2024 WRAPPED IN SOUND!

all the music that's been a part of my year

This post will be all about my year in music wrapped! All the concerts I’ve been to and new albums and tracks I’ve loved. As well as sharing my Spotify wrapped, and random stuff not from this year that I’ve loved.

Hope you find something sweet to enjoy :-)

I saw four concerts this year and they were all magic. I’d consider DIY house shows concerts and I’ve been to the same fair share as usual and did not keep track but fun and live music nonetheless.

January: Mannequin Pussy and Pom Pom Squad at Cornell University’s Bailey Hall

This was the concert to really get me into Mannequin Pussy and how I discovered Pom Pom Squad. I was in a really low place at this time but went with my college friends and it was very sweet and the concert was unforgettable because the bands rock, and also because I’ll never forget listening to Drunk II by Mannequin Pussy for the first time and knowing I was meant to be there. That song was exactly how I felt in that point in time.

January 27th 2024

July: Courtney Barnett with Bob Mould and Squirrel Flower in Skokie, IL

This was the HIGHLIGHT of my summer. It was so magic. I’ve gotten to see Courtney in both my home states now and that feels special. I went to this one with my childhood best friend, Safia and it was a ridiculously hot day where I’d also decided to wear a denim jumpsuit but I paid that no mind because I was ecstatic. Hearing the guitar on Write A List to Look Forward To was an unforgettable experience. A crowd of Courtney Barnett fans are some of the best people to be around.

July 26th 2024

September: Kimya Dawson at Roberson Museum in Binghamton, NY

This was a small and intimate concert which I found to be a lovely atmosphere. Probably no more than 40 people. I enjoyed the intimacy of the museum and the outdoor space that the concert was held in. My roommates and I sat under an apple tree and watched Kimya sing and joke and tell stories.

September 5th 2024

October: Graham Nash and Judy Collins at The State Theater of Ithaca

This was super special and so cool. Judy Collins and Graham Nash not only shared some of their most beloved songs but a story with almost each one. It was a night of stories. I went alone to this one and met some very cool people. Nash played this never before heard recording of David Crosby’s Critical Mass which was very touching. What I found hilarious is the amount of times someone quite older than me would say, “you must be the youngest one here!” LOL.

October 12th 2024

1. Tiger’s Blood by Waxahatchee

I discovered Waxahatchee through her 2020 album ‘Saint Cloud’ and I remember being in my room after one listen to the whole thing and instantly in love with it. I adore her storytelling, honesty, and she reminds me a lot of myself. Katie Crutchfield also has got a wicked voice I could listen to all day.

Tiger’s Blood was an album I was excited for and it has been so fun to enjoy all year.

What I love about this record is her Americana sound and the personal relatability I feel towards it, too. In particular how way she puts into words how she’s figuring herself out, the way she examines the game of contradiction, love and dependency, and the tussle of the mind when it comes to perfectionism and overthinking which I’m all too familiar with.

My Favorite Tracks: Much Ado About Nothing, Tiger’s Blood, Lone Star lake, Right Back to It, Crimes of the Heart, Bored.

2.The Past Is Still Alive by Hurray for the Riff Raff

This was absolute GAS. I adore Alynda Segarra. A perfect album to me. So real, reflective, honest, and present. I haven’t listened to a Hurray for the Riff Raff track since about probably 2019 so listening to this album and loving every track was really quite special.

An album for the outliers, an album that warps it’s way around the concept of time, memories and it’s questions, and how to keep with it all.

My Favorite Tracks: Alibi, Buffalo, Hawkmoon, Colossus of Roads, Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive), Hourglass, The World Is Dangerous, Ogallala.

3. Manning Fireworks - MJ Lendermann

Prior to listening to this I hadn’t run through an MJ Lendermann record in full ever but this was a really good introduction. I was awed by his way with words and his work on guitar. He rocks and he’s got a new fan.

My Favorite Tracks: Joker Lips, Wristwatch, She’s Leaving You, You Don’t Know The Shape I’m In, Rip Torn.

4. I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy

A loud BARK. I loved this album a lot a good one to go crazy too. I find Marisa Dabice to be very relatable. There’s a lot of exploration in the feeling of desire in this album and ‘Sometimes’ is a track that’s followed me almost every month since it’s come out.

My Favorite Tracks: Sometimes, I Don’t Know You, OK? OK! OK? OK!.

5. What’s Mine - Teens In Trouble

This one was offered to me by the Spotify algorithm through the song ‘Brave’ appearing on my discover weekly. It was so good I had to listen to the entire album. I did just that and ended up loving it. It’s so darn good and reminds me of indie rock music from the 90s. It’s themes center around self-consciousness, feeling out of place, loneliness and a proclamation to not mess with the lead singer, Lizzie Killian. I love the lyricism and heavy grunge in her guitar work. New fan.

My Favorite Tracks: You Don’t Want to Mess With Me, Awkward Girl, Brave, Sick, What Am I Doing?, I’m Not Perfect.

6. Going Through It - Eliza McLamb

Yeah, this was a good one. An album that encapsulates pretty well the state of Gen Z women just now entering adulthood who have grown up online on the often dangerously depricating digital planes of Tumblr and Instagram where we’ve been programmed to obsess over perfectionism, our bodies, self-image and the struggles of finding ourselves at entrance of ‘womanhood’.

I absolutely love the track ‘Modern Woman’. There’s so much pressure on how a woman should be and the added factor of the internet, the obsession of hyper individualism and consumerism, the loop of constant ‘rebranding’ and aesthetic swapping… it’s just so exhausting to be and not need to label damn near everything. This was my introduction to McLamb and I’m a fan. It’s an exploratory album into the psyche of a current 20something (at least, for me).

My Favorite Tracks: Modern Woman, Mythologize Me, Punch Drunk, 16, Anything You Want.

7. Bright Future - Adrienne Lenker

I like Adrienne Lenker a lot. I think she is such a tried and true poet. She has a magical way to self-express, reflect, and project. I admire it and It’s my favorite kind of music; the kind that reflects on our human condition with reverence and care. Complete and total unbridled honesty of how it is to be in the face of fear, anger, tears, realization, acceptance, confusion, happiness. It’s true. Love it.

My Favorite Tracks: Fool, Evol, Sadness As A Gift, Vampire Empire, Free Treasure, Already Lost, Cell Phone Says.

8. All Born Screaming - St. Vincent

A whole lot of spooky fun. I like St. Vincent because she is dynamic, her music is dark, mysterious, and she’s a lyricist I enjoy and this was all of that and then some more. There’s a magnetism to every song, and a string of foreboding that follows you with each track.

9. Love Heart Cheat Code - Hiatus Kaiyote

Haitus Kaiyote is a band I’ve loved since the start of college. The first song I ever heard of theirs is ‘The Lung’ and it got me hooked. This album is beautiful. This album is one I like to just let waft around my room while I get things done. It’s got that soulful funk, it’s jazzy, and elements of pyschedic funk. I love it. The lyrics are beautiful, it’s uplifting and hopeful.

10. Mahashmashana - Father John Misty

It was hard to pick one final album to cap at 10 but I think I have to go with the new FJM stuff. I’ve loved Father John Misty’s music a long while. What I’ve always loved about his work is definitely his songwriting, which is always usually the first stand out for me, LOL. Always the writing first and then the way he works that into producing the rest the album just seems right. There are so many of his tracks that feel like you’re listening to a movie unfold before you and I love that feeling.

This one is interesting, before it even came out I was anticipating some George Harrisonesque white man’s found himself in eastern ideology music and it is that lowkey but it’s good. I like it.

My favorite tracks: She Cleans Up, Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose, Mental Health, Being You, I Guess Time Just Makes A Fool of Us All.

Spotify Wrapped aka Judgement Day. I don’t know why it feels as such but it does. For me, it’s fun to finally be able to let go of the anticipation of what the machine’s been keeping track of in regards to my taste and listening.

This isn’t all that surprising to me besides Elliott Smith because I thought I wasn’t listening to him as much as I normally have but I guess some things just stay the same. I am surprised my girl Angel Olsen isn’t up there but she’s always in my heart and ears.

★ Alex G ★

Alex G is a really dynamic artist and what keeps me going back to his music is that he’s got a uniqueness to everything. I think he’s a great songwriter, producer, and unique at his craft.

Favorite Album(s):

1. Rocket (2017)

2. God Save The Animals (2022)

3. Trick (2012)

4. Rules (2012)

5. House of Sugar (2019)

6. Beach Music (2015)

7. DSU (2014)

8. Race (2009)

Favorite Tracks: He’s got so many so limiting it to a few.

• Things to Do, Snot, Powerful Man, Poision Root, Runner, No Bitterness, Miracles, Ain’t it Easy, Forgive, Cow, Witch, Know Now

★ Momma ★

Momma is a band I discovered in 2021 through the song, ‘Double Dare’. I got really into them after their 2022 album Household Name, and by really into I mean really, obsessively into. I think they are so cool and the music is so good. It’s got that 90s indie rock element I really enjoy and it’s hedonistic, honest, and fun. Also just total masters at their craft.

Favorite Album(s):

1. Household Name (2022)

2. Two of Me (2020)

Favorite Tracks:

• Household Name: Brave, Callin Me, Speeding 72, Motorbike

• Two of Me: Biohazard, Derby, Stringers, Ready Runner, Not a Runner

• Singles: Ohio All The Time, Motorbike (Audiotree Live version)

★ Courtney Barnett ★

Courtney Barnett is someone where if I had to call myself a fangirl, it would be for her. She is a true rockstar to me. She’s written far too many songs of thoughts and feelings that have lived and passed through my mind. She’s honest, witty, a total wordsmith, crafty and effortlessly cool. With all of that I have this sense that she’s a true chiller but who knows, don’t meet your heroes, right?

Favorite album(s):

1. Tell Me How You Really Feel (2018)

2. Sometime I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015)

3. The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas

4. Things Take Time, Take Time

5. Lotta Sea Lice ft. Kurt Vile

My Favorite Tracks off of 3 Albums because she’s got many

Hopefullessness, City Looks Pretty, Need A Little Time, Crippling Self-Doubt and A General Lack of Confidence, Help Yourself, Sunday Roast, Pedestrian At Best, Small Poppies, Dead Fox, Debbie Downer, Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party, Over Everything, Let It Go, Fear Is Like a Forest, Continental Breakfast, Blue Cheese

★ Pretty Sick ★

I got into Pretty Sick in the Fall of ‘23 through a friend and ever since it has been a band I’ve ADORED. Pretty Sick is everything I could ask for in an indie rock band. The reason it’s on my wrapped is because of their album ‘Makes Me Sick, Makes Me Smile’ which to me is a perfect album and one I sit and listen to cover to cover.

To Sabrina Fuentes it’s a love letter to growing up in New York City and how she’d navigated the DIY punk scenes and her youngster escapades.

To me, it’s about a girl who wears her heart on her sleeve and shields the pains of growing with a glowing honesty of armor.

Favorite Album(s):

1. Makes Me Sick, Makes Me Smile (2022)

My Favorite Tracks:

1. Human Condition, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Heaven, Lilith Song, Dirty, Black Tar, Dumb.

★ Elliott Smith ★

Elliott Smith has always been in my Spotify wrapped top 5 somewhere but I thought I hadn’t tapped into him as much as I guess I did this year but like I said before here we are again.

Anywho, Elliott Smith, I don’t know, he’s just always been with me. He was a really crucial artist I found in high school and I deeply related to the way he expressed his emotions. He’s a tragically honest songwriter and I admire him for a lot of things. Admittedly, sometimes I think of him and get so low that now I’m sporadic with how often I listen to him.

My Favorite Albums:

1. Either/Or (Expanded Edition)

2. XO (Deluxe Edition)

3. Elliott Smith

4. From A Basement On The Hill

5. Roman Candle

6. Figure 8

Favorite Tracks: I like a lot and he has a lot of music so I’m gonna cap it at 10 from

1. Some Song (alternative version), I Figured You Out, Ballad of Big Nothing, Say Yes, Needle In the Hay, Clementine, No Name #1, Coast to Coast, A Passing Feeling, Twilight, A Fond Farewell.

★ ALBUMS ★

• MY WOMAN by Angel Olsen

• The First Ten Years by Joan Baez

• Dimond Life by Sade

• Faith and Courage by Sinead O Connor

• Blowout Comb by Digable Planets

• Moveys by Slow Pulp

• At War With the Mystics by The Flaming Lips

• When the Wind Forget Your Name by Built to Spill

• Bocanada by Gustavo Cerati

• Twin Plauges by Wednesday

★ SONGS: ★

That’s it, that was my year in sound. I hope you found something fun to listen to.

This was also the year I lost my beloved Sony WH-1000XM4’s after having them just two years which was DEVASTATING but I hope whoever’s got them is loving them because I really miss them.

Happy New Year :)

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