PRP's Picks: Best Releases of 2024!

As the last week of January approaches, we at Portland Radio Project have been reflecting on our favorite releases of 2024. As always, we are thrilled for all the amazing music the new year will bring.

Here are our picks from the last year!

Patrick, host of The Mixtape (Thursdays from 7-9 PM)

Elizabeth King – Soul Provider
This is King’s 3 rd record and I cannot stop listening to it. The backing band is top notch providing a soul beat that keeps your foot tapping from song one to the last track. However, it is her voice that makes the record. The double play on the word soul is perfect – this is a record filled with soul tunes and is absolutely good for your soul. https://biglegalmessrecords.com/products/soul-provider

Waxahatchee – Tiger’s Blood
It is amazing how Waxahtachee keeps putting out one great record after another. I am sure that this record is on a lot of people’s best of 2024 lists and rightfully so! Her ability to weave a story or commentary on the world within striking music is phenomenal. This is a record I have gone back to many a time this year and each listen brings a new discovery. Her show at Pioneer Courthouse Square this summer, while cut short due to weather, only further demonstrated the power of her voice, her music and this record. https://www.waxahatchee.com/

neutrals – New Town Dream
neutrals was my favorite discovery of the year. Their entire catalog is remarkable their
2024 record New Town Dream is no exception. This is a band from North Lanarkshire
via
Oakland and are self described as a “Post-punk indie pop” band. The lead singer Allan
McNaughton’s voice draws you in and the guitar and drums keep you there. The songs
are witty, reflective and engaging. The more you listen to the neutrals the more their
music sticks in your ear and leaves you wanting to listen more. This new record shows
that this is a band to watch and a must for the collection.

Jessica Boudreaux – The Fast I Run
This is Boudreaux’s first solo record and it is incredible. You will recognize her voice from her work with local band Summer Cannibal’s. Thissolo record shows the power of Boudreaux’s song writing chops. Her lyrics are thoughtful and reflective and her guitar playing is blistering. This is a record to turn up and dig deep into! I look forward to more solo work from Boudreaux in the future – it is sure to be incredible. https://jessicaboudreaux.bandcamp.com/album/the-faster-i-run

Veronica, host of Subculture (Wednesdays from 7-8 PM)

If you’re a regular listener of Subculture, you know we love us some 80’s and 90’s. For our “best of 2024” list, we put together a top 5 fav releases of 2024 – they are in no particular order but all worthy of a thorough listening to. It was a great year for new music from established artists (or as we like to call them “Subculture approved” )

X – Smoke & Fiction

The Smile – Wall of Eyes

Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More

Feeder – Black/Red

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Glasgow Eyes

KJM, host of Another State of Mind (Fridays from 8-9 PM)

Dry Socket – Sorry For Your Loss

Portland’s hardcore scene continued to have great standouts in 2024 and Dry Socket’s debut LP is a must listen among them. This album explores loss in the world, loss of family, and the loss we feel within. This propulsive ripper of an album channels frustration and anger with surgical precision and it is backed by great instrumentation.

Charli xcx – Brat

The album that defined the Summer, arguably the year! Charli’s new record is an instant dance pop classic with notable standouts like “Sympathy is a Knife” and “Apple.” Her show at Moda in October was probably one of my favorite shows of the year!

Squarepusher – Dostrotime

The Warp Records veteran does it again with his 2024 release. The virtuosic musician/mad scientist Thomas Jenkinson has continued to push the boundaries of what can be done with electronic music, which is apparent when you listen to the album’s lead single “Wendorlan,” a frenetic soundscape which is best described as intense and hypnotic.

Jamie xx – In Waves

The producer returns with his first full length album in about nine years and the wait was absolutely worth it. The 12-track album features a veritable treasure trove of collaborations from artists like The Avalanches, Robyn, Honey Dijon, as well as his xx bandmates Romy and Oliver Sim. “Life” is easily one of my favorite electronic songs to come out this decade.

Chat Pile – Cool World

I will admit I never heard Chat Pile before this year, but I saw them at Sound and Fury in Los Angeles and was completely blown away. Heavy, sludgy riffs and vocalist Raygun Busch riffing on film adaptations of Shakespeare’s works between songs was among my favorite live show moments of the years. This album delivers a sound that is equal parts punishing, melancholic, apocalyptic, and flat out heavy.