10
Father John Misty Mahashmashana
Top track: Screamland
Father John Misty is someone I’ve always appreciated rather than really liked. His stuff being a little too ironic, too detached, perhaps a little gimmicky. There hasn’t been a significant shift in his writing on Mahashmashana, but with an added warmth and diversity musically, this feels like a far more three dimensional offering; one where we get a bit closer to the real Josh Tillman, instead of Josh Tillman as a character in a Father John Misty song.
The standout, Screamland, is a phenomenally good song; combining his elaborate literary stylings, with brilliant flashes of vivid imagery, and a chorus that’s as tormented as it is anthemic. His penchant for grand orchestral numbers remains, with the title track being one of his most epic. But it’s also fun, with the roguish streak in his writing translated musically on tracks like the psych-blues scuzz of She Cleans Up and slow-burning boogie, I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All. With Misty in fine vocal form and his band delivering a fantastic set of arrangements, this is the best version of him yet.
9
Ka The Thief Next to Jesus
Top track: Bread Wine Body Blood
Kaseem Ryan aka Ka would pass away at the age of 52, less than two months after the release of his ninth album. With that knowledge it’s hard not to attach an additional poignancy to a project where he grapples with his faith. Backed by gentle, gospel-inspired production, it’s often hauntingly beautiful. It’s also far more than a ‘losing my religion’ concept, as Ka expands the theme into an eye-opening exploration of race, Christianity, and Black American experiences. The context of modern and historical traumas are used to portray complicated feelings on faith and its surrounding institutions; where the church can be both an ally to the oppressed and an enabler of injustices.
Unconcerned with a typical rap flow, Ka’s hushed, softly-spoken vocals force you to pay attention to his words; like a profound philosopher passing down wisdom. This is perhaps most evident on the opening track, where he chastises “dummy rap”; critiquing the wrongs in modern hip-hop culture. In other hands, it could come off as out-of-touch old-headed-ness, but from Ka it’s like a prescient clarion call. The Thief Next to Jesus presents the final teachings from one of rap’s great thinkers.
8
Bill Ryder-Jones Ieychd Da
Top track: This Can’t Go On
On his fifth studio album, the depth of Bill Ryder-Jones’ songwriting matches the ambition of his compositions, resulting in his most accomplished work to date. He teeters on the brink as he grapples with anxiety, isolation, heartbreak and more. While his vocals emit raw vulnerability, the real power emerges as the grandeur of the musical arrangements complement and contrast his voice.
On We Don’t Need Them, the innocent optimism of a children’s choir spurs him on, pushing dejection into defiance. Or on the gut-punching standout This Can’t Go On, his voice seems to wither beneath a rousing orchestral epic building around him, as if he’s drowning under the weight of the world. A beautiful, poignant album where Ryder-Jones manages to rescue gratitude and hope from under a cloud of desperation.
7
NAHreally & The Expert BLIP
Top track: Why Don’t You
On BLIP, New Jersey-based rapper, NAHreally, delivers inner monologue outpourings of modern day existentialism; from comical self-conscious reflections to casually cutting insights. Dublin producer, The Expert, provides a score specially crafted to each twist and turn, which often plays like a hip-hop spin on 60’s psych and jazz, with baroque rock or Eastern jams lurking beneath boom-bap throwbacks.
The interplay between music and rhymes is what really elevates this, as warped production flourishes and mood-altering beat switches manage to perfectly reflect the lyrical narrative. NAH’s rhymes feel like sitting in on a session of stoner wisdom; where he can sneakily drop epiphanies amidst farcical ramblings. With expert* backing from one of the underground’s great unheralded producers, this is an intriguing blend of low-stakes playfulness with high-stakes thoughtfulness.
*Shitty pun not intended.
6
Vampire Weekend Only God Was Above Us
Top track: Hope
Vampire Weekend are a band that have gradually evolved with each project, while still sounding unmistakably like Vampire Weekend. Their music always has a quirky, experimental edge, but it’s also bold, bright pop music. On Only God Was Above Us they’re as bright as ever (there’s even a song called Ice Cream Piano, FFS), yet there’s an unnerving darkness bubbling under the surface.
A hushed “Fuck the world” are the first words you hear, setting a tone of conflict that carries the album. A series of battles are played out, figuratively and literally, with a recurring theme of history repeating, as a fine line is tread between helpless inevitably and hopeful redemption. That old bright pop music remains, but is contrasted by dark lyrical undertones, distorted bursts of horns and off-kilter rhythms: like a foreboding dread waiting in the wings. A dark and challenging album, that’s accessible and full of beauty. Conflict never sounded so sweet.
5
JPEGMAFIA I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU
Top track: either on or off the drugs
After Scaring The Hoes with Danny Brown last year, one of modern rap’s premier experimentalists returns with perhaps his most accessible album to date. Now, he’s hardly gone pop-rap; there’s still all the hallmarks of his frenzied production style, but the chaos is a little more controlled. He delivers heavy-hitting thrills as his trademark beat switches see crunching hard rock clash with throbbing bass beats, right into pitched-up soul smoothness.
But it feels as though everything has a little more room to breathe. Which pays off in the album’s later stages as he moves past the petty online beefs he often gets mired in and turns his attentions inwards. The self-reflection allowing for the album’s gentlest moments; touches of dream pop and psychedelia contrasting the earlier aggression. This is still JPEGMAFIA in all his innovative and confounding glory, but there’s increasingly heavy hints of a more classic and, dare I say, mainstream sound emerging. (Read more)
4
Perennial Art History
Top track: Art History
Art History is a reminder that it’s still possible to take pieces of the past and turn them into urgent, thrilling rock music. On their third album, the New England trio expertly splice together great moments from rock history for a short collection delivered with the frenzied aggression of hardcore punk but packed with nods to various 60s garage, psych, and soul influences.
The songs are deconstructed and then reconstructed; the constituent parts remaining broadly the same but repurposed into something different each time, with new twists emerging. It’s experimental, but whereas experimental can often tend more towards interesting than exciting, this is undoubtedly the latter; an experiment in going hard as fuck. At a rapid-fire 22 minutes, this is a rare example of the old ‘all killer’ cliché. It achieves what it sets out to do and then disappears leaving a trail of glorious wreckage in its wake. (Read more)
3
Bruiser Wolf My Story Got Stories
Top track: 2 Bad
Street slinging, pimpin’ and bad bitches; this is pretty much clichéd territory for hip-hop. But coming from the mouth of Bruiser Wolf it sounds like an exotic new strain of rap. Behind his humour, eccentricity, and impeccably polished facade, lies weary wisdom and a subtle menace. Like his Bruiser Brigade label-mate, Danny Brown, Wolf is one of the most unique voices in the game.
Following his 2021 debut, there was a risk for Wolf that he became seen as a gimmick. His solution seems to have been to go bigger; bigger beats, bigger hooks, bigger punchlines. While he’s still covering a lot of the same ground, recounting tales from his former life in the dope game, that ‘go big’ approach helps cement him as one of hip-hop’s most engaging storytellers on an album that’s full of intriguing contrasts. (Read more)
2
The Rhythm Method Peachy
Top track: Black & Blue
The second full-length from the London duo of Joey Bradbury and Rowan Martin is a real statement album, while never striving too hard to make its statements. Everyday insights sit alongside self-deprecating humour and nostalgic references which will resonate with 90’s kids. But it’s much more than a trip down memory lane, offering surprising depth along the way. It’s swimming in melancholia, yet subtly uplifting as it reflects on relatable feelings about time slowly creeping up on you.
There’s some of the magic of the early Streets albums present on Peachy. But, whereas Mike Skinner captured young adulthood in 00’s Britain, this captures something of what comes next; with adulthood replacing young as the key word of that phrase. Set against a sneakily diverse musical backdrop, from country jaunts to dreamy synth-pop, they tackle darker themes amidst moments of lighthearted nostalgia and with a profoundly British humour. A relatable ode to belatedly coming-of-age, in the tradition of great British pop. (Read more)
1
BIG SPECIAL POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES
Top track: BLACK COUNTRY GOTHIC
The debut from the Birmingham duo brings together the grim and the glorious. Like many before them, they offer a commentary on modern Britain. But they don’t quite do it like anybody else. This is a wide-screen vision of small-time encounters. It’s everyday mundanity wrapped in the language of epic poetry. Frontman, Joe Hicklin, is a powerhouse; a preacher without ever becoming preachy. Despite bouts of bombastic poetry, he’s more prone to self-deprecation than self-satisfied grandstanding. From emphatic to brooding to unhinged; his creativity and charisma shine through. He’s part John Cooper Clarke, part Johnny Rotten, part Bruce Springsteen.
The drumming of Callum Moloney is the driving force in the background; from the breakneck onslaught of the opener, to the marching band thump of SHITHOUSE. There’s a real versatility sitting beneath it all. It’s a fusion of punk, electro, and soul. But the deeper you dig, you’ll discover blues-tinged Americana, dreamy synth-pop, spoken-word minimalist ambience, and much more. This eclecticism is fitting for an album that spans bleak realism to playful absurdity; but wherever the mood takes them, they emerge sounding utterly triumphant.
Listen to selections from all of the top 50, plus loads more of the year’s best on No Frills Reviews Big 2024 Playlist.
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