Great albums of 2024

Surprised to not see Sleepytime or Present there. I just picked up the Tigran Hamasyan, it's excellent.

Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - Yesterday at 06:06

^ Interesting thoughts Greg as I kind of regretted ordering the latest Sleepytime cd after failing to click with the two previous, but I'm hopeful as many say this is their best one. Loved the Present album though. And I too have been meaning to check out Tigram Hamyasan.
A pretty good year for me, feels like we're coming out of that Covid funk and getting back to normal.
Looking forward to creating a list in March or so.

^ Thanks Richard. Greep could easily creep up my list or change positions dramatically depending on the day. It is an album I only listen to with headphones/ earbuds due to certain lyrics. I'd like to see him in concert this year but it's on the same day as Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds here in Vancouver. That could have made a really fine double-bill with Greep maybe joining in on a Nick Cave classic or two.

My rankings are so arbitrary commonly and could change on any spin of the album of the day. In a way I would rather not be ranking them at all. If I like an album it doesn't matter much if it's in, say, 25th place or number one spot. Various later numbers might only have received one spin, that's true of God Is an Astronaut so far, but I wanted to note the album. Lots of those are not in PA.

The Smile is one that clicked with me right from the first album and keeps giving. I like it much more than how I felt about Radiohead when I was first exposed to that in the 90s. Took me quite a while to really appreciate an album like Kid A, it was A Moon Shaped Pool that really turned me into a serious Radiohead fan.

I like Beak>'s latest a lot and am really looking forward to seeing them in concert. I like that it will be a smaller-size/ more intimate concert. Other than Pink Floyd, i have not been into the arena kids of concerts. The Nick Cace will be a large venue, but it's hardly a stadium.

Beth Gibbons is such a treasure to me. I loved her work in Portishead and earlier released material. "Floating on a Moment" off side one is the track that first got me in a big way. It's very atmospheric and it's very "me", as is, say, The Smile's "Bending Hectic" and St. Vincent's "All Born Screaming" in rather different ways, but all atmospheric. Listening again to the Beth Gibbons album and I would put it higher on the list if I could. My clear favourite.

From your list, I like the ones you mentioned above that made it to your list, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, and it's a reminder to give that Elephant9 a proper spin, and I liked what I heard of Sykofant, Garden Electric and especially Mdou Moktar as I recall. Those all need proper spins. The other albums from your list I am unfamiliar with.

^ I like the sound of that. It actually was released on October 6, 2023.

Not sure if you guys ever performed and/or recorded together, but sorry for the loss of your friend regardless.

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EDIT: I missed responding to this before.

Mellotron Storm wrote: ^ Interesting thoughts Greg as I kind of regretted ordering the latest Sleepytime cd after failing to click with the two previous, but I'm hopeful as many say this is their best one. Loved the Present album though. And I too have been meaning to check out Tigram Hamyasan. A pretty good year for me, feels like we're coming out of that Covid funk and getting back to normal. Looking forward to creating a list in March or so.

Thanks, John. It's kind of funny that I was talking about music that has been too "brutal" and heavy for me and then I noticed last night that the music I was listening to and bopping to (some of my favourite summer's far last year) was pretty heavy. Mind you, I like Industrial Noise Rock No Wave kinds of thing. The band was Daughters with You Won't Get What You Want (a fave of mine from 2018). It's a different kind of heaviness. I love that Swans kind of wall of sound stuff and swelling guitars. Okay, not a very related comment.

I am playing Tigran Hamyasan's game soundtrack The Bird of a Thousand Voices. I am loving this so far.

Taken from rateyourmusic for the album:

Primary: Video Game Music, Jazz Fusion, Avant-Garde Jazz
Secondary: Chamber Jazz, Djent, Ambient, Armenian Music, Zeuhl, Progressive Electronic

P.S. Reaction Videos are very popular (I never really got into them), I wonder how popular a reaction forum would be at Prog Archives where we post in words our reactions to albums? ;) I have done that before. Time stamps could help, but would take away some of the fun.

Example: "Just putting this on. Hmm, yeah, it's starting. So, then... Oh yeah, I'm liking this. And then there's that bit. Oh, and wow, that! And then THAT! Holy cow. And ah, oh yeah... Not so sure about that. But then that totally justifies the thing that preceded... Were those sirens? Who's banging on my door. Better grab my..."

Edited by Logan - 21 hours 43 minutes ago at 18:14

These are my top three for 2024. First two on PA. I just suggested the third. My full list is posted on the 2024 release thread for the EOY rankings.

Only 3 instrumentals of the 13 tracks. Guest vocalist is Carla Kihlstedt of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Still has KC sounding music from 80s up. I am not familiar with their previous material. This just caught my ear with the lead track and stuck. I wasn't as high on it when I first got it but it grew over the past few months and stuck. The first instrumental Concretion is great. It's a long album at 80 minutes, but for me, it goes by quick. Though a couple tracks could be taken out and not be missed. The second guitarist Laurent James contributes vocals on a couple of tracks. I like Kihlstedt's vocals throughout. Top notch production so it sounds good throughout.

^ I didn't know it was Carla singing on that YANG record. For those into Avant and SGM check out CHARMING HOSTESS with Dan, Nils and Carla on that debut called "Eat" pre-SGM. There's a lot of Oakland area bands that impress.