Twenty-four of 2024
Twenty-four of the best overlooked tracks of 2024
2024 was said to have been a great year in music, and while I can’t totally disagree.. I do think it was a bit of a mixed bag. Yes, there was a ton of music. Partially because it seemed like every old band you could think of put out an album — if not new material, a re-issue or compilation. Even Les Savy Fav, who I covered back in 2023, put out a new album… that they were likely recording as I was writing an article that ended with me wondering if they would ever release more music. And I have to say, I wasn’t really into any of the new stuff I heard from all the old bands releasing material last year… even from the bands I love. (sorry!)
That said, there was actually a lot of good new music I didn’t see mentioned on any of the other year end lists, so here are 24 of the best overlooked songs of 2024. As usual, the list is only loosely in order… except for the first track, that was from my favorite album of 2024, which was one of the few albums that made me feel like it was actually 2024 instead of an HD version of the past.
OOMY — Otis Sandsjö, Y-OTIS TRE ; February 23
Otis Sandsjö is a Swedish saxophonist based in Berlin, who I first featured here back in 2022.
I never do album of the year, because, to be totally honest, there aren't a lot of albums I can listen to all the way through — even by bands I love. Otis Sandsjö has been a favorite of mine for a few years now and I don't usually listen to most of the first album in this Y-Otis series, despite still being obsessed with "YUNG". The third album in this series came out in 2024 , titled Y-OTIS TRE — and IMO it’s the best so far, and would definitely be my pick for album of the year.
2020’s Y-OTIS 2 was really good, but I've barely listened to it since TRE came out. With the exception of "RHUBARBS" this album is perfect (I can’t help but hear “Pop goes the weasel”, and I hate it). In fact, my most-streamed track of the year was "CLICKS 2023". Admittedly, it was the second half of the track that kept me going back for more, so I decided to give the top spot to my second-most streamed track of the year, which is a little more accessible and also happens to be first on the album — which is right where you should start!
Autopilot — Theo Moss, Autopilot [Single]; July 17
Theo Moss is a young indie rock artist from southern California. I honestly don't know much about her and haven't really read much about her online, so I was a little worried I was about to find out I picked an AI artist for my number 2 song. But she's a real person, apparently, and this was her debut single off an "upcoming" EP. Though, that was back in July and I don't see an EP yet. That said, this infectious fuzzy indie rock single — heavily influenced by PJ Harvey, Mazy Star, and other 90s alt/indie acts — is definitely an ear worm, and if she can manage at least 4 more songs of this caliber on her EP, she’d probably blow up… but until then…
Things Will Fall Apart — Louis Cole, Nothing ; August 9
Louis Cole is a classically-trained jazz musician and multi-instrumentalist from Los Angles — a "bedroom" musician whose music is too big for a single room… unless that room happens to be a porta-potty.
Over the last decade, or so, he has practically changed the definition of "house music". Whether with his band Knower, or playing under his own name, he has become known for his performances with full brass, woodwind, and choir sections spread throughout and outside his (?) house.
With his 2024 album Nothing he went even bigger and worked with the Dutch pop orchestra, Metropole Orkest, and conductor Jules Buckley — the album being a collection of live performances from June of 2023. While this single is great, the entire album's worth of performances are definitely worth watching to really get full grasp of his command of orchestral writing and arranging mixed with a his distinct style of funk. Watch it here.
Banding A Part — Windows 96, 19999 ; March 23
Windows 96 is an electronic music project by Brazilian composer and producer Gabriel Eduardo. Windows 96 is another artist I’ve previously covered, and has been on every Best Of list I've made since starting IFRQ-FM, and I have yet to see him on another year end list.
Well, in 2024 he released another album — 3 full albums, in fact (44 songs).. and all within the first 5 months of year. While impressive, I gotta admit, I think it probably should have been 2 albums. 19999 and Yes Da Da Da both had multiple tracks I really enjoy. I can't say the same for Dated New Aesthetic, despite having the perfect name for a Windows 96 album.
Picking which song to include here was tough. It was a toss up between "Banding A Part" and "Apartments". In the end I chose "Banding A Part" because A) it’s the less popular of the two, and that’s kinda the theme B) like many Windows 96 songs, "Apartments" has a switch up 2/3s (or so) into the song. For multiple W96 songs that was what actually hooked me, the switch-up, but not this time. I don't hate it, it's just... I'd rather just start the track over to listen to the first 2/3s again. While not included here, it's definitely one to listen to as well — which is why I included it on the extended 2024 playlist. "Sleep Chamber" and "Irreal" are great, too.
On 19999 "Minds Grey Eyes", "Meaningless Timeslot", and "Happiness National Remiks" are highlights also worth checking out.
IWNU — Waldo's Gift, Strength In Tenderness 2.0 ; October 16
t l k is a vocalist and producer based in Bristol. I don't know much about her — fortunately, this isn't technically about her, but about a band I've highlighted here multiple times over the years, and still feel as unknown as the first time I mentioned them: Waldo's Gift — a three-piece alt-jazz band, also from Bristol, with a thing for effects pedals.
This is their interpretation of a t l k song that originally appeared on her 2022 EP that her 2024 album was extending. Waldo's Gift’s single "Candifloss" from October is also worth checking out, but I thought their version of IWNU was just a little better.
Daylight Song — Wu-Lu, Learning To Swim On Empty ; May 17
Wu-lu, real name Miles Romans-Hopcraf, is a Brixton musician who seems hard to pin down. Sometimes he'll be described as punk, other times as a rapper, but he's really just a modern indie artist blending elements of multiple genres. He does occasionally rap, and his first album was nominated for Libera Awards' "Best Punk Record"... but I kinda feel like there are way too many acoustic guitars, string sections, break beats, and harmonies for it to be a “punk” album, even it was a little edgy. I don't really get that, and I don't really think his 2024 EP would be described that way either. Learning To Swim On Empty is a lot more vocal-centric and vibe-y than his previous material, and this track the most vibe-y on the album.
False Landing — MEMORIALS, Memorial Waterslides ; October 4
Verity Susman and Matthew Simms have been making music together for more than 15 years but it wasn't until 2022 they decided to be an actual band with an actual name. Their first 2 albums were a little all over the place genre-wise, but with Memorial Waterslides (which, honestly, is just a funny concept — and why I initially checked it out), they dial it in and stay more or less in the same lane for the entire album. This is one of the least popular songs on the album, but I honestly think it's the best, and wish they explored this particular direction a little more.
All Colors (6BLOCC & WCLF Remix) - Bassnectar, No Colors ; September 27
Bassnectar, Lorin Gabriel Ashton, is a DJ and electronic music producer from Santa Cruz. I've been listening Bassnectar on & off for decade now and I didn't even know his name until writing this. Apparently, he's been in some trouble after getting accused of some pretty insane stuff by two girls back in 2020.
Until there's some kind of judgement made I can't get that worked up about it, especially considering one of the two accusers already dropped their case (which were both civil, not criminal). I feel like we’ve seen this before.
Personally, I'm a little annoyed that I even know this. Now I have to make the choice to leave this track in the playlist and take heat for it... when it's just a cool track to listen to while doing other things — it's really not that deep. If any of the insane things he's accused of turn out to be true, I'll retract and admit that I should have jumped on the bandwagon.
I don't even have any particular love for Bassnectar, I just like a handful of his tracks. But I find it weird reading all the comments from people — who claimed to have really loved his work for years — disown him in an instant him over an accusation. Maybe they know something they're not sharing in the comment sections I’ve read, but from what I could gather, it kinda seems to be as simple as underage groupies lying about their age, Lorin (Bassnectar) hooking up with them, and providing travel arrangements to do so... and lawyers are interpreting that in the worst ways legally possible. Which is now how people online are talking about it — and talking as if it's proven fact… even though the trial doesn’t start until February of 2025. Ughhh... next song!
Rapids — Seafoam Walls, Standing Too Close To The Elephant In The Room ; October 18
Seafoam Walls — on Thurston Moore’s label Daydream Library Series — is a band from Miami that blends Jazz, Shoegaze, and Indie Rock. While it's not a sound with a lot to offer that's new, they still manage to keep it feeling fresh. One of the few on this list that I would recommend listening to the entire album. As they say, it's a vibe.
Are You There God? It's Me, @ - @, Are You There God? It's Me, @ ; January 12
@ (At) is duo Victoria Rose and Stone Filipczak. They hit the scene in 2023 with an acoustic indie-folk sound, but their 2024 EP is more experimental in composition while also introducing electronic elements and production. Some of it works, some of it is kinda meh, but this track is pretty good... though, I can't not hear the last words as "I can't keep making lasagna" — and, TBH, it kinda made me like it more... not sure I want to know the real words.
Humdrum — ELLiS·D, Humdrum [Single]; March 5
ELLiS·D is a drummer-turned solo artist and producer from Brighton. His sound is basically glam & kraut rock mixed with post-punk through the lens of modern garage rock. While CAN & New York Dolls have been name dropped in reference to him, 2 of the 3 singles he released in 2024 remind me a bit of Pere Ubu, and his 2023 album is kinda like a more blues-based version of early Talking Heads.
Anyway, if all that name dropping isn't a clue, this isn't something all that original, but it is catchy. Even though most of his songs remind me of other older bands, he still manages to layer enough influences that it never quite sounds like it's just karaoke for a specific band.
Lucky Zoe — Apifera, Keep The Outside Open ; June 21
While Apifera is described as a psychedelic jazz, I feel like there are other albums on this list that would be a better fit with that description. I also kinda feel like this song doesn't really fit with the rest of the album it's on — which is perfectly competent, but maybe a little forgettable.
I think this track could be removed without really impacting the album as a whole, but then used as the thematic basis of an entirely separate EP. There's something sticky about this one that I don't hear in the rest of the album, but it's not enough to carry the album on its own... so it kinda gets lost — which you can see with it being the second-least popular song on the album, and it really deserves better IMO.
Wahid Jive — Reinier Baas, Relief Party ; April 5
Reinier Baas is a multi-instrumentalist from Amsterdam. His latest album is described as "Dance music for odd people", though, for the most part, it's pretty laid back. Coincidentally, some of the faster songs just happen to feature Louis Cole on drums. Not really sure what else to say... kinda tired of writing these.
Pulls So Fast — Micah Preite, Pulls So Fast ; October 30
I can't find much info on Micah Preite other than what's on his Bandcamp page: he's a guitarist, producer, and composer based in Los Angeles. This song popped into my Spotify recommends and I've been listening to it since. I described it as being kind of a spooky (in a Jack Skeleton way) Elliott Smith... and as it turns out that when Micah announced the release on Instagram, he said it had "some spooky season inspired jams".
I have to admit that I didn't listen to the entire album close enough to catch if there is an over-arching theme, but the last 3 songs on the album all reference this song... "Invite" being a reprise of this song, and the last two songs' titles are taken from lyrics of this song, though they seem unrelated otherwise. Overall, a neat album, but this track is definitely the standout… but somehow only the 3rd most popular.
Thicker Than Blood — E Poise, Hell or High Water ; Friday, October 4
Poise is NYC-based songwriter Lucie Murphy. She's generally leaned into more of an indie rock sound, but with this release she explored a little electronic production with tracks “Give” and “Marble” — which are/were, respectively, one of the least-popular and most-popular songs on the album. Personally, I think “Give” is the cooler song, but w/e. That said, I still picked one that was in the indie rock lane she's been in with her previous releases simply because it's the one I listened to the most.
Mind's a Lie — High Vis, Guided Tour ; October 18
High Vis is apparently a hard core band from London… either the definition of "Hard Core" has changed, or maybe they didn't upload that material to Spotify — but I didn't really hear anything that I would call hard core. Regardless, this song and album, is a bit of a departure from their previous releases (and even further from something I would call “hard core”) due to the layering of almost dissonant genres. Particularly in this track: there's the shimmery clean guitars, the clean bass (guitar) line alternating with the synth bass, with four on the floor beats, over samples of South London singer Ell Murphy.. all making for a pretty laid back vibe — which makes the shouty vocals all the more odd. It doesn't really make sense, but kinda works. The entire album is like that — going from sounding like angry Smiths, to an actual hard core band, sort of.. for one song. It’s interesting, and catchy at times, but I’m not sure it’s strong enough to be more than a novelty.
Square Grouper — Electric Kif, Square Grouper ; August 23
Electric Kif is a prog rock group from Miami who does some interesting rhythm explorations... it's not the most innovative thing around, but it's perfectly competent. This track is a little more blues-based than the rest of the album, which makes it that one song that stands out out on the album — while having just enough style to it to make it interesting, but also remaining kinda familiar.
Grow - DARGZ Remix — MIA GLADSTONE, Grow Remix [Single] ; December 11
Mia Gladstone is a singer-songwriter and music producer from NYC (originally NJ) with an entire paragraph of buzzword identifiers. This track is actually a remix of a song from her 2019 debut EP by London jazz musician DARGZ (originally from NYC). It's a catchy two-minute bop — that's really about it, and we're on to the next song...
Wavy Feels — Assaf Spector, Wavy Feels [Single] ; Friday, April 5
Assaf Spector is a music producer and multi-instrumentalist from NYC. In 2023 he started releasing singles in collaboration with fellow producer and multi-instrumentalist Gitkin pretty much every month until September of 2024. Because they're singles spread over multiple years it was a little difficult to keep track of them, but of what I've heard, this was the standout track.
Cling to a Poisoned Dream — Pissed Jeans, Half Divorced ; March 1
I'm not sure if Philadelphia's Pissed Jeans counts as part of the old-wave revival, but... this was their first album in 7 years, and their 2017 album was the last in a string of 3 albums over 6 years after the release of King of Jeans, or more specifically "False Jesii Part 2", which is really the only song of theirs people know/listen to (said as a fan myself, but.. let’s be honest)... and that was all the way back in 2009 — if you needed any further context for this song. Anyway, it's pretty good, check it out… and it looks like lead singer Matt Korvette finally said the big, long goodbye (hair). I bet he feels a lot better.
KC/AD — Elias Stemeseder, Neon Dilemma ; June 1
Elias Stemeseder is a Jazz musician and composer from Cologne, Germany. This album was technically recorded in 2022, but wasn't released until 2024. This track is one of the most difficult listens on this list, but it’s worth it — I wanted to put it higher, but I decided just being included is probably good enough. I actually wanted to include "Tox-Anselm", which is... compositionally-sound, but almost impossible to listen to — there was just something curious about it that made me keep going back, like a kid tasting a lemon for the first time over and over again.
Just Be — Lealani, Just Be [Single]; March 17
Lealani is an indie electronic singer-songwriter and producer from southern California. I covered her here a few years ago, and "Just Be" is the first material she's released since then. Like other artists on this list, she didn't release an album this year, but she did release several singles. "Just Be" is a perfectly catchy song, but… her vocals are out of tune/pitchy in the verses — it's masked with an effect in the 2nd verse, which hides it a bit, but... I wished she maybe did another take or two on the verses — at the same time, she does just want to just be.. (Though, ya coulda thrown that effect on the first verse, too. Just sayin’). Regardless, I like it. "Desert in the Sky" was another single she released in 2024 that was pretty good... I just thought "Just Be" was a bit better (even with the weird vocals).
Oaxaca — Gal Go, A deshacer ; March 22
London-based Ignacio Salvadores is an Argentinian saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist and producer (and longtime King Krule collaborator) who goes by the stage name Gal Go. In 2024 he released two 5-song EPs... that really could have been mixed & matched to make one really good EP with no filler, IMO. “Oaxaca” is probably the most single-worthy song on A deshacer — "Brújula" and "Titanic" are both pretty cool tracks as well. On his other EP B mi mal tracks 1 and 4 are pretty good. I think released together they would have made for a more impactful single release.
Passing Mirrors — Lucy In Disguise; Passing Mirrors ; August 8
Lucy in Disguise is California-born synthwave producer Steven Romeo. I gotta be honest, I haven't listen to all that much his stuff because, like a lot of synthwave, it can all start to blend together — even from artist to artist. Though, every once in a while, he seems to get it just right, like with “V.T.W.A” from his 2018 album Unknown Frequency. And while I don't think it's quite on that level, “Passing Mirrors” is still in my top 5 Lucy tracks. “OB6” was pretty good too, had a Windows 96 vibe to it.
Oh you made a playlist for it, excellent!
Sheer genius behind this compilation. ROLLING STONE, are you listening? I was blown away.