2024 has arguably been the year of the female mega stars: Taylor Swift finished her record-breaking Eras Tour, netting revenues north of 2 billion USD, Beyoncé took her career to the next level with a Country album, Adele played a very successful residency in Munich for the full month of August and finished/paused her Las Vegas show which allegedly paid her more than 1 million USD per show. Meanwhile at the Grammy’s Phoebe Bridgers, Miley Cyrus and Billie Eilish won big time.
Naturally though, Team Poule keeps an eye on the somewhat less commercial sides of the musical ecosystem. With our chicken ears, we listened to Fontaines DC great new album, we gave a spin to a Cigarettes After Sex album that sounded just like a Cigarettes After Sex album, we spent a lot of time with our brothers Hermanos Gutiérrez, and we were in awe of The Smile manifesting yet another but maybe best Radiohead offspring.
Also, with the dedication and focus that only a chicken’s head can exercise, we consulted the year-end lists of major outlets including Pitchfork, Paste Magazine, The Line of Best Fit, our friends at HighClouds and even Brooklyn Vegan. While we felt that Kendrick Lamar, Cindy Lee and Cassandra Jenkins released wonderful albums, there were some of the finest recordings of 2024 that deserved more attention.
So, here goes at list of our favorite albums of the year 2024, in absolutely no particular order.
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Peter Cat Recording Company -BETA | Muddy Water Records | New Dehli, India | August 2024
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Y’Akoto – Pt. 4: The Witch | Moon Entertainment Systems | Accra, Ghana / London, UK | July 2024
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Der Assistent – Amnesie am Amazonas | Papercup Records | Berlin, Germany | October 2024
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Nap Eyes – The Neon Gate | Paper Bag Records | Nova Scotia, Canada | October 2024
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Yin Yin – Mount Matsu | Glitterbeat Records | Maastricht, Netherlands | January 2024
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Lou Z – Holes for the Hearts | Møs Møs Records | Copenhagen, Denmark | November 2024
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Nala Sinephro – Endlessness | Warp Records | London, UK | September 2024
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Charley Crockett – Visions of Dallas | Son of Davy | San Benito, Texas | July 2024
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Rangleklods – Breathe In, Breathe Out | Tambourhinoceros | Copenhagen, Denmark | February 2024
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eat-girls – Area Silenzio | Bureau B | Lyon, France | November 2024
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Mabe Fratti – Sentir Que No Sabes | Unheard of Hope / Tin Angel Records | Guatemala | June 2024
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The Messthetics – The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis | Dischord Records | Washington, DC | March 2024
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Bye Parula – I | Self-released | Montreal, Canada | This came out in February 2023 but brought so so much joy after a POP Montreal discovery, easily one of the finest records of the year.
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If you are now thinking, damn I wish I knew about these records sooner, do not worry but follow the official Poule d’Or playlist over on Spotify. It is updated regularly and contained all these tracks at some point last year. For more info, click here.
In an attempt to move away from the social media platforms that seem to be turning evil the older they get, feel free to join our new mailing list! We will try to send out an update twice a month with new music, links and just general music things Poule.
Also, as you have made it this far, you do seem to enjoy a good list, so maybe check Team Poule’s picks for calendar years 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 … and try finding those vintages on Spotify: 2010, 2011 and 2012.
