Best of 2024 - Albums
Average year, I haven't even rated any records 100 out of 100 on AOTY, which is sad. Anyway I had some DJ mixes on repeat all year around, for example Shygirl's Fabric mix which is so heavy and so groovy, perfect for driving. Also maybe because I visited Berlin twice this year, this Boiler Room mix gave me goosebumps. Another few also ridiculously good, like SG Lewis & Tove Lo's San Francisco mix, Andre VII's Mexico mix, Miss Monique's DJ Mag mix, the brilliant MAW's live mix from Johannesburg and my recent favorite, Jojo Lorenzo from the states, who made this great darkwave mix last month for Halloween.
But now lets jump onto the albums. Just as an interesting fact, from the top 50 I seen live 6 artists. Yeah, I've been going out a lot. Also went to YES! (my most favorite place in Manchester) to see Clementine Douglas before she even released her debut album. She was fantastic.
01. The Irrepressibles - Yo Homo! - "Diving more into personal narratives now more than ever, the new album focuses on deeply emotional songwriting from such a specific point of view that’s not really touched upon much in the music industry - a complete breath of fresh air that I’ve taken to instantly. Yo Homo relays this punk rebellious sound throughout that unashamedly projects a call for proudness and authenticity, a love letter to the openess surrounding sexuality." - Wilder Records
02. Allie X - Girl With No Face
03. Lola Young - This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway - "Lola Young’s fierce, funny and assertive songs run on outsized emotions, the 23-year-old singer emboldened and finally embracing everything she has to offer. ‘This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway’, Young’s first full-length album, moves with an auteur-like touch to its production; opulent soul set pieces stand tall next to raw, scratchy indie tunes, all of which see the south Londoner face desire in its many complications. It’s a collection that feels equally empowered and tormented. Or, as one Instagram commenter put it, this is music that could make a listener “want to pick up a refrigerator and throw it”." - NME
04. Fontaines D.C. - Romance
05. Tsatsamis - Our Shame
06. Orla Gartland - Everybody Needs a Hero
07. Nadine Shah - Filth Underneath -"Songs of loss and confusion, ‘Filthy Underneath’ is also marked by a certain kind of certainty. It’s as though amid all this pain, all this negativity, Nadine Shah has found herself once more." - Clash
08. Lanark Artefax - Metallur
09. Mahmood - NEI LETTI DEGLI ALTRI
10. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown
11. Kasper Bjorke - Puzzles
12. Nicolas Jaar - Piedras 1
13. ionnalee - CLOSE YOUR EYES
14. Jamie xx - In Waves
15. Andre Bratten - Slay Tracks
16. The Smile - Cutouts - "It is an immersive and all-encompassing record that is at its best when you play it loud, allowing all of the vast textures of sound to wash over you. In its quietest moments, the album is still full of beauty, which simmers beneath the surface, beckoning us closer." - Far Out Magazine
17. Kim Gordon - The Collective
18. Telenova - Time is a Flower
19. Rosa Anschutz - Interior
20. Emiliana Torrini - Miss Flower
21. Golda May - Say It Back
22. Michael Kiwanuka - Small Changes
23. Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn - Quiet in a World Full of Noise - "Here, Richard and Zahn have captured grief like a carved piece of obsidian—glossy, beautiful, and sharp." - Pitchfork
24. Nilufer Yanya - My Method Actor
25. Crystal Murray - Sad Lovers and Giants
26. Joywave - Permanent Pleasure
27. Foushee - Pointy Heights - "Creeping under the thirty-minute mark, ‘Pointy Heights’ is full of thrills, a conceptual body of work that makes each moment count. In doing so, Fousheé continues to earn her stripes as a vocalist driven by self-expression, stitching together her intrigue for the past, present and future." - Clash
28. Crazy P - Any Signs of Love
29. Porches - Shirt - "On his heaviest, spikiest album to date, Aaron Maine’s shredded production and raw arrangements evoke existential angst and quotidian despair." - Pitchfork
30. Rachel Chinouriri - What a Devastating Turn of Events
31. Kaleida - In My Arms
32. Erika De Casier - Still
33. NewDad - MADRA
34. Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism
35. Laura Masotto - The Spirit of Things
36. Smerz & Allina - Allina
37. DJ Cam - Broken Melancholy
38. 1010benja - Ten Total - "On his chic, adventurous, hybrid-pop debut, Benjamin Lyman is a world-weary optimist and DIY maximalist with a voice fit for the mainstream yet made for the arthouse." - Pitchfork
39. Polar Inertia - Environment Control
40. IDLES - TANGK
41. Psycho Weazel - boysdontcry
42. The Blessed Madonna - Godspeed
43. L.A. Suzi - Nem sírok, csak táncolok
44. Lime Garden - One More Thing
45. St. Vincent - All Born Screaming
46. Gavin Friday - Ecce Homo
47. Lihla - Socha
48. WILLOW - empathogen - "Throughout the record, she seems committed to tearing down barriers between her potential audiences, just as she enjoys pitting their tastes against each other." - Sputnikmusic
49. Gossip - Real Power - "If you like a bit of retro with a modern twist and music that can both grab your heart and kick your teeth in, I’d give Real Power a listen… possibly whilst eating a Freddo whilst you can still afford one." - XS Noise
50. Jespfur - Pedestrians of Bright Silence
