2024 YEAR IN REVIEW: Our Annual Mixtapes Ft. Our Favorite Songs of the Year, Pt. 1 (Songs 104-053)
Our recommendation: treat every year-end list as a chance to find some artist or song you may not have discovered elsewhere or dismissed for one reason or another as not your thing. If I've learned one lesson in my many years, it's that trying to impeach someone else's list because it makes you feel better about your own taste is a fool's errand.
As is our tradition, we've made you four mixtapes this year with 26 songs on each (the average number of songs I used to fit on a 100-minute mixtape back in the 20th century). They are also ranked for maximum aggravation. Our only rule: one song per artist. That's right, 104 songs total, 104 different artists.
MIXTAPE #4: PICKLED PRIEST'S FAVORITE SONGS 104-079
SIDE A
104 MAC LEAPHART | "Rock & Roll, Hey"
Blurb: Mac is one of those guys who will be playing small clubs forever and that's exactly where he should be. Oh, and there's nothing wrong with that, nor is that an insult. Which doesn't mean he doesn't write really good songs here and there. They just play better in a place where there's a little roadside character built in. At Pickled Priest, we try to celebrate the little gal or guy, those who ply their trade for the love of it, converting one small room at a time. The concept of this blog in general as well. We're Mac Leaphart. "Rock & Roll, Hey" is the kind of anchor song that'll, by itself, sell a bunch of CDs from a folding table in the back of the bar post-show (courtesy of Mac Leaphart, also the merch guy, roadie, and van driver).
Moment of Conversion: Kind of a Todd Snider-like casualness here, which suits the song
103 WUSSY | "Please Kill Me"
Blurb: While their new album, Cincinnati Ohio, came to me after our Top 50 list deadline, it's clearly yet another special record from the cult favorites, led by Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker, and the first since the tragic loss of beloved guitarist John Erhardt in 2020* (who had been with Cleaver since 1988, starting with Ass Ponys). Understandably, John's absence is felt everywhere on the record from the music to the lyrics. It seems unfair to leave out Lisa's touching "The Great Divide," but with one choice in this spot I went with Cleaver's "Please Kill Me" which shows that dark nights of the soul run deep and wide when someone you love leaves you unexpectedly and forever. One of his all-time best songs and certainly his most emotionally powerful.
*Cause of death never disclosed and the band requested nobody ask.
Moment of Conversion: It's the kind of thing that leaves you weak / It's the sort of news that knocks you down.
102 THE JESUS LIZARD | "Hide & Seek"
Blurb:
"Hide and Seek," from comeback album Rack, features the original Lizard lineup back in fine form. "Singer" David Yow, a rabid hyena on LSD in his prime, now scans as one of those deranged old men you might see ranting to himself in a Chicago subway station; unnerving, but still somehow riveting simultaneously. Guitarist Duane Denison, capable of reanimating a corpse from thirty paces in the 90s, is back, stage-right as always, to unleash electric shock therapy like he's never closed up his practice. David Wm. Sims returns to anchor the band's menacing bottom end, an essential complement to original drummer Mac McNeilly, who pounds out the brutal rhythms that used to send Yow into involuntary hysterics back in the day and surely still does.
Moment of Conversion: The moment all members kick in again for the first time in years.
101 WYTCH PYCKNYCK | "Rawkuss"
Blurb: Sometimes you don't even realize you have a stick wedged up your ass until some band points that out for you. We submit that there's nothing wrong with enjoying a little stupid fun now and then and these deep-fried psychos from Hastings, England, who are clearly having a blast bringing the epic guitar crunch on "Rawkuss," is just the group to prove our theory. Plus, they swim with the animals at the zoo! The song is pretty much the band's business card in audio form. With a distinct Jon Spencer Blues Explosion aroma and some fierce wall-to-wall riffery this is an exit off the sanity highway that should loosen up that tight sphincter of yours (and trust me, it's tight).
Moment of Conversion: RIFF: Riffing is Fucking Fundamental
100 NADA SURF | "In Front of Me Now"
Blurb: Nada Surf has never stopped writing insightful lyrics housed inside sneaky pop melodies. They formed in 1992 and there have been no major breaks between albums, every one of them featuring a few perfect pop singles. "In Front of Me Now" was the first track leaked from Moon Mirror and it's dedicated to all you failed multi-taskers out there. It's basically permission to focus on one thing at a time instead of trying to do many things half-assed at once. Perhaps I'll learn my lesson as I try to write a post, listen to music, thumb a magazine, have a snack, and watch a ballgame simultaneously, stressing myself out beyond belief in the process.
Moment of Conversion: Sage advice
099 C TURTLE | "Shake It Down"
Blurb: It's good to see there are still bands influenced by Pixies and the Breeders. "Shake It Down," the obvious single from C Turtle's debut record, Expensive Thrills, pulls off a little of both with casual confidence, but that doesn't mean the whole record channels the exact same energy. Influenced by and derivative of are two different concepts and the band falls on the right side of that line. The London band's record was recorded in three days and that haste benefits the end result. Operating quickly is often the best way for a young band to harness their youthful exuberance without overthinking things to death. Not everything works, but when things do ignite, like on "Shake it Down," it's a thrill.
Moment of Conversion: Beam me up with sunlight / Slow dance in a streetfight / I’ve got you in my gunsight
098 RICK RUDE | "Area Woman Yells at Junk Mail"
Blurb: This Dover, New Hampshire, band is unfortunately named after legendary WWF wrestler "Ravishing" Rick Rude, but that's where the affiliation stops. In fact, the name could throw people off, some expecting a ham-fisted band of meatheads willing to suspend disbelief for hours at time in exchange for dumb scripted entertainment. Not the case, thankfully. The band turns out to be way more complex and challenging than that. A triple-threat if you will—strong male vocalist, fabulous female vocalist, and a crack band behind both. "Area Woman Yells at Junk Mail," a classic mixtape song title, is a killer rock and roll track featuring amazing post-punk guitar that leaves shards of guitar strings in its wake.
Moment of Conversion: Mid-song guitar burst.
097 PISSED JEANS | "Sixty-Two Thousand Dollars in Debt"
Blurb:
Well I'm living here in Allentown
And it's hard to keep a good man down
But I won't be getting up today
— "Allentown" by Billy Joel
Allentown, PA's Pissed Jeans have been a going concern for almost 20 years now (unbelievable, really) and I couldn't be happier about it. They are the wind beneath my jaded wings, delivering growling punk songs with some of the most absurdly funny, not to mention spot-on, lyrics you'll ever hear. Whether it's lamenting the fact that we're "Killing All the Wrong People" (true), railing against "Helicopter Parents" (justified), or desiring a "Seatbelt Alarm Silencer" (I'd buy one today), lead singer Matt Korvette delivers his belligerent angst with just the right dose of apathetic disgust and tongue-in-cheek sarcasm. All accompanied by some seriously abrasive noise, too. "Sixty-Two Thousand Dollars in Debt" rails against our culture of luring people into suffocating, rotating debt, never to be paid off due to oppressive interest rates and a shitty economy where wages can't keep up with inflation. As he celebrates his honest efforts to pay down his mountain of churning debt, his only hope is that next year he'll only be "Sixty-one thousand dollars in debt." Funny and depressing in equal measures, the band's ability to create killer rock songs out of the tribulations of everyday life sure make it easier for me to get up in the morning.
Moment of Conversion: Straddling the fine line between laughing and crying.
096 SHELLAC | "I Don't Fear Hell"
Blurb: I chose "Tattoos" as my favorite song on Shellac's comeback record, To All Trains, earlier this year, but considering Albini's passing, "I Don't Fear Hell" seems a more apropos selection to wrap up 2024. If you're in the music business, as he points out, Hell is a good fear to conquer, mainly "Cause if there's a hell, I’m gonna know everyone."
Moment of Conversion: Their baseball team is undefeated
095 THE BUG CLUB | "Quality Pints"
Blurb: As promised by the title, an open-hearted, open-mouthed ode to drinking at a local pub all night long. Nothing more, nothing less. The press kit amusingly cites Mark E. Smith's barstool philosophy that the key to drinking is "The Three R's"—repetition, repetition, repetition—and that's good enough for us.
Moment of Conversion: Early-Buzzcocks energy
094 CAST | "First Smile Ever"
Blurb: Pet band alert! We do like a band whose records have a distinct sound footprint and Cast has always had a way of making their songs sound BIG and bright ever since they emerged from Liverpool with their smash debut, All Change, way back in 1995. There's a feeling of confidence in their music that elevates even their most uninspired moments. While there are some of those on new album, Love is the Call, there are also a few dynamite Britpop singles strewn throughout, too, of a kind that defy the fact singer John Power is in his mid-50s at the moment. He sounds like a 20-year-old kid on most of these tracks, his unique voice preserved well over the years. "First Smile Ever" does reveal the perspective of an older and wiser songwriter, however, as John tries to find a reason to smile amid the repeating disappointments life can lay at your feet, usually compounded during your weakest moments.
Moment of Conversion: Power vox
093 KELLY FINNIGAN | "Get A Hold of Yourself"
Blurb: Any song that makes me think of Dave Prater from Stax legends' Sam & Dave is fine by me.
Moment of Conversion: :059 Subtle Otis Redding callback.
092 WUNDERHORSE | "Midas"
Blurb: London's Wunderhorse, a name absolutely begging for an umlaut somewhere, get so worked up on their new album, Midas, that sometimes their lead singer, Jacob Slater, defaults to a breathless scatting, as if so enraptured by the song's forward momentum that he gets sucked into its undertow, barely able to tread water. I'm not a lover of comparing one band to another—that's always seemed a bit lazy to me—but sometimes it can't be avoided. In this case, I am instantly reminded of Hothouse Flowers' lead singer Liam O'Maonlaí, also prone to lose his train of thought when a song gets lathered up just so. While that is not normally something I like, in both cases mentioned here, that descent into the mystic makes perfect sense to me when "Midas," a single that seems destined to go gold in the near future.
Moment of Conversion: Breathless delivery.
SIDE B
091 MABE FRATTI | "Oídos"
Blurb: I'm not sure exactly why, but my cochleas respond very favorably to the mellow cello's mournful reverberations. For me, the most important resident in any respectable chamber music ensemble lives on its lower floors, holding down the fort, while other instruments provide the filigree. While Guatemalan Mabe Fratti uses her cello in a less traditional way, pushing it into more experimental areas (breaking the cello mold, if you will), there's no escaping the familiar, melancholy moan of her cello. And she can sing, too. Her new record, Sentir Que No Sabes (Feel Like You Don't Know), manages to combine tradition and innovation in beguilingly beautiful ways.
Moment of Conversion: She had me at cello.
090 YANNIS & THE YAW FT. TONY ALLEN | "Walk Through Fire"
Blurb: After Tony Allen died in 2020, I lamented the loss of one of the world's greatest drummers, hoping there was some completed work in the can that could be released later. Thankfully, the co-creator of Afrobeat was a major collaborator to the end, so we've been blessed with albums and songs featuring Allen's distinctive sound for the past three years. Just when I thought the tank was finally empty comes this collab with Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis, which was on the shelf, thanks to COVID, since 2020. Yannis has finally completed work on the sessions which have yielded a fine EP, Lagos Paris London, that crackles with a raw energy I wasn't quite expecting. Much of the credit, of course, goes to Allen's timeless and distinct rhythms, which are worth isolating on even if you're not a drum head. If this record reaffirms anything, it's that Allen wasn't a showboat—he gave the songs exactly what they needed—and this is even more evidence that his brilliance was in his ability to adapt to almost any style of music effortlessly. One listen to "Walk Through Fire" is all you'll need to see my point.
Moment of Conversion: The drums, of course.
089 LINDA THOMPSON FT. JOHN GRANT | "John Grant"
Blurb: Very meta. A song written by Linda Thompson about Michigan singer/songwriter John Grant sung by none other than John Grant himself. I can think of no precedents. Linda suffers from dysphonia, which affects her ability to sing, so she wrote some great songs for a new album and enlisted a roster of guests to sing on her behalf. With a clever title, Proxy Music, and a meticulous recreation of Roxy Music's debut album cover (see above), she's pulled off the improbable—a cohesive record of wonderful performances. Several tracks are worthy featuring, among others, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, the Proclaimers, Ren Harvieu, Eliza Carthy, and Linda's two children with Richard Thompson, Kami and Teddy, but the interesting angle of this track is simply too rich for the Pickled Priest to pass up.
Moment of Conversion: When John Grant opens the song with the lyric "John Grant took my heart to Reykjavik / I hope he takes care of it." Just perfect.
088 REMI WOLF | "Cherries & Cream"
Blurb: We do love a song with a Chicago connection. Here, we find the irrepressible Remi Wolf telling us about a particularly memorable Halloween night at Chicago's legendary rock club, the Empty Bottle, located in the city's Ukrainian Village neighborhood. The Bottle has been the site of many of my all-time favorite shows thanks to their propensity for booking a steady diet of amazing garage bands over the last twenty-five-plus years. We're not big fans of current pop music (no shock to our regulars), not because we don't want to be, but because most of it is mindless, overproduced crap. To grab our attention, you've gotta do something original and/or interesting, just not the same old preening and posturing. Remi Wolf has been consistently one of our favorites over the past years because her pop songs don't sound like anyone else's. She brings with her a flavor as distinct as the person she's kissing on the floor of the Empty Bottle in "Cherries & Cream."
Moment of Conversion: Slow build into a chorus that's not oversold.
087 THE RIFLES | "Starting Monday"
Blurb: What do we want? Procrastination! When do we want it? NOW! Or tomorrow. Next week tops.
London's Rifles do not blow you out of the water with their music, nor are they doing anything particularly innovative. What they specialize in, however, is writing great pop songs—lots and lots of great pop songs. They make it look effortless, too. Inarguably, the band peaked in 2014 with the absolutely loaded None the Wiser, then offered a less successful follow up, Big Life, in 2016. After that, nothing but crickets until a solo album by singer Joel Stoker appeared last year, seemingly an indicator that the Rifles had been permanently unloaded. Then, from nowhere, we got a new Rifles record this year, eight years after the last, and I'm happy to report that it's a damn good return to form! Several gems to pick from, but I love when a band holds one of their best songs until the very end and "Starting Monday" is just such a song, an inspirational tune about turning your life around once and for all. Starting Monday, of course.
Moment of Conversion: Coda reverses initial optimism.
086 LILA IKÉ FT. H.E.R.| "He Loves Us Both"
Blurb:
Well, I've got two lovers, and I ain't ashamed
Two lovers, and I love them both the same
—"Two Lovers" by Mary Wells
Mary Wells' "Two Lovers" was more controversial by far, especially considering it was released in 1963, a time when one girl juggling two men at once wasn't at all ladylike. Fast forward to 2024 and now we have a similar concept with a reversed scenario. This time, it's two girls loved by the same guy and everybody is refreshingly aware of the arrangement. I'm not 100% sure the situation presented in "He Loves Us Both" has ever, to my knowledge, been covered in a pop song before. Maybe it has, but either way, this sounds like a modern neo-soul classic to me. Jamaican Lila Iké smartly teams up with H.E.R. for this tale of a girl who seems to understand that her guy is capable of loving two girls equally at the same time—and she's fine with it! Somebody get this guy on Blind Love, stat! I suppose it's better to share love than to lose a good thing entirely. How open-minded! It certainly helps that his lovers both deliver smoking hot vocals in the process. If you're going to pull off the impossible, you need all the emotional support you can get.
Moment of Conversion: The grand delusion.
085 KID CONGO & THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS | "Ese Vicio Delicioso"
Blurb: It's hard not to respect a guy who has the Gun Club, the Cramps, and Nick Cave's Bad Seeds on his resume. For a long time now Kid Congo Powers has been leading his own band, the Pink Monkey Birds, and on their latest record, That Delicious Vice, he recounts falling in love with music at the age of three. (And I thought I was an early adopter when I burgled my sister's 8-track of Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy back in the fourth grade!) Powers is a second-gen Mexican-American so it's fitting he's chosen to translate the title track into Spanish for this single, which tells the origin story of his lifelong love of rock and roll. We especially love that the song sounds like a Ritchie Valens demo from the 1950s with minimalist drumming and a hint of mambo injected to add just the right amount of spice.
Moment of Conversion: By the age of three, I knew what I wanted to be / A record spinning round, all over town.
084 PREVIOUS INDUSTRIES | "Roebuck"
Blurb: We favor our local Chicagoans and we're not afraid to admit it. Our latest Chicago-related song is "Roebuck" (as in one-time Chicago-based department store giant and tallest building in the world namesake, Sears, Roebuck & Co.) from Previous Industries, a rap collective made up of Chicagoans Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave, and Still Rift. The title of their new album, Service Merchandise, caught my eye immediately because I'm old enough to remember the titular showroom catalog store where you'd fill out an order form, bring it to the counter so someone could notify the stockroom, and then wait for them to shoot it down a steep conveyor belt near the store's exit. Here's your foot massager, now get the fuck out! And you wonder why it went out of business in 2002. For a genre that normally dishes out more contemporary content, you wonder how many of our younger generation will get the reference. Is there an audience for such a song? And that's not all, much of the album is dedicated to similar defunct businesses of yesteryear like Showbiz Pizza, Montgomery Ward, White Hen Pantry, Fotomat, Dominick's, Kay Bee Toys, and my favorite obscurity, Zayre, a store that was Target before there was a Target. Granted, the titles are merely a launching pad for topics of greater scope and depth, but I am still tickled pink that there are rappers out there who are not only old enough (these guys are now in their 40s), but nostalgic enough to bring some of this lost cultural knowledge to a new generation. I really wanted to pick "Fotomat" for this mixtape because I fondly remember our local Fotomat, tucked in a White Castle parking lot, a tiny little one-person shack where you could drop off film and pick up your photos the next day without getting out of your car. What a concept. I remember wondering what the cute Fotomat girl did when she had to use the bathroom. Did she go in a bucket? Or worse yet, have to use the White Castle bathroom? Gross. Talk about your last resort. All this personal history is irrelevant, of course, because I ended up picking "Roebuck" as my favorite song from the record instead. It's a touching story about a poor family paging through a massive Sears catalog (they were 1,000 pages plus, heavy enough to prop open the door to a bank vault) that they couldn't really afford to buy anything from (at least what the kids wanted to buy). But that didn't mean they couldn't fantasize about owning everything in it. Eventually, the kids grew up and got some real money and finally were able to place some orders of their own. Now, we see one of those kids waiting patiently for his deliveries (no Prime service then) to arrive. A regular ritual that reminds him that times have changed for the better.
Moment of Conversion: Open Mike works a Sammy Hagar diss into the lyrics at the end for extra credit (I Iike David Lee Roth and not the other guy).
083 AROOJ AFTAB | "Whiskey"
Blurb: "Whiskey" is a good entry point into Arooj Aftab's superb Night Reign, sounding very much like it was aged in a barrel for 12-years or more before decanting. The sounds Aftab creates throughout the album will pull you in and sort you out in short order, but having a snootful of finely aged spirits will certainly help you forget about your troubles and worries for awhile as you settle into Arooj's intoxicating woman cave. Her sultry, Sade-esque, vocals will capivate you for the album's duration. For maximum impact, push play no earlier than 11:00pm.
Moment of Conversion: The "welcome to my parlor" feel of it, a bottle of Macallan 18 awaiting me inside.
082 FAKE FRUIT | "Gotta Meet You"
Blurb: Cacophony break! Here, we present the definitive example of Fake Fruit's overcaffeinated skronk 'n' roll aesthetic. In my album write-up for Mucho Mistrust, I compared the band's sound to the first day of Freshman band practice and this song is the primary reason. It's intentionally discombobulated and reckless, as if it's shaking out the cobwebs of a long, hot summer hanging in the basement playing video games. It didn't need to be about anything specific to work either, although it still manages to send a positive message about being open to the possibility of love at all times. That a conventional theme presents itself from within the spontaneity is both unexpected and appreciated.
Moment of Conversion: Pickled Priest Law 234.1 (a)xvii: "If a song features a cowbell, that must be chosen as the "Moment of Conversion" at year-end if the song qualifies for inclusion."
081 SPRINTS | "Heavy"
Blurb: For those who lie awake in the darkness wrestling with their demons, finances, relationships, family, you name it, here's anxiety distilled into music form. Will it help? No idea, but it's worth a try.
Moment of Conversion:
I've got a simple idea, I'm going to make it stick
I wanna say this fast, I wanna do this quick
It goes one, two, three, it goes one, two, three
080 GARY CLARK JR. | "Maktub"
Blurb: Gary Clark Jr. is flying under a lot of people's radars because most think they have him pegged, but know this. He's a major artist, creatively adventurous, artistically restless, and constantly pushing the needle in every respect. If you had him conveniently classified/dismissed as just another modern blues prodigy, you've woefully underestimated him. This year, he checked in with JPEG RAW, an album that sounds like it has been injected with a 12-inch adrenalin needle. The thing cooks from the get-go, with "Maktub" bursting from the speakers like Tinariwen on steroids. A fucking raging bull, this song.
Moment of Conversion: How could I say anything but his guitar?
079 LL COOL J | "Black Code Suite"
Blurb: I thought he was done. Did you think he was done? He was so done in my mind I wasn't even thinking whether he was or wasn't done. I'm pleasantly shocked to report that with The Force he showed us all that his groundbreaking career (rewarded with Kennedy Center Honors and a membership in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) isn't over yet. It's an knockout record that finds him in prime form, delivering sharp lines with casual brilliance all over the place, painting vivid pictures with his words in the process.
Look at mama, she's in the kitchen
She’s swingin' her hips and dippin' the chicken in flour
She got the music, it’s bumpin'
I smell the food in the oven while I two-step in the shower
You can almost picture the scene. "Black Code Suite" shows us these intimate moments while also reminding us that when a black kid steps through his front door, there's a code to follow in order to survive. And the last 90-seconds features an African coda, beautifully sung by Sona Jobarteh, that reminds us all that that code dates back much further than is comfortable to admit.
Moment of Conversion: The flow, same as it ever was.
MIXTAPE #3: PICKLED PRIEST'S FAVORITE SONGS 078-053
SIDE A
078 THE BREAKS INC. | "The Ins + Outs of Always Being Sad"
Blurb: A bursting single from a poorly-named band that sounds a little out of time in a good way. They scan Britpop but they're from Queens, a pleasing disconnect to say the least. You don't often hear dynamic singles like this from American bands anymore. I bet they could've sold it to Oasis for their breathlessly awaited reunion tour next year—they could've made a mint off of it if they were willing to sign the requisite NDAs—and you can almost hear it echoing across the rolling hills of Glastonbury right now.
Moment of Conversion: Infectious chorus.
077 MAMA ZU | "Lip"
Blurb: See album write-up for the bittersweet tale of Mama Zu's Quilt Floor album. Our favorite song from the album at the moment is "Lip" which bandmate Lindwood Regensburg described as follows: "Whether you’re in the mood to raise a middle finger or perhaps deserving of one, this song is for you.”
Moment of Conversion: Casual twang.
076 ABBY HOLLIDAY | "The Price"
Blurb: It's not a crime to love somebody / And let it die... Fuck, that's heavy, much like every note of this song by Abby Holliday, whose music brings a sonic weight with it that matches her dark lyrics. It's a powerful combination, to say the least, one that could cause someone to sink right to the figurative rock bottom if circumstances so dictate. That it draws you back over and over again is a testament to its magnetic pull. You can't turn away because it will find you.
Moment of Conversion: To crib from our friends in Sprints (song 081): Do you ever feel like the room is heavy?This whole song feels like that.
075 KIM DEAL | "Nobody Loves You More"
Blurb: Another late album release that I couldn't fully digest before deadline, although I did have plenty of time to soak in the record's opening track, "Nobody Loves You More," a song with an honest and aching sincerity at its core that is hard not to fall in love with. Its spare opening is charmingly stripped down, but as it moves on, adding strings and horns, the song becomes even more powerful. It's almost like she realizes her declarations of love aren't quite landing as expected so she had to enhance her message to make it even more dramatically impactful. A masterful piece of subtle songwriting.
Moment of Conversion: Strings and horn accents.
074 PAUL KELLY | "All Those Smiling Faces"
Blurb: There have been some good "photo album" songs in recent years—Jamey Johnson's riveting "In Color" and Guy Clark's sentimental "My Favorite Picture of You" pop immediately to mind—but this one from Aussie veteran Paul Kelly earns its place alongside those modern classics. Here, he fleshes out the photographs will a little "color" of his own as he relives his favorite pictures of family, friends, and even a few strangers.
Moment of Conversion: There's Auntie Jean and her two beaus, the one behind her is the one she chose / Coming out of the water, they're all dripping wet / Oh, the jilted one doesn't know it yet.
073 GABY MORENO | "El Saber (Dusk Version)"
Blurb: Priest fave Gaby went the English route this year with moderate success, but our feeling is that she's at her most powerful when she sticks with Spanish, and this gorgeous song is our proof.
Moment of Conversion: Double-tracked vocal echo on chorus.
072 CAMERA OBSCURA | "Sleepwalking"
Blurb: I was excited to hear of another Camera Obscura record this year after a ten-year silence. While it wasn't the album I was hoping for, it did feature a few moments of brilliance from singer/songwriter Tracyanne Campbell that reminded us why we fell in love with her wistful songs in the first place. "Sleepwalking" is one of those sublime love songs you expect from Campbell, seemingly simple on the surface, but with the depth of an ocean beneath it.
Moment of Conversion: Tracyanne's trademarked melancholy vocals. Sublime.
071 MAXÏMO PARK | "Favourite Songs"
Blurb:
Tell me your favourite songs
And I'll tell you mine and we'll sing along
And all of our troubles will fade away
It's as easy as that really. A song about favorite (favourite) songs on our year-end favorite (favourite) songs mixtape. How lucky can we get? Newcastle's Maxïmo Park have always written great songs bursting with passion and energy even while many people moved on to the next big thing a long while back. But Paul Smith and the boys never went away and now they've lasted a full quarter-century, which doesn't usually happen if you're not consistently writing killer songs (such as "Ardour," our #3 song of 2021). Here's another one.
Moment of Conversion: Tie-in with mixtape theme
070 THE LINDA LINDAS FT 'WEIRD AL' YANKOVIC | "Yo Me Estreso"
Blurb: Despite the implications of a 'Weird Al' cameo, this is not a novelty song per se. The only real novelty is that it is sung in Spanish (the band's second such song to date). Otherwise, Yankovic is present only to supply some accordion and an odd visual for the video. Successful on both fronts. A bit of an outlier perhaps, but there's no denying it's a total blast. Nothing to get stressed about here at all.
Moment of Conversion: Accordion + touch of horn at the end.
069 HIGH ON FIRE | "Burning Down"
Blurb: If you're not down for a song called "Burning Down" from a band named High on Fire I don't really think we need to take our relationship much further. It's not me, it's you.
Moment of Conversion: Onslaught.
068 DION LUNADON | "New York"
Blurb: New Zealand native Dion Lunadon is more New York than most people from New York. When he joined up with New York’s loudest band, A Place to Bury Strangers, for a decade, he earned his credentials as a late night denizen of the city that never sleeps. Now, years after exiting APTBS for a solo career, he has finally written his now mandatory song about New York City, one that reflects the unrelenting pulse of after-hours Manhattan nightlife. You can almost hear the speeding taxi cabs fly by as you listen. I have to think Lou Reed, Alan Vega, Martin Rev, Patti Smith, and Thurston Moore (among many others) would dig the sounds radiating from Dion's seriously raw EP, Memory Burn, yet another New York record that represents the vitality of the world's greatest city with the attitude it deserves.
Moment of Conversion: The sound of after-hours NYC caught on tape.
067 MARY TIMONY | "Dominoes"
Blurb: I quadruple-checked. This is from 2024. It captures that 90's indie-rock vibe so perfectly, it was worth the due diligence. I do admit that I'm starting to miss some of those sleeper records from the long-lost alternative explosion that I've since shelved in the basement, so this saved me the trouble of digging them out for at least a while longer.
Moment of Conversion: I got to know you while you let me hold on to your mind
066 PARSNIP | "Turn to Love"
Blurb: "Turn to Love" hearkens back to both the late-60's flower-power era and also to 90's indie-rock in equal measures. The twist? The lyrics are inspired by an English translation of a song by the 16th-century Indian mystic Mirabai (Wikipedia tidbit; her in-laws never liked her passion for music, the fucking uppity snots!) Back to good news, there's a whole album of similar delights to behold on their delightfully odd album titled, uh, Behold. So start beholding already.
Moment of Conversion: Not knowing what the song is and where it's going until the 1:23 mark.
SIDE B
065 KIM GORDON | "Bye Bye"
Blurb: Somebody should tell Kim that reading her pre-travel to-do list doesn't cut it as the basis for a song, but it still kinda works though, doesn't it? Although Kim, have we all not seen enough sitcoms and movies where the TSA pulls out a vibrator from someone's luggage and parades it in front of everyone else waiting in line? Rookie travel mistake.
Moment of Conversion: Sinister tone belies subject matter.
064 LIZZ WRIGHT | "This Way"
Blurb: The song title may indicate as much, but Lizz needs no direction on how to sing this, or any other, song. She's the consummate vocalist, one of America's finest, a songwriter and interpreter equally. And don't come at me with comments like "She can sing the phonebook and I'd love it" either. That's never been true for any singer ever. But when she sings "This Way" or anything on Shadow, it goes down like sweet molasses.
Moment of Conversion: Her supple voice pulls you in.
063 YARD ACT | "Down By the Stream"
Blurb: There are other songs on the record that are more fun and contain more quotable lyrics, but few bring the powerful moments of self-realization that can be found here as singer James Smith admits to and asks absolution for being a bully in his younger years. Every bully should have to listen to this song in detention.
Moment of Conversion: At the end when he says, Jesus Christ, I never meant to hurt anyone you can hear his shame and remorse.
062 BASIC | "Versatile Switch"
Blurb: Going to take the obvious quick take on this and call it anything but basic. No instrumental this cool can be reduced to such a level.
Moment of Conversion: Finding my new theme song that I will now play every time I enter a room.
061 BRITTANY HOWARD | "Prove It To You"
Blurb: Brittany is far ahead of the pack when it comes to managing the groove. She also never settles on one style for long, which makes them feel fresh from song to song. "Prove It to You"—a propulsive, pulsating industrial house track that will pummel unsuspecting club kids over a booming sound system—is a good example of her beat domination.
Moment of Conversion: Club thump.
060 SHANNON & THE CLAMS | "Bean Fields"
Blurb: Knowing Shannon Shaw's fiancé died in a car accident a couple weeks before their wedding day, you would understand if she never recorded another album or song with her band, the Clams. I mean, how can one deal with that kind of profound grief? In Shannon's case, and for many of us who rely on music to get us through just about everything, a new record was the natural next step. And you'd better believe there are some heartbreaking moments on The Moon is in the Wrong Place, easily the band's best record ever. But there's also joy, too. Teeming amounts of joy. "Bean Fields" doesn't sound like it's mired in sadness, even if it is. It's a song celebrating a special person living a special life, albeit one cut tragically short. Permission granted by Shannon to delight in it.
Moment of Conversion: Celebratory chorus.
059 PANDA BEAR, SONIC BOOM, & MARIACHI 2000 DE CUTBERTO PÉREZ | "Peligro (Danger)"
Blurb: Talk about extending your shelf life! When Panda Bear (Noah Lennox of Animal Collective) and Sonic Boom (Peter Kember of Spacemen 3) hooked up to record Reset in 2022, even they couldn't have imagined its life would extend into 2023, let alone 2024. After the initial release, they had legendary reggae producer Adrian Sherwood remix the album as Reset in Dub a year later. Now, with the album still reverberating in 2024, they've reimagined it as the EP Reset in Mariachi, with the prevailing theme obvious in the title. And if you've followed Pickled Priest for long, you know how much we love mariachi music, so this is far and away our favorite take on this material. There's nothing mariachi can't improve, from a wedding to a funeral and everything in between, and this is no different.
Moment of Conversion: Mariachi overtones, of course.
058 FOUR TET | "Daydream Repeat"
Blurb: Electronic mastermind Kieran Hebden, the man behind the revered and groundbreaking Four Tet, knows how to inject some real humanity into his glitchy compositions, which is not a given considering his chosen genre. Hence, his enduring stature as he approaches 50-years of age in what one would presume to be a young person's game. Au contraire, and "Daydream Repeat" is a prime example of why his music has such staying power. A simple piano sample looped over a glitchy computer beat makes the whole affair seem somehow less clinical and precise. In fact, the entirety of his new record, Three, feels that way. You can play on repeat for hours without it overstaying its welcome. So lose yourself in it, just as the title of this song implies.
Moment of Conversion: Ivory tinklings.
057 AMARO FREITAS | "Y'Y"
Blurb: This is an album affair, so pulling a song seems disingenuous, but how better to get the word out? The title track from this Brazilian pianist's album includes some killer flute from Shabaka Hutchings and the way they blend together on "Y'Y" is remarkable. The sign of a good leader is knowing when to call for support. And having some geniuses in your Rolodex doesn't hurt. A marvelous selection that has to be heard to be understood.
Moment of Conversion: Piano/flute faceoff.
056 GHOST FUNK ORCHESTRA | "Again"
Blurb:
The concept for the album is a story about a woman stranded on Earth by her cosmonaut partner, left to ponder his whereabouts and whether or not he'll make it back from the cosmos alive.
-From Ghost Funk Orchestra's press kit
You can always count on the audio chemists in GFO to cook up something intriguing in the lab and their new high concept experiment is no exception. A Trip to the Moon combines snippets of NASA moonshot transmissions with groovy instrumental passages and killer guest vocals to create something approximating space-age bachelor pad soul music. The band has made their name by adding a cinematic scope to their sound and subsequently their new album has the feel of an aborted soundtrack to a long-shelved, unrealized film script. Which is what makes it so strangely entertaining. "Again," led off by some random communications between Houston command control and an Apollo mission (which one unknown), segues from a simmering soul ballad into a boiling, skronking belter of a love song thanks to the out-of-nowhere arrival of singer Romi Hanoch, who brings the song home with a powerful, jaw-dropping performance. If this doesn't bring home her lost cosmonaut lover, nothing will.
Moment of Conversion: When Romi kicks into third gear.
055 M.CHUZI | "Mojo Picón"
Blurb: For those who seriously want more cowbell, I submit "Mojo Picón by Brussels Afrogroove merchants M.Chuzi (no space). The track features some mind-rattling percussion from Stéphane Galland, previously unknown to me and now known to me, who is ranked among the best drummers on the planet by those who judge such things. He opens the track seemingly tapping on everything in his kitchen cabinets with wooden spoons (or so it sounds) and then takes a full cowbell solo (agogo bells, to be technically accurate) mid-song that is positively jaw-dropping. The whole song is a master class in propulsion, as Galland drives the horns forward with Afrobeat fills that would make Tony Allen smile from his grave. The band is similarly locked in around his groove, amounting to one of the most thrilling instrumentals I've heard this year.
Moment of Conversion: Los Cowbells!
054 ST. VINCENT | "Broken Man"
Blurb: "Broken Man" was the first single from Annie Clark's latest venture as St. Vincent and while it is particularly charged, soon to be a live show standard, it's just one of about ten tracks I could've chosen. She simply doesn't know how to be uninteresting.
Moment of Conversion: Surging electrical pulse throughout.
053 SHEER MAG | "Moonstruck"
Blurb: Was anybody going to tell me that Sheer Mag sounds like the Jackson 5 now? I guess I have to rely on myself alone going forward. As it turns out, it's just for this one song, but that's enough. Little Michael could've made a #1 smash out of this back in the early 70s.
Moment of Conversion: 70's Motown feel.
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You're halfway there, people, but we don't live on a fucking prayer here. We live on records, and by the grace of the Pickled Priest, go you. The Top 52 songs of the year are next!
Cheers,
The Priest