There I was, in the middle of the California desert surrounded by too many women in those LOFT hats (you know the ones), Jessica Pratt’s tinsel voice serenading via microphone, as I thought to myself, “I should be enjoying this more than I am.”
Jessica Pratt was, and is, one of my favorite musicians, and yet, there I was, struggling to connect. Maybe it was those LOFT hats obstructing my view, or the fact that she was sitting down, my only view of her the blonde wisps on the top of her head. But probably, it had something to do with the fact that for most of the past year, I had found myself under a tyrannical pop spell, gravitating toward music that made me want to move—fast. Minimal swaying and foot tapping in 2024 for me. (The buzzy Diamond Jubilee of Cindy Lee is bound to shake this feeling once my CD arrives in the mail.)
Maybe it was the pop girly reign of 2024, or the amapiano and afrobeat takeover in the U.S., or possibly the stellar lineup of new gen female rappers holding center stage, but damn we were gifted with so much head banging, hip swirling, and dopamine rushing music this year.
I was hoping to write more than I did this year, so as a result I’ve forced my fingertips to conjure up some blurbs to accompany my EOTY list. Aren’t you proud of me?
Annual disclaimer: this list is still fully biased toward my own, superior music taste, consisting mostly of pop, electronic, and R&B. Plugging The Quietus’ psych rock list, Passion of the Weiss’ favorite live performances of the year, and Brooklyn Vegan’s rap list for your consideration.
2024 favorite albums of the year:
1. BRAT / Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat – Charli xcx
This whole album captures the sensation of your favorite song coming on in the club. Of course it’s number one, it has to be. The brainchild of Pop 2 and how i’m feeling now, Charli has reached her artistic excellence via spiritual party girl sleaze with BRAT. The remix album is but a punch up of this pop classic in the making, and amidst my complicated feelings around watching this gift be marketed into oblivion, when you strip back the bullshit and just focus on the music, BRAT is pure pop supremacy.
2. Alligator Bites Never Heal – Doechii
Do any of you even realize how lucky you are to be alive at the same time as the superstar, the visionary, the force to be reckoned with, Doechii the Don? The vicious range of the swamp princess herself is on display throughout Alligator Bites Never Heal because Doechii is an expert at every damn corner of hip-hop; she’s got the elegance of SZA, the delivery of Nicki, the wit of Tierra Whack, and the pure power of Kendrick. Historically, she’s outperformed anyone she collabs with, and as the eternal Nicki Minaj on “Monster,” Doechii leaves Alligator Bites Never Heal all to herself to carry with ease.
3. Imaginal Disk – Magdalena Bay
Someone on Twitter said that this album sounds like early PC aquatic desktop screensavers and I really felt that. Whimsical, bubbly, and charming, my god, every song on Imaginal Disk is its own quest through the faraway, enchanting land that Magdalena Bay has perfectly painted into this dazzling album. Listening to it front to back feels like licking one of those really tall lollipops that never ends, and it’s incredible the way that nearly every song builds into its own epic, orchestral tornado with a blissful release.
4. TYLA – Tyla
A flawless fusion of R&B, pop, and amapiano, TYLA curates the ultimate vibe in her self-titled, no-skips debut. It’s no wonder “Water” had America in a chokehold all year. A glorious collection of ethereal, R&B vocals layered into the texture of blood pumping and body rolling beats, it’s like the dancehall anthems of Wayne Wonder have been revived by Dangerously In Love-era Beyonce.
5. The Sunset Violent – Mount Kimbie
This was all I really listened to in the spring as a big time Mount Kimbie purist (as you all should be, too). The romantic aches and bends and warps of The Sunset Violent morph so perfectly into the thrilling and transcendent story that the album has to tell. Brisk and gritty yet soft and lucid, The Sunset Violent is but a reminder for why the hell we listen to music.
6. Romance – Fontaines D.C.
An supersonic account of the modern epidemic of loneliness, Romance is a bludgeoning heartthrob echoing across the bleak cul-de-sacs that falsely promise community. The y2k-esque drumbeats tap into a newfound nostalgia placing us into the juicy center of a suburban, MTV-era angst. And shit it feels sooo good to be back here.
Romance is an incredible rumination of where we’ve been and where we might be going, so let’s tear the J-14 posters off the bedroom wall and long for a full moon again.
7. Britpop – A.G. Cook
A trilogy of great brilliance, Britpop represents the past, present, and future of British pop, or, in my eyes, A.G. and PC music’s hold on American indie pop. I call A.G. the king of new pop because that mind of his is much responsible for the BRAT success, and as Charli simply puts it, “you gon jump if A.G. made it.”
This triple album, dare I say his best solo-release yet, transcends from unabashed synths to angelic vocals into a dreamy rodeo of harmony. Round and round again, A.G. layers every track with complex yet lucious compounds that blend boundaries of nightcore, synth-pop, and rugged electronic. Of course not without his signature blitz of alarms as we embark on this fanciful revolution of pop music at the hands of A.G. Cook.
8. Dreamstate – Kelly Lee Owens
A near masterpiece of spiritual decadence that leaves you feeling as though you can actually grasp the measurement of light years, Dreamstate creates its own intersection between space and time, like that of a dream.
From the very moment I heard “Throwing Lines” years back, I knew KLO was hot shit. A necessary creature especially in the year of the Party Girl, KLO continues to work her magic with an ethereal base that builds into a club-beat roaring blitz. It’s no wonder that internet bots are saying that Dreamstate is what they thought Grimes would have created by now.
9. The Year I Turned 21 – Ayra Starr
Ayra Starr the woman that you are! Her talent and allure is like a ray of light, felt so strongly on The Year I Turned 21. It’s a crisp, colorful expression of Starr’s growth into her 21st year, chopped full of backyard party bangers in between melodic ruminations. Ayra is a goddamn diamond and I’m hopeful that we’re only seeing the beginnings of what is about to flourish.
10. In Waves – Jamie xx
The long-awaited follow up to In Color that was literally released when I was in high school (scary), In Waves is combusting with that same everlasting charm and those glimmery dance tracks. But this time, Jamie xx has elevated his game with a golden common thread that weaves through the work with effortless flow and cohesion. A wonder beyond belief, In Waves always leaves me feeling giddy, just happy to be alive at a time with such a strong faith to the soundtrack of dance.
11. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU – JPEGMAFIA
A really wonderful collection of curated chaos, observation, and political commentary, Peggy stays loyal to his trademark artistic erraticism and once again, has me floored. To me, it’s quite the challenge to top last year’s SCARING THE HOES, and shit does he come close.
In I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU, Peggy tries to make sense of the muddled layers of late-stage capitalism through brash sensations; the noise of the record actually functions as the silence in a landscape where the media won’t stop screaming at us.
12. Cowboy Carter – Beyonce
It’s difficult to condense such a hallmark into a blurb (see, this is why I usually don’t do blurbs), so I’ll just urge you to check out what Tee Noir has to say.
I admire this album for its revolutionary fusion of artifacts from both the Rock & Roll and Country Music Hall of Fame with a newfound, futuristic Americana hip-hop angle; a pristinley produced reminder that the country genre has always been, and will continue to be, black. To me, the versatile essence of Cowboy Carter is felt most strongly in ballads like “II HANDS II HEAVEN,” “SPAGHETTI,” and “YA YA,” but altogether? It’s a bit too long, and there are a handful of dozy skips that derail our white stallion galloping along this newfound Beycountry path, American flag shamefully beating against the western wind.
Cowboy Carter is better understood as a historically significant piece of art than a collection of music, imo, if that makes sense. And personally, I’ll continue to pray for a Destiny’s Child-era R&B revival for Act III.
13. GLORIOUS – GloRilla
Not far off from the emotional effect of BRAT, GLORIOUS is packed full of juicy party anthems that emulate liberation and euphoria; “It’s 7pm Friday, it’s 95 degrees,” is kind of all a girl really needs to know? Glo weaves these anthems with moments of introspective homage to her home, while holding her girlfriends accountable because evidently, sometimes we’re all guilty of forgetting that men ain’t shit.
14. Manning Fireworks – MJ Lenderman
I long to make sandcastles on the beach and stub my toes at the waterpark once again, thanks to Manning Fireworks. MJ Lenderman reimagines the gap between simplicity and complexity and in doing so, evokes such a childlike serendipity that we can’t help but cling to in this uncertain American hellscape. He uses this pinpointed nostalgia to bleed into the eventual aimless adulthood because on one hand, it’s liberating to wake up hungover in your own apartment, but on the other, you are hungover and you are alone.
15. Here in the Pitch – Jessica Pratt
My girl, Jessica, mentioned her in the beginning. Though I found her performance underwhelming, Here in the Pitch is but a reminder that Jessica Pratt is totally incapable of making bad music; she’ll continue to deliver a fresh outlook with her celestial song and dreamy melody. Her delicate glow lights the way through the shadows of Laurel Canyon. Unequivocally timeless, Here in the Pitch is a classical expedition into the dark corners of Americana folk.
2024 favorite songs of the year:
1. Starburster – Fontaines D.C.
2. Dumb Guitar – Mount Kimbie
3. NISSAN ALTIMA – Doechii
4. II HANDS II HEAVEN – Beyonce
5. Talk talk – Charli xcx
6. BYE BYE – Kim Gordon
7. Lucifer – A. G. Cook
8. Bad Vibes (feat. Seyi Vibez) – Ayra Starr
9. Never Loose Me (feat. SZA & Cardi B) – Flo Milli
10. Eusexua – FKA twigs
11. Diet Pepsi – Addison Rae
12. Good Luck Babe! – Chappell Roan
13. Nasty – Tinashe
14. Taper – Maria BC
15. Tailor Swif – ASAP Rocky
16. HISS – Megan Thee Stallion
17. I think about it all the time (featuring Bon Iver) – Charli xcx
18. Burning – Tems
19. SLIDE – Doechii
20. Sold Out – Yung Lean, Bladee
The Peeling 