December 10, 2024 • 53 mins
This week's episode of Midnight Chats is all about Greg's and Stu's favourite albums of 2024, with a little room to also discuss the records that definitely weren't. They can't all be winners, but Greg and Stu have brought 3 of their favourites each to pitch against one another.
We also hear your favourites, and from some past and future Midnight Chats guests, including Biig Piig, Jason Williamson of Sleaford Mods, Richard Dawson, Aurora and Anna B Savage.
Find our musical recommendations on our Spotify playlist, Beat The Algorithm.
You can watch clips of the podcast online now, just give us a follow on Instagram @midnightchatspod.
Further reading/listening/viewing:
Loud And Quiet Albums of the Year list
The Quietus Anastasia Coope interview
Pitchfork's Kendrick Lamar GNX review
Listen to our new Beat the Algorithm Spotify playlist
Sign up to the Loud And Quiet Weekly newsletter
Credits:
Editing by Stuart Stubbs
Mixing and mastering by Flo Lines
Artwork by Kate Prior
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good evening, I'm Greg Cochrane. Good evening, I'm Stuart Stubbs.
We are a couple of journalists who've been working in
independent music since the days of my Space.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
One night a week, we become your guides through the
week in music, because, let's face it, the algorithms have
stop working for most of us, so.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We're here to share the best new underground music and
the news that you might have missed, as well as
discussing the week's biggest headlines and bringing you interviews with
some of our favorite alternative artists. The show is called
Midnight Chats.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
It's the most wonderful time of the year, listeners, It's.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Albums of the year time. In fact, you're allowed to
say that once. By the way, you've used that up now, right,
So next week's podcast is still going to be the
most wonderful. You can't say it's the most wonderful time
of the year from now until January. Okay, fine, that
was it. Yeah, that was it. Everyone, you got it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
This is going to be fun because we've reached the
point of the year where we get to talk about
our favorite music from twenty ti twenty four. I love
this time of arsed you I do. All of the
lists coming out, everybody's saying this was the best album,
this was the best album, this was the worst track,
this is the best track, all that stuff. Tonight, what
we decided to do is bring our top three favorite
(01:14):
albums of twenty twenty four to talk about them, share
some hopefully some recommendations with listeners, a bit of insight,
talk about the stuff that we really vibed on this year.
We're also going to hear from you because over the
past few weeks you've been sending us your top three
albums of the year, and so we're keen to share those,
and you've been sending some great ideas some of some
(01:37):
of the stuff that we also really really liked. We're
going to hear some artists telling us what they've been
listening to this year. And also we're going to talk
about the stuff that was really bad.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Distinkers, Absolute stick and there's been some honking records.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
There's been some bad albums from major arts, very big eyes.
So we're going to come to that. So hang around
for that, because yeah, we're going to get We're going
to go to the place that nobody really likes to
go to. And that is, Yeah, the stuff that wasn't
so good. Let's start by talking about this point in
the year, Stude. We hit December. It's like the first
and second weeks of December. Everyone's in a race. All
(02:12):
music publications and non music publications are in a rush
to curate the year and basically retell us what's been good,
what hasn't been as good as people thought, and all
that kind of stuff. Loads of places have been sharing
their best albums of the Year lists the past few days.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Should we mention a few of those? Yeah, still a
quick rundown. By the way, by the time, so we
are recording this a week earlier, I think by the time,
a lot of the major ones have gone already and
they're out there and we're going to we're about to
just do a quick rundown of those. But between now
and next week we are at peak peak list time. Yeah,
it's probably going to be more. There's probably going to
(02:52):
be more. This is not, by any means a full
list of every single person's album of the year. We
do not have the Guardians list here. If you've come,
if you've come for the Guardians List, it's not here.
But it's going to be Bratt, but it's not here,
But yeah, who have we got then? Who's who's Who's
put that out?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
And yeah, just do a quick one so as we
record this, so Pitchfork could put out there their list
just as we record this, and their number one album
of the year is Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I'm just going to rattle through these because some of
these are going to come up in other context. Rough
Trade have put out their list they go early obviously,
and Sophie by Sophie, the posthumous album that we talked
about quite a bit on this podcast. I love that
Rolling Stone Bratt by Charlie XCX. I don't know if
you've heard I heard. Yeah, yeah, honestly, lots of people
(03:44):
talking about that album this year.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I wonder if it will come up in this podcast today.
Who knows?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
The New Yorker gone with a very cool choice m
J Lenderman, very cool, Yes, yeah, yeah. Uncut was a
Wild God by Nick Cave and the Bad Sea.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Very uncut choice world very and.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Also The Quietest had Norther by ex Easter Island Head.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Excellent album. That's an excellent album.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, that's not one that I know to work and
another one I mentioned The Independent said that Romance by
Fontaine's DC is the best album.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Oh thank god twenty four.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
What makes me smile is obviously let's let's let's talk
about just the idea of us, of everybody doing a list, right. Ultimately,
I like this stuff because it's quite fun and I discover,
like Cindi Leaf, for example, that's not a record I've
had on much this year, so I'm kind of like, oh,
that's really interesting that that's popped up as.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Number one on a quick one on the Cindy Lee record.
It's not on streaming right, right, so maybe a lot
of people are thinking, I don't actually know, like what
is that like, and they might try and find it.
You can't stream it. There's a GeoCities website, an old
school website that that is on. It's a triple album, right,
so there's a lot. There's a lot to it. Okay,
(04:58):
So yeah, if you are looking, you know, if you're
looking at that Pitchfork list and you're I mean, they
will obviously link to it. But yeah, Cindy Lee, if
you do want to check out that record, then you
have to just just google it and find it.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
That way, it's not going to be on streaming.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
So as somebody who has put together a lot of
these lists over the years, like you've done this for
Loud and Quiet, You've every year the magazine's released like
a best Ams of the year list. Ye how, I
guess you can't really speak on like how other places
put together their lists, but just give us a bit
of an idea of like the process, what you've always done,
and give us the truth.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Yeah, okay, so the truth of the matter is, early
on in the world of Land and Quiet, I would
when it was just me doing the magazine, I would
just do it myself. It would just be my list,
which is what today is like our top threes are
just our top threes for the record. But then as
the years went on, I would ask the different writers
and the contributors and the photographers and are sort of
(05:55):
then I'd probably ignore them and just do my own list.
And then after a few years of that, after a
few years of that, and for the you know, for
the last ten years or so, I would I would
poll it and I would be like, Okay, this is
an undeniably this is this needs to be on our list.
Everybody likes this even if I don't like it. But
(06:15):
one thing that I think, I'm sure people are aware
of this, but there's lots of things that go into lists.
There's lots of it's It really can't be as simple
as what record did we all like the most, because
there are other things for these publications to be thinking about.
They're thinking about their audiences. They're thinking about what fits
our brand? Does Brat fit our brand? Or does our
(06:36):
audience hate pop music? Like Uncut are probably not going
to put Brat as their number one album. They've put
Nick Kven the Bad Seases. I'm not saying they don't
love that album. I think that's the top criteria for
every list is is this record good? Are these records great?
Do we like these records? But the order in which
they come there are other factors that go into them,
and sometimes it is things like has this label advertised
(06:59):
with what is our relationship with these you know, with
with the team around it. And that's all to be expected, right, Like,
you know, it's not like I'm not whistleblowing some sort
of scandal. Yeah, this isn't Greg Wallace. What we're what
I'm saying is probably quite obvious to everybody, but yeah,
that all goes into it. And one of the things
that I've always thought about, from like land on quiet
(07:21):
point of view is does we're a new music magazine?
Speaker 4 (07:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
That was always that thing. So we always wanted to
put in there as many things that we didn't think
was going to necessarily be on other lists. Yeah, not
not not to necessarily be cool, although that is also
part of it. You want your list to be cool
because you want to be cool. That applies to everybody's list.
But we wanted to give you, say, if you're like
(07:47):
the Telegraph, yeah exactly, but you know you want to
you sort of also want to. We wanted to always
give new artists a platform because a lot of people
look at lists. Our list is always the most viewed
thing on our website. It's the thing that gets the
most shares on social throughout the whole year. Nothing no
other coverage gets gets that, and it's the same for everybody,
(08:11):
like music titles.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
It's a really big deal.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It's why increasingly more and more music titles do best
Albums of the Year so far. They find out the
mid mid point of the year and they do best
point I don't look at them. I don't look at
them because I've also we've never done It's the presence
in the summer, isn't it. Yeah? Because northor for example,
that album you mentioned by x Easter Islandhead was the
(08:36):
quiet album of the year and the halfway part, and
I quite like the fun of being like, oh has
it been toppled?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
So I saw.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I do see it from both sides, but I tend
to not we we've never done one of those. But yeah,
there's lots of things that go into this list. How
have you approached your top three?
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Like?
Speaker 1 (08:57):
With that in mind? Obviously we are are not we're
a podcast. We've haven't had to think about who we
need to keep happy. We haven't thought about who are
friends in bands like we've we haven't had There's lots
of things we've not had to think about. But how
have you approached it? What's been your criteria when you've
thought of your top three?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I just looked at what I'd listened to quite a
lot and use that as my launch off point to
be like, it's not unusual for me to listen to
an album once or twice and then move on, Like
I just.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Do that a lot.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
So if I've listened to it five, six, seven, eight
more times in the year, then I know that album
it if it's the album of the year. Yeah, that's
That's probably as simple as it goes, really, But I
think pure.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I love that. That's a pure approach. My approach has
been there is one in there that it does make
me look cool. Yeah, but all of them. I try
to be the judge of that. Yeah, you could be
the judge of that, and the listeners can be a
judge of that. But I have ultimately taken them in
(09:59):
built loud and I approach, which is too. I've tried
to pick them quite.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Very Yeah, you've got a few flavors on the plate,
right exactly, there's a few. It's a tap ass because essentially, essentially,
if there are three, for example, quite similar genre guitar
indie records that I have hammered this year. Yeah, but
I've not picked all of those, Okay, but I still
would stand by all of them are gold.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Okay, They're all great.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Well, listen, let's get into your potatus bravas then, Okay,
number three, what you bring in, what you bring into
midnight Chats tonight, this is your third favorite album of
this year.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
This is the cool one that I just mentioned. Okay, okay,
this is Anastasia Coop. Do you know Anastasia Coop?
Speaker 4 (10:41):
No?
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Okay released a debut album this year called Darning Woman,
and debut album.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Only twenty minutes long, Greg, Oh.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I think twenty two, just under twenty two. That's why
it's your most playing. I love brevity. If anyone listened
to this podcast before, the one thing they will know
about me, I won't gig to be over within half
an hour.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
If an album can be done in twenty yes, please.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's a she's from upstate New York, and there's a
great talking of the Quietus when you know, we like
the Quietus, so it's fine that we're plugging them a bit.
There's a great interview with her, which we're linked to
in the show notes. We'll put lots of links in
this episode because it's lots of But she's made this
(11:25):
album of it's like choral music. It's a bit of
medieval chanting in there, but she builds up like her
her her voice, she's got quite a barren tone voice.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
It reminds me a bit of n Eko.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I was going to say, is it not edge the
ed shearing of medieval folks.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I'm not sure how she does it live. I'm not
sure if she does it with like a loop pedal
like shearing. Yeah, she might do, but she Yeah, it's
it's not for everyone this because.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Is that why it's cool? Because it's potentially divisive.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
It's quite I think it's cool because I think it's
probably gone under the radar. It was released on Jack Jaguar,
so you know it's had a real release. This is
what I like at the end of the year. One
I also like, I discover so much at the end
of the year because you read all these lists, and
I've got this abundance of writer friends who work on
Latin and quite who I can say, what your amaze,
and they send these lists and that also varied, right,
(12:19):
Like even that list that we just listed of other
publications that there wasn't a repeat, that's true.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
They were all different.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
And that Anasaza Coop was one of the rugs I
found later on in the year for a recommendation. And
I like how sketched out it is. It's not very polished,
so see.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Don't get too much closer, my darling woman.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
And I'm going to put that in number three.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Okay, My number three is Links Abomination. I love Links,
We love Links, we love Links now previous guest on
the podcast. Absolutely So this is quite a di Y record.
It's kind of like a it's it's like it's a
(13:18):
it's a record of bangers. It's quite interesting. Like Links's background,
it kind of comes out of that like South London
scene that had, you know, over the past few years,
it's been it's been sort of a bit of a
succession of experimental stuff going on, like your Black Midis,
your Jessica Winters, your fat White Families, your shame and
all those kind of things. Like I feel like Links
has kind of been the last few years like emerging
(13:38):
as the next sort of generation.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Of of that in a way.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And I just I just I love this album. It's
kind of like a di Y sort of club record.
I suppose in a way. His his his delivery of
his lyrics is very like deadpan and funny and witty,
and so it's like it's this celebration of queer ideas,
but also there's this depth of talking about the sort
(14:03):
of like the shame of it as well, like the
or his in built feelings of shame around his queerness
as well. So it's it's it's on the surface, you're like, wow,
this is just like a this is just a record
of like bangers. I'm really really fun, but I think
they're like the after continued lesson, after continued listening to
you kind of like continuing to to sort of peel
back layers on it. And for me, I'm always I
(14:26):
find things that when I hear something that's like new
to my ears. What I mean is I don't like
I'm drawn to stuff that it doesn't sound familiar to me.
So like you were saying, oh, there was like some
guitar records that you love this year, The reason why
I listen to Lynks was like my head was turned
immediately because I was like, who else is making music?
It sounds like this right now? I don't know anyone.
(14:47):
If you haven't checked it out, I'm surprised it hasn't
been in more places than it has been. To be honest,
good choice. Okay, it started well, started very well.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Okay. My number two is.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I'm feeling the tension now, by the way, are you
yeah what to have to Maybe I'm just hungry.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Are you feeling the tension to keep up this level,
or you're just excited to hear what I'm about to say.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I'm quite I'm a little bit intimidated. I think the
big reveal here is that I think you're tasting music
is cooler than mine.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Hey, it's all lies. I hate these records, don't I don't. Okay.
The next record is Kim Gordon the Collective. Yeah, have
you heard this record? Yeah? This record?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I thought so.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
This record is a record that came out in March
on Matador, And at the time when I first heard it,
because we have the luxury of hearing records early, probably
heard that at like, you know, this time last year,
end of twenty twenty three, and I remember hearing it
the first time and thinking this is going to be
album of the year territory for lots of people. Takes
lots of boxes. Kim Gordon very cool, legend of you know,
(15:59):
no wave, experimental guitar music, a fashion icon, all of
these things.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
She she's she's brilliant. Ex podcast guest. I'll just say
that every time real Little Clackson goes off there, it's
like a whole new invention.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Of her sound.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Like it's her talking very cool over trap beats made
by like the producer she worked with was a guy
called Justin Raisin. I'm sure it's Raisin, Okay, Yeahsen he
made these like they're quite like industrial trap beats really
(16:37):
with she had a moment on TikTok with with the
song bye Bye off of this album. But I thought
all of these things, right, I thought, well, it's going
to be loads of people's albums in the year, but
it's not. Really it's on them, but it's not popping
up as high as it is on my personal one
or as it was in like in the Land and
Quiet List.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I think she's around number six or seven or something
like that.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
And I but I it and I think, I don't know,
maybe because it came out early in the year, people
just you know, forgotten it was there. But at seventy
one years old, still the coolest person like making guitar
music and all to an extent, I think amazing, like
(17:19):
for her to just like be like, Okay, this is
the this is the new record. It's just very very cool.
And I remember, like you know, when you start working
in music, the first thing you're sort of taught is
that what you think is cool in air quotes is
not really cool. The coolest people are like the nerds'
(17:40):
that's sort of the narrative. It's like, hey, let's actually
you know, actually it's like the ag cooks of the world.
And that's true.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
They are very cool.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
But Kim Gordon's got this very old fashioned like I
can wear sunglasses indoors and it's not pathetic. Yeah, classy
class it's just very classy. And her you know, her.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Voice throughout it's just so dry.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
Bye.
Speaker 7 (18:04):
So cis passed to the cleaner, Cigaar ruts for car,
the car, the cremier, card, the dogs, milk vessel.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
And it really really like bangs and loads of like
kids were getting into it because I had this TikTok
moment this year. So that's my number two. Go back
to it if you heard it way back and you're like, oh, yeah,
Kim Gordon or at least that record, it's still great.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
It's still great.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
My number two on my list on the Big Countdown
is I would say an outfit, an artist, a band
who I think of kind of in some ways owned
twenty twenty four. So my choice, my second choice is
Fine Art by Kneecap. This is the album that came
out in the middle of the year, back in June,
and I just think, like, what a year the Belfast
(18:59):
Trio have had, because.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
That was lovely the way you said to where they're
from journalist.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
People listening to this podcast, loads of people listening to
this podcast will know of Kneecap because I think that
they've like continually one thing they do do is like
create a stir with whatever whatever they do. Right this
this band had been making music for a good while
now back to I think like twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen,
so this is the release of their second album, and
previously I think it was sort of there was there
was a fair bit of sort of buzz and I
(19:30):
guess to an extent controversy around them, just because they're
not afraid to kind of air their views and kind
of have upset certain fractions in the past. But I
think things this year have like truly moved up, like
not just one level, but a number of levels for them. Obviously,
one is that their live performances are incredible, right, They're
(19:52):
an amazing live band. But this album, which I know
Toddler Ty again, previous guests on the podcasting. You'd have
to scroll back a long way to hear that one
help produce. I just think musically it was really really
exciting and just I think that. Yeah, I again a
bit like the Lynx record. I was drawn to it
(20:13):
because I didn't really feel like there was anything else
in its orbit that was doing something similar This year.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
I can't believe it didn't get a Mercury.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
No, I know, well I said at the time, didn't.
I was like, what if they released this album? Then
they followed up like shortly afterwards with the release of
the documentary film that stars Michael Fassbender that had amazing reviews.
From that case, like nominated for different like film prizes.
There is like talk whispers of like whether the success
of that will continue with other like you know, it
could get a bath de nomination.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
For the word is that film is going to be
Ireland's submission to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film,
So we might see Neecap at the Oscars.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, with the balaclav Yeah right. They did this thing
quite originally called ten rules to live by, like kneecaps.
Ten rules to live by, and one of them was
be outspoken, leave your mark and stand up for your people.
And I think that basically sums up like the mission
of that band and why they feel I think, very
culturally relevant right now, and so that for me, that's
(21:10):
why it's an album of the year.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
That's numbers three and two. Done. Okay, let's take some adverts. Greg, Oh,
you're going to keep people waiting, you tease. We'll be
back after this break. Welcome back to this special episode
(21:34):
of Midnight Chats where we are counting down our albums
of the year. I imagine everyone's come back from those adverts.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
It might not.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Always happen that way, Greg, Really, it might be that
maybe they maybe they don't. But I think this time
this is too gripping. You are firmly tapped in. We've
counted down. We are going to be getting to our
number one very shortly. But we are aware, aren't we,
that this is a very self indulgent episode. So we're gonna,
(22:01):
we're gonna level it out a little bit. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
So in a bit, we're gonna some of some of
you have been sending in your suggestions for your top
three albums of the year. We're gonna, We're gonna, We're
gonna share some of those shortly, but first we got
in touch with some of our some of our famous
friends Stue some musicians who we like, who some of
which have been on the podcast previously, and asked them
to share their favorite albums from the year with us
(22:25):
as well. So this is what they sent us.
Speaker 5 (22:30):
Hello midnight, chats you beautiful bastards. It's Annabe Savage here
and I wanted to come on and tell you my
favorite album of twenty twenty four, which was Ortella by
Marrow or Tella. I asked a friend who speaks Portuguese
how you would pronounce it, and she said, emphasis on
(22:51):
the ala hio.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
T e la.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Sorry for my disgusting pronunciation. I love it because I
feel like it is and intensely clever and also delicious
to listen to record, and I feel like that's a
really hard thing to have both of. And I feel
like it's quite kind of a bit of a chameleon,
like you can listen to it really intently and find
(23:19):
loads of stuff in it. You can also have it
it's kind of background music. You can have it to
set a vibe. But I just feel like it's basically
kept me company. This entire year, and I've warded that
comfort and that warmth that it gives me. And the
guitars and her voice, the three guitars. I actually saw
them last night and it was fucking glorious.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I love music.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
I love that makes me feel. Imagine that. All right,
Loads of love to you all, and happy New Years,
Happy Christmases, happy Holidays, Happy happy.
Speaker 8 (24:00):
Night chats listeners. This is Jason from Sleep and Mods.
My favorite album of twenty twenty four has been post
industrial Hometown Blues by a big special for me. It
contains excellent musicianship and some fine singing from Joe. It's
weirdly familiar and comforting, a bit like a busy pop
(24:22):
on a Saturday afternoon or something. But yeah, really good album.
Speaker 9 (24:28):
Hey Laden Quiet, It's a big pig. And my favorite album,
or one of my favorite albums of this year has
been Charmed by Clio. I just love how soft and
intimate and kind of bolding a way for her career.
It has been is a very confident record and it's
a beautiful record. I ride my big to it every morning,
(24:51):
and it's really been helpful for me.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Romanticized my life.
Speaker 9 (24:56):
So I love that album for those reasons. There's been
a lot of incredible albums this year, but that one
already stuck out to me.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Hello, this is Richard Dawson. My album of this year
one of but the one I listened to the most
is by Nalyas Sinafro. It's called Endlessness and it's a
very beautiful piece of work.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Hi, I'm minn Chet's listeners. This is Aurora and this
year's favorite album of mine of twenty twenty four has
been a Revelation by Life Vulla Beck. He's a Canadian
artist and he's also a very good friend, and I
always gets very attached to music of the people I
know and I love, and also his album sounds so
(25:44):
warm and so near, and it sounds just like a
friend sitting in your ear, and that's why I low it.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Lovely to see Aurora there proving an earlier point by
picking a friend. Yeah, totally. It's like, this is my
alm of the year because they're my friend and it's
like listening to my friend. And I think that's a
great reason to pick something as your favorite album of
the year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Absolutely, Thanks to all the artists that's senter's their favorite
music of the year. Listeners have been in touch as
well with some of their favorites of the year. STU,
but first you first. I'm going to leave a little pause.
It's here, it's here, it's here. The question is who's
going to go first?
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I feel like you should go.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I'll go.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
I'll go first because I know then, I think that
gives you the headlining spot. There's no pressure on my
going first. Yours then becomes the ultimate album of the year,
doesn't it? Okay, feel that pressure, go on, feel that nerd.
My favorite album of the year is can I have
a caveat?
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Here? Can I have a quick caveat?
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Just having a heart act? So it is not Brat right,
and I've purposeful not We've spoken about Bratt so much
and Charlie xxts so much on this on this podcast
this year for good reason. I think she deserves it.
She's had an incredible year, and I think that album
(27:11):
is incredible and it would be in my top three.
But I consciously thought, let's she's got enough record sales,
she's got seven Grammy nominations, She's probably the rest is
Bratt podcast. I don't think Charlie's thinking, oh well, shame.
I didn't make Stews Top three on the Midnight Chats podcast,
(27:33):
I thought that was absolutely nailed in after all of
that chat about the mercuries. I think she's going to
be fine. Yeah. Yeah. My alm of the Year I
love just as much as Bratt and I've listened to
it. It probably is my most listened to album of the year.
And it is My Light My Destroyer by Cassandra Jenkins.
(28:00):
It's an album that Merry Christmas everyone, is about a
lot of being lonely, but it's also quite cosmic. There's
a lot of like cosmic stuff in there. But because
so this album never was we spoke about this on
(28:21):
the podcast with her. But this album was never going
to be made because her last album, which is also incredible,
called An Overview of Phenomenal Nature Is was going to
be a last record. She only made that record to
get through a tour that she didn't really want to do,
and then she was going to quit music. And then
that album became like an indie sleeper hit, which allowed
(28:46):
her to make this record through a new album deal
on a big label on Dead Oceans. So but because
of that, you can tell she's got lots of sort
of sweeping strings in it, and.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
It's just great.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I was so excited about this record coming out and
it didn't disappoint me. There's lots of as I say,
there's lots of space chat on there. Can we go
on a quick tangent here about space. Do you remember
when Elon Must fire a Tesla into space? Yeah? Do
you know the conspiracy around that, the theory around that,
the David Bowie conspiracy. Oh no, this is twenty seventeen.
(29:21):
Elon Must fires a Tesla into space.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
There is a Tesla floating around space stuck to a
rocket which was really a publicity stump, but it was
also to apparently test the payload of this rocket. Right
They strapped a car to it, and in that car
is a mannekin that was called Starman. So this is
all true, This is all fact. They called it Starman.
The radio before launch repeatedly played Starman by David Bowie,
(29:47):
and they fire into space. But the rumor is that
that dummy is the body of David Bowie.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Have you heard that You've been spending too much time
on the dark Web?
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Isn't that true?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Lovely tangent? Yes, that wasn't It was my addition would
be that the Cassandra Jenkins album is incredible, but it's
just got that sort of sense of warmth and timelessness.
The song basically, the song writing is just extraordinarily brilliant,
isn't it. Like, Yeah, you recommended it to me earlier
in the year, and it is a beautiful, beautiful record,
(30:31):
and yeah, I've spent time with it. It's amazing and
I hope that her momentum continues.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Come on, then let's do it. Let's see what Greg
Cochrane's album of the Year is. I'm just trying to
think if I I'm trying to think if I I
would know what it is, but I don't think.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
I don't think I do.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Okay, my album of the Year is Aurora is what happened?
And I make absolutely no apologies here for taking things
to a serious place for a moment.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Oh no, we've.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Just been what about David Bowie's lifeless body being stuck
to a test space? Right now? I think basically.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
This is this is yeah, speaking very personally, a lot
of what's happened in this year twenty twenty four has
left me quite despairing about humans right and about the
state of.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
The world and I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yeah, let's list of here and show the rise of populism,
continued wars, death and destruction in the Middle East, Europe, Africa,
the failure of the most powerful people in the world
to share to address our biggest shared problems, from climate
breakdown to rollout technology like AI.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Right, we're not in a good place.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
So it's the most wonderful time of the year.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
And sometimes I am fun when we switch off the mics,
I promised. Sometimes there is a piece of art that
just meets you in the place where of how you
feel in that moment. And that's why this is my
favorite of the year because it's called What Happened to
the Heart. The story of the album is basically Aurora's
(32:08):
kind of in She's asking that fundamental question. She's looking
out of the world, going what happened?
Speaker 1 (32:15):
How did we get here?
Speaker 2 (32:18):
How did we get to a place where Elon Musk
is firing at tesserent of space? How do we get
to the place where you know that there is kind
of unchecked there's like genocide happening in the world and
where and there's paralysis in terms of action around that
how do we get to a place where Donald Trump
is like voted back into the White House. Like it's
(32:38):
you know when you're just kind of like thinking like, well,
how did we get here? And that's the that is
the core question that sits at the very center of
this album, like what happened to our the heart of humans?
Speaker 4 (32:49):
Remember my mind doing to basal kind is there's a
demon and I call his name.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Was That's That's the sort of concept that a lot
of the songs revolve around. But also just musically, I
guess I felt like, you know, can you discover an
artist that's on there? What is this like Aurora's fifth
or sixth album or something. I guess you can kind
of obviously, but like it's really really diverse. I don't
(33:29):
think and I said this before on the podcast, I
don't think it's necessarily what some people would expect from
from like from Aurora. Some people would have already boxed
her as like pixie folk Norwegian kind of like you
know thing and and she's just not you know, she
loves like death metal as much as she loves Kate
Bush or whatever, and so there's just real diversity on
(33:50):
there that you.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Might have just answered a question I was going to
ask you. I was going to ask, is there has
there been a record this year that has made you
think differently about an artist? I think good question in
terms of your because I've got one. But it's it's
gone up? Are we saying gone up and down in
our estimation? It could be either or just I mean
I was I was thinking, oh, but you can, you can,
(34:11):
we can take it down? I take it up.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
I think it's a great question. Jordi Greep's record The
New Sound Right Jordi Greep guitarist and vocalist in Black
MIDI again lots of listeners to be familiar with them
making incredibly technical kind of music. Some people would describe
it as a bit of steer, but I was always
quite into it. But this album just like I didn't,
(34:36):
I didn't know that he had it in him, like
it's it's so varied. I mean, he came on the
podcast another guest of us that has been a few
months ago, and I loved the way that he talked
about how this album was this journey into all these
different genres, be it like Brazilian Calypso or whatever it
might be, and He's like, I'm gonna I'm going to
try and do that, and I'm going to try and
(34:56):
do it to the absolute best it can be of
that genre. And so it shouldn't really work because it
hops all over the place. It could be really it
could be really disjointed, and to be honest, it kind
of is in a fantastic way. But it just made
me think, Wow, this this person isn't just a sort
of like a technical show off a certain type of music.
(35:19):
They are so studious about the type of stuff that
they can make, and it made me think, Wow, Jordi
Greek could go out and make ten amazing albums in
ten amazing different genres. And so that's why it changed.
He just yeah, went hugely up in my estimation. I
have to listen to that record, even though there's parts
of it I don't even particularly like. It did change
(35:40):
my perception of him. What about you?
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Mine would be goat girl, HM? Who have?
Speaker 3 (35:45):
I think?
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Below the Waist is the name of the album they
released this year, and for me, it's by far the
best record. I've always quite liked Gogirl. I've always liked
what they're about as people and as a band, and
the way they do things. I've always really admired but
ever really connected with the music. But this record has
just got this very just a great mood to It
(36:07):
reminds me of the first album by the band war Paint,
which may sound really lazy and people be thinking, you're
just saying that because it's like a band of women,
and it's another band of women and fair maybe there's
some of that in there, but it's just there's it's
it's not really the it's the They've got some incredible
vocal harmonies on there, which Warpaint also, you know, I
(36:29):
have done a lot, but the top lines are amazing.
It's it's just got some really catchy tunes on it,
and the feel of it's amazing, and it's really made
me go, you know what, go go great And I'm
glad they're on rough trade. And I think there are
real advert for labels sticking with artists even though they're
not going to necessarily get number ones or sell hundreds
(36:52):
of thousands of records like to just in terms of
like the investment in that band, it's like coming to
fruition now. So and I don't think that Red Called
got picked up enough. I think more people should have
heard it than have heard it, And maybe that's because
people already thought, like we're saying about Aurora and people
(37:13):
are like, oh, I know what, I know what got
Girl is that? Goat Girl's this band. But I'd recommend
that we'll put a link to all of this. I
think what we should do on this week's podcast. We've
got obat the Algorithm playlist that we tend to put
recommendations at the end of each episode. There won't be
that this week because we're doing this this week, but
we're just stack it with stuff or something from everything
(37:35):
we mentioned will go on that playlist. There'd be a
link in the bio to check that out. Shall we
have some more adverts? Greg, Yes, let's do that. Let's
do that, and then I've got something very exciting to
come after that. Oh okay, adverts first though, so.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Take your medicine welcome back listeners. Excitingly for me, I'm
going to get his jews thoughts shortly on some of
the let's air quote this worst albums, least least favorite records.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Yeah, yeah, before we do that, I just did.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
I didn't want to mention like we've gone in depth
talking about our top three albums of the year. Is
there anything else that's been on your radar that you're
just like, it didn't make a top three, but these
are honorable mentions, things that you really really like this year,
or an album or a couple of albums.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Yeah, there's a few. Like I mean, the wax A
Hatchy album Tiger's Blood could have been my album of
the year. I also found fairly recently. But I've really
enjoyed the Jpeg Mafia record. And you know what, I
think it's been a year. There's not been that much
hip hop that I've loved this year. I'm sure it's
(38:50):
out there and I've just not found it. But you know,
like the title of the Creator record didn't I've never
been a huge Tyler fan, so I wasn't necessarily that
interested in it. Massive Kendrick Fanners We've already discussed, but
it didn't really do it for me. GNX like it was.
I was really excited by it, and I think there's
some great moments on it, but as an album, I
didn't love it. Whereas the Jpeg Mafia record. If you
(39:11):
are like me, sort of thinking where's all the like,
where are the Rapp records that that are in the
end of the year lists. That's like a good fun
one of ridiculous stupid rock guitars and like just this
sound clash of noise and distortion and a guy sort
of hating everybody, including us the listener. So but it's
(39:33):
quite fun. So yeah, those two, there's there is a
long list, but I'll just keep it at those two.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I liked I'm just gonna listen mine do It Blood Incantation,
Blood Incantation. I really liked the m J. Linderman album.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
I like the LASAVV FAV record. I like the Big
Special album. I liked Nila for Jana's album this year,
mathad Actor, Method Actor, and I liked the Jamie j
XX album.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
I like the Jamie xx album.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
That's good. Let's go, Let's be friends.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah, now listen, you've been sending us your favorite albums
of the year as well, and so we want to
read a few of those out.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
At Shall I start? Shall I get into a couple
of these? Yes? Yes, please do well.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Imagen Potter Morris says it's obviously a no brainer and
just goes for a number one doesn't even.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
List He didn't even want to do the other two.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
No, she just goes Fontaine DC, Fontaine's DC's Romance. That's
just that's that's Imagen's number one.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Yeah, Kirkman has been in touch at Midnight Chats Pod
on socials. By the way, I should say, yeah, if
you've got any views on anything that we've talked about tonight.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Please do keep it.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Notifications on the Kirkman's top three were as follows. Number
three was Fontane's DC Romance.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
A popular one, A popular one with our listeners exactly.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Second, number two Idol's Tank, and number one was Big
Special for the kirk Comman Eida the Young said, didn't
give the numbers on these, but I did. The Young's
favorites of the year were Jordie Greeps, the New Sound,
m J. Lenderman's Manning Fireworks, and the final one was
by Tapeya and the album was The Pilgrim There God
(41:20):
and The King of My Decrepit Mountain.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
I didn't particularly love that tape here I called myself,
but I love the title and that looks good on
a T shirt. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Yeah, and we've got a few more here. We've got
let's say, Joe A one, three, one, four, five.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Yes, Yes, welcome to the Chat.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Yeah, Nahala's Inner Prose, Endlessness, Maggie Rodgers, Don't Forget Me
and Father John Misty, Mahashma mahash mash Anna, mash Mashanna
mash mash Mashana, and who else. We've got got one
more here from clack clap.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Promised.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
These are all real and my method actor film Reagan Alvalanche.
That's one that I hadn't really come across my radiar
this year. And Bratt Brat by Charlie X. That's a
great album. The you know, actually funny enough. But a
few people have you know, said, we got loads of these,
Thanks for every We obviously can't read them all out,
(42:26):
but thank you to everyone that did get in touch
with your list. Fontanes came up a lot, and Fontanes
are actually one of those records that that probably changed
my view a little bit on that band. I've always
quite liked Fontanes, but Romance I did really like. I
think it was you know, they started dressing in a
crazy way, upset a lot of fans, but I liked
that they were just leaning into this U two ish
(42:47):
era and I listened to that record a lot, so
that might have been also one of my one of
my heavy rotation records. What we thought we do before
we leave you tonight on the podcast is, I don't know,
in an act of punishment what because this has been
a bit too enjoyable. And we also wanted to show
(43:07):
the light and shade right And obviously there's there's these
and there's a thing right online called Metacritic, and it's
also one called Album of the Year dot org, and
both of those are like, they're aggregators, they're aggregators, they're
there rotten tomatoes of music. I think Meta Critic does
lots of things since those games and videos and all
(43:28):
sorts of things, but we we wanted to see what
had scored the least. The way they come up with
it is, you know, they have just trolled the internet
for all the reviews that the critics have put out,
and then they just give an average score. And we
thought we should probably just see what's also down the
bottom of everybody's lists and and then go and listen
(43:49):
to it and listen to at least one each of them.
So what did what did you have to go listen
to listen to the one that was dead? Last critic,
which was which is one four three by Katie Perry,
and Katie Perry's had a shocker this year with this record.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
It was, I mean a pand doesn't even start to like.
I feel for her really because she just this was
destroyed this album by everybody that reviewed it and wrote
about it as just being a completely irrelevant, like pop record,
and I hadn't heard it actually when it came out.
(44:29):
I quite like Katy Perry. I think, like, you know,
the old songs are great, aren't they firework? Yes?
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Please?
Speaker 1 (44:37):
But I quite like it. I like her as a person.
I think she seems like quite a laugh and all
of that. But I didn't listen to it and everyone
was going on and I thought, oh, that's a shame.
I don't know how it came to this as well,
because by the way, the lead singles off of this
didn't chart. They absolutely flopped. And normally what would happen
is the label would say, we're not putting this all
this needs work then, so we're going to take this back.
(44:57):
The album wouldn't have come out, but it did. They
just put which I respect as foolish as it turned
out to be, and it got absolutely destroyed it. I
listened to it last night because I put it off
to the last minute to have to do it for
this and I thought, this can't be as bad as
people are thinking. And then I listened to it and
(45:19):
at first I thought, no, it's okay, isn't it. But
then it went into the second song and then the
third song, and it's just it's just so phoned in.
It's like people have probably people probably read about this
album even if they've not heard it, because people, you know,
because you sort of delight in reading about these sort
of things, and everything that people said was true. Sadly,
(45:42):
it's just it's it feels so dated in a world
where you've got Chapel Roone and Brat and like and
just the way pop music has moved, and and it's
just very like it's just out of step. It's very
out of step, is very thin. It's just like there's
(46:03):
not really any sort it's not really saying anything or
doing anything. It's got some really horrible euro like sort
of bad Eurovision beats on it, and then it's got
some pop trap on it. But it's just but hey,
I think people are saying this is the end of
Kat Perry's career. She's never coming back from this, and
it's certainly embarrassing because like it was such a public.
Speaker 3 (46:22):
Thing that it was rubbish. But I think she can
come back from it.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
She can totally turn head. I think also like pop music,
like straight up real pop music like that, it's so
hard to sustain it and to be the relevant top
dog in it the whole time. You know, Madonna has
made some horrendous records, but she's always she always threats
(46:47):
to come back with something good. You know, last good
record was Confessions on the Dance World, but before that
there was some dirge and you know Kylie Minogue, the
comeback queen, like it can happen for Perry. So I'm
sure she's listened with you, Katie, you support you. You
didn't name your album after your angel number.
Speaker 3 (47:04):
I don't know what that is.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
But yeah, I think she can come back from it, surely,
unlike your unlike your guy. So you tasked me.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
We've listened to justin Timberlake's album, which is called Everything.
I thought it was, oh my gosh, this is right down.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
There as well. I think it scored around a five
on Metacritic generous.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Yeah, so just In Timberlake's sixth album was released back
in March. It is an hour and seventeen and it's long.
Oh my god, I've seen short of films and that
this year and it is just basically, to be honest,
it's just completely irrelevant. I think it's the thing, and
it's also just very naf and for all. To be honest,
(47:54):
a lot of my thoughts on it are shared in
the same way that you just said.
Speaker 1 (47:57):
They're really similar, aren't they. I think they're really similar incidences.
Speaker 2 (48:01):
Yeah, it's like if you know you have. The second
track on the album is called Fucking Up the Disco
and it's just a sort of like a song about
being in the club.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
I mean, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Is it from like a forty three year old Justin Timberlake?
And I guess you know, again, I'm not going to
like pylon to Justin timulate, but it did remind me that,
like he had his moment was justified in two It
was two thousand and two, right, yeah, twenty two years ago.
He was only twenty one at that point, and so
he's been around for and obviously ensync before that. So
(48:33):
he's fame has always been in his life since he
was a teenager, and so I was a bit I
was a bit shocked to learn that he's only in
his early forties, to be honest, but yeah, it just
it it sounds like an album that is just completely
out of touch with lyrics about bass drops and body
pops and all this kind of stuff that just, like
you say, just does not feel relevant. I think it
(48:57):
just like the world just seems a bit more serious
now and will want a little bit more heart and
soul and grit. I think if anything, that the success
of like Sabrina Carpenter, you know, Charlie XCX Chapel Rone
has told us this year is that people want they
want the real, they want the real, right, and so
(49:18):
that this just just found it just feels a bit
naf and relevant. And yeah, it's it's it's completely overblown
at an hour and seventeen minutes long, and so yeah,
it was.
Speaker 1 (49:30):
It was a tough time. But it also made me think, like,
did you get through it? Did you get to the
end of that?
Speaker 2 (49:36):
I mean, once I got into the second half of it,
I was skipping through.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
Yeah, fair play, well well done for well done for trying,
Thank you, thank you, I guess like on this point,
whilst we're talking about things that maybe didn't land as much, like,
let's be honest, like, are that any albums that you
were not maybe disappointed by, but also maybe just didn't
land with you from this year that you were expecting
to that you just didn't get on with, even if
(50:00):
other people did. I mean, it probably is GNX, Like
it probably is, but only because my you know, my
expectation is so high. You know, that guy's the greatest.
And it's not bad either. It's not a bad record,
but I think there was If I can just shout
out one more review which we will link to, which
(50:21):
is the Pitchfork review of GNX, is the review of
that record that I think captures it best because I
think what happened also with that album is because they
dropped it out of thin air. Then what tends to
happen is people have a knee jerk reaction and they
write their review that day without really living with it for.
Speaker 3 (50:41):
Any amount of time.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
And when it's a star as big as that, it's
going to be a positive review, they tend to all
be like five stars, four and a half stars, you know,
because no one wants to like say, oh, is it
not that good? Do I just not get it? Or
people just want to love it?
Speaker 3 (50:56):
Right?
Speaker 1 (50:56):
So the pitch for one came out like, I mean,
they took the weekend to have it and live with it,
and I just think it nails. It doesn't hammer. It
doesn't say it's a bad album, but it's like, guys,
this is not a perfect album.
Speaker 3 (51:10):
That everybody's saying is that's.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
Probably the only like, the only one that would normally
be like that would be shoot, like an absolute nailed
on album. Yeah, And I don't mind.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
I don't mind listing some stuff that didn't I didn't
I'm not saying it was bad, but didn't move me.
And I didn't like return to this year, the Do
a Lipa record. I love doing a Glass and performance
was incredible. That album didn't really do it.
Speaker 1 (51:37):
I think we're going to I reckon, We're going to
talk about her at the end of the year on
another special probably will Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:43):
I think she said she's had an interesting Yeah, definitely
Beyonce's Cowboy Carter and again didn't really do it for me.
The Last Dinner Party Prelude to Ecstasy. Fontaine's DC didn't
really do it the Billie Eilish record.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
That's going to think to that you're saying that slagging
font for the year.
Speaker 2 (52:01):
Greg hang on, just because those said it didn't really
do it for me. I'm so sorry listeners, and perhaps
most controversially of all the Tortured Poets Department.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Oh rubbish, But everybody knew that was that was like
not not not Taylor Swift's best, right.
Speaker 2 (52:18):
Yeah, yeah, I think so, and I think so well,
listen to you tonight has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (52:22):
I've really enjoyed that we've been. We've we've we've we've
set the record straight.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
I feel like this has been completely and utterly definitive
so that we can people all to bed, doesn't it Exactly?
No more, no more talk of albums of the year,
because it's all been decided.
Speaker 3 (52:36):
It's done.
Speaker 2 (52:37):
Yeah, exactly. We're going to put all the links to
the stuff that we recommend in the show notes the podcast,
so hopefully you've got like an abundance of listening to
do now and go and check out some stuff that
you maybe didn't know before. Thanks to all of you
listening who sent in your top three albums of the year,
we hope You've enjoyed you listening to your music this year,
thanks the artist that also got involved, and thanks to you.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Stu your top three.
Speaker 2 (52:56):
I would give it a six.
Speaker 1 (53:00):
I'm jacking.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
Midnight Chats is a joint production between Loud and Quiet
and Atomized Studios for iHeartRadio. It's hosted by Stuart Stubbs
and Greg Cochrane, mixed and mastered by Flow Lines, and
edited by Stuart Stubbs. Find us on Instagram and TikTok
to watch clips from our recordings.
Speaker 3 (53:24):
At much much more.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
We are Midnight Chats Pod. For more information, visit Loud
and Quiet dot com
Good evening, I'm Greg Cochrane. Good evening, I'm Stuart Stubbs.
We are a couple of journalists who've been working in
independent music since the days of my Space.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
One night a week, we become your guides through the
week in music, because, let's face it, the algorithms have
stop working for most of us, so.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We're here to share the best new underground music and
the news that you might have missed, as well as
discussing the week's biggest headlines and bringing you interviews with
some of our favorite alternative artists. The show is called
Midnight Chats.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
It's the most wonderful time of the year, listeners, It's.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Albums of the year time. In fact, you're allowed to
say that once. By the way, you've used that up now, right,
So next week's podcast is still going to be the
most wonderful. You can't say it's the most wonderful time
of the year from now until January. Okay, fine, that
was it. Yeah, that was it. Everyone, you got it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
This is going to be fun because we've reached the
point of the year where we get to talk about
our favorite music from twenty ti twenty four. I love
this time of arsed you I do. All of the
lists coming out, everybody's saying this was the best album,
this was the best album, this was the worst track,
this is the best track, all that stuff. Tonight, what
we decided to do is bring our top three favorite
(01:14):
albums of twenty twenty four to talk about them, share
some hopefully some recommendations with listeners, a bit of insight,
talk about the stuff that we really vibed on this year.
We're also going to hear from you because over the
past few weeks you've been sending us your top three
albums of the year, and so we're keen to share those,
and you've been sending some great ideas some of some
(01:37):
of the stuff that we also really really liked. We're
going to hear some artists telling us what they've been
listening to this year. And also we're going to talk
about the stuff that was really bad.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Distinkers, Absolute stick and there's been some honking records.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
There's been some bad albums from major arts, very big eyes.
So we're going to come to that. So hang around
for that, because yeah, we're going to get We're going
to go to the place that nobody really likes to
go to. And that is, Yeah, the stuff that wasn't
so good. Let's start by talking about this point in
the year, Stude. We hit December. It's like the first
and second weeks of December. Everyone's in a race. All
(02:12):
music publications and non music publications are in a rush
to curate the year and basically retell us what's been good,
what hasn't been as good as people thought, and all
that kind of stuff. Loads of places have been sharing
their best albums of the Year lists the past few days.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Should we mention a few of those? Yeah, still a
quick rundown. By the way, by the time, so we
are recording this a week earlier, I think by the time,
a lot of the major ones have gone already and
they're out there and we're going to we're about to
just do a quick rundown of those. But between now
and next week we are at peak peak list time. Yeah,
it's probably going to be more. There's probably going to
(02:52):
be more. This is not, by any means a full
list of every single person's album of the year. We
do not have the Guardians list here. If you've come,
if you've come for the Guardians List, it's not here.
But it's going to be Bratt, but it's not here,
But yeah, who have we got then? Who's who's Who's
put that out?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
And yeah, just do a quick one so as we
record this, so Pitchfork could put out there their list
just as we record this, and their number one album
of the year is Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I'm just going to rattle through these because some of
these are going to come up in other context. Rough
Trade have put out their list they go early obviously,
and Sophie by Sophie, the posthumous album that we talked
about quite a bit on this podcast. I love that
Rolling Stone Bratt by Charlie XCX. I don't know if
you've heard I heard. Yeah, yeah, honestly, lots of people
(03:44):
talking about that album this year.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I wonder if it will come up in this podcast today.
Who knows?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
The New Yorker gone with a very cool choice m
J Lenderman, very cool, Yes, yeah, yeah. Uncut was a
Wild God by Nick Cave and the Bad Sea.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Very uncut choice world very and.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Also The Quietest had Norther by ex Easter Island Head.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Excellent album. That's an excellent album.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, that's not one that I know to work and
another one I mentioned The Independent said that Romance by
Fontaine's DC is the best album.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Oh thank god twenty four.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
What makes me smile is obviously let's let's let's talk
about just the idea of us, of everybody doing a list, right. Ultimately,
I like this stuff because it's quite fun and I discover,
like Cindi Leaf, for example, that's not a record I've
had on much this year, so I'm kind of like, oh,
that's really interesting that that's popped up as.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Number one on a quick one on the Cindy Lee record.
It's not on streaming right, right, so maybe a lot
of people are thinking, I don't actually know, like what
is that like, and they might try and find it.
You can't stream it. There's a GeoCities website, an old
school website that that is on. It's a triple album, right,
so there's a lot. There's a lot to it. Okay,
(04:58):
So yeah, if you are looking, you know, if you're
looking at that Pitchfork list and you're I mean, they
will obviously link to it. But yeah, Cindy Lee, if
you do want to check out that record, then you
have to just just google it and find it.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
That way, it's not going to be on streaming.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
So as somebody who has put together a lot of
these lists over the years, like you've done this for
Loud and Quiet, You've every year the magazine's released like
a best Ams of the year list. Ye how, I
guess you can't really speak on like how other places
put together their lists, but just give us a bit
of an idea of like the process, what you've always done,
and give us the truth.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Yeah, okay, so the truth of the matter is, early
on in the world of Land and Quiet, I would
when it was just me doing the magazine, I would
just do it myself. It would just be my list,
which is what today is like our top threes are
just our top threes for the record. But then as
the years went on, I would ask the different writers
and the contributors and the photographers and are sort of
(05:55):
then I'd probably ignore them and just do my own list.
And then after a few years of that, after a
few years of that, and for the you know, for
the last ten years or so, I would I would
poll it and I would be like, Okay, this is
an undeniably this is this needs to be on our list.
Everybody likes this even if I don't like it. But
(06:15):
one thing that I think, I'm sure people are aware
of this, but there's lots of things that go into lists.
There's lots of it's It really can't be as simple
as what record did we all like the most, because
there are other things for these publications to be thinking about.
They're thinking about their audiences. They're thinking about what fits
our brand? Does Brat fit our brand? Or does our
(06:36):
audience hate pop music? Like Uncut are probably not going
to put Brat as their number one album. They've put
Nick Kven the Bad Seases. I'm not saying they don't
love that album. I think that's the top criteria for
every list is is this record good? Are these records great?
Do we like these records? But the order in which
they come there are other factors that go into them,
and sometimes it is things like has this label advertised
(06:59):
with what is our relationship with these you know, with
with the team around it. And that's all to be expected, right, Like,
you know, it's not like I'm not whistleblowing some sort
of scandal. Yeah, this isn't Greg Wallace. What we're what
I'm saying is probably quite obvious to everybody, but yeah,
that all goes into it. And one of the things
that I've always thought about, from like land on quiet
(07:21):
point of view is does we're a new music magazine?
Speaker 4 (07:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
That was always that thing. So we always wanted to
put in there as many things that we didn't think
was going to necessarily be on other lists. Yeah, not
not not to necessarily be cool, although that is also
part of it. You want your list to be cool
because you want to be cool. That applies to everybody's list.
But we wanted to give you, say, if you're like
(07:47):
the Telegraph, yeah exactly, but you know you want to
you sort of also want to. We wanted to always
give new artists a platform because a lot of people
look at lists. Our list is always the most viewed
thing on our website. It's the thing that gets the
most shares on social throughout the whole year. Nothing no
other coverage gets gets that, and it's the same for everybody,
(08:11):
like music titles.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
It's a really big deal.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It's why increasingly more and more music titles do best
Albums of the Year so far. They find out the
mid mid point of the year and they do best
point I don't look at them. I don't look at
them because I've also we've never done It's the presence
in the summer, isn't it. Yeah? Because northor for example,
that album you mentioned by x Easter Islandhead was the
(08:36):
quiet album of the year and the halfway part, and
I quite like the fun of being like, oh has
it been toppled?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
So I saw.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I do see it from both sides, but I tend
to not we we've never done one of those. But yeah,
there's lots of things that go into this list. How
have you approached your top three?
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Like?
Speaker 1 (08:57):
With that in mind? Obviously we are are not we're
a podcast. We've haven't had to think about who we
need to keep happy. We haven't thought about who are
friends in bands like we've we haven't had There's lots
of things we've not had to think about. But how
have you approached it? What's been your criteria when you've
thought of your top three?
Speaker 2 (09:16):
I just looked at what I'd listened to quite a
lot and use that as my launch off point to
be like, it's not unusual for me to listen to
an album once or twice and then move on, Like
I just.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Do that a lot.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
So if I've listened to it five, six, seven, eight
more times in the year, then I know that album
it if it's the album of the year. Yeah, that's
That's probably as simple as it goes, really, But I
think pure.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I love that. That's a pure approach. My approach has
been there is one in there that it does make
me look cool. Yeah, but all of them. I try
to be the judge of that. Yeah, you could be
the judge of that, and the listeners can be a
judge of that. But I have ultimately taken them in
(09:59):
built loud and I approach, which is too. I've tried
to pick them quite.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Very Yeah, you've got a few flavors on the plate,
right exactly, there's a few. It's a tap ass because essentially, essentially,
if there are three, for example, quite similar genre guitar
indie records that I have hammered this year. Yeah, but
I've not picked all of those, Okay, but I still
would stand by all of them are gold.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Okay, They're all great.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Well, listen, let's get into your potatus bravas then, Okay,
number three, what you bring in, what you bring into
midnight Chats tonight, this is your third favorite album of
this year.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
This is the cool one that I just mentioned. Okay, okay,
this is Anastasia Coop. Do you know Anastasia Coop?
Speaker 4 (10:41):
No?
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Okay released a debut album this year called Darning Woman,
and debut album.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Only twenty minutes long, Greg, Oh.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
I think twenty two, just under twenty two. That's why
it's your most playing. I love brevity. If anyone listened
to this podcast before, the one thing they will know
about me, I won't gig to be over within half
an hour.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
If an album can be done in twenty yes, please.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
It's a she's from upstate New York, and there's a
great talking of the Quietus when you know, we like
the Quietus, so it's fine that we're plugging them a bit.
There's a great interview with her, which we're linked to
in the show notes. We'll put lots of links in
this episode because it's lots of But she's made this
(11:25):
album of it's like choral music. It's a bit of
medieval chanting in there, but she builds up like her
her her voice, she's got quite a barren tone voice.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
It reminds me a bit of n Eko.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I was going to say, is it not edge the
ed shearing of medieval folks.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I'm not sure how she does it live. I'm not
sure if she does it with like a loop pedal
like shearing. Yeah, she might do, but she Yeah, it's
it's not for everyone this because.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Is that why it's cool? Because it's potentially divisive.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
It's quite I think it's cool because I think it's
probably gone under the radar. It was released on Jack Jaguar,
so you know it's had a real release. This is
what I like at the end of the year. One
I also like, I discover so much at the end
of the year because you read all these lists, and
I've got this abundance of writer friends who work on
Latin and quite who I can say, what your amaze,
and they send these lists and that also varied, right,
(12:19):
Like even that list that we just listed of other
publications that there wasn't a repeat, that's true.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
They were all different.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
And that Anasaza Coop was one of the rugs I
found later on in the year for a recommendation. And
I like how sketched out it is. It's not very polished,
so see.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Don't get too much closer, my darling woman.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
And I'm going to put that in number three.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Okay, My number three is Links Abomination. I love Links,
We love Links, we love Links now previous guest on
the podcast. Absolutely So this is quite a di Y record.
It's kind of like a it's it's like it's a
(13:18):
it's a record of bangers. It's quite interesting. Like Links's background,
it kind of comes out of that like South London
scene that had, you know, over the past few years,
it's been it's been sort of a bit of a
succession of experimental stuff going on, like your Black Midis,
your Jessica Winters, your fat White Families, your shame and
all those kind of things. Like I feel like Links
has kind of been the last few years like emerging
(13:38):
as the next sort of generation.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Of of that in a way.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And I just I just I love this album. It's
kind of like a di Y sort of club record.
I suppose in a way. His his his delivery of
his lyrics is very like deadpan and funny and witty,
and so it's like it's this celebration of queer ideas,
but also there's this depth of talking about the sort
(14:03):
of like the shame of it as well, like the
or his in built feelings of shame around his queerness
as well. So it's it's it's on the surface, you're like, wow,
this is just like a this is just a record
of like bangers. I'm really really fun, but I think
they're like the after continued lesson, after continued listening to
you kind of like continuing to to sort of peel
back layers on it. And for me, I'm always I
(14:26):
find things that when I hear something that's like new
to my ears. What I mean is I don't like
I'm drawn to stuff that it doesn't sound familiar to me.
So like you were saying, oh, there was like some
guitar records that you love this year, The reason why
I listen to Lynks was like my head was turned
immediately because I was like, who else is making music?
It sounds like this right now? I don't know anyone.
(14:47):
If you haven't checked it out, I'm surprised it hasn't
been in more places than it has been. To be honest,
good choice. Okay, it started well, started very well.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Okay. My number two is.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I'm feeling the tension now, by the way, are you
yeah what to have to Maybe I'm just hungry.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Are you feeling the tension to keep up this level,
or you're just excited to hear what I'm about to say.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I'm quite I'm a little bit intimidated. I think the
big reveal here is that I think you're tasting music
is cooler than mine.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Hey, it's all lies. I hate these records, don't I don't. Okay.
The next record is Kim Gordon the Collective. Yeah, have
you heard this record? Yeah? This record?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
I thought so.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
This record is a record that came out in March
on Matador, And at the time when I first heard it,
because we have the luxury of hearing records early, probably
heard that at like, you know, this time last year,
end of twenty twenty three, and I remember hearing it
the first time and thinking this is going to be
album of the year territory for lots of people. Takes
lots of boxes. Kim Gordon very cool, legend of you know,
(15:59):
no wave, experimental guitar music, a fashion icon, all of
these things.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
She she's she's brilliant. Ex podcast guest. I'll just say
that every time real Little Clackson goes off there, it's
like a whole new invention.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Of her sound.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Like it's her talking very cool over trap beats made
by like the producer she worked with was a guy
called Justin Raisin. I'm sure it's Raisin, Okay, Yeahsen he
made these like they're quite like industrial trap beats really
(16:37):
with she had a moment on TikTok with with the
song bye Bye off of this album. But I thought
all of these things, right, I thought, well, it's going
to be loads of people's albums in the year, but
it's not. Really it's on them, but it's not popping
up as high as it is on my personal one
or as it was in like in the Land and
Quiet List.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I think she's around number six or seven or something
like that.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
And I but I it and I think, I don't know,
maybe because it came out early in the year, people
just you know, forgotten it was there. But at seventy
one years old, still the coolest person like making guitar
music and all to an extent, I think amazing, like
(17:19):
for her to just like be like, Okay, this is
the this is the new record. It's just very very cool.
And I remember, like you know, when you start working
in music, the first thing you're sort of taught is
that what you think is cool in air quotes is
not really cool. The coolest people are like the nerds'
(17:40):
that's sort of the narrative. It's like, hey, let's actually
you know, actually it's like the ag cooks of the world.
And that's true.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
They are very cool.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
But Kim Gordon's got this very old fashioned like I
can wear sunglasses indoors and it's not pathetic. Yeah, classy
class it's just very classy. And her you know, her.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Voice throughout it's just so dry.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
Bye.
Speaker 7 (18:04):
So cis passed to the cleaner, Cigaar ruts for car,
the car, the cremier, card, the dogs, milk vessel.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
And it really really like bangs and loads of like
kids were getting into it because I had this TikTok
moment this year. So that's my number two. Go back
to it if you heard it way back and you're like, oh, yeah,
Kim Gordon or at least that record, it's still great.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
It's still great.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
My number two on my list on the Big Countdown
is I would say an outfit, an artist, a band
who I think of kind of in some ways owned
twenty twenty four. So my choice, my second choice is
Fine Art by Kneecap. This is the album that came
out in the middle of the year, back in June,
and I just think, like, what a year the Belfast
(18:59):
Trio have had, because.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
That was lovely the way you said to where they're
from journalist.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
People listening to this podcast, loads of people listening to
this podcast will know of Kneecap because I think that
they've like continually one thing they do do is like
create a stir with whatever whatever they do. Right this
this band had been making music for a good while
now back to I think like twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen,
so this is the release of their second album, and
previously I think it was sort of there was there
was a fair bit of sort of buzz and I
(19:30):
guess to an extent controversy around them, just because they're
not afraid to kind of air their views and kind
of have upset certain fractions in the past. But I
think things this year have like truly moved up, like
not just one level, but a number of levels for them. Obviously,
one is that their live performances are incredible, right, They're
(19:52):
an amazing live band. But this album, which I know
Toddler Ty again, previous guests on the podcasting. You'd have
to scroll back a long way to hear that one
help produce. I just think musically it was really really
exciting and just I think that. Yeah, I again a
bit like the Lynx record. I was drawn to it
(20:13):
because I didn't really feel like there was anything else
in its orbit that was doing something similar This year.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
I can't believe it didn't get a Mercury.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
No, I know, well I said at the time, didn't.
I was like, what if they released this album? Then
they followed up like shortly afterwards with the release of
the documentary film that stars Michael Fassbender that had amazing reviews.
From that case, like nominated for different like film prizes.
There is like talk whispers of like whether the success
of that will continue with other like you know, it
could get a bath de nomination.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
For the word is that film is going to be
Ireland's submission to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film,
So we might see Neecap at the Oscars.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, with the balaclav Yeah right. They did this thing
quite originally called ten rules to live by, like kneecaps.
Ten rules to live by, and one of them was
be outspoken, leave your mark and stand up for your people.
And I think that basically sums up like the mission
of that band and why they feel I think, very
culturally relevant right now, and so that for me, that's
(21:10):
why it's an album of the year.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
That's numbers three and two. Done. Okay, let's take some adverts. Greg, Oh,
you're going to keep people waiting, you tease. We'll be
back after this break. Welcome back to this special episode
(21:34):
of Midnight Chats where we are counting down our albums
of the year. I imagine everyone's come back from those adverts.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
It might not.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Always happen that way, Greg, Really, it might be that
maybe they maybe they don't. But I think this time
this is too gripping. You are firmly tapped in. We've
counted down. We are going to be getting to our
number one very shortly. But we are aware, aren't we,
that this is a very self indulgent episode. So we're gonna,
(22:01):
we're gonna level it out a little bit. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
So in a bit, we're gonna some of some of
you have been sending in your suggestions for your top
three albums of the year. We're gonna, We're gonna, We're
gonna share some of those shortly, but first we got
in touch with some of our some of our famous
friends Stue some musicians who we like, who some of
which have been on the podcast previously, and asked them
to share their favorite albums from the year with us
(22:25):
as well. So this is what they sent us.
Speaker 5 (22:30):
Hello midnight, chats you beautiful bastards. It's Annabe Savage here
and I wanted to come on and tell you my
favorite album of twenty twenty four, which was Ortella by
Marrow or Tella. I asked a friend who speaks Portuguese
how you would pronounce it, and she said, emphasis on
(22:51):
the ala hio.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
T e la.
Speaker 5 (22:56):
Sorry for my disgusting pronunciation. I love it because I
feel like it is and intensely clever and also delicious
to listen to record, and I feel like that's a
really hard thing to have both of. And I feel
like it's quite kind of a bit of a chameleon,
like you can listen to it really intently and find
(23:19):
loads of stuff in it. You can also have it
it's kind of background music. You can have it to
set a vibe. But I just feel like it's basically
kept me company. This entire year, and I've warded that
comfort and that warmth that it gives me. And the
guitars and her voice, the three guitars. I actually saw
them last night and it was fucking glorious.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I love music.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
I love that makes me feel. Imagine that. All right,
Loads of love to you all, and happy New Years,
Happy Christmases, happy Holidays, Happy happy.
Speaker 8 (24:00):
Night chats listeners. This is Jason from Sleep and Mods.
My favorite album of twenty twenty four has been post
industrial Hometown Blues by a big special for me. It
contains excellent musicianship and some fine singing from Joe. It's
weirdly familiar and comforting, a bit like a busy pop
(24:22):
on a Saturday afternoon or something. But yeah, really good album.
Speaker 9 (24:28):
Hey Laden Quiet, It's a big pig. And my favorite album,
or one of my favorite albums of this year has
been Charmed by Clio. I just love how soft and
intimate and kind of bolding a way for her career.
It has been is a very confident record and it's
a beautiful record. I ride my big to it every morning,
(24:51):
and it's really been helpful for me.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Romanticized my life.
Speaker 9 (24:56):
So I love that album for those reasons. There's been
a lot of incredible albums this year, but that one
already stuck out to me.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Hello, this is Richard Dawson. My album of this year
one of but the one I listened to the most
is by Nalyas Sinafro. It's called Endlessness and it's a
very beautiful piece of work.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Hi, I'm minn Chet's listeners. This is Aurora and this
year's favorite album of mine of twenty twenty four has
been a Revelation by Life Vulla Beck. He's a Canadian
artist and he's also a very good friend, and I
always gets very attached to music of the people I
know and I love, and also his album sounds so
(25:44):
warm and so near, and it sounds just like a
friend sitting in your ear, and that's why I low it.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Lovely to see Aurora there proving an earlier point by
picking a friend. Yeah, totally. It's like, this is my
alm of the year because they're my friend and it's
like listening to my friend. And I think that's a
great reason to pick something as your favorite album of
the year. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Absolutely, Thanks to all the artists that's senter's their favorite
music of the year. Listeners have been in touch as
well with some of their favorites of the year. STU,
but first you first. I'm going to leave a little pause.
It's here, it's here, it's here. The question is who's
going to go first?
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I feel like you should go.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I'll go.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
I'll go first because I know then, I think that
gives you the headlining spot. There's no pressure on my
going first. Yours then becomes the ultimate album of the year,
doesn't it? Okay, feel that pressure, go on, feel that nerd.
My favorite album of the year is can I have
a caveat?
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Here? Can I have a quick caveat?
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Just having a heart act? So it is not Brat right,
and I've purposeful not We've spoken about Bratt so much
and Charlie xxts so much on this on this podcast
this year for good reason. I think she deserves it.
She's had an incredible year, and I think that album
(27:11):
is incredible and it would be in my top three.
But I consciously thought, let's she's got enough record sales,
she's got seven Grammy nominations, She's probably the rest is
Bratt podcast. I don't think Charlie's thinking, oh well, shame.
I didn't make Stews Top three on the Midnight Chats podcast,
(27:33):
I thought that was absolutely nailed in after all of
that chat about the mercuries. I think she's going to
be fine. Yeah. Yeah. My alm of the Year I
love just as much as Bratt and I've listened to
it. It probably is my most listened to album of the year.
And it is My Light My Destroyer by Cassandra Jenkins.
(28:00):
It's an album that Merry Christmas everyone, is about a
lot of being lonely, but it's also quite cosmic. There's
a lot of like cosmic stuff in there. But because
so this album never was we spoke about this on
(28:21):
the podcast with her. But this album was never going
to be made because her last album, which is also incredible,
called An Overview of Phenomenal Nature Is was going to
be a last record. She only made that record to
get through a tour that she didn't really want to do,
and then she was going to quit music. And then
that album became like an indie sleeper hit, which allowed
(28:46):
her to make this record through a new album deal
on a big label on Dead Oceans. So but because
of that, you can tell she's got lots of sort
of sweeping strings in it, and.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
It's just great.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I was so excited about this record coming out and
it didn't disappoint me. There's lots of as I say,
there's lots of space chat on there. Can we go
on a quick tangent here about space. Do you remember
when Elon Must fire a Tesla into space? Yeah? Do
you know the conspiracy around that, the theory around that,
the David Bowie conspiracy. Oh no, this is twenty seventeen.
(29:21):
Elon Must fires a Tesla into space.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
There is a Tesla floating around space stuck to a
rocket which was really a publicity stump, but it was
also to apparently test the payload of this rocket. Right
They strapped a car to it, and in that car
is a mannekin that was called Starman. So this is
all true, This is all fact. They called it Starman.
The radio before launch repeatedly played Starman by David Bowie,
(29:47):
and they fire into space. But the rumor is that
that dummy is the body of David Bowie.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Have you heard that You've been spending too much time
on the dark Web?
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Isn't that true?
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Lovely tangent? Yes, that wasn't It was my addition would
be that the Cassandra Jenkins album is incredible, but it's
just got that sort of sense of warmth and timelessness.
The song basically, the song writing is just extraordinarily brilliant,
isn't it. Like, Yeah, you recommended it to me earlier
in the year, and it is a beautiful, beautiful record,
(30:31):
and yeah, I've spent time with it. It's amazing and
I hope that her momentum continues.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Come on, then let's do it. Let's see what Greg
Cochrane's album of the Year is. I'm just trying to
think if I I'm trying to think if I I
would know what it is, but I don't think.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
I don't think I do.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Okay, my album of the Year is Aurora is what happened?
And I make absolutely no apologies here for taking things
to a serious place for a moment.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Oh no, we've.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Just been what about David Bowie's lifeless body being stuck
to a test space? Right now? I think basically.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
This is this is yeah, speaking very personally, a lot
of what's happened in this year twenty twenty four has
left me quite despairing about humans right and about the
state of.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
The world and I don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Yeah, let's list of here and show the rise of populism,
continued wars, death and destruction in the Middle East, Europe, Africa,
the failure of the most powerful people in the world
to share to address our biggest shared problems, from climate
breakdown to rollout technology like AI.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Right, we're not in a good place.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
So it's the most wonderful time of the year.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
And sometimes I am fun when we switch off the mics,
I promised. Sometimes there is a piece of art that
just meets you in the place where of how you
feel in that moment. And that's why this is my
favorite of the year because it's called What Happened to
the Heart. The story of the album is basically Aurora's
(32:08):
kind of in She's asking that fundamental question. She's looking
out of the world, going what happened?
Speaker 1 (32:15):
How did we get here?
Speaker 2 (32:18):
How did we get to a place where Elon Musk
is firing at tesserent of space? How do we get
to the place where you know that there is kind
of unchecked there's like genocide happening in the world and
where and there's paralysis in terms of action around that
how do we get to a place where Donald Trump
is like voted back into the White House. Like it's
(32:38):
you know when you're just kind of like thinking like, well,
how did we get here? And that's the that is
the core question that sits at the very center of
this album, like what happened to our the heart of humans?
Speaker 4 (32:49):
Remember my mind doing to basal kind is there's a
demon and I call his name.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Was That's That's the sort of concept that a lot
of the songs revolve around. But also just musically, I
guess I felt like, you know, can you discover an
artist that's on there? What is this like Aurora's fifth
or sixth album or something. I guess you can kind
of obviously, but like it's really really diverse. I don't
(33:29):
think and I said this before on the podcast, I
don't think it's necessarily what some people would expect from
from like from Aurora. Some people would have already boxed
her as like pixie folk Norwegian kind of like you
know thing and and she's just not you know, she
loves like death metal as much as she loves Kate
Bush or whatever, and so there's just real diversity on
(33:50):
there that you.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
Might have just answered a question I was going to
ask you. I was going to ask, is there has
there been a record this year that has made you
think differently about an artist? I think good question in
terms of your because I've got one. But it's it's
gone up? Are we saying gone up and down in
our estimation? It could be either or just I mean
I was I was thinking, oh, but you can, you can,
(34:11):
we can take it down? I take it up.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
I think it's a great question. Jordi Greep's record The
New Sound Right Jordi Greep guitarist and vocalist in Black
MIDI again lots of listeners to be familiar with them
making incredibly technical kind of music. Some people would describe
it as a bit of steer, but I was always
quite into it. But this album just like I didn't,
(34:36):
I didn't know that he had it in him, like
it's it's so varied. I mean, he came on the
podcast another guest of us that has been a few
months ago, and I loved the way that he talked
about how this album was this journey into all these
different genres, be it like Brazilian Calypso or whatever it
might be, and He's like, I'm gonna I'm going to
try and do that, and I'm going to try and
(34:56):
do it to the absolute best it can be of
that genre. And so it shouldn't really work because it
hops all over the place. It could be really it
could be really disjointed, and to be honest, it kind
of is in a fantastic way. But it just made
me think, Wow, this this person isn't just a sort
of like a technical show off a certain type of music.
(35:19):
They are so studious about the type of stuff that
they can make, and it made me think, Wow, Jordi
Greek could go out and make ten amazing albums in
ten amazing different genres. And so that's why it changed.
He just yeah, went hugely up in my estimation. I
have to listen to that record, even though there's parts
of it I don't even particularly like. It did change
(35:40):
my perception of him. What about you?
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Mine would be goat girl, HM? Who have?
Speaker 3 (35:45):
I think?
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Below the Waist is the name of the album they
released this year, and for me, it's by far the
best record. I've always quite liked Gogirl. I've always liked
what they're about as people and as a band, and
the way they do things. I've always really admired but
ever really connected with the music. But this record has
just got this very just a great mood to It
(36:07):
reminds me of the first album by the band war Paint,
which may sound really lazy and people be thinking, you're
just saying that because it's like a band of women,
and it's another band of women and fair maybe there's
some of that in there, but it's just there's it's
it's not really the it's the They've got some incredible
vocal harmonies on there, which Warpaint also, you know, I
(36:29):
have done a lot, but the top lines are amazing.
It's it's just got some really catchy tunes on it,
and the feel of it's amazing, and it's really made
me go, you know what, go go great And I'm
glad they're on rough trade. And I think there are
real advert for labels sticking with artists even though they're
not going to necessarily get number ones or sell hundreds
(36:52):
of thousands of records like to just in terms of
like the investment in that band, it's like coming to
fruition now. So and I don't think that Red Called
got picked up enough. I think more people should have
heard it than have heard it, And maybe that's because
people already thought, like we're saying about Aurora and people
(37:13):
are like, oh, I know what, I know what got
Girl is that? Goat Girl's this band. But I'd recommend
that we'll put a link to all of this. I
think what we should do on this week's podcast. We've
got obat the Algorithm playlist that we tend to put
recommendations at the end of each episode. There won't be
that this week because we're doing this this week, but
we're just stack it with stuff or something from everything
(37:35):
we mentioned will go on that playlist. There'd be a
link in the bio to check that out. Shall we
have some more adverts? Greg, Yes, let's do that. Let's
do that, and then I've got something very exciting to
come after that. Oh okay, adverts first though, so.
Speaker 2 (37:50):
Take your medicine welcome back listeners. Excitingly for me, I'm
going to get his jews thoughts shortly on some of
the let's air quote this worst albums, least least favorite records.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
Yeah, yeah, before we do that, I just did.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
I didn't want to mention like we've gone in depth
talking about our top three albums of the year. Is
there anything else that's been on your radar that you're
just like, it didn't make a top three, but these
are honorable mentions, things that you really really like this year,
or an album or a couple of albums.
Speaker 1 (38:28):
Yeah, there's a few. Like I mean, the wax A
Hatchy album Tiger's Blood could have been my album of
the year. I also found fairly recently. But I've really
enjoyed the Jpeg Mafia record. And you know what, I
think it's been a year. There's not been that much
hip hop that I've loved this year. I'm sure it's
(38:50):
out there and I've just not found it. But you know,
like the title of the Creator record didn't I've never
been a huge Tyler fan, so I wasn't necessarily that
interested in it. Massive Kendrick Fanners We've already discussed, but
it didn't really do it for me. GNX like it was.
I was really excited by it, and I think there's
some great moments on it, but as an album, I
didn't love it. Whereas the Jpeg Mafia record. If you
(39:11):
are like me, sort of thinking where's all the like,
where are the Rapp records that that are in the
end of the year lists. That's like a good fun
one of ridiculous stupid rock guitars and like just this
sound clash of noise and distortion and a guy sort
of hating everybody, including us the listener. So but it's
(39:33):
quite fun. So yeah, those two, there's there is a
long list, but I'll just keep it at those two.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I liked I'm just gonna listen mine do It Blood Incantation,
Blood Incantation. I really liked the m J. Linderman album.
Speaker 3 (39:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:47):
I like the LASAVV FAV record. I like the Big
Special album. I liked Nila for Jana's album this year,
mathad Actor, Method Actor, and I liked the Jamie j
XX album.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
I like the Jamie xx album.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
That's good. Let's go, Let's be friends.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah, now listen, you've been sending us your favorite albums
of the year as well, and so we want to
read a few of those out.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
At Shall I start? Shall I get into a couple
of these? Yes? Yes, please do well.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Imagen Potter Morris says it's obviously a no brainer and
just goes for a number one doesn't even.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
List He didn't even want to do the other two.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
No, she just goes Fontaine DC, Fontaine's DC's Romance. That's
just that's that's Imagen's number one.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Yeah, Kirkman has been in touch at Midnight Chats Pod
on socials. By the way, I should say, yeah, if
you've got any views on anything that we've talked about tonight.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Please do keep it.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
Notifications on the Kirkman's top three were as follows. Number
three was Fontane's DC Romance.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
A popular one, A popular one with our listeners exactly.
Speaker 2 (40:58):
Second, number two Idol's Tank, and number one was Big
Special for the kirk Comman Eida the Young said, didn't
give the numbers on these, but I did. The Young's
favorites of the year were Jordie Greeps, the New Sound,
m J. Lenderman's Manning Fireworks, and the final one was
by Tapeya and the album was The Pilgrim There God
(41:20):
and The King of My Decrepit Mountain.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
I didn't particularly love that tape here I called myself,
but I love the title and that looks good on
a T shirt. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
Yeah, and we've got a few more here. We've got
let's say, Joe A one, three, one, four, five.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Yes, Yes, welcome to the Chat.
Speaker 2 (41:41):
Yeah, Nahala's Inner Prose, Endlessness, Maggie Rodgers, Don't Forget Me
and Father John Misty, Mahashma mahash mash Anna, mash Mashanna
mash mash Mashana, and who else. We've got got one
more here from clack clap.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Promised.
Speaker 2 (42:05):
These are all real and my method actor film Reagan Alvalanche.
That's one that I hadn't really come across my radiar
this year. And Bratt Brat by Charlie X. That's a
great album. The you know, actually funny enough. But a
few people have you know, said, we got loads of these,
Thanks for every We obviously can't read them all out,
(42:26):
but thank you to everyone that did get in touch
with your list. Fontanes came up a lot, and Fontanes
are actually one of those records that that probably changed
my view a little bit on that band. I've always
quite liked Fontanes, but Romance I did really like. I
think it was you know, they started dressing in a
crazy way, upset a lot of fans, but I liked
that they were just leaning into this U two ish
(42:47):
era and I listened to that record a lot, so
that might have been also one of my one of
my heavy rotation records. What we thought we do before
we leave you tonight on the podcast is, I don't know,
in an act of punishment what because this has been
a bit too enjoyable. And we also wanted to show
(43:07):
the light and shade right And obviously there's there's these
and there's a thing right online called Metacritic, and it's
also one called Album of the Year dot org, and
both of those are like, they're aggregators, they're aggregators, they're
there rotten tomatoes of music. I think Meta Critic does
lots of things since those games and videos and all
(43:28):
sorts of things, but we we wanted to see what
had scored the least. The way they come up with
it is, you know, they have just trolled the internet
for all the reviews that the critics have put out,
and then they just give an average score. And we
thought we should probably just see what's also down the
bottom of everybody's lists and and then go and listen
(43:49):
to it and listen to at least one each of them.
So what did what did you have to go listen
to listen to the one that was dead? Last critic,
which was which is one four three by Katie Perry,
and Katie Perry's had a shocker this year with this record.
Speaker 1 (44:08):
It was, I mean a pand doesn't even start to like.
I feel for her really because she just this was
destroyed this album by everybody that reviewed it and wrote
about it as just being a completely irrelevant, like pop record,
and I hadn't heard it actually when it came out.
(44:29):
I quite like Katy Perry. I think, like, you know,
the old songs are great, aren't they firework? Yes?
Speaker 3 (44:36):
Please?
Speaker 1 (44:37):
But I quite like it. I like her as a person.
I think she seems like quite a laugh and all
of that. But I didn't listen to it and everyone
was going on and I thought, oh, that's a shame.
I don't know how it came to this as well,
because by the way, the lead singles off of this
didn't chart. They absolutely flopped. And normally what would happen
is the label would say, we're not putting this all
this needs work then, so we're going to take this back.
(44:57):
The album wouldn't have come out, but it did. They
just put which I respect as foolish as it turned
out to be, and it got absolutely destroyed it. I
listened to it last night because I put it off
to the last minute to have to do it for
this and I thought, this can't be as bad as
people are thinking. And then I listened to it and
(45:19):
at first I thought, no, it's okay, isn't it. But
then it went into the second song and then the
third song, and it's just it's just so phoned in.
It's like people have probably people probably read about this
album even if they've not heard it, because people, you know,
because you sort of delight in reading about these sort
of things, and everything that people said was true. Sadly,
(45:42):
it's just it's it feels so dated in a world
where you've got Chapel Roone and Brat and like and
just the way pop music has moved, and and it's
just very like it's just out of step. It's very
out of step, is very thin. It's just like there's
(46:03):
not really any sort it's not really saying anything or
doing anything. It's got some really horrible euro like sort
of bad Eurovision beats on it, and then it's got
some pop trap on it. But it's just but hey,
I think people are saying this is the end of
Kat Perry's career. She's never coming back from this, and
it's certainly embarrassing because like it was such a public.
Speaker 3 (46:22):
Thing that it was rubbish. But I think she can
come back from it.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
She can totally turn head. I think also like pop music,
like straight up real pop music like that, it's so
hard to sustain it and to be the relevant top
dog in it the whole time. You know, Madonna has
made some horrendous records, but she's always she always threats
(46:47):
to come back with something good. You know, last good
record was Confessions on the Dance World, but before that
there was some dirge and you know Kylie Minogue, the
comeback queen, like it can happen for Perry. So I'm
sure she's listened with you, Katie, you support you. You
didn't name your album after your angel number.
Speaker 3 (47:04):
I don't know what that is.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
But yeah, I think she can come back from it, surely,
unlike your unlike your guy. So you tasked me.
Speaker 2 (47:15):
We've listened to justin Timberlake's album, which is called Everything.
I thought it was, oh my gosh, this is right down.
Speaker 1 (47:24):
There as well. I think it scored around a five
on Metacritic generous.
Speaker 2 (47:30):
Yeah, so just In Timberlake's sixth album was released back
in March. It is an hour and seventeen and it's long.
Oh my god, I've seen short of films and that
this year and it is just basically, to be honest,
it's just completely irrelevant. I think it's the thing, and
it's also just very naf and for all. To be honest,
(47:54):
a lot of my thoughts on it are shared in
the same way that you just said.
Speaker 1 (47:57):
They're really similar, aren't they. I think they're really similar incidences.
Speaker 2 (48:01):
Yeah, it's like if you know you have. The second
track on the album is called Fucking Up the Disco
and it's just a sort of like a song about
being in the club.
Speaker 1 (48:09):
I mean, that's a good one.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Is it from like a forty three year old Justin Timberlake?
And I guess you know, again, I'm not going to
like pylon to Justin timulate, but it did remind me that,
like he had his moment was justified in two It
was two thousand and two, right, yeah, twenty two years ago.
He was only twenty one at that point, and so
he's been around for and obviously ensync before that. So
(48:33):
he's fame has always been in his life since he
was a teenager, and so I was a bit I
was a bit shocked to learn that he's only in
his early forties, to be honest, but yeah, it just
it it sounds like an album that is just completely
out of touch with lyrics about bass drops and body
pops and all this kind of stuff that just, like
you say, just does not feel relevant. I think it
(48:57):
just like the world just seems a bit more serious
now and will want a little bit more heart and
soul and grit. I think if anything, that the success
of like Sabrina Carpenter, you know, Charlie XCX Chapel Rone
has told us this year is that people want they
want the real, they want the real, right, and so
(49:18):
that this just just found it just feels a bit
naf and relevant. And yeah, it's it's it's completely overblown
at an hour and seventeen minutes long, and so yeah,
it was.
Speaker 1 (49:30):
It was a tough time. But it also made me think, like,
did you get through it? Did you get to the
end of that?
Speaker 2 (49:36):
I mean, once I got into the second half of it,
I was skipping through.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
Yeah, fair play, well well done for well done for trying,
Thank you, thank you, I guess like on this point,
whilst we're talking about things that maybe didn't land as much, like,
let's be honest, like, are that any albums that you
were not maybe disappointed by, but also maybe just didn't
land with you from this year that you were expecting
to that you just didn't get on with, even if
(50:00):
other people did. I mean, it probably is GNX, Like
it probably is, but only because my you know, my
expectation is so high. You know, that guy's the greatest.
And it's not bad either. It's not a bad record,
but I think there was If I can just shout
out one more review which we will link to, which
(50:21):
is the Pitchfork review of GNX, is the review of
that record that I think captures it best because I
think what happened also with that album is because they
dropped it out of thin air. Then what tends to
happen is people have a knee jerk reaction and they
write their review that day without really living with it for.
Speaker 3 (50:41):
Any amount of time.
Speaker 1 (50:43):
And when it's a star as big as that, it's
going to be a positive review, they tend to all
be like five stars, four and a half stars, you know,
because no one wants to like say, oh, is it
not that good? Do I just not get it? Or
people just want to love it?
Speaker 3 (50:56):
Right?
Speaker 1 (50:56):
So the pitch for one came out like, I mean,
they took the weekend to have it and live with it,
and I just think it nails. It doesn't hammer. It
doesn't say it's a bad album, but it's like, guys,
this is not a perfect album.
Speaker 3 (51:10):
That everybody's saying is that's.
Speaker 1 (51:13):
Probably the only like, the only one that would normally
be like that would be shoot, like an absolute nailed
on album. Yeah, And I don't mind.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
I don't mind listing some stuff that didn't I didn't
I'm not saying it was bad, but didn't move me.
And I didn't like return to this year, the Do
a Lipa record. I love doing a Glass and performance
was incredible. That album didn't really do it.
Speaker 1 (51:37):
I think we're going to I reckon, We're going to
talk about her at the end of the year on
another special probably will Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:43):
I think she said she's had an interesting Yeah, definitely
Beyonce's Cowboy Carter and again didn't really do it for me.
The Last Dinner Party Prelude to Ecstasy. Fontaine's DC didn't
really do it the Billie Eilish record.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
That's going to think to that you're saying that slagging
font for the year.
Speaker 2 (52:01):
Greg hang on, just because those said it didn't really
do it for me. I'm so sorry listeners, and perhaps
most controversially of all the Tortured Poets Department.
Speaker 1 (52:11):
Oh rubbish, But everybody knew that was that was like
not not not Taylor Swift's best, right.
Speaker 2 (52:18):
Yeah, yeah, I think so, and I think so well,
listen to you tonight has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (52:22):
I've really enjoyed that we've been. We've we've we've we've
set the record straight.
Speaker 2 (52:26):
I feel like this has been completely and utterly definitive
so that we can people all to bed, doesn't it Exactly?
No more, no more talk of albums of the year,
because it's all been decided.
Speaker 3 (52:36):
It's done.
Speaker 2 (52:37):
Yeah, exactly. We're going to put all the links to
the stuff that we recommend in the show notes the podcast,
so hopefully you've got like an abundance of listening to
do now and go and check out some stuff that
you maybe didn't know before. Thanks to all of you
listening who sent in your top three albums of the year,
we hope You've enjoyed you listening to your music this year,
thanks the artist that also got involved, and thanks to you.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Stu your top three.
Speaker 2 (52:56):
I would give it a six.
Speaker 1 (53:00):
I'm jacking.
Speaker 2 (53:08):
Midnight Chats is a joint production between Loud and Quiet
and Atomized Studios for iHeartRadio. It's hosted by Stuart Stubbs
and Greg Cochrane, mixed and mastered by Flow Lines, and
edited by Stuart Stubbs. Find us on Instagram and TikTok
to watch clips from our recordings.
Speaker 3 (53:24):
At much much more.
Speaker 1 (53:25):
We are Midnight Chats Pod. For more information, visit Loud
and Quiet dot com
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!