Top 5 2024 Songs

 

This year I decided, for the first time to make a Top5 Playlist of the songs I listened to the most in 2024. However, I know it is a bit late, since you will be reading this in February, but still, I decided to write this short article on these songs, since I believe they deserved these words.

First off, I placed the songs on this playlist in the order I would listen to them if I were to do so in order, also, some of these songs can have not been featured in a previous Top5’s, because I prefer to include in each playlist the songs that I listen to the most each month, without repeating songs from previous playlists. However, this playlist is an exception, since these are songs I have placed in former playlists, not necessarily from 2024.

And with this frame of mind I know begin to write about the songs themselves, the first one being the extended version of “Bwomp” by Mushroomhead. It is an old song from this band, but that I have discovered it at the tail end of 2024 and have listened to it relentlessly ever since. This extended version contains additional rapping vocals from the founding co-vocalist J-Mann and an amazing drum accompaniment by Skinny with infectious keyboard textures courtesy of former keyboardist Tim Schmitz. It is also an amazing ode to the early 2000’s nu-metal genre, which is still celebrated by the band as well as spin-off band A Killers Confession on a current tour.

Up next is “Blakkrakki”, or “black dog” by Iceland legends, Solstafir. It is an infectious straight forward rock anthem by a band that doesn’t usually dwell in this genre. Incredibly catchy to listen to on repeat, also the video is amazing!

Following it, is “Bardaginn” by Kalandra, another Nordic band, but more recent, which gripped me from the moment I first heard this song when it came out. Since then, they have released a full length LP containing this song, and I highly recommend it, as it is a stand out track with an amazing accompanying video.

Then, follows an hypnotic song, “Traust”, the live version, by Heilung, a band that dwells more in the neo-folk genre, and has the ability to make incredibly catchy anthems such as this one. The live-video that features this song is an amazing example of how they perform live in ritualistic fashion. Also, it is very relaxing.

And to finish this playlist is “Wasteland” by Riverside, a song that pops into my head at random moments in my life and that I always go back. It is melancholic, energetic and with odd changes in its’ structure, which keeps the listener always on their toes.

In conclusion, this is my first Top5 Playlist for a year, and these are the featured songs. I hope you enjoy them, and if you do, below follows a link to each artists’ pages so you can learn more about them and discover more of their music. It is worthwhile, I promise!

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 Top 5 2024 Songs:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7J7TemtRcuqVJJEEqJSb7s?si=d13fb73b44964bbd

 

(A side note on Mushroomhead’s original vocalist Jeffrey Nothing: he is currently suffering from cancer and any help can be sent to this Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/7fjy42-support-dads-fight-against-cancer ).

 

 Mushroomhead: https://mushroomhead.com/

 Solstafir: https://solstafir.is/

 Kalandra: https://www.kalandra.no/

 Heilung: https://www.season-of-mist.com/bands/heilung/

 Riverside: https://riversideband.pl/en/

Longlegs (Osgood Perkins: 2024)

 

A very anticipated movie, by what I understood, and, so far the only movie I went to see twice at the cinema in 2024. Longlegs is a horror/thriller by the director behind The Black Coat’s Daughter, a movie I reviewed here a few years back. It’s more atmospheric than scary, like the above mentioned movie, but it’s the type of horror I prefer in movies and literature, the immersive type that, literature-wise goes back to Henry James and H.P. Lovecraft.

And in cinema, there are many predecessors to this type of horror/thriller to mention here, in order to focus on the plot itself, if only briefly. One of the things that I found strange is the quoting of a T. Rex lyric that appears on screen before the movie begins. Just seems out of place, but also, many of the clues that are presented to the main character, a socially awkward F.B.I. agent Lee Harker with seemingly psychic powers, also seem to be out of place, until you revisit the movie and realize that they made sense. Maika Monroe plays this character in a way that makes one feel as though one is her shows the entire movie.

The story itself is that of a F.B.I. agent helping her superiors track down a serial killer that, although is not present of the crime scenes, always leaves clues behind that revert to some sort of influence on the murder-suicides that have occurred. It is a weird, confusing and, mostly, supernatural story that has at the centre a scary (and completely immersed in make-up) Nicholas Cage.

In conclusion, this an amazing thriller with horror and supernatural elements that is worth several watches in order to understand each detail that it hides, sometimes in plain sight.

Top 5 January Songs

 

            To start of 2025, I will begin with the theme song for the TV show Andor, one of my favourites in the past couple of years, and a soundtrack that I return to all the time. To follow this up is Future of The Left’s “Manchasm”, a disconcerting song with the unusual formation of keyboards, vocals, bass and drums. The absence of a guitar and the exchange between the singers make this an infectious song.

I follow it up with “Icy Whit & Crystalline” by Oxbow, a song that has gripped my attention since it was first released in 2023 to promote their last album Love’s Holliday. It is an energetic song and eccentric, after a fashion.

Now, I switch gears from alternative rock to jazz, with Miles Davis’ version of “Walkin’”, with a very strong arrangement that keeps the listener always on his/her toes. To cap off this month’s playlist is “The Sylvan Embrace” by Saor, an acoustic track that appears on their latest record Amidst the Ruins. I’ve been a fan of Saor since Origins and this song only grows on me the more I listen to it.

This month unlike I have done up until now, I will only post below the link to the playlist, for it’s been a hectic month and to compile the list itself, was a challenge.

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Below follow the playlist as usual, I hope you enjoy the songs as much as I do!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/66yeDqV7GR89e1DCLodwZ6?si=d463fc8d5f204eb9