40

Hurray for the Riff Raff
The Past Is Still Alive
(Nonesuch)

Bandleader and singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra (aka Hurray for the Riff Raff) takes one on a personal journey to a place where memory and myth mix. Her music is full of hooks as her past tugs at her present sense of who she is and what has formed her. Segarra tells autobiographical stories about hard times, gender-fluid people she knew and loved, polluted landscapes of junk and flowers, and petty crime. She lived in the places most of us avoid and befriended the strangers whose differences from the norm made them seem dangerous. Segarra goes back and forth in time because the past is still with us and the future is now if we could only understand the present. 

Hurray for the Riff Raff’s music is full of flourishes as she celebrates love and survival. Songs such as “Buffalo”, “Alibi, “Colossus of Roads,” and “Hawkmoon” treat American history as both legends and maps whose reality resides in our imagination. The people she meets along the way become more important than their locations. By telling their stories, she tells us her own and what a wild journey it has been. She has led an adventurous, independent life, and as William Faulkner, a writer who knew the past was never past, she has more than endured. This record announces that she has prevailed. – Steve Horowitz

39

Brittany Howard
What Now
(Island)

Brittany Howard‘s 2019 solo debut, Jamie, was a thoughtful, compelling record filled with diary-level lyrics and retro stylistic choices that expanded her sonic well beyond the confines of Alabama Shakes‘ Southern-fried sound. Her 2021 remixed version of that album showcased how far her influence spread, looping in big names like Childish Gambino, Bon Iver, BADBADNOTGOOD, and even scoring a fluke hit with her Fred Again collaboration.

No longer confined to any specific genre box, her sophomore full-length What Now is the sound of a hyper-talented artist letting her freak flag fly, leaning hard into psychedelic rock and Prince-indebted funk to produce one of the most explosive records of 2024. From the minor-key paranoia bass workout that is the title track to the anthemic rager “Power to Undo”, Howard’s voice stretches and growls just like her guitar, never once hitting a false note while searching for that perfect emotive inflection point.

Even when Howard ventures into full-bore club music as she does on the thundering “Prove It to You”, it all makes sense within the sonic universe she’s constructed on this record. She’s expanded the possibilities of her sound to the point where it feels that her creativity is endless. What Now, she asks? Whatever the damn well she pleases. – Evan Sawdey

38

Elbow
Audio Vertigo
(Polydor)

Longtime fans of Elbow who feared the British band becoming a little too mature and mellow on recent albums can take comfort in the rekindled fire they generate on Audio Vertigo. Lead singer Guy Garvey, always the charismatic focal point of Elbow’s music, sharpens his winking Northern persona on songs laced with irony and wit. “Things I’ve Been Telling Myself for Years” opens Audio Vertigo with a wry meditation on self-delusion before “Lover’s Leap” comes crashing in with its biting synth hook. 

Elsewhere, including “Balu” and “Good Blood Mexico City” (a tribute to the late Taylor Hawkins, who Elbow befriended on tour), the album rocks as hard as Elbow ever have. Quieter moments such as “Very Heaven” and “Embers of the Day” add ethereal dynamics to temper the mood. Nods to the past turn up occasionally, as on “Her to the Earth”, an homage to Talk Talk’s 1986 classic The Colour of Spring. This beguiling combination of sounds enables Elbow to scale new heights on Audio Vertigo. – Peter Thomas Webb

37

English Teacher
This Could Be Texas
(Island)

This Could Be Texas is the debut album from the British four-piece English Teacher, and they approach it as if they were told they could only ever make the one. Lily Fontaine and her charges stash a new idea, melody, or stylistic twist around every corner. With so much thrown at the studio wall, not everything sticks. Most of it does, though, and crucially, it all is held together by the more orthodox indie touchstones of self-contemplation, cheekiness, and tunes. That This Could Be Texas manages to sound so rich and engaging without coming across as needlessly indulgent is no small feat. The album duly was awarded the UK’s prestigious Mercury Prize, which begs the question: One record in, does English Teacher have anything left to prove? One can only hope so.  – John Bergstrom

36

Gouge Away
Deep Sage
(Deathwish)

Gouge Away’s Deep Sage is not the only hardcore record that finds inspiration in the heyday of nineties alternative rock this year, but it does happen to be the best example of it. The band recorded Deep Sage live with producer Jack Shirley, and its immediacy makes it difficult just to sit still and listen. From the relentless opener “Stuck in a Dream” through to shoegaze-leaning closer “Dallas”, the band seamlessly weaves together huge riffs and hooks with such skill they would surely have ruled alternative radio airwaves in a different time.

Lead singer Christina Michelle delivers her most nuanced performance to date, from her singing on more subdued tracks like “A Welcome Change” to her unhinged screams on highlight “The Sharpening”. Reckoning with mental health was a trend in heavy music this year, and several of the songs on Deep Sage tackle those concerns in unsettling detail, as in “Maybe Blue”, “Overwatering”, and “No Release”, which anchor the middle of the record. This has been a watershed year for hardcore, and Deep Sage is one of the essential records.  – Brian Stout

35

Mary Halvorson
Cloudward
(Nonesuch)

True to her status as a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, jazz guitarist, and composer Mary Halvorson is a musician who thrives in multiple environments, releasing albums in the trio format (Dragon’s Head), in a small ensemble with vocals (Code Girl), a standards record for solo guitar (Meltframe), and even guitar with a string quartet (Belladonna). Her latest LP doesn’t necessarily see her breaking new ground–it’s the second one she’s recorded with this sextet–but from a compositional and improvisational standpoint, it sees her continuing to hone and perfect her artistic excellence.

While Cloudward was released under Halvorson’s name, she generously shares the spotlight with the record’s other five musicians, allowing them to solo expressively over the ensemble at various points. There’s a sense of adventurous optimism here, resulting in skilled, freewheeling performances that are impressive on a technical level but also a lot of fun to listen to. Prepare to be astonished. – Chris Ingalls

34

Kit Sebastian
New Internationale
(Brainfeeder)

Duo Kit Sebastian’s entire career is based on an understanding of the world as a community. Comprised of Turkish-born London transplant Merve Erdem and English producer K Martin, their discography includes an unsettled mélange of styles. On New Internationale, this ranges from Anatolian rock to retro soul and far beyond, making it an impeccable demonstration of Kit Sebastian’s deep interest in the nature of modernity even as the duo critiques its problems through intricate multilingual lyrics.

The pair’s stylish execution makes them downright luxurious. Erdem’s theatricality emerges early with a dazzling retelling of the Faust legend. Martin’s eclecticism becomes clear shortly after that as the album moves through slinky R&B, smoky Ethiojazz sounds, and even gamelan vibes. New Internationale glitters, a robust pop masterpiece that is refined but not restrained, tasteful but never bland. They are simply captivating as they interrogate the layers of pleasure and destruction inherent in desire–for movement, safety, capital, and love. – Adriane Pontecorvo

33

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Woodland
(Acony)

Woodland gets its name from the East Nashville recording studio Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, which operated for more than 20 years before it was destroyed in a tornado. These self-penned songs suggest the wisdom learned by starting over, remembering the past, and moving forward by seeing time frozen in a tableau of modern existence. Everything here has already been done and is not yet finished in the best sense of visionary experience. Some songs were partially composed before the storm, others freshly minted. They all share a sense of urgency and doom (“The Day the Mississippi Died”) as well as hope and sweetness (“Howdy, Howdy”). The mix reveals the Tao of country music: the process of nature by which all things evolve.

Welch’s voice has a foggy edge, making her sound old and wise. Rawlings finger picks his guitar carefully as if each note serves an important individual function. The songs may move slowly but always go somewhere like a freight train rambling down the tracks. So pick your boxcar and hop on in! There’s plenty of company in the lyrics, from law enforcement officers to gamblers, old ladies and young girls, blackbirds and trees, and a whole lot of sky.  As with the fables of Aesop, there’s a moral to all the tales. Life’s journey is strange, but there is always time for one more for the road. – Steve Horowitz

32

Mount Eerie
Night Palace
(P.W. Elverum & Sun)

Anyone familiar with Phil Elverum and his extensive catalog knows his music is not exactly for the casual listener. His albums under Mount Eerie, and even earlier with the Microphones, are usually deeply personal, immersive, and often challenging, asking listeners for close attention and commitment. Following those same lines, Night Palace, his 11th release after a four-year gap, takes listeners on a slow, winding journey through somber moods and reflective soundscapes. Inspired by journal entries and a rediscovery of Zen mediation, the record is rich with poetry and imaginative storytelling—a beautiful masterpiece for listeners expecting to be vulnerable and patient. 

Night Palace slowly unfolds across the nearly hour-and-a-half-long run time, taking listeners through an ephemeral patchwork of moods. There are sparse moments of feedback and poetry, literal remnants of a conventional indie rock song, and explosive fits of rage, a broad spectrum of intensities. – Brandon Miller

31

Reyna Tropical
Malegría
(Psychic Hotline)

Reyna Tropical began as a duo in 2016 as a collaboration between singer/guitarist/songwriter Fabiola Reyna and DJ, musician, and artist Nactali “Sumohair” Diaz. The duo released two highly regarded EPs that featured highly rhythmic music that blended exotic drumbeats, loopy guitar phrases, and celestial vocals. Their music made one want to dance and dream at the same time. Sadly, Sumo died in an e-scooter accident in Los Angeles in 2022. Fabio has soldiered on and recently released Reyna Tropical’s first full-length album, Malegría. It’s a wild creation filled with lively instrumental surface buoyancy, thoughtful, completive lyrics, field recordings from nature, and conversational interludes previously recorded between Sumo and Fabi.

Fabi generally sings in a hushed voice, which creates intimacy with the listener. She presents the character of the friend who tells us what we should already know. Life is a blend of joy and sorrow, the sweetness of life’s moments mixed with bitterness. All we have is each other. Let’s dance and fall in love, for what else is there? Reyna Tropical’s Malegría provides the soundtrack. – Steve Horowitz