Weekend Plans Post: One Single Good Song in 2024
One of those guys who changes his handle all the time on Twitter tweeted out: “if someone can show me one good song from 2024 i’ll give you a million dollars“.
Now, let me say this right now: I don’t think that he was making a legitimate offer as much as complaining about stuff like “being old” and “there not being an MTV anymore” and “the pop music stations are just playing animal noises” with a small hint of “even the classic rock stations only play the same 400 songs and they don’t even play Zeppelin anymore”.
I assume anyway.
Maybe I’m projecting.
In any case, I only knew of *ONE* song in 2024 that was… well, I wouldn’t call it “good” as much as I’d say “it got stuck in my head”. The first time I heard it, I laughed and said that it was the dumbest song I’ve heard since a co-worker introduced me to the music of Yung Gravy.
Content warning: it’s a hyperpop song that relies heavily on the “B” word.
See? It’s stupid. But you may find yourself singing it to yourself when you’re in the kitchen making a grilled cheese.
Maybe I’m projecting again.
As for serious songs, I didn’t really encounter any until earlier this week when this one was playing on the Public Radio station and as soon as it ended, I called Maribou and asked her to go to the CPR webpage and please please please look up what song was playing 3 minutes ago.
I mean, holy cow the vocals were smooth and the beat got behind my brain and the base groove went into my cerebellum and I was afraid that I’d never learn the name of the song and so I got on the phone immediately.
Everything Is Recorded – Losing You (feat. Sampha, Laura Groves, Jah Wobble & Yazz Ahmed)
Even now, I listened to that song three times as I wrote this post and, dang… that is a *TIGHT* song.
So I wanted you guys to hear it. Well, and the other one too, but that’s more of a dumb song that will get stuck in your head. The second one is the one to seriously listen to.
This weekend is two things: A gaming weekend (Chicken Wings and D&D) and a THREE DAY WEEKEND! So I’ll be able to squeeze in a little bit of vacation that might feel a little bit like the gulf of days off that I enjoyed a few short weeks ago. Oh, and Costco. We’re out of paper towels.
So… what’s on your docket?
My favorite song of 2024 was “Friend Of A Friend” by The Smile (Thom York, Jonny Greenwood, Tom Skinner)Report
While it is debatable about best or favorite song of the year was, the most impactful and “biggest” song of the year – and it wasn’t remotely close – was Kendrick Lamar ‘Not Like Us’ which has Universal Music group embroiled in lawsuit against one of their own distributed artist, an international incident between the US and Canada, single-handily destroyed the public perception and branding of one of the biggest music stars of the last decade in Drake, and got Kendrick the Super Bowl gig.Report
I listened to about 30 seconds of it and I’m pretty sure that there aren’t 10 seconds of it that could be played during the halftime show.Report
These days they might as well have a Metallica / Judas Priest halftime show. Actually that would rule, I want that for real now.Report
“Rob, we will allow you to play the riff from Raining Blood, once. That’s it.”Report
it would be amusing to try and sell the two bands as progressive (because of the former’s strong support for creators’ rights in the face of corporate arrogation and the latter’s public stance on queer positivity.)Report
They’re oldies.
They’re the equivalent of the Beach Boys in the 1980s.
I mean, no politics.Report
Hey, the Rolling Stones did the Super Bowl in 2005!
And besides, Metallica was in Stranger Things (twice!)Report
What’s more American than accusing a Canadian of foul deeds, and the Super Bowl is nothing if not a celebration of American excellence…Report
“Jaybird, what song are you thinking about doing for Karaoke night?”
“Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’, why?”Report
Weekend plans are sticking close to home because (a) the polar vortex is going to make it cold and possibly icy and (b) I’m just worn out from the first week of classes. More so than normal because my building is (supposed to be: no workers have shown up yet) under renovation and we can’t use any of the classrooms, so we are exiled to different buildings on campus – so I am using unfamiliar rooms with unfamiliar tech, in departments that are more or less welcoming to a bunch of STEM weirdos showing up and asking about things like “can we change the tables from “seminar arrangement” to “rows”?
Also it’s a lot more flights of stairs* than I am used to, and yes, my knee still gripes me. I tell myself all the stairs will make the muscles stronger and I suspect that’s true, but some days it hurts to go down the stairs after class to get back to my car. I’m going on one year since the injury – the cartilage damage will always be there unless I do surgery BUT I’ve had enough people tell me to persist with the PT because that may be enough, and it seems to be most days
(* Yes there are elevators but they’re very old and shaky and the department chair of one of the departments in one of the building has openly said he does not “trust” the elevator, so I continue to take the stairs, since I remember getting stuck in an elevator in the library when I was in college….)Report
That sucks about the knee… will you have to rearrange the rooms each time you use them?
Maribou and I both prefer different showerhead settings. So the first thing either of us does when we get in the shower is change it back to the right way.
Will it be a semester of that?Report
Fortunately, I think it’s only Biology people using that room, and they all seem to agree with me on the desk arrangement; they are still in rows today after a student helped me make BETTER rows on Wednesday.
Actually, ironically, the stairs DO seem to be making my knee stronger, or at least more tolerant of going up and down stairs, though after two hours of stalking back and forth in front of the class (I have to walk to be able to think), it’s not REAL happy to go down a flight of stairs. So far I haven’t had to deal with wet stairs but I’m apprehensive in case we get snow or heavy rain; the stairs are some kind of weird composite concrete that looks like polished stone and I bet they can be slippery
though at least this afternoon when I came back to my office there was a “Construction being carried out by XYZ contractors” sign up now, so I hope that means work starts soonReport
I’ve been taking the stairs up to my 17th-floor office for a couple of weeks. It’s much tougher than I expected!
I usually run up stairs, which works fine for up to five flights or so, but beyond that I just hit a wall and have to start walking. After about ten flights, even the walking is tough.Report
Back of the envelope, and making some assumptions — eg, that you’re doing that in 15 minutes — says your average power output is 360 watts. From the internet, stair racers train at an output of about 270 watts, although for longer periods.Report
That doesn’t sound right. For one, it only takes me 5-6 minutes. One minute per flight would be extremely slow. 85 kg * 9.8 m/s^2 * 5m/floor * 16 floors = 62.5 kJ. At 360 seconds, that’s about 170 watts.Report
When Donald Trump tells us that the weekend crowds in DC were the biggest ever, anywhere, in the history of the world… it will be (at least partly) because my eldest daughter is getting married in DC. I’m trying to work an inauguration joke into my toast, but no luck so far; best I can do is a bad pun.
We’re all thrilled to be tooling around DC looking for places to stay, park, and dine inauguration weekend; DC, which in the most sedate and off-peak hours, I’d charitably describe as ‘barely operational’. There are also rumors of snow. Everything will be fine.
At least the wine will be good as we’re technically licensed for a day as a vendor, so I could work my wine connections and hand-pick the wines and pay discounted retail prices rather than inflated restaurant/caterer prices. There’s even a special case of the good stuff for sharing.Report
“This wedding isn’t a small deal. It’s a big deal. It’s the best deal in the history of deals.”
I mean, no politics.Report
It has been as messy around here as I can remember in years, especially with the temps staying so low. Over Thursday night my driveway developed a massive crack, which I assume is related to the cold temperature, multiple cycles of freeze and re-freezing or both. All I can say is good luck and try not to break an axle driving around the district.Report
My list of songs I like that were released in 2024 is currently 62 hours and 33 minutes.Report
Share the best ones, please!Report
I’ll try to drop some in later, but for now you can listen to the whole thing here (I recommend shuffle):
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/16DoIbNw0mO65tFKal7Juc?si=VuwaziEQSsqPfsCfnxC45w&pi=wBi0nY-BTfSplReport
Gruff Rhys! BODEGA! Sofia Bolt!
You have great taste, man.Report
Let me also add that both Everything is Recorded and Sampha are great. “Losing You” was also released last week on a 3-song single that features collaborations with mary in the junkyard, Noah Cyrus, and for us Xers, Bill Callahan. All 3 tracks are good, though Losing You is definitely the best of the 3.
Sampha is featured on a single released this week by John Clacier, Ocean Steppin’: Sampha’s voice is as divine as ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDRFn2jUQAM
So we’ve already got good songs in 2025, too.Report
The first video for the song I found was dated Nov 20, 2024, but I’m thrilled that they released it as a single. I want a 10 minute remix that focuses on that beat.Report
Oh yeah, it was released last year, I think on a single with the Callahan collaboration.
I dunno what how the music industry works these days, but releasing songs on multiple singles seems common now.Report
I’ve been waiting for the thread on social media! I’ve made an annual purchase off that list.Report
I’ve been exceptionally busy, but I’ve got a list ready to start posting, so maybe with this long weekend.Report
OG Boston shoegazers Drop Nineteens returned unexpectedly in 2023 with Hard Light (even more improbably, IMO it’s the best record they’ve made, and I’m looking forward to the new one they’re putting out this year) but released “Tarantula” as a single Feb 2024, so I’m submitting it.
It’s got a soaring, yearning nostalgic chorus that gives “1979” a run for its money – “And I feel, like it’s after school / In the afternoon / In the afterlife” – hard to imagine anything feeling better than that, right?
(the sound on the YT upload is kind of distorted for some reason, so you might prefer listening to it on Spotify or Apple Music if you have/use those):
https://youtu.be/s0qjpBfpz8k
In 2024 Wussy released The Great Divide in the wake of the death of their pedal steel player John Erhardt, and “The Great Divide” is about what we do when someone leaves us and we’re left wondering what to do with the pieces of them that remain with us. Lisa Walker’s vocal tone here reminds me a bit of Aimee Mann. It’s a great record, maybe their best since Attica!
https://youtu.be/eYKjSb0igts
X released their final record Smoke & Fiction in 2024 and along with the prior one Alphabetland they leave on a high note. “Big Black X” speaks to their own history as Carveresque chroniclers of LA’s seedy underbelly, and contains admonition and encouragement for us all.
https://youtu.be/mKIl7EonN-kReport
Huh a comment got et. Apparently don’t try to edit when the edit clock is near expiring? Anyway, METZ and Djrum: also goodReport
Its fixedReport
Thanks. I think what might have happened was I was editing one of the YT links to a shorter one, and when I did that it must have thrown the comment into mod – it seems those shortened links may be what it doesn’t like.Report
If a comment with a link is edited, WordPress automatically throws the comment into moderation. This is self-defense, as the changed comment body is not subjected to the same set of filters that are run when a comment is initially submitted.Report
Ah, good to know. Thanks!Report
Bruising noiserockers METZ put out what might be their final record Up On Gravity Hill, having announced a hiatus; in addition to the hints of melody they have allowed in over the years (expressed less ambiguously in the singer’s Weird Nightmare project) they’ve continued to draw a bit shoegaze-adjacent; in all this, they’re one of the few modern rock bands that scratch the ol’ Hüsker Dü/Sugar itch for me (BTW, New Day Rising just turned 40 and is still brill, and Bob Mould just released a single called “Here We Go Crazy” that shows his melodic gifts remain fully-intact).
https://youtu.be/VBymiLJtyGs
On a completely different note, Djrum’s Meaning’s Edge is dizzying and mindbending and beautiful braindance stuff.
https://youtu.be/u-RoduWI9Uc?list=PLpGr7x_-mTQdIg-b4MuLXZJxVJKvYgP0fReport
Love the METZ tune. Gonna check ‘em out.Report
A local record shop said their favorite album was this double album and I thought well, maybe it’ll be okay… it is from Canada. Anyway, it’s been in my headphones a lot in the last few months.
https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=cindy+lee+diamond+jubileeReport
Guessed what this was before I clicked. I need to see if I can find a way into it – I listened to it when it first came out and it’s got a nice sound/vibe, but for as long as it is, I have real trouble telling the songs apart.Report
That’s fair. I listen to it while reading or writing and it was one mass for a while and gradually separated into different songs in my mind.Report
In 2024 I enjoyed Unto Others and their mission to bring some goth rock in the 21st century. Video is cheesy as all hell but shouldn’t it be?
https://youtu.be/-1ZMwgF5ric?si=qjqm1419u6pSsr2oReport
If your band is named Unto Others, you have some cheesy pickup lines for groupies ready-made.
“Hey baby…how would you like to do Unto Others?”
(Read in Butt-Head’s voice for the proper effect).Report
LOL! I can totally hear it!Report
I tried to follow the link to give it a listen (you can take the boy out of the goth club, but you can’t take the goth club out of the boy) but it takes me to an AirBnB ad? Is that the right link, or is YouTube somehow defeating/rerouting my adblocker?Report
Try this one:
https://youtu.be/MY8PRFQ-RiM?si=27eS8zb1v5WL9WBwReport
I’ve pretty much just given up on new music. I’m sure some of it is good, but I find searching through new-to-me old music to be much more productiveReport
I’ll join in the fun of the fave albums of the year.
The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy
The it girls of 2024 British rock music put out this fantastic debut. Really off the beaten path for me, but I was blown away how much I liked it. https://youtu.be/s78dvZBb4DU?si=w_Js-6As1c0pE6f5
The Lemon Twigs – A Dream Is All We Know
They’ve been around for awhile, but they’re new to me. Great early ’70s vibe on this release. https://youtu.be/4JcnxfF6tss?si=rB1qwuE20qE3Mf5t
Field Music – The Limits of Language
The Brewis brothers are the core of what is probably one of the more interesting rock bands of this century. Art rockers who love a funk beat, and probably the only band to ever put out a concept album about the immediate post-WWI era. David Brewis’ side project School of Language did an interesting concept album about DJT called 45. Definitely worth a listen on inauguration day eve.
https://youtu.be/DmZLRiZtUDM?si=osvTMh4_rnyRtWQK The Limits of Language
https://youtu.be/Z8E9BFLKfuQ?si=ZKX_yAeuM3CvZGVr Nobody Knows from 45Report
I saw Nosferatu today. It was fine. A good workmanlike movie. It wasn’t especially scary and you really need to go into it completely lacking prior knowledge of both the previous two Nosferatu movies or Dracula to be surprised about plot developments. The main advantage was that it took away the parts of the original Nosferatu that would come across as unbelievable or incredibly dumb for a 21st century audience, it’s hard to give an example without a spoiler, and made them more in line with how people more familiar with the horror genre should play out.Report
I finally watched Bottoms. In addition to being funny as hell it was very sweet, and more stylishly-shot than comedy often is. It’s like Heathers filtered through Strangers With Candy. More like that please. It’s one of the only modern film comedies I think is very funny at all. (For reference it’s this and Hot Rod for me.)Report