Never forget: we were music writers before we were podcasters, and the peak of summer will forever act as a siren’s call for us to compile the last six month’s worth of music. Old habits die hard.
Speaking of old, we’re ever aware of our status as creaky millennials, and so to bring a bit of youthful spritz to the table we welcome back our first ever return guest, Henry Bruce-Jones.
Last time we hosted Henry he delivered a timely biopsy of FACT, our shared alma mater, mere hours after the plug was pulled on the site’s online editorial side, as well as joining in with a wider assessment of the last 15 years of music journalism. But as well as industry insight Henry’s got good taste for days, so we knew we needed him back to share his favourite gems from the mossiest corners of Bandcamp, YouTube, SoundCloud and TikTok.
In this episode, we kick off with the gaseous moods of Naemi, Bianca Scout and Chanel Beads. Are we in the midst of a brave new wave of shoegaze, or has the NTS early morning schedule pumped one too many Cocteau Twins songs into the water supply? We compare and contrast Erika de Casier and Clara La San’s throwback R&B styles, and dive into some of the year’s most interesting hip-hop records with both feet: They Hate Change (pictured), Jawnino, and Cooper B. Handy & Surf Gang.
In club corner we celebrate recent releases by Facta, Parris, Emma dj, Verraco, Less-O, Jabes, SOPHIE and Actress (his best album in years?). We get into the various sides of Mica Levi and deliberate the meaning of some of those mossy gems we mentioned before, from Nudo, Hafeez and NMNL.
We close on some of the most bonkers Bandcamp releases of the year, unwittingly selected by our former colleague Miles Bowe, whose Acid Test column is an incredible resource for this stuff. Unfamiliar with Lust$ickPuppy, FIN and Phil Geraldi? No matter – these are the sort of discoveries that, in Chal’s words, are a reminder that we love music. Jaded insiders? Us? Never!
A quick note: we didn’t think it worthwhile to debrief some of the 2024 albums that we’ve already previously discussed at length on the pod, but needless to say that Charli XCX’s Brat, Iglooghost’s Tidal Memory Exo, Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee, Couch Slut’s You Could Do It Tonight, Astrid Sonne’s Great Doubt, claire rousay’s sentiment and A. G. Cook’s Britpop (which Chal reviewed for Pitchfork) are still very much doing the business.
(We also didn’t get round to Beth Gibbons’ solo album in time but we’re feeling confident on that one. Look, we’re not staff writers anymore, we don’t have to do anything at the appropriate time, OK?)
So what do you all reckon? A good year for music so far? Or a bundle of over-hyped bobbins? And what have we missed? Get in touch with your opinions, please.
If you like what we’re doing on No Tags then please like, rate, review or subscribe on your podcast app of choice, and if you really like what we’re doing, consider supporting us via our paid tier. It’s only £5 a month, and seriously helps us keep doing what we’re doing. Enjoy!
Everything we played in this episode:
naemi - ‘It Feels So Good’ (feat. Erika)
Bianca Scout - ‘Desert’
Chanel Beads - ‘Police Scanner’
Erika de Casier - ‘Ex-Girlfriend’ (feat. Shygirl)
Clara La San - ‘Things You Didn’t Know’
They Hate Change - ‘Wallabees & Weejuns’
Jawnino - ‘It’s Cold Out’
LUCY (Cooper B. Handy) & Surf Gang - ‘Jack & The Beanstalk’
NMNL - ‘#BEBO’ (feat. Kino Rose)
nudo - ‘soñando jales’
Facta - ‘Brain Drain’
Parris - ‘Passionfruit’
Verraco - ‘Godspeed >’
Less-O - ‘Ghost’
Emma dj - ‘I Fuck With Lies’
Jabes - ‘Tech Heresy’
Mica Levi - ‘slob air’
SOPHIE - ‘Reason Why’ (feat. BC Kingdom & Kim Petras)
Hafeez - ‘Shine’
Actress - ‘Dolphin Spray’
FIN - ‘Histamine’
Lust$ickPuppy - ‘American Healthcare’
D.J. VLK - ‘150 Grand’
Phil Geraldi - ‘Chase Your Love’
23: The best music of 2024 so far