Best of 2024: Adam J’s Favorite Albums
What a frickin’ year, right? Yikes. At least there was good music so let’s celebrate the albums, songs, and concerts we’ve loved most this year with our annual Reviler “Yearly Best of” year end wrap up. Below you can see Adam J’s favorite albums and concerts.
Best of 2024 National Album Releases
Thou – Umbilical
Approaching their second decade of destruction, New Orleans doom machine Thou
have rarely missed a step in their releases. Maintaining the power, magnitude, and just overall
“heaviness” of their pitch-perfect 2007 debut Tyrant, Thou have carved out their own
misanthropic masterpieces like Algiers (2012) and Rhea Sylvia (2018) all the while divinating
very inhumane reflections on humanity with collaborators like Washington feedback terrorists
the Body (Released From Love/You, Whom I Have Always Hated, 2015) and Southern Gothic
songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle (May Our Chambers Be Full, 2020). Umbilical is my favorite
Thou record thus far; because I wasn’t sure if they could ever top the BEST Black Sabbath
cover I’ve ever heard for Sacred Bones’s 2020’s Yhatzee of a tribute What Is This That Stands
Before Me? with their rendition of “Supernaut”. This is definitely my Most-Listened-To album of
the year, and once you get yourself under the blows Umbilical is throwing, you’ll understand
why. Standout tracks include “Emotional Terrorist”, “House of Ideas”, and “The Promise”, but it’s
in your best interest to start from “Narcissist’s Prayer” and just let the tide take you out: “So
speak our names as a warning, as a curse, as a failure. At last, it’s time to die. So die.”
Orville Peck – Stampede
I Stan Orville Peck something fierce. He could sing the phone book and I would just give
him my cat. Long gone is his past life in punk rock on the East coast. Since blowing up on the
wider public lense with his country-crooning debut full-length Pony (2019), Peck has established
his talents not only as a cosmically talented vocalist, but as a poignant songwriter. Bronco
(2022) is his best work to date (in my opinion), but Stampede solidifies the intellect Peck
possesses as a student of “the song”. A collection of collaborative covers (often with the original
songwriters), Stampede acts as a reveal of the cards from a master (albeit modest) pop music
practitioner. Standout tracks include “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other”
with Willie Nelson, “The Hurtin’ Kind” with Midland, and “You’re An Asshole, I Can’t Stand You
(And I Want A Divorce)” with Margo Price. The whole darn thing is a hoot, so don’t miss out on
the finale four-way on “Rhinestone Cowboy”. Yee-haw.
High On Fire – Cometh The Storm
Besides Orville’s travelling circus above, this was my most anticipated album release of 2024. And President Pike and company do not disappoint. After winning a Grammy for their 2018 effort Electric Messiah (and for damn good reason (But for Christ’s sake, did anyone else watch the broadcast?! They made that man, who only recently had foot surgery, walk ALL the way from the BACK of that building, DOWN a decline, to a STAGE with STAIRS to receive the first “award” recognizing his 30+ years building heavy metal as we know it today…sorry…)) High On Fire made a change on the drum throne with Heavy Business/Melvins percussion pilot Coady Willis; and if anyone on the planet could keep up Matt Pike and Jeff Matz, it’s Coady Willis. The toms thunder and the guitars plunder. No politics; no cryptid conspiracies; no problematic through-line story – just straight up fucking heavy metal. Not since 2007’s Death Is This Communion have HoF swaggered as much as they’ve pummeled, and it’s an epic fucking
beatdown. Standout tracks include “Burning Down”, “Cometh the Storm”, and “Tough Guy”. Pike may be California Sober these days, but THIS is what ripping a bong and chasing it with a full beer sounds like. Horns up.
Kendrick Lamar – GNX
Do I understand EVERYTHING on this record? No. Do I LOVE everything about this
record? Absolutely. Kendrick Lamar has a Shakespearean quality to his presence.
EVERYTHING about his performance is important. The words, the inflection, his breath (or lack
thereof), his voice(s) — “Bitch – I pro’ly built them pyramids” is such a goooooood line; and “I
rewrote the Devil’s story just to take the power back” made me literally stop in my tracks. One
can never entirely escape the satisfaction of a well-placed crotch grab, but GNX is more than
just a puff of feathers. While Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (2022) proved to be the personal
closet cleaning effort Lamar had promised us, GNX sees the MC careening through the entire
community like Homeaglow; and this Spring Cleaning is a damn party. Like, even the “ballads”
are bangers. If May’s “Not Like Us” started as a one-off response to the very public Drake beef,
GNX is most definitely an officially posted code of conduct from the most vital voice in Hip-Hop
today. Standout tracks include “wacced out murals”, “squabble up”, “reincarnated”, and
“peekaboo (feat. wallie the sensei, siete7x, roddy ricch)”. It really sounds like Kendrick isn’t
simply getting his second wind, but possibly revving up for his Kinda Blue, if you will.
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
I DO have a predisposition to enjoy heavy metal music, but Blood Incantation has been,
like, the most interesting “indie” metal band (besides River of Nihil) for a minute. Their 2016
debut full-length Starspawn grounded their Death & Sci-Fi sensibilities while the 2019 follow-up
Hidden History of the Human Race propelled them deep into the outer reaches of Prog and
even Giallo-film dimensions. Blood Incantation build their world on a brutal base of Death Metal,
but their integration of synthesizers and wind instruments supplement that brutality into beauty.
Absolute Elsewhere follows a similar path as 2022’sTimewave Zero, providing listeners multiple
chapters of a terrifying cosmic narrative in equal segments. Upon discovering The Stargate, the
listener is delivered The Message, each of which is composed of three Tablets of music
accompaniment. If Body Count’s pull of David Gilmour this year for their “Comfortably Numb”
collaboration/reinterpretation left a bad taste in your mouth, let Blood Incantation provide the
Heavy-Metal-Pink-Floyd remedy. Standout tracks include “The Sargate [Tablet II]”, “The
Stargate [Tablet III]”, “The Message [Tablet II]”, and The Message [Tablet III]”. As you can tell, it
would probably behoove you to just listen all in one sitting. It’s kind of their thing.
Jelly Roll – Beautifully Broken
Whaaaaaaaaat?! Yes. That’s right – I enjoyed the ever-loving fuck out of this album. But
really…everyone and their mother has been pissing their pants the last five years over the
“unnatural relationship” between Country/Western music and Hip-Hop/Rap, while
PERSONALLY I don’t see what the big fucking deal is about historically Black Music coming
back into the perifery of historically Black Music and, well, continuing to inform and express the
ever-evolving values of its zealots. I understand Mr. Roll is very White (as am I), but his Hip-Hop
background does not belie his connection to Country music. Besides coming up in the same
county of Tennessee as Dolly Parton, ol’ Jelly has an obviously worn mountain timbre to his voice. This is no place for an academic dive into such histrionics, so I’ll just say that this entire
album is Pop as shit (and I mean that as a compliment). If you don’t like any of the types of
music you THINK this will sound like, PLEASE reconsider. Standout tracks include “Winning
Streak”, “I Am Not Okay”, “Unpretty”, and “Smile So Much”. Big feels from a big man, and totally
worth your time.
Yasmin Williams – Acadia
Ms. Williams is probably my favorite guitarist at present moment. Her Driftwood (2021)
album totally blew my mind, and then I found VIDEOS of her performing. The jazz influence is
palpable, if not load-bearing. But the true joy in her compositions (in my opinion) comes from
her blithe phrasing and flourishes. I hear Frank Zappa, I hear Albert King, I hear James Blood –
and it’s ALL coming from her lap style technique! Her natural acoustic template is assuring and
comfortable, but Acadia stretches out with guest features and expansions on Williams’s own
evolving presence. Standout tracks include “Harvest (feat. Kaki King & Darian Donovan
Thomas)”, “Sisters”, “Dream Lake (feat. Malick Koly)”, and “Malamu (feat. Marcus Gilmore &
Immaniel WIlkins)”. I only recently got to see my hero Marc Ribot kick out the jams, so hopefully
I won’t have to wait until Williams is 71 to catch her magic live.
Billy Strings – Highway Prayers
I am VERY late to the Billy Strings parade, but it feels good to be stepping to the beat.
Coming from where I come from (Central Illinois with deeeeeeeep Kentucky roots), I usually
avoid blue-grass and ANYTHING to do with a banjo like the plague. Which is why when I saw
Mr. Strings’s name amongst acts like The String Cheese Incident and Yonder Mountain String
Band on festival lineups I immediately thought ‘Oooohhhhh….yah – no.’ How wrong I was. I
STILL don’t enjoy “Jam Band” music (I understand it’s derogatory and I DON’T care), but ol’ Billy
sounds like family, so he has my attention. True to his nom de plume, Mr. Apostol can pick up
anything with strings and make it sing. But heroics are beyond Strings’s scope, and I appreciate
that very much as a player, myself. Even when he cuts loose for some fun shredding and
picking up and down the neck, all of his decisions make tuneful sense. His intellect as a
composer is on grand display through Highway Prayers. Every performance is meant to serve
the song, and satisfactorily so. The fiddle and mandolin are written into my DNA, whether I like it
or not, so I might as well take it as I can. Standout tracks include “In the Clear”, “Stratosphere
Blues/I Believe In You”, “Malfunction Junction”, and “Richard Petty”. All hail Kentucky Colonel
Billy Strings, First of His Name, Herald of Them Thar Hills, and Purveyor of Purty Songs. Long
may he reign.
LL Cool J – The Force
Future, Tyler the Creator, Snoop, AND Eminem all put out great albums this year; but
besides Mr. Duckworth, nobody impressed me as much as Mr. Smith. 40+ years later and the
ladies still love Cool James. Not unlike Kendrick’s natural mirror-flip, LL is reflecting on his past
and contemplating his legacy. But that shine is inevitable. So instead of tempering the glass (like
some of his contemporaries), he lets the light in and basks in the glory as well as the lessons.
And in real time, at that. Again, like Kendrick’s “three chords and the truth” approach to GNX, LL
Cool J starts at 0:16 and ends at 43:26, like a goddamn freight train. Some may scoff or sneer at his recent claims of GOAT, but there’s no doubt that LL Cool J has always been a presence
within the genre. Standout tracks include “Spirit of Cyrus (feat. Snoop Dogg)”, “Black Code Suite
(feat. Sona Jobarteh)”, “30 Decembers”, and “Huey In The Chair (feat. Busta Rhymes)”. Also,
Eminem, Nas, Fat Joe, and a slew of others guest on the record to fantastic effect.
Dark Brown – American Instrument
I had never heard of Dark Brown until I saw “featuring Dick Dale” on a wild browsing
spell amongst all the other recent releases. Moreso, I didn’t know Dick Dale was still alive; so
after just the first listen I was a fan. Obviously a percussion-led operation, Dark Brown have an
organic chemistry throughout American Instrument with their featured guests, a palpable
demonstration of the album’s eponymy. If you haven’t just thrown up in your own mouth over
that very pompous statement (YES – technically, this is a Jazz album), please have the
in/foresight to consider the absolute majesty of this listening experience. Or, if you HAVE thrown
up in your own mouth and want to beat me up, just consider that Brad Wilk from Rage Against
the Machine is also on this album. Because there’s some dumb rock-shit compositions, as well.
Anywho…Standout tracks include the 80’s-tastic “Miami Rute (feat. Jon Theodore, Alfredo Ortiz,
and Mathias Schneeberger)”, the surfy “Rhythm Surfer (feat. Dick Dale, Donita Sparks, and Jim
Brown)”, the aforementioned dumb rock-shit “Spacetime (feat. Brad Wilk, Jim Brown, and Alex
Minoff)”, and the Funkadelic/Mothers of Invention freakout “Fabric Of The Universe (feat. Eric
McFadden)”. If this is indeed “an American band” we are lucky to have them on our side. To
party down, obviously.
+/- – Further Afield
Delivering mail (especially in Minnesota) can be a tedious business. Which is probably
why I listen to so much metal and eletro…ANYWHO – +/- are another new act to me, so this
absolutely fabulous album kept me moving this year on the mean streets of 55405; all the while
injecting my sensibilities with comfy feels, and even some life lessons. To me, Further Afield
sounds like a VERY personal live composition/set meant for a very PUBLIC event. Cozy effects
help those Magic Fingers beats massage the fuck out of the listener from front to back. No
quarter(s) necessary. Standout tracks include “Borrowed Time”, “Driving Aimlessly (Redux)”,
“The Pull from Both Sides”, and “Is It Over Now”. The world keeps getting scarier, so folks like
+/- have their work cut out for them. But at least they’re still working.
Rotem Sivan – Dream Louder
Big surprise – I’m a guitar nerd. Get my eyes or ears on a thoughtful or innovative player
and you’ll have a better chance of finding God than prying me away. Which is why Yasmin
Williams and THIS gentleman had me distracted most from Judas Priest and High On Fire.
Sivam lives very comfortably in the “Jazz” atmosphere, which is definitely his right. But if this
dude got on stage with Derek Trucks or (God forbid) Primus?:
“Tragedy struck a local stop of a national concert tour last night when every persons’
head in attendance of the Dead&Trucks Family tour exploded.”
Born in Jerusalem and living in New York, Sivam’s tone and phrasing capture very
American sensibilities, to my ear. Throughout Dream Louder’s compositions I hear John
McLaughlin in equal measure with Willie Nelson, to be honest. Which isn’t to say Sivan comes across as an interpretive artist, far from it. Thoughtful as much as they are enthralling, standout
tracks include “Anneleen”, “Dragon”, “Lore Luv”, and “West Virginia Mine Disaster”. He and his
band even give us loving versions of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” and Bobby Darin’s “Mack The
Knife”, because nostalgia makes America spin, don’tchyaknow?
Best of 2024 Local Album Releases
Couch Potato Massacre – Died of Dysentery
Ahem – Avoider
Christy Costello – From the Dark
Loser Magnet – Drip Honey Please (EP)
Superheater – Cosmic Suggestion
Bad Bad Hats – s/t
MURF – ALREADY DEAD
Busey – POWER SLOP
Kiernan – Magnetic North (EP)
BUIO OMEGA – DIVA MOMENT
Uranium Club – Infants Under the Bomb
HUNNY BEAR – Honeymoon
Serac – Baring Teeth in a Famine
Time Room – Like A Dream? (EP)
Another Heaven – See You Later (EP)
Sister Species – Lena in the Bog
Writer / co-founder