Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2024. Our next list is from DJ and Assistant Music Director Danielle Sines.

2024! What a year! These are all the gems that I was obsessed with this year. Plus, my band Impulsive Hearts released a record “Fit 4 the Apocalypse” this year and got to play a bunch of Chicago’s festivals. <3

We’re honored to be nominated in Chicago Reader’s Best of 2024 poll as best rock band (2 years in a row bb!) and best local album of the year! Please vote for us by DECEMBER 31st!) <3 (chicagoreader.com/best) & I’ll see ya on the airwaves Tuesdays 12-3 PM!

#1 Letter to Self by Sprints (Slang City)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Since its release in early January, this record has been the one to beat for best of the year. No one came close. This record has everything - driving rock anthems, soul piercing lyrics, the energy and enthusiasm of sheer will.

I saw them live (Thanks Kevin Shields for the tix!) with a bunch of CHIRP folks and was mesmerized by the unmitigated force and powerhouse performance of vocalist, guitarist and rockstar extraordinaire Karla Chubb. An added bonus was asking everyone, “Do you ever feel like the room is heavy???”

#2 Ten Fold by Yaya Bey (Big Dada)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Yaya Bey’s "Ten Fold" is filled with catchy hooks that stay embedded in your brain. My favorite track is “sir princess bad bitch”“sir princess bad bitch” which has go get em’ lyrics, “I wouldn’t ever rather be/No other thing but the thing I am.” that will pump you up on your worst day.

The Brooklyn-based R&B, singer songwriter was mourning her father, Ayub Bey, rapper and producer Granddaddy I.U. during this record. She was working from a place where she’s no longer concerned about proving anything to anyone, and it shows in the best possible way.

#3 Look to the East, Look to the West by Camera Obscura (Merge)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

The Glasgow indie-poppers are back after more than decade break to mourn the loss of former bandmate and keyboardist Carey Lander from cancer. The pandemic delayed recording a new record, plus lead singer and songwriter Tracyanne Campbell wasn’t really planning on releasing another record; but, finding that the fans really wanted the band to continue, they were pushed out of retirement.

Thank goodness they did! The songs are pristine and Campbell’s vocals are wonderful as ever. Opening track, “Liberty Print” was released as a demo earlier this year and the stripped down version is quite possibly my favorite song. Also, the tongue-in-cheek “We’re Going to Make it in A Man’s World” feels an appropriate anthem as we’re approaching a new presidential term.

#4 The Moon Is In The Wrong Place by Shannon And The Clams (Easy Eye/Concord)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Shannon & The Clams 7th album is the most personal and raw. In August 2022, singer and frontwoman Shannon Shaw’s world was turned inside out: with mere weeks until their wedding, the singer’s fiancé, Joe Haener, died in a horrific car accident. It was a devastating loss that she grieved by writing a new album to celebrate their love and his memory.

I don’t know how she does it, as this would no doubt break me. But Shaw wanted to remember him in this way - inviting the world to see their epic love. There’s sprinkles of Shaw’s memory, hopes and imagined future scattered throughout the record with her powerhouse Ronettes-esque vocals taking center stage.

My favorite track is the slow, haunting crooner “Real or Magic”. The eerie and fast paced title track “Moon Is In The Wrong Place”, is something that Shaw’s fiancé said in the weeks before he died, which she turned into a tribute. Catchy and expressive “Bean Fields” (11) talks about her fiancés farm where they’d spend time together, encased now in memory. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

#5 History of House by Soweto Gospel Choir and Groove Terminator (Umculo House)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Perhaps I was hooked from the start when this group reworked my childhood anthem, Moby’s “Natural Blues” on their song “Troubled.” The entire record is packed with jubilant, feel good, best gospel-like songs by the Grammy award winning Soweto Gospel Choir, and Australian-based DJ Groove Terminator,a compilation of classic house and dance tracks, sung almost entirely in Zulu It’s perfect party music and is guaranteed to put you in a happy place.

#6 Pull The Rope by Ibibio Sound Machine (Merge)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Fun, upbeat, hypnotic dance tracks flourish on Ibibio Sound Machine’s 5th album, “Pull The Rope.” I was able to see them live in Chicago at the new venue Outset and was stunned by their energetic, blissful show.

After an engaging performance, the lead singer met people, sold earrings that she made and took photos with attendees and genuinely seemed like she loved performing - her aura was infectious to be around! My favorite track is “Fire” which is perfect for dancing around your living room.

#7 Bird's Eye by Raven Lenae (Atlantic)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Chicago’s own Raven Lenae is back with an album filled with big beats, R&B hooks and her signature breathy vocals. From the beginning of the record, the choruses are huge, sweeping with layered harmonies. Lenae continues to create catchy dance music that stick with you after the record finishes - my favorite is the dance burner “Love is Blind.”

#8 In Waves by Jamie xx (Young)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Who knew that 2024’s Pitchfork would be our last? I take some comfort knowing that Jamie XX’s Friday night performance will go down as legendary.

Remember getting to hear this album live, before its release? f Did you try to find the live dancers in the crowd, too? Did we dance in the crowd together as the end of the day libations took hold? Yes. And as track “breather” reminds us, “this is our moment to let go…we deserve to feel good, we deserve to be healthy,“ and we do.

#9 My Method Actor by Nilüfer Yanya (Ninja Tune)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

On Yanya’s third full length album, she slows things down and allows herself to feel moodier than ever before. Guitar riffs dazzle and glow like fire embers. Her sultry vocals continue to coo and hypnotize, taking breaks to let the instrumentation do the talking.

If you’re craving a fast paced jam, there’s still a few on the record, like single “Like I Say (Runaway).” But allow yourself time to enjoy this record, it grew on me throughout the year, enveloping. slowly. After seeing her live at the Metro, she oozed calm and confidence in this laid back style.

#10 LANA by SZA (RCA)

BUY: Reckless / Amazon

After not putting SOS on by best of for 2022 (and remedying it in 2023), I thought best not to repeat the same mistake again and to just put “LANA” on now, knowing that it will continue to grow on me throughout 2025.

What can I say except that I love her, especially as some sort of alien bug creature as the cover depicts I love that she’s touring with Kendrick Lamar and that they both are featured so much on each other’s albums. It’s as if power is recognizing power - stating that they are each other’s equals in greatness. It’s already on repeat in my house.

Honorable Mentions

Special shout out to my most honorable mentions:

Kendrick Lamar - all those singles beefing with Drake were probably one of my favorite things from the cultural zeitgeist this year. The bar about Amin? Classic. I remember walking my dog throughout my neighborhood and hearing multiple cars passing by, bass blasting, listening to these diss singles and feeling more connected with mankind than I can remember in recent years.

Local shoutout to BLOODHYPE for releasing my favorite local track “Boys” which is its own sort of diss track about boys suppressing their feelings and pushing it all down. Don’t be like that. 2025 is a great year to see a therapist.