Can you believe we’re into July already? Feels like it was just yesterday we were all huddled in the living room during that January Polar Vortex and wondering when the temps would make to at least single digits once again. Now? Well we just had 110 degrees with the heat index two weeks ago. Time is moving at one quick pace folks, and I for one am more than ready for single digits again. I’m sure that’s blasphemous talk in the ears of you hot weather lovers. Sorry, but anything is better than feeling like I’m living on the surface of the sun.
Anyways, the year is moving by quickly. And the older you get the quicker it moves. So if it’s going to pass you by you might as well be doing something you love while it happens.
I love a lot of things; spending time with my family, reading books, watching films, painting when I can, making music when the muse arrives, and of course filling as much time as I can listening to music. Spinning vinyl and CDs and even cassettes…however I can get music to my ears – regardless of what delivery method – has been a number one priority for me ever since hearing Van Halen II on my parents Pioneer hi-fi via 8-track. Or playing scratched up vinyl copies of KISS Destroyer and Dressed To Kill on my Fisher Price record player at 6-years old.
Music was my soundtrack for everything. From homework to cleaning my room to Star Wars, GI Joe, and Transformers battles in the basement, music was a constant source of inspiration. Hell, I had to spend at least 10 minutes searching my cassettes before we’d leave the house so I could have a soundtrack for the family road trips. It was there when nothing was being said, and was also the perfect background noise when there was conversation.
So today I thought I’d recap the year in music, 2024, as it stands midway through the year. Below are my favorite albums of 2024 so far. It’s been a pretty great year for music, at least to my ears. Let me know what you’ve been listening to and what your favorite albums have been this year in the comments.
20. St Vincent : All Born Screaming
“Once again Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, makes another stunning album that surpasses what came before. All Born Screaming is dark, heavy, and with just the right amount of dance floor fodder to keep you moving.”
19. Daniel Davies : Ghost of the Heart
“Daniel Davies has made a great rock album that brings together all of his different sonic touchstones. We don’t get albums like Ghost of the Heart that much these days. I hope we at least get another from Daniel Davies.”
18. Marine Eyes : To Belong
“There’s so much depth on to belong. These are subtle gestures that emanate so much warmth and light. Fourteen compositions that feel organic and from the earth. Guitar, keys, and voice indistinguishable from another become something wholly unique and singular, like a sigh from another place reaching our ears after a long and evocative journey. Cynthia Bernard, aka Marine Eyes, locks into a kind of universal hum and invites us to go on this journey with her. To belong.”
17. Ivan The Tolerable : Infinite Peace
“I think I say this every time, but Infinite Peace may just be Ivan The Tolerable’s best yet. Expansive with touches of all the best of the exploratory world of 70s fusion, experimental, and mind-expanding sound worlds. Dive in.”
16. Ty Segall : Three Bells
“Ty Segall seemingly can do and create whatever music pops into his head. He pulls inspiration from both obvious and not-so obvious sources, and this record is heavy with 70s references. Three Bells is a consistently brilliant outing for garage rock wunderkind Ty Segall. In fact, it might be his best in a decade.”
15. Steve Moore : Eye of Horus
“Steve Moore never stops. He’s an artist that is in constant creative motion and is always onto the next project; be it score work, Zombi, collaborations, or solo endeavors. Eye of Horus is the latest and is an engaging, stunning, slinky slab of cosmic techno of the highest order.”
14. Wilco : Hot Sun Cool Shroud
“Hot Sun Cool Shroud is a beauty of an EP from one of the great American rock and roll bands. It’s also a reminder that even after 30 years Tweedy and co still have a few tricks up their sleeves.”
13. zakè : B⁴+3
“B⁴+3 is 71 minutes of pure sonic significance. It’s a stunning reworking of an older work. A closing of the circle, so to speak. It’s also the feeling of walking hand in hand with the universe into the great unknown, with no fear or regret in sight.”
12. Dehd : Poetry
“Poetry is stacked from start to finish. There’s not a bad song here, and some truly great songs. “Light On”, “So Good”, “Shake”, and album closer “Forget” all help to make Poetry Dehd’s best album yet, and one of the best albums of the year.”
11. High On Fire : Cometh The Storm
“Cometh The Storm never relents. From “Sol’s Golden Curse” to the fistful of metal that is “Tough Guy” to the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-leaning “Hunting Shadows” and the epic 10-minute closer “Darker Fleece”, High on Fire make it perfectly clear they are back and ready to soundtrack the end times in the heaviest of ways.”
10. MIDI Janitor : Holy To Dogs
“MIDI Janitor’s Holy To Dogs is the sound of technology wasting in the dustbin of memory. Broken machines composing one last great work before obsolescence. Jonathan Orr’s music is a nod to both the past and to the idea that making great art isn’t beholden to expensive toys. It’s all in the imagination of the creator, and Holy To Dogs is skies the limit for those discarded machines.”
9. Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea : Reveries
“Once again Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea makes a definitive musical statement in the form of Reveries. In trying times, this is the musical salve to heal those psychic wounds. We need it now more than ever.”
8. Elephant9 : Mythical River
“Mythical River continues to see Elephant9 evolve their sound without ever losing the fire and fury that’s kept them fueled for nearly 20 years. Mythical River is heady and progressive and of the best albums of 2024.”
7. DIIV : Frog In Boiling Water
“Frog In Boiling Water is one of the best guitar-centric albums of the year so far, as well as one of the best indie rock albums of 2024. DIIV continue to push their songwriting into new territory. If you don’t think there aren’t good guitar albums anymore, you’re just not listening.”
6. Zombi : Direct Inject
“The premier prog/synth duo have once again bested themselves and have made their best record yet. Longtime fans will be blown away. Newbies will wonder what took them so long to find their way to the Zombi-verse.”
5. METZ : Up On Gravity Hill
One of the premiere post-punk/noise rock bands working today, Canada’s METZ continues to hone their sound and style on Up On Gravity Hill. Taking their ragged guitar stabs and eardrum-crushing rhythms and adding just the right amount of pop sensibility to the equation.
4. Idles : Tangk
Idles turns their grinding post-punk and hardcore sensibilities into a dance party for the punk kids on Tangk. With Nigel Godrich in the producer’s chair this is Idles most consistent and pop-driven work yet.
3. Pye Corner Audio : The Endless Echo
On Martin Jenkins latest long player as Pye Corner Audio the electronic musician/producer goes back to basics after the sunnier disposition of Let’s Emerge!. The result is some of the best work of Pye Corner Audio’s illustrious career, and a masterpiece of Hauntology.
2. Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu, Marta Sofia Honer : The Closest Thing To Silence
The Closest Thing To Silence is a masterpiece of collaborative musical circuitry. Masters of their musical domain, Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu, and Marta Sofia Honer build a mysterious sound world within these tracks. Hitting on everything from Krautrock, post-rock, ambient, and buzzing experimental. A triumph of circuital bliss and art of the highest order.
And number one….
The Smile : Wall Of Eyes
If there was never another Radiohead album, for me personally I’d be satisfied with The Smile being my Thom Yorke/Jonny Greenwood fix. This trio’s(which also includes master percussionist Tom Skinner) 2022 debut A Light For Attracting Attention was a masterstroke in songwriting and musicianship, so when a follow-up was announced a mere year later it seemed hard to believe they could top it. They did, as Wall Of Eyes is even meatier, jazzier, and weirder than what came before. I’ll always love Radiohead, but this pared down project from that guilded band’s artistic driving force is a good argument for sometimes less is more. All hail The Smile.
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