The 50 greatest pieces of a busy year. A commented hit list – handpicked by Linus Volkmann.
Do others actually know this one thought when the flashy slides of the December Spotify Wrapped unfold in front of them? He goes like, “Oh, God! Under no circumstances should anyone ever get their hands on this!!!!” The complaints everywhere leave me cold about how lame it would be to display your wrap on social media. I much more wish I had to resist the temptation to share this personalized free ad for the unpleasant streaming service. But what should people think! That’s why I make sure that no one has my back when I look at this car crash of data collection against my will. Calming voices in my head try to mediate: “Oh, you hardly use Spotify,” I say to myself. “You actually have a much better taste in music than just those grindcore albums that you always listen to in full on the train when you want to dissociate yourself from your unpleasant fellow passengers via audio.” Well, my word in God’s ear and Spotify’s Wrapped Anus.
In any case, I’m very happy to be able to tell you the real true story of the pop year 2024 in 50+1 songs. My favorite pieces of this once again difficult year – here for you to sing, feel, cry and dance. Also prepared as a Spotify playlist. What an irony. Good luck with this, I’ll smell you later.
50+1 Tomte – “In Cologne and then in my room”
The song is as old as the German mark, but since Thees Uhlmann released an epic “Best Of” this year, the piece can be considered a bonus track. I heard “In Cologne and then in my room” in Cologne in the nineties and instantly fell in love. It was the first I had ever heard of these birds from Tomte (still in the Hemmoor occupation). Impressively short (1:40), urgent and emo. A wonderful start to this list here. So guys, what’s going on, are you up for it?!
50 Lola Young – “Messy”
Okay, then the reckoning begins with the next catastrophic year in series: Lola Young from London has written a hymn about being a catastrophe for yourself and others in everyday life. And at the latest when she sings “I pull a Britney every other week,” I feel like she meant more than I wanted. Great piece between empowerment and self-disclosure.
49 Finch x SDP × Phil The Beat – “Adventureland”
In an unholy ceremony, Pur’s rear-end collision song “Abenteuerland” is given new life in a bassed 90s sound. “Stephen King’s Cuddly Toy Cemetery,” on the other hand, was still family entertainment. A satanic banger for everyone who likes to tune in to the YouTube disco after 1.5 per mille.
48 Lyschko – “One last bit of life”
I don’t know if it’s supposed to be that way, but Lina Holzrichter’s voice gives me forbidden flashbacks to that of Ina Deter (“The country needs new men“). Lyschko have such an eighties German rock atmosphere that I often think about them: Oh, it wasn’t all bad under Klaus Lage. This is probably because the Solingen band fried this type of sound in a very contemporary neo-new wave. What I’m getting at: The result sounds really damn unique – and I love it.
47 Peppone – “You can have me tomorrow”
Even though the band with a Magdeburg background has been around for a long time, the number of clicks on YouTube suggests that I shouldn’t assume they are well known. Peppone make understatement power pop that is reminiscent of Love A or grafzahl. If these names are unfamiliar to you, then take a listen here. I like the comfort in this piece, in these lines. A song that wants you to stop beating yourself up because of FOMO.
46 Vampire Weekend – “Capricorn”
I have no idea about dreamy hippie music, I have no idea of the Summer of Love in 1967 – but that’s pretty much how I imagine both. On “Capricorn” I particularly like this stoney percussion overload and, above all, this benevolent atmosphere.