#FOUR TET

[389]

[grrl-beetle]

Four Tet - Live At Alexandra Palace London, 24th May 2023

[asteroidtroglodyte]

[Me and The Mutuals on a Tuesday night]

[fashionlandscapeblog]

Burial, Four Tet, Thom Yorke - Her Revolution

[newmusickarl]

Albums of the Year 2024: Honourable Mentions

2024 – what a year for music hey?!

We had The Last Dinner Party in Spring, a well-documented BRAT Summer, a Fontaines Fall and, finally, The Cure for the Winter. We also had a couple of big reunions: the Gallagher brothers delighting everyone by reuniting Oasis, nu-metal icons Linkin Park returning with a new vocalist and then, just last month, indie darlings The Maccabees announcing some live shows for 2025. Both the Electronic and Country music genres seemed to have a particularly great year, while artists dissecting toxic relationships also seemed to be a thematic favourite over the last 12 months. We also had plenty of memorable moments and some incredible festival performances but, above all else, we had some bloody great new music.

You’ll be pleased to know that while this blog took a backseat to some other hobbies and ventures in 2024, my listening habits certainly didn’t slow down. My Apple Music Replay tells me I’ve listened to 587 albums from 983 different artists, 4,758 songs and a whopping 35,886 minutes of music. Just like previous years, I’ve whittled this mass of new music down to my favourite Albums, EPs and Songs of the Year – starting as always with the albums.

From my own (more accurate) tally that I keep every year, I’ve actually listened to 220 Albums in 2024, with that 220 then broken down into my Top 50 Albums of the Year, my 50 unranked honourable mentions and then sadly 120 albums that didn’t make the final cut. As ever, the top albums come from a multitude of genres: pop, rock, indie, hip-hop, R&B, country, electronica, shoegaze, punk, post-punk - it’s all here! So, although there is a good chance you won’t enjoy everything on this list, hopefully there is at least something for everyone.

For those who are following my annual countdown for the first time, I have a basic criterion that has treated me well over the last decade when collating my final Album of the Year list. Generally, I’ve favoured the records that:

Had the biggest impact on me

Was a landmark culturally or within the wider music world

Showed ambition or had something unique to offer

I played the most during the year

Ultimately produced my favourite front-to-back listening experience

So, before the Top 50 countdown officially begins with the albums that finished 50-41, I wanted to just shout out the albums that I thoroughly enjoyed this year but ultimately just missed out on the Top 50 spots. This includes some fantastic debuts (Been Stellar, Dolores Forever, Fat Dog, Sprints), some surprise returns to form (The Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, The Libertines), some late career highlights (Gruff Rhys, Maxïmo Park, James, Los Campesinos!) and plenty of the year’s biggest and most acclaimed projects (Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kamasi Washington, Waxahatchee).

So, officially kicking off year-end season, here are my 50 Honourable Mentions for 2024 in alphabetical order (by artist):

Arab Strap - I'm totally fine with it 👍 don't give a fuck anymore 👍

Been Stellar - Scream From New York, NY

Beyoncé – COWBOY CARTER

Bill Ryder Jones - Iechyd Da

Billie Eilish – HIT ME HARD AND SOFT

Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: NeX GEn

Caribou – Honey

Cassandra Jenkins - My Light, My Destroyer

Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out To, She Reaches Out To She

Daudi Matsiko - The King of Misery

DEADLETTER - Hysterical Strength

Dolores Forever - It's Nothing

Du Blonde - Sniff More Gritty

Fat Dog - WOOF.

Fazerdaze - Soft Power

Four Tet - Three

Geographer - A Mirror Brightly

Goat Girl - Below The Waste

Green Day - Saviors

Gruff Rhys - Sadness Sets Me Free

Hovvdy – Hovvdy

The Howl & The Hum - Same Mistake Twice

Ibibio Sound Machine - Pull The Rope

IDLES - TANGK

Jack White - No Name

James - Yummy

John Grant - The Art of the Lie

Kamasi Washington - Fearless Movement

The Libertines - All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade

Lime Garden - One More Thing

Los Campesinos! - All Hell

Maggie Rogers - Don't Forget Me

Maxïmo Park - Stream of Life

MGMT - Loss of Life

MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks

Mount Eerie - Night Palace

NewDad - MADRA

nothing,nowhere - Dark Magic / Hell or Highwater / Miserymaker

Orlando Weeks - LOJA 

Rahim Redcar - HOPECORE

Remi Wolf - Big Ideas

Schoolboy Q - Blue Lips

Sega Bodega - Dennis

Sick Love – Champagne

The Smashing Pumpkins - Aghori Mhori Mei

The Smile – Cutouts

Sprints – Letter to Self

Tycho - Infinite Health

Vince Staples - Dark Times

Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood

So that’s what didn’t quite make it!

Now, join me throughout December as I reveal my Top 50 Albums of the Year, My Favourite EPs of the Year, My Favourite Live Shows of 2024 and My Top 100 Songs of 2024 Playlist.

[grimespostarchive]

four tet just came out with a new album, which reminds me that he and grimes apparently made a song together that didn't see the light of day 😿

i wanna hear it so badddd

[grrlmusic]

KH HandsToMyself

[ruinedholograms]

(2012)

• Tame Impala - Lonerism

• Purity Ring - Shrines

• Beach House - Bloom

• Julia Holter - Tragedy, and Ekstasis

• Oneohtrix Point Never - Rifts

• Grizzly Bear - Shields

• David Byrne + St. Vincent - Love This Giant

• Iamamiwhoami - Kin

• First Aid Kit - The Lion’s Roar

• Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

• Daniel Rossen - Silent Hour/Golden Mile

• Andy Stott - Luxury Problems

• Tim Hecker + Daniel Lopatin - Instrumental Tourist

• Four Tet - Pink

• Andrew Bird - Hands Of Glory

• Melodys Echo Chamber - Self Titled

• Björk - Biophilia Remixes (Death Grips)

• Foreign Body (Liz Harris) - Mirroring

• Demdike Stare - Elemental

[newplaces2drown]

Inspired by late nights in the 2000s spent sitting in front of a 13 inch CRT television and an old Dell desktop computer

[389]

[knightofleo]

Four Tet | Loved

[notclevr]

[omegaremix]

Bicep: "Opal" (Four Tet RMX).