Blake’s Beats // 1,001 One-Line Album Reviews (Pt. 6)
Through flood and flight: Dispatches from the road and records 501–600
Welcome back, 1,001 faithful! You know what time it is.
I can say that with relative confidence because I see the stats for these silly one-line review round-ups, and the numbers continue to surprise me.
Seems I’m building a nice little audience here, one that appreciates this dude’s distilled opinions on the 1,001 albums deemed required listening before meeting your doom.
You’re all very kind.
While we’re on the subject of niceties, I should acknowledge the delay between this piece and the previous. It’s been around five months since I last published an update and, given my steadfast readership, I feel like some sort of explanation is in order.
I considered using the word “apology” in place of “explanation” there, but the truth is that if anyone is owed an apology, it’s me.
And that apology should come from Mother Nature herself.
On September 27, 2024, my home was destroyed by the historic flooding in Asheville, North Carolina caused by Hurricane Helene. My wife, my two cats, and I made it out safe, but my apartment and nearly all my belongings were lost to the flood.
(If your morbid curiosity is piquing, check out these photos documenting the damage to my apartment-turned-aquarium.)
I bring this up not to gain sympathy, but to acknowledge an unignorable event that has drastically impacted every facet of my life, including this inconsequential, yet important-to-me, daily album project.
I lost my headphones. I lost my daily walking route where I listened to most of these albums. I lost the luxury of taking 40+ minutes each day to disconnect from my world and enter these 1,001 worlds.
I lost nearly everything and, for a while, I lost the will to continue this journey, at least until things settled down.
Things haven’t quite settled down yet, but they’re getting there.
In the three months or so since THE FLOOD, my little family of four has bounced around between stays with my aunt and uncle in Wilmington, North Carolina, my grandmother in Southern Illinois, another aunt and uncle in Reno, Nevada, and many hotels in between.
Weeks went by before I could find the time or mental energy to engage with the list again.
When I was finally ready, what once was an intimate, solo experience listening through quality headphones became a group activity listening with my wife in the car or listening with my whole family through Bluetooth speakers as we cooked dinner or hung out around the house.
These shared experiences became cherished and fun in their own ways, especially in those moments when the album serendipitously soundtracked a gorgeous stretch of road, or when a family member reacted positively to the evening’s round of tunes.
Still, as you’ll soon see, the 500s ended up being my lowest-rated group of albums yet, by a relatively large margin. Was this a byproduct of my circumstance? Did my personal strife seep into how I interpreted these albums, or did the dip in album quality just so happen to coincide with my turbulent time?
For years, my bio on this platform and others has been as follows:
“Asheville-based writer following the feel and chasing down wonder.”
Well, faithful, I am no longer based in Asheville; that chapter has come to a definite close.
I’m headed west, following the feel (but mostly GPS directions) onto greener pastures to start anew. We’ve racked up over 4,000 miles on this journey, and we’ve still a ways to go.
During this unexpected adventure, I haven’t had to chase down wonder as much as I’ve found it slapping me across the face around every conceivable corner.
The dramatic landscapes and breathtaking views I’ve witnessed crossing the American West have stirred me to my core. The things I’ve seen, from the traumatic beginning of this adventure to all the bits of beauty bespeckling the days that followed, will remain with me ’til my final days.
I’m just glad I still have days ahead.
All of this is to say that the past few months have been a reminder of a great many things: the fragility of infrastructure, the fortune of having a family with open doors and open hearts, the hubris of perceived “climate havens,” the luxury of routine, and the power of music to ground oneself in the present moment.
This whole ordeal is soon to be in the rearview, and by the time my 601–700 piece drops, I will have established myself and my family in a whole new town with a whole new way.
Until then, the albums and their reviews will continue to tell the story.
The Star Count
Records 501–600
5-Star Albums: 7
4-Star Albums: 30
3-Star Albums: 45
2-Star Albums: 18
1-Star Albums: 0
Average Rating: 3.26
Great oogly moogly those stats are juicy! And confounding. And…mesmerizingly middling? I’m not sure what to tackle here first, so let’s establish the three most glaring takeaways from the latest celestial count:
- Only seven 5-star albums! My fewest so far; 12 was the previous low.
- Zero 1-star ratings! Fittingly, a first for these round-ups.
- Look at all those 3-star albums! Another record (previous high was 36) that really speaks to the modest nature of this batch.
The sum of these takeaways, and the truly memorable stat, is an average star rating of 3.26, my lowest mean since albums 1–100 and the lowest of all my 100-album subsets.
Man.
The universe summoned a wall of water, washed me up all the way across the country, and it didn’t even have the decency to adequately soundtrack my sorrow?
What a bitch you are, universe.
Totals After 600 Records
5-Star Albums: 97
4-Star Albums: 200
3-Star Albums: 190
2-Star Albums: 103
1-Star Albums: 10
Average Rating: 3.46
Very proud of my low 1-star album count to this point, and somewhat embarrassed I haven’t cracked 100 5-star albums after 600 chances.
Am I being too protective of the almighty ranking? Or am I holding true to my core musical beliefs by allowing only the most transcendent works to move me?
I’d say, “You be the judge,” but I’d ask you nicely to not be so judgemental during this trying time.
Let me covet my 5s in peace, will ya?
Favorite Genres
Jazz
Samba
Funk
Worst Genres
Grunge
Britpop
Country
No change whatsoever. NO CHANGE! I remain a jazz-samba-funk girly with little love in my heart for the grunge, britpop, and country sounds of the world. The lack of love is perhaps a bit overstated at this juncture though.
A total of just 11 grunge albums have garnered a lowly 2.4 average rating. That lack of love makes sense, but britpop has earned a 2.8 average over 17 albums, and 35 country albums have racked up nearly a 3.03 average. Not too shabby, if you ask this cowboy.
The next genres cruisin’ for a bruisin’? Pop (131 albums, 3.08 average) and singer-songwriter (60 albums, 3.15 average). Tread carefully, you two.
As a reminder: These statistical deep dives are made possible by the 1,001 Albums Dashboard created by Reddit user _Silent_Bob_ and are accessible to any project participant.
Jazz remains my runaway favorite genre with a 4.1 average rating across 39 albums, and samba continues to make the most of its few opportunities with just three albums (the minimum number needed to rank as a favorite genre) averaging an even 4-star rating.
Both samba and funk (26 albums, 3.96 average) had better watch their backs, however; hip-hop is making a strong push for one of the coveted top spots with a 3.93 average rating across 44 albums. I’d reckon there are a handful of 5s just waiting to be handed out for some major rap records that have yet to hit my generator.
Which is as good a segue as any to welcome the lone newcomer to my Favorite Artists…
Favorite Artists
Led Zeppelin
Miles Davis
David Bowie
U2
Jimi Hendrix
Bob Dylan
Radiohead
Joy Division
Can
The Smiths
OutKast
Funkadelic
*Kanye West*
Steely Dan
Wake up, Mr. West!
I’m a little reticent to even spotlight this new addition. Not that I carry any shame for loving Kanye’s music, I genuinely believe the man is — or more likely was — a true musical genius. All his albums through The Life of Pablo would get five stars from me.
Even after his solo projects took a dive, his production powered new classics like Pusha T’s Daytona, and his work on Kids See Ghosts, both as a rapper and producer, alongside Kid Cudi is perhaps the last great entry in the Kanye canon.
I had some time for ye, and there are a handful of quality tracks across Jesus Is King (Jesus, indeed) and Donda, but the rest of it has only served to dilute his discography and musical legacy.
And, of course, none of that holds a candle to what his words and actions are doing to his personal legacy. It’s just all so disappointing.
But, you know what? It’s no secret that many of our most cherished artists had a skeleton or two in their closets. Does that excuse their digressions? Of course not, but society has an incredible knack for conveniently forgetting the nasty bits, especially when the dancefloor starts heating up.
We know Kanye’s hits will live on. Will the hits to his public perception live on just the same? I’m not so sure.
Now I’m feeling all down and negative. Guess we should get the next section out of the way then…
Worst Artists
Nirvana
Green Day
Beatles
And since this club of losers hasn’t added any new members, let’s just remove ourselves from this negativity altogether and keep things moving.
Here are my one-line reviews for albums 501–600 of the 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Thanks for being here.
Kanye West // The College Dropout
“Kanye’s legendary opening statement instantly cemented himself as a genre-defining artist whose only real competition would be himself.”
5 Stars
Sex Pistols // Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols
“Top marks for cultural impact and importance, but the music doesn’t quite match the influence.”
4 Stars
The Chemical Brothers // Exit Planet Dust
“When it comes to big beat bangers, few beats bang bigger than those from The Chemical Bros.”
5 Stars
The Temptations // Cloud Nine
“A dash of psychedelia tempts these Motown soul staples toward a higher ground.”
4 Stars
Buffalo Springfield // Buffalo Springfield Again
“Feels like three solo albums stitched together, but instead of that being a detriment to this album’s effectiveness, it’s actually its greatest differentiator.”
4 Stars
Cypress Hill // Cypress Hill
“While I wouldn’t die on this Hill, the Cypress branches aren’t my favorite limbs of the hip-hop tree.”
3 Stars
Beatles // Rubber Soul
“Bouncy bouncy, not such a good time.”
2 Stars
Anita Baker // Rapture
“Some sections veer dangerously close to department store soundtrack territory, but under the right circumstances, a little Anita could definitely set this party off right.”
3 Stars
Violent Femmes // Violent Femmes
“An acoustic punk romp with busy bass lines, rich harmonies, and vocals that dance on the edge of grating charm.”
3 Stars
Creedence Clearwater Revival // Cosmo’s Factory
“I love the smell of Cosmo’s Factory in the morning.”
4 Stars
Justice // Cross
“Famous French electro maestros (the other ones) topple the dancefloor aristocracy with their microsampled manifesto of synth-driven anthems and operatic disco glitz.”
4 Stars
The Auteurs // New Wave
“Intriguing though mediocre, the album’s distinctly British indie-retro-glam identity predates Britpop, sidesteps nostalgia, and avoids sounding too of its time.”
3 Stars
Rufus Wainwright // Want Two
“Have two.”
2 Stars
Grateful Dead // American Beauty
“All I’m saying is that the bands I like to listen to ON drugs still sound good OFF drugs…”
2 Stars
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five // The Message
“A snapshot of its time — for better and for worse — The Message is delivered loud and clear for all those willing to hear it.”
4 Stars
Penguin Cafe Orchestra // Music From The Penguin Cafe
“I awoke from a dream where I visited The Penguin Cafe and desperately tried to fall back asleep.”
5 Stars
Koffi Olomide // Haut De Gamme/Koweït, Rive Gauche
“The only Congolese album on this list will likely elicit a smile if you’ve got a straw in something tropical while you listen.”
3 Stars
Billy Bragg // Talking With the Taxman About Poetry
“The humble Bragg folksily fuses personal and political, exploring matters of heart, mind, and society with his distinctive voice and songcraft.”
3 Stars
fIREHOSE // Fromohio
“Formed from the ashes of Minutemen, fIREHOSE shows promise but fails to rise anywhere near the heights of its predecessor despite retaining two-thirds of its jazz-punk DNA.”
3 Stars
Public Enemy // Fear Of A Black Planet
“Though the goosebumps this culturally critical album raises on my skin lack melanin, the heart and soul within are forever tuned in to the fearless frequency of Chuck D and the limitless legacy of Public Enemy.”
5 Stars
Billie Holiday // Lady In Satin
“Holiday’s weathered, vulnerable voice intertwined with lush orchestrations creates a haunting, emotionally resonant capstone to her illustrious career.”
4 Stars
FKA twigs // LP1
“Frequently Kinda Awesome: twigs’s production twirls, even when songs don’t fully bloom.”
3 Stars
Ozomatli // Street Signs
“Much of this doesn’t do much for me, but there’s enough stylistic variance, genre fusion, and global influence to keep things interesting.”
3 Stars
The Charlatans // Tellin’ Stories
“Despite their Madchester pedigree, The Charlatans fail to captivate with these stories, proving that seniority doesn’t always translate to superiority in the dynamic 90s UK rock scene.”
2 Stars
Ice Cube // AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
“Cube’s first solo effort is a furious declaration of West Coast independence made all the more memorable by its idiosyncratic East Coast production.”
4 Stars
Ali Farka Touré // Savane
“Enthralling West African blues elevated by Touré’s trance-inducing guitar work.”
3 Stars
Randy Newman // Sail Away
“Sail away to sleepy time slumber land.”
2 Stars
Pixies // Doolittle
“I would do little to dissuade someone from giving the best Pixies record five stars, so imagine my surprise when I walked away from my latest listen without that special five-star feeling.”
4 Stars
Sabu // Palo Congo
“Listening to this wild, visceral Cuban rumba while strolling the sterile aisles of a grocery store was a refreshingly dichotomous experience.”
4 Stars
Deerhunter // Halcyon Digest
“There’s a certain chrysalistic quality to this album that sticks with me, even though most of the actual songs do not.”
3 Stars
Stevie Wonder // Fulfillingness’ First Finale
“Brushing with his own first finale in a near-fatal crash, Wonder emerged from the wreckage with the introspective inspiration necessary for a fulfilling album worthy of its ambitious title.”
4 Stars
Kings of Leon // Only By The Night
“I gave this a whirl when it first came out — I won’t deny it — but nowadays it’ll take much more than night falling for me to return to the whirl well.”
2 Stars
Klaxons // Myths Of The Near Future
“Though these myths now sound more like the recent past, each track contains a melody, lick, or line worthy of space in the crowded mid-aughts canon of UK indie rock.”
4 Stars
Pink Floyd // The Dark Side Of The Moon
“You’ve heard it all, so here’s a story you haven’t: On May 13, 2023, I took too many edibles at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium before a 50th-anniversary audiovisual celebration of this capital-P perfect record, resulting in an overwhelmingly transcendent experience that quickened my pulse to alarming levels and nearly caused my heart to burst from my chest.”
5 Stars
Bobby Womack // The Poet
“If you think this album is inessential, wait until ‘If You Think You’re Lonely Now’ and your skepticism will be long gone.”
3 Stars
Miriam Makeba // Miriam Makeba
“A charming debut that brought Makeba’s distinctive South African voice to the global stage.”
3 Stars
Beatles // The White Album
“I’m trying to be softer, so I’ll simply use this space to state that this is my favorite person’s favorite Beatles album.”
2 Stars
King Crimson // In The Court Of The Crimson King
“If no one man should have all that power, how did the majestic Crimson King acquire these weapons of mass percussion?”
4 Stars
The Stranglers // Rattus Norvegicus
“The musical equivalent of a city rat, slick with slime, crawling from the gutter to leer at passing suits.”
4 Stars
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan // Devotional Songs
“A meditative, trance-like listening experience awaits all those willing to try on a different perspective.”
3 Stars
Deep Purple // Deep Purple In Rock
“Deep Purple undergoes metamorphosis, adding heft and depth to their sonic strata, forever setting their sound in stone.”
4 Stars
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band // Trout Mask Replica
“All you need to know going in is that this is one of David Lynch’s favorite albums.”
4 Stars
Air // Virgin Suicides
“Air’s score complements this film so well, but it loses some of its ethereal magic as a standalone listen.”
3 Stars
Iggy Pop // The Idiot
“Iggy and the artist formerly known as Ziggy construct a brave new world of gothic industry and stark, robotic grooves that pulse with dystopian decadence.”
5 Stars
Creedence Clearwater Revival // Green River
“Everything you’ve come to expect from the Berkeley bayou boys, nothing more, nothing less.”
3 Stars
Einstürzende Neubauten // Kollaps
“I’m not sure if it’s because I have German ancestry, anarchistic tendencies, or a few screws loose, but I found Kollaps to be one of the more fascinating listening experiences provided by this list.”
3 Stars
TV On The Radio // Dear Science
“On Dear Science, TV On The Radio continues to carve out their niche as the thinking person’s indie band, merging eclectic sounds with cerebral themes.”
4 Stars
Brian Wilson // Smile
“Wince.”
2 Stars
Aerosmith // Toys In The Attic
“These toys aren’t as embarrassing to play with as later models but they’re best kept in the attic either way.”
3 Stars
Buzzcocks // Another Music In A Different Kitchen
“Music in the kitchen hits different, and Buzzcocks music hits different no matter where you listen.”
4 Stars
Badly Drawn Boy // The Hour Of Bewilderbeast
“Though ‘The 40 Minutes of Bewilderbeast’ would have been more effective, I appreciate the boundless ambition inherent to an artist pouring everything they have into their debut, especially when it covers so much sonic ground.”
4 Stars
American Music Club // California
“We have Bruce Springsteen at home.”
2 Stars
Christine and the Queens // Chris
“Promiscuous production underpins lusty bilingual lyricism in this discotheque dalliance.”
3 Stars
Tori Amos // Little Earthquakes
“An undeniably declarative debut showcasing complete control of the artist’s worldview and considerable talents.”
3 Stars
The Kinks // Something Else By The Kinks
“The Kinks pack so much social commentary, character study, and eccentric whimsy into these 36 minutes of quintessentially English art pop; it’s Something Else, indeed.”
4 Stars
The Thrills // So Much For The City
“Pleasant though vapid, this band is more interested in referencing the Golden State than they are in living up to their namesake.”
3 Stars
Boards of Canada // Music Has The Right To Children
“Now we’re talking…aaand now we’re melting.”
5 Stars
The Rolling Stones // Let It Bleed
“Come for the opening and closing tracks you’ve heard too many times, stay for the penultimate track you’ve heard too few.”
4 Stars
Leonard Cohen // Songs From A Room
“The melancholic minstrel rides again.”
3 Stars
Rocket From The Crypt // Scream, Dracula, Scream
“I feel like I’m stuck in a shitty sports bar; all the kegs are kicked, they just ran out of mozzarella sticks, and the dude who drank all the beer and ate all the mozzarella sticks keeps loading up the TouchTunes with songs from this album.”
2 Stars
Dire Straits // Dire Straits
“Despite its relatively narrow sonic palette, the Dire Straits debut showcases enough intricate musicianship and effortless virtuosity to elicit, at the very least, sincere appreciation.”
3 Stars
System Of A Down // System Of A Down
“SOAD tops the nu metal pyramid with their unique Armenian-influenced political fury, but while I appreciate their distinct cultural identity and activism, the resulting music isn’t really for me.”
3 Stars
Tim Buckley // Greetings From L.A.
“From Los Angeles With Lust.”
3 Stars
Jack White // Blunderbuss
“The drab, muted blues of White’s cover spills over into the blues played in his songs, resulting in an album that, while technically proficient, leaves me feeling wonderless.”
3 Stars
Khaled // Kenza
“Khaled’s “Kenza” delivers solid raï-pop fusion with some genuinely catchy moments, even if it occasionally feels too polished for its own good.”
3 Stars
Robbie Williams // Life Thru A Lens
“Life appears rather, well, lifeless thru this vapid prescription.”
2 Stars
Slipknot // Slipknot
“Though the horror-show aesthetics might suggest otherwise, Slipknot’s debut reveals a band more interested in musical complexity than mere shock value.”
3 Stars
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band // Will The Circle Be Unbroken
“Down home country classics from the Nitty Gritty Ditty Committee.”
3 Stars
Billy Bragg & Wilco // Mermaid Avenue
“Old dust bowl ballads sprouting through contemporary cracks.”
3 Stars
Curtis Mayfield // There’s No Place Like America Today
“The sounds of Superfly all sobered up, trading street funk fantasies for stark American truths.”
4 Stars
Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence // Oar
“His nickname checks out.”
2 Stars
Sonic Youth // Dirty
“Sonic Youth’s ‘Dirty’ paradoxically polishes their sound while keeping their subversive spirit wonderfully unwashed.”
4 Stars
Pulp // This Is Hardcore
“No, it’s not.”
2 Stars
Spiritualized // Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
“A soaring space rock love letter to heartbreak and healing, orchestrated in zero gravity.”
4 Stars
Manic Street Preachers // The Holy Bible
“The Manic Street Preachers deliver their sermon on human depravity with all the subtlety of pyrotechnics at a funeral march.”
3 Stars
M.I.A. // Arular
“Like a politically charged sugar rush, these repetitive beats and rebel soundbites hit hard but fade fast.”
3 Stars
Sinead O’Connor // I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
“An achingly intimate ritual of raw confessions and spectral melodies.”
3 Stars
Beastie Boys // Ill Communication
“The Beasties dial back the samples to flex their musical muscles, letting punk and jazz influences color their signature hip-hop backdrop in a communication that comes through loud, clear, and undeniably ill.”
4 Stars
The Smashing Pumpkins // Siamese Dream
“Despite the killer guitar and drum work, this album is too long and my patience for Corgan’s nasally wailing is too short.”
3 Stars
The Pretty Things // S.F. Sorrow
“Despite the killer guitar and drum work, this album is too long and my patience for Corgan’s nasally wailing is too short.”
3 Stars
The Who // My Generation
“Whether you’re a Boomer or an Alpha, the raucous rhythms and timeless themes of The Who’s debut prove these tunes don’t need to be of your generation to be your anthem.”
4 Stars
Mariah Carey // Butterfly
“The album’s sometimes somnolent production occasionally holds things down, but Mariah’s generational voice lifts it all up, adding a grace that elevates the overall experience.”
3 Stars
Dirty Projectors // Bitte Orca
“Bitte shitte, innit?”
2 Stars
Terence Trent D’Arby // Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby
“Introducing The Hard Truth According To Blake Matson Becker: This Shit Sucks, Terence.”
2 Stars
James Taylor // Sweet Baby James
“Short and sweet, Baby James is not without his folksy charms, though his sleepy melodies may put you in a tranquil daze.”
3 Stars
Gene Clark // No Other
“How many other albums on this list can say they successfully synthesize the trappings of six different genre classifications yet still maintain such a cohesive artistic vision?”
4 Stars
Underworld // Second Toughest In The Infants
“A driving dose of hypnotic electronica where trance-like beats and mumbled poetry create something both danceable and deeply strange.”
4 Stars
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds // Henry’s Dream
“Cave is at his most incisive and convictive here, crafting caustic narratives that linger like half-remembered dreams.”
4 Stars
Michael Jackson // Off The Wall
“I rock with the maestro Quincy and the many musicians he employs on this album, but I do not rock with the man on its cover.”
3 Stars
The Coral // The Coral
“A debut that throws everything at the wall with youthful abandon, but despite its creative ambition, nothing quite sticks.”
3 Stars
Frank Sinatra // Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
“For all his sartorial splendor, Ol’ Blue Eyes finds himself a touch overdressed for Jobim’s breezy yet balmy Brazilian cocktail hour.”
3 Stars
Fishbone // Truth And Soul
“Truthfully — maybe not so soulfully — just a silly grab bag of styles and influences that’s as groovy as it is goofy.”
3 Stars
Muddy Waters // Hard Again
“Once again, despite the simplicity and repetition inherent to the blues, Muddy makes it hard to deny his monumental influence on guitar-based music.”
3 Stars
Devendra Banhart // Rejoicing In The Hands
“Rejoicing in the ears when this record finally ended.”
2 Stars
The Associates // Sulk
“Fallow, fruitless, not very fun.”
2 Stars
The Doors // The Doors
“I needed to stoke the flames here and there between the eternal fire-starters, but when this debut album burns, it leaves an indelible mark.”
4 Stars
Soft Machine // Third
“A cerebral jazz-fusion odyssey that intrigues more than it entrances.”
3 Stars
Slayer // Reign In Blood
“I prefer my metal to be less reined in.”
3 Stars
Tim Buckley // Happy Sad
“Buckley bridges the gap between his earlier folk period and later avant-garde work, finding a pleasant middle ground where his trademark vocal elongations and jazz improvisations can run free.”
3 Stars
Blue Cheer // Vincebus Eruptum
“A thunderous, groundbreaking prototype of heavy metal that roars with primitive power, even if it sounds quaint compared to the genre’s later sonic sophistication.”
3 Stars
And there you have it.
Altogether, a rather strange, middle-of-the-road collection of 100 albums. Two of my first three records in this group received five stars, and then just five more followed, with the last one taking place at record #557.
From that point on, there were no five-stars ratings and only ten 4-star ratings. The rest were 2s and 3s.
Years down the line, when I look back at the totality of this project and what it meant to me, I believe this batch of albums will stick out to me more than most. Not because the albums were so exemplary or so subpar, but because this particular group coincided with one of the most turbulent, transformative times my life’s yet seen.
There’s something to be said for that.
And with that, I’ll let the 500s float away like so much else this year.
Time for some closing remarks as we put 2024 to bed.
I started this journey in March 2023, making 2024 the first full year of 1,001 participation. Much like last year, where Minutemen and David Bowie cracked my Spotify Wrapped top artists as a result of the project, Milton Nascimento and Wire entered my top five on the backs of their infinitely relistenable five-star albums: Clube da Esquina and Pink Flag.
I’m beginning to see a trend developing. For each year I take part in the 1,001 experience, I will likely have at least two generated artists crack my top five.
U2 will inevitably place within the top three as my perpetually favorite band, and a modern favorite artist/band or two with new releases that I’ve had on repeat will round out the list of favorites.
Mk.gee’s Two Star & The Dream Police is my album of the year (as evidenced by four of its songs placing in my year’s top five), and SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE’S YOU’LL HAVE TO LOSE SOMETHING continued to prove the eclectic collective’s sonic singularity.
Speaking of albums that moved me in the past calendar year, here are my 24 favorites from the year 2024:
Adrianne Lenker // Bright Future
Amen Dunes // Death Jokes
Bullion // Affection
Charli XCX // BRAT
Clairo // Charm
Christopher Owens // I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair
Dehd // Poetry
Denzel Curry // King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2
DIIV // Frog In Boiling Water
Geordie Greep // The New Sound
Helado Negro // PHASOR
JPEGMAFIA // I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU
Kendrick Lamar // GNX
Magdalena Bay // Imaginal Disk
Mannequin Pussy // I Got Heaven
MJ Lenderman // Manning Fireworks
Mk.gee // Two Star & The Dream Police
Mount Kimbie // The Sunset Violent
Omni // Souvenir
R. Missing // Knife Shook Your Hand
ScHoolboy Q // BLUE LIPS
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE // YOU’LL HAVE TO LOSE SOMETHING
St. Vincent // All Born Screaming
Vegyn // The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions
In addition to charting my favorite albums, I make sure to trap in amber my favorite tracks from each year through two annual playlists wrapping up my favorite 200 songs (100 from each half).
I’ve been keeping up with this practice since 2020. Doing so helps me stay plugged into the music of today, while also creating musical time capsules that reconnect me to years gone by.
You can follow those playlists (and my Spotify profile) with the links below:
Blake’s // 2024 // Beats (Pt. 1)
Blake’s // 2024 // Beats (Pt. 2)
If you’d indulge me once more, I also recently put the finishing touches on a lovingly sequenced playlist designed to help you get the most out of your headphones with 20 of my favorite pieces of ear candy.
Take those cans for a test drive with the following link:
That’s all I got, faithful. Follow me on Instagram for daily album reviews, pictures of my cats, pies, and many life updates to come.
Until next time, happy listening, and Happy New Year!
