Happy holidays from your kind and caring and loving media streaming service startup Spotify. I had a great year listening to new music, to guilty pleasures, and going to live performances of the bands I love.
What are my highlights? Here is my Spotify Wrapped, succinctly:
I fully expected DBMK and acloudyskye to be my top two artists. While Adam Tell, Picture Atlantic, and Porter Robinson are all up there, I still expected Wild Party to be in my top 5, but they were surprisingly missing!
Tours & live performances
I went to see a bunch of artists I like perform live, which every single one of them was worth it. I took photos, too!
Wild Party
In February, I saw them perform at the Mercury Lounge with Cousin Simple.
I had an amazing time. I would say it was the time of my life. Seeing them perform on their tour across the country was such a blast. Seriously, I had an amazing time, screaming my heart out to all of their songs. Their absence from my top 5 is egregious.
They’re such a great band and I am so glad they did a 10th anniversary tour of their Phantom Pop (2014) synth-pop album. They played the yet-to-be released “Hatchet” and at the end played an instrumental of “First Two Days With You”.
Their Spotify bio mentions twice that they “are set to release a new full-length album in 2024,” but that appears to be pushed back given that it’s already mid-December. I can’t wait!
This year I finally went and published my three-year-old draft of their Wikipedia article, and you can see more photos I took of their concert on Wikimedia Commons.
AJR
A few months later, my sister brought me to an AJR concert to see their Maybe Man tour. Their song “Karma” helped me during a week during mid-2020 where I was going through some things.
The trombonist was amazing, just amazing. She danced and swung around with such an excited energy. The guys? A, J, and R? Great guys I’m sure, but she stole the show for me lol.
Acloudyskye
In April, I saw Acloudyskye perform at a tiny theater. It was the first time I saw him perform. My really close friend Swifter introduced me to Skye in 2021 with his phenomenal Beat Saber modchart, at where I fell in love with his music.
The show was alright, and it was free and not crowded.
ANIMA!
The next day, I saw ANIMA! at Brooklyn venue Public Records. Unfortunately it was a solo performance by the lead singer, but she still was good by herself! She sung and worked the devices that I don’t know the names of, and I had a great time.
The duo’s album from last year, Not At This Time (2023) featured prominently in her set. Projected on her and the wall behind was the gorgeously-animated artwork created for the album and its songs.
She has a beautiful soothing singing voice that works so well with the subdued tracks underneath. One day I would like to see them both perform!
Acloudyskye (again)
About a month after Skye’s small show, he held a larger one in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This one was far more fun to me! While he had some issues with syncing the projection to the music, he performed great otherwise.
Do I need to say I sang along and danced hard to the bops? (I sweated so much that night lol.) His music is just… phenomenal. I can hardly put to words the feeling the sounds give me. Expansive? Storyful? Transcendent? It feels like I’m put in an open world brimming with characters and life and backstory.
During a mosh pit, his mom pushed me back in, which I thought was hilarious once I learned who she was. Someone flew all the way from Germany with his sister, partially for this. Also great was that a furry in costume came! (They told me they weren’t from the area either and had just come from a convention.)
Skye is performing on the west coast at the start of the year; if you’re around, go see him!
DBMK
My top artist this year, according to Spotify, was DBMK. It seems to stand for nothing, but I swore a news article said it was “Denim Blue and McLain Keith.” Regardless, they’re an excellent duo worthy of that #1 spot, because their electronic-indie pop tracks worm right into my brain and go hard.
I saw them at the beginning of June, right before a trip to Germany, and this was the second time I’d seen them live. (The first was last year at, like Wild Party, the Mercury Lounge. Skye performed at the Lounge a week before Thanksgiving.) This was at the Sultan Room in Brooklyn, and they had released their It Gets Dimmer (2024) EP weeks prior.
Their theatrics are top-notch for a small band. They got everything staged and synced to the music. The lighting was very well-coordinated. I also sung my heart out with them, especially “Rot”, their best song. It’s always great seeing them perform, and I crave their next show.
Porter Robinson
Fuck yeah, dude, Porter fucking Robinson!!! I saw him on tour for SMILE! 😀 (2024) which was one of the best moments of my life. I discovered him when he released “Look At The Sky” in 2021 for the incredible Nurture (2021).
I was so lucky to be near the front of the stage and see him and the other performers so close. The set design was pretty great, and the LED billboard behind him had been put to really good uses throughout the show.
So much confetti, lighting, everything. I think it topped Wild Party for being the best time of my life. I truly had an amazing time there. He played songs from SMILE! 😀, Nurture, and his breakout album Worlds (2014), which also turned 10 years old this year.
I grabbed paper hearts that came out of the confetti cannon for my friends. I danced and sung/screamed to the songs I’d memorized. I can’t wait to go see him again! He’s performing tomorrow night but I’ll be at Times Square.
When my best friend saw Robinson, they high-fived when Robinson WENT INTO THE CROWD. I am not jealous.
DBMK (again)
I get to see DBMK as often as they perform. This time, at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, I saw them do a similar set as earlier in the year, but at a slightly smaller venue and yet more performers.
The venue’s unique backlit LEDs were so fun. I think they know me now lol. IDK what else to say; it was phenomenal to hear them.
Origami Angel
And for the final show of the year, Origami Angel! They had released Feeling Not Found earlier in the year, and this was the end of that tour. It was super packed, and there were three(!) other bands performing, one apparently from Singapore!
While the introductions of Macseal and Arm’s Length to me were great, I really was here for Origami Angel. The mosh pit was huge, and I joined in a few times. It got pretty aggressive for my taste, but I held up. There were dozens of people who crowdsurfed to the front of the stage. Security was there to grab them and shoo them away, which I found amusing.
Overall, pretty fun! I got vinyls of Somewhere City (2019) and Feeling Not Found (2024).
Top albums of 2024
I was going to write a list of my top albums that released this year, but searching through my collection, I only found four. This is despite some artists I love releasing albums, but I just don’t notice.
So I went and found a few more from artists I follow on Spotify, and I found a few more to listen and add to the ranking.
If I were to rank them, this is what it would be (maybe):
- SMILE! 😀, Porter Robinson
- There Must Be Something Here, acloudyskye
- Feeling Not Found, Origami Angel
- Moderation, daysormay
- Echo Afternoon, Finish Ticket
- Sink Your Teeth, Neon Trees
Onwards to 2025!
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