If you’re annoyed that there are already new Christmas songs being released in the first week of November, how do you feel about a year-end list? They seem to come sooner and sooner every year, but this feels especially early: Gen-X-skewing UK music mag Uncut has leapt out of the gate with its year-end issue and its Best Albums of 2024 list.
Nick Cave is on the cover, which might give you a clue to the placement of Bad Seeds album Wild God on this list, which also includes records by Cindy Lee, Charli XCX, MJ Lenderman, The Cure, Adrianne Lenker, Jessica Pratt, Fontaines D.C., Arooj Aftab, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Vampire Weekend, Beth Gibbons, Mdou Moctar, Jack White, Rosali, Nilüfer Yanya, Leyla McCalla, Shabaka, David Gilmour, Bill Ryder-Jones, Cassandra Jenkins, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and more.
Check out Uncut‘s Best Albums of 2024 list below.
UNCUT – TOP 80 ALBUMS OF 2024
80. Leyla McCalla – Sun Without the Heat
79. Yasmin Williams – Acadia
78. Wadada Leo Smith – Central Park’s Mosaics of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens
77. Kali Uchis – ORQUÍDEAS
76. Personal Trainer – Still Willing
75. Pye Corner Audio – The Endless Echo
74. Dave Alvin – TexiCali
73. Nick Lowe – Indoor Safari
72. Laurie Anderson – Amelia
71. Beachwood Sparks – Across the River of Stars
70. Arab Strap – I’m totally fine with it 👍 don’t give a fuck anymore 👍
69. The Cure – Songs of a Lost World
68. Taylor Swift – THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT
67. John Canning Yates – The Quiet Portraits
66. Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us
65. Tindersticks – Soft Tissue
64. Billie Eilish – HIT ME HARD AND SOFT
63. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Glasgow Eyes
62. Kamasi Washington – Fearless Movement
61. IDLES – TANGK
60. Nadine Shah – Filthy Underneath
59. Charli XCX – BRAT
58. Linda Thompson – Proxy Music
57. Jlin – Akoma
56. Fievel Is Glauque – Rong Weicknes
55. Nilüfer Yanya – My Method Actor
54. Kaia Kater – Strange Medicine
53. Bonny Light Horseman – Keep Me On Your Mind/See You Free
52. BASIC – This Is BASIC
51. Chuck Johnson – Sun Glories
50. Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling & Andreas Werliin – Ghosted II
49. Still House Plants – If I don’t make it, I love u
48. David Gilmour – Luck and Strange
47. Sarah Davachi – The Head as Form’d in the Crier’s Choir
46. Charles Lloyd – The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
45. Laura Marling – Patterns in Repeat
44. Christopher Owens – I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair
43. Richard Thompson – Ship To Shore
42. Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More
41. Paul Weller – 66
40. Grandaddy – Blu Wav
39. Brown Horse – Reservoir
38. Dirty Three – Love Changes Everything
37. Shellac – To All Trains
36. Myriam Gendron – Mayday
35. Brittany Howard – What Now
34. Rosali – Bite Down
33. Willie Nelson – The Border
32. Beak> – >>>>
31. Mabe Fratti – Sentir Que No Sabes
30. Kim Gordon – The Collective
29. Oisin Leech – Cold Sea
28. Jake Xerxes Fussell – When I’m Called
27. English Teacher – This Could Be Texas
26. Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band – Loophole
25. Nala Sinephro – Endlessness
24. Phosphorescent – Revelator
23. The High Llamas – Hey Panda
22. Alan Sparhawk – White Roses, My God
21. John Cale – POPtical Illusion
20. Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Past Is Still Alive
19. Peter Perrett – The Cleansing
18. Shabaka – Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
17. Johnny Blue Skies – Passage du Desir
16. Bill Ryder-Jones – Iechyd Da
15. Jack White – No Name
14. Mdou Moctar – Funeral for Justice
13. Fontaines D.C. – Romance
12. Julia Holter – Something in the Room She Moves
11. Cassandra Jenkins – My Light, My Destroyer
10. Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood
9. Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee
8. MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks
7. The Smile – Wall of Eyes
6. Adrianne Lenker – Bright Future
5. Jessica Pratt – Here in the Pitch
4. Arooj Aftab – Night Reign
3. Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown
2. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – Woodland
1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Wild God