Presenting, Across The Margin’s Top 50 Albums of 2024…
Once again, we are thrilled to share with you, our readers who we are forever grateful for, the music that ruled our world this year. As is always the case when we annually celebrate our Top 50 Albums at Across the Margin, what we are proud to present here is simply the albums we are most thankful for in any given year (not particularly “the best”). Those which received the greatest play, moved us with the deepest emotion, and settled most soundly in our souls. So, without further delay — and as we say each year — let’s step in and drop the needle…
The Spotify Playlist (best enjoyed on shuffle!)
- Ab Soul — Soul Burger
Top Dog Entertainment (TDE) mainstay Ab-soul released his sixth studio album this year, a follow up to the tremendous Herbert, one that acts as a tribute to the loss of close friend and fellow TDE affiliate, DoeBurger. The album features assists from JID, Vince Staples, Lupe Fiasco, Punch, Doechii (amongst others), and finds the veteran West Coast rapper sounding as fresh as ever.
Essential Tracks: “Righteous Man,” “California Dream,” “I, Myself & Me,” “Crazier.”
- Gary Clark Jr — JPEG Raw
JPEG Raw is the fourth studio album by Texan blues rocker Gary Clark Jr., and the title is an acronym for Jealousy, Pride, Envy, Greed, Rules, Alter Ego, Worlds. It’s an album born in quarantine where Clark wanted to get back to the essence of what he loves about making music (show ”the real and not the edit”). The album features guest appearances from some absolute legends, including Stevie Wonder, George Clinton, Valerie June, and Keyon Harrold, yet it is Clark’s gritty, soulful blues guitar that drives the album toward excellence.
Essential Tracks: “Maktub,” “What About The Children,” “JPEG Raw.”
- Jeff Parker & ETA IVtet — The Way Out of East
The ETA IVtet — guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise, Isotope 217), saxophonist Josh Johnson, double bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose — take their name from the Los Angeles cocktail bar where they held a weekly residency from 2016 until it closed in December of 2023. And so, their latest, featuring four works of improvised jazz totaling 80 minutes, is a way for listeners to experience the hypnotizing magic that occurred in those sessions.
Essential Track: “Freakadelic.”
- Seawind of Battery — East Coast Cosmic Dreamscaper
In the follow up to Seawind Battery’s outstanding debut album Clockwatching, multi-instrumentalist Mike Horn and lap-steel guitarist Jarrod Annis expand their brand of experimental folk by employing electronic beats in certain cases, and allowing the songs to breathe and build with a newfound and welcome patience. It is a mesmerizing work full of gorgeous ambient and droning soundscapes, and we will say little else as you can learn more about Seawind of Battery and this intoxicating album in Episode 196 of Across The Margin : The Podcast.
Essential Tracks: “Maze of Roses,” “New Moon,” “Dreamscaper.”
- Real Estate — Daniel
This year, indie rockers Real Estate went Full-Daniel — releasing an excellent album named Daniel, premiering said album to a room full of fans named Daniel at Brooklyn’s Union Pool, and playing a cover of Elton John’s “Daniel” at the show. Oh, and the album was produced by acclaimed producer Daniel Tashian. Daniel is a terrific release that exhales a breadth of beautiful melancholy.
Essential Tracks: “Water Underground,” “Flowers,” “Somebody New.”
- Diane Birch — Flying on Abraham
Transporting listeners to the 1970s, Diane Birch’s retro gem of an album, Flying on Abraham, is a brilliant blending of soul, jazz, classic rock, and pop. The Paul Spacey produced Flying on Abraham, it is worthy of noting, is a series of live takes performed by Diane on keys and vocals with Jeremy Stacey on drums and the aforementioned Paul Stacey on bass. With her debut album Bible Belt from 2009 in mind, and 2013’s excellent Speak A Little Louder, Diane’s catalog is highlighting a singer-songwriter who seemingly can do no wrong.
Essential Tracks: “Wind Machine,” “Shade,” “Moto Moon.”
- BASIC — This Is Basic
BASIC is the latest project from guitar virtuoso Chris Forsyth in which he teams with his frequent “running partner (and formidable 6-string thinker)” Nick Millevoi and percussionist extraordinaire Mikel Patrick Avery (Natural Information Society). This indie supergroup of sorts, inspired by the work of guitarist Robert Quine and drummer Fred Maher, crafted a complex and hypnotic instrumental LP that is brimming with a potent momentum.
Essential Tracks: “New Auspicious,” “Nerve Time,” “Versatile Switch.”
- Louisa Stancioff — When We Were Looking
Singer-Songwriter Louisa Stancioff digs deep on her latest album, confronting the fallout of a broken heart and the uncertainty that lingers after the initial hurt. Produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Craig Finn), When We Were Looking highlights a brilliant songstress’ soft and affecting voice, and pulls you into her sentimental meditations in a way that is both emotional and pacifying.
Essential Tracks: “Gold,” “All Fuck’d Up,” “Cigarette.”
- Mdou Moctar — Funeral For Justice
Nigerian guitar virtuoso Mdou Moctar’s output has always been fiercely political, but none more so than the quintet’s latest album, Funeral For Justice. “This album is really different for me,” explains Moctar, the band’s singer, namesake, and guitarist. “Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. When the US and Europe came here, they said they’re going to help us, but what we see is really different. They never help us to find a solution.” Hypnotic guitar solos and scorching rock synergy buoy this politically-fueled powerhouse of an album.
Essential Tracks: “Imouhar,” “Takoba,” “Oh France.”
- Wand — Vertigo
The sixth studio release from the Los Angeles based band Wand, entitled Vertigo, finds the garage rockers sounding brand new. We are surely not complaining about this sonic shift, as the Cory Hanson led act displays a polished knack for the experimental psychedelia found on Vertigo, a rich, thoughtful, and blissfully humming collection of diverse tracks.
Essential Tracks “JJ,” “ Smile,” “High Time,”
- Gum — Ill Times
GUM, the exciting alliance of Tame Impala/Pond member Jay Watson and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard multi-instrumentalist (and Murlocs frontman) Ambrose Kenny-Smith, dropped a debut album full of promise for a bright future ahead as a duo. While the sonic palette of the album is persistently funky and feelgood, the subject matter of the album leans heavy at times, where themes of experiencing and living with loss are explored, but in a way that never mutes the good-time vibes.
Essential Tracks: “Dud,” “Ill Times,” “Old Transistor Radio.”
- The Smile — Wall of Eyes
The Smile’s new album, Wall of Eyes, the follow up to the band’s 2022 debut LP A Light For Attracting Attention, was composed and recorded while on the road supporting that debut. Entirely prolific and inspired, the powerhouse trio of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner recorded another album on the road entitled Cutouts, released a few months later. To the utter dismay of Radiohead die-hards, The Smile is clearly the chief focus of Thom and Jonny. Fortunately their output under this moniker is nothing short of outstanding.
Essential Tracks: “Wall of Eyes,” “Friend of a Friend,” “Read The Room.”
- Itasca — Imitation of War
Itasca is the musical identity of Los Angeles-based guitarist, singer, and songwriter Kayla Cohen, and her first release in four years is easily her most effervescent to date. Co-produced by Robbie Cody (Wand, Behavior), Imitations of War is rife with dreamy, layered guitar compositions that are as complex as they are bright and breezy.
Essential Tracks: “Milk,” “Imitations of War,” “Tear on Sky Mountain.”
- Meatbodies — Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom
The drony, fuzzed out garage rock tha embodies the Meatbodies’ latest album, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, is a testament to resilience. This is an album where frontman and lead guitarist Chad Ubovich “faces the trials of sobriety, redemption, reinvention while literally learning to walk [due to a debilitating case of pneumonia] and play again.” Ubovich, who has honed his chops over the years with Ty Segall (Fuzz) and Mikal Cronin, attempts to put the past behind him on Flona and look towards a future on an album that embodies the spirit of The Smashing Pumpkins, Jane’s Addiction, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
Essential Tracks: “Hole,” “Billow,” “Gate.”
- Billy Strings — Live Vol 1
Every year at least one live album shows up on our annual countdown and this year that honor is bequeathed upon bluegrass magician Billy Strings. Live Vol 1 features a bevy of the gifted musician’s most acclaimed compositions, recorded at various venues across the county. A few of the songs featured on the album highlight Billy and his band’s ability to stretch out their songs live with hypnotic crescendos and dizzying, exciting fits of fingerpicking.
Essential Tracks: “Away From The Mire,” “Fire Line” > “Reuben’s Train.”
- Kim Gordon — The Collective
The Collective is the second solo studio album by the famed Sonic Youth guitarist Kim Gordon, and it is brimming with hard edged beats and dense synths that pair perfectly with Kim’s heavy, precise guitar riffs. The album, inspired in part by Jennifer Egan’s 2022 novel The Candy House, is a unique beast with industrial beats laden with avant-guard spoken word/rap that finds the veteran rocker taking big swings and making contact time and again.
Essential Tracks: “The Candy House,” “I’m a Man,” “Dream Dollar.”
- Haley Heynderickx — Seed of a Seed
On Oregon singer-songwriter Haley Heynderickx’s latest album, Seed of a Seed, her sophisticated finger picking is dynamic yet just the foundation of the lush soundscapes that inhabit the album. Layers of sound are weaved together by what Haley lovingly refers to as her “core jazz boy band” (Daniel Rossi on drums, Denzel Mendoza on trombone, and Matthew Holmes on electric and upright bass). Seed of a Seed isn’t simply sonically beautiful, but lyrically deep where themes of humans increasing disconnect with nature are explored thoughtfully.
Essential Tracks: “Foxglove,” “Seed of a Seed,” “Mouth of a Flower.”
On their full-length debut, vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger expertly blend elements of post-punk, chamber-pop, and experimental indie rock. The deep emotive burst of lyrics and gentle builds of the songs throughout Where we’ve been remind us vividly of Bright Eyes classic album, Fevers and Mirrors, and we mean that as of the highest of praise to one of the most intriguing debut albums of 2024.
Essential Tracks: “Where We’ve Been,” “Get Numb To It!,” “Crimson to Chrome.”
- Fontaines D.C. — Romance
Is there a song better than “Starburster” that was released this year? Maybe, but the standout of Fontaines D.C. ‘s latest album, Romance, is undoubtedly one of the year’s most captivating. The Irish indie rock band is quickly becoming one of the most compelling touring acts about, and their studio albums are exemplifying of a band who has completely come into its own.
Essential Tracks: “Romance,” “Starburster,” “Favourite.”
- Phosphorescent — Revelator
Matthew Houck is at it again. By “it,” we certainly mean dropping incredible albums full of songs that are heart-wrenching, lyrically fascinating, and rocking. While Phosphorescent’s latest album, Revelator, is tremendous, we would also like to point you to the soundtrack he crafted this year for Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada, rife with heart-wrenching tracks and lush soundscapes sourced from Houck’s now storied career.
Essential Tracks: “Revelator,” “The World Is Ending,” “To Get It Right.”
- Michael Kiwanuka — Small Changes
Small Changes is the follow-up to UK singer-songwriter’s Grammy Award nominated album KIWANUKA. The five year wait for Small Changes release proved worth the wait, as the Danger Mouse and Inflo produced album is yet another brilliant, mellow (in a grand way) offering of soothing psychedelic soul music from Kiwanuka.
Essential Tracks: “Floating Parade,” “Lowdown (part i),” “The Rest Of Me.”
- Arooj Aftab — Night Reign
Pakistani-American singer, composer, and producer, the first-ever Pakistani artist to win a Grammy Award for her song “Mohabbat,” released one of the most mesmerizing, moody albums of 2024 with the aptly titled Night Reign. Overflowing with spoken word poetry (with two songs based on the poetry of Mah Laqa Bai Chanda), Pakistani folk songs, dark and romantic minimalist jazz undertones, and contribution from legendary guest musicians Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily, Moor Mother, Elvis Costello, etc.), Night Reign is a tremendous fourth offering from enchanting, talented musician.
Essential Tracks: “Bolo Na,” “Saaqi,” “Whiskey.”
- Kamasi Washington — Fearless Movement
Fearless Movement endures as jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington’s most adventurous album to date. As on it, he turns his attention to dance and “terrestrial rhythms,” and collaborations from rappers, musical icons, and even his own daughter. While Kamasi persists as the center of his musical universe on Fearless Movement, it is exciting to behold and experience the contributions throughout from Thundercat, Taj Austin, Ras Austin, Patrice Quinn, DJ Battlecat, Brandon Coleman, D-Smoke, George Clinton, Bj the Chicago Kid, and Andre 3000.
Essential Tracks: “Asha The First,” “Dream State,” “The Garden Path.”
- Metz — Up On Gravity Hill
It was a bittersweet year for fans of the noise-rock, post-punk, and hardcore Toronto-based band Metz. While they released another outstanding album, their fifth entitled Up On Gravity Hill, they shared with us the news in October that the band will be going on indefinite hiatus. We hope beyond hope Metz hits the studio and the road again at some point soon, but guitarist and vocalist Alex Edkins, drummer Hayden Menzies, and bassist Chris Slorach statement about the hiatus did have an air of finality: “METZ has brought an immeasurable amount of joy to our lives and it’s our sincere hope it’s brought you some joy too. We are so grateful to all of you who’ve joined us along the way and have made this life a reality for the three of us.”
Essential Tracks: “Glass Eye,” “Entwined,” “Light Your Way Home.”
- Revival Season — Golden Age of Self Snitching
The collaboration of Atlanta based producer/polymath Jonah Swilley (a founding member of Mattiel and also known for his production work with Moonwalks and Night Beats ) and Columbus, GA rapper Brandon ‘Bez’ (pronounce each letter as in ‘be easy’) Evans that is Revival Season is a revelation. Golden Age of Self Snitching is one of the most exciting debuts we came upon all year, an emphatically fun and driving rock / electronic-based rap album where you won’t find even one skip present.
Essential Tracks: “Boomerang,” “Last Dance,” “Chop,” “Pump.”
- Common and Pete Rock — The Auditorium Vol. 1
When legends unite, magic tends to transpire. Such is the case with the teaming of legendary Chicago MC Common and legendary New York producer Pete Rock, who dropped an album full of bangers that feel both old-school and novel at the same time. Bring on The Auditorium Vol. 2 in 2025 (please!).
Essential Tracks: “Dreamin’,” “Wise Up,” “When The Sun Shines Again.”
- Sturgill Simpson & Johnny Blue Skies — Passage Du Desir
Passage du Desir (French for “Passage of Desire”) is the studio album by singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson, released under the alter ego Johnny Blue Skies. It is a beautiful album, with a familiar 1970’s country rock tilt that is swarming with sentiment, melancholy, and relatable themes of loneliness, self-doubt, faith, and finding a way to belong in this often mixed-up world we all share.
Essential Tracks: “If The Sun Never Rises Again,” “Jupiter’s Faerie,” “Mint Tea.”
- Four Tet — Three
The twelfth studio album, Three, by British electronic musician Four Tet is abounding with laid back, soothing beats that, simply put, just feel oh so good. While complex in nature, the soundscapes of Kieran Hebden’s latest offering manifest themselves as atmospheric bliss we just cannot get enough of.
Essential Tracks: “Loved,” “Daydream Retreat,” “Three Drums.”
- Beth Gibbons — Lives Outgrown
Lives Outgrown is the debut album by Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, featuring 10 beautiful new songs recorded over a period of 10 years. A deeply personal album, Lives Outgrown finds Gibbons meditating on her past, her future, mortality, and coming to terms with time continuing to slip by, over dramatic, enticing, and symphonically lush sonic landscapes.
Essential Tracks: “Floating On A Moment,” “Reaching Out,” “Lost Changes.”
- St Vincent — All Born Screaming
The seventh studio album from rock goddess St. Vincent is the first studio album entirely produced by Anne Clark herself. A full-formed event of an album, All Born Screaming features contributions from (get this), Dave Grohl, Cate Le Bon, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Josh Freese, Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, Rachel Eckroth, Mark Guiliana, and David Ralicke of Dengue Fever.
Essential Tracks: “Broken Man,” “Big Time Nothing,” “Flea.”
- Father John Misty — Mahashmashana
Father John Misty’s sixth album Mahashmashana, produced by himself and Drew Erickson (executive produced by Jonathan Wilson!), is yet another delightful, humorous, inspired, and surprisingly funky (*”She Cleans Up”) offering from the incomparable Josh Tillman. While there is much to discuss about the album, we cannot get over the fact that Father John Misty amusingly keeps dropping new albums at the same time as Kendrick Lamar, apparently all coincidentally. Mahashmashana’s release was well overshadowed by Kendrick Lamar surprise drop of GNX (more on that later), and as FJM pointed out, this simultaneous release schedule has only happened in 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2022. Uncanny!
Essential Tracks: “Mahashmashana,” “She Cleans Up,” “Josh Tillman and The Accidental Dose.”
- Hurray For Riff Raff — The Past Is Still Alive
We have heard Hurray For Riff Raff’s (Alynda Segarra) latest album, The Past Is Still Alive, described as “nature folk,” terminology we find brilliantly fitting. But while there is a natural buoyancy to the album, The Past is Still Alive was recorded soon after Segarra lost their father and the introspection and grief found on the album adds weight and a depth that is thoughtful and wholly arresting.
Essential Tracks: “Alibi,” “Buffalo,” “Colossus of Roads.”
- King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — Flight b741
Australian psych-rockers King Gizzard and The Lizard’s latest album, their 26th studio release and their “honky-tonk” album, is their most accessible to date, and a straight up rocker. Bandleader Stu Mackenzie said in regard to the aim behind Flight b741, I “wanted to make something that was primal, instinctual, more ‘from the gut’ — just people in a room, doing what feels right. We wanted to make something fun.” Mission triumphantly accomplished.
Essential Tracks: “Le Risque,” “Antarctica,” “Field of Vision.”
- Mount Eerie — Night Palace
Within Mount Eerie’s (Phil Elverum) Night Palace’s sprawling 26 tracks can be found all the analog fuzz and earnest meditations we have come to know and love from the accomplished musician. This is Phil’s first album in over five years and with that in mind it feels that he is catching us up to speed with his distinct perspective and talents throughout an album that lives and breathes “as a culmination of eras, arrived at after tumbling through decades of a tumultuous life and building from scratch in the settled dust.”
Essential Tracks: “Non-metaphorical Decolonization,” “Huge Fire,” “Broom of Wind,” “I Saw Another Bird.”
- Rapsody — Please Don’t Cry
In one of the standout tracks from Rapsody’s latest album Please Don’t Cry, a Hit-Boy produced track called “Asteroids,” she rhymes, “If I went basic, I’d be in the Wraith / If I had a dick, I’d be in the greatest debates.” You have to wonder if misogyny, or maybe even ignorance, is the reason Rapsody isn’t unequivocally considered a legend at this point in her career. Her latest album was conceived after, get this, she wrote more than 350 songs, from which she selected 22 to appear on the project. A grouping of her most personal and vulnerable tracks to date which highlight her incomparable lyrical abilities.
Essential Tracks: “Asteroids,” “Diary of a Mad Bitch,” “3 AM.”
- Lupe Fiasco — Samurai
It boggles the mind that when debates takes place about the greatest lyricist in hip-hop, Lupe Fiasco’s name isn’t on the tip of all participant’s tongues right off the bat. He is just that gifted. The Windy City legend outdoes himself with his ninth studio album, which hearteningly is a concept album dedicated to the life, work, and career of the late neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse.
Essential Tracks: “Samurai,” “Cake,” “No. 1 Headband.”
- Vince Staples — Dark Times
Long Beach rapper Vince Staples sixth-studio albums lives up to its name, sonically and lyrically, a thoughtful work of art where Vince’s inimitable monotone flow and subtle and low-key aesthetic pull you deep into his orbit. Dark Times is a short and concise album with a 35 minute runtime, but it bumps front to back, and displays a gifted rapper exploring weighty issues but also finding time to relish in hard earned successes.
Essential Tracks: “Étouffée,” “Black&Blue,” “Shame on the Devil.”
- Rosali — Bite Down
Destroyer’s Dan Bejar describes Rosali’s music with poetic finesse: “Bite Down makes me think about singers and bands that throw themselves hard into the storm, the way the Rosali quartet does. The calm of her voice over top of the band’s raging — it is the emblem of songs that live to put themselves in harm’s way. But it’s not harm. It’s just that you have to play hard to get at these goods. The calm of Rosali’s voice, the straight talk of her inner search vs. the wildness of the band, the sonic storm she rides in on. That’s their sound.” We, obviously, couldn’t say it better ourselves in describing this magnetic album.
Essential Tracks: “On Tonight,” “Change is in the Form,” “Bite Down.”
- Bonny Light Horseman — Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free
What a beautiful world it is to live in where a collaboration between Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson, and Josh Kaufman can come to life and persist as beautifully as it does. The trio describes their latest album (initially recorded in an Irish pub!), their third, as “an ode to the blessed mess of our humanity,” a description which perfectly describes this enchanting work of art as within its confines holds all the joy, sorrow, confusion, delight, and wonder that characterizes the human experience.
Essential Tracks: “I Know You Know,” “Love Take It Easy,” “Old Dutch,” “When I Was Younger,” “Your Arms (All The Time).”
- JPEGMAFIA — I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU
One of the most unique artists in hip-hop (saying a lot, we know!), JPEGMAFIA has always been a genre bending artists infusing rap with elements of punk and noise rock in a manner not accomplished prior. The veteran rapper from Baltimore’s latest album, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU, highlights and heightens “Peggy’s” eccentricities in a dizzying diverse album full of unpredictable samples, unanticipated sonic shifts, and flat out dynamic (and often humorous) lyricism.
Essential Tracks: “Exmilitary,” “New Black History,” “SIN MIDEO.”
- Psychic Temple — Doggie Paddlin’ Thru The Cosmic Consciousness
Psychic Temple is “the ever-morphing, ever-mutating constellation of players constituting Chris Schlarb’s own Planet Long Beach Rock and Roll Orchestra.” Chris is touting Doggie Paddlin’ Thru The Cosmic Consciousness as the final offering from Psychic Temples, and while this news is disheartening at least we are left with a bevy of blissed-out, and often rocking, songs to sit with while the Southern California composer, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist conspires his next plan of attack / project.
Essential Tracks: “Doggie Paddlin’ Thru The Cosmic Consciousness,” “When The Money Comes In,” “Lead Me To Your Lord.”
- Kendrick Lamar — GNX
Channelling and tipping his hat to Nas (“man at the garden”), channeling Tupac (“reincarnated”), and even sonically referencing himself and Mustard (“tv off”), Kendrick Lamar released a surprise album that artfully pays tribute the artform he seems poised to carry on his back. Following an absolute trouncing of Drake in one the most infamous feud in hip-hop history, GNX is a hell of a statement, making it clear who sits atop hip-hop’s throne, and a brilliant and aggressive follow up to 2022’s introspective masterpiece Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
Essential Tracks: “reincarnated,” “squabble up,” “tv off.”
- Mannequin Pussy — I Got Heaven
While their extreme talents have been vivid for years now, the Philadelphia punk rock band Mannequin Pussy hurtled to new heights with their latest album, I Got Heaven. While the intoxicating edge that defines the quartet’s sound is well intact, what is present on their fourth studio release is a melodic patience sifting in between the rage and energy. I Got Heaven finds a band growing and redefining what they eventually can be, as it turns out they not only have the power to ignite but to somehow subdue at the same time.
Essential Tracks: “I Got Heaven,” “Sometimes,” “Loud Bark.”
- MJ Lenderman — Manning Fireworks
Indie rock darling MJ Lenderman’s latest album, Manning Fireworks, is receiving an abundance of praise from fans and critics alike, and the love and accolades are well deserved. The Asheville-based singer-songwriter offerings invoke the inventiveness of Pavement’s earliest releases as crafty guitar arrangements are paired with humorous and often insightful lyrical wordplay. Manning Fireworks is a refreshing album, as fun as it is thoughtful, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what comes next from this talented young musician.
Essential Tracks: “She’s Leaving You,” “Wristwatch,” “Joker Lips.”
- Waxahatchee — Tiger Blood
Waxahatchee latest album, Tigers Blood, her follow-up to 2020’s incredible Saint Cloud, features MJ Lenderman, Spencer Tweedy, and Phil Cook, and the album snagged singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, her first nomination at the awards. Featuring poetic lyricism, welcome pop-ish soundscapes, evocative guitar playing, and Katie’s intoxicating spirit, Tiger Blood is a triumph, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Katie walks away with a trophy in hand come February.
Essential Tracks: “Right Back to It,” “365,” “3 Sisters.”
- Brittany Howard — What Now
The second studio album from the former Alabama Shakes frontwoman, entitled What Now, is brimming with soul, gospel, rock, funk, R & B, and the rousing moxie of Brittany herself. While the thematics of many of the songs on What Now are deeply relatable, as Howard comes to terms with love lost and bouts of depression, the seemingly unflappable rock goddess pairs those musings with songs chock full of power, energy, and attitude that makes What Now as fun as it is reflective.
Essential Tracks: “What Now,” “Power To Undo,” “Red Flags.”
- Doechii — Alligator Bites Never Heal
Few artists in hip-hop we are more excited about right now than we are with Tampa’s Swamp Princess, Doechii., a dynamic musician who can spit rhymes with the best of them, and flip it up and sing sultry hooks with fiery charisma and wit. Alligator Bites Never Heal, Doechii’s first release on Top Dog Entertainment (TDE), finds her exploring themes of self-doubt and relevance in the game, while tipping her hat to the legacy of hip-hop that has inspired her, on an album and features some of the most impressive wordplay we have seen this, or any, year.
Essential Tracks: “Catfish,” “NISSAN ALTIMA,” “Boiled Peanuts.”
- Schoolboy Q — Blue Lips
Top Dog Entertainment (TDE) had a HELL of a year, with phenomenal releases by the just mentioned Doechii, Kendrick Lamar, and Ab-Soul (all who have graced this list), but none floored us the way Schoolboy Q’s Blue Lips did. Those that stay lyrically in tune recognize that Q is making poignant commentary across the 18 tracks that comprise Blue Lips, about profit sharing, school shootings, loss, fear, and personal purpose. Beyond the depth of the subject matter, however, is an album full of cunning sample flips, and a bevy of different soundscapes,as he explains: “I wanted to make music without rules for this album. Everything I’ve been hearing from like 2019/2020 has been pretty much the same thing all the way. So I just was like ‘How do I hear music for myself right now?’ And it was kinda choppy. This is not a one-listen album.” It most wonderfully is not.
Essential Tracks: “Yeern 101,” “Bluesides,” “THank God 4 Me.”
- Cindy Lee — Diamond Jubilee
One of the most buzzed about albums of 2024, justifiably, was Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee. Cindy Lee is the performance and songwriting vehicle of Patrick Flegel (who previously fronted influential indie group Women). Heightening the intrigue of Diamond Jubilee was the fact that originally it was only available to download on a Geocities website or streaming on YouTube (but now it lives on Bandcamp too!). The album is sprawling (32 tracks) and tremendous; a dreamlike adventure where scythe pop, glam rock, soul, and smooth funk moments can be find lurking around every wondrous corner.
Essential Tracks: “Flesh and Blood,” “All I Want Is You,” “Government Cheque,” “If You Hear Me Crying.”
- Adrianne Lenker — Bright Future
Recorded straight to tape amid a small group of close confidants, Big Thief lead singer and guitarist Adrianne Lenker’s Bright Future is the most beautiful album we heard in 2024. Lenker’s lyrics, always inventive and poignant, glide like a breeze over the soft but lush soundscapes that comprise her sixth solo studio album, a collection of songs so vulnerable and honest that they seemingly craft a lucid intimacy between the listener and the prolific songwriter. And while most of the songs on Bright Future just rip our heart to pieces upon each and every spin, we just cannot get enough of the exquisite pain.
Essential Tracks: “Sadness As A Gift,” “Ruined,” “Free Treasure.”
- Tyler, The Creator — CHROMAKOPIA
Tyler, The Creator took it upon himself to produce his latest full length release, CHROMAKOPIA, and while it features guest appearances by phenoms such as Daniel Caesar, Doechii, Glorilla, Lil Wayne, Santigold, Sexyy Red, Schoolboy Q, Teezo Touchdown (amongst others), this album is Tyler through and through. What we mean by this is Tyler pulls no punches on this one, surely his most personal album to date. On it, it becomes evident quickly it is weighing heavily upon him what it means to have shed the skin of his youth and to have to live life now as a fully formed adult. He also confronts a slew of mistakes of yore, but do not get it twisted, he also finds plenty of time on CHROMAKOPIA to talk a ton of shit and just have fun. Again and again, Tyler reinvents himself, in personam and in production, and it is these sort of risks, and this sort of experimentation and adventurousness that he brings to each individual project, that makes the Odd Future legend so emphatically special.
Essential Tracks: “Rah Tah Tah,” “I Killed You,” “Darling I.”
- IDLES — TANGK
TANGK is IDLES’ fifth and most musically adventurous record yet, an exciting and impassioned work of art. The word “TANGK,” according to the British rock band, is “pronounced “tank” with a whiff of the “g,” an onomatopoeic reference to the lashing way the band imagined their guitars sounding that has since grown into a sigil for living in love.” Although the heavy punk and art rock sonic palette IDLES normally paints with might infer otherwise, the band is indeed all about love. And Inclusiveness. And Equality. This is one of the things that makes IDLES one of the most compelling and refreshing bands in the world. Lead singer Joe Talbot has been through a great deal in his career, from fighting addiction to a near death experience, and beyond, and seeking out love in his life has gotten him through. As he puts it, “I needed love, and I needed to find love. I was very lonely and scared again, and when going through addiction, self-love is very important. You need to stop this cycle. You have a child; you have a career — this goes one of two ways. One is unbelievable and fruitful and beautiful; the other one is hell. What are you gonna do? Even if that seems like a simple choice, addiction makes it crazily hard. On top of that, love is abundant everywhere, but you need reminding of that. It’s seeing the wood through the trees. I just needed to take a breath, start working on myself, loving myself, and the rest would come. And it did.” Fueled by love, in the lead up to the recording seasons for TANGK, Talbot had only written on song entirely — the gorgeous and more subtle (relatively!) “Grace.” From there things just rolled. IDLES guitarist and producer Mark Bowen enlisted rap producer Kenny Beats who he has worked with on multiple occasions, while also recruiting Radiohead’s sixth member Nigel Godrich. With a production dream-team intact, Joe stepped into the booth where so much magic occurred. This is the story of TANKG, an album inspired by the greatest of all things in the world, love, and crafted together with passion by an assemblage of some of the greatest musicians in all of the land. Love is indeed the ‘Fing‘. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!
Essential Tracks: “Gift Horse,” “Dancer,” “Grace,” “Hall & Oates,” “Jungle.”
