AM Gold 2024

I would never be so bold as to declare a list of the best albums of a given year. More music now comes out in a day than used to get released in a full year; with a field that large, it’s an act of hubris to speak with any confidence about objective standings and impartial rankings.

Instead, this is just a list of ~~100~~ 101 albums that made their way to The AM in 2024 that are worth a listen if you enjoy the show’s mix of off-beat easy listening. Hosting the show is a great way to force myself to listen to as much new music as I can—but it also means I tend to listen for a particular mood, namely songs that sound good as you’re waking up on a Monday morning. That means this list gravitates heavily towards that vibe, so if you’re looking for abrasive and energetic tracks, this list isn’t that, by and large.

For the first time in many a year, the albums aren’t listed alphabetically—it’s an honest-to-goodness countdown. There are so many lists out there that it felt unfair to throw another 100 albums at you without at least some effort to help you pick where to put your attention. That said, I still fully believe music isn’t a competition and this ranking should be taken with a grain of salt. Ask me tomorrow and I might end up with a very different order; the fine gradations are arbitrary, and even the broad sweeps are a matter of mood as much as anything.

Skim through it in order from #100-#1* or just throw the playlist below on shuffle—but do make a point of checking these albums out. And an honorable mention goes to The Cure’s three-hour concert video of Songs of a Lost World and classic songs; the album is solid, but I think it works significantly better in a live format, and kudos to them for releasing such an epic performance free on YouTube.

*The Spotify playlist is missing about five tracks that weren’t in their system. All albums below link to the relevant Bandcamp page if it was available, or to Spotify if not.

100. Tomo Katsurada – Dream of the Egg

Recommended if you like (RIYL): Kikagaku Moyo, homemade psychedelia, eggs

99. Hélène Vogelsinger – Ethereal Dissolution

RIYL: Cascading modular synths, unexpected harmonies, and overwhelming sonic textures

98. Trees Speak – TimeFold

RIYL: Tangerine dreams and concise kosmische explorations

97. The Sorcerers – I Too Am a Stranger

RIYL: Upbeat Ethiojazz by way of northern England

96. Loula Yorke – speak, thou vast and venerable head

RIYL: Droning downtempo compositions, atmospheric field recordings

95. Ivan the Tolerable – Time is a Grave

RIYL: Haunted home-made psych-jazz

94. Drum & Lace – Onda

RIYL: Hypnotic ambient beats, winter landscapes

93. Church Chords – elvis, he was Schlager

RIYL: Experimental pop for weirdos and jazz heads

92. Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer – The Closest Thing to Silence

RIYL: Inner journies and meditative moods

91. Lynn Avery, Cole Poulice – Phantasy & Reality

RIYL: Patient, spacious ambient jazz

90. Osmanthus – Between Seasons

RIYL: Intermingling neo-classical and experimental electronic impulses

89. Tristan De Liege – Fields

RIYL: Intricate but hazy downtempo electronics

88. Temporal Waves – Temporal Waves

RIYL: Tabla, synthwave, psychedelia, and grandeur

87. Group Listening – Walks

RIYL: Long walks through the countryside

86. Hollie Kenniff – For Forever

RIYL: Patient, melodic ambient sounds, slow builds, reverb

85. Warrington Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Your Community Hub

RIYL: Municipal planning, analog synths, ridiculous band names, ’70s sci-fi

84. Seahawks – Time Enough for Love

RIYL: New age soundscapes, gentle pulsing beats

83. Clinic Stars – Only Hinting

RIYL: The gauzest of dream-pop sounds

82. Mark McGuire – Anhedonia

RIYL: Emeralds (the band), looping guitar lines

81. Charbonneau / Amato – Enflammer le désert (OST)

RIYL: Melodic synths and vast expanses

80. The Hologram People – Isola Dei Morti Viventi

RIYL: Italian horror soundtracks, library grooves

79. Jane Weaver – Love in Constant Spectacle

RIYL: World-weary psych pop that still manages to shimmer

78. Dean McPhee – Astral Gold

RIYL: Acoustic explorations of distant galaxies

77. Miyauchi Yuri – Beta 2

RIYL: Blissfully glitchy Japanese electronics

76. p:ano – ba ba ba

RIYL: Nick Krgovich, Kellarisa, contemplative indie pop

75. Yasmin Williams – Acadia

RIYL: Joyfully melodic fingerpicked guitar

74. J ahari Massamba Unit – YHWH is LOVE

RIYL: Trippy instrumentals, Karriem Riggins, Madlib

73. Bananagun – Why is the Colour of the Sky

RIYL: Sun-baked (and otherwise-baked) psychedelia

72. Circles Around the Sun, Mikaela Davis – After Sunrise

RIYL: Harps, disco, basking in the afterglow

71. Jilk – Soft in Shape and Meaning

RIYL: Post-rock improvizations and experimental collectives

70. Retep Folo & Dorothy Moskowitz – The Afterlife Album

RIYL: Outsider electronics, ’60s psychedelia, hauntology more broadly, great cover art

69. Hawksmoor – Oneironautics

RIYL: German art-rock from decades past, Robert Fripp, feeling a little pretentious

68. Dissolve in Sepia – Spaciousness

RIYL: Jazzy genre-fluid downtempo compositions

67. Ana Butterss – Mighty Vertebrate

RIYL: Groove-based experimental music, Jeff Parker, the future of jazz

66. Molly Lewis – On the Lips

RIYL: Whistling, easy listening, exotica, more whistling

65. SHOLTO – Letting Go of Forever

RIYL: 60’s library grooves, ’70s movie soundtracks, 2000s chillout music

64. Big Brave – A Chaos of Flowers

RIYL: Folk music written by thunderclouds

63. Misha Panfilov – Frutaria Electrónica

RIYL: The very cheesiest synth sounds, getting lost in whorls and eddies of melody

62. Polypores – Unlimited Lives

RIYL: Self-contained sonic universes coaxed from modular synths

61. Beak> – >>>>

RIYL: Haunted folk, the gentler side of krautrock, Portishead, pervasive eerieness

60. Fourtet – Three

RIYL: Anything Keiran Hebden has done in the last 20 years

59. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead

RIYL: Slow builds, catharsis, walls of noise

58. Daisy Rickman – Howl

RIYL: Spooky psych-folk, Nico, drones and jangles

57. Einstürzende Neubauten – Rampen (apm: alien pop music)

RIYL: Subtle melodies, balancing abrasion and beauty, pop music made by aliens

56. Jon Hopkins – RITUAL

RIYL: Patience, subtlety, guided journies through altered states

55. Von Spar, Eiko Ishibashi – Album I

RIYL: Contemporary Japanese movie soundtracks, German art-rock, experimental sounds

54. Badbadnotgood – Mid:Spiral

RIYL: Instrumental jazz, neo-soul, soundtrack jazz, hearing people mellow out a bit

53. Erki Pärnoja – Rumba

RIYL: Playful Estonian instrumentals, tasteful little guitar licks, avoiding being too flashy

52. Unessential Oils – Unessential Oils

RIYL: Plants & Animals, Tropicalia, Canadian indie pop

51. Bibi Club – Feu de garde

RIYL: Jangling guitars, bilingual vocals, spritely energy

50. Dummy – Free Energy

RIYL: Transient random noise bursts, drone-pop

49. Jon McKiel – Hex

RIYL: East Coast Canadian indie-pop experimentalism

48. Andre Ethier – Cold Spaghetti

RIYL: Subdued, observational singer-songwriters

47. Various Artists – TRANSA

RIYL: An expansive and affirmational exploration of transition

46. maya ongaku – Electronic Phantoms

RIYL: The softer side of Japanese psychedelia

45. Luka Kuplowsky – How Can I Possibly Sleep When There Is Music?

RIYL: Poetry, Sandro Perri, Bohemianism, revelling in beauty but in a fairly chill way

44. Psychic Temple – Doggie Paddlin’ Thru the Cosmic Conscousness

RIYL: The most cosmic of cosmic American music, subdued space-country jams

43. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble – Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit

RIYL: 50-year-old jazz collectives trying cello, viola, and violin on for size

42. Nala Sinephro – Endlessness

RIYL: Dissolving the boundaries between jazz, neo-classical, ambient, and electronic

41. BASIC – This Is BASIC

RIYL: The Durutti Column, Chris Forsyth, sideways approaches to art-rock instrumentals

40. Peel Dream Magazine – Rose Main Reading Room

RIYL: Breezy, unpretentious bedroom pop

39. Laurent Dury – Organic Minimalism

RIYL: TV soundtracks, library music, contemporary classical sounds

38. Scions – To Cry Out in the Wilderness

RIYL: Experimental, affirmational, confrontational art-rock

37. OHMA – On Loving Earth

RIYL: Open-hearted instrumental collaborations, acoustic guitar and flute

36. Jennifer Castle – Camelot

RIYL: ’70s folk, alt-country, impeccable songwriting

35. Earthen Sea – Recollection

RIYL: A downbeat, dubby, tribute to ECM jazz

34. The Smile – Cutouts

RIYL: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner just living in the moment

33. Dialect – Atlas of Green

RIYL: Sonic sculptures and electroacoustic experiments

32. Project Gemini – Colours & Light

RIYL: Funky psychedelia, deep soundtrack grooves, haunted forests

31. Bernardino Femminielli – Opéra Bouffe

RIYL: Serge Gainsbourg, melodrama, indulgence

30. Memorials – Memorial Waterslides

RIYL: Electrolane, Wire, art-rock excellence

29. Jessica Pratt – Here In the Pitch

RIYL: “spectral ’60s pop, Hollywood psychedelia and bossa nova” (because the bio says it best)

28. Eric Chenaux Trio – Delights of My Life

RIYL: Lost jazz standards flipped inside out

27. Zachary Gray – Suburbia EP

RIYL: East-coast IDM, headphone beats, wistfulness in musical form

26. Bilal Nasser – How Can We Say Nothing

RIYL: Post-classical guitar, shoegaze, tension, beauty and catharsis

25. Ayal Senior – Ora

RIYL: Psych-folk instrumentals, desert soundscapes, tasteful prog overtones

24. Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown

RIYL: Portishead without the trip-hop, melancholy folk, realizing you’re aging and should probably accept it

23. Elori Saxl – Earth Focus OST

RIYL: PBS, high-concept jazz, erasing the lines between nature and architecture

22. The Soundcarriers – Through Other Reflections

RIYL: Impeccable throwback psych-pop, trippy harmonies, bands that deserve more attention

21. Nick Schofield – Ambient Ensemble

RIYL: Ambient ensembles, electroacoustic collaborations, feeling at peace with your surroundings

20. Buildings and Food – Echo the Field

RIYL: Hope, warmth, and comfort conveyed through buzzing synths and ASMR beats

19. Geotic – The Anchorite

RIYL: Baths, Bibio, tape hiss, surprising moments of distorted bliss

18. Shabaka – Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace

RIYL: Beauty, grace, ambient jazz, woodwinds, Moses Sumney, Laraaji, breathing

17. Fuubutsushi – Meridians

RIYL: Subtle, meditative jazz and post-rock with the occassional melodromatic flourish

16. Sam Wilson – Wintertides

RIYL: Intricate instrumental folk-jazz, an unusual blend of invention and accessibility

15.5. Loving – Any Light

(.5 because I missed this on the initial draft and that’s unforgiveable)

RIYL: Classic AM radio, Jungian psychology, pitch-perfect folk-rock

15. Organic Pulse Ensemble – Zither Suite

RIYL: Can’t think of anything clever because I don’t understand how it’s possible for one musician to singlehandly make a jazz album that feels this multifaceted

14. ROY – Spoons for the World

RIYL: Scott Walker, Lee Hazlewood, deep voices singing cosmic country

13. Andrew Wasylyk, Tommy Perman – Ash Grey and the Gull Glides On

RIYL: Perfect pairings, jazz-folk-electronic fusions, subtle details, chanted vocals, small doses of Arab Strap

12. Tomin – A Willed and Conscious Balance

RIYL: The International Anthem version of large-ensemble jazz, featuring strings and horns aplenty

11. Lau Ro – Cabana

RIYL: Wax Machine, MPB, soft psychedelia, instrospection