Every Album I Have Listened To In The First 10 Days Of 2024

I started January by exploring lists of the best albums of 2023. Particularly recommendations from Annabelle Kline, a hiphop, r&b and rap music curator who I admire. This month she introduced me to albums such as ‘I digress…’ by Kelly Moonstone, ‘Burning Desire’ by MIKE, ‘Lahai’ by Sampha, ‘Sundial’ by Noname, ‘The Great Escape’ by Larry June and The Alchemist, ‘Never Enough’ by Daniel Caesar, and ‘Girl in the Half Pearl’ by Liv.e. While none of these were life changing albums for me I was definitely exposed to a lot of interesting music in genres that are not always my go to. Out of these albums I would recommend listening to ‘Lahai’ by Sampha and ‘Sundial’ by Noname. These were both notable creative projects with 'Lahai' being a mix of r&b and singer songwriter and 'Sundial' a smooth and gentle hip hop and rap album. 

In the first 10 days I have also listened to some classic albums such as ‘Diana Ross and The Supremes Join The Temptations’ by Diana Ross and the Supremes and The Temptations. This album was introduced to me by my partner's younger sister who shares a passion for music. We both commonly share new finds with each other that we think the other will enjoy. While this wasn’t a stand out album to me I am really happy to have listened to it, especially because it was such a personal recommendation. I also listened to ‘I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!’ by Janis Joplin. To me this album is the definition of a must listen as it really captures the essence of what I know to be true about Janis Joplin. Next, I listened to a great deal of Elton John. I made a goal for myself to listen to every Elton John album in order and so far this month I have listened to ‘Caribou (Remastered 1995)’, ‘Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy’, ‘Rock Of The Westies’, and ‘Blue Moves’. None of these were my absolute favorites from his catalog so far but I did really enjoy ‘Blue Moves’ which according to Rolling Stone is an unpopular opinion. I felt that it had more interest than some of his other work as it didn’t feel like he was just trying to write catchy hits which is the same reason Rolling Stone critics rated it a 2.5 out of 5. To me this gave it more soul and made it feel like a piece of art.

Last week I started a Discord page allowing music lovers from around the world to connect with each other by listening to the same album every day, coming together in a text channel to discuss the project. So far we have listened to ‘Pokaz slajdów’ by Kwiat Jabłoni, Marketplace by The Namby Pamby, ‘earlier from 20’ by runo plum, ‘One Sided’ by Sydney Rose, ‘Drunk On A Flight’ by Eloise, ‘Forward / Slash’ by Leanna Firestone, and ‘Sleepless in_’ by Epik High. These have all been recommendations from members of this Discord community which has been the most fulfilling new way I have been discovering music lately. My favorite finds so far have been the Polish electronic folk pop album ‘Pokaz slajdów’ by Kwiat Jabłoni and the indie jazz pop record ‘Drunk On A Flight’ by Eloise. If you are interested in joining this community there is a link to it in my Linktree which you can find in my Instagram or TikTok bio. 

If you are interested in keeping up with every new album I listen to this year I made a Spotify playlist for exactly that. It is called ‘An Album a Day’ and I add my favorite song from every album I listen to. 

Thank you for reading, I would love to hear what you’ve been listening to in the comments! 

<3 Zara’s Mixtapes