Usual stuff this year with a forensically collated spreadsheet of a long list of more than 60 albums released in the year that I have spent time with and appreciated, then whittled down to a 'manageable' short list of 30.
Great intentions of writing a whole load of stuff around each album on the short list and then realised its pretty much the end of the year and this stuff takes more than a few minutes to put together so its time to get the finger oot!
So, its a list but there's not too much writing around each album but then again no-one reads it anyway!
As before, for those that haven’t heard some of the albums here, I’ve tried to link to Spotify (other streaming services are available) to make discovery easier. If you do like what you hear, please consider going to the Bandcamp link (or a record shop), where available, and buying the material in some form.
So, the list …
30: deathcrash | “Less”
A rapid follow up to 2022’s debut “Return", “Less” is a slightly more polished and accessible variation on a complex theme that on first listens sound sparse and unstructured but grows in time therefore demanding repeat listens.
“Come on Die Young” era Mogwai is a lazy comparaison but one that may help encourage the uninitiated to give this (and its predecessor) a go.
29: Vyva Melinkolya | “Unbecoming”
I only became aware of Vyva Melinkolya aka Angel Diaz from her collaboration with Madeline Johnston’s Midwife on “Orbweaving” also released in 2023.
A track from this release was included in a Spotify ‘Release Radar’ playlist in November and led to discovery of this ‘dronegaze’ belter that grows with every listen.
28: Truth Club | “Running From the Chase”
I have no idea where this came from ... well I do ... I ‘found’ a track from it on a Spotify ‘daylist’ playlist (that was bizarrely titled ‘Circle Shoegaze Friday Evening’) that encouraged me to check out the album.
I described it as Pavement meets Car Seat Headrest on a WhatsApp chat and no-one argued so I’m sticking with that.
27: Daughter | “Stereo Mind Game”
The third studio album from Elena Tonra & co and the first since 2016 with the gap being filled with side projects, game soundtracks etc.
Daughter are often classified as indie-folk but I don’t think this does the spectrum of their song writing and production justice ... elements of post-rock, electronic and other genres are simply a palette that supports beautiful song structures and vocals.
26: Meursault | “Meursault”
Edinburgh’s Neil Pennycook & co have been around since 2006 with this being their 8th or 9th release (depending if you count mini-albums or digital only) of consistently high quality and deeply personal Scots indie-folk stories in a style similar to relative contemporaries Withered Hand, Frightened Rabbit, King Creosote etc.
Opening track ‘Rats In The Corn’, while being one of the strongest here, doesn’t signpost the stripped back angst to follow.
Another challenging but rewarding journey.
25: Ropes Inside a Hole | “A Man and His Nature”
24: Grandbrothers | “Late Reflections”
Fourth album from the German - Swiss duo continues the development of their modern classical / jazz / post-rock sound.
This takes quite a while to build on first listen but gets there nicely and delivers a sound that is reminiscent of the recent direction of their close peers GoGo Penguin.
23: Withered Hand | “How to Love”
Edinburgh based Dan Wilson has been releasing music as Withered Hand since 2008, “How to Love” being only the third full album release in that time.
Each of the three releases has been a development from solo songwriter to this bigger scale offering that probably stands as the best work amongst a career of largely flawless output.
22: Queens of the Stone Age | “In Times New Roman”
A band that I have always been aware of and appreciated but never really been a fan ... my 14 year old started listening to them a year or so ago that encouraged me to spend some time with the new record.
Saw them live in November at Glasgow’s Hydro and was blown away by the effortless swagger of a super tight live band.
21: Explosions in the Sky | “End”
Most people that have dabbled in the post-rock genre over the years will have been exposed to Texas’ Explosions in the Sky at some point and will no doubt have releases such as 2001’s “Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever” or 2003’s “The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place” in their ‘best examples of the genre’ lists.
Initial listens to “End” hints at something less ‘epic’ than the early career output but ultimately hangs together to provide one of the most consistent albums in their discography.
20: abriction | “Interstates”
Another ‘discovery’ via Spotify’s playlists (I thinks this was from a ‘Discover Weekly’, abriction is the solo project American vocalist and producer, Meredith Salvatori who delivers a challenging but outstanding blend of shoegaze, dream-pop & metal core (not often witnessed together to be fair).
Just imagine if Deafheaven’s style shift on “Infinite Granite” hadn’t been quite so extreme, this is possibly what some of it could have sounded like.
Some marathon length tracks to navigate but they mostly work, the 18 minutes of ‘Rose Gold’ in particular.
19: Yves Tumor | “Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)”
The fifth release of American Sean Lee Bowie aka Yves Tumor is the first one that I was aware of and, admittedly, still the only one I have heard.
A cacophony of art-rock experimentation of which Pitchfork’s review (an 8.4 for the record) included the line “From the sound of it, they’re pursuing an ecstatic fusion of alt-rock and R&B, seeking the mysterious nexus where Loveless meets Purple Rain” ... there ye are, enough said!
18: Slowdive | “everything is alive
When iconic bands of yore get back together after a lengthy hiatus it can be a gamble. The stakes are raised when they have the temerity to record new music despite the fanbase just wanting to hear the classics ... when the new stuff largely trumps the previous responses this is a rare thing indeed.
Arguably, this is what Shoegaze pioneers Slowdive did when they returned with a self titled album in 2017, over 20 years after their previous release (22 since the seminal “Souvlaki”).
It appeared it was a brief return until this year when they had the utter cheek to release something that may just have eclipsed their back catalogue.
A perfect example of when the new stuff can be the best stuff.
17: Sébastien Guérive | “Obscure Clarity”
The follow up to 2020’s debut “Omega Point” maintains the quality and general sound of the French composer and sound engineer.
While “Obscure Clarity” doesn't have the clear high points of its predecessor, it is a more consistent collection of electronic / progressive / post-rock compositions that demands critical listening on decent quality audio equipment to fully appreciate.
16: Wednesday | “Rat Saw God”
I first heard North Carolina’s Wednesday around the release of 2020’s “I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone” and was blown away by alt-country / shoegaze / post-punk crossover and solid song writing.
“Rat Saw God” ratchets up the noise rock element to ‘11’ in places and the pain in Karly Hartzman’s vocals is regularly front and centre of the mix.
15: The National | “Laugh Track”
Not the only example this year of a band releasing multiple albums in the same year (more to come later), with this so called companion release to April’s “First Two Pages of Frankenstein” which, while welcomed after a 4 year gap since 2019’s “I Am Easy to Find” was ultimately disappointing.
September’s “Laugh Track”, while way short of the band’s best (that’s “Boxer” by a mile by the way) was in my view a decent National album which makes it better than most other band’s albums!
14: Protomartyr | “Formal Growth in the Desert”
The sixth album from the Detroit post-punk outfit that have been on my radar since 2015’s “The Agent Intellect” but pretty sure this is the first time I’ve included them on an albums of the year list.
While Joe Casey’s vocal’s won’t work for everyone and there are parallels in the music and vocal style with various bands such as Idles, The Walkmen, LCD Soundsystem and The Fall which should encourage you to give this a go if you haven’t already.
13: Mitski | “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We”
Another one influenced by my 14 year old’s developing music taste exposing me to some new stuff.
I hadn't heard much Mitski stuff until a year or so ago and had only really appreciated the earlier albums “Bury Me at Makeout Creek” and “Puberty 2”.
The song craft in this new album is outstanding and my son & I were lucky enough to see her live earlier this year in Edinburgh on one of her stripped back acoustic gigs ... we’re going back to Edinburgh in 2024 to see her again with a full band.
12: Silver Moth | “Black Bay”
A collection of various musicians including Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite and his wife Elizabeth Elektra, Silver Moth’s “Black Bay” is an ambitious, if dark, project that leans heavily on the post-rock genre but has elements that go well beyond the traditional confines of that tag, particularly with the polished and ethereal vocals interspersed throughout.
More Godspeed You! Black Emperor than Mogwai, and not quite as good as either, but a release that stands up against many of the best examples in this space.
If only Stuart had narrated “Gaelic Psalms” ... if only.
11: The Wedding Present | “24 Songs”
In 1992, The Wedding Present released a 7” single each month (I still have them all in a box in the loft somewhere) and released them in album form (sequentially sequenced) over two volumes in ‘92 & ‘93.
In 2022 (can’t believe there’s a 30 year gap here and its making me feel ancient) they repeated the model by releasing (physically & digitally) 2 tracks a month.
In 2023 they released all of the singles on CD and in a vinyl box set adding in a few bonus tracks under the title “24 Songs”.
While the 1992 output included a few classic Wedding Present tracks, it was never considered to be amongst their best stuff ... “24 Songs” on the other hand definitely includes some of the best output David Gedge has ever written.
Had this not been a collection of singles & ‘b-sides’ and just included the best 10 to 12 tracks it would have been up there as one of the best Wedding Present albums ... thats’s high praise and a big deal ... get it checked out!
10: McLarnan | “Beneath Passing Shadows of Clouds”
Having ‘discovered’ Aaron McLarnan’s blend of ambient / electronic / post-rock from various tracks dropped into my Spotify ‘Discover weekly’ & Release radar’ playlists during early 2023, “Beneath Passing Shadows of Clouds” was the first full album release of his I was exposed to.
This takes a few tracks to develop and a few full listens to fully appreciate but its well worth the effort and the cost that buying his whole back catalog on Bandcamp ... which I did!
9: Craven Faults | “Standers”
6 tracks across 70 minutes of mostly repetitive building analogue rhythmic loops can’t possibly work can it?
In a post covid, hybrid working environment where focus and concentration is regularly required, this on headphones is the answer to many things ... it works, it just does!
8: The Hives | “The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons”
I thought these guys were long gone ... the only album of theirs I had previously was the compilation “Your New Favourite Band” from 2001 and they hadn’t been on my radar since.
Then they walked on stage at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park in June ‘23 as the main support for Arctic Monkeys and delivered a blistering set of a few of the oldies but several new bangers.
Fast forward to August and the release of the new album that, in around 30 minutes, manages to deliver 12 tracks that never let up on the pace and quality.
It demands to be listed to in one go (its only half an hour after all) to appreciate just how consistent this is ... brilliant!
7: Bersarin Quartett | “Systeme”
A late contender for my list this year as it was only released in December but one I’d been looking forward to since being introduced to the solo project of German composer Thomas Bückeras as a ‘someone you might like” recommendation given my obsession with Ben Chatwin, Jason Van Wyk etc ... these recommendations algorithms really work!
Stylistically this initially appears to be all over the place with elements of ambient, electronic, neo-classical etc that come together to deliver a a stunning sonic journey ... decent headphones / speakers a must!
6: Paws | “Paws”
Another ‘return after hiatus’ album that doesn’t disappoint ... their first as a band since 2019 with the gap being filled with front man Phillip Jon Taylor’s solo material.
This is defiantly an album that demands repeat & complete listens to fully appreciate ... its yer archetypal ‘grower’.
I was lucky enough to see them play much of this live at The Tunnels in Aberdeen in early December and took my 14 year old to his smallest gig yet where he got the chance to meet Phillip and chat about Queens of the Stone Age!
5: Sigur Ros | “ATTA”
The first album in almost 10 years from the Icelandic orchestral post-rock masters delivers a calmer, simpler, more linear structure than the early ‘rise & fall’ releases and the ‘brasher’ production of 2013’s “Kveikur”.
Initial listens may suggest a relatively benign offering but repeat exposure to the subtleties and layering of ATTA’s complex production opens up what turns out to be one of their strongest releases.
Who needs big drum crescendos anyway?
4: Young Fathers | “Heavy Heavy”
Like many, I first heard of Young Fathers via their 2014 Mercury Music prize win for their debut “Dead”.
My real introduction came, also in 2014, when I saw them live as part of the East End Social ‘festival’ in Glasgow’s Richmond Park (one of the best one stage line ups you can imagine by the way). Since that day, my appreciation of the output of the band has grown with every release.
While ”Heavy Heavy” isn’t the most instant or accessible of their albums, it is still an outstanding collection of rhythmic social commentary that deserves to be appreciated.
3: There Will Be Fireworks | “Summer Moon”
Yet another ‘first album in 10 years’ and likely closing the door on a practically perfect trilogy that started with the eponymous debut in 2009, followed by 2013’s “The Dark Dark Bright”, “Summer Moon was probably the biggest surprise of 2023 ... they had been teasing recording sessions since the first Covid lock down but a new album? seriously?
They did throw us a bone with a vinyl re-issue of “The Dark Dark Bright” in 2023 as well to be fair.
While this is clearly a TWBF record, the structures, the lyricism, the autobiographical story telling all here, it is a much more mature and tempered offering than its predecessors but pretty much to be expected ... the guys have grown up, got married, had kids and had to contend with remote collaboration and intermittent recording sessions over a long, long period.
Notwithstanding this, Summer Moon is a great record and a fitting end to a stunning trilogy.
They have never confirmed this is the end but I think we all hoping for some gigs and a vinyl reissue of the debut before we’ll be demanding any more new stuff.
2: Bar Italia | “Tracey Denim”
Another band that released two albums in 2024 with only one making this list.
I hadn’t heard anything from this London trio until the early ‘singles’ from “Tracey Denim” started to appear on my Spotify “Release Radar” playlist and were subject to some chat on the WhatsApp group a few of us use to share new stuff.
Opening track “guard” is reminiscent of a polished Nico (the one of Velvet Underground & Nico to be clear) and doesn’t represent the collection of lo-fi / shoegaze / slowcore ‘bangers’ to follow.
This won’t be for everyone but will tick many boxes for some.
The second album released later in the year “The Twits” also has some superb tracks but, for me, is no where near as consistent as “Tracey Denim” that manages to sound retro and fresh at the same time.
1: The Murder Capital | “Gigi's Recovery”
As far back as January and only a week after its release I wrote this about "Gigi’s Recovery" on the album of the year (AOTY) site:
“I've held off rating this for a week post release as I thought it would be a 'grower' after the first few listens ... I was right!
Not going to add all 80's alternative and New York 2000's references as they have all been said & written ... Mostly fairly and accurately!
This is though, utterly brilliant and it keeps growing even after (what last.fm tells me is) 20+ full listens (all non-stop).
... my earliest shout for album of the year ever!”
I stand by the comments and the shout for album of the year.
The Notable Mentions
This isn’t just all the other albums I’ve heard this year (there are many more), these are the ones that could, with a change of wind direction, easily have been on my list above and deserve being checked out if you have the time.
So, in alphabetical order …
- +++ (Crosses) “Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.”
- bar italia - “The Twits”
- bdrmm - “I Don't Know”
- Blur - “The Ballad of Darren”
- boygenius - “the record”
- Caterina Barbieri - “Myuthafoo”
- Cherry Glazerr - “I Don't Want You Anymore”
- Cloth - “Secret Measure”
- Constant Smiles - “Kenneth Anger”
- Eartheater - “Powders”
- Follakzoid - “V”
- GoGo Penguin - “Everything is Going to Be OK”
- Grian Chatten - “Chaos for the Fly”
- Hammock - “Love in the Void”
- Hotline TNT - “ Cartwheel”
- James Holden - “Imagine This is a High Dimensional Space of all Possibilities”
- Lanterns on the Lake - “Versions of Us”
- Lichen Slow - “Rest Assured”
- Lost Under Heaven - “Something is Announced by your Life!”
- Midwife - “Orbweaving”
- Model/Actriz - “Dogsbody”
- Molly - “Picturesque”
- Nation of Language - “Strange Disciple”
- Parannoul - “After the Magic”
- Reinherdt Buhr - “Solace”
- Shame - “Food for Worms”
- Sqürl - “Silver Haze”
- Swans - “The Beggar”
- Teenage Fanclub - “Nothing Lasts Forever”
- The Armed - “Perfect Saviours”
- The Black Dog - “My Brutal Life”
- The National - “First Two Pages of Frankenstein”
- The Rural Alberta Advantage - “The Rise and the Fall”
- Warmth - “Collider”
- Warmth - “Morning Ghost”
- Wu-Lu - “Loggerhead”
