Aww, thanks for coming back; we still have so much more to show you, you know…

Truth be told, not all 1500+ recordings I managed to listen to this year were full-length album shaped, as there were more than a few times when the recommendations came in the forms of short-and-sweet EP’s (most of them anyway), and as much as getting to absorb a full body of work can be, there’s also something to be said about how well certain artists are able to render full concepts within a bite-sized collection of bon mots, of which I have selected ten as being the very best this format has to offer below.

Like An Album, But Smaller :: The Best Extended Plays Of 2024

As this said release type normally befits acts of a dancey nature best, I will start by lauding those of a more electronic inclination first, namely TSVI and aforementioned wunderkind Skee Mask delivering some sterling house; DJ Manny continuing to keep footwork alive and kicking; Abadir teaming up with Nahash to provide a bright blast of Franco-Egyptian disco fusion; and those looking for a more esoteric atmosphere can find plenty of soothing sounds from either Wrecked Lightship’s warm future bass or NTS Radio host Raji Rags’ classical jazz-infused take on electronica with his debut EP.

And if you are looking for something a little less ravey, I can give a more than decent shout for the lush alternative R&B stylings of next-big-thing Nourished By Time; joyously angular art-jazz-rock courtesy of Cambridge six-piece Ugly; soul singer Baby Rose delivering her most beguiling vocal showcase yet with her six-track collaboration with lauded jazz outfit BADBADNOTGOOD; and the trenchant art-pop of Devices, a quartet who knocked their first release out of the park with their playful mix of discofied rock.

Mediterraneo by TSVI :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Escape Reality by DJ Manny :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Congratulations by Raji Rags :: Spotify / Apple

Catching Chickens by Nourished By Time :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Antiposition by Wrecked Lightship :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

ISS010 by Skee Mask :: Tidal / Apple

Twice Around The Sun by Ugly :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Slow Burn by Baby Rose & BADBADNOTGOOD :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Marchadir by Abadir & Nahash :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Husband #1 by Devices :: Spotify / Apple

But let’s get back to the good old merit-by-classification game, shall we?

Popping Off :: The Best Pop Albums Of 2024

Yeah, Pop Music… we love to see, hear, mainly gripe and get annoyed by it, and it certainly was all of those things in our fabled year of 2024; though you would be forgiven it was mainly a year concerned with Taylor Swift solidifying her chart dominance by releasing a new version of her Dead Poets Society album every week, we have already discerned how prolific the year has been with regards to how much product was pedalled within the global sphere of pop culture and thankfully we have more than a handful of releases to rise above the bland champagne beige of what the charts were coated with.

In terms of fresh acts getting themselves plenty of worthy plaudits on the first try, we have the aforementioned Rachel Chinouriri and Fabiana Palladino breaking through with assuredly mercurial debuts; from the more venerable side of the present-day pop canon, indie-pop statesmen Vampire Weekend delivered their most bristlingly lovely album of diasporic folk-pop yet whilst the darkly amused John Grant entered the election year fray with a tome as political and personal as it was two-step funky; and in terms of leftfield synthpop gems, you were really spoiled for choice in 2024, from the house-infused hedonism of Tom Rasmussen, Empress Of and Magdalena Bay‘s releases, to the personal journeys of revelation and heritage from Tatyana and Bolis Pupul, and finally an indisputably epic masterpiece from a certain insouciante who quite rightly captured everyone’s attention and refused to let go.

The Art Of The Lie by John Grant :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Only God Was Above Us by Vampire Weekend :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

What A Devastating Turn Of Events by Rachel Chinouriri :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Fabiana Palladino by Fabiana Palladino :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Live Wire by Tom Rasmussen :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

It’s Over by Tatyana :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

For Your Consideration by Empress Of :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Letter To Yu by Bolis Pupul :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

brat by Charli XCX :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Bluesy, Soulful, Often Rhythmic :: The Best R&B + Soul Albums Of 2024

For fear of further highlighting my status as a Snooty McSnooterton when it comes to popular music, the nebulous nature of present day R&B in terms of popular classification has meant that cataloguing and ranking specific 2024 releases that I feel register as the very best often felt a little precipitous; so expansive is its umbrella in terms of housing myriad sub-genres and movements, that you are likely to get into a lively discussion/frenzied argument as to what constitutes modern R&B as the world should know it today before welcoming any and every iteration into a multi-cultural embrace.

In tribute to this latter mindset/lame attempt at making everyone happy, my cache of favoured releases in this category runs a somewhat cautious gamut; for forward-thinking soul, dance and funk with Africanised fervour there were efforts from both supergroup Les Amazones D’Afrique and Sinkane that sought terrific balance between joy and politique; for the more rough-hewn contemporary blues set, Gary Clark Jr. emerged to deliver another album of retro gorgeousness; mercurial chanteuses Kali Uchis, Rosie Lowe and Raveena proved that contemporary R&B need not be relegated to sample-friendly chart fodder with their own indelible spins; and for the more alternative-minded folk looking for jazzified swoonage and psychedelic soul, both the debut LP from Nailah Hunter and Brittany Howard‘s second solo set shouldn’t so much fill your soul to the brim but rather make the banks of containment burst with utmost feeling.

Musow Danse by Les Amazones D’Afrique :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Lovegaze by Nailah Hunter :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

JPEG RAW by Gary Clark Jr. :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

ORQUIDEAS by Kali Uchis :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Lover, Other by Rosie Lowe :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain by Raveena :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

We Belong by Sinkane :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

What Now by Brittany Howard :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

All That… :: The Best Jazz Albums Of 2024

Speaking of jazz, though I will accept that my tastes have been sliding more and more towards rabid appreciation for this particular genre, 2024 really did not need to still come for me so hard with so many amazing releases from across the globe; maybe with this year being particularly stressful, the range of emotions both swelled and quelled by the finest examples of this medium hit the “Exactly What I Needed To Hear” button and saved my life more times than I’d care to mention.

And the diverse range of artists putting in the excellent work this year speaks dividends too, starting with the Americana leanings typified by the debut release from Belgian band Early Life Forms featuring the one and only Marc Ribot on electric guitar; veteran stalwarts Charles Lloyd and Kahil El’Zabar both returning to the fray with projects concerned with spiritual refuge and succour; two of the UK jazz scene’s brightest stars opening up their sounds with splendid results in new albums from Shabaka and Nubya Garcia; keyboardist Nala Sinephro finding time to bring experimental electronica into the fold with her gorgeous second album; South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini delivering a stirring tribute to his Zulu roots on his third LP; saxophonist James Brandon Lewis joining The Messthetics for what turns out to be an essential premier session of improvised virtuosity on their first studio recording; Meshell Ndegeocello taking the bandleader reins amongst a vast ensemble of poets and players to pay exquisite dues to the great American writer James Baldwin; and lastly the transportive, giddily genreless journey through space and time cultivated by Peter Cat Recording Co. on the New Delhi six-piece’s eighth album of sublimely moving nonsense.

Early Life Forms by Early Life Forms :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

The Sky Will Be There Tomorrow by Charles Lloyd :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

uNomkhublwane by Nduduzo Makhathini :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace by Shabaka :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Endlessness by Nala Sinephro :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Open Me, A Higher Consciousness Of Sound And Spirit by Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

The Messthetics And James Brandon Lewis by The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Odyssey by Nubya Garcia :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin by Meshell Ndegeocello :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

BETA बेटा by Peter Cat Recording Co. :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Solid As… :: The Best Rock Albums Of 2024

As we approach the end of the genrefication of 2024’s musical output, I just wanted to give a special shout-out to review aggregate website Album Of The Year, the most recent addition to my release sourcing who made sure more than any other that rock music played a bigger and louder part of my listening schedule, particularly in the realms of metal; and with their help, my unofficial Top Ten of Rock from this year reads that little bit more diversely, so here goes…

In terms of garage-rock/post-punk rabble, we’ve got the sterling debuts from both Sprints and Big Special, with slowly-becoming-part-of-the-establishment-despite-themselves noiseniks Idles managing to squeeze in there also with their fine fifth album; for the more hardcore rock and punk flavoured divergents, the latest longforms from both Drug Church, Mannequin Pussy and Melt-Banana provided the brightest and most ribald blasts for myself personally; if slower-paced bouts of gorgeous misery from elder statesmen is more your bag, alternative rock legends Arab Strap and (of course) The Cure gave everyone the required feels of euphoric desolation; and with regards to metal, there was two releases that gave me emphatic pause in entirely different ways, those being the marvellous storytelling prog-grandeur of Opeth‘s epic fourteenth album, and Knocked Loose scaring the absolute shit out of everyone (well, the American Bible Belt anyway) on their third album of metalcore mastery.

TANGK by Idles :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Letter To Self by Sprints :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

The Last Will And Testament by Opeth :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

PRUDE by Drug Church :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Postindustrial Hometown Blues by Big Special :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Songs Of A Lost World by The Cure :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

i’m totally fine with it don’t give a fuck anymore by Arab Strap :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

I Got Heaven by Mannequin Pussy :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

3+5 by Melt-Banana :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To by Knocked Loose :: Spotify / Tidal / Apple

Phew, well that’s the Arbitrary Compartmentalisation Of Pleasurable Sounds done… now we just have to try and condense it all into a reader-friendly list.

So yeah, sorry to do The Hobbit Trilogy to you dear reader, but it just makes sense to divide this up further.

Be right back! xxxo