Staff Picks CDs & Vinyl: The Best of 2024 Part 1
Our music loving Staff pick their favourite albums from 2024 - have a browse!
Kate's Pick:
It's got be Charli XCX's Brat for me (which I imagine will be a popular choice)!
Gus' Picks:
Dangerous Day to be a Cold One - DARTZ
Marija's Picks:
My pick from our catalogue would be I Got Heaven from Mannequin Pussy. Two others I loved were My Method Actor - Nilüfer Yanya and Whiplash, the new album from Bôa.
Hamish's Picks:
My favourite slab of vinyl to turn up in the bins last year is Woodland by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (CD of Woodland also available). It’s the greatest album so far in the long musical journeys of Welch and Rawlings. Their guitar playing fits together so precisely that it sounds like one person playing multiple guitars rather than just two people. The songs are despondent, hopeful, experimental, mournful, and exuberant, often all at once. The top track is the spooky and self-referential future classic, The Bells And The Birds.
My other favourite vinyl of the year was I know......a...way... by Ducklingmonster, which Audio Foundation in Auckland released.
Neil J's Picks:
A chaos of flowers - Big Brave
Big Brave’s 2021 album Vital was one of our top picks for that year. An album that was a tidal wave of raw power and sound that engulfed its listeners, with emotional lyrical content to match. 'A Chaos of Flowers' is a very different proposition and relates more back to the band’s dark folk roots. Sure, the mighty distorted power chords are still there, but this time they are either sparingly used or much lower in the mix. This gives Big Brave a much more expansive pallet of sonics and atmospheres to explore. Among the bone shattering drone metal there are many delicate exquisite acoustic moments; the tracks are full of original lyrics and poetry content that effortlessly spans cultures, countries, and times. It is a majestic multi-listen release with depths that will amply reward listeners.
This album has hardly been off my playlist since its release. I loved A Light for Attracting Attention, The Smile’s first release, though for me it fell more into the category of a fabulous collection of individual songs than a unified work. Wall of Eyes is a more cohesive release, with superb orchestration, arrangements and lyrical content all brilliantly delivered. It is an album that knows when to be subtle and quiet and when to let it rip, and the transitions between these elements are beautifully handled, effortlessly touching on so many genres without ever replicating any. While it is always well worth listening to anything connected with the Radiohead members, Wall of Eyes is something special and up there with the very best of their work, and there isn’t a weak link in the whole project. An outstanding release.
One of the most talked about albums from last year was the André 3000 (one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Outkast) ambient album New blue sun; a seemingly bizarre musical left turn that saw him release an album with no rapping or even singing, but plenty of ‘flute jams’. The resulting album is a beautiful mellow release, that also demands the listeners attention. It has closer connections to ambient jazz or devotional new age music than it does rap of any kind, and the spiritual influence of Alice Coltrane or Pharoah Sanders can clearly be heard in the music, rather than their particular musical approaches. A fabulous and truly unexpected ambient release.
Its been eight years since the previous High Llamas release. That said, Sean O’Hagan the main creative force behind the band has never been one to rest on his laurels, and some readers will recognise his name in connection with Microdisney and Stereolab. Previous High Llamas releases have leaned heavily into a blissed-out Beach Boys vibe, which of course is no bad thing. This is certainly not the case with 'Hey Panda', which finds the band in full reinventive form, creating a truly unique take on buoyant pop. It is an album full of charming, quirky and elegant surprises, and the addition of several guest vocalists, including Livvy O'Hagan, Rae Morris and Bonnie "Prince" Billy to the mix, gives the sonic palette of the album another dimension. It is a clever, fun , eclectic and lovely work, jam packed with creative ideas that float to the surface for a few moments before sinking back below. A sumptuous mix of RnB, soul, electronica and of kilter squelchy pop, that at first listen has a chilled whimsical nature but grows in depth with each repeat.
Mdou Moctar - Funeral for justice
Assouf or “desert blues” is a musical form that has always been deeply connected to political expression and Mdou Moctar’s album Funeral for justice is an album where the Tuareg guitarist gives full vent to his anger at the political situation in Niger, highlighting the many political injustices to be found there. The righteous fury he feels is expressed both lyrically and in the searing, blistering, guitar solos he unleashes. The album itself is constructed from improvised sessions; most of the tracks build slowly and solidly from the start, ending in pyrotechnic spellbinding guitar riff climaxes. This music is the sound of rebellion where music still has power; it’s politics, fury and passion are inextricably linked.
Also:
The Cure - Songs of a Lost World
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Wild God
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - No title as of 13 February 2024 28,240 dead