What I’m Listening To in January, 2024
It’s a hard time to write about music on the internet.
The glory days of independent music blogs have passed and it feels as if we’ve entered the waning hours of legacy media conglomerates caring whether music journalism lives or dies. I’m heartbroken at the state of things right now and unsure how to respond. I’ve never considered myself a writer. I’ve never maintained a blog and I’ve never kept up a consistent writing practice, even privately. I’m not sure what the next phase of the internet is going to look like as companies restructure, die, or just get overrun by machine-generated slop.
What I do know that people will still be here, and that the best music recommendations have always come from people I know. I’ve always been grateful that my friends seem to enjoy me sharing my favorite music at the end of each year. So to change things up for 2024, I’d love to recommend some new music that I’ve been listening to.
New albums I’m listening to
Patrick Holland: “Infra”
Alright, I’m breaking my own rules already. This is technically a “mixtape,” but don’t let that dissuade you, this is some of Patrick Holland’s (fka Project Pablo) best instrumental work in a while. If you’ve been following his releases for a few years you’ll know the Montreal-based producer has the dance floor chops. His 2019 “Software” EP and his “Live in Montreal” set are two of my favorite atmospheric, dance-heavy releases of the past few years. But Holland’s never been one to stick in a single lane, as 2022 saw him collaborating with indie-pop legends Tops and putting out a fantastic vocal debut record.
“Infra” sees Holland return to form in the best way possible, sneaking in some of his most infectious grooves to date. Opener “Third Rail” features a late drop-out beat-switch to frantic, syncopated, synth plunks and the following “Boot,” featuring CFCF, are immediate highlights on the tape, but the rest is packed full of little gems to digest on repeated listens. “S Mobile” and “High Noon” feature standout plucky bass rhythms that keep momentum through the tape’s atmospheric midpoints, and a couple of slower cuts featuring guitars provide a gentle off-ramp for the back-half. Maybe these are all just b-sides Holland tossed together, but I don’t think I’d care if they were. As low-key as this release is, it’s one I’ll be no-doubt be returning to all year.
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music
Loukeman: “Sd-2”
Let’s pause for a second. If you haven’t already listened to Loukeman’s 2021 release “Sd-1,” stop what you’re doing and go spin that 4 or 5 times for good measure. I came to Sd-1 pretty late myself in 2022, but even a year after its release, it was still one of the most refreshing and inventive takes on sample-heavy dance music I’d heard at the time. I remember being totally dumbfounded when I heard a thumping house take on a Lomelda song on that record, just a couple of tracks after sampling Men I Trust. It shouldn’t work at all, but it does.
Loukeman continues to push the boundaries of this formula on Sd-2, slamming familiar vocal passages into unfamiliar territory. The three-track run of “Snoopy,” “Winzzz,” and “Brokenheart” in the opening half are some of the coolest and most earwormy tracks I’m probably going to hear all year. While the latter half of the record does lean a bit sleepy, it’s a welcome reprieve from the catchy chaos of the opening. I love a producer that can chop up a vocal sample into complete deconstructed gibberish and still get the melody stuck in my head. Burial comes to mind as I write that (more on him next month…), but Loukeman has carved out a completely unique space for these shuffled-up, brilliant tracks, and I’ll be waiting in anticipation to see what Sd-3 has in store.
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music
Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau, & Carlos Niño: “Subtle Movements”
If you weren’t already aware, surely André 3000’s album drop last year clued some of you in: we are in peak new-age jazz revival. There were so many incredible jazz releases last year that I genuinely couldn’t keep up with them (maybe I’ll do a little list of my favorite jazz records of 2023 sometime soon? Let me know what you think). But if there was one person I’d point to if asked who’s responsible for fanning the flames of the spiritual jazz rennaissance, it would without hesitation be Carlos Niño. Botofasina, Mercereau, and Niño were all key collaborators on last year’s New Blue Sun, but Niño is undoubtedly the glue. Collaborating with contemporary geniuses like Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Laaraji, Photay, Sam Gendel, Kamasi Washington, and so many more, it feels impossible to try and quantify the interconnected web of the Niño-verse. Just start clicking through the related artists and let it roll.
“Subtle Movements,” however, unquestionably has Surya taking the lead. Across its cleverly-paced, 7 ‘long-short-long’ tracks, Botofasina’s keys and synths are the driving force, creating a deep pool of melody for Niño and Mercereau to gracefully swim through. It’s hard to not feel enveloped by the warm cascade, especially after soothing chants of “So much love” welcome you into depths and swells of this charming record.
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music
Gianni Brezzo: “Filigrani”
Gianni Brezzo, the project of German-based multi-instrumentalist Marvin Horsch, hits us with a short-but-extremely-sweet follow-up to his outstanding “Tutto Passa” (one of my personal favorites of 2022) and 2023’s “Soundscapes Vol. 1.” On “Filigrani,” Horsch continues to expand his Italian-influenced, guitar-driven jazz into smoother and smoother territory, with saxophones by collaborators Inga Rothammel and Florian Fries truly sending this record into cruise control. Maybe this is just an EP, but who’s even counting? I’m too busy getting lost in the woodwinds.
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music
Tegu: “Forest Hills”
Askasha System’s 2018 “Temple Images” still remains an underrated release in the turn-of-the-decade “lo-fi house” canon. If you’re into that sort of thing at all and you missed that one, I definitely recommend checking it out. Hunter P. Thompson has released a ton under the Askasha System moniker since, including a solid full-length LP just last year. This new moniker “Tegu” sees Thompson finding an outlet for something more low-key, stripped down, and improvisational. “Forest Hills” takes you through the naturescape looking-glass depicted on Tegu’s deep green cassette cover, with reverb-drenched bird calls peppered into slow, pulsing synth rhythms. It’s a saccharine and meditative little gift from Thompson, who recorded the bulk of the material over a single 24-hour period.
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music
Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel: “The Room”
Fabiano do Nascimento’s 2020 album “Prelúdio” is without a doubt one of the most played records in my apartment. The Brazilian guitarist has the ability to fill up a room with just an acoustic guitar. Nascimento gesturally draws music rooted in Afro-brazilian folklore and bossa-nova with a modern jazz-composer’s pen. It’s incredibly lush, vivid, complex, and mystifyingly soothing all at once. Now imagine all of that with a saxophone.
Sam Gendel is possibly one of current jazz’s most unique experimentalists. He writes for Vampire Weekend, he improvises entire albums while his visual artist partner illustrates the cover art, and he also (allegedly) plays grindcore in a porta-potty wearing a clown mask. He might be a genius, or an idiot, or both. But it’s hard to deny the creative impact he has on his collaborators.
“The Room” sees Nascimento and Gendel interpreting and recontextualizing ten South American folkloric tunes, recorded in just two days. The result is a collection of brilliant and expressive weavings of nylon guitar and soprano sax. The album reaches a climax on “Poeira,” which might go down as my favorite instrumental track of the year. If there’s one of these albums I think anyone reading this will absolutely fall in love with, it’s this one.
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music
오미일곱 (omilgop): a trail of fading
The description of omilgop’s album “a trail of fading” on bandcamp is just three lines:
This is my shy confession.
It’s not a very special letter.
nevertheless, I hope it reaches someone.
Well, it reached me.
I won’t claim to be an “expert” on many things in this world, but I played bass for five years in a slow, loud, emotional, rock band. My bandmates and I studied Codeine, Low, Slint, Red House Painters, Grouper, Songs: Ohia, Carissa’s Wierd, Bedhead, and Bluetile Lounge like they were religious text, dissecting every riff, every drum fill, every vocal delivery. I flew to New York in December of 2018 to see Duster’s second ever comeback show before I had any business spending that kind of money and way before TikTok caught wind of them. So indulge my pretension here for a second when I say I might know a thing or two about a loosely-defined genre of music that the internet has awkwardly labeled ‘slowcore.’
I unfortunately can’t parse the Korean lyrics, but omilgop doesn’t need to sing in English for me to understand that this is an incredible slowcore album by someone who clearly has a deep love for the genre. The album’s brief, gentle introduction, “transmission tower,” begins with a hesitantly whistled melody from what sounds like a field recording taken while walking outside, with windy choppiness interrupting the audio. Compressed acoustic guitar strumming takes over, a simple drum machine starts, a two-note keyboard motif plays along, and finally, the vocals. It’s almost nothing at all, but I’m hooked. omilgop has an incredibly soft, warm, and sincere delivery that I could live in. What surprised me the most is how ambitious this DIY project gets afterward. “sunny” and “breakwater” crescendo into angelic post-rock anthems. “a clear hot air balloon,” spends half its runtime at a sluggish, Duster-esque pace before totally breaking into a double-time gallop that sounds like something out of toe’s discography.
If any of this sounds compelling at all, I urge you to give this one a listen. If you can buy it, all the better. As of writing this, this album only has a handful of supporters on bandcamp, and hasn’t even broken enough streams on Spotify to show streaming numbers yet. This album is really special and it’s probably going to be on rotation regularly for me.
Huge thanks to local Chicago music-writer and great Twitter follow Joshua Minsoo Kim for posting about this record.
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music
Astrid Sonne: “Great Doubt”
I don’t know if it’s because I’m a designer or my memory is just terrible, but I seem to only be able to remember things based on some sort of strange visual association. A week or two ago I saw some people talking about looking forward to Astrid Sonne’s new record coming out soon. I had no clue who that was by the name, so I went to look her up. “Oh, you mean green album cover with the weird silver bird-algae-like painted thing with an upside-down shadow on it? Of course, I love that album.” My familiarity was with the abstract, experimental, droning strings of 2021’s “outside of your lifetime,” which features only a light vocal appearance on the choral “Fields of Grass.”
With her new record, just as drastic as the shift in cover art, the Danish composer and viola player steps into the forefront as a captivating singer-songwriter. “Great Doubt” is a bizzare and beautiful listen. “Give my all” is a deconstructed cover of a 1997 Mariah Carey ballad. “Boost” makes me think I should be backtracking through Metroid Prime’s frustrating lava pits. It’s all strange but it all works.
This album shares a lot of qualities with fellow Danish songwriter ML Buch’s “Suntub,” just released in October of last year. It shouldn’t be too surprising that the two are friends, collaborators, and are even touring together next month. “Suntub” grew on me with every listen to become one of my favorites of 2023, and in just a few spins over the past week since its release, “Great Doubt” is proving itself just as dissectible and compelling.
New songs I’m listening to
Julia Holter: “Spinning”
Julia has been quiet on the solo front since her 2018 album Aviary, keeping occupied with soundtrack work over the past few years. She emerges back into the indie art-pop spotlight with “Spinning,” a super weird, thumping, exhilarating, and powerful comeback. In a post-Stranger-Things-Kate-Bush-TikTok-blow-up world, I can’t imagine her new album slipping under people’s radars, but just in case, here’s a reminder that Julia’s back.
Four Tet: “Loved”
I don’t need to tell you who Four Tet is at this point. Skrillex and Fred Again.. have launched Kieran Hebden into the electronic hall-of-fame stratosphere where he absolutely belongs.
AEVA: “Dewlet”
I have no idea how I stumbled onto AEVA’s 2022 album “lay 2000,” but I’m glad I did. The London producer’s low-key, chillout breakbeat jams are super charming and have me on the lookout for what’s next. “Dewlet” feels simultaneously reserved and forward-thinking. Or maybe I just love the little low-poly goblin on the single cover.
Lone: “Triton”
Lone’s 2012 album “Galaxy Garden” got me through some late working nights in college. Matt Cutler has continued to push the boundaries of his decade-and-a-half project, all while keeping some signature “Lone” quality about every single track. “Triton” is no different, shifting seamlessly between bouncy techno and fuzzy, skittery downtempo.
METTE & Sam Gellaitry: “DARLING DRIVE”
Similar to my history with Lone, I’ve been listening to Sam G’s music since he started his original “Escapism” EP series in 2015 when he was just 18 years old. It was and still is some of the most creative, wacky, and slapping electronic and future-bass music ever made. Sam has gone on to carve a path in electro-pop for himself, as well as going on to produce some killer tracks for breakout breakbeat star PinkPantheress. “DARLING DRIVE” continues his collaborative pop journey with an ultra-danceable funky hit.
Jamie xx: “It’s So Good”
Title says it all.
Joy Orbison: “flight fm”
UK dance music is coming out strong in January. This one doesn’t let up and the bass synth on this thing is just gross (complimentary).
Fader Cap: “Echo Chamber”
Didn’t include this in the album section, but this whole EP from Scotland’s Fader Cap is a blast. Pretty straightforward, soft, acid-light techno, but sometimes that’s all you need.
Golemm: “Badness”
I discovered Golemm’s “Hazardous Bubble Basics” last year and ended up putting it on a lot during heavy work sessions. There is a lot of breakcore, jungle, and DnB popping up around the internet lately, but Golemm gets a bit more playful with it than most, and “Badness” is a prime example.
Vegyn: “The Path Less Travelled”
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Vegyn live twice now, the most recent time being just last month. I’m continually impressed by what he brings to the table. 2022’s “Don’t Follow Me Because I’m Lost Too!!” is such a monumental work. I’ve already pre-ordered “The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions” and anticipate it being high on my list for the end of the year.
Elkka & John Carroll Kirby: “Passionfruit”
If you know me you’ll know how much of a JCK fan I am. Last year’s “Blowout” ended up at my number nine spot for the year. I realize I had come across Elkka’s “I Just Want To Love You” a few times over the past year or two too. Great collab, excited for whatever comes next out of this.
Bullion & Carly Rae Jepsen: “Rare”
If you know me you’ll know how much of a CRJ fan I am. But the Bullion collab is a welcome surprise. He’s partially responsible for my 2023 album of the year so I can’t wait to see how this new album turns out. This track gives me high hopes already.
CVMILLE: “Sweat”
I’m new to Argentina’s CVMILLE, but this track has me instantly hooked.
Erika de Casier: “Lucky”
What can I even say about Erika de Casier. She made my favorite album of 2019. She wrote the biggest pop hit of last year. She’s a genius. We’re so lucky to be getting a new album from her this year.
454: “ONE IN A MILLION”
Released in the last days of 2023, this track has easily been my most listened to this month so far. I can’t stop. I am in love with 454’s high-pitched flow that falls somewhere on the spectrum between Playboi Carti’s baby voice and 645AR. It’s addicting. Keep an eye on Surf Gang.
evilgiane, xaviersobased, Nettspend: “40"
Like I said, keep an eye on Surf Gang. This is a blast.
BoofPaxkMooky: “Ready4Guap!”
Ok, I gotta admit I’m getting old and having a hard time keeping up with the new generation of rappers. But I was happy to stumble on this North Carolina-based rapper’s new track. The production’s got that Pierre Borne flavor, so I’m down.
Galcher Lustwerk: “Played Out — Version 2”
A chill little b-side from Galcher. In this house we love Galcher.
Kim Gordon: “BYE BYE”
I feel like this shouldn’t be a surprise considering how her 2019 record sounds, but Kim’s new track still managed to smack me in the face out of nowhere. Absolutely nasty earth-shaking bass hits while what I can only describe as a “car door open chime” repeatedly goes off in the background. Kim deadpan reads off a… packing list? I don’t know, but it rules.
Eyedress & 1999 WRITE THE FUTURE: “rUN tHE FaDE”
Fuzzy slow stoner jam from LA-based Eyedress with a cameo from Tim Robinson in the music video. I too wish Garfield was on the screen.
Helado Negro: “Best For You and Me”
Roberto Carlos Lange continues on the journey of making the sweetest ethereal pop songs imaginable. Any time I hear his voice I feel like I’m getting a warm hug from a dear friend. I hope it feels that way to you, too.
Hey, thanks for reading this far along. Here’s a playlist for your troubles. I’ll be doing my best to compile these together every month. Ultimately, this is a writing and organizing practice for me to synthesize something I’m already doing anyway. If you feel compelled, let me know what you think of the format and if you loved anything you found here.
What did you listen to this month?
Jason Combs is a senior brand designer at Medium. He writes, designs, and listens to music from his desk in Chicago, Illinois.
