Media highlights 2024 (July to Dec)
Books and music I enjoyed from the second half of 2024.
Every 6 months I round up some of my favourite books and music from that period.
Previous lists:
Ordering remains arbitrary. You can also read this post on my website (for more images and notes).
Let me know if you find something from this list that you end up enjoying!
Books
I keep track of what I read on Goodreads (some written reviews also live here).
A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World — Gregory Clark (review)
Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life — Nick Lane (review)
What Is Life? with Mind and Matter and Autobiographical Sketches — Erwin Schrödinger, Roger Penrose
Immune: a Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive — Philipp Dettmer
Proof and the Art of Mathematics — Joel David Hamkins
The Origins of Political Order and Political Order and Political Decay — Francis Fukuyama (review)
Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation — Byrne Hobart, Tobias Huber
Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa — Jason K. Stearns (review)
The Enigma of Reason — Hugo Mercier, Dan Sperber (review)
How the World Became Rich: The Historical Origins of Economic Growth — Mark Koyama, Jared Rubin
Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking — Cecilia Heyes (review)
Grand Transitions: How the Modern World Was Made — Vaclav Smil
Order without Design: How Markets Shape Cities — Alain Bertaud
The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics — Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
Books That Matter: The Federalist Papers — Joseph L. Hoffman
Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation — Bryan Caplan, Ady Branzei (Illustrator)
Alexander Hamilton — Ron Chernow
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China — Ezra F. Vogel
My four favourite books from the entire year were Order Without Design, A Farewell to Alms, Infrastructure, and Modern Principles of Economics.
Music
I log most things on rateyourmusic.com. I also have a Spotify with some playlists.
Pop
Magdalena Bay - Imaginal Disk (2024)
Candidate for AOTY? As good live as you’d expect.
[王若琳 Joanna Wang] - 破爛酒店 (Hotel la Rut) (2024)
Fishmans - 宇宙 日本 世田谷 (Uchu Nippon Setagaya) (1997)
Perfume - ⊿ (Triangle) (2009)
Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon (2015)
혁오 Hyukoh & 落日飛車 Sunset Rollercoaster - AAA (2024)
Floaty ‘sophisti-pop’ with moments of silliness. The standout tracks are ‘Kite War’ and ‘Aaaannnnteeeeennnaaaaaa’.
Mk.gee - Two Star & the Dream Police (2024)
Jazz
Sun Ra and His Arkestra - Sleeping Beauty (1979)
Pharoah Sanders - Love in Us All (1974)
John Coltrane - Impressions (1963)
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers - The Witch Doctor (1968)
McCoy Tyner - Extensions (1973)
Ray Barretto - Acid (1968)
Electronic
[長谷川白紙 Hakushi Hasegawa] - 魔法学校 (Mahōgakkō) (2024)
Charmaine Lee & Ikue Mori - Elevator Music (2024)
Minimalism / ambient / instrumental
Ernest Hood - Neighborhoods (1975)
It is a […] work of ambient music that explores the soundscapes of Portland, Oregon suburbia through […] field recordings layered with Hood’s zither and synthesizer melodies.
toe - For Long Tomorrow (2009)
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Love Is a Stream (2010)
Daniel Ögren - Fastingen -92 (2020)
Djeli Moussa Diawara - Djeli Moussa Diawara (1983)
Voice Actor - Sent From My Telephone (2022)
Sliced up ASMR-y voice notes plus strange sample-heavy backing. Hypnagogic, exhaustingly long, weirdly brilliant?
Nala Sinephro - Endlessness (2024)
Mostly saxophone, synth; and occasional drums from the phenomenal Morgan Simpson, formerly Black Midi. Epic — a worthy successor to Pharaoh Sanders and Floating Points’ Promises.
[吉村弘 Hiroshi Yoshimura] - Wet Land (1993)
Orchestral / classical
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Herbert von Karajan - Scheherazade / Polovtsian Dances (1986)
Dresden Staatskapelle / Franz Konwitschny / David Oistrakh - Concerto for Violin, op. 35 (1955)
Tenebrae / Nigel Short - Miserere (2006)
Especially this truly beautiful rendering of Miserere.
Sequentia - Canticles of Ecstasy (1994)
Tonus Peregrinus - Sacred Music From Notre-Dame Cathedral (2005)
Kelly Moran - Moves in the Field (2024)
[S]howcases duets with the Yamaha Disklavier, a technologically advanced version of a player piano. Moran [uses] the Disklavier to write intricate piano parts that go beyond human capabilities.
Michael Galasso - Scenes (1983)
Louis Cole, Metropole Orkest & Jules Buckley - nothing (2024)
[久石譲 Joe Hisaishi] & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - A Symphonic Celebration: Music From the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki (2023)
Singer-songwriter / folk
Mark Fry - Dreaming With Alice (1972)
Judee Sill - Heart Food (1973)
“Sill never released anything else.” By the mid-70s drug dependency from chronic back pain “dropped [Sill] almost completely off the music landscape.” Pure and unadorned; deserves comparing with Carole King or Nick Drake.
Archie Fisher - Will Ye Gang, Love (1976)
Olivia Dean - Messy (2023)
Father John Misty - Mahashmashana (2024)
Gustavo Cerati - Bocanada (1999)
Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was the Night (1998)
Fleet Foxes - Live on Boston Harbor (2024)
Rock
Demos recorded on a phone. But the sound is huge, hypnotic, endless: King Crimson soundtracking Mad Max. Excited for their first proper studio album.
Geordie Greep - The New Sound (2024)
Ghetto Brothers - Power-Fuerza (1972)
Hip hop
This is — and I try not to exaggerate — unbelievably good.
Lupe Fiasco - Samurai (2024)
JPEGMAFIA - I Lay Down My Life for You (2024)
Ka - The Thief Next to Jesus (2024)
Playlists / sets
Kelly Lee Owens and BABY J boiler rooms
THE BUNNY RADIO: MONDEGREEN 2024
Tipping my hat to DF, who emailed to share this. “Every four years or so, the band Phish hosts their own music festival, and with it comes something that Phish fans like obsess over nearly as much as the festival itself: a five-day radio station…”
My favourites from the entire year are: Imaginal Disk, AAA, Endlessness, Brat (of course), Terry Riley’s In C in Mali; Nicolás Jaar’s BBC Essential Mix. Great year for music.
Please let me know if you find something from this list which you end up enjoying!
