Northern Transmissions TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2024

From position 50 to 21

50. The Hard Quartet – The Hard Quartet
49. Japandroids – Fate & Alcohol
48. Julia Holter – Something in the Room She Moves
47. Arooj Aftab – Night Reign
46. METZ – Up on Gravity Hill
45. The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy
44. Wild Pink – Dulling the Horns
43. Cassandra Jenkins – My Light, My Destroyer
42. Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown
41. Yard Act – Where’s My Utopia?
40. Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More
39. SPRINTS – Letter to Self
38. Mk.gee – Two Star & the Dream Police
37. Friko – Where We’ve Been, Where We Go From Here
36. English Teacher – This Could Be Texas
35. IDLES – TANGK
34. Tyler, The Creator – CHROMAKOPIA
33. Cameron Winter – Heavy Metal
32. Being Dead – EELS
31. Kim Gordon – The Collective
30. Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
29. Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future
28. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Wild God
27. Jessica Pratt – Here in the Pitch
26. Kamasi Washington – Fearless Movement
25. Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us
24. Laura Marling – Patterns in Repeat
23. This Is Lorelei – Box For Buddy, Box For Star
22. Mount Eerie – Night Palace
21. St. Vincent – All Born Screaming

From position 20 to 1

20. Tucker Zimmerman – Dance of Love

Every aspect of Dance of Love comes together in such a beautiful way—the respect between the artists, the rich textures of their instruments, the world they create for the listener to slip into. The album is a reflection on life itself, full of wonder and uncertainty. Zimmerman ends the record with the poignant line, “Nobody knows what’s going to happen next,” reminding us of the beauty in the unknown.

 

19. MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks

 

18. Touché Amoré – Spiral in a Straight Line

On Spiral In A Straight Line, Touché Amoré branches out of the often unwieldy descriptor of “post-hardcore band” by boldly exploring their range while continuing to revisit the hallmarks of their sound. At times the lyrical subject matter has the same flavor across tracks which is kept interesting by excellent performances by the rest of the band. Spiral showcases a multidimensional perspective on the dissolution of a decade long relationship.

 

17. Charli XCX – BRAT

It’s a worthwhile endeavor to get all your thoughts out there, no matter how desperate or unflattering to let the truth lay bare, but it’s another to put them in quick succession, going from trivial topics like how much you’re obsessed with Charli and her internet fame to more heavy discussions of death, depression, and paths forward. But isn’t it the point, that she is who she is and she doesn’t fucking care what you think? BRAT is an album only the internet persona and music icon known as Charli XCX could make — mean, silly, ecstatic, judgy, violent, modern, and irresistibly interesting.

 

16. Clairo – Charm

The Last Song, “Pier,” Is an intimate goodbye to this excellent album and a stand-alone hit in Clairo’s Discography. The Production evolves throughout the track with beautifully placed synths and keyboards, Making it an epic and emotional finale to the album. Clairo has made the perfect summer album with Charm.

 

15. The Cure – Songs of a Lost World

It’s fitting that Janez Pirnat’s sculpture, Bagatelle, is featured on the cover of Songs of a Lost World. Is all this suffering a simple trifle as the sculpture’s title suggests, or is it something profound and timeless? It’s a question The Cure has always posed to the listener, and it’s in this philosophical purgatory that Smith and his bandmates have created music for 46 years, regardless of the interpretations. In his own words:“Kinda strange it takes this long to get misunderstood.”

 

14. The Lemon Twigs – A Dream Is All We Know

A Dream is All We Know is an album that transcends time. It’s a dense, nostalgic journey that allows listeners to experience a bygone era. For fans of 60s rock, this album is a dream come true, offering a glimpse into the past while maintaining a contemporary edge. The Lemon Twigs have crafted something truly special with this release, blending the old and the new in a way that feels both timeless and innovative.

 

13. The Smile – Wall of Eyes

Sometimes, but not often, Wall of Eyes’ narrators display some agency. On the stuttering, off-kilter “Under Your Pillow,” the narrator resists the idea that “Nowadays, everyone’s for sharing.” “Don’t let them take me,” he pleads. Soon afterwards, the song descends into lengthy low-rumbling drone with dreamlike liminality; it’s as if the narrator gets dragged off and slips into oblivion from which there’s no hope of return. Even on “Read the Room,” Yorke appears to switch point of views. “Come on out of your head, man / Don’t lose your head, man,” one speaker implores another.

 

12. Nilüfer Yanya – My Method Actor

How Yanya manages to feel like a rockstar in such an understated sonic landscape is momentous and new. It is her own brand of star, carved out from industry duress and entirely true-to-life. My Method Actor is an understated meditation on performance and emotional excavation, somehow manifest like the grandiose approach of cinema.

 

11. Elias Rønnenfelt – Heavy Glory

Heavy Glory is, in many ways, a collection of those fingerprints—each song carrying its own memory, an experience that helped form Elias. The album steps away from his familiar sound with Iceage, stripping back to something rawer, more intimate. It’s poetry in motion, the kind of music that feeds your soul and lingers in your mind. These are Elias’s stories.

 

10. Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee

In the end, “Diamond Jubilee” is more than just an album—it’s an experience, a journey into the unknown that challenges our preconceived notions of what music can be. It’s a reminder that true art transcends boundaries, inviting us to lose ourselves in its ineffable beauty and surrender to the magic of the moment. Like a fleeting dream early in the morning, letting go lets you hold on longer, coaxing us to embrace the ephemeral nature of existence and find solace in the ever-changing tapestry of sound.

 

9. Fontaines D.C. — Romance

In interviews, Chatten often likens ROMANCE to a snow globe: a pretty, scenic world that can get shaken into chaos in a matter of seconds. If Fontaines D.C. had not succeeded in creating such a world where listeners get a sense of both that serenity and chaos, ROMANCE would still be a success for the band’s daringness to reject the familiar in favour of challenging themselves and fans’ expectations.

 

8. Waxahatchee — Tigers Blood

“I held it like a penny I found / it might bring me something, it might weigh me down / you got every excuse but it’s an eerie sound / when the siren blow, rings out all over town,” group harmonies chants, right before “Tigers Blood” slowly fades out, ending the album. As much as I wish that moment could last forever, it leaves you with just enough to want to give this album another listen.

 

7. Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven

The track to send us home is “Split me open” and it really feels like the best ending to an album like this. Beautiful, Heavy, Emotional. Once again I have to mention how emotive and expressive the The vocal performances are on this record other is no doubt in my mind that Marisa is one of the most talented and wide ranged singers out there today. I Got Heaven is not a record to miss, This record is important, this band is important, Go listen.

 

6. Chat Pile — Cool World

“Milk of Human Kindness” is among the slower and sludgier pieces with an almost goth overtone, which carries on to the final track “No Way Out”, invoking a
dirge similar to the more anguishing sounds of Type O Negative’s “Slow Deep and Hard” and Carnivore’s “Retaliation”. Chat Pile has definitely covered all the bases that tickle my fancy. Cool World in full is a great fucking listen, and I can’t wait to hear this beast live.

 

5. Magdalena Bay — Imaginal Disk

It wouldn’t be a surprise to say that Magdalena Bay are two of the most creative people working in music today. With their second album, they’ve surpassed their first in terms of originality and sonic landscaping — though Imaginal Disk might not be full of as many pop tunes, it’s certainly an artistic evolution as Tenenbaum and Lewin’s writing and production shines at every corner. There are glints of surprises and greatness — the 22-minute countdown in “Image,” for example, leads to the mark in “Tunnel Vision” where things go awry — Easter eggs and glittery sounds to discover for months to come. Imaginal Disk is a fine portrait of creative freedom from two auteurs that have no trouble creating absurd, imaginary, and deeply innovative worlds.

 

4. Geordie Greep – The New Sound

The album ends on If You Are But a Dream, and is a theatrical and gorgeous song that fits the grandiosity of the album quite well. Overall, The New Sound is incredibly complex, and listening to it with an analytical ear is necessary; while I appreciated the instrumentation, the lyrics and themes of the record are interesting yet, at times, come across as a little lacklustre and confusing thematically.

 

3. DIIV – Frog in Boiling Water 

Frog in Boiling Water is DIIV’s most ambitious record to date. In listening, you get the sense that every lyric, chord progression, guitar lead, melody, sample etc. was painstakingly pondered and picked apart. What are you left with? An album that’s sound somehow perfectly encapsulates the feelings of living in our current world, while also being as timeless and as evergreen as the music that inspired it.

 

2. Father John Misty – Mahashmashana

Mahashmashana is an album that demands patience and rewards close listening. It’s a record that refuses to spoon-feed its listeners, instead inviting them to wrestle with their own personal complexities and contradictions. The intricate arrangements, cryptic storytelling, and emotional depth, Mahashmashana stands as a testament to Father John Misty’s growth as an artist and person. He offers new insights with each listen and proves once again that Josh Tillman is one of the most compelling artists in the music scene.

 

1. Christopher Owens — I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair

I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair is an incredible record. It’s not perfect, but as is explored in the record, is that ever really the goal? With his fourth solo record, Owens has demonstrated lyrical and musical subtleties and restraints that are sure to catapult this release to the top of his discography. A must-listen for anyone who’s ever been in the type of love that doesn’t always get a light shone on it.

 

 

Follow the entire playlist on our Spotify page:

Intro Best Albums 2024 by Conor Rooney

Credits Best Albums 2024: Charles Brownstein, Alberto Dal Santo, Blake Correll,  Ben Lock, Victoria Borlando, Eli Mui, Beau Goodwin, Ethan Rebalkin, Gareth O’Malley Adam Fink, Sam Franzini, Hannah Harlacher, Greg Walker, Leslie Ken Chu, Zara Hedderman, Conor Rooney, Allie Mascarello, David Saxum, Igor Bannikov, Tuhin Chicrabatti,  Jarrett Edmund, Laura David, Atlin Lester-Serfani and the rest of NT’s family.

Find Most of our Top 50 albums HERE