ALBUM OF THE YEAR
David Gilmour – Luck and Strange
David Gilmour released his latest solo album, Luck & Strange, this year, and the minute I finished my first play through, I knew this would be an untouchable album in 2024. This is an absolutely perfect album, and it was a huge surprise to me. It was a surprise mainly because I have never heard a Gilmour solo album that was consistently good up to this point. From his debut solo album up to Rattle that Lock, there were always strong songs, but each album was littered with filler. Luck and Strange, however, is perfect.
I know that “perfect” is a strong word, but it is a perfect album. The title track, “The Piper’s Call”, the magnificent “Between Two Points” (featuring David’s daughter Romany on lead vocals and harp), the pensive “Dark and Velvet Nights,” and the psychedelic, dark epic “Scattered” showcase some of Gilmour’s strongest performances and compositions (Sans Between Two Points which The Montgolfier Brothers originally did).
Love & Strange is a collection of songs with a man nearing 80 observing, contemplating, and accepting his mortality, which is why I feel this album was performed like it may be the last thing he ever does. And if it is, David Gilmour can go out as a proud human being, knowing he made the album he truly wanted.
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Magick Brother & Mystic Sister – Tarot Pt. I & Tarot Pt. II
For the first time in my lifetime (that I know of), a band that I genuinely loved delivered not one but two massively excellent albums in the same year. In 2020, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister’s self-titled debut album was one of my favorite albums of the year. When that happens, I generally set the bar even higher for a band, and my expectations can sometimes be too high. Leave it to Magick Brother & Mystic Sister to not only surpass the bar with one album, but they did it with two albums, Tarot Pt. I and Tarot Pt. II
The concept of MBMS’s Tarot albums revolve around, you guessed it, the cards of the Tarot deck. The creative core of Magick Brother & Mystic Sister (Eva Muntada and Xavi Sandoval) view the Tarot as something that offers answers to many of the questions we ask ourselves. Viewing the Tarot as a game of introspection, each song from Tarot I & II focuses on spiritual and cosmic interpretations of each chosen card. The music is a cosmic cerebral journey that tells the story and any lyrics of these songs. Even then, each card is left for your own deciphering. The music is merely a guide and a vehicle for the journey. These aren’t just two of my favorite albums of the year but probably of the last 20 years, and yes, I mean that.
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Dina Ogon – Orion
A little bit funky, soulful, and a lot of “all the feels,” Swedish band Dina Ogon is hard to pin down. Orion is an album that straddles the line of psychedelic groove rock and lush, danceable pop, The Sexiness of Sade, and the stoner cosmic groove of Jamiroqai. The songs on Orion are all sung in the band’s native Swedish dialect. This could be a barrier or a deterrent to some, but I see it as an opportunity to create my own narrative. I don’t know what the lyrics mean, but I’m actually at the point where I can sing along with these songs and not know a damn word I’m saying. Don’t worry; I translated all of the lyrics to make sure they weren’t some like crazy neo-political stuff, and the best part of it was that, based on the translations, I only nailed three songs at most as to what I thought they were singing about. That’s a fucking great thing.
Orion is an album that has something that everyone can connect with on any level of listening. If you want to smoke a joint/pop an edible and melt into your chair, or if you’re going to have a groovy group or solo dance party in the basement, Orion is the perfect album for those moments. It’s not so much that there is a particular song for all the various moods, but each song can translate into any vibe or mood you want. It’s sexy, it’s beautiful, it’s funky, it’s Dina Ogon.
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Soccer Mommy – Evergreen
In 2022, I finally felt comfortable to brave the public and attend live music. Soccer Mommy was the first show I attended sans mask, and I can honestly say it was a landmark show. Not just because of that but also because I was finally getting to see an artist whose music was a massive part of the soundtrack of my life during COVID-19. Her album Sometimes Forever was fantastic, but the follow-up, Evergreen, was on a whole other playing ground.
Where Sometimes, Forever was more of an assortment of melancholy indie rock with hints of psych rock weaved throughout, Evergreen has Soccer Mommy dialing it back and releasing a much more organically rooted album, and she did so successfully. Channeling more of the alternative 90s roots rock elements of bands such as REM, Cowboy Junkies, and Juliana Hatfield rather than the more grunge.
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Kati Ran – Sala
Over the past five years or so, I found myself yet again in an obsessive rabbit hole of dark folk and dark Nordic Folk. I have been mesmerized by the sounds of bands like Wardruna, Heilung, and Trobar de Morte, but in 2024, it was all about Dutch vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Kati Ran that stopped me in my tracks. Kati Ran’s Sala is unlike anything on this list, and if you haven’t opened yourself up to the world of dark, Nordic folk music, this is the perfect place to start. It’s beautifully accessible, full of depth, warmth, and a voice that evokes all the feels.
In a genre sometimes dominated by male energy, Kati Ran takes the horns and creates a triumphant musical occasion celebrating sensuality, sexuality, and the strength of the female entity. The album, as a whole, sounds like a ceremony. It’s beautiful, soothing, unnerving, and haunting all at the same time. Just within the span of a song, I went from feeling relaxed and peaceful to feeling uneasy and even intimidated. Kati Ran did a fantastic job with this release, and it has solidified itself as one of my favorite albums of the year, if not the decade.
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Guillotine Spring – Eclosion
From the ashes of the highly acclaimed psychedelic/folk band Galley Beggar comes Guillotine Spring, the latest band from husband and wife songwriting team Mat and Maria Fowler. I was a HUGE Galley Beggar fan, but Guillotine Spring has taken it all to a new level. Sometimes, I found Galley Beggar to be stuck somewhat in a box of being a more “traditional” folk-type band, but with Guillotine Spring, they broke the mold and let the songs dictate where they were to go on their 2024 release Eclosion.
The title track for this album is probably the best song these kids have ever written, and that’s not taking away from their past stuff. The sounds of psychedelic New Orleans ala Dr. John with some more of that dark neo-folk they do so well are all present, but it’s not just one consistently dull ride. There’s a lot of variation to this album, and the musical performances on this one are out of this world.
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Lunar Vacation – Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire
Atlanta indie rockers Lunar Vacation have been a mainstay favorite of mine since I first heard them back in the summer of ’22. For a bunch of youngins, Lunar Vacation embodies an old soul kind of spirit when it comes to the music they place. Instead of pulling from more modern influences, Lunar Vacation pulls from the Athens, GA, indie scene of old with influences like Love Tractor and REM paired with the sounds of The Lemonheads, The GoGos, and Neko Case, to name a few.
Their 2024 release, Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire, is a fantastic step forward from their previous release, Inside Every Fig is a Dead Wasp. Musically, the songs are organically beautiful and natural, with lots of subtle ear candy. Lyrically, while the band’s first 2 EP releases showcase a youthful, fun, anthemic vibe, Everything Matters, Everything’s Fire is focused, thoughtful, and mature. The endless touring and life experiences that Lunar Vacation has had as just an early 20-something create a much more experienced and perfected sound.
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Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project
Legendary Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson released his sixth solo album, The Mandrake Project, this year, and it was his first since 2005’s Tyranny of Souls. Many fans much anticipated this album, but after its release, it was met with mixed feelings. It almost seemed to be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing. Many reasons were given as to why they didn’t like it, but I enjoyed this album quite a bit.
The tuning down of the instruments lends itself to Bruce’s voice, showcasing the power he still has in his voice. I wish Maiden would adopt this practice. The production is very thick and muddy, but it works so well with these songs. Lyrically, Bruce is definitely “storytelling” more so than he ever has, so it has a fantasy vibe with an almost Dio-esque kind of visual in the songs. Fantastic album but you’ll have to decide what side of the fence you are on.
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Trey Anastasio – Atriums
I was a huge Phish fan for many, many years. While still a fan of their early stuff (’93 – ’98), I haven’t enjoyed anything they’ve done in recent years. Like all of us, they’re just a band that I grew out of at some point. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Phish guitarist/vocalist Trey Anastasio had released an instrumental ambient album called Atriums.
Phish did four shows (April 18, 19, 20, and 21) at the Sphere in Las Vegas. To accompany the shows, Anastasio created a collection of soundscapes to be played in the atriums of the Sphere during intermission. It’s a great listen, but you can tell that Anastasio is almost there. This style of music sounds very new to him, but the fact that he was bold enough to put this out as a release shows that he is very proud of it. After hearing this one, I look forward to seeing if he will venture into this genre more.
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