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Tony Breed writesCHIRP Radio’s Best of 2024: Tony Breed
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Song of the year This year had a lot of songs in the running for my song of the year— from the Jamie XX and Robyn club banger “Life”, to Shannon & The Clams’ spooky garage track “Moon Is in the Wrong Place”, to Suzanna Vega’s return to form “Rats”—but the song that spoke to me the most is Chicagoan Steve Slagg’s “Heaven (Yet)”. It’s a song about hiking, according to his BandCamp page… but when he sings “Honey, there’s a panther in the backyard / One of us should probably learn to kill / Guys like us don’t go to Heaven yet / But I don’t wanna die in Provincetown”, well, I think he’s also singing about inhabiting this word as a gay person, carving out a space for ourselves. Listen on BandCamp |
#1 What Now by Brittany Howard (Island)
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#2 History of House by Soweto Gospel Choir and Groove Terminator (Umculo House)
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#3 Slow Burn by Baby Rose/BADBADNOTGOOD (Secretly Canadian)
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#4 Not God by Finom (Joyful Noise)
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#5 Real Deal by Honeyglaze (Fat Possum)
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#6 Mahashmashana by Father John Misty (Subpop)
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#7 Odyssey by Nubya Garcia (Concord)
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#8 Only God Was Above Us by Vampire Weekend (Columbia)
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#9 Lives Outgrown by Beth Gibbons (Domino)
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#10 Macro by Brijean (Ghostly International)
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Honorable MentionsHonorable Mentions My method for putting together my top 10 isn’t exactly scientific. The albums below were all almost in my top 10, and perhaps should have been. Let’s not overthink it.
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Throughout December, 
Brittany Howard just keeps getting better… from her work in Alabama Shakes across two albums, to her debut solo album, “Jaime”, to this album. I watched her perform at Pitchfork and saw a woman who simply inhabits music. She makes it look easy. There’s just so much going on in this album, so many styles and changing energies… it’s been top of my list since it came out this spring.
Pure joy! The South African choir collaborated with the Australian electronic musician to produce this amazing dance album, featuring covers of classic House tracks and more, sung mostly in Zulu. A standout for me is their cover of the early 80s pop song “Ride Like the Wind”.
What a great EP! I wasn’t familiar with Baby Rose before this, but she’s got a wonderful, interpretive voice. There’s so much emotion in every track here… you want to sing along, but also you don’t, because you want to hear Baby Rose’s gorgeous vocals.
Locals Finom, fka Ohmme, are back with a new album under a new name. The intertwining vocals are beautiful, the energy is great, and the lyrics are relatable. “Yeah, I’m sorry but I’m not gonna wanna / it’s the time of the day I can get my haircut.” Gurl, SAME.
It’s postpunk, but it’s more than postpunk… the complex music has elements of math rock, but with good hooks, and it’s very emotive, with Anouska Sokolow’s lovely voice and relatable lyrics. I kept thinking it was a new Suzanne Vega track, whenever I heard her sing “Pretty Girls”: “pretty girls make me feel bad / I want nothing to do with that”.
Father John Misty has become one of those masterful artists who play with different styles and just write one good song after another. So, I guess, more of the same, in the best possible way.
A gorgeous jazz album that feels like a journey (an odyssey, if you will). Complex yet easy to listen to. Wonderful.
I saw their concert this summer at Northerly Island and it became clear to me how great this band is. Perhaps Contra was a little glib, but they have grown and deepened; Only God Was Above Us is as good as anything they’ve put out.
30 years after Portishead’s first album, Gibbons has released her first solo album. Here’s another case where I think the artist has only improved over time—this album may not have a hook quite as catchy as the refrain of “Sour Times”, but it is more mature, and sold and good start to finish. (It’s also less aggressive that her last album with Portishead, 2008’s Third, but every bit as masterful.)
Ethereal dance funk pop, oozing cool. Two certified bangers (“Workin’ On It” and “Bang Bang Boom”) and a lot of great tracks in between.Next entry: CHIRP Radio’s Best of 2024: Al Gabor
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