Picks for 2024
Sharing my favourite musical happenings of the year.
I know, another list. And originally I wasn’t planning on sending out a newsletter with my year end music picks, but every year I compile them for my own amusement, so I thought why not share them. I won’t give too much of a preamble but what I will say about 2024 is that I found it to be one of the strongest years in recent memory. In the end my favourite album was the one that actually convinced me to start First Revival. How about that?
I hope you can discover a release or two you may not have known about or maybe you just overlooked. I think they’re all pretty good!
P.S. I also threw in my favourite horror movies of 2024, because it was a pretty good year for those too, and I might start adding some horror-related content into this newsletter at some point.
Albums
30. Vampire Weekend: Only God Was Above Us
29. Torrey: Torrey
28. Velvet: Romance
27. Faye Webster: Underdressed At The Symphony
26. Trauma Ray: Chameleon
25. Horse Jumper of Love: Disaster Trick
24. Peel Dream Magazine: Rose Main Reading Room
23. Burrrn: Without You
22. Spirit of the Beehive: You’ll Have To Lose Something
21. Mercury Rev: Born Horses
20. Whitelands: Night-bound Eyes Are Blind To the Day
19. Cold Gawd: I’ll Drown On This Earth
18. Duster: In Dreams
17. Ariana Grande: eternal sunshine
16. Broadcast: Spell Blanket + Distant Call
15. Ducks Ltd: Harm’s Way
14. Mk.gee: Two Star & The Dream Police
13. The Cure: Songs of a Lost World
12. Opinion: Troisième Opinion
11. Wishy: Triple Seven
10. Mo Dotti: Opaque
9. Clairo: Charm
8. Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven
7. Belong: Realistic IX
6. Dummy: Free Energy
5. julie: My Anti-Aircraft Friend
4. MJ Lenderman: Manning Fireworks
3. Clinic Stars: Only Hinting
2. Kim Deal: Nobody Loves You More
1. DIIV: Frog In Boiling Water
Reissues
5. Velocity Girl: UltraCopacetic (Remixed and Expanded)
4. American Analog Set: The New Drifters
3. Majesty Crush: Butterflies Don’t Go Away
2. Ozean: Ozean
EPs
5. deary: Aurelia
4. untitled (halo): headbanger
3. Tanukichan: Circles
2. crushed: extra life
1. Wisp: Pandora
Tracks
50. Aluminum “Always Here, Never There”
49. deary “The Drift”
MUZZLE “You, The Acrobat”
47. Nilüfer Yanya “Like I say (I runaway)”
46. Luster “Like I Do”
45. untitled (halo) “emo is good”
44. Whitelands feat. Dottie “Tell Me About It”
43. Addison Rae “Diet Pepsi”
42. Glixen: lust
41. ENHYPEN: No Doubt
40. KATSEYE: Touch
39. Faye Webster: Lifetime
38. Tanukichan feat. Wisp: It Gets Easier
37. Mk.gee: Alesis
36. LE SSERAFIM “Star Signs”
35. Ariana Grande: yes, and?
34. The Last Dinner Party: Burn Alive
33. Cigarettes After Sex: Tejano Blue
32. Ducks Ltd. “Train Full of Gasoline”
31. The Marías: No One Noticed
30. Dummy: Blue Dada
29. RM: LOST!
28. The Cure: Alone
27. DIIV: Everyone Out
26. Jimin: Who
25. Kim Deal: Crystal Breath
24. Charli XCX: Talk talk featuring troye sivan
j-hope feat. Jung Kook: i wonder
22. RIP Swirl feat. Winter: Perfectly Blue
21. Billie Eilish: BIRDS OF A FEATHER
20. Jung Kook: Never Let Go
19. Wisp “I remember how your hands felt on mine”
18. MJ Lenderman: She’s Leaving You
17. Cassandra Jenkins: Only One
16. NewJeans: How Sweet
15. Mannequin Pussy: I Don’t Know You
14. Clairo: Juna
13. julie: clairbourne practice
12. Charli XCX: Sympathy is a knife featuring ariana grande
11. Belong: Souvenir
10. Wishy: Love On the Outside
9. MJ Lenderman: Wristwatch
8. Sabrina Carpenter: Don’t Smile
7. Crate: Julia
6. Shaboozey: A Bar Song (Tipsy)
5. Opinion: Mains
4. Cloakroom: Unbelonging
3. V: FRI(END)S
2. Ariana Grande: we can’t be friends (wait for your love)
1. Fontaines D.C.: Favourite
Concerts
10. Duster / Codeine - Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, March 28
9. Unwound / Wednesday - Concert Hall, Toronto, July 18
8. PJ Harvey - History, Toronto, September 25
7. MJ Lenderman - Lee’s Palace, Toronto, October 19
6. julie / Her New Knife - Concert Hall, Toronto, October 18
5. Slowdive / quannnic - Royal Oak Theatre, Detroit, November 23
4. DIIV / Horse Jumper Of Love / full body 2 - Concert Hall, Toronto, August 2
3. Pulp - History, Toronto, September 11
2. Sloan “Smeared front to back + more” - Concert Hall, Toronto, November 30
1. Air Play Moon Safari - Massey Hall, Toronto, October 12
Horror flicks*
10. Cuckoo
9. Late Night With The Devil
8. I Saw The TV Glow
7. Abigail
6. In a Violent Nature
5. Frankie Freako
4. MadS
3. Heretic
2. Oddity
1. The Substance
*I’m sure Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu would have made this list, but his loss for releasing it on Christmas.