Graves Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 40 songs. 20 albums. & some stray musings here and there. Howdy. I don't usually partake but I guess you could say I got hit with a bolt of motivation this year. I've decided to take this opportunity to blossom verbally. Watch me chat sh*t about the songs that I liked, the albums I enjoyed, and feel free to probe me on my takes - both bad and good. Not many rules to mention here. I tried to avoid artists appearing more than once on either list, but some girls were serving so hard I fear I had to bend that one. 2024 was actually kind of a banger year, y'all. I got into a lot more music than I ever expected to and even managed to come around on artists I was stubbornly ignoring beforehand. That said, some of the girls still couldn't get on the chart, so I guess I wasn't feeling entirely generous. First update soon-ish. 1 1
Graves Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 Top 40 Songs [40 - 36] 40. LE SSERAFIM "1-800-hot-n-fun" Now I've never been really into K-pop to be honest, and maybe I should work on that in the future? But that'll be for another year. As for this year? This track weaseled its way into one of my Spotify radar things and I won't lie - initial aspersions aside, I was vibing! There's a lot to like about this. You know, I thought it was fun... I liked the beat. It's giving '***** track', but updated for 2024. Just a meandering monologue over one of the sickest guitar riffs of the year. Art doesn't have to be suffering, and actually it can be as simple as the **** you chat when you're pre-drinking before the club. Sometimes all you need is a beat and a vape, girls. I was surprised to see Bloodpop involved in so many songs that I enjoyed this year, at least after the hit his reputation took for producing Chromatica. In fact, he's responsible for more than one of the tracks on my list. It seems for as much guff as I have him for 2020, maybe he just needed a better muse? Hehe. Play something by Beyoncé? We'll get there. 39. Lady Gaga "Disease" Look, shading Gags is very fun (and very easy these days too), but like many millennial queers this woman did capture a slice of my soul back when I was a young teen, in my homosexual infancy, and thus I have a sort of Stockholm Syndrome'd attachment to her even now. Of all the songs that the Lady put out this year, this is the only one that you wouldn't have to pay me to listen to again. And credit where it is due, but it is actually Gaga's vocal performance alone that elevates this track beyond being a reductive, basic bop. Her wailing is proper powerful and it gives me those gay goosebumps when she really starts going off at the end there. It was not the nu-metal, non-commercial banger that some of her fans were hyping up earlier in the year, but it is her most earnest attempt at showing what pop-Gaga could look like in 2024. Light years apart from the phoned-in attempts at chasing past pop glory we became used to from her. Color me cautiously optimistic about LG7. It's not like it can get any worse than the year she had. 38. tricot "おとずれ" I don't remember if this was a Spotify suggestion or something I found via the J-pop thread, but either way I was a fan. Japan has always done pop-rock pretty well and this is an easy-listening jam. I like it when rock can be chilled out and less aggressive in delivery. Sometimes rockstars have lazy days too. Good song for doing the dishes to, I've found. Also, apparently this is an anime opening theme? I hate when J-pop songs I like end up being anime tie-ins. Then I feel I have to explain to other people that I'm not, in fact, an anime stanning weeb... I'm a far more respectable Hikaru Utada stanning weeb. There's a big difference actually. Know that. Oh yeah, the track. I feel like a good guitar riff is enough to make me stan any song to be honest and this is one tune with some good riffs going on. It's not rocket science, really. Bop. 37. Chase and Status & Stormzy "BACKBONE" One of the last songs I ever expected to be listening to of my own volition. All due respect to Stormzy, he's not an artist I would listen to all that much. That said, Chase and Status brought some gold out of him with this collabo. There's a real fun sense of dynamic energy to their production work here. Shades of drum'n'bass abound. The opening already sounds like a warning alarm going off and rightfully so: this track is nasty. As for Stormzy, his delivery isn't far from spoken word either, actually. It works though and is, in a weird way, a sort of hetero, high machismo take on the same ***** track **** I mentioned earlier. Just ranting and letting off that uber-masculine posturing. I don't mind it, I think it works for the sort of aggressive production job he's bouncing off of. I couldn't listen to a full album of that sort of stuff, but this single had me moving. 36. FKA twigs & Koreless "Drums of Death" Is it a glorified interlude track? Sure, but it's so weird and wonderful that I really don't mind at all. I actually have a soft spot for that glitchy sort of stuttering repetition, at least when you pair it with some good melody. This song has both of 'em, so paint me a fan. I love the ChatGPT'd lyrics. She put in the prompt 'drag queen at the universe's heat death' and it works for her. I love the monotony of the whole thing, it sounds like a decrepit assembly line that's barely functioning anymore, having been going for years without maintenance. Even the "soft" chorus has an air of artifice to it. An automated message playing on repeat. She took me there! Post-apocalypse pop is a genre I want to hear more of. I'm looking forward to hearing the full album. The other songs were nice, but I'm a quirky gay who put all his cards down on the "artsy" track. Sue me. 1
Graves Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 Top 40 Songs [35 - 31] 35. Remi Wolf "Cinderella" Though her album didn't do it all the way for me, the lead single was an undeniable hit on these charts. This sort of breezy pop tune is not easily mastered, I give full credit to Remi for putting it together so soundly. There's almost a city-pop sort of quality to this song, with that throwback instrumentation sounding absolutely blissful. The whistles bring to mind Donna Summer's Bad Girls, which can never be a bad thing! I think Remi is able to give a good vocal performance too, pairing attitude and disinterest with a delicate balance. I have no idea what this song is actually about, by the way, but I really don't give a ****. A bop is a bop, and Miss Wolf gave us a total beaut. Gonna kindly ask for more of this, please. 34. Alison Goldfrapp "I Wanna Be Loved (Just A Little Better)" I hate to sound like a middle aged British homosexual, but Miss Alison did it for me with this bop. Her reinvention from dour, overly-serious music snob into a camp drag-pop diva has been something to admire. (She was always camp, don't get me wrong, but I feel she would've given you a nasty glare if you said that to her during one of her "serious" Goldfrapp eras). There's nothing really deep to it, it's a great throwback synth-lead bop that recalls a certain '80s vibe that we love. It is kind of funny how much she used to slate the Head First album when it is by far the closest Goldfrapp album to any of her solo stuff. Let's chalk it up to growth. Great gym song too, I been lifting to this. 33. Dua Lipa "Illusion" Radical Optimism had some fun tunes but, Houdini aside, there were no huge pop classics on there. A step down from the previous album for sure. With that said, Illusion is one genre that Dua just can't fail in: Kylie Minogue rip-offs. That's a complement, by the way! Illusion captures that sparkly sort of pop precision that Miss Minogue had a monopoly on in the '00s, and Dua proves herself as the only worthy inheritor of Kylie's crown. There's nothing especially deep about it, it's glittery earworm radio fodder and it does that job very well. Dragging out a single word into a frustratingly catchy chorus is so Kylie-coded too. Ugh, her daughter! I got a lot of mileage out of it as a basic bop, but we will be needing Dua to come harder next year. You can't float by on inoffensive pop forever. Kylie should act as both an inspiration and a cautionary tale in that regard. I know some of the girls live for Training Season, but I didn't use it. Kind of an annoying song to these ears. I took Houdini, Illusion, and one or two album tracks and ran. Sorry for dumping stray thoughts here, but where else would I put them? Dua isn't appearing anywhere else on my lists lol. 32. KAYTRANADA & Ravyn Lenae "Video" Like a true gay, Kaytranada is always giving the girls a chance to shine on his projects. I've been a lowkey Ravyn Lenae fan since Sticky, but it was great to see her riding one of Kay's beats this year. It's a uniquely alluring sort of track. Simultaneously sounding forward-thinking and like a great throwback too. Seductive in all of the right ways. The whispered delivery on the alternating chorus lines paired with the subtle beats makes for a delicious combination. A sexy ass song, just forces you to surrender and give in to the call. So hot. This is an underrated duo right here. Kay and Tinashe will always be the dream team for me, but for this year I had to give the props to Ravyn. 31. Perfume "時空花" Perfume are known mostly for their frenetic dance-pop confections, so having this underrated moment of introspection hidden towards the back of their album was a beautiful treasure to uncover. After being initially cold on Nebula Romance, tracks like this helped it to grow on me in a huge way. You're never too far from more of Perfume's dance-pop bliss, but you're given some breathing room on this one. In between concerts on Jupiter and Saturn, you got to take some time to think. Watching the stars in the void twinkle as we get rocketed on to the next planet. It's all part of the interstellar journey, mama. It was so nice to hear the girls on a slow jam again. If Love Cloud had been a 2024 release instead of a 2023 single I might've given that a spot instead, but I'm not upset. I get to praise this gem now. Plus, that track might just get its flowers on my album list. Idk, stay tuned and see.
Album Leak Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 (edited) The first nod I've seen for Disease this entire Best Of 2024 oh it's been bad for us liddos, guess the song wasn't received very well.... But I love the song! Though unlike you, I think I just might prefer some tracks from Harlequin over Disease, but only because Disease has a very specific sound going for it that isn't called for in all situations, it's not a particularly all-inclusive song on that regard, if that makes sense. Like if you want to just vibe or relax with music, I'd rather listen to Smile (from Harlequin) than Disease Oh wow, 時空花 IS very different from what you'd generally expect from Perfume! Kind of love it.. I wish I liked the Remi Wolf album more but none of the songs really stood out to me. Perhaps I just need more time with it. Edited December 20, 2024 by Album Leak
Graves Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 6 minutes ago, Album Leak said: The first nod I've seen for Disease this entire Best Of 2024 oh it's been bad for us liddos, guess the song wasn't received very well.... But I love the song! Though unlike you, I think I just might prefer some tracks from Harlequin over Disease, but only because Disease has a very specific sound going for it that isn't called for in all situations, it's not a particularly all-inclusive song on that regard, if that makes sense. Like if you want to just vibe or relax with music, I'd rather listen to Smile (from Harlequin) than Disease I could write a whole post just about why I don't like Harlequin, or Jazzga as a whole, but I think I mostly prefer to focus on 2024's positives. Glad you got some mileage out of that project though! Quote I wish I liked the Remi Wolf album more but none of the songs really stood out to me. Perhaps I just need more time with it. It was kind of underwhelming to these ears, despite some of the hype I saw for her in pop circles. It's pleasant background music at best imo. 1
Suilen Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 I didn't vibe with LE SSERAFIM's mini, but it was almost endearing how much they were pandering to the gays, like they were trying to compensate for those Korean GP-friendly singles. GaGa didn't convince me with Disease, and with the recent news, well... #PrayForLG7. I was moved a bit by Wave on Remi's album, and it'd say it was nice overall. Illusion being Kyliesque is exactly my problem, maybe it'd work for me if Kylie herself was unable to serve anymore, but that's definitely not the case.
Graves Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 2 hours ago, Suilen said: Illusion being Kyliesque is exactly my problem, maybe it'd work for me if Kylie herself was unable to serve anymore, but that's definitely not the case. We might have to agree to disagree there.
Mr. Blue_Shirt Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 Drums of Death, Cinderella and Illusion are HUGE bops, i'm obsessed Disease is truly Gaga's best lead since, maybe, Applause? It might be a flop, but the song genuinely makes me interested in her new era again since forever 1
Curaga Posted December 22, 2024 Posted December 22, 2024 (edited) Loooove those funky horns on Cinderella! Never heard it before. I need to check out a lot of these still. Illusion made it on my 2024 playlist too She ate in the video too! And Perfume!! I only listened to the new album once. 2024 really was full of great releases—hard to keep up honestly haha. I need to revisit Perfume... Loving your write-ups as always. It never ceases to amaze me how you can write so much + so well! Edited December 22, 2024 by Curaga
Graves Posted December 22, 2024 Author Posted December 22, 2024 55 minutes ago, Curaga said: Illusion made it on my 2024 playlist too She ate in the video too! She did, that video... she took the Kylie-baiting to a new limit but it works for her. Of course it utterly alienated all American listeners, but that's part of the Minogue dynasty Quote And Perfume!! I only listened to the new album once. 2024 really was full of great releases—hard to keep up honestly haha. I need to revisit Perfume... You should! It passed me by on initial listens, but second or third time through and I was getting my life on this bus spaceship! 1
Graves Posted December 23, 2024 Author Posted December 23, 2024 (edited) Top 40 Songs [30 - 26] 30. SZA "Saturn" I'm more of a distant admirer when it comes to SZA these days, and that's for the best I think. Imagining being a hardcore stan and dealing with her wishy-washy ways this year... pls. I maintain my fandom though, as this woman is always putting out insanely good music. Insufferable genius gene, I suppose. Saturn is another great entry into the SZA canon. Her signature storytelling, personalized lyric style is put to work, melded with a space-age theme and soundscape. Glimmering stars punctuate SZA's lonely crooning in a manner both touching and terrifying. Not every song needs to reinvent the wheel, sometimes just doing what you do best is all that we want. Should be noted that I did my lists before the deluxe drop, so maybe keep that in mind here. I still haven't given that release a spin yet. My bad. Like I said, distant admirer. Very distant. 29. Porter Robinson "Cheerleader" Queerbaiting, white guy pop-rock... ooh. But he put synths all over the top of it, so that means I love it. Nah, but for real... what a fun tune. Definitely discovered this on some year-end lists last month, as it is far from my usual wheelhouse, but it was a great little treat. The "scene" sort of aesthetic (is that even what it's called anymore?), and emo influence should have sent me for the hills, and yet here I am. I was partially joking earlier, but in truth I do think that throwing a crazy synth line atop a song is a quick way to make it better, the Pet Shop Boys print perhaps. The homosexuality in my body reaching terminal levels as I write this I fear. But yeah, good job straight boy. 28. Jamie xx & Honey Dijon "Baddy On The Floor" I always feel a bit normie when I pick the most-streamed song from a record, but I can't make the music not bop. Jamie xx and I have a tumultuous relationship. I... I remember the last time I tried a year-end thing was back in 2015, with a different Jamie record to try and swallow. I'm happy to say that this year's release landed a lot better with me, and Baddy On The Floor is great showcase of why. Joyous, floor filler energy all around. Not trying to be too clever or artistic, just making a really sharp tune. Honey Dijon's vocals are chopped and skewed like an early '90s off-label remix, and we're even picking up some Daft Punk vibes at times. No thinking required for this one: all dancing, all the time. I love to be proven wrong sometimes! Nice work, James. 27. Anna Takeuchi "BREAK MY CASE" Now this is one I certainly discovered through the J-pop thread, much thanks to my girlies. There's almost a '90s energy to the chorus melody here, riding the beat like some easy-listening radio fodder. After that, the verses are free to be as quirky and non-committal as they'd like. Phone call interludes, spoken-word stanzas, a hefty helping of English... This is just a ******* blast of a song: propulsive, exciting, constantly switching it up. Keeping you on your toes. The instrumentation is just as important as the singer herself, going beat for beat with her and helping the song keep it fresh. The little jam session at the very end is a delight too. Pop at it's best, and proof that there's still some life in J-pop. 26. Megan Thee Stallion "Otaku Hot Girl" Fellow Japan-fanatic Megan Thee Stallion makes her appearance at last. She had a pretty huge year in 2024, coming into a new era with a lot to prove. Personally, I enjoyed the Hiss era, week-long as it may have been, but a lot of the singles were just not hitting for me. There were a few gems to discover when the album dropped, and none left a better impression on me than the rather self-explanatory Otaku Hot Girl. I don't think it's anything new for Meg, a catchy, anime-referencing chorus and a flow that we're mostly pretty familiar with, but I do think it makes for one of the more well-done packages she's given us in the past couple years. The hooks just hit harder here, and as it's familiar territory she knows how to mount it nice and well by now. The intro part always sends me too, for some reason. Edited December 23, 2024 by Graves 1
Graves Posted December 23, 2024 Author Posted December 23, 2024 Top 40 Songs [25 - 21] 25. Normani & Starrah "Big Boy" Bling bling blauw Love this intro track to Normani's long-awaited debut album. Dripping in confidence and dropping one-liners with powerful presence, this one really did it for me. I liked Normani before this, and was always low-key rooting for her, but I didn't know if I really checked for her like that. At least not until the album dropped. Big Boy completely had me won over before the runtime had even finished. I got it, I knew what she was trying to do with the album and I suddenly was all in on Team Mani. I always feel weird when I make the opening track of a record my favorite, but sometimes they just make for perfect introductions and you just can't get that first impression out of your mind, you know? Great job, Mani. 24. TAIL "Fundus" I will always try to root for queer pop boys, when they give me reason to at least. TAIL, the artist fka Taichi Mukai, had a pretty cute EP this year and although it wasn't a home run record, it had some pretty good songs on it! I said Japan does pop-rock damn well, and they do! ...but they've also been a lowkey bastion of R&B for the past 25 years too. Glad to see that's still the case. I gave this track the shout-out because I like the horns a lot. I think the chorus has a really cool cacophony effect, a whole mess of noise. When TAIL really turns up the fervor in his voice and takes things up an octave from the dreamy verses? Oh, that's when I'm sold. I'm looking forward to a new, full album, please. 23. Addison Rae "Aquamarine" I had no idea that Addison Rae was like... a real and good pop artist now. Not until this song came along and took me out! Charli's tutelage paying off, I see. A beautiful slice of dream-pop perfection. I'd call it icy, but that would be underselling the warmth that she's bringing to it. I can tell Addison studies pop, with the Ray of Light shout out, of course, but also just her general reverence for the art. That said, I actually don't get Ray of Light album from this too much. A little bit, sure, but I'm more getting late-90s Kylie Minogue or even one of the dreamier In The Zone tracks. Both wonderful comparisons too, by the way! I'm not negging, I'm actually hella excited to see what comes next. And I never thought I'd be saying that about this girl. 22. Halsey "Lonely is the Muse" I don't know if Halsey has ever been more at home than in this cathartic confessional track, inhibiting the grungy soundscape with a surprisingly adept handle on it. I think it works as a "deep" track, but one that is authentically Halsey at the same time. The lyrics can be slightly clunky in places but that's good I think. It's personal to Halsey, so why should she try and change how she's always written? Plus, that sort of imperfection is something that offers real character to a track like this one. Confessional, confrontational, but ultimately true to who Halsey is. I think this is miles better than the music she used to make, but I also think it's still very much "her". I suspect that might make it even more fulfilling to longtime fans? But even for a non-believer like myself, I found it rather stunning on its own merits. 21. Hikaru Utada "Electricity" Ahh, my ******* fave! Electricity is the kind of pop tune that Hikaru Utada would not have been able to make without each and every step of their recent journey. Since their return to music eight years ago, we've seen them dip into jazz, trance, electropop, sleep aid, and on this year's greatest hits release we got to see them put all of that together into a beautiful and brilliant retrospective on their career. Of all of the new songs, I suspect this one is likely the least favorite for many, but I've loved it since the first listen. Sounding like the love child of a Fantome and Bad Mode track, there's a certain level of bombast being traded in for restraint here. Maturity! It won't be to everybody's taste, sure, but I adore this new, reinvented Utada. Understated and beautiful, an interesting take on a jazz-pop song. Some other artists that I won't name could learn a thing or two. 1 1
Suilen Posted December 23, 2024 Posted December 23, 2024 Not sure about Anna's song, but I did play the game it was used in. Candy Crush with cute boys Listened to the Porter song since everyone's hyping it up, I can see where the praise is coming from but can't imagine putting it on heavy rotation. Addison and Halsey snapped. I like Electricity, just not hard enough. I'd still rank it above what her contemporaries were doing this year, though. And I always appreciate a Hatsukoi shade. I used to listen to Taichi back in the day, even recommended his debut album to a non-insignificant audience once. Things happened, and I've been out of touch with his releases. If he's still good and even better than before, then I'll make an attempt to catch up. 1
Hollywood. Posted December 23, 2024 Posted December 23, 2024 Nice to see Disease on one's countdown. It really grew on me. 1
Hollywood. Posted December 23, 2024 Posted December 23, 2024 Nice to see Disease on one's countdown. It really grew on me.
Graves Posted December 24, 2024 Author Posted December 24, 2024 7 hours ago, Suilen said: I used to listen to Taichi back in the day, even recommended his debut album to a non-insignificant audience once. Things happened, and I've been out of touch with his releases. If he's still good and even better than before, then I'll make an attempt to catch up. I'm not super well-versed in him either, but I've enjoyed what I've heard thus far. This year's EP was good enough, and his 2022 album... I liked it! 1
Mr. Blue_Shirt Posted December 24, 2024 Posted December 24, 2024 Saturn, Cheerleader, Baddy On The Floor, Big Boy and Aquamarine are soo good So glad that Halsey went more rock-leaning in Lonely is the Muse because that's something that people have wanted from them ever since... Maniac era?? And my goodness, Halsey pulls it off
ATRL Moderator Ace Reject Posted Wednesday at 10:26 PM ATRL Moderator Posted Wednesday at 10:26 PM Girl, are we finishing? (I know, imagine me saying that...)
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