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Liz Mason writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2024: Liz Mason
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2024 was a mess, but musically it was exceptional, especially if you error on the side of shoegaze, as I do. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say I veer toward the side of shoegaze. At least a third of my top 10 albums for the year ventured into that territory or are shoegaze-adjacent. When I’m not verring (or erring) in that direction, I’m a sucker for some catchy melodies and harmonies. There were no shortage of them this year. |
#1 Frog In Boiling Water by DIIV (Fantasy/Concord)
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#2 Untame the Tiger by Mary Timony (Merge)
Sidenote: I tabled for CHIRP when she played at the Empty Bottle. I was setting up as she was setting up her merch, and I asked her if she wanted some help. She said she had someone who was going to take care of the rest of it for her. Does that count as having a conversation with Mary Timony? #InDepthReporting |
#3 Interplay by Ride (Wichita/PIAS)
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#4 Letter to Self by SPRINTS (City Slang)
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#5 Our Brand Could Be Yr Life by BODEGA (Chrysalis)
Might I suggest that if you’re ever looking to boost your ego, consider walking down the street listening to this album (or really anything by this band) on headphones. You will then realize you are the coolest person on the block. No one else knows this. Except you. That’s fine. You are the only person that matters, and you are the smartest person for miles. |
#6 Dark Chsime by Dark Chsime (self-released)
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#7 Free Energy by Dummy (Trouble in Mind)
Oh, this is Dummy, you say? Well less says more, er, I mean, less says Moog! I love this album. |
#8 opaque by Mo Dotti (self-released)
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#9 Poetry by DEHD (Fat Possum)
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#10 No Obligation by The Linda Lindas (Epitaph)
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Honorable MentionsThe Hard Quartet “The Hard Quartet” And so much more. Can't wait to see what 2025 brings and what where I'll veer and error. |
Throughout December, 
Every week on my Wednesday show (6-9am CT) I’d basically just play the next song on the album, which happened over the span of 10 weeks, making what I imagine to be the longest album listening session in recorded history.
The intricate desert rock guitar sequences are mind-blowingly hooky. And for songs about loss it’s interesting how satisyingly singalongable they are.
I mean, Ride could lick a laminated bus pass and say it’s a new album and I’d be like, “OK! Let me just find something to play this on.” They trade some of the shoegaze for more swirly synth and psychedlia, though they always had a little bit of paisley in their work. I appreciate that they seemed to have gotten more nuanced in their reunited incarnation. I’m there for it.
Bar none, my favorite post-punk sprechgesang band right now. I can only describe the angry buildup in EVERY SINGLE SONG as “joyful anxiety.” Is that even a thing? It is now.
If you could build a band just based on Pavement’s “Debris Slide” you would basically have BODEGA. This is all I could ever ask for in life.
From the very first note when I played this at work, my co-workers demanded to know what this band was. One of them said, “If they ever play a show we have to go see them.” And lo, the gods of darkwave smiled upon us and Dark Chisme came to Emporium in Wicker Park and we rejoiced.
Nice to see Stereolab working that CAN/NEU! direction they’re known for, mixed with some MBV and less of that noodle-y-free-jazz-xylophone-freak-out stuff they started to get into later.
It shoudn’t be called shoegaze. It should be shoegauze. I say this because these swirly, headmelt-y, noisily gorgeous songs feel like they’re anesthetizing me into a nap next to Lush and the Pale Saints, activating my brain’s pleasure receptors. It also makes me feel like half of my brain is melting. Amen!
Like The Ponys but with tambourines and a dash of twang.
Every song a banger!Next entry: CHIRP Radio’s Best of 2024: Joe Held
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