JeffPutz.com

2024 Playlist

posted by Jeff | Tuesday, December 31, 2024, 2:05 PM | comments: 0

This was a pretty great year for the playlist, and the biggest since 2018. It ties for fourth place at 35 songs (2014 holds the record at 55, an exceptional year). This was not a single-heavy year though, and in fact I was really pleased at the number of albums that I loved this year. I love listening to albums. Thoughts, in no particular order...

U2 is still relevant and making great music. They released an live EP from 1993, and I included one song here, while they started the year with "Atomic City," released during their Las Vegas residency at The Sphere, which I love. There were a number of reliable single producers, like Death Cab, SHAED, Paramore, Foster The People and Glass Animals. Newcomers that we'll probably never hear again included Towa Bird, Daisy Grenade and Yonaka. I also started the year with boygenius, and yes, that song came out earlier last year, but it was always in my head and I neglected to list it last year.

The first album that grabbed me was Olivia Rodrigo's Guts, and it was delicious despite the gross name. I can't help but think that if she were born 30 years ago she would have been right at home on alt rock radio stations. She's generally labeled as pop, but she's a rock star. She plays instruments, swears like a sailor and talks about some pretty deep feelings. I adore her. There's a subtle maturity to her music, despite her age.

I want to call out Paramore's Talking Heads cover, because it's faithful to the original but very much Paramore. And Paramore has in recent years shifted to a sound that is more unique. It's not that I didn't like their emo stuff, but it was kind of homogenous with other emo stuff. I think they continue to find a sound that is more their own, and I dig that.

We spent a half-week in DC for spring break, and the reason it wasn't longer was that I had to be back in time for the Jagged Little Pill tour here in Orlando. As much as I hate jukebox shows, Alanis is synonymous with Gen-X rage/apathy, and she owned alt rock and pop radio for years around the time that I graduated from college. Diablo Cody wrote a book for the show, and with some lyrical tweaks, you'd think that those songs (not all from Jagged) were made for the musical. We totally loved it, and I went back to see it a second time. Then the cast album dominated long drives and Saturday night barbecue/cocktail hours. It's so good. "Unprodigal Daughter" was a B-side for Under Rug Swept, her third album, and was released on an EP of scraps. But it's so perfect here.

Mike Shinoda has been doing solo stuff with various collaborators since the other singer from Linkin Park died by suicide. It's weird, I always kind of liked Linkin Park, but never bought any of the albums. So between last his solo singles this year and last, and last year's Linkin Park posthumous "Lost," my head was spinning at the surprise new album and video and touring onslaught from the band with new singer Emily Armstrong. She's awesome. It's still Linkin Park, but different, in a good way, and she can scream the classics. "The Emptiness Machine" is the song I needed in the moment, and the album is very, very strong. I promptly bought the Papercuts greatest hits album, and was surprised that I knew most of the songs. After 20+ years, it makes sense.

Billie Eilish, what can I say, the hype is real. Three albums in, she keeps getting better and better. If I'm to interpret her interviews right, she's rolling with her fame in a positive way, and continues to evolve while keeping her head on straight. Hit Me Hard And Soft is richer than any of her previous stuff, and I think part of that is her brother Finneas growing up and getting better in his production skills. I desperately hope she grows up without sex scandals and drug abuse and public meltdowns. I'm in your corner, Billie!

Then there's Aurora, which I've been into for quite awhile, if not dedicated to buying all of her albums. In fact, I bought her debut album and skipped the three since, probably more because I didn't know about them more than anything. But What Happened To The Heart? is everything that I liked about her debut. She has a beautiful world music vibe that I imagine is some cross of Nordic and Celtic (I feel kind of ignorant about that), with elements of pop and rock and electronic, and it's just so fucking good. The two tracks that I included reflect that diversity. Also, she's kind of weird in all of the right ways, and I dig that. And remember that time they stuck her in the background in the 2020 Oscars for Frozen 2's "Into The Unknown?" That was weird.

When I saw Tears For Fears in 2022, all I could think was, shit, they need to make a live album and video from this tour. Well, it turns out that they did. It is missing one song from the tour set list ("End Of Night," in the encore), but they did add four new songs presumably left over from The Tipping Point, which I will argue is their best album, despite the weight and importance of their first three albums. I really like three of the four new tracks, and having a live cut of "Badman's Song," one of my favorite songs ever, is excellent. The accompanying movie had two showings I couldn't get to, and so far, no hint of streaming, which is a bummer.

Just when I thought the playlist was locked, Lauren Mayberry, the singer from CHVRCHES, released a solo album. It is fantastic, start to finish. Didn't see that coming at all. Sure, it has some of the electronic influences of the band, but this is lyrically deeper and the production is more interesting. I haven't been able to stop listening to it the last few weeks. It's so good. She said in an interview that in the band she typically wrote lyrics to existing music, and this was the opposite. It kind of shows.

It might be worth mentioning that this year's Sofi Tukker album, BREAD, was deeply disappointing. Pandemic offering WET TENNIS was so good, and this is... not. And I hate to even say that because they seem like two of the most delightful people you might ever meet. Hopefully it's just a anomaly.

For the visually inclined, I made a YouTube playlist here.

Lauren Mayberry - Vicious Creatures album cover

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