
Phasor
Scrobbles: 62
This album might secretly only have the depth of a paddling pool but the sun dances real pretty over the water anyway. In other words: this is how you record great ‘background music’.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 95 |  | Phosphorescent
Revelator
Scrobbles: 61
The king of elegantly unfolding, faintly psychedelic and altogether dreamy 'americana' (sort of just 'folk' a lot of the time) arrangements returns on top form here with a set of relaxed and relaxing songs. Was he still doomed to remain underrated in the year of our Lord 2024? You betcha.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 82nd |
| 96 |  | Loscil and Lawrence English
Chroma
Scrobbles: 61
Yet more proof that the fastest growing genre eating up a bigger and bigger chunk of my listening is ambient, this collaboration is another worthy Loscil enterprise.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 97 |  | Good Looks
Lived Here For A While
Scrobbles: 58
Boney rec of the year, another alt country/indie'ish band who're managing to turn 'heartland rock' into a worthy and even experimental ingredient. The bookends are the highlight on this one.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 29th |
| 98 |  | Brown Horse
Reservoir
Scrobbles: 58
Here we have an alt country framework that finds space to work in some old school country rock, some barroom band vibes and even a few cheeky soft rock influences. So at the final judgement - yay or neigh? Well if you can get into the vocals enough then this is worth persevering with, as the quality of the writing on soulful tracks like the standout ‘Shoot Back’, along with the sense of authenticity in the instrumentation elsewhere, becomes more apparent over time. Saddle up.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: 99th |
| 99 |  | Lodestar
Zonen
Scrobbles: 57
More '90s survivors kicking out the jams, this was a very Sabbath indebted thing, which was mildly surprising coming from this Senser splinter group.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 100 |  | St. Vincent
All Born Screaming
Scrobbles: 56
I can never be accused of not giving a new release by Annie Clark a fair chance...I've come to the realisation I like the idea of St. Vincent's music more than the reality. This was fine, a couple of her best songs even, but overall it still lands 'mid'. I'm sorry.
Actual Position in my 2024 Top 100: didn't qualify |
| 101 |  | Cameron Winter
Heavy Metal
EXTRAS
Remaining Top 100:
30th: Cameron Winter - Heavy Metal
32nd: Paysage d'Hiver - Die Berge
35th: Veilburner - The Duality of Decapitation and Wisdom
44th: James Blackshaw - Unraveling in Your Hands
46th: Linda Thompson - Proxy Music
47th: Loidis - One Day
55th: Gloios - Natureza Errada
64th: Nala Sinephro - Endlessness
65th: Beings - There is a Garden
66th: Ben Seretan - Allora
67th: Aldheorte - Where Gods Have Eyes to See
69th: Actress - Statik
70th: Crippled Black Phoenix - The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature
71st: Lucy Rose - This Ain't the Way You Go Out
72nd: Arooj Aftab - Night Reign
73rd: Suss - Birds & Beasts
74th: Colin Stetson - The Love It Took to Leave You
75th: Greg Foat - The Rituals of Infinity
80th: Jack White - No Name
82nd: Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee
85th: Oransi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja
92nd: Joey Valance & Brae - No Hands
95th: Monolake - Studio |
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