Words by David C. Obenour
David C. Obenour is the founder and editor for Off Shelf. Prior to that, he served as the editor and co-publisher of Ghettoblaster’s print magazine, and wrote as a contributor for Under the Radar, The Big Takeover, Filter, Devil in the Woods, Metro.pop, and a number of other current and long gone publications. Here are his top ten albums in descending order.
10. Jade Hairpins – Get Me the Good Stuff (Merge Records)
Number ten might be lowest on the list but it’s also my most coveted pick after considering all the other incredible albums it fended off. I dithered a long time between Jade Hairpins and jazz and soul artist, Audrey Powne’s From the Fire. But as my tastes shifted further from indie rock in 2024, the fact that I kept going back and forth only proved to me how good Get Me the Good Stuff is. Mixing eras and influences, Jonah and Mike from Fucked Up have arrived on this power pop tour of force. A Clavinet has never sounded so good.
9. E L U C I D – Revelator (Fat Possum)
I’ve been a fan of Armand Hammer for awhile though it was more from the contributions of billy woods. I respect Elucid’s work, as a solo artist too, but something has kept me at a bit of an arm’s length. Well, that’s changed on Revelator. Was it the use of live instrumentation? Was it his reigned back verses? Was it not so much about what he did or didn’t do this time but a problem with me all along? And now I need to go back and revisit everything? Giving me even less confidence in my own understanding of what I really do and don’t like? Oh boy.
8. Kali Malone – All Life Long (Ideologic Organ)
In a maybe futile effort, creating a best of list involves one big last pass of the year’s releases. It starts with the things you know about – the big ones, the old favorites, the degrees of separation – and works out from there. I don’t really remember how I got to Kali Malone’s hauntingly beautiful mix of pipe organ, choral arrangements, and brass, but I couldn’t just include one of the only contemporary classical albums I’d heard without some due diligence. This led to a few week long month-by-month survey of Bandcamp’s Best Contemporary Classical – and I definitely want to mention Sophia Jani’s Six Pieces for Solo Violin and Marco Baldini’s Fuochi – but Kali remains strong here at number eight.
7. Guided by Voices – Strut of Kings (GBV Inc)
Should I make my lists 11 albums because we know Guided by Voices will inevitably take up one spot? Do I get even more for the years that they release more than one album? I’m far from the most devoted but I’m absolutely here for all of it. The wide-eyed midwestern mysticism that Pollard conjures continues to thrive with the help of his strongest backing band, a true brotherhood. From the two minute prog rockers, to the beer-drenched stadium anthems, to the heartbreaking arms-around-each-other romantics, it’s a lot to keep up with. But that’s your problem, not his.
6. Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media)
Blood Incantation continue to navigate new orbits for Death Metal, blasting off further into prog, psych, krautrock, ambient, and wherever else their muse and reportedly $9,000 worth of rented synth equipment will take them. Two epic songs – divided into movements that trace arcs throughout – Absolute Elsewhere is a science fiction epic about the battle for human consciousness. As ambitious, amazing, and absurd as trve metal is meant to be.
5. Kim Gordon – The Collective (Matador)
Fuck. Kim Gordon is cool. At 71 years old she continues to have more adventurous and relevant art to create than… most everyone else? Admittedly, I haven’t been much of a Sonic Youth fan to this point (which spirals me into a reflective reevaluation in a similar manner as Elucid at number 9) but that seems less relevant when considering The Collective. She’s not making Goo three decades later. Blown out trap beats, industrial noise, and stream-of-conscious lyrics that expose the trappings of modernity. This is new, amazing music that could only come from Kim Gordon.
4. Charli xcx – BRAT (Atlantic Records)
Do you need a 41-year-old white man telling you about Charli xcx at this point? Did that really ever need to happen? Probably not, but this album is undeniable across the board and from start to finish. America living in the shine of Brat Summer was a real fun ride before the wheels came off and we woke up on November 6.
3. the body – The Crying Out of Things (Thrill Jockey)
I don’t know to what extent the body had predicted the trajectory of the world on November 8 when they released The Crying Out of Things. It smashed against my stereo with a savage brutality, which I welcomed for those dark, despondent days. A weighted blanket of blasted noise. Vocals channeling claustrophobic fury. Horns blaring an imminent doom. A sonic primal scream unleashed.
2. Magdalena Bay – Imaginal Disk (Mom+Pop)
My favorite artist from 2022 hipped me to my second favorite artist of 2024. At first it just seemed like a cool Halloween costume, but finding my way to the comments I realized Rosalía had dressed as the album cover for Imaginal Disc. Guess I better give that a go! Concepted around a being’s failed attempt to create their ideal self by inserting a CD directly to the forehead, the album explores relearning what it is to be human. Brave New World narrative aside, the songs just bang. It’s impressive enough to string together a hit pop song or three (if we were doing top singles you might find Sabrina Carpenter here) but similar to Charli xcx, Magdalena Bay did it for an entire album.
1. Moor Mother – The Great Bailout (Anti Records)
“An expansive meditation that acts as a non-linear word map about colonialism, slavery, and commerce in Great Britain, rich in history and observation relevant to the present and future,” it feels trivial to try and summate what Moor Mother has accomplished on The Great Bailout in a few short sentences. A prolific discography, highlighted with inspired appearances and collaborations, there’s a sense here that the art has caught up to the artist. A mastery reached through continued exploration and compounding experience, aided on this project by other such luminaries as Lonnie Holley, Kyle Kidd, Angel Bat Dawid, Mary Lattimore, and more. Undeniable and thrilling for what it presents still to come.