Thomas Blake

David Allred understands that negative emotions are defined by their positive flipsides and vice versa, and his music reflects that understanding. The pieces on ‘The Beautiful World’ are emotionally complex but admirably light of touch…its quiet power is nothing short of amazing.

While the latest in the Ceremonial County Series is entirely wordless, both convey striking and very different stories: Bridget Hayden’s mythic and haunting, Daniel Weaver’s inevitable and personal. Rarely can so much have been said, and so eloquently, in half an hour of instrumental music.

Compter Les Dents strengthens the notion that Tartine de Clous’ music is something shared, something that exists in the world with lasting meaning. It’s so refreshing to hear music that is not overtly performative and not intended primarily as a product to be consumed.

Everything The Memory Band do, however varied, is done to a high level. Their music is always interesting, often strange, and usually beautiful, and A Common Treasury is the perfect place to hear it.

Featuring four of America’s most potent musicians, all performing at the top of their game, Jeff Parker’s ‘The Way Out of Easy’ might just be the best jazz album of 2024. Another win for the ever-reliable Chicago label International Anthem.

The true genius of Ross Ainslie’s ‘Pool’ lies in how it reconciles its stylistically varied individual tracks with an overall mood that remains consistent—and consistently engaging, something he pulls off with panache, originality, and an often breathtaking range of musical invention.

Brigid Mae Power’s ‘Songs for You’ is a timeless record filled with brilliant moments that will melt the heart of even the most cynically covers-album-averse listener.

Yosef Gutman & Peter Broderick didn’t take long to build up an enviable musical rapport, and River of Eden is an album that exudes a quiet confidence, a calm focal point at the centre of a stormy world.

Thomas Blake shares his Top 10 albums of 2024, including releases from Daisy Rickman, Milkweed, Elijah Minnelli, Jacken Elswyth, Isik Kural, Laura J Martin, Shovel Dance Collective, Myriam Gendron, Tucker Zimmerman, Landless and Folklore Tapes Ceremonial Counties Series.

In terms of lyrical content and musical atmosphere, To Warm the Winter Hearth is a winter (rather than a Christmas) album. Along with Windborne’s almost supernatural grasp of harmony singing, this an impressive, evocative work of art.

With ‘Music for Space Age Shopping’, David A. Jaycock has achieved something quietly spectacular: an album rooted in highly specific locales and timeframes which nonetheless allows you to drift into nostalgia or to imagine better possible futures.

The closing instrumental on Adam Finchler’s ‘The Room’ somehow manages to sound like Arthur Russell in a cocktail shaker. It puts a truly weird seal on what is already one of the most unusual, distinctive and delightful albums of the year.