The Top 50 Albums of 2024: Part Six (The Top Ten)

Here are my ten favourite records of the year.

Welcome to the final part of The Perfect Prescription’s Top 50 Albums of 2024 series.

It’s been a journey. I’ve written about sixty records because apparently fifty wasn’t enough. Lessons have been learned along the way and perhaps a more modest approach will be the hallmark of my 2025 end-of-year coverage. Then again, probably not. I’ve had fun sharing my picks and if some of you have discovered a couple of new favourites then my work here has been worthwhile.

Once again, I want to be clear: this isn’t an attempt at an objective top ten. These are my favourites. The records I couldn’t stop playing. The sounds I suspect will accompany me as I stumble deeper into middle age. I hope you enjoy reading about them.

This (sort of) concludes my end-of-year coverage. I have a few genre-specific playlists planned, but nothing this ambitious and absolutely no more ranked lists. I promise.

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Explore The Top 50 Albums of 2024 Series

[Honourable Mentions] [#50 to #41] [#40 to #31] [#30 to #21] [#20 to #11] [#10 to #1]

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10. Mount Kimbie
“The Sunset Violent”
(Warp)

I never paid attention to Mount Kimbie’s early post-dubstep pioneer phase, but I’m certainly on board with this new direction. The Sunset Violent is a lush, meditative take on post-rock, with a subtle electronic undercurrent. Delightful.

9. Heems and Lapgan
“LAFANDAR”
(Veena Sounds / Mass Appeal India)

Heems released two superb records this year, but my personal favourite has to be LAFANDAR. A wonderful collaboration with Lapgan, it sees the former Das Racist MC outlining his impressive credentials, both as an MC and as a uniquely humourous lyricist. Who else could drop a reference to goat biryani one minute and namedrop Arsenal’s talismanic right winger Bukayo Saka the next? Lapgan’s inspired use of nostalgic South Asian samples is also key to LAFANDAR’s success and should not be overlooked.

8. Christopher Owens
“I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair”
(True Panther Records)

Do You Need A Friend might be the best song Christopher Owens has ever written. He has always had a knack for six or seven-minute epics, with songs like Hellhole Ratrace and Vomit standing out in the Girls’ discography. But this is even bigger, bolder and weightier than those classics, its oppressive guitars, soaring gospel backing vocals (previously seen on “Vomit”), and brutal closing refrain of “If you really wanna know, I’m barely making it through the days” announcing the arrival of a true song of the year contender. An unexpected and surprisingly powerful Roxette reference seals the triumph.

7. The Umbrellas
“Fairweather Friend”
(Slumberland)

Sure, the audible influence of genre touchstones like Beat Happening, The Pastels, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart might make it easy to dismiss on a superficial listen, but is it fair to expect bands to carve out new sonic terrain in such an established and beloved genre? The originality comes in the sheer songcraft of The Umbrellas; it’s not what they sound like, but how they fuse these sounds together. The first minute of the sublime “When You Find Out” perfectly encapsulates what I love about Fairweather Friend; this is an idea developed to its maximum potential. The execution is near-perfect. [This is an excerpt from my original review]

6. Horse Jumper of Love
“Disaster Trick”
(Run For Cover)

Horse Jumper of Love’s unique brand of slow-core and shoegaze (slowgaze?) is an exercise in tender songwriting, sludgy guitars, and sparse percussion. “Snow Angel” and “Word” sound like Phil Elverum covering Slint; “Today’s Iconoclast” is like Murray Street-era Sonic Youth on downers. Disaster Trick was my slow-burn album of the year — a record I brushed aside initially, only to fall hard for it as the dark nights set in. The Boston band’s magical ability to bend time to their will deserves a mention, too — “Gates of Heaven” is genuinely epic, yet somehow only 2:21 long. How do they even do that?

5. MJ Lenderman
“Manning Fireworks”
(Anti- / Epitaph)

What a year it’s been for MJ Lenderman. The young guitarist from Asheville earned praise for his work on Waxahatchee’s brilliant Tiger’s Blood, before stealing the limelight for himself with Manning Fireworks, his strongest solo record to date. At times, some of the adulation heaped upon Lenderman’s shoulders became a little too much to bear, with his slack take on country rock proving to be catnip for a certain kind of ‘real music’ bore. Thankfully, even embarrassing music critic fanboys couldn’t dull the impact of standouts like “Wristwatch”, “She’s Leaving You”, and “Joker’s Lips”. I still prefer Lenderman’s work in Wednesday, but he is undeniably emerging as a great songwriter in his own right.

4. Chime School
“The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel”
(Slumberland)

The second Slumberland record to make my top ten, Chime School’s The Boy Who Ran The Paisley Hotel is a slice of pure jangle pop heaven. Earworms like “Wandering Song” and “Give Your Heart Away” confirm Andy Pastalaniec’s emergence as one of the scene’s finest songwriters, a true student of (chiefly British) indie pop music with his own distinctive voice. Fans of the Field Mice, Teenage Fanclub, and even prime Oasis (seriously, listen to “Words You Say”) will find lots to love here.

3. Mannequin Pussy
“I Got Heaven”
(Epitaph)

For a long time, I Got Heaven seemed destined to be my album of the year. I played this to death in spring and early summer and was blown away by the band’s raucous performance at Primavera Barcelona. I came for the shoegaze-tinged 90s grunge/alt rock (“Sometimes”, “Nothing Like”) moments, but stayed for the hardcore numbers (“OK? OK! OK? OK!”, “Of Her”).

2. Cindy Lee
“Diamond Jubilee”
(Realistik Studios)

Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee has stormed up my list since I finally listened to it last month. Sometimes critical acclaim actually seems to put me off a record. I dig my heels in for no logical reason, until I crack and usually end up eating my words. Well, Diamond Jubilee is everything all the smart people with good taste have said it is, and more. It’s late-period Velvet Underground playing undiscovered girl group classics for two hours straight. I love everything about this record, especially that it has succeeded while simultaneously sticking two fingers up at Spotify, Apple Music, and all the other streaming services.

1. Jessica Pratt
“Here in the Pitch”
(Mexican Summer)

Jessica Pratt’s masterful fourth album Here in the Pitch is my favourite release of 2024 — and perhaps the decade. But isn’t it old-fashioned? Doesn’t it sound like a ghostly reimagining of Pet Sounds? A good friend described it as “the music they play while you’re getting a massage.”

I don’t have a problem with these observations, but I certainly experience something more profound when I listen to Here in the Pitch. It is a record of evolution and reinvention, the sound of a singular talent operating at her artistic peak, and a worthy album of the year.

Pratt’s delicate, sparsely orchestrated compositions radiate a beautiful warmth that envelopes her fragile melodies and amplifies their impact. Even the more expansive productions, such as the magical opener “Life Is”, allow sufficient space for sentiments to percolate alongside sounds. Indeed, all of the arrangements on Here in the Pitch are exquisitely judged exercises in restraint. Nothing is superfluous.

When I listen to this wonderful record, time slows down, external stresses dissipate, and for 31 sublime minutes, everything feels better. So maybe my critical friend wasn’t too far off? Here in the Pitch is in many ways just like a massage — not for our aching lumbar regions, but for the soul.

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All of the selections so far (except Cindy Lee) have been added to my Top 50 Albums Spotify playlist.

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