Late 2024 Albums
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Amour by babymorocco
Just a breezy, club-ready himbo pop record that has great energy and lots of fun moments. There’s late 90’s and 2000’s nostalgia, a dash of indie sleaze, a lot of sexual energy, and queer bangers in spades.
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Attempted Martyr by Prostitute
One of the most dizzying, lacerating noise rock debuts I’ve heard in a long time. Uniquely, Prostitute combines the genre with influences from Arab music - particularly evident in the first half of this record, such as “Judge.” All the while, frontman Moe Kazra delivers unforgiving lyrics about his experiences with xenophobia while being Lebanese in the U.S., while also tackling more taboo themes like hedonistic desire on “Joumana Kayrouz.” It’s certainly an electrifying listen, and makes me excited for what the band might do next.
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Heavy Metal by Cameron Winters
Before the release of Getting Killed this year - an album that combines Winter and co’s knack for alt rock songwriting and more sophisticated jazz-influenced experimentation, Winter released a solo album showing off his songwriting abilities in late 2024. Heavy Metal is both casual and airtight, and Winter’s distinct voice works incredibly well in a singer-songwriter context.
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Older Albums
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Abu Ali by Ziad Rahbani (Single) (1979)
Just a great work of disco music made by none other than Ziad Rahbani - the son of Lebanese music legend Fairouz, who went on to have an incredible career in his own right. Abu Ali is a 13-minute single that wordlessly takes on disco and funk music, creating a majestic and cinematic musical journey. The string and horn arrangements are fantastic, and there is use of ney flute and hand drums that bring the track a distinctly Levantine sound. There are plenty of other places to venture with Rahbani’s work, but this legendary single is certainly a good starting point.
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MELTING MOMENT by POiSON GiRL FRiEND (EP) (1992)
The first of 2 bonus not-quite-albums that I wanted to include on this list: POiSON GiRL FRiEND may be one of my most treasured discoveries of 2025. Her EP MELTING MOMENT is particularly lush - along with being irresistibly romantic and international. There are icy trip-hop beats, synthetic but warm beds of strings, and pining in English, French, and Japanese. It’s equally clubbish and dreamy, feeling as indebted to the French yé-yé girls like Francoise Hardy as it does to 90’s electronic and trip hop.
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Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation by Au Revoir Simone (2005)
Just a quaint mid-2000’s indie debut that really spoke to me this year, discovered by looking through a list of albums that David Lynch enjoyed - saying that they “really [made him] dream.” It’s a fantastic vibe, influenced by synth pop and folktronica, and naturally grazed by 2000’s twee. It also has a very bifurcated feeling, with the first half of the record having a much more playful vibe than the more atmospheric, sinister second half. I also enjoy the lyrics quite a bit - they are often very fanciful, with magical imagery (“Then the moon swept down to greet us/It was warm and made of flowers”). At a breezy 28 minutes, Au Revoir Simone’s debut still holds as a pleasant, dreamy respite from reality.
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Stories to Tell by Flora Purim (1974)
This is a fantastic jazz fusion record! Earlier in the year, I actually took a “History of Jazz” course at my university for fun, and reaped a lot of great recommendations from that! When learning about Brazilian jazz, I particularly took to the work of Flora Purim - she has a way of using her voice as an instrument, sometimes wordlessly, and reaches a lot of creative peaks on this LP with the support of stellar instrumentalists that include her husband Airto Moreira, Carlos Santana, George Duke, and Ron Carter. The overall sound is vibrant and incredibly lyrical - whether passages are being led by Flora herself or by soloists in her incredible ensemble.
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Bocanada by Gustavo Cerati (1999)
A lovely late 90’s Argentinian work of trip hop, blending the genre with elements of dream pop, downtempo, and neo-psychedelia. On track after track, Cerati lets his layered production shine through his ethereal work on the instrumentation. His vocals are great, too - he sings very passionately and concocts some enthralling choruses and hooks on the album.
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Essra Mohawk by Essra Mohawk (1974)
Just a great work of blue-eyed soul from the 70’s that my partner discovered! On the album, Essra sings a lot about change and reincarnation/rebirth, starting from the very first track “New Skins for Old.” All the while, she dons distinct, powerful vocals that any Laura Nyro fan would enjoy, while being grounded by arrangements that feel right at home with other piano-driven songwriting greats of this time period, like Carole King.
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I’m the One by Annette Peacock (1972)
An album that is both delightful and uncompromising. From the start with the opening title track, Peacock combines the soulful vocal acrobatics of Laura Nyro with the jazzy noir vibes of Patty Waters (along with a hint of Patti Smith’s swagger) to great effect. Additionally, I’m the One was recorded in a series of single takes recorded live, giving it a jazz feel, while also offering some of the most insane-sounding synth experimentation of the early 70’s. On nearly every track, Peacock processes her own vocals with Moog synthesizers, but never at the expense of the raw power of her vocal range.
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On How Life Is by Macy Gray (1999)
A wise, soulful R&B debut that plays out like an early Fiona Apple record if she had been about a decade older and even more world-weary in 1999. With a neo-soul palette that draws from facets of black music from funk to R&B to hip hop to gospel, Macy Gray sings about all sorts of life experiences with her distinct, raspy voice. The album that results is incredibly realized and mature, and also extremely catchy.
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Urban Zulu by Busi Mhlongo (1999)
Urban Zulu is a seminal South African album, and one of several albums on this list that I found via beehype’s “Special: Classic Albums from Around the World.” While its album cover leaves a bit to be desired, Mhlongo’s Urban Zulu redefined maskandi: a form of Zulu folk music with percussive guitar techniques and commonly associated with South Africa’s male migrant worker population. With her unforgettable voice, Mhlongo combined this folk tradition with modern, international influences to create a gorgeous listening experience, and was solidified as a female trailblazer in South African music.
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ESKA by ESKA (2015)
As someone who has been interested in art pop and experimental pop for years, I find it so very baffling that I did not find this album until 2025. What’s more is I actually discovered it on a random album generator (Shfl) when I wanted to listen to something new. That being said, ESKA’s self-titled 2015 debut was absolutely one of my favorite discoveries of this year, and one of the most kaleidoscopic records I had in rotation.
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You Must Be Certain of the Devil by Diamanda Galás (1988)
In 2025, I was lucky enough to take a deeper dive into Diamanda Galás’ daunting and horrifying discography. Galás is a figure who I have venerated for years without finding her music to be all that accessible, mainly because I love her theatrics, her vocal terrors, and above all, the work that she has done to raise questions about global issues. Upon listening to more of her records, though, I found that there is also a lot to love about her from a purely musical standpoint - and for no record is that more true for me than the final installment of her “Mask of the Red Death” AIDS trilogy: You Must Be Certain of the Devil.
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Nunsexmonkrock by Nina Hagen (1982)
Normally when I do the “older albums” list, I try to prioritize albums that I had discovered within the last 12 months. In the case of Nunsexmonkrock, I actually discovered the record back in 2021, but had such a renaissance with it that it felt wrong to not include it in this list. Hagen has a vocal range that is almost unparalleled - she can harken to an alien, gross old man in her lower register on “Smack Jack,” but can also squeal and scream in her upper register on tracks like “Cosmic Shiva,” named for her daughter who was an infant at the time. Throughout the record, Hagen sounds a bit like a gothic, German Kate Bush as she sings about aliens, Jesus, drugs, and whatever else crosses her mind.
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