By Joshua Gutierrez - Editor
For the first time ever (I'm pretty sure), I did not fall in "Love" with an album by an artist/band with over 1 Million monthly listeners on Spotify. This rare occurrence feels that much more glaring considering just how much stellar music we have been given by some of our biggest artists/bands in 2024.
Obviously, the two noticeable absentees were Katy Perry's "143" and Lady Gaga's companion album to the latest "Joker" movie, "Harlequin." TBH, I didn't hate Katy's latest album... but I was nowhere near "Love" to post about it. And while I always love to hear Lady Gaga's iconic vocals, "Harlequin" very much felt like a covers project of classic standards that I could not fully get behind.
Yet, September felt incredibly replete with music for me.
MJ Lenderman's "Manning Fireworks" could be a Top 5 AOTY in my Below Radar category, with Naima Bock, Efterklang and Kaeto providing depth in this category which has been pretty quiet.
But my biggest buzz came from my non-vocal, ambient category. Three of the albums I posted about this month will most likely be Top 10 AOTY's in this category, with Nala Sinephro's "Endlessness" becoming my clear frontrunner.
From a personal standpoint, the music year feels concluded enough to start compiling my year-end favorites. Not that I won't keep posting about new music releases, but it feels like the first AOTY posts will be coming sooner rather than later lol.
