2024 Listens

These are albums that I first discovered in 2024. I've spun them all frequently.

  1. Depeche Mode

    Have I ever sat down and listened to this before? No, not really. Am I a terrible person? Yes.

  2. That's a fun ol' album!

  3. Angelique Kidjo

    Been on my work-listening list for a while, which means random shuffle occasionally. First time listening to the album straight through and it's lovely.

  4. Masayoshi Takanaka

    A smooth groove.

  5. Himiko Kikuchi

    That was indeed a flight! Groovy.

  6. Masayoshi Takanaka

    Ran into The Rainbow Goblins on some forum post about "albums with a killer soundstage." The music is pretty good. The interludes are pretty weird. (Listen on YouTube. The other links are just to a single track.)

  7. Johnny Blue Skies, Sturgill Simpson

    Sturgill returning to form!

  8. Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O

    Another one via Album Whale–this time more chill.

  9. Roforofo Jazz

    Found this via Album Whale and it's quite a mood-lifter!

  10. Hans Zimmer

    Epic soundtrack suites from the epic sountracker himself, tracking pretty close to the setlist of his current tour.

  11. Reminds me so much of Natalie Prass.

  12. I've listened before and it didn't click. Patrick made me listen again and here we are!

  13. It good! Saw her open for Olivia Rodrigo and it sort of seemed inevitable.

  14. Red Velvet

    Years ago I introduced my kids to K-Pop with Red Velvet ("봐 Look"). I had no idea how wild they'd go with it! I don't listen to much, but this new EP seems to be pretty good pop music.

  15. Remi Wolf

    Pretty good pop music.

  16. Hiatus Kaiyote

    I'm a big fan of Hiatus Kaiyote. Totally surprised that they released a new album. Respect the experiments, but I'm not groovin' to this one as of yet.

  17. Lawrence

    They still haven’t captured their live or viral “acoustic” sets on a record, but this studio production is a marked improvement over their prior record. “23” and “Watcha Want”…😍.

  18. O.O.O

    My daughters are giant K-Pop fans, so I vowed to find some good K-Rock. This is very good K-Rock!

  19. Fleet Foxes

    Just turned this on. I'm sure it'll be good, yeah?

  20. Mei Semones

    A good little jam I found via Martin Griffiths.

  21. Lake Street Dive

    For as much as I loved Obviously, I really don't groove with this one. There's something about the production that just doesn't work for me. I suspect this band would be a great fun live, but some bands just have trouble translating that to a studio recording.

  22. Vampire Weekend

    I like. The whole family is going to a concert in July. This album should fit in nicely with the set.

  23. Decemberists, but with Squirrel Nut Zippers horns at times. Every song is "normal" length…and then we get to the 70's prog rock closer.

  24. Maggie Rogers

    Pretty good! If I'm being honest, I'm not fully-grabbed by it yet. This fantastic interview led me here.

  25. Maaya Sakamoto

    This is all over thematically. I might like that?

  26. This album feels like it has always been there. I had to double check that the songs weren’t all covers of tunes that I just hadn’t heard before.

    Basically listening to this on repeat.

  27. Corinne Bailey Rae

    This was not what I was expecting!

  28. Ben Platt

    Getting ready to attend his concert with the family at the end of June. Honey.

  29. Kacey Musgraves

    Succinct.

  30. Billie Eilish

    As always, Eilish's albums sound great. Nothing has grabbed me so far. Well, except for "LUNCH". 😆

  31. Surprisingly surprised by enjoying this one. Morning View is one of my favorites from the time, and there are some nice differences here.

  32. François-Xavier Roth, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Strauss

    Purty.

  33. Illiterate Light

    It's rock. Rock and roll!

  34. Metric

    I mean also, like the next album…yeah!

  35. Metric

    On repeat today. Some of these songs hit very effectively. (Looking at you, "Nothing Is Perfect.")

  36. Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä, Gustav Mahler

    This is a very nice rendition.

  37. Olivia Dean

    This has kind of been on repeat as I try to figure out search ads for another product we're working on. Sad that this great music will be tied to search ads in my head! (h/t Adam Wood)

  38. Andrea

    Listened once and put in my work concentration playlist for the year.

  39. Sarah Jarosz

    Jarosz is so good. Favorite is "Columbus & 89th". When the soft bass drum kicks in near the end. 🧑‍🍳😘 That song is the reason to own good headphones.

2024 Listens is an album list curated by Barry:

I'm one of the co-creators of Album Whale. I like music.
You can find me at bjhess.com.

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