AOTY
On principle, I’m not sure what an “album of the year” is. I’m sure there’s an argument for it historiographically that could be decided and debated by those born much further in the future, a title given to a record that perfectly encapsulates “the moment.” Although “the moment” would of course, I suppose, have boundaries. I’m not sure what “the moment,” or “the year,” or “album” even, is really supposed to mean. That being said, we are opinionated and we have our favorites.
Pag
#1 unequivocally: Mannequin Pussy, I Got Heaven (Epitaph)
This record makes me too emotional to ‘rationally’ discuss it but the songs are spectacular in both form and content. MP put on the best live show I have seen this year and probably top 3 I have seen all time. I sobbed and screamed the whole time. I mean: “I’m on an endless march to nothingness / With only breath inside my chest / And the promise of a life / That you deserve, that you thought best / I’m stuck inside my loneliness / I’m stuck inside my grief / I wish i could have been there / To save you from the reach / I am spiteful like a god / Seek a vengeance like the rest / For what they did to you / I will never lay to rest / It’s raw and unrelenting / It is absolute regression / It is vileness wrapped up / And disguised as happy endings”
#2 also unequivocally: Nala Sinephro, Endlessness (Warp Records)
Every morning I wake up and I make espresso and I put on Nala Sinephro and I have been doing this for years (since Space 1.8 came out in 2021) and I’m so happy to continue to do this forever. She is not only a genius but she quiets the head that is mine that is spinning.
You may say - Pag - how could you place these two records together? And I will simply say - they are doing the same thing to me (micro) and for the world (macro) and I will leave it at that. There is truth there, for whatever that is worth these days.
Honorable mentions: My Method Actor - Nilüfer Yanya (Ninja Tune), Emita Ox - Hello Mary (Frenchkiss), empathogen - WILLOW (Three Six Zero & Gamma), Dust-Free Home - Rat Palace (Candlepin), II - Uncle Skunk (Cropsey Records)
Claire
wonder how you feel……
I didn’t really listen to music this year (the rest of partygirl knows this), but the title track/first single of FKA twigs’ upcoming album is an exception.
admittedly, I didn’t love the song on first listen. I think I was caught off guard by its relative subtlety compared to the promotional materials. I thought it was good, but not super compelling.
maybe a week after the release, though, I saw a tiktok of someone standing and staring at the wall, unmoving, with Eusexua playing in the background. suddenly it clicked for me. the haunting techno beat of Eusexua isn’t just limited to the club (which seems to be its intended setting)— it’s also perfect for an interior moment. and I’m so into interiority right now…
do you remember the scene in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night where the vampire is dancing in her bedroom? Eusexua would fit right in here. give it a listen. and if they ask you, say you feel it, but don’t call it love…
Jenna
2024 has been an incredible year for new voices and projects as well as the remembrance of individuals who have shaped music. The loss of jazz giants like Quincy Jones, Benny Golson, Roy Haynes, Lou Donaldson, and David Sanborn have weighed heavily on my listening rotation this year. 2024 was also a year of incredible new projects like Dance, No One’s Watching by the Ezra Collective (one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to), other albums that shifted the year for me were Bright Future, Cowboy Carter Hit Me Hard and Soft, and my teacher and mentor Patricia Brennan’s album Breaking Stretch.
Fran
“just willow album thats the only thing i listened to this year that came out this year that i really liked lol wait jk and live at glasshaus — bilal”
Jonathan
Dead Cowboy - Lightening Bolt
Side Quest - Pearl and the Oysters
Atheist - Christian Lee Hutson
“Oh no I dont care about writing a blurb.”
Jonathan didn’t add this but I will on his behalf - our buddy Vincent Blackshadow’s records have been on in his car all year.