Playing Favorites
Rattling off 42 records I enjoyed during a year in which I took a four-month hiatus from trying to "keep up" with music.
About halfway through 2024, I did something that would be nearly unthinkable to my pre-parenthood self: I took a four-month break from listening to new music. I didn’t stop listening to music entirely during my paternity leave — I played some of my favorite records for my son and I personally listened through a list of 100 jazz fusion records compiled by the Japanese magazine Record Collectors. But with a newborn to care for and spend time with, I didn’t feel the urge to scroll through Bandcamp or browse the latest Forced Exposure email in search of new things to listen to.
When I returned to work a few months ago, I quickly eased back into my old music discovery and listening habits (I’m very lucky to be able to work from home and have complete control of my soundtrack throughout the day). I also began trying to catch up on four months’ worth of new releases that I missed out on hearing in real time. There are definitely some albums I totally missed (as I was writing this newsletter, I learned that BadBadNotGood put out a sprawling record back in late May), but that’s always the case.
This year, I have two lists: one of my favorite records and another that collects albums that I didn’t listen to quite as much, but stuck out from the crowd after a first (or second, maybe a third) spin. My days of attempting to rank things are well behind me, so both lists are presented in alphabetical order. Happy scrolling!
My 17 Favorite Albums of 2024
Anna Butterss - Mighty Vertebrate
Somewhere between touring with Jason Isbell, playing regular gigs with Jeff Parker, and giving Flea a bass lesson, Anna Butterss set some parameters for themself and began composing a solo album. It’s intentionally not a bass-focused record (though there are plenty of great bass lines throughout), settling into a groove that’s somewhere between jazz and Thrill Jockey post-rock circa the ‘90s. Much like a Tortoise record, Mighty Vertebrate has a unified sound, but each of Butterss’ compositions eventually finds its own identity, backed by a band (Josh Johnson on sax and Gregory Uhlmann on guitar) that seems up for and capable of anything.
Cassie Kinoshi's seed. - Gratitude
Running just over 27 minutes, Cassie Kinoshi’s latest foray into orchestral jazz is admirably economical, resisting the urge to elongate and bloat perfectly taut compositions. A suite of tracks inspired by fleeting moments of positivity in a bleak world, the brevity of Gratitude only makes its melancholy, hopeful strains embellished by shimmering string arrangements all the more poignant.
Dialect - Atlas of Green
As much as I enjoyed the latest Ex-Easter Island Head record, Atlas of Green is the Andrew PM Hunt album that I’ve found myself returning to repeatedly since listening to it a few months ago. A flowing collage of samples, electronics, and acoustic instruments (apparently recorded in an appropriately bucolic setting) it’s the kind of album that’s difficult to describe, successful in evoking a mood more than it is any particular style. If you’re into quasi-ambient music that channels the chopped up samples of The Books and the grandiose-yet-intimate scope of Joe Hisaishi’s Ghibli scores, you’ll probably find something to like here.
Fievel is Glauque - Rong Weicknes
I don’t think Robert Pollard is going to give up on churning out power pop records anytime soon, which is why I’m glad that Fievel is Glauque is making prog-y, jazz fusion-inflected LPs that channel Guided by Voices’ penchant for brevity and non-stop hooks. If Flaming Swords was the group’s (decidedly hi-fi) Bee Thousand equivalent, then Rong Weicknes is its Mag Earwhig!, eking every last drop of production value out of an extended studio session by recording every song in triplicate and then painstakingly splicing the results together. Thankfully, the maximalist approach (flute and sax lines galore!) doesn’t overburden the sturdy melodic bones of these tracks, filled with the kind of off-the-cuff synth riffs and vocal syncopations that make you want to high kick like Uncle Bob.
H To O - Cycle
It’s telling that the first collaborative release from Japanese musicians H. Takahashi and Kohei Oyamada bears only a passing resemblance to their ambient solo work — when these two get together, their tempos grow faster as their twinkling synth sequences get busier. While Cycle is ostensibly inspired by the expansion and collapse of the universe, it feels more accurate to compare the record to a pair of celestial bodies colliding and coalescing into something that’s both different and familiar.
Jeff Parker ETA IVtet - The Way Out of Easy
Some of my earliest memories of live music in Chicago are of Jeff Parker’s weekly-ish residence at defunct Wicker Park bar Rodan, where the guitarist settled into meandering sets backed by Tortoise bandmate John Herndon on drums and bassist Joshua Abrams. The four expansive tunes on The Way Out of Easy capture the same loose-yet-intentional atmosphere that Parker has channeled for decades, recorded at another defunct bar (ETA, a short-lived jazz scene institution in Los Angeles). Anna Butterss, Josh Johnson, and Jay Bellerose (not-so-coincidentally, two of those folks have solo albums on this list) meld with and add new wrinkles to Parker’s quietly energetic fretwork, building entrancing, incremental improvisations. An especially crisp recording makes this LP sound almost like you’re taking it all in from a seat at the bar.
Josh Johnson - Unusual Object
I recall listening to (and enjoying!) Josh Johnson’s solo debut Freedom Exercise sometime during the hazy, apprehensive first nine months of the pandemic, but like so much music that arrived during that time, it’s a record that quickly got pushed to the far corners of my memory. It’s fitting that Unusual Object positions itself as a reinvention of sorts, with Johnson embracing effects-laden saxophone licks (which my friend Andrew accurately describes as “Gendel-core”), sampled rhythms, and burbling electronics. Not all of Johnson’s jazz-adjacent tracks feel fully crystalized, but it’s thrilling to hear a talented player wholeheartedly switching gears, basking in a style that’s as distinct as it is unpredictable.
Kali Malone - All Life Long
Pipe organs are inexorably linked to church services and spooky Dracula dirges, but Kali Malone’s work has demonstrated that the stately instrument isn’t above getting weird sometimes, too. While her previous organ-focused records have been protracted, drone-oriented affairs, All Life Long embraces sustained melodies, which are also rearranged for a medieval-sounding choir and a brass quintet. It’s an atmospheric, often mournful set of compositions that sounds at once ancient and avant-garde.
Kessoncoda - Outerstate
There are moments when you could mistake Outerstate for a GoGo Penguin album, an influence that this London twosome doesn’t shy away from acknowledging (Kessoncoda is signed to the label that launched the Manchester group’s debut album, after all). The nimble-fingered, jazz by way of electronica formula gets a few tweaks from this drum-and-keyboardist duo, like cascading layers of synths, some ambient asides, and a bit of sax and cello (the former courtesy of labelmate Jasmine Myra) — it’s music that’s cognizant of its inspirations, but confident enough to look beyond them.
Laetitia Sadier - Rooting for Love
The Stereolab reunion seems to have run its course (outside of a lone date at Primavera next summer), but Laetitia Sadier is still carrying the group’s groove-ridden, casually subversive torch. Rooting for Love is littered with audible nods to the Groop, with its lounge-y organs and synths, pattering drum machine rhythms, and knotty vocal arrangements (sung by an ensemble simply credited as “The Choir”). It wasn’t until I heard Sadier performing some of this record solo (on guitar and occasionally trombone, with some backing track accompaniment) at the Empty Bottle back in March that I was able to fully appreciate the way her lyrics swerve from dark, cynical tales to cosmic, affirmational soliloquies without skipping a single, bubbly beat.
Maya Shenfeld - Under the Sun
I don’t think I entirely understood the appeal of droning, ambient music until I spent a summer interning in Thrill Jockey’s offices in Chicago, where the stereo was dominated by recent records from bands on the label’s roster like Barn Owl, Golden Retriever, and Zomes. The latest album from Maya Shenfeld (also a Thrill Jockey signee) would have felt at home during those listening sessions, melding modular synths and samples of a booming church organ with choral arrangements and woodwinds. Much of Under the Sun unfolds methodically, but Shenfeld’s compositions balance the towering, droning tones with moments that feel much smaller and more intimate, without puncturing the album’s surreal atmosphere.
Nala Sinephro - Endlessness
My friend Adam hipped me to this record just as my paternity leave was winding down, so I listened to it quite a bit during those heady days of “remembering how to do my job.” Thankfully, there’s something inherently grounding about this lush-but-not-overly-grandiose set of cosmic jazz meditations, which flows from orchestral, swelling odes to chiptune-inspired synth-and-sax (performed by Nubya Garcia!) jams. When I was reading through the liner notes and realized that in addition to composing and producing every track, Nala Sinephro mixed the entire record, it made perfect sense. Endlessness was playing in Sinephro’s mind long before it was put to tape — and the music often feels like something that was intercepted from an across-the-universe broadcast before being painstakingly transposed into our world.
Nonkeen - All Good?
Once you’ve become a world-famous neo-classical composer and performer who runs their own record label, you have carte blanche to reunite your childhood band and start releasing albums. That’s exactly what Nils Frahm did nearly a decade ago, getting back together with longtime chums Frederic Gmeiner and Sebastian Singwald to produce a hazy collection of Rhodes-driven jams built atop archival recordings from the trio’s past. All Good exists firmly in the present, made up of instrumental tracks that embrace a “three dudes in a room jamming” quality. There are echoes of All Melody and Frahm’s solo piano albums, but it’s fascinating to hear an artist best known for his solitary output bringing his proclivities into a group setting.
Mind Over Mirrors - Particles, Peds & Pores
I have very fond memories of seeing Jaime Fennelly performing his record Bellowing Sun beneath a gigantic, spinning drum light back in 2018, accompanied by a cast of notable Chicago musicians — it felt like a project that would continue to blossom and bear fruit (instead, Fennelly has focused on a new ensemble, Setting). I was a little surprised to see Fennelly’s first Mind Over Mirrors record in six years appear as a Bandcamp-only download, released without much fanfare. Recorded over the course of three years, Particles, Peds & Pores is a more subdued and contemplative affair than its predecessor, but it’s an equally rewarding listen, especially the more lively back half, where analog synth sequences dance around droning harmonium tones.
Slowly Rolling Camera - Silver Shadow
Founded as a jazz trio that set out to create music inspired by cinematic soundtracks, Slowly Rolling Camera fulfilled its destiny last year with the release of a collection of songs written to accompany a short film about kayaking. Silver Shadow doesn’t rest on the group’s celluloid-indebted laurels, presenting a suite of songs that form a loose narrative following a nameless protagonist. Unlike their prog rock brethren, telling a story via instrumental music has made Slowly Rolling Camera more succinct and somewhat subdued — each track efficiently sets a mood and establishes motifs, blending into the background of any imagined frames that start flickering across your mind.
Soshi Takeda - Secret Communication
Electronic music’s history is intertwined with video game music, mostly because they were products of a similar instrumental toolset in the ‘80s and a good bit of the ‘90s (those sounds are still being channeled today). I’m not really sure what console generation is conjured up in my mind when I listen to Soshi Takeda’s deep house compositions (probably the Gamecube/PS2 days), but there’s something about the Tokyo-based producer’s subtle synth pads and downtempo beats that makes me think of in-game menu screens. That’s not to say that Secret Communication is music that fades into the background — it’s meticulously-crafted nostalgic electronica that doesn’t need to be ostentatious to hold your attention.
25 More Good Ones
Amen Dunes - Death Jokes
It’s thematically dark and riddled with Ableton-produced beats and samples, but the final (if you don’t count the remix comp) Amen Dunes album is an eclectic and sincere coda.
Ayumi Ishito - Wondercult Club
I love how the Brooklyn-based saxophonist’s latest record lulls you into a false sense of security with a slick, almost-too-conventional head before quickly dissolving into skronk and noise.
Beak> - >>>>
My favorite surprise album drop of the year, tempered by the subsequent news that Beak>’s final tour with Geoff Barrow is skipping Chicago. I’ll take solace in this record chock full of stripped-down, motorik, psych-rock jams.
Ben Lukas Boysen - Alta Ripa
Ditching acoustic instruments in favor of pure modular synthesis, Boysen creates a somewhat club-friendly set of spacious tracks reminiscent of Erased Tapes labelmates Rival Consoles and Qasim Naqvi.
Body Meπa - Prayer in Dub
An enlightened set of tunes from a post-rock-ish quartet that excels at settling into a heady groove rather than constantly building to a crescendo.
Ex-Easter Island Head - Norther
Anyone can use unconventional tools to coax strange sounds out of their instruments, but it’s rare to find a group of musicians who understand how to collectively channel eccentric methodology into an album as compelling as Norther.
Evan Chapman - Reveries
A loop-heavy drum-and-electronics solo debut from Philly percussionist Chapman, who truly sounds like he’s having fun experiencing the creative freedom of a one-man-band.
Fur - Notebook
Every end-of-year sub-list needs at least one good clarinet-driven jazz-meets-instrumental rock record.
H.A.N.K. - The Big Melt
Extremely mellow electro-Krautrock from a couple of club producers finding a bit of zen.
Innode - Grain
Noisy electronic music that’s occasionally abrasive, discombobulated, and vaguely menacing, but in an intriguing way.
Janek van Laak - Circle of Madness
Much ink has been spilled about London’s fertile jazz scene, but the debut LP from young drummer Janek van Laak showcases the chops of a slice of Berlin’s community via a procession of swirling arrangements.
Jlin - Akoma
The Gary, Indiana producer’s dense footwork-inflected rhythms collide with collaborators like Bjork, Kronos Quartet, and Philip Glass — but the suite of tracks that find her experimenting solo is where Akoma truly shines.
Julia Holter - Something in the Room She Moves
A decidedly sparse and atmospheric set of quasi-improvised tracks from a composer breaking free of intricate arrangements, Holter’s versatile voice is what holds these songs together.
Kalaha - Nord Havn
Mashing up desert rock with Norwegian jazz and contemporary electronica, this Danish quartet can’t really settle on a singular style, which is what makes this LP such a dynamic listen.
Midlife - Chorus
Could almost be mistaken for a synth-ridden jazz fusion record from the ‘70s. Very encouraging to see this kind of music catching on with the jam band crowd — we are overdue for a full-blown fusion revival.
Nick Tripi - Loud World
Go ahead and judge this solo record from Big Fun drummer Tripi by its cover, because it’s every bit as colorful and strange as the drawings by Japanese artist Motohiro Hayakawa.
Nilüfer Yanya - My Method Actor
Dials back some of the fuzzed-out qualities of Yanya’s previous album in favor of mellow string arrangement and pedal steel, though it’s not as if the British singer-songwriter’s powerful vocals needed any help cutting through the mix.
Oddarrang - Oddarrang
The appropriately epic swan song from Finnish instrumental rockers Oddarrang. Guess I have to track down a new post-rock band that features a trombonist.
Pye Corner Audio - The Endless Echo
Prolific producer Martin Jenkins delivers another collection of analog synth arrangements that should retroactively be added to the soundtrack of an ‘80s thriller.
Rafael Toral - Spectral Evolution
A 45-minute collage of guitars and electronics that finds motion and spontaneity amid its ambient trappings. Hopefully this release marks a true revival of Jim O’Rourke long-dormant Moikai imprint.
Sakura Tsuruta - GEMZ
Extremely kinetic electronica from a Tokyo-based producer and Ableton wiz — any track on this record would make for a mesmerizing Animusic short.
Savaneborg Kardyb - Superkilen
Manchester, UK label Gondwana Records really had a lock on the “jazz-adjacent keys-and-drum duos” this year. This Savaneborg Kardyb LP embraces a melancholy sound, with lots of beautiful piano melodies ringing out over textural rhythms.
SML - Small Medium Large
The only reason this record of chopped-and-screwed electro-jazz didn’t make the main list was because I already waxed poetic about three records featuring Anna Butterss and Josh Johnson (Attenuator MVPs 2024).
Total Blue - Total Blue
Smooth jazz filtered through Vangelis that manages to make a synth that you blow on (a “wind synthesizer”) sound extremely cool.
Tyler, The Creator - Chromakopia
The kind of thematically cohesive, not entirely weighed down by superfluous guest features, big (sample) budget hip-hop album that’s basically impossible to make in the contemporary music industry, unless you’re Tyler.
That’s all for 2024! I’m launching a new yearlong project in 2025 that’s related to the issue of Record Collectors that I mentioned in the intro — I’ll share more details very soon. If there’s someone in your life who hasn’t scrolled through a year-end list yet (surely they must exist), please share this one with them. Thanks for reading!