Rewind 2024!
My Fave Albums This Year
Well squad, as promised, it’s that time. I shared my favorite albums every quarter of 2024 (here are Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4) and now it’s time to share the crème de la crème. To be fair, these might not be the best albums per se, but these are the LPs, one from each quarter of 2024, that coaxed the most creative pathways into my consciousness.
Sheer Mag’s March 1st release, Playing Favorites, is straight up classic rock for the 2020’s. Playing Favorites feels good, like classic rock is supposed to. It’s unapologetic, and brash and f it’s too loud, you’re too old. Tina Halladay's vocals are bananas! Her dynamic range and emotive delivery bring an intensity that sets Sheer Mag apart from their peers. The title track will suck you in. Track two busts open like a KISS anthem before careening into Thin Lizzy territory. Mechanical Garden stands out for fearlessly taking the listener on a journey. It’s one of the few straight-up rock albums I listened to this year. Enjoy the ride.
From straight up rock to AfroCountry, one of my fave albums of Q2 is Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going by Shaboozey. I first heard of Shaboozey when he guested on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter mega drop. His feature track was alright (he shared a track with Linda Martell, the first commercially successful Black female country music artist), but I like his name, so I looked him up. Collins Obinna Chibueze was raised in northern Virginia by his Nigerian parents. I teach a class that focuses on Nigeria so I mentally bookmarked him. Two months later he popped up on my radar with this release, which opens with Horses and Hellcats, which in turn opens with the whinnie of a stallion. Aaaaand we’re off. The lyrics—steeped in whiskey, wranglers, and tired travelers—are brought to fruition by weeping guitars all over the mix. We got nods to spaghetti westerns that would make Sergio Leone crack a bullwhip. Lots going on. Relentless production. My Fault featuring Noah Cyrus (daughter of Billy Ray, sister of Miley) is a beautiful heartbreaker.
I also heartily recommend Lady Blackbird’s Slang Spirituals. It's a full and fearless production. Tasteful strings. The first three tracks are bangers. It is not until track four, Man On A Boat, when the upright bass and acoustic guitars create a gentle, flowing rhythm, with subtle vocal harmonies and piano accents, that the album allows the listener to catch their breath. No One Can Love Me (Like You Do) has a Motown revisited vibe. Slang Spirituals closes with Whatever His Name, an eight-minute, phantasmagoric, psycho-spiritual jam. Sooo good.
My fave album from the last quarter is Peace of Action by Earl Davis, aka Damu the Fudgemunk. I’d never heard of this dude but was enticed by his name when I saw it on the Nov 22 list of new releases. I took a lil’ leap of faith and have been listening to Peace of Action on repeat ever since. Sir Fudgemunk got me through the drudgery of grading final exams, long winter runs, and even longer hours in the kitchen prepping for Thanksgiving dinner. He has a keen sense of composition and cinematic vision. I couldn’t tell you what’s sampled versus what’s created from scratch. But I can tell you that the album is soulful and energetic, while also challenging. It’s seamless; mind the masterful transitions.
Honorable Mention: Arooj Aftab, Night Reign. Raised in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia before attending Berklee at age 19, Arooj Aftab is the future. Bebop meets Pakistani folk music, mostly in Urdu, some English. This album will transport you. But only if you let it. TBH, I’m listening to Aftab as I type and this could easily be my favorite album of the year.
Other Honorable Mentions:
Best live album: Goose, Live at the Fox Theatre
Album of the summer: Lake Street Dive, Good Together
Album I should prolly listen to more: Billy Strings, Highway Prayers
Album I still wrapping my head around: Eric Pan, Travel Poems Trilogy
Best album from a new artist: Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge, Wine on Venus
Album I want on this list and will put it right here because I have no editor and no one can stop me: Brittany Howard, What Now
That’s a wrap on 2024. I heartily encourage you to dive into this stuff. I swear I have impeccable taste! Tee hee.
Love,
DL
Yo! I’m doing a special until December 31. If you like The Junction and want it to live well into next year, please make a small investment in it. Ho ho ho.