The year 2024 has once again produced a large number of albums – 50 of which particularly impressed the ROLLING STONE editorial team – the complete list here.
50
Geordie Greep – “The New Sound”
Whether black midi continues or not, Geordie Greep’s first solo album, The New Sound, couldn’t be a bolder departure from his time with the band. It brings prog rock elements, fusion jazz and Latin American rhythms together with an often humorously broken theatricality. Sometimes something like fragile romance even creeps in.
“Holy, Holy” alone, which cheerfully mixes disco influences with tropical folklore, can hardly be put into words. In the guise of a cynical, eloquent priest, the singer tells outrageous stories about people who are losing their souls. He shoots at intellectuals with dark lyrics and, after a frenzy of burlesque samba rhythms, later calms himself down with a cheerful, melancholic ride into the evening sun (“If You Are But A Dream”).
Although the eccentricity of black midi is always noticeable, the record is less dark and apocalyptic than albums like “Hellfire”. It’s more like a cinematic fever dream. The eleven brilliantly directionless Latin big band arrangements were recorded with a 30-piece orchestra in London, some with musicians cast on the street in Brazil. Greep draws on Steely Dan, Frank Zappa and Jacques Brel, and even ABC’s art pop isn’t far away. But the mentor behind excursions of up to twelve minutes into previously untouched soundscapes is undoubtedly Scott Walker.
This is all a lot of creative chaos that it’s better not to expose yourself to unprotected. But there is no doubt that the musician is deliberately portraying himself as a troublemaker, pouring gasoline on and setting fire to a soulless pop music that has become bogged down in a lack of form, an excess of emotions and the compulsion to make socio-political commitments. Geordie Greep’s debut is the cathartic new reflection of a musician who almost manically wants to hold all the reins himself. – Marc Vetter
49
MGMT – “Loss of Life”
Always in transit! If you want to categorize it, the American duo is on the move again. The actual psychedelia experts, who have already amazed people with perfect synth pop, are this time taking a detour to the seventies and the middle-of-the-road sound of the time. David Bowie, Steve Harley and Procol Harum wave as we leave! But the Californian sun is suddenly shining on Liverpool. – FL
48
Wayne Graham – “Bastion”
Perhaps more people in Europe than in their native Kentucky have now understood that Wayne Graham is one of the most exciting Americana adepts of today. On “Bastion”, the band around Kenny and Hayden Miles spices up their sound, which is based on Little Feat, Grateful Dead and some West Coast rock role models, with a dash of jazz. A nice example: the “Take Five”-like sound structure of “The Patsy”. – MG
47
Porridge Radio – “Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me”
Her album titles are too long, but Brit Dana Margolin always gets to the dark point in her songs. Porridge Radio’s fourth album is about separations and excessive demands. Their hypnotic to frenetic post-punk/indie rock songs are rarely comforting, but they immediately touch your heart. And in the end she gathers hope: “Sick Of The Blues”! – BF
46
Maggie Rogers – “Don’t Forget Me”
A sound that hits the happy medium between folk introspection (“All The Same”) and dance (“Drunk”). Vocal mannerisms should represent great emotion. Maggie Rogers is particularly good when she takes things down a notch, like in the laid-back Mac vibe of “So Sick Of Dreaming” or alone at the piano with “I Still Do”. – JF
45
Maya Shenfeld – “Under The Sun”
“There is nothing new under the sun,” says the Old Testament. This could also be the maxim from which minimal music emerged. But what value does the aesthetics of repetition have in an era of radical upheaval? In “Under The Sun” Maya Shenfeld uses analog synthesizers, woodwinds, field recordings and vocals to create the musical reflection of a world that is out of balance. – JB
44
Jake Xerxes Fussell – “When I’m Called”
Riding forward and looking back openly: The cover is a good picture of the way the North Carolina-based musician works, who has internalized like no other of his generation that it is not enough to try to “authentically” recreate folk tradition. Elegantly, with unerring timing, also partly orchestral, Fussell transfers field recordings and other found and set pieces into new contexts. – JF
43
Jack White – “No Name”
The best white album since the end of the White Stripes? Let the songs sink in longer. But the garage rock in tracks like “Old Scratch Blues” breathes the spirit of the earliest don’t-give-a-fuck numbers. The distribution of the record via White’s own record stores is falsely modest, because the comprehensive release across all sales channels was certain – it would also be a shame if “No Name” remained hidden. – SN
42
Nilüfer Yanya – “My Method Actor”
An unmistakable voice in British indie rock (and an urgently scratchy guitar): After “Painless”, Nilüfer Yanya pitched the beats down to trip-hop temperature and recorded her most self-confident work with “My Method Actor”. She seems relaxed, although her lyrics say otherwise:
“I’ll dig my own grave / I don’t give a fuck / You know I’m not ashamed to jump in.”
Do you believe her immediately? – SZ
41
Hurray for the Riff Raff – “The Past Is Still Alive”
In 2024, Alynda Segarra recorded a surprisingly simple, happy Americana album with concise songs and straightforward melodies. But there is immense sadness in this music. She says goodbye to her deceased father, but also to the ending world:
“I used to think I was born in the wrong generation, but now I know I made it right on time / To watch the world burn, with a tear in my eye.” – JS