2024 sonic treats

Happy holidays all! In the wake of Liz Pelly’s absolutely excellent and terrifying article about Spotify ghost artists, I offer you a smattering of 2024-released tracks that have caught my ear recently. This assemblage of musical expressions comes with my personal guarantee that all songs were made by actual human beings. I hope that it helps you find something new and strange that perhaps tickles you in an unexpected way, as music is supposed to…

Elijah Minnelli - Wind & The Rain (feat. Joe Yorke)

This unhinged reggae version of a song from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” has been stuck in my head for the past month; if you like it, check out the rest of the album because it’s all great. Weirdly, it is actually not the first record I’ve encountered that attempts to combine reggae with traditional English folk - that would be “English Roots Music” by Jah Wobble, an album I found several years ago (and that held my interest equally for its awkwardness and its successes). But “Perpetual Musket” is a better listen and I’m looking forward to diving into more works by Minnelli, whose general sense of whimsy seems deeply up my alley.

Beth Gibbons - Floating On A Moment

This is an amazing album by Portishead vocalist Gibbons, in collaboration with a killer group of musicians including Talk Talk percussionist Lee Harris. Lyrically it’s a somewhat heavy, dark collection of songs, which I need to take in small doses because frankly the only thing between me and a depressive episode these days is a healthy lack of introspection. But the achievement here is undeniable, and few recently-experienced musical moments have been able to reach into my core like the ending of this song.

marine eyes - bridges

I’ve written about marine eyes before - an ambient musician out of coastal California who’s connected to several other chillout artists I love. This has probably been my most-played ambient record of 2024. I love the inclusion of vocals on this particular track; reminds me of old Windy & Carl stuff (who I’m trying to cajole to come play Avalon next year).

Scotia - time 2 work

Scotia DJs Avalon regularly, and I absolutely love her taste on the dancefloor. This is a track off her first release, and the classic acid vibes massage my brain in a most delightful way.

Caroline Shaw & So Percussion - Sing On

This is from the most recent collaboration between Pulitzer-winning composer Shaw and new-music ensemble So Percussion (who I used to make lattes for when I was a barista in Greenpoint, cementing my small but important role in music history). I really love their work together, partly because it is so much less fussy and self-conscious than most “new composition / pop” crossover albums. It really just sounds like some very talented people messing around in the studio and making something that sounds cool, which is exactly what I want to hear…

Shovel Dance Collective - The Merry Golden Tree

There’s so much that interests me about the traditional folk scene, and so much about it that I find cheesy and off-putting. Shovel Dance Collective feel designed for someone like me, circumventing everything that turns me off about that world while maintaining a deep and genuine connection to the folk histories they’re exploring. This track gives me the damn chills every time.

Fennesz - Heliconia

When was the last time you got high and blasted Fennesz on your headphones?

Camp Saint Helene - Lavender By Night

A really astounding amount of great music has been released by Catskill bands this year... I’m listing a track from this one because I throw it on the stereo lot, but we’ve also seen excellent releases from Ben Seretan, Maeve Schallert, Wesley Harper, Gary’s Dream, and Samuel Boat that are all so so so worth checking out. I should really just do another post about it, but I hope you click on all those links.

Lastly, want to give a preemptive shoutout Cameron Winter’s “Heavy Metal.” I saw several friends post about this album (which was released just a few weeks ago), and I’ve only given it one listen so far but absolutely loved what I heard. Honestly very rare for me to hear a dude with a guitar who manages to pique my interest these days, so definitely looking forward to diving in.

Do leave your faves in the comments!

❤️ Liam