Women have so thoroughly dominated 2024 that I almost wanted to ban men entirely from this year-end list. But then sungazer and Johnny Blue Skies had to go and record some year-end worthy stuff, so it’s not a shut out.
Beyoncé, Act II: Cowboy Carter
Is Cowboy Carter a country album? No, it’s the sound of country music paying for its lack of vision.
Shiina Ringo, Hojoya
Collaborating with other women artists has really rejuvenated Shiina Ringo. The last few albums have felt like formalities. This album feels truly new.
Charli XCX, brat
I first criticized brat for drawing upon too little material for the entire length of an album. Over time, I would discover that criticism was actually its strength.
Tiffany Poon, Diaries: Schumann
Tifanny Poon is not like most YouTubers. Her vlogs often feel like miniature art films, with scenic shots underpinned by her performances. And you see her contend with the music on her recital programs, the piano given a voice (through subtitles) in how the performance turns out. The care with which she champions Schumann’s music comes through on her first album as an adult concert performer.
Perfume, Nebula Romance: Zenpen
Perfume albums are often just compilations of the last half dozen singles, and Nebula Romance: Zenpen isn’t too different in that regard. But as the trio approaches 25 years of performing, this album feels much more organic. Producer Nakata Yasutaka lightens his touch, letting the voices of Kashiyuka, A-chan and Nocchi to come through. It’s also part one of two albums, with the second expected in 2025.
Sleater-Kinney, Little Rope
After a successful return on 2015’s No Cities to Love, Sleater-Kinney wandered a bit on the subsequent albums. Little Rope course corrects just enough to remind listeners why they loved this band in the first place.
Kim Gordon, The Collective
Give Kim Gordon the damn Grammy.
Cocco, Beatrice
Similar to Onitsuka Chihiro, Cocco’s first albums cast a long shadow over everything that came after. She’s occasionally met the expectations set by that body work, and sometimes she hasn’t. Beatrice definitely does. Cocco’s most recent work is far sunnier than her early albums, but Beatrice shows some of storm and stress piping below the surface.
sungazer, Against the Fall of Night
The songs on this album are all in a 4/4 time signature, but how those four beats are divided up is the real question.
Johnny Blue Skies, PASSAGE DU DESIR
Sturgill Simpson the brand is dead. But I have no doubt Johnny Blue Skies will be no less chameleonic, starting with this album steeped in a 1970s Gram Parsons vibe.
More favorites:
Ray Chen, Player One
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Live from the Ryman, Vol. 2
Men, are you OK? You haven’t released an album I could consider a favorite all year. Perhaps by the end of the year, you will be shut out. One can only hope.
Shiina Ringo, Hojoya
Shiina sounds energized with other women to collaborate on Hojoya. My favorite, of course, is her collaboration with Nocchi because it’s really nice to hear Nocchi without a ton of effects.
Beyoncé, Act II: Cowboy Carter
The ambition on this album is on par with Shiina Ringo’s Shousou Strip. I’m just a tad frustrated it’s taken more than 20 years for an American artist to reach that level.
Tiffany Poon, Diaries: Schumann
I’m not usually moved by music from the Romantic Era, but Tiffany Poon’s enthusiasm for Robert Schumann spurred me to learn pieces from the Album for the Young. I can understand why she loves Schumann so much.
Kim Gordon, The Collective
I think I would be more interested in clipping if their albums sounded more like The Collective.
Sleater-Kinney, Little Rope
I would probably put this album on par with No Cities to Love.
Cocco, Beatrice
The storm clouds of Rapunzel seems to have returned.
Reissues
Utada Hikaru, SCIENCE FICTION
I’m not sure I’m on board with re-recording some of the early songs, but as someone trying to salvage some of my own 20-year-old project files from bitrot, I wouldn’t be surprised if some practical decisions went into some of these re-done tracks.
Onitsuka Chihiro, UN AMNESIAC GIRL First Code -2000-2003-
I don’t mind that Onitsuka Chihiro’s various labels have tried to mine this fertile period of her career.
Nakamori Akina, CRUISE (2024 Lacquer Master)
CRUISE came at a time of personal turmoil for Nakamori Akina, and the narrative surrounding this album seems to have doomed it as a lesser work among critics. It’s the first album of hers I owned, so perhaps I have a soft spot for it. But there’s a melancholy to this album that feels genuine.
Catalog
Aran Tomoko, Fuuyu Kuukan
It astonishes me this album was released in 1983. Even in 2024, Fuuyuu Kuukan has some unhinged moments that feel more at home on a Shiina Ringo album. Aran Tomoko has a versatile voice, rocking out on one track, then becoming demure on another. If it were released in 2024, Fuuyuu Kuukan easily competes with Cowboy Carter, brat and Hojoya.
John Zorn, Simulacrum
John Zorn’s Simulacrum ensemble could have easily filled out this portion of the half-year retrospective because only Zorn could bring out the heavy metal in organ improvisation. But this first outing pretty much sums up what you’ll hear on the group’s subsequent albums.
Tyler Childers, Rustlin’ in the Rain
Not gonna lie: this album show up on this list on the strength of “In Your Love” and the accompanying music video. But the rest of the album is also good, and at a running time barely 28 minutes, it’s no-nonsense about delivering those goods.
Olivia Rodrigo, SOUR
It’s clear Olivia Rodrigo is descended from the music DNA that gave us Avril Lavigne, and for some reason, I’d much rather listen to Rodrigo. Rodrigo has the cleverness and grit that I never got from Lavigne, who always struck me as a pastiche of a rocker grrl.
Haim, Women in Music, Pt. III
Oh, so that’s why everyone loses their shit over Haim.
Brian Fennell, Safety Songs
Youthful works from the guy who would eventually launch Barcelona and SYML.
Yellow Magic Orchestra, Naughty Boys
For years, I’ve been told that Yellow Magic Orchestra has been “influencial,” but I never encountered an explanation of why that’s so. Then I picked up Naughty Boys and could see the connective tissue between Kraftwerk and the many ’80s bands that dominated the airwaves in my youth.
I have no clue why city pop became such a niche interest in 2024, but I support any trend that gets Nakamori Akina’s early albums into more ears. Aran Tomoko was an impulse purchase because someone had sold a vinyl reissue to Sonic Boom Records, and I bought it because … hey, it’s Japan!
It’s become one of my most-played albums of 2024. This album is so much more than city pop. It bends genres and indulges in experiments, all the while hewing to the confines of Japanese pop music. It predates the adventurousness of Shiina Ringo by two decades.
Beyoncé, Act II: Cowboy Carter
My immediate reaction after hearing Cowboy Carter for the first time was: “This is the closest an American artist has come to making a Shiina Ringo album.” If Renaissance felt symphonic, Cowboy Carter is operatic. (It helps that Beyonce quotes Tomasso Giordani on “Daughter.”) I’m not even going to get into whether this album is “country” — country is far too restrictive a genre to encompass the ambition on this album. To make a comparison only long-time readers might understand, Cowboy Carter operates on the level of Shousou Strip.
Shiina Ringo, Hojoya
It does seem Shiina has been releasing albums just to compile the last half dozen of singles, but Hojoya is something different. Perhaps borrowing from Beyoncé, Shiina announced the album just days before its release. Half the tracks feature collaborations with female singers, and Shiina sounds positively energized by it.
Nocchi from Perfume sounds unrecognizable without Nakata Yasutaka drowning her voice in effects, but she more than holds her own on “Ui K.O. Kachi.” Ai’s husky voice makes for a great contrast with Shiina on “Shuusha no Koushin.”
Not since Tokyo Jihen’s Sports has a Shiina Ringo album sounded so focused. It’s her best writing in years.
Haim, Women in Music, Pt. III
If I had to judge a band by their press photos, I would have pegged Haim as being an indie folk outfit. So I was surprised to hear they’re way more pop.
La Bouche, Sweet Dreams
Sweet Dreams was a huge hit in my last years of college, but I was too busy trying to get imports of John Zorn’s Masada to pay attention. The title track is indeed a banger, but the rest of the album is no slouch.
Yellow Magic Orchestra, Naughty Boys
This album is my first encounter with Yellow Magic Orchestra. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long.
Brian Fennell, Safety Songs
Before there was SYML or Barcelona, there was an album with a fresh-faced Brian Fennell going by his own name. Safety Songs is essentially a proto-Barcelona album. Even at this early stage, Fennell’s writing chops already feel well-honed.
This album was definitely rushed to capitalize on the Spice Girls’ fame, so you wouldn’t be faulted for perceiving it as Spice the Sequel. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Deluxe Edition), Nov. 25
For a 2002 album, Yoshimi definitely deserved its spot on critics’ year-end lists, but next to The Soft Bulletin, it didn’t quite satisfy the same itch.
Sigur Rós, () (Deluxe Edition), Nov. 25
I’m getting this deluxe edition because I’m a fan of the band, but I don’t really like this album.
Shiina Ringo, Hyakuyaku no Cho, Nov. 30
We’ve already had a tribute album, so let’s see what a remix album yields.
Impossible Princess was never released in the US, but at least you can stream it now. For its 25th anniversary, the album gets a vinyl reissue. I’m hoping it’s not going to be as difficult to acquire as Fever vinyl reissues.
Death Cab for Cutie, The Photo Album (Deluxe Edition), Oct. 28
Death Cab for Cutie already released this deluxe edition digitally, and the vinyl edition is essentially the only physical version of this reissue. As a compact disc devotee, I’m disappointed, but if the enclosed download code gives me access to the Bandcamp FLAC files, I can get over it.
Duran Duran, Hammersmith Live ’82, Nov. 25 Marshall Crenshaw, Marshall Crenshaw (Deluxe Edition), Nov. 25 The Dead Milkmen, Metaphysical Graffiti, Nov. 25
For the past few years, Record Store Day Black Friday hasn’t been as financially ruinous as the main spring event, but this year, I’ll be braving the crowds for Duran Duran, Marshall Crenshaw and the Dead Milkmen.
Information Society, Peace and Love (Anniversary Edition), Dec. 2
I remember learning about the release date of this album back in 1992 and thought there would be a big push to promote it. Then I forgot about it. Evidently, so did Tommy Boy. It’s a rather underrated album.
Soundtrack, BLEACH, Dec. 14
Yes, I subscribed to Hulu just to catch BLEACH: Thousand Year Blood War. And yeah, the moment this title was announced, I put in a pre-order.
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