Welcome back to Melissa Recommends Music! It’s been many months since my last dispatch, and a part of me feels like I owe you an explanation. But that would throw me into a bout of existentialism and distract from the real focus of the newsletter, which is my first ever year-end review! *Cheers and hooplah ensue*
Yes, the music never stopped, even if the newsletters did, and in 2024 I added 1,086 new songs to my music library. They’re not all new releases, but they were all new to me. And since Spotify Wrapped seems to get worse every year (see the end of this post for a little note on streaming...), I thought it’d be a fun exercise to round up my own top 101 songs from the bunch and share them with you.
Well, I got about halfway through the playlist before I finally thought to myself Oh God What Have I Done… It actually takes way longer to write 100 2-3 sentence remarks than I thought. But when I looked at the remaining half of the playlist and saw all of the songs I had left, I didn’t feel weighed down… instead, I felt a rush of love for them, like they were my children. I couldn’t abandon them now!
But 100 remarks is a lot to read as well as write, so for everyone’s benefit, I decided to split the newsletter into two parts. Today’s installment covers the first 50 songs on the playlist, put together in no particular order and in about 15 minutes back in December. Truly, 95% of this playlist came together in one go. I just let myself keep adding songs until I was satisfied, and when I looked there were ~95 songs on the playlist… yeah I felt pretty satisfied with myself in that moment. I rounded it out to 101 in the following weeks and now here we are.
To be clear, this was my attempt at prioritizing speed over precision. I gave myself 2-3 minutes to write just a lil something on each song, and of course I had more to say for some songs than others. I also included the release year either in or at the end of each remark because it says a lot about the historical context of a song, and you know I love historical context. Finally, I will be sharing the full playlist now because why not! So without further ado, read on for my commentary on 50 of the 101 songs I listened to and loved the most in 2024.
Track Listing + Commentary
Rosa Yemen, “Larousse Baron Bic” - AKA Lizzy Mercier Descloux and her then-roommate D.J. Barnes. Recorded 1978, released 1979.
Faramarz Aslani, “Shab” - Celebrated Iranian musician. 1992.
Toquinho, “Tua Imagem” - MPB legend. Off his 1974 album Boca da Noite, all of which is beautiful and great for dinner parties. Listened to it a lot last February.
Jerry Reed, “That’s All Part of Losing” - I love honkey tonk. 1970.
We All Together, “Young People” - Peruvian sunshine pop. Sweet and Beatlesesque. 1972.
Crate, “Julia” - NYC shoegaze revival at its best. Shoutout my friend Juan who’s in this band. 2024.
Faerybabyy, “I Could Never Stay Mad At You” - My platonic ideal of a summer song. Surfy bouncy indie pop meant to be blasted out car windows.
Guitar, “Twin Orbits” - Portland, OR-based band. This track is off their fourth album, which came out in 2024. Kind of sounds like TAGABOW meets Palm? Really unique and interesting.
Amen Dunes, “Purple Land” - I wrote about this one in LR10. 2024.
Donnie Gumbo, “Sedentary” - My friend Alec is in this band and it’s seriously the best feeling when you have friends that make music you’re obsessed with. 2024.
Hailu Mergia, The Walias, “Yenuro Tesfa Alegne” - I got to see Hailu Mergia play this year and wrote about it in DFGAS7 (RIP Pitchfork Chicago). Ethiopian jazz-funk, 1977.
Sneaks, “Tough Luck” - Minimal post-punk from D.C. 2016.
Ruth Garbus, “Jesse Farms Nothing” - This one snuck up on me. Calming yet intriguing… 2023.
This is Lorelei, “Perfect Hand” - Off Box for Buddy, Box for Star, one of my top 3 albums of 2024. Seriously no skips on it. From NYC-based Nate Amos, also of Water From Your Eyes. I heard him play an acoustic set of this album at my favorite coffee shop in Ridgewood last fall… dreams do come true.
This is Lorelei, “Two Legs” - Yeah I liked this album so much I had to include two songs! He REALLY sounds like Elliott Smith to me here and I love it. “My heart’s so full of pain that I could fly,” … gorgeous.
Enjoy, “The Circle” - This song defined three or four weeks of May 2024 for me. I loved this whole album, Deep Cuts (2011-2016). Second Enjoy song of the newsletter (the first was on LR3).
Ravyn Lenae, “Love Me Not” - Another 2024 release that I loved. Everyone was talking about Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan this year, but what about Ravyn Lenae? This is summer pop at its best: fresh, catchy and highly danceable. Simply a crowdpleaser, and the whole album is super tight.
Ween, “Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain” - Ween’s country era… 1996.
Helio Matheus, “Meu Segredo” - MPB from the 1975 debut album of Brazilian composer and musician Helio Matheus.
The Durutti Column, “Beginning” - Vini Reilly is a genius and this song makes me feel things. Factory Records, 1979.
Horse Jumper of Love, “Gates of Heaven” - Wasn’t huge into the album they released last year but this single was a highlight. 2024.
Taxidermists, “Shipwrecked” - Cooper B. Handy AKA LUCY’s band. Lean and lofi track. I liked the whole EP, which came out March 2024. Tragically missed their set opening for TAGABOW in the round at Baby’s… ugh.
Amen Dunes, “Boys” - Another track I wrote about in LR11 and perhaps my favorite track of the whole year. Was very sad to hear that Damon McMahon is retiring Amen Dunes… but at least he gave us Death Jokes II before he wrapped things up. 2024.
Skinned Teen, “Ex-Boyfriend Beat” - ‘90s girl power at its best… raw, deadpan, DIY. No longer on Spotify but I had to include anyway, so here it is on YouTube. 1993.
Part Time, “The Boys That Make Her Cry” - Catchy and cute. Listened to this album for the first time last year and liked it a lot. 2021.
Yellowman, “Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt” - Cursory research on Yellowman tells me he’s a divisive yet highly influential figure in dancehall. All I have to say is this song is a mf banger. 1984.
Lizzy Mercier Descloux, “Sound of Leblon Beach / Garden of Alas” - The passenger seat of your friend’s car: typically a place where music becomes background for conversation. So it was in my friend Billy’s car, but when this song came on my ears perked up. Release yourself to the chaos of the first thirty seconds and prepare for a richly layered track at once playful and masterful… 1985.
Adrianne Lenker, “Vampire Empire” - The superior version of this song IMO (as compared to Big Thief’s iteration). I wrote about this album in LR10, hands down one of the best of the year. Where the Big Thief version plays up the angst with a slower, heavier arrangement, this one brings a levity that juxtaposes the intensity of the lyrics. That fiddle does so much for the track. 2024.
Enjoy, “Overwhelming Face Too Close to Mine” - More Enjoy because I was on a kick last year. Loved this whole album from 2014, and the delay on this track is so fun.
Rosali, “My Kind” - Another strong release from 2024. Her sound reminds me of Fleetwood Mac if they were hipsters. Saw her play a free show at Union Pool over the summer and she and her band sounded awesome.
Mad Anthony, “Rina” - Cozy lofi ‘70s piano ballad. A classic story: band makes demo for a record deal, deal falls through and demos are abandoned, only to resurface years later and get released thanks to one or some dedicated individual(s). Found a good writeup on Mad Anthony on a music blog called For The Rabbits. Recorded 1975, released 2023.
Jessica Pratt, “Empires Never Know” - One of my favorites off her genuinely perfect album Here in the Pitch, one of the best of 2024. Wrote about her in DFGAS7.
My Idea, “Baby I’m the Man” - Nate Amos + Lily Konigsberg = My Idea. Found them while I was deep in my This Is Lorelei kick and listened to this song a lot in the fall. 2021.
Helvetia, “Circles” - Been a fan of Helvetia for a few years now but found this track over the summer. Recorded sometime between 2001-2006, released 2022.
Saya Gray, “SHELL (OF A MAN)” - Fun, catchy and smart. She makes such interesting and impactful music, I’m excited for her new album out on February 21. This track was her first single off the album, released last October.
Wire, “Kidney Bingos” - I was familiar with Wire’s early punk stuff circa late ‘70s but didn’t know they evolved beyond that before hearing this track. Kind of a perfect song to me… 1988.
Amanda Lear, “Follow Me” - French synth drama that I’d love to twirl to. 1978.
Sir Richard Bishop, “Tennessee Porch Swing” - Does anyone wanna do me a favor and tab this song for me? I tried to do it with Alec and while we got through a good amount we were ultimately stumped. How does this guy do it?? 2007.
Joyce Manor, “Falling in Love Again” - Um how did I not know this song until last year? Those drums hit so hard. And when those synths come in… PHEW. 2014.
Brittle Stars, “Tripping Me Up” - Another song that’s perfect to me. Someone put this on a playlist for me and I was like, are you trying to make me fall in love with you? Because it’s working. 2000.
Monik, “Thank You” - I get big closing credits energy from this song. 1972.
Chatterton, “Bailey” - Atmospheric indie with piano reminiscent of Alex G. 2024.
KAROL G, “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” - Simply a bop. 2024.
Tove Lo, SG Lewis, “Busy Girl” - You better WERK. I’m running to the dance floor. 2024.
The Frightners, “Dispute” - I like to shower to this song, it’s very relaxing to me. 2016.
Metronomy, Nourished By Time, “My Love” - Awesome collab. I featured Nourished By Time in LR11. “My love makes me wanna dance,” so true! Get it? 2024.
Half Japanese, “Miracles Happen Every Day” - This song is prominently featured in a playlist I made titled “my indie soundtrack.” Yeah I romanticize my life to this song… Reminds me of Daniel Johnston in spirit and sound. 1993.
roro, “Miuccia” - I am shaking ass to this. 2024.
Gary Stewart, “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)” - This song has become my go-to country karaoke song. 1975.
The Paragons, “When The Lights Are Low” - This one grew on me. Romantic rocksteady from the originators of “The Tide is High.” 1967.
Thanks for reading today’s newsletter! As always, if you care to share your thoughts, reactions, suggestions, etc. I’d love to hear from you in the comments. The next newsletter is a special takeover from a dear friend of mine, so the second installment of LR2024 will come after that, in let’s say 4-6 weeks. Until then!
One more thing / a note on streaming… as you may know, I almost exclusively use Spotify to listen to music as well as share music. This feels bad, particularly in light of the article that Harper’s Magazine published in December. We all know that Spotify rips off artists, especially small and independent ones, but this article lays bare just how exploitative and rigged the platform is. I’m not sure if there’s much I can do as an individual to make a difference in this incredibly insidious system, but as someone who uses streaming extensively and almost daily, I feel compelled to at least educate myself on it. This article is a great place to start—it features investigative reporting from author Liz Pelly, and it’s excerpted from her book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Cost of the Perfect Playlist, which just came out last month. Considering this newsletter revolves around playlisting, you bet I purchased this book. Will report back after reading it!
we want the second installment!
tasssste