My favorite songs of 2024

I got yer Spotify Wrapped right here

A lot of folks use the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to kick back and listen to holiday music. Me? No sir. Why, when it comes to seasonal tunes, I’m a certified Hater, a Grinch whose heart shall never grow even one size. But, if you’ve been reading this Substack (or have been my friend) for a while, you know that what I like to do with this time instead is listen to all my favorite music from the preceeding 12 months, then put my most-loved songs together into a CD-length playlist — and then share it with you! (see 2023, 2022)

As a reminder, here are the rules of that playlist:

• Every record I bought gets one song on the list; the rest of the runtime gets filled out with random single tracks I was drawn to.

• For timing purposes, I consider the year to run December 1 through November 30. This list features one track from December 2023, although it was released on December 31 so it like barely counts.

• The songs are arranged to flow pleasingly and hopefully are fun to listen to in this order. What you see below is not a ranking! Instead, it’s an attempt to make a combination DJ set and feelings diary of my year. This was a tough but affirming one, folks. You’ve been reading about it, you get it!

• It’s CD-length because that’s what we had to work with when I started doing this decades ago, dang it.

Before I dive into the songs themselves, I also wanted to take a moment to call out where I get a lot of my songs from. I follow new music more closely than a lot of folks I know, and I have a handful of sources in particular that are precious to me. Those are…

• Spotify. Yeah, I know they’re evil… but I’ve spent so much time making playlists on there that their algorithm probably knows me better than I know myself (except when it thinks I want to listen to live Phish songs for some reason. I blame Scott Aukerman). I make it a point to buy records I listen to more than a couple times, though.

• Mixes from people I’m dating. The mixtape is not dead. Instead, it has just… transformed. And man, dating people with good musical taste is the tops.

• NPR. I used to read the New York Times and Washington Post news digests every morning, but both of those publications are seedy as hell, so at the recommendation of my friend Craig, I switched to NPR. As it happens, they spotlight some pretty freaking good music on there; I especially got a lot out of their recent year-end wrap-up.

• Critical Hit Parader. My buddy Matt, another person who likes to play at the intersection of TTRPGs and rock music, has a weekly Substack newsletter that always has some insightful music knowledge to share, including the occasional kickass new band. Y’all should subscribe to this gentleman, who this year became a published expert on Judas Priest and Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (a band very near and dear to my own heart!).

So, with that said, here’s my 2024 in music (a list you can enjoy on Spotify, if you like!).

1. Jon Batiste: American Symphony Theme — Though I was familiar with Batiste before, I’ve never sought out any of his albums; this one came to me via a playlist from K, who I dated towards the end of the year, and I just thought it was super neat. Batiste is obviously an incredible pianist, and his ear for melody and tone on this record spoke to the part of me that grew up playing in my junior high orchestra, jamming out to instrumental and classical music. Listen, sometimes I play classy stuff, okay?

2. The Gaslight Anthem: Positive Charge — And sometimes I don’t. It’s funny, I didn’t like History Books at all when it came out last year; for whatever reason, production and mixing choices had the album sounding like it was playing off the built-in speakers of a 1994 PC running Windows 3.1. Apparently, lots of fans felt similarly, because this year Gaslight Anthem remixed and expanded the record, and it ended up sounding just like the GA album I wanted. From its opening scream of “PETER!!”, “Positive Charge” just lights me up with a raucous, appropriately anthemic performance.

3. The Selfless Lovers: Falling in Love Again — Kind of a theme song for my year. I love how smooth and soulful this track sounds. You’ll notice - I love some good sax. This was a Spotify discovery, and seems to be the band’s only new release in the last little bit; I’ll be keeping an eye on them.

4. Zach Bryan: Sandpaper (feat. Bruce Springsteen) — This song released in July, about a month after my hard breakup you probably read about. In my head, I like to imagine that Bruce knew that somewhere, I was hurting, and he jumped into a guest spot on the next song about heartache he could find so he could help ease my woes. This song is so of a part with “I’m on Fire” that it’s even in the same key, with the same strumming rhtyhm, but it makes me feel good to hear. Bruce does some incredible high-register harmonizing here, complemented by some lovely background melodies from a familiar ‘80s keyboard¹. This is the kind of stuff I really dig out of later-day Springsteen.

5. Bleachers: Modern Girl — Speaking of the Boss, 2024 probably gave us the Bleachers record that least celebrates Jack Antonoff’s Springsteen influence overall, but you wouldn’t know it from this song, which is just a ton of fun. Love that groove, love that sax (x2)!!

6. MJ Lenderman: Rudolph — A very late discovery for me, I felt drawn to MJ Lenderman’s Kurt Vile-esque country rock strut mixed with his “hey, I know this guy” Craig Finn-style lyrics, which are clever, critical portraits of people that feel like they could be just around the corner.

7. Wolves of Glendale: Olivia — It takes a lot for me to want to relisten to a comedy music album; it really helps when the music itself is made with both skill and cleverness, rewarding those relistens. I think Wolves of Glendale are such talented songwriters, and they absolutely nail a yacht rock vibe on this track about living with a ghost girl. I also love the way they keep heightening an already absurd premise as the song goes on — probably their signature lyrical move. Have a bit of a laugh before the tracklist gets heavy!

8. Nobuo Uematsu: Aerith’s Theme (Return to the Planet) — Okay, so like, this feels a little like cheating because I also put the Remake version of Aerith’s theme on my 2020 playlist. But readers of this Substack know how I feel about Aerith, and how her character resonated with me this year. Considering the whole of the (excellent) Rebirth soundtrack, this was the only piece that could have really represented it for me. “Aerith’s Theme” begins the relationship-focused block of this playlist, so buckle up. [Note: This track is not currently available on Spotify; I did toss in a piano cover of the song just as a placeholder, given its importance to the flow of this playlist.]

9. Taylor Swift: Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) — I didn’t like THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT as much as Midnights (Taylor, 44 minutes is a great length for a record, really!), but I did think it had a handful of pretty dang memorable songs. “Fortnight” has some resonances with me given the length of a lot of my relationships this year, and as a bonus, this record came out the day E and I started dating, so its fuction as a calendar marker is kind of burned into my brain.

10. Adrianne Lenker: Free Treasure — I was familiar with Adrianne Lenker’s work with Big Thief, but thanks to a combination of Spotify and E, her solo music took up residence in my library this year. God, this is beautiful stuff. The whole Bright Future record is pretty breathtaking, but ultimately, this song had to be the choice. From E: It was an honor to have been thought of this way.

11. Charlotte Lawrence: Wildflowers — I don’t know a dang thing about the show Bad Monkey, and in fact I keep thinking that the man on the show poster is Will Arnett instead of Vince Vaughn, lol. I do know that whatever music supervisors/producers worked on this show assembled a freaking incredible lineup of modern artists covering Tom Petty. Petty’s Wildflowers was my breakup album this summer, so this sensitive, lovely cover from Charlotte Lawrence just hit my soul the first time I heard it, and it’s continued to do so every time since. For E: Just, all of this.

12. FLORACENE: Magic — Another Spotify discovery that hit at the right time; I love the way these guys lock into such a propulsive yet melodic rock rhythm, and I love the timbre and intensity of the singer’s voice. FLORACENE’s web presence is so slight that I can’t even find the names of the band members to properly credit the vocalist. I hope I hear more from them. Hey guys — let me credit you!! For M: Thanks for showing me that lightning could strike twice.

13. Noah Kahan & Hozier: Northern Attitude — I kinda missed the Noah Kahan boat over the last couple years, but one of K’s favorite artists is Hozier, so she put this collaboration of theirs on a playlist for me. I was really struck by the ear for melody both these guys have, and the way their vocal tones and deliveries emphasize the thematics of the song — kind of a beautiful distance, if that makes sense. From K: We had a ton of fun, and I loved sharing our artistic tastes.

14. The Hold Steady: Death Star — The Hold Steady’s music has been so important to me over the last few years; we’re leaving the “relationship block” of this playlist with a new release of theirs that (I think) is about pining after someone who’s mixed up with the wrong person, which feels like a good way for us to sonically move on! This is a cover of a song by Jesse Malin, and it comes off of a benefit album put together to raise money for Jesse after he suffered a stroke last year. But “Death Star” sounds like it’s always been a Hold Steady song, with that signature cultural incisiveness and punchy delivery that Craig Finn and co. are most known for. This hits so hard, in under two and a half minutes!

15. Sam Fender: People Watching — I love Sam Fender, the UK’s Millennial Bruce Springsteen. It was super welcome to get a new single from him at the end of this year, one with the shimmering keys, soulful sax (x3), and powerful humane insight I’ve come to expect from the dude. For sure he’ll be making a return on next year’s playlist thanks to the full album drop.

16. Fight Dice: Chaos Orb — I got introduced to these guys through Critical Hit Parader, and man, this record (called Total Party Kill) rules. I think it’s really interesting that Fight Dice sings about the fantasy creatures and mythical quests of D&D from a real-life perspective, with frequent references to rolling initiative, playing a campaign, and responding to the DM. It’s like if you filtered 1970s sword-and-sorcery rock through an everyman Midwest punk aesthetic, which, as it turns out, is exactly what this band is.

17. Judas Priest: Invincible Shield — Man, Priest still sounds so good. Invincible Shield is an awesome album, just front-to-back bangers, but the title track was my favorite — for my money, it has the catchiest vocal melody, and the raddest solo.

18. Gray Ghost: The Normalization of Deviance — My dear buddies Dwight and Jeff’s band finished their first full-length album this year, and fuck, it’s really good. Killer riffs, clever lyrics, all played with talent and style. I genuinely dig the heck out of Gray Ghost and I want them to receive accolades, damn it!!

19. Totally Fine: Nb — Speaking of friends’ bands, this comes from my friend Lisa. Totally Fine shares a trick with the next record on this list — they cover so many musical styles that their album ends up feeling almost like a mixtape on its own, in the best way, from pop rock to prog to zydeco and, on this track, some reflective, beautiful folk to just about close us out. Lisa and co-vocalist Claire make really lovely harmonies together; it’s pretty fucking cool to have friends who are this talented.

20. Orville Peck & Nathaniel Rateliff: Conquer the Heart — Orville Peck’s Stampede was my favorite album of the year. Like I mentioned with Totally Fine above, every track sounds so different, informed by an incredible list of guest stars, from Willie Nelson to Elton John to Kylie Minogue, that Peck adapts to and crafts around. Pretty much every song is incredible, but this one, featuring the ever-soulful Nathaniel Rateliff, ended up being my very favorite; could it be maybe that sultry sax solo (x4) that put it over the edge?!?! I put this song on three different romantic mixes this year, each time hoping I could recontextualize it for a relationship that would have some staying power. That didn’t come to pass, unfortunately, but I think maybe I ended up diffusing its meaning across enough folks to get it to stand in for a more generalized romantic vibe. Mission accomplished!?! Maybe next year I’ll conquer the heart.

What were your favorite songs this year, pals?

1. Which I learned this year — thanks to Steven Hyden’s brilliant book on Born in the U.S.A. entitled There Was Nothing You Could Do — is the Yamaha CS-80. This is the same keyboard that lent its signature sound to so many 1980s hits, including “Wonderful Christmastime,” which unfortunately does make it my nemesis. As I said in my first paragraph — I’m a certified Grinch.