Stuff Of The Year 2024
Some things I have enjoyed this year
For starters, let’s have some of my feelings about lists like this. They are a fine and dandy way to waste a few minutes and maybe pick up a few useful suggestions of new media . No list is the final word on any subject, this is especially true of the following list. I may well change my mind about every single thing in this article in 6 months time . You may agree, or disagree, feel free to leave your thoughts and suggestions of other stuff I may like in the comments.
Oh, and any “100 things you must do/see/hear before you die” type articles can go to hell with all the other terrible media and the CEOs. I’m not a fan of obligation.
SLIM KRUSTY - ENDIN ON A HIGH
Slim attracted a lot of attention in 2023 when he painted himself pink and performed a version of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” with new lyrics entitled “Messy Pinkman” on social media. It seems highly likely that Beyonce took notice because her 2024 album also included a take on “Blackbird”.
So anyhow, this year we get Slim’s “one man and a guitar” debut full length. “Endin On A High” is an almost straight 50% split between bawlers and brawlers, between drunken, extroverted celebrations of a wayward life and some of the most heartbreaking, pain wrecked ballads I’ve heard in a long time. Opener “trains” is a touching tribute to a person close to Slim who is dying, whereas track 5 “Mystery Bag” is a hymn to the excitement of finding drugs on the floor, and features more obscene language than almost all the music I listen to. My only hope is the title of the album isn’t referring to his musical career, cos I want more of this stuff.
MATT PLESS - COMING THROUGH THE RYE
“They said all you need is love, just try to imagine, they gave peace a chance and they killed John Lennon”
I played a few dates in Europe with Matt in June. He did some great sets but this song really stuck with me. Folk punk on the whole has moved into a more touchy feely era recently with people talking about their insecurities and drug addictions and what not. I don’t have a problem with that, it’s just I’ve always had a deep love of verbal destruction, of hearing something being torn to shreds. Like honestly, send me an article trashing my favourite band and I will probably applaud if it’s well written. “Coming Through The Rye” is a savage deconstruction of the hippie generation. Take a look at that quote above, notice how it references 3 Lennon compositions in 2 lines whilst rhyming and making a coherent point. That’s some incredibly tight writing. There’s an outside possibility Matt wrote this song because he was screwed over by some hippie in a romantic situation. If so, that hippie did the world a favour. “Let the heads and the good times roll” indeed.
BRITISH MURDER BOYS - ACTIVE AGENTS AND HOUSE BOYS
In my community of freaks, lay abouts and non conformists in Birmingham, there are 2 events that get talked about so much I want to go into hiding in the preceding weeks, because I constantly get asked if I’m attending or not. One is the Horsedrawn festival, the other is legendary rave night House Of God. HOG is a multi room , multi genre all night extravaganza with a 30 + year history, but it is the industrial techno of the main room that is most known for. This is a form of music that has systematically removed the usual things that draw a listeners ear such as catchy melodies to make room for a whole world of thudding kick drums, hissing hi hats and endless texture.
Active Agents and Murder Boys sees HOGs two “break out” stars, Surgeon and Regis, come together for a vibrant feast of swirling techno madness, layered with Regis’s echoey spoken word vocals in a way that might remind some of the band Underworld. Most of Surgeon’s back catalogue is worth a listen to my ears, always a cut above the vast endless sea of electronic music that’s out there. Active Agents and House Boys is a standout effort even compared to his many other releases. Expect insistent rhythmic interplay, constant variation within the repetition and a few “ear test” moments along the way. If you want an edgy but compelling album to play at your Christmas / New Year’s party to freak everyone out in the small hours when they are off their face, choose this one.
JPEG MAFIA - I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU
US hip hop has given us such an embarrassment of riches in the last 15 years or so that we have now reached a point where an album as gloriously, wildly varied as “I Lay Down My Life For You” not only exists, but can actually achieve a significant level of success. This maybe the most sonically varied and rich album I’ve heard in over 45 years of being a music nerd. Over it’s 41 minute run time, we get distorted guitars, dance beats, soul vocals, string sections, moments of chaos so intense they will probably put the average listener off completely, giving way to moments of folky introspection so perfect they hold their own against most of the music made in that genre. There’s even the odd flip of an old school hip hop beat if you’re savvy enough to catch it. Here we have a great artist, at the peak of their powers, going crazy in the studio, following every last whim with total commitment, and some how, making it work.
KENDRICK LAMAR
K.Dot had another surprising, world beating year in 2025, whether he was absolutely destroying the most boring man in rap, Drake, on the track “Not Like Us” or releasing another album of goodness with no warning to the world with “GNX”. At this point there’s been many millions of words written about Kendrick, and maybe I will add more to them at some point. But for now, I’d just like to say it’s as good a time to check out his work as any, and his studio albums all remain worthy of your attention for different reasons. I first heard his work in 2014, I’m still paying attention to his new releases now. I don’t think any other artist has held my attention for so long.
PLACE OF THE YEAR - STROOMHUIS, EINDHOVEN
I’ve had a good year for getting out and about, having played slots in Amsterdam, Belgium, Czechia, Germany, as well as playing various UK festivals, the south coast of England etc. I’ve had some good hometown shows, played a posh wedding. I’ve just come back from playing two sets at a travellers site on a windswept hillside in deepest Wales. But Stroomhuis in Eindhoven, Netherlands stood out even amongst all that for a bunch of reasons.
My acoustic tour led us there on a bright sunny day in June. A huge, building in the midst of Eindhovens alienating commercial center, its grafitti covered exterior making it function like a vast sign saying “freaks come here”. A set at almost any of the lefty, punky, underground venues of mainland Europe is a guarantee of a good time in my eyes. However our night at Stroomhuis was when all of the different elements that are needed for a great gig came together, from the venue to the crowd to the other acts.
And it wasn’t just that we had a great time, either. There was 4 of us on that tour and I can confidently say each of us came away emotionally touched by the place, like we’d all fallen in love with it and the people we’d met. Before we left on the monday morning, we had a spontaneous screenprinting workshop there, with all of us walking away with new screen prints on our clothes. Screen printing and printed DIY patches are a big thing on the Eindhoven scene, with 2 different stalls selling patches and shirts at our gig, with kids turning up covered in DIY patches I’d never seen, with handfuls of patches in their patch covered bags to give to their patch covered mates.
However, astute readers have probably noticed the use of the past tense when referring to Stroomhuis, and that’s because it burnt down a few months ago. The community is pushing towards rebuilding, fundraiser gigs have been happening in Eindhoven. However, there is a go fund me for those that want to help , please give them some cash if you can - https://gofund.me/e02d6318
That’s about all for now. Was going to ramble on about film and stuff but I can’t find the enthusiasm right now. Leave me a comment suggesting something you think I’ll like, and maybe I’ll check it out.