2024 Music Favs!

Nov 24, 2024

Playlist of all songs—minus Cindy Lee and Torus because their albums aren’t on streaming services—embedded below here!

YouTube playlist including every artist here!

Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee (Self-Released / Superior Viaduct / W.25TH)

Diamond Jubilee has been my AOTY since I heard the opening notes of its title track back at the end of March. I simply couldn’t believe that the album actually existed and that it could be as good as it immediately appeared to be and was. I was excited to see it finally getting a physical release via Superior Viaduct/W.25TH. (Initial impressions here!)

The Cure - Songs of a Lost World (Fiction / Lost / Polydor / Universal / Capitol)

One thing that I regret not noting about Songs of a Lost World in my piece about it earlier this month was how well it seemed to align with lots of peoples’ feelings around the the American election. As I said to a friend, “New Cure album is extremely declensionist American election vibes.” Brilliant records sometimes anticipate or channel ambient moods like that. It reminds me of Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s idea of what he calls the “Universal Broadcast System”: artists as radio frequency receivers who just open themselves up to or make themselves available to messages, kind of like the weather. A brilliant late style album from Robert Smith.

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - Woodland (Acony)

Whenever Gillian Welch & David Rawlings decide to grace us with new music, it is unequivocal cause for celebration. The majestic Woodland, as I wrote about in a piece back in August, is a record that subtly expands their songwriting partnership and sound. I’m really sad to not be able to catch them on their current tour behind the album. Check out their wonderful recent World Cafe appearance linked above where they play half of it!

MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks (ANTI-)

Was this the indie rock album of the year? Probably! Maybe we’ve pushed through the mini-backlash that MJ getting a lot of press in early September provoked, and we can collectively acknowledge it now. He really threaded the needle on this album, combining a wry, writerly perspective—hey, if your lyrics can be memeified, that means they’re distinctive, right?—with sturdy songwriting, and (tasteful) guitar heroics. (Bonus points for covering one of my favourite songs ever (Iris DeMent’s “My Life”) in a SiriusXM live session promoting the record.) (More Manning Fireworks thoughts here!)

Laughing - Because It’s True (Celluloid Lunch / Meritorio)

I think my favourite show of 2024 was getting to see Laughing outside at a brewery during Sled Island shortly before the release of their debut record. Hearing many of Because It’s True’s songs live for the first time was a thrilling experience. The day was idyllic, sunny, and leisurely. I had biked over with my partner and we stood up front. There was one very sunburned, middle-aged man furiously dancing in the very front row, doing high-kicks and losing his mind. I’m not sure if he knew of the band heading into the show, but he was clearly loving it. Laughing is a populist band in that way, and their record from this year is an instant classic. (I wrote about Because It’s True and its power pop lineage back in July for this newsletter.)

Haley Heynderickx - Seed of a Seed (Mama Bird)

I was talking to my partner about this album’s appeal recently, and I landed on the idea that it is a classic folk album in a very particular vein. It reminds me of a Bert Jansch LP in terms of how considered the songwriting is, and also how understatedly shreddy Heynderickx’s guitar playing is. Seed of a Seed arrives six years after Heynderickx’s debut record, and you can tell that she took her time with these songs, because each one feels so well-crafted. I basically love them all, but a few of my favourites would be “Foxglove,” “Mouth of a Flower,” “Ayan’s Song,” and the gorgeous closer, “Swoop.”

Nap Eyes - The Neon Gate (Paradise of Bachelors)

This record from Nap Eyes really surprised me this year. Previously, I’d been more of an “admirer” than a “fan,” but The Neon Gate completely won me over. It’s so idiosyncratic, both sonically and lyrically. Nigel Chapman’s strange accent, the musical adaptations of Yeats and Pushkin (alongside other songs that reference Wave Race 64 lol), Brad Loughead’s mind-expanding guitar work on tracks like “Tangent Dissolve.” (Shoutout to bassist Josh Salter who is appearing on my list twice this year for both this album and his band Laughing! One of the active GOATs of Canadian indie rawk.)

22° Halo - Lily of the Valley (Tiny Library)

This record has only been out since November 8, and Will Kennedy’s new project has already secured a place on my year-end list. Lily of the Valley is an astounding album of “mid-fi” guitar miniatures about caring for one’s partner during a battle with cancer. Sonically reminiscent of The Durutti Column, Chris Cohen, and Yo La Tengo, Kennedy’s songs are, at times: jovial, nostalgic, devastated, and overcome with love. Easily one of 2024’s best. Take in the entire 29-minute record in one sitting for the full effect of Kennedy’s kaleidoscopic vision of caring for someone that you love deeply.

Mustafa - Dunya (Jagjaguwar)

Mustafa Ahmed’s Dunya is a fascinating portrait of a young artist navigating faith, mortality, kinship, and friendship across a set of songs that blur the line between folk, electronic, hip hop, and “world” musics. (More thoughts on this beautiful album here.)

Torus - Summer of Love (BUS Editions)

Summer of Love is a “a chill-out megamix” containing Torus’ gorgeous edits of tracks like “Such Great Heights,” “Control,” and “Fast Car,” amongst others. Hearing all these songs recontextualized according to Torus’ vision on this record is thrilling. I would highly recommend listening using the YouTube above or the fully mixed 128 kbps file available on the BUS Editions site for download. There’s a great interview with Torus about the project and DJing in general in NERO here.

Honourable Mention:

Joel on Records