I added 214 albums to my Apple Music library in 2024. They included over 2,260 songs, all of which I listened to at least once—seven days’ worth of music. The oldest song in the group, Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007,” was recorded in 1930 by the legendary guitarist Andrés Segovia; the newest was released this month, a one-song pre-release from Yo La Tengo’s latest album, which won’t come out until next year.
I considered building a list of the ten favorite albums added to my library this year, but I decided to limit my choices to only those released in 2024. So if you’ve been following my music series this year, you won’t see some of my favorite albums — Pleasurewoods’ They Live or Work Money Death’s Thought, Action, Reaction, Interaction, for instance—but you will find slightly deeper dives into the albums from 2024.
So, here are my ten favorite albums released this year.
10. Atriums, by Trey Anastasio
When Phish played its inaugural run at The Sphere in Las Vegas in April, the band’s guitarist and lead singer created a suite of ambient “songs” designed to be played in the venue’s atriums before and after the show. This album gathers those tracks into a single collection, creating perhaps the year’s best album for reading, studying, or writing.
If you’re not familiar with Phish or Trey (and if you’re reading this blog, I doubt that includes you), Rolling Stone ranked 53rd on their list of the 250 greatest guitarists of all time, ahead of such icons as Django Reinhardt, Les Paul, John McLaughlin, and Charlie Christian, four guitarists who—literally—re-invented the art form.
Trey’s most famous for inheriting the jam-band mantle from Jerry Garcia, but you can’t compare the two; as Trey has said, Jerry grew up listening to bluegrass and hanging around with the Beatniks, while Trey grew up a suburban kid, going to malls and listening to the Talking Heads and Led Zeppelin. Their foundational influences led to differences in how they play; Trey’s guitar sound cannot capture the emotional depths of Jerry’s dark star, but Jerry rarely achieved the climactic joy and audience-participating whimsy of Trey’s extended jams.
Atriums might not include the funk and joy of Phish, but it is a record of one of history’s greatest guitarists sculpting a soundscape for the people who allow him to live his best life. It sounds like a gift—an architecture of an experience.
If you read, you need this album.
9. Tension, by Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra
Mulatu Astatke is the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in Ethiopia in 1943, he studied music in London, New York, and Boston, becoming the first African student at Berklee College of Music. Astatke fuses traditional Ethiopian melodies with jazz, Latin, and funk, creating a timeless sound and garnering international acclaim. His groundbreaking albums have influenced generations of musicians, turning him into a cultural icon and a worldwide musical visionary.
On Tension, he’s joined by Tel Aviv’s Hoodna Orchestra, a diverse collective celebrated for their fusion of Afrobeat, funk, and Middle Eastern traditions.
The combination makes for an incredible, intoxicating, intellectually stimulating, and hip-shaking good time. Each of the six tracks has at least one moment (and usually several) where you have to stop whatever you’re doing and just dance a little while.
Mulatu Astatke is one of those musicians who has never disappointed me, and his connection here with a dozen other talented artists (don’t sleep on the orchestra’s guitarists!) makes this one of the year’s most exciting albums.
8. Dance, No One's Watching, by Ezra Collective
Maybe it’s because the album opens over the voices of a crowd, or perhaps it’s because of the album cover, or perhaps it’s because the album’s four-act structure is based around a night at the club, or perhaps it’s because of all of those things, but listening to Dance, No One’s Watching makes me feel like I’m attending one of the year’s best parties.
Ezra Collective blew my mind when I discovered them earlier this year. They put a ton of talent into some of the most infectious grooves you’ll hear, the choruses put together by their horns are freakin’ delightful, and the funky drums, bass, and guitar round out the sound.
President Barack Obama picked the album’s most “pop”-style track, “God Gave Me Feet for Dancing,” as one of his 25 favorite tracks of 2024, and it’s easy to hear why.
(P.S. — The singer, Yazmin Lacey, is a guest on the track; most Ezra Collective tunes don’t include lyrics.)
If you haven’t listened to Ezra Collective before now, do yourself a favor and snag not only this but all three of their albums. You’ll thank me later.
7. The New Sound, by Geordie Greep
From the very first note of The New Sound, you know you’re in for something intense, and that’s before Geordie Greep’s distinct voice hits your ears. The man sounds like a Berlin troubadour, but the music is an anti-composition of noise, talent, and mentally-mad driving emotions and explosions played with tight fervor and a dare.
You have to commit. When you’re listening to Geordie Greep, you have to commit. You’ll know whether you like it within a minute of the first song, but keep listening, keep listening, because this madness will wash over you, and you’ll hear the anger of early Bob Dylan channeled through the chaos and fury of post-punk and 21st century bomb-dropping climactic timing. It’s a pure rush.
And then the second song comes on…and you have to ask, what in the actual fuck? Acoustic guitars and Latin percussions laid atop lyrics such as “It’s the museum of human suffering, we have splayed across the foyer, inordinately bled, the carcass of our savior who rose from the dead, victims of drought and famine, fetuses abandoned all waiting here to be admired…” — like I said, what in the actual fuck? The contrast between the music and the lyric is stark, adding a political comment that could not be garnered from the poetry.
This album is art. It is incredible, political, audio-based art. Look at that album cover again, because that’s exactly what it sounds like, and no one else sounds like it.
6. Maldito Animal, by The Point.
A lot of my music listening happens in the kitchen while making dinner for my family. I don’t like a ton of lyrics when I’m cooking because I’m bouncing around between various recipes, and lyrics make it tough for me to concentrate. The songs of The Point. are not lyric-free, but they have a 1950s approach to their lyrics, making it easy for me to hear them as just another instrument rather than as something to focus on.
And when it comes to instruments, The Point. can play. If you like Khruangbin, you’ll dig on this other Austin trio. They have a similar sound, but there’s more going on than what you’ll hear from Khruangbin. Sure, there’s the addition of a keyboard player and the use of lyrics, but it’s also the more up-tempo songs, which seem to reveal a deeper dedication to joy.
I stood in my kitchen stirring ingredients to this album more than any other this year, and I suspect I will continue to do so for years to come.
5. New Regency Orchestra, by New Regency Orchestra
Come for the meticulously played big-band Afro-Cuban jazz; stay for the…METICULOUSLY PLAYED BIG-BAND AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ!
Every musician in this 18-piece London-based band knows their role, but when they’re asked to step out of it for a solo, they strap on their pants and take you to New York City in the 1950s, and you could swear Tito Puente was about to step on stage to join them.
There is no bad tune in this album. Every song sets up its theme and explores the musical space around it, with each of the eighteen instruments doing exactly what they need to do to make the song feel familiar and fresh. Your shoulders won’t be able to stop swaying for 38 minutes straight.
The only thing stopping New Regency Orchestra from climbing higher on this list is its absolute commitment to its genre. It is, from start to finish, meticulously played big-band Afro-Cuban jazz, but as a Gemini, I like when albums are a bit more mercurial.
4. Inflatable Graveyard, by Tropical Fuckstorm
When this Australian band formed, the founders recruited the guitarist by calling her up and saying, “Do you want to play guitar? We’re just going to do some weird shit.” The music this foursome puts out can very easily be categorized as “weird shit,” but there’s also an incredible ability to construct melodies in the chaos.
Inflatable Graveyard catches Tropical Fuck Storm live. As I mentioned when I first reviewed the album, I was nervous that the sound they captured in the studio for their debut album would not translate to the stage. They create such a cacophony that I imagined them as one of those bands that does incredible work in the studio but struggles to make a dent when they can’t overdub instruments and create layers in the booth.
I was pleasantly surprised. Tropical Fuck Storm is even more powerful live.
3. Flight b741, by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
King Gizz is my favorite band right now (excluding Do Make Say Think, who haven’t released a new album since 2017). Not only is every album different from those that came before, but they are all solid pieces of music in their own right.
On b741, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard re-assert their rock and roll bona fides. This album could have been recorded in 1974 or 1994 or 2024. It’s just a bunch of talented musicians having fun making songs about pigs flying. As their lead vocalist said in an interview, “The record is really like a fun weekend with your mates, you know? Like, proper fun.”
There’s no single standout on the album. All of the songs could come out of the garage next door, though the lyrics are quintessential KGLW: “Antarctica, that’s the place for me / It’s the place where the frost flakes spell out my name / There’s a polar bear calling out my name / He’s telling me that a sunny day ain’t got shit on this place / Ah-ooh!”
If you like rock and roll, you’ll love King Gizzard’s re-embrace of its roots.
2. Empathogen, by Willow
Out of all the albums I added to my library this year (and not just the ones released in 2024), empathogen had the most total plays. As I mentioned in my review, I added the album on a lark, wondering what the little girl who whipped her hair back and forth was up to now, only to discover a young woman with complete control over her voice and soulful depth to her songs.
I couldn’t — and can’t — get enough of this album. I’m particularly impressed by the bass playing, but really, it’s the whole production — the music fits perfectly with the lyric, and her voice takes you on a journey in every song.
From driving in the car to cooking dinner to cleaning the house to sitting around the dining room table drinking wine with family and friends — empathogen fit every mood and activity this year.
When I think of 2024, I will think of this album.
1. Live, Vol. 1, by Billy Strings
While Willow’s album might be the sound of 2024, Billy Strings’ Live Vol. 1 is a timeless time capsule of one of contemporary music’s most exciting guitar players.
Every time I put this album on — and I put it on a lot — I can’t help but shake my head at how well this young man plays. Sure, it’s bluegrass, and bluegrass has many talented pickers, but I’ve never heard bluegrass played like this. How many superlatives can I put in a review? Whatever the number, it’s not enough to his playing justice.
But this album is more than just Billy’s incredible talent. He’s surrounded himself with musicians who can stand toe to toe with his furious fingers (to mix metaphors). His fiddle player, Alex Hargreaves, finds several places to take my breath away, and Jarrod Walker uses his mandolin to create soundscapes for Strings’ guitar to surf atop.
The album has everything, from spacey jams to tight three-minute ditties about being busted for some dust in a baggie.
If you haven’t added it to your collection yet, you’re missing out on some of the most exciting music being played in America today.
Well, it’s been a long year of music reviews on Fluid Imagination. I’m one of those nerds who has an app that tracks how much time I spend on various projects, and according to the app, I’ve put roughly 116 hours into writing blog posts this year, the vast majority of which were my monthly roundups of the music I added to my library. For those of you who have followed along, I appreciate the time you’ve shared with me, and for the many of you who sent me recommendations, I can’t thank you enough for helping to expand my musical palate.
I haven’t decided whether to continue the series next year — maybe those 100+ hours could be better put into something else? — but regardless, thank you for a wonderful 2024. Have a great holiday season, and we’ll see you in the new year!