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The duco01 60 Favourite New Albums of 2024

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Hello everyone,

What a vintage twelve months it’s been for music! In December every year, I normally present a 50 Favourite New albums chart, But 2024 has been such a bumper year that I feel compelled to offer a Top 60. Looking at the list, it would seem that one genre is particularly prevalent this time, although it’s difficult to give it a neat label. It’s a sort of … roots-flavoured guitar- or keyboard-led instrumental music in a loose ambient packaging. I appear to be a sucker for it.

In my sixty-third year, music attracts and intrigues me as much as ever. I like reading about it, I like writing about it, and most of all, of course, I just like listening to it. Even if you think that most of this list sounds like it’s not your thing, I hope you find an unfamiliar album or two here that you enjoy investigating. As ever, the chart is presented in reverse order, to ramp up the excitement to fever pitch as we count down. Let’s start off with the bottom 20, i.e. numbers 60 to 41. Eyes down for a full house…

1

Comments

  1. 60. The Necks – Bleed
    It pains me to put the Necks at number 60, because I’ve been a huge fan of the maverick Australian trio for decades. But “Bleed” was a big disappointment. I don’t know … It starts in first gear and just seems to get stuck there for 42 minutes. Perhaps I haven’t given it enough listens…
    https://thenecksau.bandcamp.com/album/bleed

    59. Yasmin Williams – Acadia
    Ms Williams’ previous album, “Urban Driftwood” was a superb collection of acoustic guitar instrumentals. This one starts off in a similar vein … but then she adds vocals and a mass of other instruments including a parpy lounge jazz saxophone. I prefer her music as it was before.
    https://yasminwilliams.bandcamp.com/album/acadia

    58. Muireann Bradley – I Kept These Old Blues
    This was released on streaming in December 2023, but didn’t make it on to CD until January this year, so I’m calling it for 2024. An amazingly accomplished set of traditional acoustic blues numbers by a 17-year-old Irish girl.
    https://tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com/album/i-kept-these-old-blues

    57. Wadada Leo Smith & Amina Claudine Myers – Central Park’s Mosaics Of Reservoir, Lake, Paths And Gardens
    Two veterans of the AACM musicians collective in Chicago deliver a set of delicate trumpet/piano duets.
    https://redhookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/central-parks-mosaics-of-reservoir-lake-paths-and-gardens

    56. Shane Parish – Repertoire
    Acoustic guitar covers of tunes by a very eclectic collection of artists, including Alice Coltrane, Kraftwerk and Charles Mingus. Some of them work better than others
    https://shaneparish.bandcamp.com/album/repertoire

    55. Kali Malone – All Life Long
    An ambitions suite of pieces from the American/Swedish composer, some for brass ensemble, some for church organ, and some for vocal ensemble.
    https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/all-life-long

    54. Søren Skov Orbit – Adrift
    Worthwhile spiritual jazz set by Danish quintet led by tenor saxman Søren Skov
    https://frederiksbergrecords.bandcamp.com/album/adrift

    53. Leo Dupleix – Resonant Trees
    Two longish but engaging pieces by composer/harpsichordist Dupleix ad his six-piece ensemble.
    https://leodupleix.bandcamp.com/album/resonant-trees

    52. Fohn – Seanteach
    Tom Connolly (of the band Quade), whose father’s family were Irish, mixes a keening fiddle with electronics to craft a set of left-field instrumentals.
    https://fohn.bandcamp.com/album/seanteach

    51. Rosali – Bite Down
    Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter Rosali Middleman appears to have ditched her surname in artistic contexts. It’s a nice little album; track 4, “My Kind” sounds like one of the Lindsay Buckingham tracks off of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”!
    https://rosali.bandcamp.com/album/bite-down

    50. Danny Paul Grody Duo – Arc of Night
    Guitarist DPG has been aided here by percussionist Rich Douthit in creating a slightly denser, darker companion album to last year’s “Arc of Day”.
    https://dannypaulgrodyduo.bandcamp.com/album/arc-of-night

    49. Cassandra Jenkins – My Light, My Destroyer
    New York singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins attracted a fair bit of attention with her previous album, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (2021). She consolidates that with this very respectable set.
    https://cassandrajenkins.bandcamp.com/album/my-light-my-destroyer

    48. Abdullah Ibrahim – 3
    Nice to see the legendary 90-year-old South African pianist still putting in a very decent shift indeed on this live recording from the Barbican, London.
    https://abdullahibrahim.bandcamp.com/album/3

    47. Maher Cissoko – Kora World
    Cissoko is a Senegalese kora player who’s now based in Sweden. A pleasant album of kora music is never wrong.

    46. Jasmine Myra – Rising
    Gondwana Records brought us this enjoyable sophomore set by the Yorkshire-based saxophonist.
    https://jasminemyra.bandcamp.com/album/rising

    45. Greg Foat – The Glass Frog
    Ultra-prolific jazz pianist kicks off this set with the brilliant “Sea of Tranquillity”. The other tracks don’t quite maintain this level, but it’s still a pretty good addition to his catalogue.
    https://gregfoat.bandcamp.com/album/the-glass-frog

    44. John Zorn & the Brian Marsella Trio – Ballades
    John Zorn is now 71, but is still composing non-stop for countless ensembles in a wide array of jazz, classical and avant garde genres. Here, Brian Marsella and his piano trio do the playing on Zorn’s four hundred and something-th album.

    43. Philip Glass – Solo
    Here, Glass takes the opportunity to record solo piano versions of some of his best-known pieces.
    https://philipglass.bandcamp.com/album/philip-glass-solo

    42. Landless – Lúireach
    All-female Irish folk vocal quartet, performing mainly acapella. Stirring stuff; fine harmonies.
    https://landless.bandcamp.com/album/l-ireach

    41. Fergus McCreadie – Stream
    Glasgow jazz pianist McCreadie is joined by his trio for his third album. Resonances from Scottish folk music creep into some of these pieces and lift them.
    https://fergusmccreadie.bandcamp.com/album/stream

    That’s all for now. Back later today with the next exciting instalment…

    • Darn right @Lando_Cakes!

      Mercifully , Fasching, Stockholm’s finest jazz club are often on the same page as the Duke.

      Jasmine made a very memorable visit back in October 2023.

      And in the very same week at Fasching. I saw another great DuCool favourite: the Espen Eriksson Trio with Andy Sheppard.

      And then. later in October, there was Greg Foat…..

  4. Well, I think it might be time to reveal the next 20 albums in this year’s chart.
    So we go from 40 down to no.21:

    40. Chuck Johnson – Sun Glories
    Oakland’s Chuck Johnson has been making intriguing guitar-based instrumental music for at least a decade now. His stuff is always worth hearing.
    https://chuckjohnson.bandcamp.com/album/sun-glories

    39. Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel – The Room
    American soprano saxophonist Gendel and Brazilian 7-string guitarist do Nascimento combine to great effect on this collection of sparkling instrumentals.
    https://samgendel.bandcamp.com/album/the-room

    38. Unstern – Es Geht der Tag
    Errr … it’s been a while since I studied German, but I think the title here means “The Day Passes”. Composer/pianist Leo Svirsky fashions a high-quality ambient set.
    https://unstern.bandcamp.com/album/es-geht-der-tag

    37. Bersarin Quartett – Systeme
    More German ambient music. The Bersarins have been producing meditative music for the connoisseur for about 16 years know. Theirs is a name that can be trusted.
    https://bersarinquartett.bandcamp.com/album/systeme

    36. Nala Sinephro – Endlessness
    The Belgian saxophonist has clearly attracted a lot of media attention with this free-flowing ambient jazz outing. Recommended if you liked the Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders album 3 years ago!
    https://nalasinephro.bandcamp.com/album/endlessness

    35. Pan·American & Kramer – Reverberations Of Non-Stop Traffic On Redding Road
    “Pan·American” is the pseudonym of the American multi-instrumentalist Mark Nelson, who used to be in the band Labradford. Here he teams up with producer and keyboardist Kramer for a delightfully low-key set of tranquil pieces.
    https://panamerican.bandcamp.com/album/reverberations-of-non-stop-traffic-on-redding-road

    34. Dean McPhee – Astral Gold
    The electric guitar virtuoso from West Yorkshire, Dean McPhee, has been thrilling discerning listeners since 2008. And his airy, psychedelic folk with a teaspoon of krautrock has never sounded better than here.
    https://deanmcphee.bandcamp.com/album/astral-gold

    33. Tord Gustavsen Trio – Seeing
    Gustavsen has been an ECM stalwart for over 20 years now. And his piano trio are still delivering the goods to a high standard.

    32. Contours – Elevations
    ”Contours” is the pseudonym of the Cumbrian musician and producer Tom Burford. According to his bandcamp site, the album is “a delicate suite of compositions centred around rhythmical interactions of percussion, synthesizer and strings”. And very fine it is, too.
    https://contoursmusic.bandcamp.com/album/elevations

    31. Powers/Rolin Duo – Clearing
    Jen Powers and Matthew J. Rolin are a married couple from Ohio. They play guitar, dulcimer and a whole stack of other instruments. I always like their stuff. The “Clearing” LP consists of two longish pieces, one per side.
    https://aepowersrolinduo.bandcamp.com/album/clearing

    30. Colin Vallon Trio – Samares
    This is Swiss pianist Vallon’s fifth album, and his third outing for the venerable ECM label. It’s … polite chamber jazz. But then – sue me! – I like polite chamber jazz.

    29. Gogo Penguin – From the North
    This live mini-album captures the Manchester-based jazz trio in swinging, confident form at the old Granada Studios. Their records never let you down.

    28. Andrew Wasylyk & Tommy Perman – Ash Grey And the Gull Glides On
    The two Scottish ambient musicians team up for this album for Frances Castle’s label Clay Pipe, which is famous for its wonderful artwork. Aidan Moffat out of Arab Strap adds a few melancholy spoken-word vocals. It’s all rather lovely.
    https://claypipemusic.bandcamp.com/album/ash-grey-and-the-gull-glides-on

    27. Miaux – Never Coming Back
    “Miaux” is the stage name of the Bosnian/Belgian composer and keyboardist Mia Prce. She’s come up with a lovely LP of charming synthesizer vignettes here.
    https://miaux.bandcamp.com/album/never-coming-back

    26. Nathan Bowles Trio – Are Possible
    Banjo player Nathan Bowles is best known for his work with many artists on the North Carolina label Paradise of Bachelors. This trio has the very unusual line-up of banjo, double-bass and drums. They play relaxed, jazz-inflected American roots music. Good stuff.
    https://nathanbowles.bandcamp.com/album/are-possible

    25. Laura Jane Wilkie – Vent
    Laura Jane Wilkie is a folk fiddle player from Glasgow, and this is her debut album. Ms Wilkie gives her own interpretations of traditional women’s work songs from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Some great playing here.
    https://laurajanewilkie.bandcamp.com/album/vent

    24. Adam Wiltzie – Eleven Fugues for Sodium Pentothal
    Adam Wiltzie was one half of two of the greatest ambient bands of all time, Stars of the Lid and A Winged Victory for the Sullen. And now he presents this solo outing, which is well up to standard.
    https://adamwiltzie.bandcamp.com/album/eleven-fugues-for-sodium-pentothal

    23. Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Your Community Hub
    W-RNTDP is a long-term project from a composer called Gordon Chapman-Fox. Uplifting, melody-rich electronica.
    https://warrington-runcorn-cis.bandcamp.com/album/your-community-hub

    22. Elkhorn – The Red Valley
    Elkhorn are two American guitarists, Drew Gardner and Jesse Sheppard, who have been putting out consistently fine instrumental music over the past 8 years or so. This time they’ve built up a bigger, fuller sound, adding vibraphone, pedal steel, zither, harp, percussion and other bits and pieces. Many thumbs up.
    https://vhfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-red-valley

    21. Alessandro “Asso” Stefana – Alessandro “Asso” Stefana
    Stefana would appear to be a protégé of P.J. Harvey. Polly Jean is credited as “Executive Producer”, and writes in fulsome praise of the artist in the liner notes. The album opens up with five nice ambient pieces. Then it changes radically to provide musical settings of a few early 1960s acapella recordings by the Appalachian country blues singer Roscoe Holcomb. Bizarre, but it works well.
    https://alessandroassostefana.bandcamp.com/album/alessandro-asso-stefana

    What heavyweight records could possibly be in the Top 20?
    The big reveal will continue tomorrow morning (Friday)….

  6. You are so right about Sea of Tranquility, the first track on Greg Foat’s Glass Frog. It is indeed a doozy.

    Sensual, suggestive, inviting, mysterious…it’s a film noir soundtrack just waiting to happen.

    Greg really ought to do some film music.

    I checked IMDB. His only soundtrack work was on a 15 minute psychedelic Aussie western.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20412678/?ref_=nm_flmg_job_1_cdt_t_1

    I see a meeting with a femme fatale in a dodgy jazz club, late at night….

    “She stared over my shoulder
    “Play it cool, Johnny” Play it what? I flipped
    “Listen, I fought my way up from tough East Side New York
    Lead filled saps and sub-machine guns, like this”

    She said, “Johnny, this is a deadly game
    Have a few laughs and go home”
    I shuddered, normally I pack a rod in pajamas
    I carry nothing but scars from Normandy beach.”

  7. Ah. So far on this list I own three of these albums.
    Unfortunately – for me – they’re all on my “Biggest disappointments of 2024” list…but I’m happy that you weren’t disappointed by them!

    (If you really want to know: Rosali – also ugliest cover art – Tord Gustavsen Trio and Nathan Bowles Trio)

    But I have a feeling that perhaps two albums in your Top 20 will be in my Top 20 as well? (I might be wrong, of course)

    • Yeah, the cover photo of the Rosali album. A shocker. What on earth was she thinking!
      People probably went to their local record shop with the intention of purchasing “Bite Down”, then saw the cover and thought “shit … I’m not buying that…”

  8. Good morning, Afterworders.
    Thanks for all your comments so far. And I feel it’s now time to reveal the next tranche of my modest little chart. And as we’re reaching the upper reaches of the list, maybe that tranche should only be ten albums, namely numbers 20 to 11, which are these…

    20. Phil Odgers & John Kettle – Far Rockaway (The Songs of Phil Ochs)
    I’m a huge fan of Phil Ochs, and it’s great to hear two Englishmen doing such spirited versions of some of Phil’s finest songs. And by the way, does anyone know how do you pronounce “Odgers”? Does it rhyme with ‘lodgers’, or is it more like “Odd-gers”?
    https://philodgers.bandcamp.com/album/far-rockaway-the-songs-of-phil-ochs

    19. Arooj Aftab – Night Reign
    Her best record to date, I think. The vocals in English are as good as those in Urdu. The atmosphere is … blue-smoky, like an old jazz club. I wish I’d joined Kaisfatdad in going to see Ms Aftab live in August!
    https://nightreign.bandcamp.com/album/night-reign

    18. Andrew Tuttle & Michael Chapman – Another Tide, Another Fish
    After the great Yorkshire guitarist Michael Champman died in 2021, his wife Andru came across a set of rough acoustic demos that had been recorded. She took them along to a guy whom she and Michael admired greatly, namely the Australian multi-instrumentalist Andrew Tuttle. She asked him to … develop and expand the demos, sprinkling some fairy dust on them. He succeeded in a big way.
    https://andrewtuttle.bandcamp.com/album/another-tide-another-fish

    17. Khruangbin – A La Sala
    Nice to see the laid-back ambient funk trio from Texas back to their best after the dodgy “Mordechai” album in 2020. They lose a point, though, for only printing the CD’s track listing on the cellophane wrapper that you always throw away. Boo!
    https://khruangbin.bandcamp.com/album/a-la-sala

    16. Jake Xerxes Fussell – When I’m Called
    For about nine years now, Georgia guitarist Jake Fussell has been recording traditional American songs from many roots genres – a bit like Ry Cooder did, back in the 1970s. This is his fifth album, but his first outside the Paradise of Bachelors stable. What can I say? It’s another good’un.
    https://jakexerxesfussell.bandcamp.com/album/when-im-called

    15. Svaneborg Kardyb – Superkilen
    The dynamic Danish duo of Nikolaj Svaneborg (keyboards) and Jonas Kardyb (drums) are enormous fun. For their second album for Gondwana Records they deliver nine more of their beguiling uptempo instrumentals. If you like, say, the Penguin Café (Orchestra), then you’ll probably like SK.
    https://svaneborgkardyb.bandcamp.com/album/superkilen

    14. John Zorn, Gyan Riley & Julian Lage – Her Melodious Lay
    John Zorn seems to have a thing about Shakespeare-themed albums. Last year’s “Full Fathom Five” focused on The Tempest, while this one centres on Hamlet. Luckily, Zorn has his two master guitarists, Riley and Lage, on hand to realise the whole project most splendidly. A palpable hit!

    13. James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg – All Gist
    Guitarists Elkington and Salsburg have played on so many of my favourite American folk albums of the past decade or so, including those of Salsburg’s wife Joan Shelley. Here they team up as a duo for a set of finely honed instrumentals, including an unexpected cover of Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance”.
    https://jameselkingtonandnathansalsburg.bandcamp.com/album/all-gist

    12. Matti Bye – Capri Clouds
    The Swedish ambient composer Matti Bye does quite a lot of film soundtrack work. “Capri Clouds” is a work you can really sink into, like a warm bath. Most relaxing.
    https://mattibye.bandcamp.com/album/capri-clouds

    11. Nat Birchall – Dimension of the Drums: Roots Reggae Instrumentals
    Birchall is a lifelong fan of roots reggae and dub from the golden age of Jamaican music. He plays every instrument on this album, and the whole thing has a warm, organic sound. It might almost have emanated from Studio One or the Black Ark.
    https://natbirchallmusic.bandcamp.com/album/dimension-of-the-drums-roots-reggae-instrumentals

    Right … that’s it for now. Only ten mighty platters remain. The crème de la crème.
    They’ll be along later….

  9. I too like the Tuttle/Chapman but, if pushed, prefer Fish, the unadorned guitar versions, to Tide. (And only an unspeakable pedant would point out the date that posthumous solo set automatically sets to, copyright date wise, on ripping to files.)

  10. The tension is simply unbearable. I’ve going to have to reveal numbers 10 to 6 in the chart.
    Ready? Here goes ….

    10. Akira Kosemura & Lawrence English – Selene
    I’ve admired the work of ambient composers Kosemura and English for many years, and when they finally collaborated, a little gem was bound to result.
    https://lawrenceenglish.bandcamp.com/album/selene

    9. Mary Lattimore & Walt McClements – Rain on the Road
    This is another top-drawer collaborative work. McClements is Weyes Blood’s accordion player, and his sound dovetails beautifully with Mary Lattimore’s harp. There’s something else I should mention about this album, and that’s that I’ve LOST my copy of it. Disaster! I must’ve put it away in the wrong place in my rather well-stocked CD racks, and now I can’t find it. This is the first time in 50 years of record collecting that this has ever happened. This means that I’ll never hear the album again, unless I start using Spotify or something. The whole thing has really put a damper on my Christmas spirit, as I think you can tell. Does anyone have … like … a spare copy of “Rain on the Road” that they don’t need?
    https://marylattimoreharpist.bandcamp.com/album/rain-on-the-road

    8. T-Bone Burnett – The Other Side
    Over the past 20 years, J. Henry “T-Bone” Burnett has had a hand in so many exciting film and production projects. He’s done everything except, well, make a T-Bone Burnett album. That was finally rectified this year with a handsome little record which is right up there with his best work.

    7. Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future
    There was no Big Thief album this year – unless you count their accompaniment of Tucker Zimmerman on the “Dance of Love” album – but what’s the next best thing? An Adrianne Lenker solo album, of course. A supremely confident collection of songs, as one would expect from an artist who’s a (relatively) big star now. I still don’t think that cowboy hat is a good look for her, though.
    https://adriannelenker.bandcamp.com/album/bright-future

    6. Bonny Light Horseman – Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free
    When Bonny Light Horseman formed five years ago, they were essentially a folk covers band. All but one of the tracks on their eponymous first album were traditional songs. Now, they’ve changed guise completely and are basically three singer-songwriters performing their own material. Beautifully played and sung.
    https://bonnylighthorseman.bandcamp.com/album/keep-me-on-your-mind-see-you-free

    Right … that’s it for now.
    Back later with the five albums at the very top of the festive tree…

    • As I suspected – Adrianne Lenker and Bonnie Light Horseman were the two I believed we would have in common…

      Sad to say that I ordered my copy of the Matti Bye album months ago, and it keeps getting delayed. The closest I got to receiving it was when I got an email telling me it had been sent to me – followed immediately by another email saying “Oh, hang on – did you order the CD or the vinyl? Oh, the CD…then no: delayed…”
      I’m still waiting!

  11. Lots of fascinating stuff to explore here but can I say how delighted I am that not one but two of your numbers ten to six are in my year end top twenty list?

    And, daft question, but given you are giving us Bandcamp links can you not play the Mary Lattimore record via that rather than Spotify etc?

    • Glad you’re enjoying the rundown, BB!

      I find that once I play an album on Bandcamp more than three times (or is it twice?), then it won’t let me play that album any more. Instead, I get a message with a broken heart symbol, saying “It’s time to open your wallet and pay up”. And I understand this: Bandcamp is not supposed to be a permanently free streaming service. It’s supposed to let you hear an album a couple of times before purchasing either a download or a physical CD or LP.

      Or … do other Afterworders get unlimited listening to an album on Bandcamp?

      • Ah, I see. Must admit I don’t stream on Bandcamp much so wasn’t aware of this. But I am doing so with the aforementioned Lattimore/McClements record as I write and very lovely and chilled it is too.

    • Oh yes, the Derek Gripper and Ballaké Sissoko live album.
      Erm … I’ve had that on my “might get” list, but have never actually got it.
      Sadly, there’s no CD, so it’s either an expensive LP, or a download (and the latter is an alternative that I seldom go for).
      Listening to it again on Bandcamp now, I realise that I should’ve gone for it. Oh well – we’ll call it the One That Got Away….

  13. OK … I think it’s time for the big reveal of the Top Five.

    But before then, I’d like to mention the super new Annarella Sörlin & Django Diabaté album, “Jouer”. It would’ve been in my chart somewhere, but it arrived too late to be included.

    https://singasongfighter.bandcamp.com/album/jouer

    I’ll also quickly mention the eight albums that were bubbling under the Top 60:

    Arve Henriksen & Harmen Fraanje – Touch of Time
    Black Decelerant – Reflections Vol. 2
    Nat Birchall Unity Ensemble – New World
    A Sudden Burst of Colour – Galvanize
    John Surman – Words Unspoken
    Nils Økland – Gjenskinn
    M. G. Boulter – Days of Shaking
    Tomeka Reid Quartet – 3+3

    The biggest stinker here was the M. G. Boulter album – a huge disappointment after his marvellous “Clifftown” a few years ago.

    And now … here we go:

    5. Jessica Pratt – Here in the Pitch
    There’s a lush, late-60s pop sound to this album. Ms Pratt’s songs have a real Bacharach/David feel about them; it could almost be Bobbie Gentry at the microphone.
    https://jessicapratt.bandcamp.com/album/here-in-the-pitch

    4. The Decemberists – As it Ever Was, So it Will Be Again
    A resounding return to form for Oregon’s finest, after the disappointing “I’ll be Your Girl” back in 2018. Mainman Colin Meloy has some sound advice for you: Don’t go to the woods. ON NO ACCOUNT should you go to the woods, for truly terrifying things lurk there in the dark. And thumbs up for the huge, 20-minute prog-folk epic “Joan in the Garden” which concludes the album.
    https://thedecemberists.bandcamp.com/album/as-it-ever-was-so-it-will-be-again

    3. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – Woodland
    Gillian and David are, simply the perfect Americana artists, and since “Revival” back in 1996, they haven’t put a foot wrong. They have everything: the melodies, the words, the singing and the playing. Incredibly, it had been 13 years since “The Harrow and the Harvest” album. A sweet melancholy hangs heavy over “Woodland”. It was worth the wait.
    https://gillianwelch.bandcamp.com/album/woodland

    2. Max Richter – In A Landscape
    What do we call this genre of music? I don’t know; ‘post-classical’ possibly? But seeing this album performed live a few weeks ago, by the composer on grand piano accompanied by a string quintet, just reinforced my enthusiasm for it. I think it’s one of the two finest works of Max Richter’s career (along with “The Blue Notebooks”). And it’s pretty cool that he appears to have such a huge worldwide audience now. That’s nice, Maxie! (as my Dad used to say about Max Miller).

    1. Martin Simpson – Skydancers
    Martin Simpson emerged from darkest Scunthorpe in the mid-seventies, armed only with an acoustic guitar. Since then he has sung, played and recorded British, Irish and American traditional songs and tunes on countless albums. But even by his high standards, “Skydancers” is a triumph (although don’t buy the vinyl version, which omits all of the songs on the partly-live second CD).
    Simpson is now a veteran of the folk scene, and his voice has a rich, world-weary patina to go with his virtuoso picking. The title track of “Skydancers”, commissioned by Chris Packham for Hen Harrier Action and written with a little help from Richard Hawley, laments the increasing rarity of so many birds in UK uplands: “At fifteen I saw the falcon fly/At Symonds Yat on the River Wye”. For good measure, Simpson throws in a few judiciously chosen covers, from Joni Mitchell, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
    At the age of 71, Martin Simpson is at the absolute top of his game.

    https://www.topicrecords.co.uk/2024/02/martin-simpson-skydancers/

    Well, that’s just about it for the 60 New Albums chart. Hope you liked it.

    I’ll be back before the end of the December with my 20 (or 25) Favourite Reissues and Archival Recordings of the Year list. I can say already that it’ll feature records from genres that were entirely absent from my New Albums list, such as blues, post-punk, reggae/dub, blues-rock and straight-ahead jazz. So: plenty to look forward to. See you then!

    //duco

  14. For those of you who would like to explore DuCool’s albums of the year, this Spotify playlist may come in handy.

    I know I won’t like everything. But I also know that there will be several artists that will become personal favourites.

  15. Every year yours is a reliable interesting list @duco01 and this year is no different to all the preceeding ones.
    I have listened to a good many of your choices as they have appeared on Tidal during 2024 but I’ve only aquirred five of them. I shall have to strive harder in 2025 to attain cool kid status I guess.
    Nadolig hapus.

    • Bore da pencil,
      Thanks – I always enjoy reading your recommendations, too. Over the years, several of the artists that have become firm favourites of mine were ones that I first spotted in a pencilsqueezer post. These include the mighty Bersarin Quartett.
      And, needless to say, a recurring highlight on this site has always been when an Afterworder has posted a picture of one of your wonderful paintings. I could spend all day looking at them.
      //d

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