Well Hi, its been a minute hasn't it? This will be my first post in about 4 years. I will say mainly because I have not had a home computer in most of that time but you know other things get in the way too. I'm sure the world has been missing my take on the music scene. Anyway 2024 I have been listening to a LOT of music, according to Last.fm, I have had my prolific listening year.. well, ever! so this one should be based on some good listening. And so onto the list;
10. Bright Eyes - Five Dice, all Threes
It was touch and go whether this album was going to make my list as there was another which ran it very close. Five Dice, all Threes is the 10th album from Bright Eyes if you exclude their Christmas release and whilst not there best it is a solid listen. All being well I would have seen Bright Eyes live this year but they cancelled the UK part of the tour due to front man Conor Oberst losing his voice. Best tracks on the album include; Bells & Whistles, Rainbow Overpass and El Capitan.
9. Sum 41 - Heaven :x: Hell
This is a lot lower than I had foreseen putting this album. Unlike Bright Eyes I did manage to see Sum 41 this year on their farewell tour. It was great fun seeing the pop-punkers bringing out all of their former glories such as "In Too Deep" and "Fat Lip" but actually I really enjoyed some of the tracks from this new album too. The singles "Landmines" was one of my top tracks of last year and "Rise Up was another great single coming from this release but my personal favourite was "Future Primitive", a song that sounds like it has been taken straight from an early Tony Hawk's video game. The downside to this album is that in being a double album its just too long, ironically for the band its not All Killer and has plenty of filler including a fairly poor Rolling Stones cover of Paint it Black.
8. Kendrick Lamar - GNX
A very late entry onto the list and one that had it come out a bit sooner may have been a few places up the list. K-dot was named rapper of the year and that was before this album even dropped, heavily based on the "beef" between himself and Drake which Kendrick resoundingly came out on top of with the release of the non album track "Not Like Us". As for the album, I not only enjoy the tracks but have found myself researching the lore behind them which has helped to build them out and make them more enjoyable. Some of my favourites from the project include; "Squabble Up", "Hey Now" and "Reincarnated"
7. Fontaines D.C. - Romance
Romance is the 4th studio album by Irish Post-Punk band Fontaines D.C.. This was the first time I had really given the band any time of day and it was only after I heard the single "Starburster" which was one of my absolute highlights of the year with its odd rap like verses and chorus with its gasping noises, I can't put my finger on exactly what it is but I couldn't stop listening. Some of the other songs on the album took me a little longer to get into but over the course of the year it has been an album that I keep finding myself coming back to. Favourites include "starburster", "In the modern world" and "favourite".
6. Soft Play - Heavy Jelly
The first album from this punk duo since their controversial name change. Formerly Slaves, Soft Play made a come back with single Punk's Dead which addresses the name change in humorous fashion. The same vibe is present throughout the album which at no point takes itself very seriously. It is the first album from the band I have ever really enjoyed, so I hope this vein of material continues. Particular highlights include; Punk's Dead, Isaac is typing and the one less jovial track on the album, Everything and Nothing.
5. JPEGMAFIA - I Lay Down My Life For You
This was certainly the year where American rap projects made a real impact on my listening and none more so than this one from JPEGMAFIA. This is the 5th solo studio album from Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks and like the previous entry the first time I have got into this artist. His style is extremely varied taking influence from dance, rock, old school hip hop and more to make a sound which is truly his own. My favourite was single Sin Miedo which really does span the genres in a mad but brilliant fashion. Other highlights include "either on or off the drugs" and "don't rely on other men"
4. Yard Act - Where's my Utopia?
Now this is a band who I did already know well, Where's My Utopia is the 2nd Album from Leeds 4-piece Yard Act. The bands first album, "The Overload" was amongst my favourite albums of 2022 and although this one took me a little more time to get into with its more disco-adjacent sound. It took single "We Make Hits" to break me back into their world and once in I was once again hooked on their silly, almost spoken word indie nonsense. As the year went on "Dream Job" which was an earlier single from the album became my favourite but there are many highlights including "Fizzy Fish" and "Vineyard for the North".
3. Jack White - No Name
This one from Jack White came out of absolutely nowhere, the legend has it on a Friday afternoon in July, all customers at Third Man Records outlets had a mystery vinyl added to their shopping bags at check out and that album was "no Name". Released to the wider world a few days later this latest solo work from Jack White was astounding, from first play I knew this was going to be among my favourite records of the year. A bluesy, rock masterpiece with almost every track being worth mentioning but if I had to whittle it down, my favourites would be, "What's the Rumpus?", "Bombing Out" and "Archbishop Harold Holmes"
2. The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy
The debut album from the all female 5-piece was the stuff of marvel. I will be honest I initially didn't give the band much a chance, my inner hipster not enjoying the amount of hype that was following the band but once I gave in I was glad that I did. Each song is a wonder in its own merit, my favourite was "Nothing Matters" which if I had been ahead of the game I Would have enjoyed in 2023 so I was a bit late to the party but it really is a banger. Other greats include "Caesar on a TV Screen", "Sinner" and "Feminine Urge". It was an album in a year that I listened to a lot of music that I Just kept wanting to come back to over and over again.
1. The Libertines - All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade
And the zero surprise award goes to... The Libertines. Look when my favourite band release an album in the year it is going to be my favourite, most listened and most obsessed over album of the year. The play count for the tracks on this album is silly, in the 50s and 60s for each track apart from "Run, Run, Run" which made it over the 100 mark. My favourites from the album chopped and changed throughout the year with "Shiver" and "Songs they never play on the Radio" being up there but in the end it went to "I Have a Friend", a track which felt like an old school Pete song. I managed to see the band twice this year, once in the smallest venue I have ever seen them and the 2nd on Brighton Beach, both were great for different reasons. ALL Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade gave the band its first number 1 album in nearly 20 years (Whilst only being their 2nd album within those 20 years). Hopefully this will see the band become a little bit more prolific than the an album every 10 years.
And there you have it, its like I never left. This years winner was a dead cert from before the year even started really. I have missed making these though so hopefully I will keep it going into next year. Some albums that came close to making the list included Laura Marling's Patterns in Repeat which probably would have made it on given a few more weeks of listening, also the Reytons with Ballad of a Bystander which did the opposite, it was in the list for most of the year and then fell out of the top 10 at the last hurdle. Not a wooden spoon as such but an album I was hoping for more from was Little Man Tate's comeback "Welcome to the Rest of Your Life", it was just not enough of a progression from their albums of 20 years ago. Anyway, nevermind that, enjoy these albums if you wish and see you again next time.
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