My Favorite Tracks of 2024 Playlist

I posted my favorite albums or 2024 back in December (with a bonus playlist of albums I mostly liked), but as usual, I also want to share some favorite new songs that weren’t on those albums. Hopefully not everyone has moved on to the new year, new administration, new social media platform, new music, etc. I don’t really have a theme for this playlist, but I hope you find something you like, anyway.

1. Katie Gavin: “The Baton” from What a Relief – This rootsy song, from a solo record by one of the members of MUNA, imagines generations of women as a relay race of healing.
2. Girl Ultra: “blu” from blush – This short piece from this Spanish artist wishes great things for a growing woman. (There might be some willful ignorance in interpretation here).
3. The Deku Trio: “Song of Storms” from Zelda and Jazz – The Deku Trio came out with not one, but two albums of jazz covers from the Legend of Zelda game series. This track from Ocarina of Time is my favorite—the melody swings surprisingly well.
4. Childish Gambino: “Steps Beach” from Bando Stone and the New World – I’m still not sure what this album from Donald Glover is about, but this track doesn’t sound much like the rest of the album; it’s a meditation/celebration of a not-perfect but loving homelife, with some winking.
5. Half Waif: “Ephemeral Being” from See You at the Maypole – This album was produced in the wake of a miscarriage (among other life events) and describes processing grief; this track is electro pep talk.
6. Clairo: “Sexy to Someone” from Charm – While this song has some satisfying 1960s production throwbacks, the low synth flute interjections and staccato piano chords are what really makes this song great.
7. Angélica Garcia: “Color De Dolor” from Gemelo – An electronic rumination on pain and loss.
8. Charly Bliss: “Tragic” from Forever – This well-crafted pop song goes right up to limit of being too repetitive, without quite getting there; the elision of verse and 2nd chorus and the sudden silence of accompaniment in the 3th chorus are great antidotes.
9. Esperanza Spalding and Milton Nascimento: “Wings for the Thought Bird” from Milton + Esperanza – Spalding teams up with one of Brazil’s musical legends, though this song with its wandering melodies and harmonies is pretty much all Spalding. It manages to capture the idea of birdsong while still being musical. Gotta love the flute. And the tempo changes.
   
10. Remi Wolf: “Cinderella” from Big Ideas – As usual with Wolf, I’m not totally sure what this song is about—but its feel-good catchiness plus horn section makes it hard not to move those hips from left to right.
11. Raveena: “Pluto” from Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain – The space princess is enjoying some Earth nature from a speeding sports car while remembering a loved one that passed too early.
12. Madi Diaz: “God Person” from Weird Faith – A beautiful jealous rumination on the faith of others. Good use of drones (the musical ones).
    
13. Aoife O’Donovan: “The Right Time” from All My Friends – This album is inspired by the suffragist movement during the early 1900s, particular Carrie Chapman Catt—I think “The Right Time” is about how naysayers who keeping saying it is not the right time for something, when really for them, the right time is never.
14. American Patchwork Quartet: “The Devil’s Nine” from American Patchwork Quartet – This is what happens when you record American roots music with an Indian classical singer; I’m hoping next time, they do Indian roots music (or Japanese—the bass player is a Japanese immigrant) in an American style.
15. Faye Webster: “But Not Kiss” from Underdressed at the Symphony – Great title for an album (and as an Atlanta artist, I know she is referring to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra), this song is a sketch in contrasts from the point of view of someone who wants intimacy, but perhaps has some baggage or misgivings she needs to work through. Some great use of slide guitar and de-tuned piano.
16. Twice: “Ocean Deep” from Dive – I usually don’t include songs on these playlists that are also by artists on my “best album” list, but I made this exception because this song is from a different album and in a difference language—from this year’s Japanese album (still mostly in English). As with other Twice songs, don’t think too hard about this one; just dance.

My Favorite New Albums of 2024...and a bonus playlist of curated albums

2024 was stacked with big album releases: Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar. Add to that a couple of artists who have produced my past top albums of the year: Imagine Dragons and Sarah Jarosz. And yet I was mostly disappointed by those albums—songs from these albums didn’t even make my 2024 favorite track playlist. But of the 76 new albums I listened to during 2024 (a record for me, plus 8 from 2023), some album rose to the top. Here are my top 5 albums from 2024:

Sleigher by Ben Folds — It’s not often that an artist who produced one of my favorite albums one year produced another favorite album in the next year, but Ben Folds has managed it—and with a Christmas album of (mostly) new material, at that. Folds is a master of joyfully depressing vignettes, and the holidays is a perfect time for those. Beyond these slice-of-life gems (“Sleepwalking Through Christmas,” “Me and Maurice,” “Christmas Rhyme,” there is a perfect little solo piano accompaniment for snow falling (“Little Drummer Bolero”), some well-chosen covers, and some excellent harmonica playing (not from Folds). There’s also a song making fun of AI-generated lyrics—you could tell he is having so much fun with it. The album manages to be a good balance of the new and familiar that works really well for a Christmas album. And it has the perfect title.

UTOPIA NOW! by Rosie Tucker — This pick is definitely my rare #1 favorite album of the year. Tucker’s music is great, but she really won me over with inventive and biting lyrics that skewer capitalism, her exes, herself, and the music industry. It is hard to pick a favorite (are there a better song titles than “Paperclip Maximizer” and “Gil Scott Albatross”?), but maybe start with “All My Exes Live in Vortexes,” which references a country song in the title, but also somehow references the plastic crisis, the film Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, labor conditions in online fulfillment centers, and also the personal problems of people not really responsible for the destructive systems surrounding us while being self-obsessed (but also wanting love). And it’s a banger—maybe my top song of the year. There are also songs that personify the “White Savior Myth” and use obscure astronomical principles as central metaphors. The title track does one of my favorite things in songs—musically and lyrically sets up an expectation and then immediately undermines it; I’d explain more, but it actually doesn’t make sense written—I’ll let you figure it out. The songwriting and production never fail—the inventive and varied use of guitars also sets this album apart.

empathogen by Willow — Maybe the best-titled album of 2024, the music is also inventive. This is 23-year-old Willow’s sixth studio album, and up to now she has been mostly a pop musician, but here she takes inspiration from a lot of different genres and vocal styles. But I’m here for the all-over-the-place styles and enjoy not knowing what is going to come next (I think Pitchfork got it right calling one track “somewhere between Alanis Morissette and Esperanza Spalding” and I would expand this description to most of the album). If you like, you could also check out the deluxe version of the album, ceremonial contrafact, which has three extra songs.

Start Close In by the Rheingans Sisters —While the Rheingans sisters are British fiddle players and vocalists (and multi-instrumentalists), they take inspiration from all over Europe and North America for this album—Norway, Sweden, Ireland, France, Occitania, and Quebec. The arrangements are adventurous (even when only played with two fiddles). There is a mix of traditional tunes, contemporary traditional tunes, and some original songs. It’s a ride that doesn’t get old, even for a couple of 7-minute tracks.

With YOU-th by Twice —And moving from the self-released to the big company-produced…Twice is a K-pop group formed in 2016 of 9 women, and amazingly their lineup has not changed in all that time. This year, they came out with three EPs, one of which was in Japanese (or English-Japanese, I guess). Usually, I only like one about song per album (there is a lot of mass production in K-pop), but this album is pretty good all the way through (if you can get over the terrible title). If you want enjoy some light, fluffy pop music and not think too hard (and honestly, don’t think too hard about the mixed Korean/English lyrics), then this is the album for you.

Bonus playlist: Curated albums I *mostly* liked 2024 – There were a few album this year that I couldn’t elevate to my favorite albums, mostly because they were uneven—a lot of good tracks, but some “meh” or "I'm not sharing that publicly" tracks mixed in. Usually, albums like these are good fodder for my year-end-playlist, but there was enough good stuff that I had a really hard time just picking one track to represent these albums. So I compromised. Here is a curated playlist with all the good songs from five more albums. Some are from artists that I've highlighted here in the past: 

Deeper Well by Kacey Musgraves (I’m a sucker for songs about birds, as in “Cardinal”…even if the syllabic emphasis is wrong; “Heaven is” a Scottish lullaby with word rewritten by Musgraves; also included is “Anime Eyes,” which I think a lot of people panned this song in the album, but you have to work pretty hard to name-check Miyazaki and have me not like the song)

ORQUÍDEAS by Kali Uchis (in which the American-Colombian artist proves a point and sings mostly in Spanish for change...with some English thrown in)

BRAT by Charli XCX (including one later-released updated song with an answer verse from Lorde—see the story here; “Rewind” and “I think about it all the time” feature some self-reflection you don’t normally hear on pop album)

Radical Optimism by Dua Lipa (an album I thought was much better than a lot of people did—or at least six of the songs)

As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again by the Decemberists (Classical depressing gothic/folk/pop as fine as any previous Decemberists' album, it almost made my top albums, but there is just one song, “Joan in the Garden” (the last track in the album) that I absolutely hated—so I have included every song here except that one)

Enjoy!

Favorite Tracks of 2023 (Double) Playlist

Earlier this week, I shared my favorite albums of 2023. But, per usual, I have curated a playlist of favorite songs from 2023 that aren’t on those albums. I did not notice until after I put the list together, but none of the main artists in these songs are white men. I guess that is one overarching theme, but I'm also pairing the tracks together in 7 separate themes. Here we go:

1&2: Things are changing

Sampha: “Spirit 2.0” from Lahai – This song by British artist Sampha bottles the feeling of hope in a new situation, even when things didn’t go great last time.

Sen Morimoto: “Feel Change” from Diagnosis – This song from Japanese American artist Sen Morimoto, is about not liking change but knowing that it continues to happen whether we like it or not. I love the musical irony of the constantly changing meter below the lyrics “nothing will change.”

3&4: Modern Spanish flamenco

Israel Fernández: “Despierta (Bulería)” from Pura Sangre – A bulería is a particular type of flamenco song or dance with a particular kind of rhythm, and often features improvisation from the singer. This bulería is telling us to “look forward, wake up”; in other words, don’t dream about the past, but plan for the future. The song also features some non-traditional effects and instruments.

María José Llergo: “Rueda, Rueda” from ULTRABELLEZA – This flamenco-influenced song is even less traditional, with the chorus sounding more pop than flamenco. “Rueda” means wheel and in this song refers to a cycle of party/touring life that this singer has found herself in, which is working out okay for her now, but if she stops what she is doing, she is worried that there will be bad consequences.

5&6: Chicago black girl power

Noname: “beauty supply” from Sundial – From the iconoclast Chicago rapper Noname, a song about how maybe standards of beauty—even if they are in protest of other standards of beauty—maybe are still not healthy. Strangely, Spotify tags this song as having explicit lyrics, when the same (single) word is featured multiple times in the “clean” version of one of the Olivia Rodrigo songs from GUTS.

Jamila Woods: “Boomerang” from Water Made Us – The masterful Chicago songstress and powerful lyricist with a track about feeling excited yet trepidatious that your ex wants to get back together, and is asking—is it really going to be different this time?

7&8: Classic Celtic, new twists

Claire Hastings: “Ca’ the Yowes” from Lullabies from Scotland – A beautiful old Scots song about a shepherd from an album of Scottish lullabies. Like Claire Hastings, who dreamed up this album while caring for her child, I think we should all sing songs in 5/4 to kids.

Nuala Kennedy: “Whirlpools: The Lighthouse Polka” from Shorelines – Did you know that polkas are considered traditional dances in Ireland and have been played there for 200 years? This one is by Kennedy, though.

9&10: What the heck is going on?

Genevieve Artadi: “Black Shirts” from Forever Forever – Maybe the title of this track lured me in. It's a fun, quirky jazz-influenced song about missing someone before they’ve left (on a business trip?); I don’t really mind that the words don’t scan well. “Black shirts” are what the singer is wearing until their significant other gets back.

Carly Rae Jepsen: “Aeroplanes” from The Loveliest Time – A prolific songwriter, Jepsen often comes out with a “Side B” album not long after a “main” album comes out. This album was the Side B of The Loneliest Time, one of my top albums from 2022. Usually, I’m not that excited about Side Bs, but this one has a higher percentage of great tracks, including this one, which thematically is really more about loneliness (unrequited love) but is also very weird harmonically, has three-bar phrases in the chorus, has a 2nd verse that pretends to be a bridge—and then the song transitions to an unexpected outro.

11&12: Not sure what is going on here, either…

Samaïa: “Avlanskani Cuneli” from Traversées – In this album, this French female folk trio sings songs from a lot of different cultures and languages. I think this track is in Laz, a language spoken in modern-day Turkey and Georgia. The song is also in mixed meter: 3 + 3 + 2 + 2.

Tricot: “Oool” from Fudeki – This song was actually from late 2022, and is actually a lot less weird (especially metrically) than many songs from this all-female Japanese band often labeled as “math rock.” You can hear their complex layered approach. I’m not quite sure what it is about, from what I can find—maybe an office romance, but they find out they are different outside the office, like Severance?

13&14: Been away

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway: “Alice in Bluegrass” from City of Gold – What do you get when you cross Alice in Wonderland and bluegrass music, and then throw in various references to drug use? This song.

Haim: “Home” from Barbie: The Album – There are quite a few noteworthy tracks from this movie album, but this one from sister trio Haim is the best—though it is quite a bit more earnest than, for example, Lizzo’s ridiculous “Pink” acrostic poem (K is kool?).

In the words of Ben Folds: “But wait, there’s more!” I had a hard time paring down my list of great songs from this year, so I created a 2nd list of favorite tracks of 2023. I’m calling it “Yes White Elephant” because there are a lot of varied tracks and I’m giving you no background—just put on shuffle and enjoy whatever you get.

My Favorite New Albums of 2023

First, I want to apologize for not getting this list out sooner—I had a setback in mid-December, prime list making time, when I got a double ear infection and all music sounded muffled and out of tune for 3–4 weeks. My ears eventually recovered (though still not quite back to normal) and I was able to narrow down my favorites from the crowded field. I thought for sure that because of certain life events this year, I would listen to less new music than normal this year. But it turns out the number of 2023 albums I listened to was pretty typical: 61. Here are my top 6, which for the most part manage to combine great music with lyrical content that are not just simple love songs, but resonate with our social condition in 2023.

What Matters Most by Ben Folds – I wasn’t expecting Ben Folds to be relevant in 2023, but this may be the most timely album I heard this year. The album is (mostly) a beautiful and earnest evaluation of what is important in life. And while Folds deals with the darker side of humanity, he also shows a halo of hope. Definitely check out the expansive and classically-inspired “But Wait, There’s More” (a phrase that cuts in several ways) and the conversational “Kristine from the 7th grade.” One warning: “Exhausting Lover,” a story of a bad decision, is for mature listeners only.

Celebrants by Nickel Creek – This album, written on a grand scale, works better as a whole; not many singles here. Honestly, I’m still working out the meanings of this album, but I can say that it is a post-pandemic album that deals with what happens we are used to meeting and seeing each other, but suddenly that all changes; “Celebrants” refers to people who are taking part in a party (celebration), though normally it is applied to religious ceremonies. If you want some entry points, I’ll pick a favorite song from each member: “The Meadow” (Chris), “Stone’s Throw” (Sean), and “New Blood” (Sara). The pair of instrumental tracks “Going Out…” and “...Despite the Weather” are instant classics.

The Sorrow Songs (Folk Songs of Black British Experience) by Angeline Morrison – Morrison loves the power of British folk song, but realized that there aren’t many songs from that tradition about the experiences of British Black people like her. So, she researched historic Black British experiences and wrote her own folk songs to document. She interspersed the songs with a few short quotes from non-Black folks. A powerful album from a great voice. For a taste, check out “The Hand of Fanny Johnson,” inspired by a mummified hand buried by an English family in 1996 that had been passed down for 200 years, claiming it was from the family’s black servant. You should really check out the beautiful album liner notes, which you can read or download here.

Dusk Moon by Rura – This all-instrumental album from this Scottish quartet is great from start to finish; if you want to dip your toes into some smoking yet nuanced trad music, try “Dusk Moon,” “The Grove” or “The Crossing.” Or just put the whole album on as some background music.

This is Why by Paramore – Like other albums on this list, this one is channeling post-pandemic angst and anxiety. I feel like the band watched The Good Place as a starting place for their research of modern moral quandaries. But no song tackles too much—each has a laser focus. It is hard to pick an entry point because every track is good, with a mix of driving, danceable, catchy music and clever lyrics. But why not start at the beginning, the title track “This is Why”? “Running Out of Time” is funny, sad, and serious all at the same time. “Big Man, Little Dignity,” one of the slower songs, draws from the ‘80s in a good way (and is maybe about Trump?). Bass clarinet fans, like myself, keep your ears open!

GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo – My favorite album of the year may be the sophomore album from Rodrigo—it is musically catchy and lyrically memorable; it’s got ballads and bangers. Besides deftly channeling some big feelings (love, jealousy, anger, disillusionment), Rodrigo shows she is a master of musical irony. For example, the first track “All-American Bitch” ping-pongs from a controlled, measured arpeggiated guitar to a frenetic punk song, while using music and contradictory lyrics to emphasize the impossible expectations heaped on young women. Another favorite, “Get Him Back,” is a master class in double meanings. I’m posting the clean version of the album here, but you can easily hear more expletives, if you want to feel the anger more—anger at mostly the patriarchy; but also herself.

My Favorite Tracks of 2022 (and late 2021) Playlist: I Can't Go Back/Birdsplosion

Last week, I featured my top albums of 2022, but as usual there are a lot of other individual songs from 2022 (and late 2021…) not on those albums that I want to share. As I sifted through my favorites from the year, I decided on a theme—“I can’t go back,” taken from a line in “Rosy” by The Regrettes. These songs all could be about going forward and not being able to return to where you started, which is always true—but especially true post-pandemic.

But wait, there’s more! I didn’t create just one playlist this year—I made two. This year I listened to so many songs inspired by birds, featuring birds, or sampling birdsong, that that theme needed its own playlist, “Birdsplosion.” One example of on-theme music released this year was the 5-part mega-album For the Birds: The Birdsong Project, which was conceived of during the pandemic and benefits Aududon. The physical version of this album fills 20 LPs. There were all types of content, including poetry read by celebrities, ambient music, songs by artists you’ve heard of and by many you haven’t heard of. You can listen to it yourself, if you like (or if you can just watch a video of Andrew Bird imitating birdsong to videos of birds here), but I’ve included a small sample from the collection below, interspersed with tracks from other artists who featured birds in their music this last-year-and-change. Anyway, from my listening, I decided it's really hard to write compelling music based on birdsong—the source material is often too repetitive and lacks direction. The songs that succeed take the source material and manipulate it to bring some direction; hopefully, you will hear that in some of these selections. Of course, another path is to write about birds without using their songs at all, of which there are several examples here.

I’ll say a little about all of the tracks from both playlists below.

“I can’t go back”

1. Momma: “Speeding 72” from Household Name – Not a great artist name, though the title pun is funny; but nonetheless a great song to play while driving fast in a car.
2. M.I.A.: “Puththi” from Mata – I’m not sure many people noticed that M.I.A. came out with a new album this year. This particular track appealed to me with more South Asian mixed in to the hip hop than other tracks on the album.
3. Phoenix: “Season 2” from Alpha Zulu – A light bopper from the veteran French Band. Their English words don’t always make sense.
4. Sylvan Esso: “Alarm” from No Rules Sandy – I’m usually not a huge fan of loop-based music, but this track keeps me unsteady on my feet at the same time I want to be dancing. I love how the main refrain sounds like an alarm, especially the word “alarm.” And when you’ve heard an alarm, you can’t go back.
5. Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway: “The River Knows” from Crooked Tree – A haunting story about a sexual assault from a childhood friend, culminating in situation that no one can go back from. Guitar prodigy Tuttle is a rising star in folk and bluegrass scenes.
6. The Regrettes: “Rosy” from Further Joy – A song about changing your mind about a relationship, moving from friendship to love. This album's style is a departure from previous punk Regrettes' albums, moving in a more pop direction.
7. Perfume: “Spinning World” from Plasma – Japanese idol group Perfume has been making music together since 2001, lasting far longer than many J-pop idol groups. And they’ve still got it. If you want to be a little freaked out, watch the music video (even though the video has a translation, I’m still not sure what the song is about).
8. Regina Spektor: “One Man’s Prayer” from Home, Before and After – This song seems to start okay, but you gradually realize that the male singer persona is a poster child for toxic masculinity, and as the audience, we become more and more alarmed. Alarming, but also kind of true. I do think the heavy production takes a little away from the songwriting.
   
9. Muna: “Anything But Me” from Muna – A breakup song with a very real message for those who should really step away from toxic relationships (like the one in the previous track?); I love the one-liners, especially the first one.
10. Heal & Harrow: “Cutty Sark” from Heal & Harrow – At first, I thought this track from Scottish musicians Rachel Newton and Lauren MacColl was about the famous clipper ship on display in Greenwich, England. But it turns out this song is about the witch for which the ship was named. The whole albums is about Scottish witch trials from the 16th–18th centuries.
11. Raveena: “Rush” from Asha’s Awakening – I’m not going to go into the Punjabi space princess concept, which in my opinion doesn’t really hold up, but New York musician Raveena still does a great job melding South Asian and pop music (though the 13-minute guided meditation is not for me). This track perfectly characterizes joyful anticipation.
12. Lizzy McAlpine (featuring Jacob Collier): “Erase me” from five seconds flat – Although this song is from Lizzy McAlpine’s second full-length album, she was new to me. I didn’t listen for very long before I figured out that the multi-instrumentalist jazz-pop prodigy Jacob Collier was also on the track. I think the song is about someone who is in too deep in a relationship and can’t see how to exist without the other person.
    
13. Mattiel: “Boomerang” from Georgia Gothic – I encountered this album trying to keep track of Georgia musicians, and this track won me over with its off-kilter meter. Also, by pairing “party in the USA” with “party in the Hudson Bay.” I’m not sure exactly what the track is about, but perhaps it is about trying to go back and failing?
14. Gwenno: “Kan Me” from Tresor – I first featured Gwenno, a Welsh musician who sings her recent albums entirely in Cornish, in my 2018 year-end list.  “Kan me” means May song, and it celebrates the beginning of summer.
15. Robert Glasper, esperanza spalding, and Q-Tip: “Why We Speak” from Black Radio III – This is the third album in which pianist/songwriter/producer Glasper has collaborated with a lot of different artists; this song (in which spalding sings more French than English) is an anti-capitalist plea to remember the real reasons for living. You can watch the lyrics video (not translated, though) here.
    

“Birdsplosion”

1. Aoife O’Donovan: “Sister Starling” from Age of Apathy – Birds as metaphor.
2. Seu Jorge and Flor Jorge: “Good to See” from For the Birds, the Birdsong Project, Vol. 2 – Birdsong as compositional material (I wish I knew the bird!).
3. Ingrid Henderson: “Reels: The Dance of the Storm Petrels & Swallows of the Sea” from Message in a Bottle (Brath sa Bhuideal) – Birds as inspiration.
4. Rudresh Mahanthappa: “Oreals” from For the Birds, the Birdsong Project, Vol. 1 – Birdsong as compositional material.
5. Rachel Newton and the Spell Song Ensemble: “Swifts” from Spell Songs II: Let the Light In – This once seems to actually be about the bird.
6. Les Mamans du Congo and RROBIN: “Loango Weaver” from A guide to the Birdsong of Western Africa – Birdsong as compositional material. This is just the latest albums in a whole regional series featuring songs based on birdsong—separate from the Audubon album.
   
7. Shabaka Hutchings and esperanza spalding: “Morning Rituals” from For the Birds, the Birdsong Project, Vol. 5 – I think bird as inspiration, but there could be some borrowed birdsong compositional material here, in addition to the birdsong in the background. spalding is the only artist featured in both playlists!
8. Olivia Chaney: “The Hawk and the Crow” from For the Birds, the Birdsong Project, Vol. 2 – Birds as metaphor.
9. El Búho and David Rothenberg: “SupercurlU”  from Simmerdim: Curlew Sounds. I think a little of bird as inspiration and birdsong as compositional material. This track is from an entire album based on curlew birdsong. Also, birds and bass clarinet? How could I not like it? That's like like my brand.
   
10. Woodkid: “Altamira Oriole” from For the Birds, the Birdsong Project, Vol. 3 – Birdsong as compositional material.
11. Lyre Lyre: “Sam’s Chicken” from Gin and Strathspey – Birds as inspiration, and a fun way to end the Birdsplosion with this Scottish fiddle/cello/guitar trio.