All right. Time to start giving some 2024 albums some love.
Kamasi Washington's Fearless Movement, the most adventurous and stylistically sprawling album of his career, and Sum 41's excellent double-album Heaven :x: Hell (one half crazy infectious punk-pop, the other half metal) lead the latest batch of seventeen updates to our best of 2024 list.
And keep checking back for more, McQ's Best Of will be updating these best of 2024 album rankings throughout 2024 and 2025, as well as updating which albums are in the listening pool below.
Highest Recommends
1. Tiger's Blood - Waxahatchee
2. Brat - Charlie XCX
3. Letter To Self - Sprints
4. Cowboy Carter - Beyonce
5. Prelude To Ecstasy - The Last Dinner Party
6. Diamond Jubilee - Cindy Lee
Strong Recommends
7. The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray For The Riff Raff
8. Postindustrial Hometown Blues - BIG SPECIAL
9. I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
10. Poetry - Dehd
11. Passage Du Desir - Johnny Blue Skies (aka Sturgil Simpson)
12. Wild God - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
13. Short n' Sweet - Sabrina Carpenter
14. Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
15. Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
16. CHROMAKOPIA - Tyler, The Creator
17. Songs Of A Lost World - The Cure
18. Hit Me Hard And Soft - Billie Eilish
19. Mahashmashana - Father John Misty
20. People Who Aren't There Anymore - Future Islands
Solid Recommends
21. Romance - Fontaines D.C.
22. All Born Screaming - St. Vincent
23. No Name - Jack White
24. Manning Fireworks - MJ Lenderman
25. What Now - Brittany Howard
26. Fearless Movement - Kamasi Washington
27. Alligator Bites Never Heal - Doechii
28. lechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
29. The New Sound - Geordie Green
30. Heaven :x: Hell - Sum 41
31. Redd Kross - Redd Kross
32. My Light, My Destroyer - Cassandra Jenkins
33. I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair - Christopher Owens
34. Cartoon Darkness - Amyl and The Sniffers
36. Where's My Utopia - Yard Act
37. Rack - The Jesus Lizard
38. Imaginal Disk - Magdalena Bay
39. NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
40. Moon Mirror - Nada Surf
41. Big Sigh - Marika Hackman
42. She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She - Chelsea Wolfe
43. GNX - Kendrick Lamar
44. Here In The Pitch - Jessica Pratt
45. Absolute Elsewhere - Blood Incantation
46. All Hell - Los Campesinos
47. Eternal Sunshine - Ariana Grande
48. Audio Vertigo - Elbow
49. Night Reign - Arooj Aftab
50. The Tortured Poets Department - Taylor Swift
51. Goat - s/t
52. Rome - The National
53. Why Don't You Smile Now - Lou Reed
54. Dark Matter - Pearl Jam
55. The Bed I Made - The Softies
56. Phasor - Helado Negro
57. Playing Favorites - Sheer Mag
58. Small Changes - Michael Kiwanuka
59. Interplay - Ride
60. My Method Actor - Nulufer Tanya
61. Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker
62. Harm's Way - Ducks Ltd.
63. Acadia - Yasmin Williams
64. Cascade - Floating Points
65. Charm - Clairo
66. Roll With Me - Duke Robillard
67. This Is How Tomorrow Moves - Beabadoobee
68. Cutouts - The Smile
69. Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free - Bonny Light Horseman
70. Love In Constant Spectacle - Jane Weaver
71. Live Drugs Again - The War On Drugs
72. Night Palace - Mount Eerie
73. Woodland - Gillian Welch
74. WOOF. - Fat Dog
75. This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
76. Real Power - Gossip
Mild Recommends
77. Glasgow Eyes - The Jesus And The Mary Chain
78. Little Rope - Sleater-Kinney
79. Funeral For Justice - Mdou Moctar
80. White Roses, My God - Alan Sparhawks
81. Wall Of Eyes - The Smile
82. Radical Optimism - Dua Lipa
83. 3+5 - Melt-Banana
84. Lives Outgrown - Beth Gibbons
85. In Waves - Jamie Xx
86. Untame The Tiger - Mary Timony
87. The Power Of The Heart: A Tribute To Lou Reed - Various Artists
88. The Collective - Kim Gordon
89. EELS - Being Dead
90. If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants
2024 Albums In The Pool (# listens in/• strong early impressions)
3AM (LA LA LA) (1) - Confidence Man
As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again (2) - The Decemberists
Big Ideas (2) - Remi Wolf
Bite Down (1•) - Rosali
Blue Lips (1•) - Schoolboy Q
Brat and it's completely different but also still brat (1) - Charli XCX
Britpop (1) - A.G. Cook
Cool World (1) - Chat Pile
Endlessness (1) - Nala Sinephro
Humble As the Sun (1) - Bob Vylan
I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU (1) - JPEGMAFIA
JPEG RAW (2) - Gary Clark Jr.
Look To The East, Look To The West (1) - Camera Obscura
Loss Of Life (1) - MGMT
Nobody Loves You More (1) - Kim Deal
Orquideas (2) - Kali Uchis
Patterns In Repeat (1) - Laura Marling
Poptical Illusion (1) - John Cale
Pomp And Circumstance (1) - Lunch Box
Proxy Music (1) - Linda Thompson
Sentir Que No Saves (1•) - Mabe Fratti
Sniff More Gritty (1) - Du Blonde
Tangk (2) - Idles
Ten Fold (2) - Yaya Bey
The Art Of The Lie (1) - John Grant
The Cleansing (1) - Peter Perrett
The Forest Is The Path (2) - Snow Patrol
The Thief Next To Jesus (1) - Ka
Two Stars & The Dream Police (1) - Mk.gee
Up On Gravity Hill (1) - Metz
You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To (1) - Knocked Loose
Last Updated 07.13.24
Previous Updates
08/27/24 - Dublin punk quartet Sprints blitzkrieg of a debut Letter to Self, the most cathartically uplifting (and hook-filled) noise rock album I've heard in ages and Future Islands sometimes non-distinct but likable and always listenable latest People Who Aren't There Anymore are the latest addition to our 2024 rankings.
09.02.24 - Two new additions to our 2024 rankings. The less sophisticated but way more fun of the two is the unexpected collaboration between Oasis's Liam Gallagher & Stone Roses master guitarist John Squire. It's nothing particular original or inspiring on a songwriting/lyrical front, but Gallagher's vocals are strong and it's always a pleasure to hear the far to rarely active Squire, one of the very best guitarists rock and roll has produced since 1985, cut loose.
09.02.24 - Two new additions to our 2024 rankings. The less sophisticated but way more fun of the two is the unexpected collaboration between Oasis's Liam Gallagher & Stone Roses master guitarist John Squire. It's nothing particular original or inspiring on a songwriting/lyrical front, but Gallagher's vocals are strong and it's always a pleasure to hear the far to rarely active Squire, one of the very best guitarists rock and roll has produced since 1985, cut loose.
Far more cerebral but ultimately was less engaging is Radiohead offshoot the Smile's Wall Of Eyes. The band is definitely honing in on a unique vibe that values texture above all else, but unfortunately, after the lovely ambient double hit of the title track and the even better Teleharmonic, there's little else on the album beyond maybe penultimate track Bending Hectic that interests me. Not one I will be eagerly going back to.
As far as 2024 titles recently added to the listening pool, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Wild God and Fontaines D.C.'s Romance are the most significant. Both contain a pair of songs that really excite me, but overall, on first impression, neither album strike's me as compelling as their previous efforts. Actually surprised both are sitting as high as they are right now in the Album of the Year/Metacritic rankings, because neither feels truly exceptional. But several listens to go on each, this opinion could definitely change.
On the other hand, on first listen Nadine Shah's Filthy Underneath sounds positively badass in a PJ Harvey gone clubbing kind of way.
10.19.24 - Five new additions to our year-end rankings with this 10.19 update. Beyonce's Cowboy Carter is the best of the bunch, and one of our favorites of the year. It may not be the Queen Bee's best album, but in many was it's her most interesting. A deep dive into black country influences and genre-free sonic design, it's as unpredictable as anything she has done, and fantastically produced. More of a sprawling White Album than an a tight Revolver, it does have lesser patches, but the dynamic sense of adventure is more than worth the trade.
Also excellent is post-punk quartet Mannequin Pussy's I Got Heaven, by far their most nuanced and restrained album - the shoegaze-dominated first half is to die for.
Two appealing and accomplished but not knock your socks off good albums would be Brittany Howard's eclectic, Prince-like latest What Now and Choral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones latest solo release of restrained chamber pop lechyd-Da.
Elbow's latest Audio Vertigo is a perfectly solid effort, but compared to the bulk of the band's discography, definitely middle of the pack. Couple really nifty tracks though, and livelier than other recent efforts.
And the only semi-disappointment of the bunch, Sleater-Kinney's Little Rope, which finds the band returning to the hard-hitting psychedelic sound of The Woods and No Cities To Love, but not nailing the late-60s instrumental magic this time out (though the lyrical effort is quite strong).
And speaking of psychedelia - seriously enjoying portions of Goat's self-titled latest. It's a jam.
11.10.24 We've got two new additions to our year-end rankings. First, the much better of the two, Billie Eilish's intense, at times fun, at times emotionally naked Hit Me Hard And Soft. Three our four exceptional songs on this release.
Much less exciting (even though it's getting monster reviews) is Niger guitarist Mdou Moctar's Funeral For Justice. For me the album is a classic case of the last album was great, so we're just gonna call this one great, too. It's not. The guy's a whale of a guitarist, and there's definitely some choice jams (Imouhar is my personal fav. But the vocals are the probably the least engaging of any Saharan blues album I've heard over the last ten/fifteen years, just no great melodies to grab onto, so just a mild recommend from me.
And creeping into the listening pool, The Cure's compelling, Distigration-ish Songs Of A Lost World (can't imagine closer Endsong not making my best of mix in may), Alan Sparhawk's bizarre White Roses, My God (I have no idea what I think of this one yet), and new releases from Confidence Man, Laura Marling, and cellist Mabe Franti.
03.05.25 - Waxahatchee's super grower Tiger's Blood takes over our 2024 top spot and leads nine new additions to our 2024 rankings. Besure to Tiger's Blood it multiple listens: an album that really sinks its claws in. Also added to our Highest Recommends list, Cindy Lee's Diamond Jubilee, possibly the best true low-fi recording in a decade, though Mount Eerie's Night Palace has offered up some serious competition.
On top of that several fine additions to the top of our solid recommends list, including Fontaine's D.C.'s more arena-friendly Romance, St. Vincent's reliably excellent and Bowie-esque All Born Screaming, Jack White's lively, hard rocking No Name, and MJ Lenderman's excursion into Neil Youngish garage-folk Manning Fireworks.
04.01.25 - Two excellent additions to our 2024 rankings, Nadine Shah's consistently engrossing Filthy Underneath, arguably the moody art-rocker's best album to date, and The Cure's epic return to form, Songs Of A Lost World, which finds the band returning to the slow, lugubrious textures of their '89 classic Distegration to tackle the ennui, doubt, and and sense of impermanence that comes with advancing age.
05.30.25 - Tyler, The Creator's very creative CHROMAKOPIA leads our latest batch of 3 additions to our rankings.
06.25.25 - Black Midi frontman Geordie Greep's 2024 solo effort The New Sound, one of the year's wildest and weirdest releases, leads our latest batch of fourteen additions to our rankings, which also includes Christopher Owen's thoughtful solo outing I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair, Nada Surf's delightful Moon Mirror, Kendrick Lamar's GNX, Goat's reliable trancy and jammy self-titled 2024 release, and a pair of Lou Reed retrospectives, one, Why Don't You Smile Now a wonderful compilation of his formative efforts while a staff-songwriter for Pickwick Records, the other, The Power Of The Heart: A Tribute To Lou Reed, a decent collection of covers.
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