2024 was another eventful year at Joyzine HQ – we rounded off our 20th anniversary celebrations with a fantastic (if we do say so ourselves) compilation album featuring exclusive tracks from 32 of our favourite artists (you can get your hands on a copy here), curated a stage of outstanding UK bands at the New Colossus Festival in New York (read all about it here) and continued to bang on about our favourite new music, books, films and more to anyone who’d listen (which turned out to be more people than ever before – Joyzine was visited by readers from 186 countries during the year!).
As tradition dictates we must now condense all of that down into a list of individual favourites, though if you really want a flavour of everything we thought was great in 2024, have a scroll back through the website and pick any article and you’ll find something we loved enough to want to tell the world about it.
Last week we shared the top picks of our writing team (check them out here), today it’s the turn of our editors.
Paul Maps – Editor
New Musical Discovery: Jæd
When you’ve been writing about new music as long as I have, you occasionally find yourself in a rut, where everything feels like a run of the mill retread of something that’s gone before. Such situations need something truly special to pull you out of the torpor, and Jæd’s single ‘Bakkos’ and the album that followed it, I Loved The Gauntlet and There Was No Other Way, was an aural defibrillator which jolted me back to life. The array of textures, the unexpected tempo shifts and a voice that can shift from ethereal to demonic at the drop of a hat, it’s an astonishing debut and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Check out our interview with Jæd here.
Album: The Indelicates – Avenue QAnon
We need artists with the courage to venture outside of their cosy bubbles and try to understand what the fuck is going on with the world right now. The Indelicates have never been shy of speaking their minds or upsetting the right people, and went one step further with their astonishing seventh album Avenue QAnon, a record that delves into the opaque world of the American conspiracy theorists who have been a driving force behind Donald Trump’s rise to the office of the President of The United States of America. As close to an undercover documentary as any album I’ve come across, it tackles its subject matter with a well-balanced mixture of humour and empathy while packing some fantastic tunes to boot.
Special mentions should also go to Stephen Evens‘ gloriously eclectic Here Come The Lights and Joe Gideon‘s dark and spacious Altered Self (I was also honoured to be asked to write the liner notes for the reissue of Gideon’s former band Bikini Atoll’s debut LP Moratoria, which is out now via Bella Union and also well worth a listen).
The Indelicates: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bluesky: Simon – Julia / Discord
Single/EP: Gemma Rogers – No Future EP
London-based singer-songwriter Gemma Rogers unleashed these four tracks in October, packed with righteous fury and laced with an uncanny knack for a tune. Highlights include ‘Coming For The Top’s call for societal upheaval, the punchy beats of ‘Death Knocked Up’, ‘Never Have I Ever’s seething punky unload and the dark and echoey ‘No Future’. Oh wait, that’s all the tracks – I guess it’s all highlight.
Read our review of ‘Coming for The Top’ here
Gemma Rogers: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Gig: Art Brut at Electric Brixton
I’ve been writing about Art Brut for Joyzine since they were playing venues not much bigger than the one I’m typing this in now, and over the follow couple of decades they’ve become far more than a band to me and the hundreds who packed out Electric Brixton for this show. Art Brut gigs are now a life event, a class reunion that you actually look forward to attending. This show was part of a tour to promote a box-set release of their early work and every song was greeted like an old friend, every lyric sprechgesanged back at Eddie Argos, and the love from crowd to band to crowd permeated each and every note of their set.
Read my review of the gig here.
Art Brut: Website / Facebook / Instagram
TV Programme: Things You Should Have Done
This one caught me somewhat off-guard – going in with no expectations on a day when I just needed something to watch and this popped up on iPlayer – but I soon found myself laughing and crying along to the exploits of recently orphaned Lucia, a gormless, lethargic but strangely likeable adult child, tasked in her parents’ will with completing a list of less than Herculean tasks in order to inherit the family home. It’s at turns dark, surreal, heart-rending and very very silly – fingers crossed for a second series.
Podcast: The Coming Storm
The perfect companion to my favourite album of the year, the second series of The Coming Storm saw BBC journalist Gabriel Gatehouse move on from the QAnon conspiracy theory and the storming of the Capitol which formed the focus of the show’s initial run to try and understand why so many American’s believe that democracy in their country is under threat. He meets Jan 6th rioters, militia men who believe the FBI and CIA are conspiring against their country and shady tech millionaires and billionaires bankrolling conspiracy content online. It was a gripping listen throughout, albeit not one that filled me with optimism for the future of the planet.
The Coming Storm: BBC Sounds
Paul F Cook – Deputy Editor
ALBUM / EP / SINGLES
Like a lot of people, I struggle with choosing single things for end of year lists. The great joy in writing for Joyzine is having so many great releases constantly coming in so, it often comes down to things that stay with me long after the writing.
In 2024 I found myself playing Jane Weaver’s Love In Constant Spectacle a lot (my review here). I described it as Weaver hitting a ‘perfect moment’ in her career with a stunning mix of the organic and electronic, like folk from the future. Marika Hackman’s Big Sigh (my review here) was ‘lemon sharp and cuts like a poet’s scalpel’, a deeply personal album that returned to the exquisite pastoral reflection of her debut We Slept At Last.
The polar opposite to Jane Weaver and Marika Hackman was the nuclear fission of the Ogives Big Band who exploded into my headphones with their album Boisterous Love (more on this below) and one of the best band names this side of 80s Liverpool band Now Is The Time to Forget the Whimpering Child, Become the Warrior, Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! Whose album Bloom was a ‘sonic full-court press’ and ‘if Nikolai Tesla were alive and experimenting today, he would have TSTT playing at full volume in his laboratory’ (my review here).
GIGS
One of great things about moving to Bristol at the end of 2023 was the incredible gig scene. Like a compact London, it has a myriad of great venues within walking distance of the city centre. The three most outstanding gigs I saw in 2024 were perfect examples of the range Bristol offers, from the near 2000-seat Beacon at one end to Café Kino’s compact basement at the other.
Arooj Aftab – Bristol Beacon
It’s rare that I go to a gig with no knowledge of the artist. On the recommendation of friends, I got a ticket to see Arooj Aftab and from the opening song I regretted being so late to the party. This show was part of the tour to promote the album Night Reign. Aftab’s voice is remarkable, full of smoke with a gentle serpentine quality that uses the kind of intoxicating vocal curlicues you would expect from non-Western singing. The band were also outstanding, and I would love to name check them but was unable to find anything online.
Arooj Aftab: Website | Instagram | Facebook
Llyn y Cwn, Tommy Creep & Blind Peter – Café Kino, Bristol
This night was part of the Sound Sensitivity Program promoted by Chewing Glass, an immersive night of deeply resonant ambient music accompanied by video projections. Three mesmerising acts culminated in the ‘dark ambient’ work of Ben Powell aka Llyn Y Cwn who draws heavily on the landscape of his North Wales home. The room was transfixed by tracks taken from his album Megaliths alongside stunning kaleidoscopic black and white visuals. You can read my review here.
Llyn Y Cwn socials: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Tommy Creep: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Chewing Glass Collective: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Buzz ‘Ayaz – The Jam Jar, Bristol
Buzz ‘Ayaz hail from both sides of the conflicted Cyprus city of Nicosia and this show was promoting their self-titled debut album. Their mix of microtonal music and infectious rhythm got the Thursday night audience jumping. You can read my review here.
Buzz’ Ayaz: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
NEW MUSICAL DISCOVERIES
Ogives Big Band blew me away with their single ‘Super Sanity’ with its glorious lo-tech, high concept video. I had high hopes for their album Boisterous Love and it totally delivered a set of songs that “sit in the centre of a Venn diagram that has Rush on one side and Motörhead on the other”, delivering a jazz-metal sonic assault of Wagnerian proportions.
Watch ‘Super Sanity’
Dead Pioneers were another act that slapped me hard on the first listen with its “furious collage of spoken word, punk swagger and TED Talk”. Politics and Punk have always been good friends when they speak truth to power and their eponymous album delivers its message with irony, blunt commentary and humour.
Watch ‘Bad Indian’
Dead Pioneers socials: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
FILM
The Holdovers
I saw this at the start of 2024 when the cold of winter chimed perfectly with the December setting of this film. Set in 1970 it has a stellar performance from Paul Giamatti as unlikeable Barton Academy teacher Paul Hunham stuck over Christmas with ‘holdover’ Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who won an Oscar for this performance). This unlikely trio form a bond that helps each one in different ways. It is bitter-sweet, deeply touching, wryly funny and as far from a Hallmark Christmas movie as you can get. As many people are saying, it is fast becoming as much of a seasonal-watch staple as It’s A Wonderful Life and The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Nothing But The Best (restored DVD Reissue)
This 1964 film was remastered and released in 2024 on DVD as part of its 60th anniversary. Alan Bates (Women In Love, Far From the Madding Crowd) stars as an ambitious young real estate clerk Jimmy Brewster, who sets his sights on getting to the top at work and socially and a chance meeting with thoroughly disreputable aristocrat played by Denholm Elliott sets him on his own disreputable path. It’s a wonderful glimpse into 1960s London; the class system and it’s a surprisingly dark comedy even by today’s standards. Available through all good DVD retailers.
BOOK
The Waiting (a Ballard and Bosch Novel) by Michael Connelly
When I’m not sifting through Joyzine submissions or listening to music I usually have an audiobook on the go; especially when I’m out walking. My taste is not especially highbrow, I like well-written crime drama and Michael Connelly is the apex predator of crime fiction. Not only is he one of the best-selling fiction writers his series on Detective Harry Bosch has evolved into some of the most lean and compelling storytelling of this genre (see also The Lincoln Lawyer and Jack McEvoy). With Bosch now semi-retired Connelly has introduced a new, younger LAPD detective Renée Ballard, and The Waiting involves a spate of killings which hark back to one of LA’s most infamous murders. Connelly’s writing is often brutal with a moral code that occasionally sits outside my liberal outlook, but his ability to keep me listening has often made me walk far further than I intended.
TV / STREAMING
ROBODOC – The Creation of Robocop
This is a four-part, in-depth documentary about the making of the 1987 film Robocop directed by Paul Verhoven (Soldier of Orange, Starship Troopers, Total Recall, Showgirls). This is an incredibly deep dive into everything from the original script, how it was financed, putting the cast together and the trials and tribulations of creating Verhoven’s dystopian vision of corporate America run rampant. If you love the film as I do, then it’s a must-watch. I’d buy that for a dollar but if you’re a Prime Video member then it’s free.
PODCASTS
Once again Radio 4 continue to produce the two best shows about music and film out there: Add To Playlist with Jeffrey Boakye and Anna Phoebe plus its sister show Screenshot with Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones. Both mix detail and delight in their subject matter. Add to Playlist has the simple premise of 2 hosts and 2 guests who choose a song inspired by the previous person’s choice. Each song is picked over illuminating the subject matter, historical context and musical structure. Guests have included David Arnold, Nitin Sawney, Anne Dudley, Brian Eno, Johnny Marr, Tom Jones, Rhodri Marsden, Dinara Klinton, and Neil Brand. All 87 episodes are currently available to stream and download to the BBC iPlayer app and you can read my love letter to the show and Q&A with Jeffrey Boakye here.
Screenshot is a superlative programme analysing film. Presenters Mark Kermode and Ellen E Jones agree on most things but in each episode they take on an aspect of the week’s topic and dig down to understand a film or genre, often talking to the key players involved. Subjects have included Christmas TV traditions, the western, censorship, 50 years of Don’t Look Now, and a favourite of mine: folk horror. There are currently 80+ episodes to stream and download from BBC iPlayer.
ART
Man In The Woods exhibition – That Gallery, Bristol
Exhibitions didn’t feature enough in my year but I was lucky enough to catch the preview of this exhibition. Man In The Woods has been posting his Friday Walks on Instagram for six years and gathered over 15,000 followers; people in thrall to the beautiful vistas and gentle crunch of flora as he walks through the countryside every week. Fans include Weird Walk and This Country’s Charlie Cooper who included him in an episode of his Myth Country series. This small but perfectly curated exhibition included work in a variety of mediums including print, pencil, acrylic, wood, canvas, and cross-stitch.
THEY SERVED
Shakamoto Investigation
They first crashed into my life in 2019 when they supported Drahla at Studio 9294 and I bought a CD with a cover that had previously been Cooplands Bakery bag and still contained the remnants of flaky pastry. This is a band that caused naughty-but-nice havoc and even produced their own hot sauce, but sadly 2024 was their swansong with the release of their final self-titled album (my review here) and I feel this sums up what I feel about their music: a ‘glorious, disorderly, hunk-of-drunk-funk-racing-downhill-without-any-brakes ride and I’ve loved every minute’.
Deap Vally
I was at their first UK gig at Dingwalls London, February 2013 and – unknowingly when I booked the tickets – ended up at their last ever gig at the Thekla, Bristol. Recording and touring can be punishing, made even more so now they are both now parents. But at that last gig they had lost none of the power and in-your-face attitude they always demonstrated. That a duo can produce such a full sound is beyond impressive and over the years they have developed a telepathic relationship that rises and falls throughout a gig. Despite their demise I can’t recommend their music enough, so why not dive in to their website.
LOOKING FORWARD TO 2025
One of my all-time favourite artists Sumie has a new album coming out in 2025. Having heard some of the new tracks played live at the Daylight Music show in November I cannot wait to hear the recorded versions so I can once again lose myself in one of the finest voices I’ve ever heard.
You may have seen the recent announcements from the anhygoel label Libertino that Adwaith have a new 23-track album coming out on 7 February 2025. One of the best aspects of writing about music is you often get to hear things in advance, and I can report that Solas is a masterpiece that I hope will propel the band to global success; nothing less than they deserve. You can pre-order the album here and there are vinyl and CD bundles with t-shirts.
I have been in contact with Jesper from Death Machine as I realised they had not released anything since 2021’s ‘Papercuts’. Having loved their ability to mix melancholy and optimism since hearing their self-titled 2016 album and follow up Cocoon I was over the moon when I found out they have a new single out on 17th January with a new album to follow in April.
Hayley Foster Da Silva – Reviews Editor
Album: The Baby Seals – Chaos
A tough choice, as so many good albums came out this year! Probably my favourite album was Baby Seals- Chaos, every track is an anthem, it’s filled with feminist rage, but also a touch of a cheekiness, making this such a fun listen.
The Baby Seals: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
EP: Jopy – Planet Zombie EP
There were so many good EPs! But I will choose Jopy- Planet Zombie– Jopy are a queer, neurodivergent band with a trans female singer. Their songs talk of their experiences of being ‘othered’ but in a fun fantastical way with songs that feature vampires, zombies and vampires!
Jopy: Instagram / Facebook
Single: Pythies – Eclipse
Again, there was so much good music this year, it’s hard to make a choice! Thinking about songs that I played on heavy rotation for me- I’m going to choose Pythies song- Eclipse. Pythies are a french riot grrrl band, and this song is witchy, grungy and menacing with it’s refrain ‘Eclipse, Eclipse, it’s coming for you!’ I’m so looking forward to hearing more from this band.
Pythies: Instagram / Facebook / TikTok / Bandcamp
Gig: The Courettes at The Dome, London
I went to loads of fantastic gigs this year! Again, such a tough choice, but I am going to go for The Courettes at The Dome. This band far surpassed my expectations, as their performance was ten times more electrifying than simply listening to their music. Singer Flavia was a firecracker, filled with such vibrant and joyful energy it was contagious.
The Courettes: Facebook / Instagram
Festival – LOUD WOMEN Fest at Rich Mix, London
Finally an easy one to answer! I only went to one festival and it was great as it has been every year I’ve attended- LOUD WOMEN Fest– a day festival at Rich Mix in London. I was unable to attend for the whole day this year, but still managed to watch 6 fantastic bands. The atmosphere at Loud Women is so welcoming and friendly, every year is a delight, and every year I discover a whole list of bands I didn’t know about before.
LOUD WOMEN: Website / Facebook / Instagram
New Musical Discovery: Lemon Power
Again, so many! I’ve mentioned a lot of them already, but one I’ve not mentioned yet is Lemon Power. I was impressed by their multi genre single ‘Blackout’, and also got to see them live, and again was blown away by the live performance. I like that they are not easy to fit into a box, their sound is so unique.
Lemon Power: Instagram / Facebook
Book: Rebel Girl – My Life as a Feminist Punk by Kathleen Hanna
Being a massive bookworm, I made my way through 70 books this year! One that stood out was Kathleen Hanna’s memoir- Rebel Girl- My Life as a Feminist Punk, Kathleen is one of my idols, and this book did not disappoint. I loved reading about her journey in both music and feminism, and how she has grown as an activist, and also the strength she has gained through her traumatic experiences.
TV Programme: Sweetpea
A few standouts, but one of my favourites was the mini series Sweetpea. I’m not usually one for murdery series’s but this one had an element of feminist revenge which I loved. Main character Rhiannon, was a villain you wanted to root for.
Podcast: The Guilty Feminist
I got to go to the live recording of one of the episodes. This show is a great mix of fun and seriousness – there is the fun ‘I’m a feminist but…’ game, but current issues are examined and discussed.
The Guilty Feminist: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Apple Podcasts
Ioan Humphries: Reviews Editor
Album: Melt Banana – 3+5
I managed to make my way to Cardiff’s The Globe venue on 24th September 2024 to see the mighty Melt Banana live for the second time in my life. If you watch this Youtube footage of said gig here you may catch a glimpse of a greying overweight 50 year headbanging to two songs off this seminal band’s 8th LP called 3+5. What an album! Quite possibly their most accessible album to date, it’s crammed with surprisingly musically diverse, and at times, euphoric pieces that lift the soul. What a band.
Melt Banana: Website / Facebook / Instagram
Single: Benefits ft. Zera Tønin – Land of the Tyrants
A welcome return from Benefits after their last LP ‘Nails’ and this first release from their forthcoming second LP on Invada Records. A slow burning dance track, with the spoken word delivery by Kingsley and the ethereal addition by Zera Tønin, we suddenly get an almost Massive Attack-esque banger that hands down has to be one of the most neglected tracks of 2024.
Benefits: Website / Facebook / Instagram
Gig – Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Bristol Marble Factory
A welcome return to the UK from this post rock collective that never fail to disappoint in both their live or recording output. The band were touring their latest album that was very timely and named ‘No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead’ which relates to the war in Gaza. The LP itself is a masterpiece and is presented here alongside my Melt Banana choice too as favourite LPs of 2024. The sold-out gig itself was intense and emotional and included at least three pieces from their latest album, as well favourites from their last LP ‘G_d’s Pee at State’s End!’ and one of their most famous pieces, ‘The Sad Mafioso’, which is partly feature in the film ’28 Days Later’. One of the greatest gigs I have ever attended.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Website / Bandcamp
Festival: Monochrome – Festival of Ugly Music 2024 at Bristol Strange Brew
What an intense day of aural assault this was. Dedicated to noise, harsh noise, grindcore, power violence, power electronics, the list is endless. This two-day festival in Bristol (the main day was in Strange Brew on Saturday, but the Friday featured John Doran (the Quietus) amongst others in The Cube. This event is run by friends of the equally forward thinking and innovative ‘Supernormal Festival’. Across the day we had the brilliant Ona Snop, Cuntroaches, Distraxi, Ovo, and headliners Aluk Todolo. What a day. 2025 tickets for Monochrome 2025 are currently flying out by all accounts and I for one will have one!
Monochrome Festival: Website / Facebook / Instagram
New musical discovery – FilthxCollins
I genuinely can’t remember how I came across this superb Nottingham Grindcore band FilthxCollins. I assume it was via the incredibly fertile Hardcore/Fastcore/Grindcore scenes in Bristol. Leeds and Newport at the moment. Their latest tape release ‘Primate Violence’ is a deliciously chaotic affair that doesn’t last very long, yet it sticks with the listener for months. I adore Grindcore, and this lot are bloody good at it.
FilthxCollins: Instagram / Bandcamp
Podcast: James O’Brien – Full Disclosure
James O’Brien’s ‘Full Disclosure’ is a brilliant (and often emotional) warts and all deep dive into the lives of very fascinating and interesting people that O’Brien picks with the greatest of taste. Latest interviewees are Shaun Keaveny, Graeme Park, Paul Sinha, Nick Lowles, Sally Lindsay, Frank Skinner, Jason Watkins. Essential viewing/listening.
Listen here.
Art exhibition: Skin Phillips – 360° at Glyn Vivian, Swansea
This exciting exhibition was run between 13 September 2024 – 5 January 2025 It showcased Phillips’ iconic photography from Swansea to Los Angeles, capturing some of the most defining moments in skateboarding history. Renowned for his work with San Diego’s Transworld Skateboarding magazine, Skin Phillips has been a pivotal figure in documenting the skateboarding world. His photography not only captures the adrenaline and artistry of skateboarding but also narrates the cultural shift from an underground subculture to a global phenomenon. The exhibition will feature a curated selection of Phillips’ most influential images, as well as unseen images, archival materials, spanning decades of skateboarding evolution.
Find out more here.
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