The 100 Best Recordings of 2024 (Part 1 of 2)

All Genres, All Styles, All Geographies

I’m delighted to share my 100 favorite recordings of 2024. The first 50 titles are listed below (in alphabetical order), and I’ll publish the rest in a few days.

I provide a link to audio or video for each recording. This will allow you to hear at least a taste of the music. I encourage you to ramble and sample.

There are a few familiar names here. But most of the best new music right now comes from artists you won’t hear about elsewhere.

That’s the reality of the record industry (and mass media) in 2024.

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There’s so much creative energy in music right now—despite a distressful stagnancy in the music business (as in so many other culture industries).

But in songs, as in so many other spheres, excitement is coming mostly from free spirits operating in the indie or alt economy. That’s why most of the recordings on my best-of-year list are from small labels or self-produced artists.

They are breaking down genre barriers and defying algorithms. In many instances they are hidden from the mainstream culture. But that isn’t limiting their creativity or curtailing their ambitions.

I feel sorry for the major labels, who have cut themselves off from the most vital currents in contemporary music. They prefer to live in the past—acquiring publishing rights to song catalogs from the last century.

Maybe they will wake up some day from their slumbers. But don’t wait for them. There’s great music happening today, and it deserves to be heard and celebrated.

I listened to more than a thousand new releases during 2024—I spend more time on this project than on anything else I do each year. But it’s worth it, because I find many riches, often in unexpected ways and places.

As always, I cover lots of territory—I consider all genres, all styles, all geographies. After all, creativity respects no boundaries.

Happy listening!

P.S. I’ve been publishing these 100 best album lists since 2011. All the previous annual surveys are available to premium subscribers in The Vault.

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The 100 Best Recordings of 2024
(Part 1 of 2)

In alphabetical order:

Peter Bradley Adams
Miles Away
Haunted Country Music from Alabama

Arooj Aftab
Night Reign
Pakistani-American Singer-Songwriter and Practitioner of Deep Grooves

Ajate
Dala Toni
If Fela Kuti Had Grown Up in Japan

George Benson with the Robert Farnon Orchestra
Dreams Do Come True
Lost' George Benson Album Featuring 1950s-Style Pop Covers with Orchestra

Beyoncé
Cowboy Carter
Country and Beyond

Black Art Jazz Collective
Truth to Power
Hot Jazz Collective

Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño
Subtle Movements
Ambient Super-Trio Creates Oceanic Soundscapes

Bruulu
Live EP: Kreiz Breizh Akademi #9
Microtonal Modal Orchestral Electrofolk Music of Brittany

Laura Cannell
The Rituals of Hildegard Reimagined
Soundscapes Inspired by 12th Century Mysticism Performed on Bass Recorders, 12 String Knee Harp & Delay Pedal