It’s year-end list season and one list that always stirs up a conversation is here: Pitchfork‘s 50 Best Albums of 2024. Like every year, you can guess a large chunk of the list based on which albums got high scores and Best New Music throughout the year, but things change throughout the year and it never totally lines up with that; some albums that got BNM are missing, and some that scored below an 8 are ranked very high, like skaiwater’s #gigi (which got a 7.4) coming at #12 and Astrid Sonne’s Great Doubt (which got a 7.7) coming in at #9.
Kendrick Lamar, who topped Pitchfork‘s song list with “Not Like Us,” does not make the list, though that shouldn’t be too surprising considering Pitchfork gave GNX a 6.6. Other artists who ranked high on the song list but didn’t make the album list include The Cure, Fontaines D.C., Geordie Greep, and Tems.
Artists who got BNM but didn’t make the list include Beyoncé, The Smile, Father John Misty, ScHoolboy Q, Brittany Howard, Los Campesinos!, Johnny Blue Skies (aka Sturgill Simpson), Sumac, Yaya Bey, Hovvdy, Empress Of, Jeff Parker, Nicolas Jaar, Body Meat, and more.
If you looked at their list of the 100 Best Albums of the 2020s So Far from this past October, you can probably guess that Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee comes in at #1, Charli XCX’s Brat comes in at #2, Jessica Pratt’s Here in the Pitch comes in at #3, and MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks comes in at #4–all consistent with that list–but it changes from there. The fifth-highest ranked album of 2024 on that list from two months ago was Helado Negro’s Phasor, which comes in at #47 on today’s list.
Outside of these nerdy ranking observations, Pitchfork‘s list remains an amazing source to catch up on so much of the great music released this year and probably to find something new. A-list rappers like Kendrick and Tyler, the Creator may not be here, but you might find an underground rap project that you missed. Usual 2024 year-end list suspects like Waxahatchee, Kim Gordon, Mannequin Pussy, Mk.gee, Magdalena Bay, Adrianne Lenker, Vampire Weekend, and Sabrina Carpenter are here, as are experimental and electronic gems like Nala Sinephro (at #5!), Rafael Toral, Jlin, and European free jazz quartet أحمد [Ahmed].
See Pitchfork‘s full top 50 and read their commentary on each pick here. Here’s the top 25:
25. Jlin: Akoma
24. Ka: The Thief Next to Jesus
23. Adrianne Lenker: Bright Future
22. Tyla: Tyla
21. Clairo: Charm
20. Mabe Fratti: Sentir que no sabes
19. Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk
18. Mk.gee: Two Star & the Dream Police
17. Arooj Aftab: Night Reign
16. DORIS: Ultimate Love Songs Collection
15. Still House Plants: If I don’t make it, I love u
14. Rafael Toral: Spectral Evolution
13. Nilüfer Yanya: My Method Actor
12. skaiwater: #gigi
11. Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven
10. Kim Gordon: The Collective
9. Astrid Sonne: Great Doubt
8. Bladee: Cold Visions
7. Mount Eerie: Night Palace
6. Waxahatchee: Tigers Blood
5. Nala Sinephro: Endlessness
4. MJ Lenderman: Manning Fireworks
3. Jessica Pratt: Here in the Pitch
2. Charli XCX: BRAT
1. Cindy Lee: Diamond Jubilee