It goes without saying that the Kings Cross hipsters have not explored the world of classical, jazz or experimental music. But how they chose the number one album by a certain Charli xcx is beyond me. A pretty lame singer pouting over a synth backing. Maybe it was the tired sexy thin tea-shirt tropes in the video that accompanies the article that made me yawn.
The rest of the list is pretty dreary too. How about Amyl and the Sniffers, doing poorly what the Sex Pistols did fifty years ago? Or some tired Indy.
Most of all, No mention of Ezra Collective’s Dance no one is watching, which won the Mercury prize, or Nubya Gracia’s Odyssey, just to name a couple that lean toward popular music. Acts cat can fill Wembley Arena.
The Ezra Collective won it in 2023, and this year the winner was English Teacher with their debut album This Could Be Texas, which I think is an excellent album and is in my list of best albums of the year.
There are plenty of other publications’ lists that might fit your tastes. Nobody suggest any of these is definitive. No single source aligns with my tastes, but I find that every single one gets me to listen to something I missed, or ignored. Which is the point isn’t it?
Why would they, the album wasn’t released in 2024. Any album to be considered for the list had to be released after 1st Jan 24. People commenting about the omission may not understand what “Best Albums of 2024” means.
Not just The Guardian , but 22 other publications have voted Charlie XCX’s Brat as the album of the year. On top of that, it ranks in the top ten in an additional 36 publications.* In terms of general consensus, no other album comes close. You don’t have to like it, but you’re not acknowledging how Charlie XCX’s album has crossed the barrier of all ages and genres, whereas, as good as Ezra Collective are, they have not achieved the same cultural crossover.
Source: Album of the Year - 2024 Music Year End List Aggregate.
I like ‘best of the year’ lists, both to try music I have not heard but also to provoke discussion as this thread has. There are some interesting 2024 best jazz album lists with little congruence: egs. NYT’s, All About Jazz, Slate, Jazzwise. Lots of new music to explore.
All About Jazz lists are one of the best resources, for finding things you have missed. The late Chris May’s lists were always a good place to start. Jazzwise is pretty good too.
Yes, he introduced me to some fantastic musc ,I would not have found otherwise, including Jasmine Myra, a current favourite. His taste in music was very aligned with mine.
Your logic for its success—that every publication is simply playing to a gallery—doesn’t hold up. As for calling it musical trash, older generations have been saying that about pop music throughout the history of the genre. Clearly, she is doing something right. Additionally, comparing Charlie XCX to a child molester is, frankly, in very poor taste.
I listen to a lot of new music on BBC6. I have quite an open mind. Or perhaps I am out of touch with the crasser end of popular music. Please tell me what is special, exciting and new about her music.
The video on the Guardian was pretty annoying. Perhaps it is the bits with wobbly “bristols” under a thin tee-shirt that makes it exciting.
I was comparing her music to a group that was produced by JK, which is something different.
