Mentre tutti ci interroghiamo su quale possa essere oggigiorno il senso di compilare una classifica delle migliori pubblicazioni musicali dell’anno -lo avete notato? Mai come oggi abbiamo la sensazione di ascoltare tantissima musica, mai come oggi abbiamo la sensazione di non riuscire ad ascoltare tutta la musica che vorremmo…- non avendo in tasca risposte particolarmente brillanti alla pur legittima domanda, mi limito a segnalare gli album che, fra le “novità”, più ho ascoltato con sincera emozione nel corso dell’ultimo anno e ai quali si legherà la gran parte dei miei ricordi datati 2024.
In this long (and frankly, somewhat pointless) list of the 100 albums that shaped my musical 2024, you’ll find albums that I truly appreciated, albums I think are important, albums I loved, and those that moved me to tears. I don’t believe this list holds any critical value, and I’m sure there are many more albums that could have made the cut (I listened to nearly a thousand records in 2024). While I remain convinced that rankings are ultimately a waste of time in the realm of art, I still present mine every year, hoping that someone might discover (or rediscover, or re-evaluate) an album through it. I apologize to all English speakers for my broken English, but as for the content of these writings, it comes straight from the heart (even if I fear this isn’t quite justification enough on its own).
Songs Of Green Pheasant is the work of Duncan Sumpner, an artist / teacher from Oughtibridge in Sheffield. His self-titled debut album was released on FatCat in August 2005, and drew widespread praise. Fragile, yet coherent and utterly charming songs with a warm cloudy depth, sweet melodies and some gorgeous vocal harmonising, beautifully sung and played. In the following couple of years, Songs Of Green Pheasant had two more records on FatCat: Aerial Days (2006) and Gyllyng Street (2007). After a five year’s hiatus Sumpner and his project returned with Soft Wounds, via Rusted Rail, “micro-Independent record label” based in Galway, Ireland. In 2015 Songs Of Green Pheasant self-released two mini album: Horseflesh – Chapter 1, a short comic book dedicated to Vinni Reilly which also contained a 5-track CD of original songs, and Mullock and Moil, a nine-songs mini-album that accompanied a 24 page illustrated book. Until today the latest offering from Songs Of Green Pheasant was When The Weather Clears a new album which, after a tormented implementation process, was out, again via Rusted Rail on December 4th 2020 (and reprinted a couple of times since). Today Rusted Rail announced the release of a new double A-sided digital single by Songs of Green Pheasant: Have Patience/Street of Mirrors.
Rocky Lorelei represents the solo lo fi musical work of Rachel Taylor (also member of Slipper), who was born and raised beside Lake Ontario in Toronto, and is currently set up in Berlin. Her musical processes run parallel to her psychic processes; writing and recording songs is her most vital means of cultivating an understanding of her inner and outer life experiences, bringing a symmetry to her music and her sense of self. Began as just bedroom recordings in Toronto, when Rocky moved to Glasgow in 2016 -encouraged by Sean Armstrong (Spinning Coin, The Yawns, Slipper)- she also moved the project onto the stage. “Rocky Lorelei began as a bedroom recording project in around 2012 in Toronto; a dear friend gifted me a 4-track, and off I went into the strange and tiny world of recording onto cassette, a zone which I have remained in ever since. I figured out how to record and produce my songs on my own (with a little help from my friends) and then spent some time writing, recording, and releasing a couple of EP’s in my room, up until I moved from Toronto to the UK in 2015. I eventually landed in Glasgow (Scotland) and it was there that Rocky Lorelei became a live project as well. Since then I have moved to Berlin, where I continue to document aspects of my psychic life through songs, to record them onto tape, and to play them live. I have co-founded a cassette label here, called Rehberge Records, through which my collaborator Sean Armstrong and I release our work —our most recent release being my new album Bury My Face In A Flower“.
The Ladybug Transistor in Prospect Park (Photo by Erick Schonfeld)
The Ladybug Transistor were a Brooklyn-based indie pop group associated with The Elephant Six Collective. Started in 1995 by Gary Olson, Edward Powers and Javier Villegas, the band quickly released Marlborough Farms on Park N’ Ride Records. With Jeff Baron and Jennifer Baron added to the lineup, they released Beverley Atonale in 1997, this time on Merge Records. Powers left the band, and the remaining members, with San Fadyl and Sasha Bell of The Essex Green, embarked on a United States tour. With a more stable lineup, the band released The Albemarle Sound in 1999, as well as added violinist Julia Rydholm, also of The Essex Green, to the lineup. In 2001, Argyle Heir was released, and the band released a self-titled album in 2003 which was recorded in their own Marlborough Farms studio. In April 2006, Fadyl began fighting serious asthma attacks that led to his death in 2007. The band released its sixth album, Can’t Wait Another Day, the same year. This line-up included Kyle Forester (Crystal Stilts) and Ben Crum of Great Lakes.For their seventh album, Clutching Stems, Olson, Forester and Rydholm gathered new recruits Mark Dzula (The Magic Caravan, Jukebox Radio), Eric Farber (The Lisps), and Michael O’Neill (MEN). The album, recorded once again at Marlborough Farms studio and Sunset Cottage, Poconos, was released in 2011 via Merge Records and was their last record. The Ladybug Transistor are now back with an expanded 25th Anniversary reissue and tour for their timeless indiepop classic album The Albemarle Sound.
Indie Sunset in Rome 