Another year is finishing up and @RockBodElec wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE presents 2024's Favorite Albums Part 3: Top Five.
In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album, either on this site or elsewhere, we will link to that review and just give a quick summation; click on the name/title and you can read our full opinion. RtBE worked with the Glide Team to give input on their Top 20 so you can expect some overlap if you already have seen that list.
Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle, Spotify, or singles for us.
The number ten just works for this, so here is the second part of our top ten, numbers five through one. You can see the back end of our top ten and the honorable mentions albums that just missed our top ten as well.
Like all of our lists or 'best of', these are meant to start conversations, not end them...
The sophomore release from Fantastic Cat wasn't planned, but the four headed band of Anthony D'Amato, Brian Dunne, Don DiLego, and Mike Montali had such fun on their excellent debut that they ran it back and the results are just as good, if not better, this go around. RtBE is a sucker for individual songwriters getting together in Wilbury style, and FC do it really really well. Here's hoping they keep it together for a few more albums.
#4 Brittany Howard - What Now
On their breakthrough, 2019’s Ilana: The Creator, Mdou Moctar used 70s-influenced psych rock mixed with Tuareg guitar music to great effect. The strong follow-up, 2021’s Afrique Victime, cast a wider sonic net with acoustic tracks mixed into their sound. Both were good and made our year end lists when they were released, but now comes Funeral for Justice, their most complete album yet, as it uses righteous protest fury and aggressive punk influences to propel the serpentine guitar majesty and hypnotic grooves. A fiery record that cooks with anger and is a winner all around.
Alynda Segarra has released some dynamite albums over their career, but The Past Is Still Alive is a new highpoint as Segarra looks back on their life with honesty, emotion and story telling that reels the listener in. The production from Brad Cook and team is understatedly great, allowing Segarra to dive into the heartfelt tales. The final three songs, "Dynamo", "The World Is Dangerous" and "Ogallala" are magnificent, putting a pin in an album that speaks to life's ongoing journey. A great record.
Ranking art is silly and nebulous, but also fun. The fact that Kim Gordon released this interesting, disorientating, challenging, artistic, exciting album this year just struck a nerve. Gordon stated, regarding this album:
“On this record, I wanted to express the absolute craziness I feel around me right now. This is a moment when nobody really knows what truth is, when facts don’t necessarily sway people, when everyone has their own side, creating a general sense of paranoia. To soothe, to dream, escape with drugs, TV shows, shopping, the internet, everything is easy, smooth, convenient, branded. It made me want to disrupt, to follow something unknown, maybe even to fail.”
She certainly didn't fail. Having been listening to Gordon since the early 90's it is so great to hear her still evolving and experimenting, taking the best aspects of 2019's No Home Record, and blowing it out via producer Justin Raisen's insane beats. This is how we closed our review:
With the world in various states of burning, The Collective plays perfectly as mental breakdown dance music with Kim Gordon continuing to expertly conjure sounds, cinematic scope, and cutting lines fantastically. Never a relaxing listen, but an artistic success all around.
The Collective, is a perfect soundtrack for such a disorienting time in the world, there is no doubt in my mind that it is the most representative album of 2024.
Full list below:
- Kim Gordon - The Collective
- Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Past Is Still Alive
- Mdou Moctar - Funeral for Justice
- Brittany Howard - What Now
- Fantastic Cat - Now That's What I Call Fantastic Cat
- Amyl and the Sniffers - Cartoon Darkness
- MonoNeon - Quilted Stereo
- The Hard Quartet - S/T
- MJ Lendermen - Manning Fireworks
- Jack White - No Name
Also our Honorable Mentions are worth checking out.
No comments:
Post a Comment