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F R I D AY, J A N U A RY 3 1 , 2 0 2 5
THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE
BEST ALBUMS OF 2024
THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS
OF 2024
Every year, I put out my best of the year list right before the Grammys
hand out their awards, including Album of the Year. Why? It gives me
an extra few weeks to listen to music, gather my thoughts...and catch
up on the albums I missed on other people's lists that all came out by
December 31. Sneaky!
I check out the British mags to see what reissues they're touting or
what new act they're hyping to kingdom come. I read U.S. reviews and
keep an eye on the charts. But I also rely on the marvelous music blog,
Burning Wood, where my friend Sal offers up a wide-ranging,
entertaining take on classic music, new releases, songs and albums of
the day, deep dives on artists he loves and every once in a while an
excerpt from a terrific musical memoir he's penning about growing up
in NYC. He's even polite about my sometimes quixotic taste. Check it
out!
So, yes I listen to a lot of music. This year, I listened to more classic
albums than ever before. I have about five ongoing projects: listening
to every album The Penguin Guide to Jazz ever named to its All Time
List, a dive into Nat "King" Cole and Mel Tormé catalogs and numerous
other acts, a wonderful side trip into the world of ambient music after
stumbling onto an excellent best-of list and pretty much anything else
that caught my fancy. In all, I listened to more than 800 (!) different
albums I'd never heard before, not to mention replaying stuff I know
and love. That is a record for me; streaming may have its downsides,
but like access to your local library, it's pretty awesome that most of the
great music ever made is just a click away.
Hopefully, you'll scan this list and discover an act you enjoy put out
new music and you didn't even realize it. Even better, maybe you'll read
about an act, become intrigued and give them a listen. If you discover
some new music you love, my work here has been worth it! And let meM I C H A E L G I LT Z AT W O R K
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached at
mgiltz@pipeline.com
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Americablog
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The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
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Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
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know what albums I should have included but didn't. My Best of the
Year lists aren't written in stone. I'll remove albums that fall out of
favor and–more often–add in an album that grows on me or escaped
my notice.
If you want to know more, here's more:
The Best Albums of the Year–1924 to the Present!
(My favorite album from each year for the past century (!), followed by
my lists of the best albums from each and every year.)
My Music Library From A-Z, including Christmas Music, Soundtracks,
Cast Albums and Compilations!
(Album reviews arranged by artist, from ABBA to ZZ Top)
Below, I list all my favorite albums and then offer a breakdown of what
I found special for the Top 10. Give 'em a spin! So here we go. The best
albums of 2024 are...
THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2024
THE SMILE -- Wall of Eyes / Cutouts
THE LEMON TWIGS -- A Dream Is All We Know
LINDA THOMPSON -- Proxy Music
MANU CHAO -- Viva Tu
GREEN DAY -- Saviors
LADY BLACKBIRD -- Slang Spirituals
NICK CA VE -- Wild God
BILLIE EILISH -- Hit Me Hard and Hit Me Soft
ELLIOTT BROOD -- Town and Country
BEYONCÉ -- Cowboy Carter
GRUPO FRONTERA -- Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada
THE CURE -- Songs Of A Lost World
CHER -- Forever
RICHARD HAWLEY -- In This City They Call You Love
BRIAN ENO -- Soft Edges ep / Small World (w Bloom)
WILLOW -- Empathogen
RICHARD THOMPSON -- Ship To Shore
ESLABAN ARMADO -- Amor Perdido
PAUL KELLY -- Fever Longing Still
CHUCK PROPHET -- Wake The Dead
KACEY MUSGRA VES -- Deeper Well
JONTA VIUS WILLIS -- West Georgia Blues
BRIGHT EYES -- Five Dice, All Threes
MARCUS KING -- Mood Swings
GEPE -- Undesastre
STURGILL SIMPSON -- Passage du Desir
M. WARD -- For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward
KALI MALONE -- All Life Long THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY
PREVIEW: THE BEST
ALBUMS OF 2024
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THE 250 BEST ALBUMS OF
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JACK WHITE -- No Name
THE HENTCHMEN -- Hentch-Forth
FANTASTIC CAT -- Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat
JAY WHEELER -- Música Buena Para Días Malos
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD -- Skinwalker
SHOVEL DANCE COLLECTIVE -- The Shovel Dance
THE AVETT BROTHERS -- The Avett Brothers
LIAM GALLAGHER AND JOHN SQUIRE -- Liam Gallagher and John
Squire
PESO PLUMA -- Éxodo
WILLIE NELSON -- The Border
PET SHOP BOYS -- Nonetheless
X -- Smoke & Fiction
THE BLACK CROWES -- Happiness Bastards
THE JOHN SALLY RIDE -- Melomaniacs
LAURA MARLING -- Patterns in Repeat
ROSIE TUCKER -- Utopia Now!
IV AN CORNEJO -- Mirada
BETA RADIO -- Waiting For The End To Come
REISSUE: LONE JUSTICE -- Viva Lone Justice (reissue?)
REISSUE: V ARIOUS ARTISTS -- Uptown Top Ranking: Trojan Ska &
Reggae Chartbusters
REISSUE: MCCOY TYNER & JOE HENDERSON -- Forces of Nature: Live
at Slugs
REISSUE: NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN -- Chain of Light
THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2024 -- THE EXTENDED CUT
THE SMILE -- Wall of Eyes / Cutouts
Not one but two great albums this year? Radiohead is dead. Long live
Radiohead. I mean, The Smile! Actually, they're not quite Radiohead by
another name. But this trio clearly gives Thom Yorke and Jonny
Greenwood the freedom to create without the burden of being
Radiohead and that's freed them up to deliver some great music. Their
debut album A Light For Attracting Attention (2022) is also excellent.
And boy, does recording under a different name help! I was barely
aware of these albums for months while a new Radiohead album
would have been inescapable. However, it's hardly a country album or
folk music side project. So for heaven's sake, enjoy.
THE LEMON TWIGS -- A Dream Is All We Know 3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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Okay, the lads are really coming into their own. This duo of 70s
obsessed rock n rollers are delivering the power pop/AOR/Todd
Rundgren-ish/rock n roll of our dreams. Eccentric enough to not just
be aping their elders, The Lemon Twigs are the real deal. They soak up
their influences and then craft their own original, brilliant version. But
really, they'd be awesome openers for Rundgren. From a Beach Boys
rip-off so good Brian W. should sue them to "Church Bells" or the
opener "My Golden Years," it's one killer after enough. Just drop the
needle anywhere and enjoy. The more you play it, the more you love it
and can't quite believe they're not dominating the charts. Hat tip to the
music blog Burning Wood for touting the band, deservedly so.
LINDA THOMPSON -- Proxy Music
I was wary of Linda Thompson's latest album. The medical condition that
plagued her voice–one of the great instruments in popular music–seems to
have precluded any more singing whatsoever. So Thompson wrote a clutch of
songs and invited friends and family to perform them. So it's not really a
Linda Thompson album (she doesn't sing on it at all), but it's not quite a
tribute album either. What the hell is it? Well, it has an amusing title, a great
"taking the piss" cover and to my astonishment, it magically feels very much
like a new Linda Thompson album. Yes, other people sing on it, people like
Rufus Wainwright and Dori Freeman and Eliza Carthy. But Thompson's
songwriting is so strong, her worldview so well captured in both the songs
themselves and the performances by her friends that it's just...a Linda
Thompson album, through and through. It's really quite remarkable and
wonderful, an act of communal creation that is fairly unique, I'd say. It's strong
from start to finish, but John Grant's performance on "John Grant" is even
more head-spinning than the album as a whole, with Linda getting deep inside
Grant himself with her lyrics...and then asking him to sing it. And that sneaky
Teddy Thompson is no fool. With family and friends as gifted as Kami
Thompson and The Rails and the Wainwrights, he cowrites four songs,
produces and saves the hilarious and wonderful closing track "Those Damn
Roches" for himself.
MANU CHAO -- Viva Tu
Where have you been, Manu Chao? It's been 17 years since one of the
most exciting artists of the 21st century put out an album. I wouldn't
have minded if this politically minded artist became mayor of Paris or
the leader of France. Indeed, I'm not sure what he's been up to but I'm
sure it was meaningful and joyous, because that's what his music has
always been like. Viva Tu doesn't miss a beat, continuing Chao's
exploration of human connection and what really matters in songs that
feel ready to be sung by others in a way his earlier, more production-
focused albums perhaps have not. A man and a guitar is the vibe here.
Plus, Willie Nelson! Chao peaked with 2001's Proxima Estación:
Esperanza, which to use a term some dislike is world music of the best
sort. Rock n roll? Absolutely. He's passionate, socially conscious and
catchy as hell, a Bob Marley who sings in Spanish, French, English,
Italian, Arabic, etc etc etc. See what I mean? The return of an old friend3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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who has great stories to tell and remains just as committed to change.
Thank goodness.
GREEN DAY -- Saviors
Green Day stumbled for a moment after the extraordinary critical and
commercial peak of American Idiot. Their follow-up 21st Century
Breakdown was terrific, actually, but they didn't want to be The Who
2.0 for the rest of their career. The triple threat of Uno! Dos! Tres!–
three albums all at once–proved a rare stumble for this consistently
good to great act. But they've been in top form ever since. Like
clockwork, they've delivered an excellent album every four years.
Revolution Radio, Father of All Motherfuckers and now Saviors are
smart, politically incendiary and catchy as hell. Turns out they were
The Clash more than The Who, after all. And how have I never seen
them live?
LADY BLACKBIRD -- Slang Spirituals
The first track on Lady Blackbird's second album–"Let Not (Your Heart
Be Troubled)"–begins and you sit up. The huge choir, the anthemic
melody, the surging and spiritual lyrics. She's not messing around. By
the time of the delicate, lovely fourth track "Man on a Boat," you're
sitting back, relaxed because you know that excellent opener wasn't a
fluke. This is the real deal. I really enjoyed her debut but came to it late.
From an intriguing talent, Lady Blackbird has grown into a major
talent, a (it's impossible to avoid the comparison) Nina Simone-like
magnetic presence. She's vulnerable, wise and wonderful with a
collection of romantic tunes, sometimes old school, sometimes
expansive and slippery (like "When The Game Is Played On You") and
always in command. LaBelle? Jill Scott? Now, Lady Blackbird.
She's another act I discovered thanks to the excellent music blog
Burning Wood. Check it out!
NICK CAVE -- Wild God
Bruce Springsteen has a bit he does in concert, preaching to the crowd
about the glories of rock 'n' roll. But Nick Cave really preaches, offering
a show that's half tearful embrace, half ecstatic reaching towards a
higher plane and half raucous revival meeting. His new album is Wild
God and this G-d is scary and awe-inspiring in its indifference to us.
This G-d is Nature unbounded, a G-d that neither cruelly delights in
our misery nor shares the burden, anymore than the sea sympathizes
with the ship that founders. The sea just...is. But we can sympathize
and share the burden and joys of life, a communal coming together
Cave offers in concert, on his marvelous email newsletter The Red
Hand Files and on this album that begins at a peak and then builds
from there. Ecstatic stuff. 3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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BILLIE EILISH -- Hit Me Hard and Hit Me Soft
I had my money on Lorde (and I know, it's not a competition). But it's
the mumbly, soft-spoken Billie Eilish who keeps delivering the goods.
Three albums and she hasn't missed a beat yet. Plus, she makes me
blush when Eilish sings she finds someone so appealing that "I could
eat that girl for lunch." Heavens! Now, that's rock n roll to me: honest,
sexy, edgy and catchy as hell.
ELLIOTT BROOD -- Town and Country
I've been a fan of this Canadian rock band since I stumbled on them in a bar in
Toronto way, way, way back when. They were self-distributing their music,
brandishing a banjo long before Mumford & Sons and writing some great
songs. Who are these guys, I wondered, a la Butch and Sundance. Throughout
the years, they've been signed to record labels, been nominated and won Junos
(Canada's top music award), toured and achieved the dream of making music
their life. Recent albums moved me with their journeyman embrace of the
hard work of doing all this and long past expecting the cover of Rolling Stone
or streaming hits a la Adele. Now, out of nowhere, they released two short
albums/eps of eight tracks each. One called Town and the other called–no
points for guessing– Country. Then they combined both albums, trimmed one
track from each and called the result Town and Country. It's the best album of
their career. Mature, still raucous, wise and heartening. Well into their careers,
they swung for the fences artistically and delivered. This is Americana, or
perhaps Canadiana, from the road song opener "Rose City" (they're great at
open-road songs) to the infectious "Bluebird Wine" and the gorgeous closer
"French Exit." Think Gram Parsons or Jason Isbell. Think Elliott Brood.
BEYONCÉ -- Cowboy Carter
Some critics love to be contrary. "Oh, everyone loves Taylor Swift? Not me,
boyo! Over-rated!!!" Etc. That's not my style. If I don't like someone, well, I
don't. However, there are acts I can sort of see the appeal but simply don't vibe
with. Not my thing, but I don't want to pick a fight. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé
are two of the dominant artists of the past 25 years...and by and large they do
little for me. I enjoyed the video album Lemonade more than the audio album
alone. Swift's Red was my favorite of hers and even that didn't make my best
of the year list. Given the serious critical acclaim and massive popularity, I
think, gee, maybe it's me. I listen to the albums, keep an open ear, enjoy
certain songs and wonder if I'll ever get on the bandwagon. Turns out it was a
chuckwagon. I'm delighted I can really get behind Beyoncé's new country
album: it's catchy, wide-ranging and bold. Beyoncé is too cool to do the usual
genuflecting others might do, like obvious pairings with established country
superstars. I mean, she has Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton on the album to
voice approval, but they're just on the album to give their blessings, which is
pretty damn nervy. She's not asking permission. She's not trying to win them
over. This Houston, Texas native says uh-uh, this is my music too, baby, so
step aside. Actually, a lot of it is more country adjacent than pure country
(whatever that means in an era of "bro country" and country-rap), but who3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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cares? While friends of mine can knowledgeably dissect the album's many
nods to history and its complex undercurrents, I just enjoy songs that don't
have the usual freight (train) of grand statements Beyonce's often trafficked in
on previous works. It's a hoedown! For a change, I can enjoy the party.
GRUPO FRONTERA -- Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada
This Texas band is only two albums in. They're still finding their voice here,
branching out from the first (excellent) album's more traditional vibe to
embrace pop and r&b and other strands, without losing what made their debut
special. They could go anywhere after this and I'm excited. Note to self: see
them in concert, pronto.
THE CURE -- Songs Of A Lost World
I don't think I'm a big fan of The Cure. I've never seen them in concert. I've
rarely thought about them. Back in the day, I rather dutifully bought their 1986
compilation Staring At The Sea aka Standing on a Beach because I thought
I ought to, due to the rave reviews...and then discovered it really was pretty
great. But in that pre-streaming era where listening to more albums meant a
serious investment of $15 or so per CD, that was as far as it went. But darned
if their 2008 album 4:13 Dream didn't wow me and now 16 years later hearing
Robert Smith's ever-complaining vocals on Songs of a Lost World is like
hearing from an old (kvetchy) friend. Maybe I really am a big fan of The Cure
and I just didn't know it. When I get the chance, in 2025 I'll start from the
beginning with them.
CHER -- Forever
I mean, damn. This greatest hits compilation comes in two packages. Forever
contains 21 tracks, Forever Fan contains 40 hits and they still omit quite a few
Top 40 records. The single disc set concentrates on mostly the "recent" hits
from the past few decades, including her 2023 gem of a Christmas song. The
two disc set also includes key Sonny & Cher tracks, making it pretty damn
definitive. It is an impressive string of hits covering almost 60 (!) years with
songs written by Sonny Bono ("The Beat Goes On") to just Bono ("I Still
Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." I'm not surprised by the enduring
appeal of "Believe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "Gypsys, Tramps
and Thieves" and on and on. But I was surprised by the strength of the (many)
songs I didn't know, even on the deluxe version. Irresistible.
RICHARD HAWLEY -- In This City They Call You Love
I am late to the game in appreciating this British musician, who's enjoyed
success with the band Longpigs, touring with Pulp, collaborating with others
and a string of solo albums this century. He's a classic rock n roller in the
singer-songwriter vein, leaning on strings, ballads and some old school rave-3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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ups to deliver this wistful gem. For the adults, though kids who enjoy a world-
weary vein should check it out too.
BRIAN ENO -- Soft Edges ep / Small World (w Bloom)
I dove into the deep end of ambient music this year, checking out
Hiroshi Yoshimura's Green, Tangerine Dream's Phaedra, Japanese
compilations and other terrific stuff. But mostly, I listened to Brian
Eno. I love Eno, one of the most important figures in popular music.
But he's so prolific, I realized I had a lot of catching up to do. So I
listened to Eno and more Eno and still more Eno. And most of it was
great, including his new ambient works Soft Edges and Small World,
which is credited to Eno x Bloom. And if you're interested in checking
out ambient, you should definitely start with the album that gave the
genre its name: Ambient 1: Music For Airports. In all, I listened to 16
albums by Eno. I gave eleven of them 3 1/2 or a perfect four stars.
WILLOW -- Empathogen
I'm only human. The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith is
putting out an album? I'm both open-minded and cross-armed,
meaning I'll give it a listen but I'm not gonna grade on a curve. It didn't
take long to realize Willow is the real deal, debuting with an album that
proved she's not just legit, but an artist.
RICHARD THOMPSON -- Ship To Shore
Hey, I'm not just tough on famous offspring. Richard Thompson is one
of my favorite artists of all time, delivering great music with Fairport
Convention, then-wife Linda and for 40+ years as a solo artist,
collaborator and film composer. But he's so consistent and I like him so
much, that I am pretty tough on him. I expect so much and I'm so wary
of liking him by default that each new album must earn my trust. His
most recent gem 13 Rivers took over a year to convince me it wasn't
just another good Richard Thompson album, but a great one. Ship to
Shore? One play and I found myself falling hard. Brilliant guitar work,
caustic and clever lyrics, classic themes of dashed dreams with a side of
despair? It's all here, shot through with humor, insight and melodies
that lodge into your brain and take up residence. Consistently lauded,
he's probably under-appreciated, nonetheless.
ESLABAN ARMADO -- Amor Perdido
This fantastic California band delivers "regional Mexican music," a dumb
industry term I'm gonna re-dub "Mexicana." The music is fresh, wonderfully
arranged and embraces elements of traditional Mexican folk, but this ain't
your parents' norteño music. Catchy, sexy, danceable (indeed, try not to sway
along), I caught onto them when their 2022 album Nostalgia debuted on
Billboard's Top 10 and clued me into this whole genre. This may be their final
album for the indie label DEL, which discovered and signed them. I'm not3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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sure if I'm more sad about them moving on or excited about where a major
label might take them next.
PAUL KELLY -- Fever Longing Still
CHUCK PROPHET -- Wake The Dead
Two veterans deliver the goods. Paul Kelly is an Australian institution. I
caught on to his greatness with the 2019 greatest hits set Songs From The
South: 1985-2019, a 43 track compilation that will blow you away with a
never-ending stream of one great track after another. It's like suddenly
stumbling across the best of John Hiatt or John Prine and wondering how the
heck you missed him all these years. His latest album Fever Longing Still
maintains that standard.
Chuck Prophet is a journeyman rocker who gets better and better. After
decades with the band Green on Red and solo work, he's really come into his
own in the past 10 or 15 years. Wake The Dead finds him collaborating with
cumbia band ¿Qiensave? and it works a treat. Prophet has a wry sensibility, a
way with words and a voice that confides with confidence, knowing you'll
hear and understand. Life ain't easy, he knows, but it's easier with music like
this.
KACEY MUSGRAVES -- Deeper Well
I've enjoyed Kacey Musgraves since her debut Same Trailer, Different Park in
2013. So it was a little disconcerting when this country act turned pop on
Golden Hour, the whole world embraced it commercially and she won the
Grammy for Album of the Year. I was delighted for her and yet...didn't really
love it. Happily, this followup also has a pop vibe, especially the hazy sound
of the 1970s and this time I dig it. Don't ask me to explain why or how, but I
do.
JONTA VIUS WILLIS -- West Georgia Blues
Electric blues, delivered with relish. What more do you need to know?
BRIGHT EYES -- Five Dice, All Threes
Bright eyed and bushy-tailed no longer, but with a great clutch of songs I can
only describe as Bright Eyes-ian. More and more, I hear Conor Oberst's
influence on younger acts. Anyone with a tremulous voice and tumbling lyrics
owes him a debt.
MARCUS KING -- Mood Swings 3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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In a mellow mood, surely. Blues rocker Marcus King offers an intimate, late
night, soul-baring collection of songs. Producer Rick Rubin continues to bring
out the best (and the unexpected) in people.
GEPE -- Undesastre
The Chilean artist Gepe draws on everything from indigenous folk music to
Brian Wilson on his latest album. Gepe is new to me and I've got about a
dozen albums to catch on apparently, so I've no idea how this fits into his
discography. Pop? Sure, yet it also scratches the itch of hearing music from
around the world. The guest appearances on more than half the tracks feel
organic; they're serving the songs, not just showing off. And I'm all for un-
disastering the world, if still possible. Smooth and engaging.
STURGILL SIMPSON -- Passage du Desir
Sure, Sturgill Simpson has gone all Garth Brooks on us. It's usually not
a good sign when an artist suddenly decides they need to create under
an alter ego, a different persona. So when Simpson "retired" his name
and said his new album was gonna be by "Johnny Blue Sky," well, I got
worried. But hey, if that's what he needs to think, then what do I care?
The music style doesn't sound so far afield from the genre-embracing
work on Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, but if calling himself
Johnny Blue Sky frees him up the way two guys from Radiohead record
as The Smile, I should relax. Especially when the result is one of his
best.
M. WARD -- For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward
I love his voice, his distinctive guitar work, his sometimes lo-fi vibe, his work
with Zooey Deschanel on She & Him...I mean, geez, why don't I marry him?
2023's Supernatural Thing was his strongest solo since Hold Time in 2009.
And now here comes an old school greatest hits set, which gathers a bunch of
tracks from various albums over the years. Arranged for maximum impact
(not chronologically), nonetheless it starts with "Chinese Translation," the
infectious, unstoppable, make-you-an-instant-fan song from Post-War and
then ranges far and wide, including his great cover of David Bowie's "Let's
Dance" to a new version of Godley & Creme's "Cry." Great title. Great
album.
KALI MALONE -- All Life Long
Classical composer Kali Malone specializes in marvelous works with a nod
towards minimalism. (Is there any composer that actually embraces the tag of
minimalism? I don't think so.) The albums I've listened to by her range from
really great to really, really great. Her 2019 work The Sacrificial Code is the
breakout album, featuring an epic composition for pipe organ. But
2022's Living Torch features trombone, bass clarinet and drones while
2023's Does Spring Hide Its Joy features her husband guitarist Stephen3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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O'Malley of Sunn))) on guitar, Lucy Railton on cello and Malone on "tuned
sine wave oscillators" (whatever that is). The new album? It's described as
having "organ drone recordings." All I know is, if I play any of them I'm
riveted. Malone is a major talent.
JACK WHITE -- No Name
THE HENTCHMEN -- Hentch-Forth
Jack White brings it, from a stomping solo album to a guest appearance on the
awesome new record by The Hentchmen. This is the plug-in-your-electric-
guitar-and-turn-it-up music White can deliver with seeming ease. So why the
heck doesn't he do this all the time? :)
FANTASTIC CAT -- Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat
A super group! Well, not to be a jerk, but most people haven't heard of
the members of Fantastic Cat. That's their fault, since each member
enjoys productive solo careers. But sometimes a super group really is
super and that's certainly the case here. I somehow missed their 2022
debut, the cheekily named The Very Best of Fantastic Cat. It's a winner
but this new album Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat (a play on a
long-running UK series of hits compilations) is even better. Monsters
of Folk? The Traveling Wilburys? Yep, add Fantastic Cat to the list of
super groups that really delivers. Catchy as hell rock n roll, a la, oh I
don't know, Marshall Crenshaw or Warren Zevon? Best line: "If the
universe is expanding/ Why's my rent still going up?" Spin this now if
you live for AM radio. See? I played the first track and now I can't stop.
I'll be back in 39 minutes.
JAY WHEELER -- Música Buena Para Días Malos
Bad Bunny isn't the only game in town, when it comes to Puerto Rican
acts. Jay Wheeler went viral after posting a song about breaking up
with his girlfriend. He was just 16 years old, but after years of avoiding
singing in public because he was bullied and mocked in school, that
instant success gave him the courage to pursue it as a career. Seven or
so albums later, he's disciplined (the album has 13 songs and runs 40
minutes), self-sufficient (only two guest appearances) and perhaps it's
my imagination but I hear a welcome vulnerability and openness in his
singing and rapping. That's mirrored in the lyrics. Besides, we could all
use good music for bad times.
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD -- Skinwalker
Is bat-shit crazy rock n roll a genre? The rocking rock band from
Cardiff, Wales (dear God, I almost called them British; forgive me,
lads!) have gotten harder and stronger since their excellent3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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debut Backhand Deals. Meanwhile, they've been studying their
mythology for this new work is a concept album about skinwalkers that
starts off nutty and then goes really berzerk. But along the way, they've
got stomping, thromping radio-ready (if hard rock radio was still a
thing) monsters that hit me hard, when I'm not befuddled trying to
follow the storyline. Can't wait to see them in concert.
SHOVEL DANCE COLLECTIVE -- The Shovel Dance
By far the best collection of traditional folk music delivered by a nine-
piece collective that I've heard all year. Easily. From the organ (?) intro
to the massed vocals on some of the foundation-shaking highlights, this
is a group effort in every sense of the word, even when a song might
feature only one voice or a few instruments. (Everyone involved seems
capable of playing about ten, it seems.) Doom-laden narratives like
"The Merry Golden Tree" (about a ship at sea) demonstrate the irony of
how despair can prove healing when acknowledged and sung about as a
community.
THE AVETT BROTHERS -- The Avett Brothers
It's a career year for The Avett Brothers, who saw the musical Swept
Away featuring their music and starring longtime fan and booster
John Gallagher Jr. of Spring Awakening fame debut on Broadway.
And their latest album is the best since their peak of I And Love and
You in 2009. Americana, folk rock, call it what you will. This is earnest,
thoughtful music.
LIAM GALLAGHER AND JOHN SQUIRE -- Liam Gallagher and John
Squire
The lead singer of Oasis and the guitarist John Squire walk into a
bar...and deliver exactly the meat and potatoes rock and roll you'd want
from Liam and John. So familiar on first listen it's gonna take me a
while to let this one sink in and see where it lands. But fans of either
shouldn't hesitate.
PESO PLUMA -- Éxodo
He's 25 and no featherweight, so it's no surprise Hassan Emilio
Kabande Laija aka Peso Pluma delivers a double album right after his
excellent Genesis. Side One (not that there is such a thing) features the
Peso Pluma I like best, a lyricist and singer/rapper who plumbs the
riches of Mexican music. Guest stars abound, but they don't overwhelm
what he's doing. Side Two interests me less; it's Peso Pluma as a
somewhat tough (but not that tough) modern rapper. The guest stars
seem to take over. It's still good, but Side One would have been a
sterling work on its own while Side Two makes me worried Pluma is
learning the wrong lessons. Hardly a surprise: the super catchy massive3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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hit "Bellakeo" with Brazilian star Anitta appears on Side Two and
powered the album's success. It's terrific, as is "Teka" with DJ Snake,
the closer with a clever sample of cop sirens that sort of freaked me out
while I was walking up Second Avenue in NYC and then made me
laugh. Peso Pluma is conquering the charts; I just hope he becomes
more focused on conquering greatness.
WILLIE NELSON -- The Border
The last time I named a Willie Nelson album to my best of the year list,
it was 2009 and his marvelous songbook album titled American
Classic, a worthy sequel to the classic bestseller Stardust. And the year
before that, he topped my list with the live album Two Men With The
Blues alongside Wynton Marsalis. Since then, Willie has released
approximately 472 more albums and a lot of them–many of them,
indeed most of them–are solid. Even at 91 he's putting out one to two
albums a year and it's a beautiful thing. You can listen to and enjoy
most of them. Nothing about The Border is astonishingly different; it's
just got a slightly stronger selection of songs and Willie's world-weary
vocals are just that more spot-on. So no, this isn't a comeback or a
victory lap for a beloved artist. He's never gone away and we've never
forgotten how great he truly is. I look forward to hearing the two or
three albums he delivers in 2025 and if you haven't listened to Willie in
a while, by all means put on The Border and marvel anew at a Mount
Rushmore-worthy legend of popular music.
PET SHOP BOYS -- Nonetheless
X -- Smoke & Fiction
Speaking of veterans adding to their already impressive catalogs, the Pet Shop
Boys and X both do precisely that. Nothing shocking here, either, except the
Pet Shop Boys have enjoyed a far more distinguished career than I ever would
have guessed after what I assumed was their "one hit wonder" success of
"West End Girls." (He's not even singing! He's talking!) And the punk rock
band X announced their next album would be their last and damned if Smoke
& Fiction isn't one of their all-time best. Quentin Tarantino, take notes.
THE BLACK CROWES -- Happiness Bastards
Sometimes you love an album and push it on everyone around you.
Sometimes a friend loves an album and pushes it on you. Their
enthusiasm, their constant attempts to play it when you're driving
around, their turning up the volume when a song appears on the radio,
it all builds and builds and maybe sometimes you reject it (that's their
thing, you say to yourself). But if you've any sense and your friend has
good taste, hearing the music over and over coupled with your friend's
joy makes you a fan too. I might have become a fan anyway someday
but friends definitely turned me onto Hüsker Dü and Rush and
Jackson Browne and Fleetwood Mac and The Replacements and a3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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million other bands, like The Black Crowes. Thanks, friends! Mind you,
none of my friends are besotted with Prefab Sprout like I am, but you
can't have everything.
THE JOHN SALLY RIDE -- Melomaniacs
I've been a fan of power pop entity The John Sally Ride for years. But
2023's The Other Women was too meta for my taste. (It delivered
answer songs or alternate takes on famous tunes featuring a woman's
name; instead of "Walk Away Renee" you got "Run Away Renee" and
instead of "Sweet Caroline" you got "Mean Caroline." However, I will
admit I knew a Jolene and she definitely hated Dolly Parton's
"Jolene.") So when I heard the new album Melomaniacs was built
around an obsession with music and featured songs extolling stuff like
the joy of hearing an album that's come out on compact disc for the
first time or an overwhelming record collection or which Kinks album
to start with, I was nonplussed. I could identify with it all, but really?
After a jaundiced first listen, I was slowly won over. And really,
Melomaniacs could be my life story...anticipating an act's new album
coming out, grabbing a magnifying glass to look at the lyrics included
in a cassette release, having a friend build specialty floor to ceiling
cases to house my CDs, wondering where to start with a band like The
Kinks back when that meant spending $15 on a physical copy? I've
done it all. Power pop fans and melomaniacs need apply.
LAURA MARLING -- Patterns in Repeat
ROSIE TUCKER -- Utopia Now!
Parenthood changes you, I hear. Acclaimed folkie Laura Marling starts her
new album with adults chatting quietly while a baby coos. It's a
contemplative, accomplished, self-assured work that knows exactly what it
wants to do: capture this moment, pay attention to it, savor it. That she does.
From the strings to the gorgeous background vocals to the finger-picking, this
is Joni Mitchell territory. Eight albums into her career, Marling wins without
trying.
In contrast, Rosie Tucker is angrily examining the world on her wryly
amusing, dream pop album. She gets jealous when people she knows appears
on TV , whereas Laura Marling probably doesn't have the time to watch TV .
Tucker pushes back against the attention economy and the capitalist treadmill
and all the things she's supposed to do to build her brand. Her lyrics are funny
and pointed, like "I hope no one had to piss in a bottle so I could get the thing
I ordered on the internet." Her music is catchy as hell and her politics are on
point, so consider this your marching music for the next protest. People are
still gonna protest, right?
IV AN CORNEJO -- Mirada
Apparently the genres reggaeton and "regional Mexican music" (a label only a
label or music critic would ever use) are vying for supremacy in the hearts of3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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listeners. Reggaeton got so heavily into tired sexist lyrics that when the
acoustic vibe of Mexicana (hmm, that's better) burst onto the scene and the
acts weren't calling women "bitches," it worked. Music with a sense of pride
in folk origins but ready to embrace rock n roll too? Works for me. Ivan
Cornejo is a California artist who started things off right: he learned to play
"La Bamba" by Ritchie Valens via YouTube tutorials. Cornejo has a hypnotic
burr in his languid vocals and n ow he's making his major label debut with his
third album Mirada. Just give a listen and you'll fall hard.
BETA RADIO -- Waiting For The End To Come
I like to end strongly, just to make sure no one thinks this list is ranked.
After the first album or two I put at the top, they're just all great.
Mostly the order comes about naturally by making sure I mix up genres
and styles and languages and men and women and so on to keep
everyone reading. And while you're scanning the list for favorites or
genres you like, you might just stumble across acts and albums you
weren't looking for. Besides, how could I resist ending with an album
titled Waiting For The End To Come?
Every time I post my favorite albums of the year list, I ask people: what
albums did I miss? One year, the answer came from someone I didn't
even know: check out Beta Radio. What a treat. Rock n roll. Americana.
"Real" music. Call it what you will, this is indeed the real stuff you
need: passionate, lyrical, gorgeous, intimate, moving, with a soupçon of
more religious imagery this time around, which makes me think of The
Avett Brothers. I can namecheck Bon Iver or Jackson Browne or
Midlake but like every act worth its salt, this duo is all its own. Music
for adults, which means everyone from the cooler high school students
to NPR listeners to rockers who need some Sunday morning wake-up
music.
REISSUE: LONE JUSTICE -- Viva Lone Justice (reissue?)
REISSUE: VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Uptown Top Ranking: Trojan Ska &
Reggae Chartbusters
REISSUE: MCCOY TYNER & JOE HENDERSON -- Forces of Nature: Live
at Slugs
REISSUE: NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN -- Chain of Light
Oh dear g-d, what a loss it was when record label shenanigans tore the heart
out of Lone Justice. Viva Lone Justice proves what an exciting, thrilling band
they were. I'm not completely desolate because we've enjoyed the marvelous
solo career of Maria McKee. But we were definitely cheated when Lone
Justice died too soon.
I don't know much of anything about reggae. And the iconic record label
Trojan has so many different, overlapping compilations you could do a
master's thesis on the intricacies of them. All I know is I spun Uptown Top
Ranking: Trojan Ska & Reggae Chartbusters. And then I spun it again and
again. 3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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Newer Post Older PostThe jazz greats pianist McCoy Tyner and saxophonist Joe Henderson had a
ferocious meeting of the minds on this double album live set from 1966 that
for some reason remained unreleased until now. Inexplicable.
For a period, everyone not in the know was suddenly wowed by the great
qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He sings religious music, specifically
Sufi devotional music, long discursive songs with jazz-like vocal
improvisation that circle higher and higher until reaching the heavens. He
sang with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam! His music was everywhere! Pop stars
stole his melodies for Bollywood musicals! But NFAK has literally dozens
and dozens (perhaps hundreds and hundreds) of recordings and it can be
overwhelming. Most people, like me, heard a few albums, got the essence of
him, enjoyed it and moved on. That's ok. The Bulgarian State Television
Female V ocal Choir had a fluke worldwide smash album with Le Mystère des
Voix Bulgares and toured the world and then slipped back into relative
obscurity. Just because I didn't become an expert in Bulgarian choral music or
buy dozens of albums in that genre doesn't mean my passing love of their
album was a fad or meaningless. (Check them out!) What's wrong with
sampling all types of music, digging something and moving on? It's great! It's
also cool if you dig deeper, of course and hearing Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
makes you a lifetime devotee of jazz with no time for anything else. Like me,
it's probably been a long time since you listened to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (if
you ever did at all). Now we have an unreleased gem recorded when he was at
the height of his worldwide popularity and vocal powers. It's a stunner,
reminding me why he became a sensation in the first place. I don't think I'll
suddenly plunge deeper into his endless back catalog, but that's ok. That's the
joy of this streaming era: it's easier than ever to check something out. If I turn
you onto an artist the way so many others have turned me onto The Lemon
Twigs and Beta Radio and so many others, I'll be thrilled.
--30--
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THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE
BEST ALBUMS OF 2024
THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS
OF 2024
Every year, I put out my best of the year list right before the Grammys
hand out their awards, including Album of the Year. Why? It gives me
an extra few weeks to listen to music, gather my thoughts...and catch
up on the albums I missed on other people's lists that all came out by
December 31. Sneaky!
I check out the British mags to see what reissues they're touting or
what new act they're hyping to kingdom come. I read U.S. reviews and
keep an eye on the charts. But I also rely on the marvelous music blog,
Burning Wood, where my friend Sal offers up a wide-ranging,
entertaining take on classic music, new releases, songs and albums of
the day, deep dives on artists he loves and every once in a while an
excerpt from a terrific musical memoir he's penning about growing up
in NYC. He's even polite about my sometimes quixotic taste. Check it
out!
So, yes I listen to a lot of music. This year, I listened to more classic
albums than ever before. I have about five ongoing projects: listening
to every album The Penguin Guide to Jazz ever named to its All Time
List, a dive into Nat "King" Cole and Mel Tormé catalogs and numerous
other acts, a wonderful side trip into the world of ambient music after
stumbling onto an excellent best-of list and pretty much anything else
that caught my fancy. In all, I listened to more than 800 (!) different
albums I'd never heard before, not to mention replaying stuff I know
and love. That is a record for me; streaming may have its downsides,
but like access to your local library, it's pretty awesome that most of the
great music ever made is just a click away.
Hopefully, you'll scan this list and discover an act you enjoy put out
new music and you didn't even realize it. Even better, maybe you'll read
about an act, become intrigued and give them a listen. If you discover
some new music you love, my work here has been worth it! And let meM I C H A E L G I LT Z AT W O R K
Michael Giltz is a freelance writer
based in NYC and can be reached at
mgiltz@pipeline.com
FAV O R I T E L I N K S
Americablog
Five O'Clock Lightning baseball blog
Deep Pop -- Lori Lakin's Blog
The Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPN
Radio
Cine-Blog -- George Robinson's Blog
Documents On Art & Cinema - Daryl
Chin's Blog
Brucie G's Wondrous Blog Of
Adventure and Mystery -- Bruce
Greenspan's Blog
B L O G A R C H I V E
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know what albums I should have included but didn't. My Best of the
Year lists aren't written in stone. I'll remove albums that fall out of
favor and–more often–add in an album that grows on me or escaped
my notice.
If you want to know more, here's more:
The Best Albums of the Year–1924 to the Present!
(My favorite album from each year for the past century (!), followed by
my lists of the best albums from each and every year.)
My Music Library From A-Z, including Christmas Music, Soundtracks,
Cast Albums and Compilations!
(Album reviews arranged by artist, from ABBA to ZZ Top)
Below, I list all my favorite albums and then offer a breakdown of what
I found special for the Top 10. Give 'em a spin! So here we go. The best
albums of 2024 are...
THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2024
THE SMILE -- Wall of Eyes / Cutouts
THE LEMON TWIGS -- A Dream Is All We Know
LINDA THOMPSON -- Proxy Music
MANU CHAO -- Viva Tu
GREEN DAY -- Saviors
LADY BLACKBIRD -- Slang Spirituals
NICK CA VE -- Wild God
BILLIE EILISH -- Hit Me Hard and Hit Me Soft
ELLIOTT BROOD -- Town and Country
BEYONCÉ -- Cowboy Carter
GRUPO FRONTERA -- Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada
THE CURE -- Songs Of A Lost World
CHER -- Forever
RICHARD HAWLEY -- In This City They Call You Love
BRIAN ENO -- Soft Edges ep / Small World (w Bloom)
WILLOW -- Empathogen
RICHARD THOMPSON -- Ship To Shore
ESLABAN ARMADO -- Amor Perdido
PAUL KELLY -- Fever Longing Still
CHUCK PROPHET -- Wake The Dead
KACEY MUSGRA VES -- Deeper Well
JONTA VIUS WILLIS -- West Georgia Blues
BRIGHT EYES -- Five Dice, All Threes
MARCUS KING -- Mood Swings
GEPE -- Undesastre
STURGILL SIMPSON -- Passage du Desir
M. WARD -- For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward
KALI MALONE -- All Life Long THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY
PREVIEW: THE BEST
ALBUMS OF 2024
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
JANUARY 26, 2025
THE 250 BEST ALBUMS OF
THE 21ST CENTURY...SO
FAR
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
JANUARY 19, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
JANUARY 12, 2025
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE
FOR WEEK ENDING
JANUARY 5, 2025
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► 2023 (8)
► 2022 (6)
► 2021 (8)
► 2020 (7)
► 2019 (93)
► 2018 (34)
► 2017 (6)
► 2016 (2)
► 2015 (11)
► 2014 (2)
► 2013 (5)
► 2012 (17)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (10)
► 2009 (43)
► 2008 (86)
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► 2005 (5)3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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JACK WHITE -- No Name
THE HENTCHMEN -- Hentch-Forth
FANTASTIC CAT -- Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat
JAY WHEELER -- Música Buena Para Días Malos
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD -- Skinwalker
SHOVEL DANCE COLLECTIVE -- The Shovel Dance
THE AVETT BROTHERS -- The Avett Brothers
LIAM GALLAGHER AND JOHN SQUIRE -- Liam Gallagher and John
Squire
PESO PLUMA -- Éxodo
WILLIE NELSON -- The Border
PET SHOP BOYS -- Nonetheless
X -- Smoke & Fiction
THE BLACK CROWES -- Happiness Bastards
THE JOHN SALLY RIDE -- Melomaniacs
LAURA MARLING -- Patterns in Repeat
ROSIE TUCKER -- Utopia Now!
IV AN CORNEJO -- Mirada
BETA RADIO -- Waiting For The End To Come
REISSUE: LONE JUSTICE -- Viva Lone Justice (reissue?)
REISSUE: V ARIOUS ARTISTS -- Uptown Top Ranking: Trojan Ska &
Reggae Chartbusters
REISSUE: MCCOY TYNER & JOE HENDERSON -- Forces of Nature: Live
at Slugs
REISSUE: NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN -- Chain of Light
THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2024 -- THE EXTENDED CUT
THE SMILE -- Wall of Eyes / Cutouts
Not one but two great albums this year? Radiohead is dead. Long live
Radiohead. I mean, The Smile! Actually, they're not quite Radiohead by
another name. But this trio clearly gives Thom Yorke and Jonny
Greenwood the freedom to create without the burden of being
Radiohead and that's freed them up to deliver some great music. Their
debut album A Light For Attracting Attention (2022) is also excellent.
And boy, does recording under a different name help! I was barely
aware of these albums for months while a new Radiohead album
would have been inescapable. However, it's hardly a country album or
folk music side project. So for heaven's sake, enjoy.
THE LEMON TWIGS -- A Dream Is All We Know 3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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Okay, the lads are really coming into their own. This duo of 70s
obsessed rock n rollers are delivering the power pop/AOR/Todd
Rundgren-ish/rock n roll of our dreams. Eccentric enough to not just
be aping their elders, The Lemon Twigs are the real deal. They soak up
their influences and then craft their own original, brilliant version. But
really, they'd be awesome openers for Rundgren. From a Beach Boys
rip-off so good Brian W. should sue them to "Church Bells" or the
opener "My Golden Years," it's one killer after enough. Just drop the
needle anywhere and enjoy. The more you play it, the more you love it
and can't quite believe they're not dominating the charts. Hat tip to the
music blog Burning Wood for touting the band, deservedly so.
LINDA THOMPSON -- Proxy Music
I was wary of Linda Thompson's latest album. The medical condition that
plagued her voice–one of the great instruments in popular music–seems to
have precluded any more singing whatsoever. So Thompson wrote a clutch of
songs and invited friends and family to perform them. So it's not really a
Linda Thompson album (she doesn't sing on it at all), but it's not quite a
tribute album either. What the hell is it? Well, it has an amusing title, a great
"taking the piss" cover and to my astonishment, it magically feels very much
like a new Linda Thompson album. Yes, other people sing on it, people like
Rufus Wainwright and Dori Freeman and Eliza Carthy. But Thompson's
songwriting is so strong, her worldview so well captured in both the songs
themselves and the performances by her friends that it's just...a Linda
Thompson album, through and through. It's really quite remarkable and
wonderful, an act of communal creation that is fairly unique, I'd say. It's strong
from start to finish, but John Grant's performance on "John Grant" is even
more head-spinning than the album as a whole, with Linda getting deep inside
Grant himself with her lyrics...and then asking him to sing it. And that sneaky
Teddy Thompson is no fool. With family and friends as gifted as Kami
Thompson and The Rails and the Wainwrights, he cowrites four songs,
produces and saves the hilarious and wonderful closing track "Those Damn
Roches" for himself.
MANU CHAO -- Viva Tu
Where have you been, Manu Chao? It's been 17 years since one of the
most exciting artists of the 21st century put out an album. I wouldn't
have minded if this politically minded artist became mayor of Paris or
the leader of France. Indeed, I'm not sure what he's been up to but I'm
sure it was meaningful and joyous, because that's what his music has
always been like. Viva Tu doesn't miss a beat, continuing Chao's
exploration of human connection and what really matters in songs that
feel ready to be sung by others in a way his earlier, more production-
focused albums perhaps have not. A man and a guitar is the vibe here.
Plus, Willie Nelson! Chao peaked with 2001's Proxima Estación:
Esperanza, which to use a term some dislike is world music of the best
sort. Rock n roll? Absolutely. He's passionate, socially conscious and
catchy as hell, a Bob Marley who sings in Spanish, French, English,
Italian, Arabic, etc etc etc. See what I mean? The return of an old friend3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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who has great stories to tell and remains just as committed to change.
Thank goodness.
GREEN DAY -- Saviors
Green Day stumbled for a moment after the extraordinary critical and
commercial peak of American Idiot. Their follow-up 21st Century
Breakdown was terrific, actually, but they didn't want to be The Who
2.0 for the rest of their career. The triple threat of Uno! Dos! Tres!–
three albums all at once–proved a rare stumble for this consistently
good to great act. But they've been in top form ever since. Like
clockwork, they've delivered an excellent album every four years.
Revolution Radio, Father of All Motherfuckers and now Saviors are
smart, politically incendiary and catchy as hell. Turns out they were
The Clash more than The Who, after all. And how have I never seen
them live?
LADY BLACKBIRD -- Slang Spirituals
The first track on Lady Blackbird's second album–"Let Not (Your Heart
Be Troubled)"–begins and you sit up. The huge choir, the anthemic
melody, the surging and spiritual lyrics. She's not messing around. By
the time of the delicate, lovely fourth track "Man on a Boat," you're
sitting back, relaxed because you know that excellent opener wasn't a
fluke. This is the real deal. I really enjoyed her debut but came to it late.
From an intriguing talent, Lady Blackbird has grown into a major
talent, a (it's impossible to avoid the comparison) Nina Simone-like
magnetic presence. She's vulnerable, wise and wonderful with a
collection of romantic tunes, sometimes old school, sometimes
expansive and slippery (like "When The Game Is Played On You") and
always in command. LaBelle? Jill Scott? Now, Lady Blackbird.
She's another act I discovered thanks to the excellent music blog
Burning Wood. Check it out!
NICK CAVE -- Wild God
Bruce Springsteen has a bit he does in concert, preaching to the crowd
about the glories of rock 'n' roll. But Nick Cave really preaches, offering
a show that's half tearful embrace, half ecstatic reaching towards a
higher plane and half raucous revival meeting. His new album is Wild
God and this G-d is scary and awe-inspiring in its indifference to us.
This G-d is Nature unbounded, a G-d that neither cruelly delights in
our misery nor shares the burden, anymore than the sea sympathizes
with the ship that founders. The sea just...is. But we can sympathize
and share the burden and joys of life, a communal coming together
Cave offers in concert, on his marvelous email newsletter The Red
Hand Files and on this album that begins at a peak and then builds
from there. Ecstatic stuff. 3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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BILLIE EILISH -- Hit Me Hard and Hit Me Soft
I had my money on Lorde (and I know, it's not a competition). But it's
the mumbly, soft-spoken Billie Eilish who keeps delivering the goods.
Three albums and she hasn't missed a beat yet. Plus, she makes me
blush when Eilish sings she finds someone so appealing that "I could
eat that girl for lunch." Heavens! Now, that's rock n roll to me: honest,
sexy, edgy and catchy as hell.
ELLIOTT BROOD -- Town and Country
I've been a fan of this Canadian rock band since I stumbled on them in a bar in
Toronto way, way, way back when. They were self-distributing their music,
brandishing a banjo long before Mumford & Sons and writing some great
songs. Who are these guys, I wondered, a la Butch and Sundance. Throughout
the years, they've been signed to record labels, been nominated and won Junos
(Canada's top music award), toured and achieved the dream of making music
their life. Recent albums moved me with their journeyman embrace of the
hard work of doing all this and long past expecting the cover of Rolling Stone
or streaming hits a la Adele. Now, out of nowhere, they released two short
albums/eps of eight tracks each. One called Town and the other called–no
points for guessing– Country. Then they combined both albums, trimmed one
track from each and called the result Town and Country. It's the best album of
their career. Mature, still raucous, wise and heartening. Well into their careers,
they swung for the fences artistically and delivered. This is Americana, or
perhaps Canadiana, from the road song opener "Rose City" (they're great at
open-road songs) to the infectious "Bluebird Wine" and the gorgeous closer
"French Exit." Think Gram Parsons or Jason Isbell. Think Elliott Brood.
BEYONCÉ -- Cowboy Carter
Some critics love to be contrary. "Oh, everyone loves Taylor Swift? Not me,
boyo! Over-rated!!!" Etc. That's not my style. If I don't like someone, well, I
don't. However, there are acts I can sort of see the appeal but simply don't vibe
with. Not my thing, but I don't want to pick a fight. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé
are two of the dominant artists of the past 25 years...and by and large they do
little for me. I enjoyed the video album Lemonade more than the audio album
alone. Swift's Red was my favorite of hers and even that didn't make my best
of the year list. Given the serious critical acclaim and massive popularity, I
think, gee, maybe it's me. I listen to the albums, keep an open ear, enjoy
certain songs and wonder if I'll ever get on the bandwagon. Turns out it was a
chuckwagon. I'm delighted I can really get behind Beyoncé's new country
album: it's catchy, wide-ranging and bold. Beyoncé is too cool to do the usual
genuflecting others might do, like obvious pairings with established country
superstars. I mean, she has Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton on the album to
voice approval, but they're just on the album to give their blessings, which is
pretty damn nervy. She's not asking permission. She's not trying to win them
over. This Houston, Texas native says uh-uh, this is my music too, baby, so
step aside. Actually, a lot of it is more country adjacent than pure country
(whatever that means in an era of "bro country" and country-rap), but who3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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cares? While friends of mine can knowledgeably dissect the album's many
nods to history and its complex undercurrents, I just enjoy songs that don't
have the usual freight (train) of grand statements Beyonce's often trafficked in
on previous works. It's a hoedown! For a change, I can enjoy the party.
GRUPO FRONTERA -- Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada
This Texas band is only two albums in. They're still finding their voice here,
branching out from the first (excellent) album's more traditional vibe to
embrace pop and r&b and other strands, without losing what made their debut
special. They could go anywhere after this and I'm excited. Note to self: see
them in concert, pronto.
THE CURE -- Songs Of A Lost World
I don't think I'm a big fan of The Cure. I've never seen them in concert. I've
rarely thought about them. Back in the day, I rather dutifully bought their 1986
compilation Staring At The Sea aka Standing on a Beach because I thought
I ought to, due to the rave reviews...and then discovered it really was pretty
great. But in that pre-streaming era where listening to more albums meant a
serious investment of $15 or so per CD, that was as far as it went. But darned
if their 2008 album 4:13 Dream didn't wow me and now 16 years later hearing
Robert Smith's ever-complaining vocals on Songs of a Lost World is like
hearing from an old (kvetchy) friend. Maybe I really am a big fan of The Cure
and I just didn't know it. When I get the chance, in 2025 I'll start from the
beginning with them.
CHER -- Forever
I mean, damn. This greatest hits compilation comes in two packages. Forever
contains 21 tracks, Forever Fan contains 40 hits and they still omit quite a few
Top 40 records. The single disc set concentrates on mostly the "recent" hits
from the past few decades, including her 2023 gem of a Christmas song. The
two disc set also includes key Sonny & Cher tracks, making it pretty damn
definitive. It is an impressive string of hits covering almost 60 (!) years with
songs written by Sonny Bono ("The Beat Goes On") to just Bono ("I Still
Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." I'm not surprised by the enduring
appeal of "Believe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "Gypsys, Tramps
and Thieves" and on and on. But I was surprised by the strength of the (many)
songs I didn't know, even on the deluxe version. Irresistible.
RICHARD HAWLEY -- In This City They Call You Love
I am late to the game in appreciating this British musician, who's enjoyed
success with the band Longpigs, touring with Pulp, collaborating with others
and a string of solo albums this century. He's a classic rock n roller in the
singer-songwriter vein, leaning on strings, ballads and some old school rave-3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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ups to deliver this wistful gem. For the adults, though kids who enjoy a world-
weary vein should check it out too.
BRIAN ENO -- Soft Edges ep / Small World (w Bloom)
I dove into the deep end of ambient music this year, checking out
Hiroshi Yoshimura's Green, Tangerine Dream's Phaedra, Japanese
compilations and other terrific stuff. But mostly, I listened to Brian
Eno. I love Eno, one of the most important figures in popular music.
But he's so prolific, I realized I had a lot of catching up to do. So I
listened to Eno and more Eno and still more Eno. And most of it was
great, including his new ambient works Soft Edges and Small World,
which is credited to Eno x Bloom. And if you're interested in checking
out ambient, you should definitely start with the album that gave the
genre its name: Ambient 1: Music For Airports. In all, I listened to 16
albums by Eno. I gave eleven of them 3 1/2 or a perfect four stars.
WILLOW -- Empathogen
I'm only human. The daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith is
putting out an album? I'm both open-minded and cross-armed,
meaning I'll give it a listen but I'm not gonna grade on a curve. It didn't
take long to realize Willow is the real deal, debuting with an album that
proved she's not just legit, but an artist.
RICHARD THOMPSON -- Ship To Shore
Hey, I'm not just tough on famous offspring. Richard Thompson is one
of my favorite artists of all time, delivering great music with Fairport
Convention, then-wife Linda and for 40+ years as a solo artist,
collaborator and film composer. But he's so consistent and I like him so
much, that I am pretty tough on him. I expect so much and I'm so wary
of liking him by default that each new album must earn my trust. His
most recent gem 13 Rivers took over a year to convince me it wasn't
just another good Richard Thompson album, but a great one. Ship to
Shore? One play and I found myself falling hard. Brilliant guitar work,
caustic and clever lyrics, classic themes of dashed dreams with a side of
despair? It's all here, shot through with humor, insight and melodies
that lodge into your brain and take up residence. Consistently lauded,
he's probably under-appreciated, nonetheless.
ESLABAN ARMADO -- Amor Perdido
This fantastic California band delivers "regional Mexican music," a dumb
industry term I'm gonna re-dub "Mexicana." The music is fresh, wonderfully
arranged and embraces elements of traditional Mexican folk, but this ain't
your parents' norteño music. Catchy, sexy, danceable (indeed, try not to sway
along), I caught onto them when their 2022 album Nostalgia debuted on
Billboard's Top 10 and clued me into this whole genre. This may be their final
album for the indie label DEL, which discovered and signed them. I'm not3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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sure if I'm more sad about them moving on or excited about where a major
label might take them next.
PAUL KELLY -- Fever Longing Still
CHUCK PROPHET -- Wake The Dead
Two veterans deliver the goods. Paul Kelly is an Australian institution. I
caught on to his greatness with the 2019 greatest hits set Songs From The
South: 1985-2019, a 43 track compilation that will blow you away with a
never-ending stream of one great track after another. It's like suddenly
stumbling across the best of John Hiatt or John Prine and wondering how the
heck you missed him all these years. His latest album Fever Longing Still
maintains that standard.
Chuck Prophet is a journeyman rocker who gets better and better. After
decades with the band Green on Red and solo work, he's really come into his
own in the past 10 or 15 years. Wake The Dead finds him collaborating with
cumbia band ¿Qiensave? and it works a treat. Prophet has a wry sensibility, a
way with words and a voice that confides with confidence, knowing you'll
hear and understand. Life ain't easy, he knows, but it's easier with music like
this.
KACEY MUSGRAVES -- Deeper Well
I've enjoyed Kacey Musgraves since her debut Same Trailer, Different Park in
2013. So it was a little disconcerting when this country act turned pop on
Golden Hour, the whole world embraced it commercially and she won the
Grammy for Album of the Year. I was delighted for her and yet...didn't really
love it. Happily, this followup also has a pop vibe, especially the hazy sound
of the 1970s and this time I dig it. Don't ask me to explain why or how, but I
do.
JONTA VIUS WILLIS -- West Georgia Blues
Electric blues, delivered with relish. What more do you need to know?
BRIGHT EYES -- Five Dice, All Threes
Bright eyed and bushy-tailed no longer, but with a great clutch of songs I can
only describe as Bright Eyes-ian. More and more, I hear Conor Oberst's
influence on younger acts. Anyone with a tremulous voice and tumbling lyrics
owes him a debt.
MARCUS KING -- Mood Swings 3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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In a mellow mood, surely. Blues rocker Marcus King offers an intimate, late
night, soul-baring collection of songs. Producer Rick Rubin continues to bring
out the best (and the unexpected) in people.
GEPE -- Undesastre
The Chilean artist Gepe draws on everything from indigenous folk music to
Brian Wilson on his latest album. Gepe is new to me and I've got about a
dozen albums to catch on apparently, so I've no idea how this fits into his
discography. Pop? Sure, yet it also scratches the itch of hearing music from
around the world. The guest appearances on more than half the tracks feel
organic; they're serving the songs, not just showing off. And I'm all for un-
disastering the world, if still possible. Smooth and engaging.
STURGILL SIMPSON -- Passage du Desir
Sure, Sturgill Simpson has gone all Garth Brooks on us. It's usually not
a good sign when an artist suddenly decides they need to create under
an alter ego, a different persona. So when Simpson "retired" his name
and said his new album was gonna be by "Johnny Blue Sky," well, I got
worried. But hey, if that's what he needs to think, then what do I care?
The music style doesn't sound so far afield from the genre-embracing
work on Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, but if calling himself
Johnny Blue Sky frees him up the way two guys from Radiohead record
as The Smile, I should relax. Especially when the result is one of his
best.
M. WARD -- For Beginners: The Best of M. Ward
I love his voice, his distinctive guitar work, his sometimes lo-fi vibe, his work
with Zooey Deschanel on She & Him...I mean, geez, why don't I marry him?
2023's Supernatural Thing was his strongest solo since Hold Time in 2009.
And now here comes an old school greatest hits set, which gathers a bunch of
tracks from various albums over the years. Arranged for maximum impact
(not chronologically), nonetheless it starts with "Chinese Translation," the
infectious, unstoppable, make-you-an-instant-fan song from Post-War and
then ranges far and wide, including his great cover of David Bowie's "Let's
Dance" to a new version of Godley & Creme's "Cry." Great title. Great
album.
KALI MALONE -- All Life Long
Classical composer Kali Malone specializes in marvelous works with a nod
towards minimalism. (Is there any composer that actually embraces the tag of
minimalism? I don't think so.) The albums I've listened to by her range from
really great to really, really great. Her 2019 work The Sacrificial Code is the
breakout album, featuring an epic composition for pipe organ. But
2022's Living Torch features trombone, bass clarinet and drones while
2023's Does Spring Hide Its Joy features her husband guitarist Stephen3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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O'Malley of Sunn))) on guitar, Lucy Railton on cello and Malone on "tuned
sine wave oscillators" (whatever that is). The new album? It's described as
having "organ drone recordings." All I know is, if I play any of them I'm
riveted. Malone is a major talent.
JACK WHITE -- No Name
THE HENTCHMEN -- Hentch-Forth
Jack White brings it, from a stomping solo album to a guest appearance on the
awesome new record by The Hentchmen. This is the plug-in-your-electric-
guitar-and-turn-it-up music White can deliver with seeming ease. So why the
heck doesn't he do this all the time? :)
FANTASTIC CAT -- Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat
A super group! Well, not to be a jerk, but most people haven't heard of
the members of Fantastic Cat. That's their fault, since each member
enjoys productive solo careers. But sometimes a super group really is
super and that's certainly the case here. I somehow missed their 2022
debut, the cheekily named The Very Best of Fantastic Cat. It's a winner
but this new album Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat (a play on a
long-running UK series of hits compilations) is even better. Monsters
of Folk? The Traveling Wilburys? Yep, add Fantastic Cat to the list of
super groups that really delivers. Catchy as hell rock n roll, a la, oh I
don't know, Marshall Crenshaw or Warren Zevon? Best line: "If the
universe is expanding/ Why's my rent still going up?" Spin this now if
you live for AM radio. See? I played the first track and now I can't stop.
I'll be back in 39 minutes.
JAY WHEELER -- Música Buena Para Días Malos
Bad Bunny isn't the only game in town, when it comes to Puerto Rican
acts. Jay Wheeler went viral after posting a song about breaking up
with his girlfriend. He was just 16 years old, but after years of avoiding
singing in public because he was bullied and mocked in school, that
instant success gave him the courage to pursue it as a career. Seven or
so albums later, he's disciplined (the album has 13 songs and runs 40
minutes), self-sufficient (only two guest appearances) and perhaps it's
my imagination but I hear a welcome vulnerability and openness in his
singing and rapping. That's mirrored in the lyrics. Besides, we could all
use good music for bad times.
BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD -- Skinwalker
Is bat-shit crazy rock n roll a genre? The rocking rock band from
Cardiff, Wales (dear God, I almost called them British; forgive me,
lads!) have gotten harder and stronger since their excellent3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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debut Backhand Deals. Meanwhile, they've been studying their
mythology for this new work is a concept album about skinwalkers that
starts off nutty and then goes really berzerk. But along the way, they've
got stomping, thromping radio-ready (if hard rock radio was still a
thing) monsters that hit me hard, when I'm not befuddled trying to
follow the storyline. Can't wait to see them in concert.
SHOVEL DANCE COLLECTIVE -- The Shovel Dance
By far the best collection of traditional folk music delivered by a nine-
piece collective that I've heard all year. Easily. From the organ (?) intro
to the massed vocals on some of the foundation-shaking highlights, this
is a group effort in every sense of the word, even when a song might
feature only one voice or a few instruments. (Everyone involved seems
capable of playing about ten, it seems.) Doom-laden narratives like
"The Merry Golden Tree" (about a ship at sea) demonstrate the irony of
how despair can prove healing when acknowledged and sung about as a
community.
THE AVETT BROTHERS -- The Avett Brothers
It's a career year for The Avett Brothers, who saw the musical Swept
Away featuring their music and starring longtime fan and booster
John Gallagher Jr. of Spring Awakening fame debut on Broadway.
And their latest album is the best since their peak of I And Love and
You in 2009. Americana, folk rock, call it what you will. This is earnest,
thoughtful music.
LIAM GALLAGHER AND JOHN SQUIRE -- Liam Gallagher and John
Squire
The lead singer of Oasis and the guitarist John Squire walk into a
bar...and deliver exactly the meat and potatoes rock and roll you'd want
from Liam and John. So familiar on first listen it's gonna take me a
while to let this one sink in and see where it lands. But fans of either
shouldn't hesitate.
PESO PLUMA -- Éxodo
He's 25 and no featherweight, so it's no surprise Hassan Emilio
Kabande Laija aka Peso Pluma delivers a double album right after his
excellent Genesis. Side One (not that there is such a thing) features the
Peso Pluma I like best, a lyricist and singer/rapper who plumbs the
riches of Mexican music. Guest stars abound, but they don't overwhelm
what he's doing. Side Two interests me less; it's Peso Pluma as a
somewhat tough (but not that tough) modern rapper. The guest stars
seem to take over. It's still good, but Side One would have been a
sterling work on its own while Side Two makes me worried Pluma is
learning the wrong lessons. Hardly a surprise: the super catchy massive3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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hit "Bellakeo" with Brazilian star Anitta appears on Side Two and
powered the album's success. It's terrific, as is "Teka" with DJ Snake,
the closer with a clever sample of cop sirens that sort of freaked me out
while I was walking up Second Avenue in NYC and then made me
laugh. Peso Pluma is conquering the charts; I just hope he becomes
more focused on conquering greatness.
WILLIE NELSON -- The Border
The last time I named a Willie Nelson album to my best of the year list,
it was 2009 and his marvelous songbook album titled American
Classic, a worthy sequel to the classic bestseller Stardust. And the year
before that, he topped my list with the live album Two Men With The
Blues alongside Wynton Marsalis. Since then, Willie has released
approximately 472 more albums and a lot of them–many of them,
indeed most of them–are solid. Even at 91 he's putting out one to two
albums a year and it's a beautiful thing. You can listen to and enjoy
most of them. Nothing about The Border is astonishingly different; it's
just got a slightly stronger selection of songs and Willie's world-weary
vocals are just that more spot-on. So no, this isn't a comeback or a
victory lap for a beloved artist. He's never gone away and we've never
forgotten how great he truly is. I look forward to hearing the two or
three albums he delivers in 2025 and if you haven't listened to Willie in
a while, by all means put on The Border and marvel anew at a Mount
Rushmore-worthy legend of popular music.
PET SHOP BOYS -- Nonetheless
X -- Smoke & Fiction
Speaking of veterans adding to their already impressive catalogs, the Pet Shop
Boys and X both do precisely that. Nothing shocking here, either, except the
Pet Shop Boys have enjoyed a far more distinguished career than I ever would
have guessed after what I assumed was their "one hit wonder" success of
"West End Girls." (He's not even singing! He's talking!) And the punk rock
band X announced their next album would be their last and damned if Smoke
& Fiction isn't one of their all-time best. Quentin Tarantino, take notes.
THE BLACK CROWES -- Happiness Bastards
Sometimes you love an album and push it on everyone around you.
Sometimes a friend loves an album and pushes it on you. Their
enthusiasm, their constant attempts to play it when you're driving
around, their turning up the volume when a song appears on the radio,
it all builds and builds and maybe sometimes you reject it (that's their
thing, you say to yourself). But if you've any sense and your friend has
good taste, hearing the music over and over coupled with your friend's
joy makes you a fan too. I might have become a fan anyway someday
but friends definitely turned me onto Hüsker Dü and Rush and
Jackson Browne and Fleetwood Mac and The Replacements and a3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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million other bands, like The Black Crowes. Thanks, friends! Mind you,
none of my friends are besotted with Prefab Sprout like I am, but you
can't have everything.
THE JOHN SALLY RIDE -- Melomaniacs
I've been a fan of power pop entity The John Sally Ride for years. But
2023's The Other Women was too meta for my taste. (It delivered
answer songs or alternate takes on famous tunes featuring a woman's
name; instead of "Walk Away Renee" you got "Run Away Renee" and
instead of "Sweet Caroline" you got "Mean Caroline." However, I will
admit I knew a Jolene and she definitely hated Dolly Parton's
"Jolene.") So when I heard the new album Melomaniacs was built
around an obsession with music and featured songs extolling stuff like
the joy of hearing an album that's come out on compact disc for the
first time or an overwhelming record collection or which Kinks album
to start with, I was nonplussed. I could identify with it all, but really?
After a jaundiced first listen, I was slowly won over. And really,
Melomaniacs could be my life story...anticipating an act's new album
coming out, grabbing a magnifying glass to look at the lyrics included
in a cassette release, having a friend build specialty floor to ceiling
cases to house my CDs, wondering where to start with a band like The
Kinks back when that meant spending $15 on a physical copy? I've
done it all. Power pop fans and melomaniacs need apply.
LAURA MARLING -- Patterns in Repeat
ROSIE TUCKER -- Utopia Now!
Parenthood changes you, I hear. Acclaimed folkie Laura Marling starts her
new album with adults chatting quietly while a baby coos. It's a
contemplative, accomplished, self-assured work that knows exactly what it
wants to do: capture this moment, pay attention to it, savor it. That she does.
From the strings to the gorgeous background vocals to the finger-picking, this
is Joni Mitchell territory. Eight albums into her career, Marling wins without
trying.
In contrast, Rosie Tucker is angrily examining the world on her wryly
amusing, dream pop album. She gets jealous when people she knows appears
on TV , whereas Laura Marling probably doesn't have the time to watch TV .
Tucker pushes back against the attention economy and the capitalist treadmill
and all the things she's supposed to do to build her brand. Her lyrics are funny
and pointed, like "I hope no one had to piss in a bottle so I could get the thing
I ordered on the internet." Her music is catchy as hell and her politics are on
point, so consider this your marching music for the next protest. People are
still gonna protest, right?
IV AN CORNEJO -- Mirada
Apparently the genres reggaeton and "regional Mexican music" (a label only a
label or music critic would ever use) are vying for supremacy in the hearts of3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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listeners. Reggaeton got so heavily into tired sexist lyrics that when the
acoustic vibe of Mexicana (hmm, that's better) burst onto the scene and the
acts weren't calling women "bitches," it worked. Music with a sense of pride
in folk origins but ready to embrace rock n roll too? Works for me. Ivan
Cornejo is a California artist who started things off right: he learned to play
"La Bamba" by Ritchie Valens via YouTube tutorials. Cornejo has a hypnotic
burr in his languid vocals and n ow he's making his major label debut with his
third album Mirada. Just give a listen and you'll fall hard.
BETA RADIO -- Waiting For The End To Come
I like to end strongly, just to make sure no one thinks this list is ranked.
After the first album or two I put at the top, they're just all great.
Mostly the order comes about naturally by making sure I mix up genres
and styles and languages and men and women and so on to keep
everyone reading. And while you're scanning the list for favorites or
genres you like, you might just stumble across acts and albums you
weren't looking for. Besides, how could I resist ending with an album
titled Waiting For The End To Come?
Every time I post my favorite albums of the year list, I ask people: what
albums did I miss? One year, the answer came from someone I didn't
even know: check out Beta Radio. What a treat. Rock n roll. Americana.
"Real" music. Call it what you will, this is indeed the real stuff you
need: passionate, lyrical, gorgeous, intimate, moving, with a soupçon of
more religious imagery this time around, which makes me think of The
Avett Brothers. I can namecheck Bon Iver or Jackson Browne or
Midlake but like every act worth its salt, this duo is all its own. Music
for adults, which means everyone from the cooler high school students
to NPR listeners to rockers who need some Sunday morning wake-up
music.
REISSUE: LONE JUSTICE -- Viva Lone Justice (reissue?)
REISSUE: VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Uptown Top Ranking: Trojan Ska &
Reggae Chartbusters
REISSUE: MCCOY TYNER & JOE HENDERSON -- Forces of Nature: Live
at Slugs
REISSUE: NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN -- Chain of Light
Oh dear g-d, what a loss it was when record label shenanigans tore the heart
out of Lone Justice. Viva Lone Justice proves what an exciting, thrilling band
they were. I'm not completely desolate because we've enjoyed the marvelous
solo career of Maria McKee. But we were definitely cheated when Lone
Justice died too soon.
I don't know much of anything about reggae. And the iconic record label
Trojan has so many different, overlapping compilations you could do a
master's thesis on the intricacies of them. All I know is I spun Uptown Top
Ranking: Trojan Ska & Reggae Chartbusters. And then I spun it again and
again. 3/24/25, 3:10 PM POPSURFING.COM: THE ULTIMATE GRAMMY PREVIEW: THE BEST ALBUMS O F 2024
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Newer Post Older PostThe jazz greats pianist McCoy Tyner and saxophonist Joe Henderson had a
ferocious meeting of the minds on this double album live set from 1966 that
for some reason remained unreleased until now. Inexplicable.
For a period, everyone not in the know was suddenly wowed by the great
qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He sings religious music, specifically
Sufi devotional music, long discursive songs with jazz-like vocal
improvisation that circle higher and higher until reaching the heavens. He
sang with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam! His music was everywhere! Pop stars
stole his melodies for Bollywood musicals! But NFAK has literally dozens
and dozens (perhaps hundreds and hundreds) of recordings and it can be
overwhelming. Most people, like me, heard a few albums, got the essence of
him, enjoyed it and moved on. That's ok. The Bulgarian State Television
Female V ocal Choir had a fluke worldwide smash album with Le Mystère des
Voix Bulgares and toured the world and then slipped back into relative
obscurity. Just because I didn't become an expert in Bulgarian choral music or
buy dozens of albums in that genre doesn't mean my passing love of their
album was a fad or meaningless. (Check them out!) What's wrong with
sampling all types of music, digging something and moving on? It's great! It's
also cool if you dig deeper, of course and hearing Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
makes you a lifetime devotee of jazz with no time for anything else. Like me,
it's probably been a long time since you listened to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (if
you ever did at all). Now we have an unreleased gem recorded when he was at
the height of his worldwide popularity and vocal powers. It's a stunner,
reminding me why he became a sensation in the first place. I don't think I'll
suddenly plunge deeper into his endless back catalog, but that's ok. That's the
joy of this streaming era: it's easier than ever to check something out. If I turn
you onto an artist the way so many others have turned me onto The Lemon
Twigs and Beta Radio and so many others, I'll be thrilled.
--30--
POSTED BY MICHAEL GILTZ AT 3:50 PM
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