Warm Visions

Every year since 2014, I’ve taken time at the end of my Best of the Year list season to survey the field, to take stock in the music that defined my year, and not just the tracks that came out that year. You can find the whole list HERE. Sure most of the songs in the playlist were brand new so of course they will sound like 2024 looking back, but some weren’t from this year. I wanted to catalog how each year sounded, with the week-long obsessions or radical discoveries woven in, and provide a resource for me to be able to say “hmm I wonder what mid-year 2017 sounded like… oh here’s the playlist”, and get warped back to another time. This isn’t escapism (ok maybe some shred of it is), but it’s mostly just preserving memories and the music associated with them. 

Kind of crazy to think about how this is the 10th year I’ve done this. Looking back at my first in 2014, aka my rowdiest year alive, I was living it up. Partying often, working in NYC, making new friends, experiencing new things, the works. You can check out that feature HERE, although you’ve been warned that it was written by a 22 year old. 10 years later, I’ve never felt more stagnant. That’s not to say there wasn’t any enjoyment, or good music being bumped regularly, but I need to claw out. Make the year feel as dynamic as 2014 reads.

But let’s get back to 2024 – below you’ll find 100 songs that soundtracked my 2024, followed by my listening stats (basically my “Wrapped”, a little log of other non-music media consumed in 2024, and finally a short diary section summarizing my thoughts on the year as a whole. There’s also a playlist that you can follow along with below as well.

Continue reading →