#kaleida

[nanaolehivna]

[callsigntangoecho]

[daily-coloring]

Best of 2024 - Albums

Average year, I haven't even rated any records 100 out of 100 on AOTY, which is sad. Anyway I had some DJ mixes on repeat all year around, for example Shygirl's Fabric mix which is so heavy and so groovy, perfect for driving. Also maybe because I visited Berlin twice this year, this Boiler Room mix gave me goosebumps. Another few also ridiculously good, like SG Lewis & Tove Lo's San Francisco mix, Andre VII's Mexico mix, Miss Monique's DJ Mag mix, the brilliant MAW's live mix from Johannesburg and my recent favorite, Jojo Lorenzo from the states, who made this great darkwave mix last month for Halloween.

But now lets jump onto the albums. Just as an interesting fact, from the top 50 I seen live 6 artists. Yeah, I've been going out a lot. Also went to YES! (my most favorite place in Manchester) to see Clementine Douglas before she even released her debut album. She was fantastic.

01. The Irrepressibles - Yo Homo! - "Diving more into personal narratives now more than ever, the new album focuses on deeply emotional songwriting from such a specific point of view that’s not really touched upon much in the music industry - a complete breath of fresh air that I’ve taken to instantly. Yo Homo relays this punk rebellious sound throughout that unashamedly projects a call for proudness and authenticity, a love letter to the openess surrounding sexuality." - Wilder Records

02. Allie X - Girl With No Face

03. Lola Young - This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway - "Lola Young’s fierce, funny and assertive songs run on outsized emotions, the 23-year-old singer emboldened and finally embracing everything she has to offer. ‘This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway’, Young’s first full-length album, moves with an auteur-like touch to its production; opulent soul set pieces stand tall next to raw, scratchy indie tunes, all of which see the south Londoner face desire in its many complications. It’s a collection that feels equally empowered and tormented. Or, as one Instagram commenter put it, this is music that could make a listener “want to pick up a refrigerator and throw it”." - NME

04. Fontaines D.C. - Romance

05. Tsatsamis - Our Shame

06. Orla Gartland - Everybody Needs a Hero

07. Nadine Shah - Filth Underneath -"Songs of loss and confusion, ‘Filthy Underneath’ is also marked by a certain kind of certainty. It’s as though amid all this pain, all this negativity, Nadine Shah has found herself once more." - Clash

08. Lanark Artefax - Metallur

09. Mahmood - NEI LETTI DEGLI ALTRI

10. Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown

11. Kasper Bjorke - Puzzles

12. Nicolas Jaar - Piedras 1

13. ionnalee - CLOSE YOUR EYES

14. Jamie xx - In Waves

15. Andre Bratten - Slay Tracks

16. The Smile - Cutouts - "It is an immersive and all-encompassing record that is at its best when you play it loud, allowing all of the vast textures of sound to wash over you. In its quietest moments, the album is still full of beauty, which simmers beneath the surface, beckoning us closer." - Far Out Magazine

17. Kim Gordon - The Collective

18. Telenova - Time is a Flower

19. Rosa Anschutz - Interior

20. Emiliana Torrini - Miss Flower

21. Golda May - Say It Back

22. Michael Kiwanuka - Small Changes

23. Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn - Quiet in a World Full of Noise - "Here, Richard and Zahn have captured grief like a carved piece of obsidian—glossy, beautiful, and sharp." - Pitchfork

24. Nilufer Yanya - My Method Actor

25. Crystal Murray - Sad Lovers and Giants

26. Joywave - Permanent Pleasure

27. Foushee - Pointy Heights - "Creeping under the thirty-minute mark, ‘Pointy Heights’ is full of thrills, a conceptual body of work that makes each moment count. In doing so, Fousheé continues to earn her stripes as a vocalist driven by self-expression, stitching together her intrigue for the past, present and future." - Clash

28. Crazy P - Any Signs of Love

29. Porches - Shirt - "On his heaviest, spikiest album to date, Aaron Maine’s shredded production and raw arrangements evoke existential angst and quotidian despair." - Pitchfork

30. Rachel Chinouriri - What a Devastating Turn of Events

31. Kaleida - In My Arms

32. Erika De Casier - Still

33. NewDad - MADRA

34. Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism

35. Laura Masotto - The Spirit of Things

36. Smerz & Allina - Allina

37. DJ Cam - Broken Melancholy

38. 1010benja - Ten Total - "On his chic, adventurous, hybrid-pop debut, Benjamin Lyman is a world-weary optimist and DIY maximalist with a voice fit for the mainstream yet made for the arthouse." - Pitchfork

39. Polar Inertia - Environment Control

40. IDLES - TANGK

41. Psycho Weazel - boysdontcry

42. The Blessed Madonna - Godspeed

43. L.A. Suzi - Nem sírok, csak táncolok

44. Lime Garden - One More Thing

45. St. Vincent - All Born Screaming

46. Gavin Friday - Ecce Homo

47. Lihla - Socha

48. WILLOW - empathogen - "Throughout the record, she seems committed to tearing down barriers between her potential audiences, just as she enjoys pitting their tastes against each other." - Sputnikmusic

49. Gossip - Real Power - "If you like a bit of retro with a modern twist and music that can both grab your heart and kick your teeth in, I’d give Real Power a listen… possibly whilst eating a Freddo whilst you can still afford one." - XS Noise

50. Jespfur - Pedestrians of Bright Silence

[hubcaphalo]

Favorite Albums of 2024:

Here we go: favorite albums of the year. I like to make my lists every year and these? Are just my favorites. Are they the best albums of the year? Who the fuck knows. Maybe some are, some aren’t. I make these lists for myself, because I like to go back and revisit these, but if you listen and find something here you like, that’s awesome!

favorite albums of 2024, in alphabetical order:

Dagny - ELLE (listen: In My Bones, Strawberry Dream)

Dawn Richard, Spencer Zahn - Quiet in a World Full of Noise (listen: Quiet in a World Full of Noise, Breath Out)

Dehd - Poetry (listen: Hard to Love, Mood Ring)

Empress Of - For Your Consideration (listen: Femenine, Kiss Me)

FLETCHER - In Search of the Antidote (listen: Attached to You, Crush)

Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Past is Still Alive (listen: Alibi, Hourglass)

Japandroids - Fate & Alcohol (listen: Upon Sober Reflection, Fugitive Summer)

Joy Oladokun - Observations from a Crowded Room (listen: Good Enough, Drugs)

Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well (listen: Jade Green, Sway)

Kaleida - In Arms (listen: Choices, Kilda)

Kenya Vaun - The Honeymoon Phase (listen: Yesterday, Overrated)

Lizzie No - Halfsies (listen: Halfsies, Annie Oakley)

Moses Sumney - Sophcore (listen: Vintage, Love's Refrain)

Orville Peck - Stampede (listen: How Far Will We Take It?, Chemical Sunset)

Pom Pom Squad - Mirror Starts Moving Without Me (listen: Street Fighter, The Tower)

Raveena - Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain (listen: Lose My Focus, We Should Move Somewhere Beautiful)

Rei Brown - Aura (listen: Get Me Out, Fire)

Reyna Tropical - Malegria (listen: Cartagena, Lo Siento)

somesurprises - Perseids (listen: Be Reasonable, Dark Victory)

TezaTalks - Black Girl American Horror Story (listen: STOPIT!!, Oxygen, Cops)

Honourable Mentions:

Fleet Foxes - Live on Boston Harbor I don't put live albums on the EOY list, but this is an excellent listen--you can also watch it on youtube. Robin is in peak banter form. (listen: Ragged Wood)

Various Artists - American Football (Covers) The classic American Football record is so iconic, and so gorgeous, of course a record full of covers from other brilliant musicians is gonna slap. (listen: Ethel Cain - For Sure)

Usher - Coming Home It didn't need to be a double album! The first half is perfect! The second half has some decent songs, but it is definitely weaker. (listen: Kissing Strangers "how'd we go from strangers kissing to kissing strangers"? LAWD shot to the heart)

[xievoswf]

Tennotober Day 4 - Crystal . Gara Kaleida . anddd blooper lol

[rivka-kopelman]

[nurzhakhan]

love heroes 🤍

[musicwithoutborders]

Kaleida, Josephine I Odyssey, 2020

[alintalzin]

My Spotify playlist for Copper in the Ground, my espionage portal fantasy wip.

[jardanis]