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barn-dawg · 1 month ago

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okie I made a post re: making a list of music I enjoyed this year so here it is because @rotmaxx and @m1stth3c4t were nice enough to say yes to that so the rest of you have to suffer

going to limit it to music released in 2024, everything is under readmore bc it's going to be link and word salad hell - this is in no particular order

got into screamo this year thanks to a brooklynvegan article covering their favourite screamo albums that had come out in 2024 at the time of the article's writing - I listened to everything At Least Once but two albums were on repeat for me

One of those was Frail Body's Artificial Boquet which is blistering front to back, starting with the blistering Scaffolding and never relenting in its 40 min runtime. It does have some more quiet moments (though they are still pretty crushing), which are an appreciated break from some of the tightest playing I've ever heard since Deafheaven's Sunbather.

The next was Respire's Hiraeth, a slower but more complex album with orchestal sections and quite a few medleys. They're self-described as "post-everything" on their spotify, which I can see since they remind me a lot of Godspeed! You Black Emperor. I appreciate that Respire isn't afraid to slow things down and just let you breathe for a minute - a lot more so than the Frail Body album. My favourite off the album has to be Home of Ash.

Another screamo album I was anticipating was Touché Amoré's Spiral In A Straight Line, an excellent addition to the screamo/post-hardocre band's discography filled almost front to back with bangers (save for Force of Habit, which is a dud imo), the opening track, Nobody's, feels like a song tailor-made to be screamed back to Jeremy Bolm at the beginning of every show the band will do for the rest of their career - I highly recommend this album if you want to get into the band.

In a similar vein, Agriculture released an EP this year called Living Is Easy. They're a breath of fresh air in the black metal scene, their music being far more hopeful and optimistic than their contemporaries. Agriculture is screaming in defiance of the void rather than embracing it, I think the title track shows that off really well.

There was also Bongripper's Empty. Extremely heavy stoner metal following in the footsteps of Sleep's Dopesmoker, a great instrumental album that would probably scare me a little bit if I got high to it.

For something even more oppressive, check out Civerous' Maze Envy if you want to be crushed to death by audio It speaks for itself really.

There was also Chat Pile's Cool World, imo it's a far groover, less uncomfortable experience compared to their previous album God's Country though arguably equally as crushing. My favourite off this album has to be Masc, an uncomfortable look into how toxic masculinity affects the relationship between a man and his partner and how the simple fact that he has needs as a human negatively impacts his self perception.

Taking a sudden left turn into hip-hop because a lot of good fucking rap albums came out this year!

Starting off strong with Doechii's mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal, easily the most varied piece to release this year, Doechii flexes her muscles by hopping from sub-genre to sub-genre and does it really fucking well from back to front, and keeps doing it with jazz renditions of songs off that album - Doechii is definitely one to watch, I'm really excited to see what else she comes out with. My personal favourite off her mixtape is NISSAN ULTIMA.

Doechii also featured on a song on Tyler The Creator's new album, Chromakopia, which was announced without warning around the 21st of October before releasing a week later. Tyler has had an amazing run since Flower Boy and shows no signs of stopping. This album, to me, feels like a mix of Igor and Call Me If You Get Lost in terms of aesthetics and sound. Chromakopia has an explosive opening in St. Chroma, and goes on to explore Tyler's thoughts on aging and different aspects of sexual and romantic relationships, includin polyamory and a pregancy scare, it's an easy recommend from me.

Speaking of surprise releases, Kendrick Lamar silently released GNX on the 22nd of November. It's very different from his prior releases, not having an overarching story or idea, though that doesn't mean it's any less deserving of appreciation as a piece of art. GNX is a love letter to west-coast rap and RnB. The opening Wacced Out Murals, to me, feels like a manifesto for Kendrick's jaded view of the rap game and its current state - it managed to get responses from both Lil Wayne and Nas (who had opposite reactions). I think, overall, GNX is Kendrick is showing that he's capable of stooping down to the level of his peers and outdoing all of them (as if this year's beef didn't show that already).

Changing gears, we also have The Thief Next to Jesus by Ka - the final album released before his passing earlier this year. A lo-fi rap album with a heavy emphasis on religion.

There was also Memoirs In Armour by Navy Blue, a very mood rap album with an amazing mix on the piano seen in the opening of Take Heed.

VEENA by Heems was another album to release album, instrumetally I thought it was fantastic though it can be spiritual lyrical individual bar-wise, however I think it's well worth checking out. The album art is also very nice.

Another album with fantastic instrumentals to release this year was I Lay Down My Life For You by JPEGMAFIA, definitely the most unique release of this year. Peggy shows it's entirely possible to do a rap-rock fusion and do it very very good. It's intense from beginning to end and I really hope JPEGMAFIA continues making music in this style. Just linking the whole thing because asking me what my favourite song isoff of this album is like asking me what my favourite oxygen molecule I've breathed in recently is.

Capping things off, we also had Killer Mike release Michael & The Mighty Midnight Revival, Songs For Sinners And Saints . This is a direct follow up to last year's MICHAEL, bringing back the gospel choir that did a lot to elevate that album. KM&TMMR is, to me, an elaboration and build-up of the musical ideas presented on MICHAEL, I'm pretty confused by SLUMMER 4 JUNKIES because a huge portion of that track is just SLUMMER from MICHAEL which I just don't understand personally.

Kneecap has a pretty intense year, releasing both a movie and an album, Fine Art, which lives up to its name. Fine Art is almost a concept album, covering the West Blefast trio's night out in the pub, doing drugs and avoidng the dealers they owe money to, and going to raves. The album has beats making use of traditional irish folk music, the gaeilge language, with adoration of club bangers that shine on songs like I'm Flush. They also hate british colonialism, and as a Fenian cunt I respect that to put it mildly.

The hatred of The UK contiunes because Bob Vylan, a grime/punk duo released Humble As The Sun which comes out swinging on the title track, advocating for a united Ireland and railing against the exploitation of black men for white profit within the music industry. Humble As The Sun is a staunch refusal to be submissive in the face of british systemic racism and austerity while celebrating black art.

While I've enjoyed rap for years, this year in particular I really branched out and found new artists to keep an eye on. My usual wheelhouse is punk, which also had a pretty profilic year for releases.

This is especially true for Fucked Up, who released three seperate albums within a pretty short time of each other - all of which had been written and recorded within 24 hours (one of them livestreamed too), those albums are Another Day, Who's The Time & A Half, and Someday. Who's Got The Time was only available for 24 hours on bandcamp, so I won't cover that one.

Another Day is Fucked Up's shortest album to date, clocking in at 37 minutes, and is the sequel album to 2023's One Day and it's definitely audible. It very much sounds like they immediately stopped recording One day and immedately went into Another Day. It's not as synth-forward as One day is, the synths take a backseat - however they still make songs like Stimming.

Someday, in constrast, is the most unique of the trilogy, most of the songs make use of aso many features that Damian Abraham's signature bark is a rarity on the record and none of the songs are what you would expect from a punk album, songs such as I Took My Mom To Sleep straying pretty far from the genre. The album mainly focuses on the hostility of Canada towards migrants and is incredibly blunt with its messaging, something I always appreciate from hardcore bands. Off of Somneday, Feed Me Your Feathers has been on repeat for me with its infectous melody.

Drug Chruch also released PRUDE, I don't have tons to say about it - for me, it's a continuation of their ideas from 2022's Hygiene which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Kill Lincoln released their No Normal, a ska-punk rager and follow up to 2020's Can't Complain. It's tighter, higher energy, everyone brings their A-game, it's fun - No Normal is everything ska-punk should be. The opener I'm Fine (I Lied) being a great example of this - if they ever put out a modern Tony Hawk's Pro Skater I expect Kill Lincoln on that soundtrack.

This last section is for albums I listened to that are in their own genre.

Starting with the metalcore heavy-hitter for this year, Knocked Loose's You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To, an album that feels like being punched in the face for 27 minutes straight. This album is unrelenting, vocally and instrumentally punishing from beginning to end - it's pissed at you for deciding to listen to it and you're going to feel that the entire time. My personal favourite track is Suffocate, which has a feature from Poppy on it.

In a completely opposite vein (mostly) is Mount Eerie's Night Palace! A lo-fi indie album, entirely recorded on analog equiment (just like Phil Elverum's magnum opus, The Glow Pt. 2), the album skips from fuzzier cuts like the title track to groovier cuts like the follow-up Huge Fire, alongside references to the prevoisly mentioned The Glow Pt. 2 and Mount Eerie's devastating A Crow Looked At Me. It's an album about colonisation and our society's deteriorating relationship with nature, Phil Elverum's muse, first and foremost though imo.

After the band went on hiatus, Black Midi's Geordie Greep released The New Sound, an album that pulls from many many different genres, from prog to jazz to latin to rock. It's an excellent display of technique and whatever pervert Greep was embodying in the lyrics.

Foxing released their self titled too, a vast depature from their prvious material that I was familiar with. I'm not even sure what to label it genre-wise, is it screamo? At some points, sure. Industrial? potentially! Regardless, it is easily their best worth without a doubt with Secret History and Greyhound being my personal favourites off the album. I'm not sure how you scream like that without fucking up your voice permenantly.

Vampire Weekend also released a new album, Only God Was Above Us, their first since 2019's Father of the Bride, and what an album it is from front to back, this is some of the most unique music I've heard ever, not just from this year. Connect has to be my personal favourite, the piano on this song is just beautiful.

There was also a personal favourite of mine, Trauma Ray's Chameleon. This album is a crushing wall of sound with dreamy vocals, excellent shoegaze that almost feels like that state you're on the cusp of falling into a really deep sleep - it's a suffocating embrace of an album from beingging to end, my personal favourites are Ember and the title track.

There's also Hiatus Kaiyote's Love Heart Cheat Code, an album that's hard to pin down with it bouncing between soul, funk, and psychedelic, it's definitely worth your time with it being beautiful from beginning to end.

A highly anticipated release this year for me was Godspeed! You, Black Emperor's "NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBURARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD" a direct reference to the death toll of the Gazan genocide, which most likely has doubled since the date mentioned in the title, though we don't know for sure.

This is an instumental album mainly, the only break being the reading of a poem by Michele Fiedler Fuentes on Raindrops Cast In Lead. To me, this album contains multitudes, having moments that are extremely bleak only to be contrasted later by moments of hope. There are highs and lows that alternate, there are green shoots sprouting from grey rubble. There's a lot to be said about this album and what it envokes, but all that there is really worth saying is

NO TITLE AS OF 25 DECEMBER 2024, 45,400 DEAD

#ray.txt #long post #very long post

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