In case you didn't ask

Ted suggests a few good tunes from his 2024 favorites

I’ve never been asked to list my favorite albums of the year; no one is clamoring to know my Spotify Wrapped or Apple Rewind. I’ll tell you anyway.

At the very least, what my scribbled list suggests is the widening gulf between my go-tos and the “10 Best of the Year” in publications ranging from The New York Times to Pitchfork to my beloved Mojo magazine. New music is kind of leaving me in the dust, which, I suppose, is as it should be. If I were here espousing the latest fantastic jam dropping from a 20-something streaming genius, I’d trade in my Mini Cooper for a windowless white van. Many’s the time I wish I could like that aforementioned fantastic jam dropping because I know the artist is doing something great and groundbreaking and am excited that music is always moving forward. But it’s just not for me.

What was for me last year?

I was amused entirely by my Spotify Wrapped report. Entirely top-loaded with 20- and 30-minute ambient pieces from Brian Eno, whose music provided the suitable aural wallpaper for the first eight months of the year when I was locked in my room whipping through my master’s degree.

My Apple Music Rewind revealed something entirely different – for the 10^th year running! — my most-played song was MAKE THE SMALL THINGS PRETTY by the Chandler Travis Three-O. I think we now can comfortably count that song, written by Chandler and David Greenberger, as my all-time favorite. A beautiful piece that never fails to center. The Three-O edged out NOW AND THEN by The Beatles by a couple plays, followed closely by LEONARD BERNSTEIN conducting Igor Stravinsky (“The Soldier’s Tale” … what was that all about?) and CHERCHEZ LE FEMME by Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, a song I have loved for decades.

Aside from the Spotify Eno blip, most of my at-home listening is on vinyl. My long-suffering Facebook pals endure my regular posts with pictures of the album on my turntable at any given time. And here are records from 2024 that I enjoyed the most:

GABY MORENO • Dusk

I’d first heard Gaby Moreno on a duet album with Van Dyke Parks and went full-tilt gonzo for her music when she opened a show for Los Lobos in Tucson in 2023. I did the deep dive to her entire catalog and was thrilled when “Dusk” appeared in February. This album covers all the bases – great songwriting and beautiful vocals; she’s a stellar guitarist and record producer and absolutely nails her cover of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.” Songs that run the gamut from Stax soul (“Solid Ground”) to traditional (“El Sabor”) to the ethereal (“Dance The Night Away”). Fire this one up on your streaming service of choice. My favorite album of the year from a wonderful musician.

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS • Wild God

Nick Cave albums, for me, require a certain amount of headspace – they’re not the sort of thing I can put on for background music. Your Google search for more information on “Wild God” will reveal lengthy reviews that dissect this record far more eloquently than I could. What I can say is that from the start of side one to the end of side two, this rollercoaster never fails to thrill, provoke, and inspire.

CROWDED HOUSE • Gravity Stairs

You friends of mine are well aware of my time-worn love for Neil Finn’s music, and it’s a patch that continued this year with this latest album from Neil and his Crowded House mates. “Gravity Stairs” did what I love the most about his various projects: it took a few careful listens before kicking in. And, like all my favorite Neil Finn work, once it did so, it was difficult to stop listening. It’s the sound of a band renewing itself, again, and stronger than ever.

AROOJ AFTAB • Night Reign

Here’s one where my ears align with the music press: I dug into this one after reading a five-star review in Mojo and found it on the ‘new releases’ playlist for Tucson’s community radio station, the wonderful KXCI, where they occasionally allow me time on the air to play music for the people. Like Nick Cave, I won’t let my feeble descriptions dissuade the curious – let’s just say songs like “Raat Ki Rani” and “Whiskey” give me hope that there is, indeed, new music that fascinates me.

JOHNNY BLUE SKIES • Passage Du Desir

It’s Sturgill Simpson in a different guise, and I’ll admit I steered well clear of the record at first because I get twitchy when I read about an artist putting out an album under a different name so he/she can “explore a different part of his/her work.” Garth Brooks comes to mind with that silly Chris Gaines disaster, even if it did produce what I think is his best-ever record (“It Don’t Matter To The Sun”). And then Johnny Blue Skies’s “Mint Tea” came around on my KXCI playlist and I very nearly forgot to cue up the next record. I stopped at Zia Records on the way home from my radio show, bought the album, and have listened pretty much on repeat ever since. The album reminded me that I have, to date, liked everything Sturgill Simpson has recorded. An enormously talented artist who does his own thing and, mercifully, has not been bothered to bow at the feet of the almighty Nashville.

If you'd like to hear a little of what it is I've mentioned, here's a link to a nifty playlist just for you.

And I hope you found some great music for your own selves in 2024!