Like every college student, music is more akin to lifeblood than simple entertainment. 2024 was a blessing for musical finds and releases. With all the massive musical drops of 2024, especially at the end there, it’s easy to forget all the great tunes heard along the way. We (Red and Addison) have compiled our top 5 albums of 2024.

Addi’s 

• Alligator Bites Never Heal – Doechii 

Honestly, I was going to claim my well-earned status as an original Doechii fan, but given that Red is one too, it doesn’t carry as much weight here. Though, unlike Red, I will tell you that Doechii easily has the crown for Album of the Year. This is Doechii at her best, at her freest, at her most motivated. It’s taken a while for the Charts to catch up to what I feel is the overwhelming positive opinion that most of us hold for this album, which has only kept it in its deserving limelight longer. It’s just an infectiously good work of music, front to back. The Grammy was completely deserved. Nice to see them get it right for once. 

• GNX – Kendrick Lamar 

I mean, what can I say about Kendrick Lamar that hasn’t already been said? I would feel really silly if I sat here and tried to talk and espouse the greatness of Kendrick Lamar when everyone pretty much acknowledges it at this point. At least I hope. GNX isn’t his best work, but it’s absolutely still a banger of a project. He is deserving of all the praise, even if I’m not even sure this is the top 3 for me in terms of just straight Kendrick projects. 

• Imaginal Disk – Magdalena Bay

I will talk a lot about how confusing it was for me this year to do a complete 180 on Indie Pop as a genre, and how that started with The Last Dinner Party. However, the culmination of that was Imaginal Disk. As for me writing this, it’s the highest-rated album on RYM for this year, and for once I think I agree with some of the pretentious people on that website. I am a real sucker for Synth-Pop and I dare say this is the best Synth-Pop album of our generation. The concept is insanely fun, and it’s just a tremendous standard of production. The writing is second to none, and Mica Tenenbaum’s voice is just angelic. It’s crazy to me that I have to put this 3rd when it’s so much more than that, but I’ll accept it, I guess.  

• Prelude to Ecstasy – The Last Dinner Party 

I think Prelude to Ecstasy was one of the first Albums I listened to this year, and boy, it’s stuck with me for this entire year. This British Indie Rock band burst onto the scene with this project, and I think they’re going to stick with me as long as they continue to make music. It’s an expressive, emotional album. I honestly have been a pretty big indie pop hater in the past, but, for whatever reason, I’ve done a complete 180 on indie pop. I guess all I needed was some dreamy gothic indie pop for it to click. I think I saw someone call it “Jane Austen Glam Rock”. I’m no Jane Austen defender, but I’m a Jane Austen Glam Rock defender. It’s worth a listen. 

• Don’t Forget Me – Maggie Rogers 

It’s weird that it took until Don’t Forget Me to get me really on the Maggie Rogers train. It’s even stranger considering I largely consider myself an enemy of the Singer-Songwriter genre as a whole, but you know, better late than never, I guess. Don’t Forget Me is some of the best music I’ve listened to at getting the effect of Emotional Release across to its listener. It’s been that kind of year for me, and, as it seems, for a lot of musicians. Powerful as-ever vocals are just the stuff that puts me in a trance. Just a super big fan of this album as a whole. It’s a great listen. 

HMs [stuff you’ve heard of]

Chromakopia – Tyler, the Creator 

Red said he was going to talk about it, so I moved it to the HMs so we don’t crossover [and I liked too many albums anyway] I loved this, though. 

I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU – JPEGMAFIA

I kind of feel bad for not having Peggy in my top 5, especially since this is my favorite solo project of his, but Maggie just had such a stranglehold on me this year. Cannot recommend this enough either. 

Big Ideas – Remi Wolf

It’s a similar story with Remi. I loved this album—even the lesser-known songs on this album are straight bangers—but Maggie won the coin flip. This project was just so infectiously fun. 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention BRAT or Cowboy Carter too. I am a strong supporter of both. It was a really good music year. 

HMs [stuff you’ve never ever heard of before] 

alive and breathing – egosystem

Given it came out in December, this barely fits. But if you want to be completely run over by some IDM/Breakbeat Hardcore, this is your stuff. I’ve always been a fan of fun, chaotic, unknown producers that just go completely bonkers with breakbeat/electro stuff and egosystem was some of the best last year. 

Two Star & The Dream Police – Mk.gee 

At this point, Mk.gee has gotten some hype, so putting them here feels kind of retroactive, but whatever. This is admittedly some quirky Indietronica/Neo-Psychedelia, but don’t let that distract from the quality of the album. It was exceptionally charming. 

“NO TiTLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD” – Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Honestly, I thought GY!BE was more popular than it is. Yes, it’s post-rock and drone, and yes, the songs are 13 minutes long. Hands down, the best political piece of music to come out this year. This is a heartbreaking, beyond powerful, and a creation borne out of hope. Hope will always persevere. 

Red’s 

Chromakopia by Tyler, the Creator

Of course, this had to be number one. Chromakopia is a lyrical musical hour of pure genius and emotion. Tyler, the Creator has always shown a capability for emotional depth, and with Chromakopia he puts that at his forefront and knocks it out of the park and into the stratosphere. I loved this so much that I redrew it as Batman, downloaded the entire thing, and played it for my mom who is not a rap fan at all. I think this album is for everyone. I could not stop talking about it for four weeks afterward. Highlighting just one song feels like a disservice to the rest of the songs. It is an album I think you have to experience in its entirety. 

• Persona by half⋅alive

I’ve been a long-time fan of half⋅alive, starting back when people used to accuse them of sounding like twenty-one pilots. Half⋅alive’s music is created by dancers for dancers—atypical rhythms, lyrics that focus on visualization, and melodies that are just as much part of the beat as the actual drums. It never takes long to sink into the movements and need to dance around. It’s just another album from them that reminds me so deeply of the fact that I think I would lose my mind if someone at Terp choreographed a piece to a song of theirs. There is something in all their music, despite the relatively simple pop sound, that pierces a needle-thin line through you into your soul and jerks you around.

• Starship Syncopation – Cory Wong 

Alligator Bites Never Heal was going to be my second choice, but seeing as Addi has also laid claim (and wonderfully at that) to Doechii’s newest album, I’m going to take the space instead to highlight more music you’ve probably never heard of. Starship Syncopation is an amazing jazz funk album. Rich clean tones right against nasty loud brass and crisp compositions give this a lyrical light feeling while not shying away from heavier stompy beats. I’m obsessed with the opening title track and also “The Sorcerer,” which have wildly different moods. 

• What Happened to the Beach? – Declan McKenna

Declan McKenna is a massively underappreciated pop-rock artist – His single “Rapture” from a few years back got me hooked on his unique sound. This album is so sweet and yet so invigorating and needs more recognition than it currently has. Plucky instrumentals, encompassing sound, heart-pounding dynamics—for a British guy he seriously knows how to write a good tune. 

• sassy things by GENDEMA 

This definitely caught my eye because of the name (from one Sasse to another). I almost didn’t include it in my list, but after seeing it pop up in my history monthly, I realized I liked it more than I remembered. A smooth drum n bass mix full of great beats has made this my go-to work music. As a fan of listening to live DJ recordings, I really do recommend you listen to this in its entirety. If not that, then at least ”telepathy for sluts.” 

Honorable Mention 

This Is How Tomorrow Moves – beabadoobee 

Beadadoobee has been steadily gaining popularity, and while I totally loved this album, it doesn’t really have the same energy the rest of these do where they shine brightest as a whole. Still definitely a listen if you are down to cry for an hour.

I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU – JPEGMAFIA

I also seriously wanted to put Peggy in my top 5 but, hopefully, the double mention will emphasize just how good this album was. 

Honorable Mention (things you’ve never heard of before)

Wallsocket – underscores

This is my total cheater album released on Sept. 22, 2023. It should not be counted for my 2024 album picks. Yet, I discovered “Locals (Girls Like Us)” in January and I keep returning to it over and over throughout 2024. Hyperpop can often be overwhelming in its intensity, but “Wallsocket” is full of quieter tracks like “You don’t even know who I am” and the acoustic outro “Good luck final girl,” which still play off the hyperpop motifs of the rest of the album, like the constant reuse of the “good luck” soundbite.

Gothic Summer – The Veronicas 

Words cannot describe how unbelievably happy I am that the Veronicas are releasing music regularly again. The child in me who was excited to see more gay women in the emo scene is thriving right now. Gothic Summer is a return to their sharper pop style and is a seriously good listen.