Year-end Top 10 Best Albums of 2024. Rollo Grady Blog
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It’s that time of year again. The annual Rollo Grady blog compilation of the best albums, EPs, and singles contributed by most of the working music supervisors in Hollywood.
It’s always flattering to be included but as usual, I scrambled to get my list in by the deadline and made it just by the skin of my teeth.
Some of my colleagues like to labor over these lists for weeks… personally, I find that to be too much pressure, and instead, I prefer to just jot down the albums that come to mind most quickly when I sit down to make my list with minimal edits. I figure if they’ve stuck around in my brain for more than a few months, then that must mean something. It’s fun to scroll through everyone else’s selections afterward and get reminded of all the other music that I loved from the year but just didn’t recall quickly enough.
As usual, my list ends up being a fairly eclectic mixture of material not guided by any particular theme or sensibility beyond just “I liked this a lot.” That said, there have been some patterns for me in recent years.
Evangeline put out another fantastic EP (“When Demigods Go”). She continues to be one of the best and most interesting songwriters in LA and her star has risen considerably this year, bolstered in part by some incredible collaborations with Vulfpeck (they even landed a Lexus commercial this week) and some strategic touring. Similarly, Ireland’s Fontains D.C. put out another killer full-length album (“Romance”) so they are a returning name to my top 10 as well.
LA dork-rockers Cheekface released a new album (“It’s Sorted”), so they’re back on the list just as in 2022 with their last offering, “Too Much To Ask.” Cheekface may not seem like they fit in with the rest of the cool kids on this list, but their output is just so consistently fun. They’re a dizzying mixture of hyper-self-awareness, paralyzing neurosis, and postmodern malaise delivered in a package that seems like it could be mocking you for enjoying it just as much as it might earnestly encourage you to like what you like.
A few others that made long-gestating impressions on me were Caroline Kingsbury (“I Really Don’t Care” EP), who seems on track to become the next Chappell Roan, Phantogram (“Memory of A Day”), and Megan Burtt (“Witness”). I first encountered Megan at this year’s Durango Songwriter’s Expo in Ventura Beach, where her performances were the standout highlight of the event for me. She managed to silence a room full of chatty music supervisors at a buffet in a matter of seconds; it was quite something. Recently, I was able to license her song “Slow Motion” for an indie film called “Star People” coming next year.
The ones that snuck up on me late in the year were The Cure with their unexpectedly great “Songs of A Lost World” album. Angeles Toledano is an artist who I only recently came to know while visiting Seville, Spain, for the Monkey Week festival this November. I was blown away by her powerful Flamenco fusion sound and happy to find that her record “Sangre Sucia” lived up to the intensity of her live show.
I also have to admit that I was late to the party on Medium Build who it seems has been on a rocket ride of popularity all year with his full-length album “Country.” I finally saw him live toward the end of the year at a little industry showcase with Caroline Kingsbury and realized I should have paid attention sooner.
And last but most certainly not least, the 2024 re-master and re-issue of The Gits debut album “Frenching The Bully” from 1992. The Gits are probably one of the most influential rock bands that most people have never heard of. So much of the 90s “grunge” explosion in Seattle owes its sound to this band whose career was tragically cut short by the murder of band leader Mia Zapata. Sub Pop has now re-issued their entire catalog, which has been out of print for ages and has never been available for streaming until now. They’re also doing vinyl, and I’m told there will be some sort of benefit gala at the KEXP event space in Seattle in February.
Click any of the images above to check out all 180 music-supervisor top ten lists on the Rollo Grady blog, and be sure to take a listen below to my favorite tracks from my top selections on Spotify.