It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, I’m not talking about Christmas. I’m talking about the year-end list season where we list our favorite albums of the year in an attempt to gain external validation for our superior music tastes despite rapidly approaching midlife where we should probably have more important things to worry about.
Man, I really told on myself with that last sentence, didn’t I? In all seriousness, I love year-end lists because I love seeing what my fellow CHIRPers and other musically-inclined friends have been listening to throughout the year.
I am always looking for new music to check out and sharing music with others is one of my biggest love languages. I have always been in awe of music’s power to bring people together and a sense of community is especially needed today as technology continues to isolate us.
I’ve listened to roughly 100 new albums in full this year and have heard bits and pieces of way more from my DJing and AMD duties. Here’s a list of the albums that were a cut above the rest.
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2024. Our next list is from volunteer Marty O'Connell.
Like any year, 2024 had its fair share of ups and downs—but plenty of great music to set the soundtrack. Here is a collection of albums that stood out the most to me this year.
Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2024. Our next list is from volunteer Joshua Thompson.
To briefly preface this list, I want to emphasize how challenging it was to put it together. There were plenty of strong releases that came out this year and narrowing them down (especially for the 6-10 spots) took a lot of mulling over.
That being said, I encourage readers to check out not only those releases from the list they've yet to hear, but the many gems found in the honorable mentions section too. Here's to an even better year for music in 2025!