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Joe's Top 10 Albums of 2024
9: Bladee - Cold Visions
If there’s anything Bladee does better than most in the underground rap world, it’s aesthetic; outside of how cool one may think the Drain Gang cohort is, it’s undeniable that both Bladee’s musical output and popstar status share a wintery, slightly depressed but hopeful aesthetic. He’s one of the coolest figures in the underground for that reason. Cold Visions capitalizes on this aesthetic in a very consistent and focused manner. The beats are more directly rage-influenced, but Bladee doesn’t compromise on his signature flow and vision, it all feels as composed and intentional as the production on favorites like Icedancer, probably my favorite Bladee project. Bladee delivers some of his more intense and emotional lines on this record, relating a lot of his anxieties as he enters his thirties and becomes distant from friends on songs like “DONT WANNA HANG OUT” and “I DONT LIKE PEOPLE.” On “YUNG SHERMAN” and others you hear more of Bladee’s intense vocal inflections, more lovely melodies that click perfectly with the feelings related in his lyrics. Being an hour long cloud rap endeavor, growing bored of the tedium may happen, but Bladee finds ways to keep things interesting on this record. This is probably his best, most consistent and listenable release since 2020, again because it all feels so cohesive and aesthetic-driven. I highly recommend this album if you enjoy underground rap in any way, definitely one of the best rage albums I’ve heard in a while.
Favorite track: YUNG SHERMAN
8: Tyler, the Creator - Chromakopia
One of the most respected producer/rapper combos in the world of hip hop today, Tyler has delivered once again on a fun, interesting, and beautiful hip hop album, which to me is mirroring the success of Igor in 2019. Tyler’s unique production, his honest and visceral storytelling, his sense of humor, jazzy chord changes, his insane chemistry with features, it’s all here. More than anything, so many sound clips and things from this album have stuck with me like not much else has this year. I find myself just repeating “Chromakooooooopia” from the album opener “St. Chroma” so much, along with the lyrics and bass lines and whistling and everything from “Sticky” (my apologies to everyone on the Dodecs tour), as well as the hook from “Like Him”, one of the most beautiful and touching songs of the year. Like I mentioned before, possibly the best thing about Tyler’s creations (haha) is how personal and unique the production style feels, everything feels uniquely him and everything is given such detail. The beats sound distinctly Tyler, his songwriting and inflections, his harmonic choices, it’s all very interwoven and thought out. I don’t know where this stands in my Tyler ranking, both Flower Boy and Igor are incredible albums with their fair share of hits, but this album impressed me way more than his last record Call Me If You Get Lost, and improved on its formula (rather, CMIYGL’s regurgitation of the Igor formula) fantastically. It makes me happy this album seems to be receiving its fair share of critical success as well as commercial; the alternative hip hop space is in good hands if this is a gold standard.
Favorite track: Sticky Sticky
7: Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us
Not the only band on this list to have come from the Ivy League, but definitely the most famous and successful band in that category, Vampire Weekend have long held a grip on suburban indie rock lovers; if there was a rock band to accompany the vibe of slightly socially awkward philosophy or government majors gathering at a Novack or Starbucks study session, they would probably top that list. Their newest record sees the band going back to the sound of their 2013 album Modern Vampires of the City, with more noisy pop influences thrown into the mix. As he left before the Father of the Bride, this album lacks Rostam’s emphasis-on-rhythm influence, so the album sounds more Ezra-led than Modern Vampires, but the quality doesn’t dip in the slightest. These are well written, fun Vampire Weekend songs, definitely feeling more analogous to everything pre-Father of the Bride, like some of the Rostam school of songwriting is still intact (“The Surfer” is credited to him, actually). The production is cozy (feeling very early 2010s in sound, again like a millennial hipster coffee shop vibe), as well as the songs’ subject matter and general vibe. If there’s another way to describe this album, it’s posh. Everything about the well written arrangements of “Classical” and “Prep-School Gangsters”, the sudden but supported introduction of Baggy/Madchester drums on “Mary Boone”, the lovely and perfect melody of the chorus on “Connect”, everything feels very perfectly placed and articulated yet delightfully effortless, like that one friend who has a lot on their plate in life but still wakes up before work to drink coffee and watch the sunrise, just to start the day appreciating the world around them. The music on this record makes me want to romanticize academia and become a workaholic. I don’t know if that seems good or not but this record is great.
Favorite track: Prep-School Gangsters Vampire Weekend - Prep-School Gangsters (Official Visualizer)
6: Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee
Cindy Lee seems to have finally broken fully into the underground music scene with Diamond Jubilee, earning the highest Pitchfork score since their 10 given to Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters in 2020. Patrick Flegel, singer from the band Women, another darling act of the underground, has been making another name for himself with the Cindy Lee project, going more personal and introspective with his Ronettes/Beach Boys-esque songwriting, stepping into areas of dream pop and hypnagogic pop. Diamond Jubilee is more of this, but also isn’t. Like I could describe it as 32 songs of sweet old-timey melodies and lyrics, but I can also describe it as a 2 hour western musical that you were too late to get proper seating to, so you can hear it from a room over, reverb and all. The length is daunting, especially as I am someone who prefers listening to albums in full, but there really aren’t many duds in the track listing. The songwriting is incredibly consistent, almost hypnotic in it; I feel like I enter a higher state of being listening to this, wandering around in a dreamy foggy town in the 30s midwest (or Alberta, as the album cover seems to suggest). These songs resemble The Velvet Underground’s ability to weave heart-wrenching narratives and feelings over similarly complex arrangements and melodies, even as the music mostly comprises guitar-led indie rock. Another hurdle to one listening to this is the fact that it is not on streaming, another testament to how well lauded it is despite that fact (YouTube here Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee (2024) Full Album HQ). This album is perfect for studying for long periods of time, as you allow the nostalgic sounds of Cindy Lee’s guitar to lull you into a calmer state. I’m so glad this is getting traction, and I really hope its length and streaming-less quality doesn’t stop people from hearing the wonderful world Patrick has created on this.
Favorite track: Dracula Cindy Lee - Dracula (Official Video)
5: Charli XCX - Brat
Charli XCX’s shedding of her sub-mainstream status with Brat has been another amazing part of 2024. I’m not too interwoven into the world of Stan Twitter and serious popstar culture, but it has been so fun to see this record lunge onto the charts while also topping the most year end lists from major publications out of any album from 2024. “Brat Summer” was like a cultural zeitgeist moment, definitely helped by the Harris 2024 campaign beginning to associate themselves with the record, as well as Charli’s continual release of singles and remixes with other popular artists months after the album’s release. I still remember a party near the end of 24F, where I was dancing on a table and able to see the collective energy raise in the room as soon as the DJ started playing “Club classics”; every single person suddenly started singing along and dancing and it was great. It was hard to go out anywhere in the latter half of the year without hearing at least a song from this album playing. “Club classics” is quite literally a hardcore club banger, “360” is catchy as all hell, “Von dutch” sounds like the inside of a race car, etc. The lyrical content of this album has Charli at her most personal and emotional, tapping into feelings of insecurity in relationships with “Girl so confusing”, playing with regrets and how to deal with them on “Rewind”, painting beautiful romantic scenes with tinges of sadness in “Everything is romantic”, and delivering a beautiful tribute to the superstar SOPHIE on “So I”, even talking about how she missed a phone call from her 3 months before her passing. All of the ideas on this album are delivered through the hyperpop soundscape pioneered by SOPHIE and others, so the tribute feels all the more fitting. As a longtime Charli fan, the acclaim this album has received makes me very happy. She's an incredible artist and this album just continues to impress me with how her musical visions are expressed here.
Favorite track: Everything is romantic Charli xcx - Everything is romantic (official lyric video)
4: Kendrick Lamar - GNX
I’d argue that no one in popular music has had a better year than Kendrick Lamar. His highly publicized feud with Drake earlier this year sent shockwaves through the public consciousness, delivering character assassinations of his opponent through incredibly tight and interesting diss tracks, with “Not Like Us” sweeping the globe like nothing else he had released before. And all of this came from a year where we weren’t really expecting Kendrick to do too much. I would have been very content with just those first few singles, and while there were rumblings of a potential album rollout, no one expected a surprise drop of a full Kendrick album a few weeks ago. This is the first non-conceptual Kendrick album in a while. I was a bit skeptical at first, but this album shows that Kendrick doesn’t need a tightly wound narrative to deliver an entertaining album. This album is just straight bangers the whole way through. As expected Kendrick focuses on his bombastic 2024 persona on this project, delivering thoughtful meditations on his sudden chart-topping fame (“man at the garden”), old-school storytelling (“reincarnated”, “wacced out murals”), boastful club anthems (“squabble up”, “tv off”), and beautiful melodic pieces (“luther”). Despite his earnest calls for love and understanding through it all, he comments on how hypocritical this is, considering his bloodthirsty feud earlier this year. We see him undergoing a self-actualization dialogue through the album similar to that of Mr. Morale, but I prefer the execution here, as it feels less heavy-handed and more honest. GNX symbolizes his acceptance of his hypocrisy as a peacemaker and a feud champion, while still showing that beneath it all, he really does enjoy the fame, and can deliver some incredible music all the while.
Favorite track: Reincarnated Kendrick Lamar - reincarnated (Official Audio)
3: Geordie Greep - The New Sound
I’ve been enamoured with Black Midi ever since 2019, with their futuristic amalgamation of influences and sounds, especially as they steered more towards the avant-garde with Cavalcade and Hellfire. This made their break-up announcement earlier this year hard to accept, as they symbolized everything that I wanted rock to be in the 2020s. The New Sound’s announcement did not come as a surprise, rumors about their solo projects had already sprung up, but the sound of the lead single “Holy, Holy” shocked me like few singles this year did. This proggy, Latin-fused groove sounded like nothing Black Midi had put out, yet had Greep’s trademark quirky creative spin on it (my full review for the song here: https://rateyourmusic.com/music-review/gnorfnorf/geordie-greep/holy-holy/234665782). The New Sound comes across as a logical extension of Geordie Greep’s idiosyncrasies, with all of his influences loud and clear. There’s rumblings of Milton Nascimento, EW&F, AC-DC, King Crimson, and Sinatra all over this record. The tight fusion grooves on the predominantly instrumental tracks (“The New Sound”, “Bongo Season”) echo Canterbury Scene acts like Hatfield & The North. And as expected, his unique vocal style and visceral writing glides over all of it. He sings about testicle lumps (“Walk Up”, a retooled Black Midi live favorite), a cuck obsessed with a sex worker (“As If Waltz”), a pretentious narcissist (“Blues”), among other interesting topics. Some paint this album as being incel-y, but the album doesn’t dwell on these topics too seriously, this isn’t Negative XP. The explicit lyrics feel more akin to Jethro Tull’s Aqualung or Gong’s Flying Teapot, where it feels more like cultural commentary and/or absurdism. And I have to mention Seth Evan’s contributions to this album. The unofficial fourth member of Black Midi in their last few years, his singing voice and writing on “Motorbike” are impeccable. That may be my favorite song on the album. He shares writing credits on “Through a War” as well, which is another incredibly tight composition. In any other year this album would be topping the list, this is absolutely one of my favorite rock records of the 2020s, but this year is just insane.
Favorite track: Blues Geordie Greep - Blues (Official Audio)
2: 3776 - The Birth and Death of the Universe Through Mount Fuji
Favorite track: The Death of Mount Fuji/Even if You Can’t Run Anymore 【PV】もう走れなくなっても - Even if You Can't Run Anymore - by 3776
1: Magdalena Bay - Imaginal Disk
If you’ve spoken to me about music in the last 3 months or so then this pick should have been obvious; I have not been able to shut up about how much I adore this album. Finding Magdalena Bay in general through this album has been one of the best parts about 2024 for me. This album has generated a lot of hype in the online music scene, which may make one want to be skeptical of falling for some kind of zeitgeist; publications are calling it an immediate classic, the album is keeping a steady 4.05 out of 5 stars on rateyourmusic.com with 26k ratings (by far #1 for 2024 on the site), it’s topping year end lists, and it is all 100% worth it. My entire family loves it, a rare occurrence for a new pop music album. Even in my main music friend group, where we all have moderately different tastes overall, essentially everyone has given this thing the green light. Imaginal Disk is hitting the underground music scene like crack. I still remember when I was booking tickets for a concert of theirs right after the album came out, and seeing the hype in action as the prices went up by 300% within a week. All of that said, the music here is just gorgeous. Some of the best written and produced synth pop and psychedelia to come out of this whole century so far. It all feels incredibly inspired yet original, a trait shared with their first record Mercurial World. “Cry for Me” feels like the perfect 2020s version of an ABBA track, “Death and Romance” feels like a futuristic pop rock band with an Alanis Morissette-esque vocalist, “Watching TV” feels like a movie, “Love Is Everywhere” is in a similar funky space as Levitating and Say So, I feel like I hear the full extent of western popular music through the perspective of Matt and Mica’s creative brains (funnily enough, Matt went to Northeastern and Mica to Penn, so there’s a slight chance someone reading this at Dartmouth is not too many degrees of freedom from them). In general, their songwriting is absolutely perfect on this record; it is so fine tuned, so detailed and layered yet simple when it needs to be, it actually makes sense that they started out as a progressive rock band and then tried to funnel that type of musical thinking into pop music. I’ll be honest, I’ve listened to this record so much that I could probably give you a track-by-track rundown of this album, but for the sake of brevity I’ll just say that this album is absolutely worth the time of every single person reading this. Not just because it will make you happy, but also to earn you guys hipster points in the future; this will be remembered as a classic for years to come, this landmark of popular music.
Favorite track: Cry For Me Magdalena Bay - Cry for Me (Official Audio)
Thank you all for reading! This was a lot of fun, and like I said earlier I will probably be writing reviews and pieces on popular music here in the future. I hope you found some new music and that you have a wonderful new year!
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