2024 was/has been the best year of the decade so far for music. It has seen a lot of various styles, great artists, and just a general undercurrent of consistent quality around us, among us, beside us, without being besides ourselves.
I waited a couple of days after a lot of the big players published their lists to shoehorn Christian Fennesz into this list, because on Friday, the 6th of December, he brought out one of his best albums. But still, it’s a timely time for that time of year. I’ve had a great time.
So, yeah, without further ado, I’m gonna present this list. The winner needs no introduction, really—you can read about it below. What is striking from the top 10, especially, is how great the ladies are doing. Gotta be honest, I previously thought that Charli XCX was trans, but instead she’s transcontinental.
And, yeah, there’s great ambient work here in the list. There’s a lot of great singer-songwriters. And comeback of the year has to be the second album by Beth Gibbons. She’s not a Gibbon. I’m an orangutan.
So, yeah, I’m gonna stop it there. I did an experimental write-up this year by literally just typing—sorry, by speaking into the microphone in Chat GPT. Not letting it edit anything, but then it just writes it for me.
I currently have three things in my bag: beefsteak, Lithuanian potatoes, and something called Curiosity Cola. The local supermarket didn’t have lamb. I can see, at the minute, a Leonard Cohen statue. I’m gonna go walk past the egg now.
Enjoy the list.
***********************************************************
My album of the year is, without a doubt, Vampire Weekend. Only God was above us. Back in April, as I was house hunting, I found a place opposite Parliament in Vilnius—a dream spot to rent, helping me get back on my feet. As I signed the contract, Vampire Weekend's latest album dropped, and it felt like everything was just too good to be true. And, as it turns out, Vampire Weekend delivered their fifth—and arguably best—album yet.
In essence, this album is a compendium of everything they’ve done since 2008. Pitchfork described it as "knotty," which perfectly captures its intricacy. The album dives into deep themes, exploring the past and even centuries gone by to find meaning for today’s journey forward, all wrapped in layers of vivid Technicolor sound.
Take the majestic lead single, Capricorn. It’s a song about getting older, being caught in between, and the nostalgia of a December birthday. The lyrics capture it perfectly: "Capricorn, the year that you were born finished fast, and the next one wasn't yours."
Then there’s the final track, Hope. "I hope you let it go; the enemy is invincible," it repeats. This song pulls in historical military references, blending them with a very personal plea—a clever touch. Ezra Koenig, the band’s lead singer, once admitted to having been arrogant, but this album feels anything but. It’s a crowning achievement in what has been a fantastic career.
I highly, highly, highly, highly, highly recommend it, and I’m confident this album is in prime position—on the grid at least to quote bloody Formula 1 - for album of the decade. Watch this space.
2. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown
Second on my list is an album by Beth Gibbons, who, at the tender age of 59, brings us a haunting exploration of aging in a very dark way. She's the singer behind Portishead, who previously released three seminal trip-hop albums. Beth is an institution—a cultural cult figure and hero with a unique rock-pop style. This album was highly, highly anticipated across the board. It took her many years; it's her first solo studio album in over 20 years, and in any other year, it would be the best album of the year. The standard was so high this year.
It's so haunting, with lots and lots of layered vocals that would do Portishead proud. The percussion and drums are incredible on this thing. It was absolutely a delight to hear something so well woven together about such a crackling concept. And much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much, much kudos, kudos, kudos, kudos, kudos, kudos, kudos to that.
3. Kelly Moran - Moves In The Field
I'm gonna probably give number three to—it's a difficult one—but to Kelly Moran, which is called Moves in the Field. So in essence, this album is a piano-led album. Its concept is driven by ballet dancing, and just a dancer gliding to the piano playing. It's especially elegant because Kelly Moran's playing style is where she gets a pre-programmed piano that plays—it's a Yamaha Disklavier, so you spell Disklavier D-I-S-K-L-A-V-I-E-R. So it's like a digital descendant of a player piano.
So, as Pitchfork mentioned, yeah, it explores, like, the tension between "technical precision and emotional reverie"—you can quote that in inverted commas. She's kind of transformed the piano, and herself, into its own instrument, you know? It's incredibly moving—it's an unbelievable album with lots and lots of depth. It crept into my most played artists of the year on my Spotify Wrapped recently.
You know, let's see what else—yeah, she's really in a league of her own. You know, technically, like, in terms of genre, you could call it neo-classical, but I don't think that is a great tag to apply to this kind of music when it stands on its own. It gets comparisons from journalists to people like Philip Glass. It has a lot of wintry elegance going on. It's absolutely a great album that I'll be playing very much more this decade.
One contributor puts on a forum that it "needs vocals"—absolutely disagree with that because it would just ruin it. So yeah, this is worthy of the podium, and I am very happy that I discovered her this year.
4. Phosphorescent - Revelator
I've always wanted to place him high, but my listening relationship with Phosphorescent has been, let’s say, patchy. This is an album of sheer wisdom and very strong imagery. For me, it's his best album—his best work, or some of it at least. It's Americana in its highest form. It has ravens on the cover and very beautiful artwork. I think he's overcome lots and lots of difficulty.
The absolutely glorious third track, "Fences," coupled with the album closer "To Get It Right," as well as other euphoric moments on the album, made this a spring release that was one to remember. It is, if I haven't already mentioned, one big comfort blanket.
I think that when it came out on the same day as the album that won this year's prize—Vampire Weekend's Only God Was Above Us—it was like a double dose of sheer, I don't know, glory. It really came at a time when my life was getting better and better after a very tricky, testing time in my life.
So, kudos to the singer—Matthew Houck (spelled H-O-U-C-K). Like it said in the Mojo review, he's not one for moving fast, and this is a very carefully paced album. And yeah, it’s a great, great, great follow-up to 2018's C’est La Vie. So yeah, please—this is one of the best albums released in the Americana genre in so long.
5. Nala Sinephro - Endlessness
Nala was the winner of my Album of the Year in 2021, and now she still makes the top 5. It's a beautiful follow-up to Space 1.8 from 2021. I saw her live in October in London—after being up at 4 a.m. that morning to fly to London. But in the Barbican, you know, she played a lot of the album live and did long, more expansive harp sections.
The whole album is an arpeggio—it's been arpeggiated. It's electronic in its influences, but ultimately, deep down at heart, it's cosmic space jazz. The modular synthesizers, the pedal harp, the drums—everything is kind of put in there. She even has bagpipes in some places. It just comes together in this kind of glorious tapestry.
She really is the most strikingly brilliant jazz player—or person—that I've been aware of in so, so long. And it's a genre that I'm really a big fan of. It's incredible that she was born in 1996. She's only 27 or 28 years old and has a massive future ahead. In this decade, she's already one of the emergent artists that I appreciate the most.
So massive credit to her. She's Caribbean-Belgian, generally based in London, and part of a wider scene, which includes people like Alabaster DePlume and Shabaka Hutchings and his Ancestors, among others. But overall, it’s a stupendously beautiful, serene album, which has been a huge highlight. And yeah, I highly recommend it.
6. Akira Kosemura & Lawrence English - Selene
Number six is a modern ambient classic that has absolutely gone below the radar—not many people know about it. Excuse me while I just pull up the details here. I'm speaking at the moment into a GPT, but it's all going to be word-for-word and no AI content is modified.
So, this is an album called Celine or Celen by Akira Kosemura and Lawrence English. If you look at their Bandcamp, you'll see that the concept is all about planets, atmosphere, and gravity leaning into each other. It says on the Bandcamp that the tracks are "simultaneously expansive and anchoring." It’s about a lingering desire that sits beyond us, seeking new perspectives snatched from familiar vistas, and meditating on that sense of anchor and perspective. When I listen to it, I think of space and cosmonauts.
It came out on the last day of spring, May 31st, on the Temporary Residence label, which is a Brooklyn-based record label. They've got a lot of great artists—like William Basinski, Mogwai, et cetera. This album is one of the best ambient releases of the decade so far. I think that when people read this list and give it a listen, it’ll finally get some of the credit it deserves.
On Discogs, which is a very prominent vinyl database online, it’s got very strong reviews—4.6 overall out of five stars. I love the track listing; the song titles are incredible. There are seven: "Crescents," "Crater," "Thela" (spelled T-H-E-L-A), "The Shadow of Falling," "Twilight Wave," "Tint of Lonesphere," and "Mirroring Feldspar." It definitely gets the accolade for the best song titles of the year.
Highly recommend this one. Please hit it up, guys—it's a modern ambient classic.
7. Rosie Lowe - Lover, Other
Number seven—a really left-field discovery again, one that came completely out of the blue—is an artist called Rosie Lowe, who brought out this album Lover, Other. It’s got a very, very daring and inventive production style. Yeah, just a very stunning album overall, with lots of experimentation going on. It has a very trip-hoppy vibe at times, with nods to Massive Attack, Nightmares on Wax, and other similar bands.
I’m looking at her Wikipedia now—it looks like this is her fourth album. I’m not so familiar with her back catalog, I need to express that. What I can see is she was born on Christmas Eve, which is interesting. It’s one of the best stories of the year, I think. She’s got a great vibe—electronic soul would probably be the genre you’re looking at. The production plays around with dimensions of time signatures and various…just shithousery, fuck-upery—the opposite of drudgery.
I’m just rapping now into ChatGPT. So yeah, I think it came out in summer, and it was one of those weeks on a New Music Friday where I was just thinking, God, there’s such a dearth of fucking talent, of good vibes this week. And then it just hit me like a sledgehammer. It was on the 16th of August, I see.
This is on the PIAS label (P-I-A-S), and I think it’s absolutely one of the dark horses of the year. So, go ahead and get this Lover, Comma, Other down your aerial—if we still have aerials, not like the Little Mermaid.
8. Charli XCX - Brat
Sometimes along comes an album that is so culturally significant in terms of modern pop culture or mainstream culture that you have to wake up and take notice. You know, this album, Charli XCX's Brat soundtracking Brat Summer, you know, it just was completely soundtrack in my headphones, this album.
If we think of, say, how I discovered this artist, I mean, whenever I hear viral names of artists that might be big in the TikTok sphere or in total mass commercialization, I often want to reject it or not be that interested because of my indie boy roots or whatever. There's no need to run diagnostics on it necessarily.
But with this one, I discovered her when I moved back to the UK for nine months with my stepbrother who put it on the family Alexia, Amazon Alexia. And, you know, we were cooking some food near Christmas time, I think. It could have been the middle of summer. I honestly wouldn't remember. And I thought, "wow, I dig. I think this is a really good artist. There's something there"
For me, Brat is the best pop album since Annie's Anniemal, which was released in 2004. So you get a good picture of how I feel about this thing. 20 years later after, by the way, you should check it out, Annie's Anniemal album.
his is, you know, a spiritual successor, even though it's all about the club and the cover is very garish and kitschy, which screams exactly what it's about. Rubbing your face in it, how, you know, fucking live in how I want to live, subverting all the culture, you know, all the popular societal norms.
The way the production works, I'm just looking at it on Spotify and I can see that 360, the first song has got 267 million plays. I think that this is a real champagne album. As in celebration, it's got LGBTQI plus whatever written all over it. And I'm just all over this and will be for a long, long, long time. It's a great album to go running to, but also to celebrate subversion. It's not about Kamala Harris. She is so brat, whatever, who cares anymore. But yeah, respect to Charlie.
9. Godspeed You! Black Emperor- No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead
2024 has been one of the most open years in terms of quality. The sheer quality of this year for music has been unparalleled in recent memory. Perhaps the best year so far this decade. It’s hard to place albums—the natural struggle of doing that. But one really great record from this year is by a rock band that just don’t let you down. They’re a very instrumental band—post-rock. They’re called Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
They started in 1994 and took a seven-year hiatus in 2003, but since 2010, they’ve been going strong. They’re a great band. This is a protest rock album about the ridiculous conflict that’s going on in the Middle East. The album is called No Title: As of 13 February 2024, 28,340 Dead. So this stands up pretty well for Palestine, and it’s a strong album, I have to say that.
It’s very, very beautifully put together. The instrumentals are really long. There’s an absolutely epic second track on it called “Babies in a Thundercloud.” The whole thing comes in at 54 minutes and nine seconds.
And yeah, I think it’s great to put this on your “listen-to” list—if that’s an expression. But yeah, it’s a top, top album, and it’s deserving of its place here.
10. Fennesz - Mosaic
I’m listening to this now—this noise, ambient, drone, beautiful, grinded-up, digitalized, field recording slash whatever it is. It’s his own genre, in my opinion. I’m in my apartment after running a 5km parkrun this morning in very cold weather—we could call it Baltic weather. Baltic, mate. Me clammy rogers in it.
So basically, the fridge is popping, and the apartment is whirring as this music plays. And as I said in the description above, I basically shoehorned this into the list, because I knew—I just knew—and I don’t often get these things wrong, that this was going to be a fucking phenomenal album. There is so much depth to this that if it had come out earlier, it could potentially take the crown. So we’ll see where this ends up and what happens later.
I discovered him—Christian Fennesz, who’s now 61, unbelievably—at an event in London back in the day. It was called Eat Your Own Ears. I’m trying to Google it now, let’s see—it had Christian Fennesz, Explosions in the Sky, Animal Collective, Four Tet, Caribou (he used to be called Manitoba), and others. Fennesz was one of the first acts on. You just walked into this big venue—let’s say you could probably call it a warehouse, I don’t remember, it was a long time ago—and the noise just sucked me in.
Yes, I was drinking lager, and yes, I was probably on a different kind of…basically, I was getting pissed, and I wanted to dance. But the quality and the otherworldliness of this artist—it just speaks for itself. I’d have to say he’s my favorite electronic artist.
Therefore, this album is a massive return. Not to form, because he’s always been consistent, but a return to maybe his peak with the double couple of albums he had called Endless Summer and Venice. Venice came out 20 years ago, in 2004. Endless Summer was 2001. Those albums apparently inspired him to make Mosaic as it is.
*****************************************************************
40 honorable and mostly chrnological mentions to make up the bloody Top 50!:
Sprints
Marika Hackman
The Fauns
The Smile
Dean McPhee
Revival Season
Hurray For The Riff Raff
Heems / Lapgan
Nils Frahm
Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
Four Tet
Adrienne Lenker
Fabiano Do Nacsimento
Shabaka
Oren Amarchi
Arab Strap
Mach-Hommy
Priori
Kneecap
Jay Worthy & Dam Funk
The Streets
Oneida
Total Blue
Wand
Jack White
Belong
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
Fontaines DC
Mercury Rev
Mayayoshi Fujita
Dummy
Floating Points
Nilufer Yanya
Jamie XXX
Drug Church
Underworld
Freddie Gibbs
Father John Misty
Michael Kiwanuka
Good Morning
