UNSLUMP! Volume XIV: Best of 2024
24 for 24: A year in review! Wake up your ears with my favorites of the year.
What’s cooking? Welcome to UNSLUMP! The Music Recommendation substack. If you’re getting this email, that means you are finding yourself in a music SLUMP (bad), and I am here to give you some recommendations (good)!
A huge thank you to everyone who’s read this newsletter, texted me your favorite tracks, or sent me siiiiiiiick tunage this year. I love writing this little blog and I’m grateful I can share my music discoveries with all of you! I wasn’t sure when I started this newsletter last year what it’d be like to write it consistently, but I’m happy to report it’s something I seriously look forward to each month, and I’m excited to continue fighting the music slump in 2025! Let me know how UNSLUMP! can serve you this new year, always looking to grow and evolve!
When thinking about a “Best of the Year” edition of UNSLUMP!, I thought it would be fun to do a little awards show: The “UNSLUMPYS!” (The name is a little bad. Open to edits and recommendations.)
Since I’ve been recommending you tracks all year, I’ve compiled a “24 for 24” playlist (thanks to one of my favorite blogs,
for the inspo) with 24 of my favorite tracks released this year- some have been featured in previous editions, while some are new! Read on!ALSO- January’s Show Radar at the bottom, don’t forget!
UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s my favorites of the year…
Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music
24 - No Pun Intended - Nicholas Craven, Boldy James (Penalty of Leadership)
Track mentioned: Volume II - January
For fans of: The Alchemist, Westside Gunn, cheese platters, honey dijonnaise
The dynamic duo of Boldy James and Nicholas Craven return as Boldy recovers from a life-threatening car accident, harnessing some incredible sampling into some of the most compelling hip hop of the year.
23 - Method Actor - Nilufer Yanya (My Method Actor)
Album mentioned: Volume VII - September
For fans of: Roland 808s, Avril Lavigne, early 2000’s nostalgia meets tasteful RnB
Nilüfer Yanya had lots of standout tracks on 2024’s My Method Actor. I featured “Like I Say (I runaway)" previously, but I’m switching it up with the titular track here. This one is for driving fast and rocking out, and will serve any of your movie montage fantasies.
22 - coelacanth - glass beach (plastic death)
Track mentioned: Volume II - January
For fans of: midwest emo, 100 gecs, sound design, the depths of the ocean
glass beach was a new find for me this year- plastic death is something wholly new and refreshing: perfect for anyone who likes pushing the boundaries- what is music, really? I love when songs are noises!
21 - Blanket of my Bone - Being Dead (EELS)
September
For fans of: Austin, Texas, psychedelic folk rock, VW buses, bulbous sunglasses
Being Dead made my favorite folk album this year- EELS is a blast and a great time from beginning to end. Once you finish this album, it’s impossible not to want to start it from the top. It’s like going on a road trip with your friend’s cool older sibling. Being Dead is playing Madame Lou’s in 2025!
20 - Cyclops - Finom (Not God)
Album mentioned: Volume VIII - May
For fans of: tight harmonies, Talking Heads, Bar Italia
Awesome folk album from Finom (formerly OHMME) has a lot of surprising range- I seem to have a new favorite track every time I listen- Previously I highlighted the track “Haircut”, but here’s a more atmospheric pick with “Cyclops”. Hoping to see them live in 2025 when they hit Madame Lou’s here in Seattle.
19 - Woke Up and No Feet - Anastasia Coope (Darning Woman)
May
For fans of: the high heel hat, the fleetingness of memory, orbs (ghosts), orbs (eyes)
21-year old Anastasia Coope’s Darning Woman feels like a lost family heirloom recovered from a haunted chest in your attic. Let her lull you with her song about waking up and having… no feet! Feels ghostly, feels otherworldly! Big fan of this one.
18 - 86Sentra - NxWorries, Anderson .Paak, Knxwledge (Why Lawd?)
Album mentioned: Volume VIII - June
For fans of: Bruno Mars, Smino, beach trips, driving with the windows down
One of the better records grappling with heartbreak and longing this year (sorry, USHER!) - NxWorries weaves a dramatic ode to romance and the crumbling of it, fresh with summer beats and tons of guest features.
17 - I Don’t - Brittany Howard (What Now)
Album mentioned: Volume III - February
For fans of: Tina Turner, Funkadelic, the L word
Biggest regret of 2024: having TONSILLITIS when Brittany Howard played Seattle! What Now is a perfect album. I wish this record was a house so I could live inside of it! Mind-exploding, truly. (And tonsil-exploding. Gross.)
16 - SHE’S A BORE - Rae Khalil (CRYBABY)
Artist mentioned: Volume III - February
Album mentioned: Volume X - August
For fans of: West Coast Hip Hop, fat and farty synths, motivational speaking
Feel-great album produced by Anderson .Paak that’s actually unskippable. The smoothness of these songs will have you feeling warm and safe like you’re doing a trust fall in junior high gym class.
15 - Paging Planet Earth - Dancer (Split)
Artist mentioned: Volume VI - April
Album mentioned: Volume XII - October
For fans of: Le Tigre, Mary Timony, Life Without Buildings, cowbell!, art shows, 90s alternative
The other day, my friend Kiko was waxing poetic on the feeling of listening to a great new album, comparing the feeling to falling in love. Well baby, I’m in love! Dancer is my favorite new band this year. I feel AMPED to have found them. Split is a collab with Whisper Hiss- check em’ out as well!
14 - Any Day Now - Kate Bollinger (Songs From A Thousand Frames of Mind)
Track (single) mentioned: Volume VIII - June, Album released in September
For fans of: eyelash kisses, summer romance, The Mamas and the Papas
Biggest earworm of 2024 goes to “Any Day Now”- This one’s stuck on my summer playlists (and in my brain) for a while to come. While kind of hearkening to a department store playlist in a non-derogatory way, Kate Bollinger’s album is a welcome and necessary listen. I think dads would like this album.
13 - Dreams of You - Cindy Lee (Diamond Jubilee)
October
For fans of: wilderness, connection, cassette tapes, long and sprawling albums
This one isn’t on streaming services, only YouTube and Bandcamp- but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this INSANE project- It’s cinematic, it’s beautiful, it’s folky and it’s DIY. It does everything it should do and more. It feels like it holds ancient wisdom.
12 - Wristwatch - MJ Lenderman (Manning Fireworks)
September
For fans of: Neil Young, horses, converse high tops, unconventional attractiveness
MJ Lenderman is a man’s man! He’s just some guy you know! His frank observations of life, sadness and relationships never fail to impress me, and Manning Fireworks is no exception to the rule. It’s gonna be okay, MJ!
11 - U Should Not Be Doing That - Amyl and the Sniffers (Cartoon Darkness)
Album mentioned: Volume XII - October
For fans of: Bully, Courtney Barnett, Farrah Fawcett blowouts, pub rock
A good one for jumping around, thrashing and head-banging. This makes me want to RAH RAH RUMBLE!!! Jab! Cross! Hook! Uppercut! Amyl and Sheer Mag (III) tour in 2025.. be there or be square!
10 - ALLIGATOR BITES NEVER HEAL - Doechii (Alligator Bites Never Heal)
Album mentioned: Volume XI - September, released in August
For fans of: MIA, mumble rap, R&B, witty lyrics, comical ad-libs
“Swamp Queen” Doechii channels Fresh Prince with Alligator Bites Never Heal, an energetic hip hop record filled with good humor from front to back.
9 - Had Ya Called - Nourished By Time (Catching Chickens)
EP mentioned: Volume IV - March
For fans of: Outkast, 90’s R&B, 90s shoegaze
Nourished By Time with another quality EP this year- I’ll listen to anything Marcus Brown does- he’s a freakin’ prodigy! One of my favorites for a late night and a trip to the water.
8 - Mind’s A Lie - High Vis (Guided Tour)
Track mentioned: Volume XII - October
For fans of: if Oasis was much cooler, big combat boots, mosh pit-induced butthole bruises
Best live show I’ve seen this year- High Vis at the Showbox. The energy of this band shoots straight to the soul- it’s cleansing and it’s important, it’s special. UK Hardcore is back and it’s better than ever!
7 - All Lined Up - Sheer Mag (Playing Favorites)
Artist mentioned: Volume III - February, Album released March
For fans of: The Jackson Five, Cherry Glazerr, going feral
1970s classic rock reincarnate Sheer Mag with a fun release this year. This never happens to me, but I heard this album is a good one if you find your eyes closing when you’re driving. Eyes stay open thanks to Sheer Mag! They’re touring with Amyl and the Sniffers in 2025!
6 - reincarnated - Kendrick Lamar (GNX)
Track mentioned: Volume XIII - November
For fans of: BEEFY BASS, captain crunch, lyrical genius
Kendrick’s GNX has to be on the list for best of the year- it’s a perfect album. The album is a tribute to West Coast hip hop and Los Angeles, heavily influenced by Funkadelic and g-funk.
5 - Fear, Sex - Magdalena Bay (Imaginal Disk)
Album mentioned: Volume X - August
For fans of: BRAT summer, Beach House, the expanding universe of LoFi Girl, digital cameras
Magdalena Bay makes my year-end list again, and thank goodness! Alien and otherworldly, yet so prescient in our current time. Loved Imaginal Disk, excited for what’s to come for this group!
4 - I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy (I Got Heaven)
March
For fans of: art films, pigs, push and pull, desire
A great album that stands the test of multiple listens- Good old fashioned power pop, punk anthems lush with guitar fuzz. Great stuff.
3 - As Above So Below - Fievel is Glauque (Rong Wiecknes)
October
For fans of: Stereolab, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, line drawings
This album is so fascinating- the instrumentation, production and electronic elements are one of a kind. I like how chaotic it sounds, while being intentionally so. Maybe that’s how I’m trying to be in 2025!
2 - Life Is - Jessica Pratt (Here In The Pitch)
Album mentioned: Volume VII - May
For fans of: old Hollywood, ‘60s pop, emotional healing
Slow-burning folk pop that makes me feel like a real woman. It’s an album of softness, perfect for the winter and the “weird optimism” of a new year.
1 - So Tell Me… - Nia Archives (Silence Is Loud)
Album mentioned: Volume VI - April
For fans of: teen movies, “Jungle meets Britpop”, drum machines, bedroom rave
Probably my most listened to album of the year, Silence Is Loud felt completely new and fresh to me! The beats are so much fun, while reminding me of the nostalgia of girl pop from the early 2000’s. I loved seeing Nia live at the Neptune Theatre, and recommend catching her if she plays a show near you next year.
🎵 Seattle Show Radar: January 🎵:
Check out the Google Calendar, here!
Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)
1.7 Black Flag at El Corazon - Tickets
1.16 Amelia Day, Warren Dunes + Special Guests at Neumos - Tickets
1.16 Bad Bad Hats, Party Nails at Barboza - Tickets
1.17 Alan Sparhawk’s The White Roses Tour w/ Circuit des Yeux at the Crocodile - Tickets
1.17 Dua Saleh, Sam Austins at Madame Lou's - Tickets
1.20 ((( O ))) at Neumos - Tickets
1.20 Brainiac w/ Crooks on Tape & Anthers at Tractor Tavern - Tickets
1.21 Jamie xx at WAMU - Tickets
1.21 Arooj Aftab - Night Reign Tour at the Crocodile - Tickets
1.26 Lady Lamb w/ Sima Cunningham at Madame Lou's - Tickets
1.26 Tim Heidecker with Neil Hamburger at Neptune - Tickets
1.31 L'Impératrice, Erick the Architect at Showbox SoDo - Tickets
That wraps up Volume XIV of UNSLUMP! Thanks for letting me throw music at ya this year- it’s been so much fun to write this newsletter and I’m super grateful for the community I’ve found through it. I loooooooove music and I love sharing it with you all! <3
Until January (and another year!) - Stay out of the slump!
Jess
I’ve really been enjoying these playlists, really glad I found you. I don’t mean to sound like an old fart, but I used to rely on my kids to keep me fed with new music, but now they’re both in their early 30s and working these serious jobs and they just don’t listen to new music as much. So thanks for keeping me well fed!