First Floor's Favorite Tracks of 2024
a.k.a. The songs I enjoyed the most this year, both on and off the dancefloor.
I’ve done it again. With the year rapidly coming to a close, I’ve once again spent far too long assembling wholly subjective lists of my favorite pieces of music from the past 12 months. And unlike other publications, who literally engage in this exercise to juice their web traffic and boost their advertising rates for the coming year, I have no business-related excuse for doing this. I’m just a colossal nerd, and given that I’ve now been making year-end lists for more than two decades, I on some level must clearly enjoy the exercise.
What can I say? We music journalists are a sick bunch.
In my defense, First Floor does generally keep the year-end content to a relative minimum, but my wrap-up of 2024 actually started with last week’s essay about the much-ballyhooed return of nuance and sincerity to dance music. (Long story short: I’m cautiously optimistic about the shift in the music, even as I remain deeply skeptical about the entities who’ve suddenly adopted a drastically new narrative about what dance music ought to be. Be wary of anyone who regards sincerity as a trend.)
This week, however, I’ve widened the lens beyond dance music, and will be sharing lists of my 2024 favorites from across the electronic music sphere (i.e. not just the dance stuff). First up are my favorite tracks, which you’ll find below. They’re not ranked, but in the spirit of providing a little bit of helpful organization, the songs have been split into two distinct categories: “For the Club” and “Not for the Club.”
A list of my favorite releases of 2024 will be published tomorrow, and that will be followed on Thursday by a “normal” First Floor digest, which will most likely be the final newsletter of the year.
Alright, enough with the preamble. Let’s get into these tunes.
Note: You can click the track titles to hear each song individually, or you can also just head over to this convenient Buy Music Club list to find them all in one place.
FOR THE CLUB
Joy Orbison “flight fm” (Hinge Finger / XL)
In a year that was noticeably short on bona fide anthems, Joy Orbison’s “flight fm” was one of the few club tracks that felt genuinely ubiquitous throughout 2024. The fact that it was released in January may have had something to do with that, but nearly 12 months later, the track still provides an instant hit of adrenaline, its skippy garage beat and ominously whirring basslines inviting listeners to hop on board Joy Orbison’s latest dancefloor-smashing rocketship. Add in the fact that the celebrated UK producer apparently made the whole thing over the course of a few hours while waiting to get picked up for a festival gig, and then literally road tested the song in the van on the way there, and the lore around “flight fm” is almost as good as the track itself.
JIALING “FREAKY HORNS” (Clasico)
Baltimore club has been inspiring people to get rowdy for more than three decades now, and though the genre long ago went global, it still seems that only native Baltimoreans are capable of unlocking the music’s full potential. JIALING was born and raised in Charm City, and “FREAKY HORNS” is a five-minute slice of mayhem, its boisterous energy provided by her unrelenting drum attack and an energetic procession of finely chopped hip-hop vocal clips. Plenty of songs will liven up the dancefloor, but when someone drops “FREAKY HORNS”—a track which feels like a spiritual descendent of Baltimore classics like DJ Class’ “Tear the Club Up” and KW Griff’s “Bring in the Katz”—shouting at the top of your lungs is the only appropriate response.
Soft Crash feat. Ready in LED “Free Yourself” (BITE)
It’s been a while since ’80s genres like synth-pop, hi-NRG and freestyle experienced a full-blown revival, but perhaps that’s because their neon-streaked glamor has never veered all that far from the limelight. The entire decade has become an inextricable part of the collective dance-pop DNA, which is perhaps why Soft Crash’s “Free Yourself” feels so instantly familiar. With its bubbly rhythm and luminous energy—much of the latter is provided by Ukrainian vocalist Ready in LED—the song taps into a lineage that began with early Madonna and has since inspired thousands of aspiring divas to be their most fabulous selves.
Ali Berger “0621 People are just asking:” (Trackland)
Ali Berger is a workhorse. His Bandcamp page literally has 75 releases on it, and those are just the ones the Pittsburgh-based artist has released via his own Trackland imprint. It’s unlikely that many people have explored every corner of that catalog, but it’s hard to imagine that bothers Berger much; the guy clearly enjoys the process of making house music, and in 2024, he settled into a real sweet spot, offering up a slew of low-key, subtly soulful productions that celebrate the power of a unfussy groove. With its plinking piano notes and unhurried pace (the track is more than nine minutes long), “0621 People are just asking:” is the house music equivalent of a mid-afternoon stroll, and welcome reminder that when it comes to dance music, fancy bells and whistles often aren’t required.
Carré “Fawn” (SPE:C)
Few people who lived through the dubstep boom of the late 2000s are actively clamoring for the genre’s return, and that goes double for those who witnessed the noxious mutations that followed the music’s arrival on American shores. Carré, however, seems unfazed by that history, and based upon the records that the Los Angeles producer has released during the past year or so, she appears intent on not only harnessing the power of the wobble, but doing so without bringing back all of the braindead bro-isms that dragged down the genre’s previous iterations. On “Fawn,” she practically revels in the muck, her soupy reverb and sludgy basslines coalescing into something that’s both deeply hypnotic and fully capable of scrambling the innards of anyone in earshot.
Hassan Alou Alam “3asabi” (Nerve Collect)
ABADIR & Nahash “Tenterlé تنترليه” (SVBKVLT)
For better or worse, the UK continues to be regarded as the center of the bass music universe, and while it’s unlikely to surrender the top spot anytime soon, 2024 was the first year that Egypt really took a run at the crown. Having birthed artists like ZULI, 3Phaz, Hassan Alou Alam and ABADIR, the country has developed its own head-turning strain of bass-techno hybrids, battering dancefloors with high-concept sound design and, most importantly, a distinctly Arabic rhythmic sensibility. With its crunchy wobble and swaggering bounce, Hassan Alou Alam’s “3asabi” is downright sinister, and ABADIR’s “Tenterlé تنترليه”—a collaboration with French artist Nahash—is even more intense, its relentless drum hits and strident horn blasts smacking the dancefloor with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. The Egyptian-ness of these tunes might be what initially grabs listeners’ attention, but it’s the top-shelf production that truly makes them bang.
Verraco “0∞” (Timedance)
Speaking of top-shelf production, Verraco solidified his standing as one of dance music’s most talented technical wizards in 2024. His Breathe... Godspeed EP drew widespread accolades from clubbers and desk jockeys alike, as it showcased the Colombian artist’s ability to combine chest-rattling rhythms with the sort of high-impact sound design one usually encounters in a blockbuster film. Take “0∞”—it may be built atop a relatively standard bass-techno gallop, but the predominant vibe is ultimately closer to War of the Worlds, particularly once the buzzing roar of the song’s primary synth line enters the fray. Is Verraco trying to make people dance, or is he secretly testing some sort of new sonic weaponry that’s on loan from alien invaders? Either way, he’s operating on his own level, and it’s impressive to watch him work.
Debba “Just Wanna” (Kaizen)
Jeigo “Fig” (air miles)
Can post-dubstep also be pop? Some might argue that SOPHIE, A.G. Cook and the wider PC Music crew long ago proved that the answer is “yes,” and Two Shell has certainly spent much of the past few years actively connecting the dots between the pop charts and the hardcore continuum. Yet for those who prefer something with a bit less camp, pop sensibility can sometimes be hard to come by in the po-faced world of bass music, which makes songs like Debba’s “Just Wanna” and Jeigo “Fig” shine particularly bright. The former is a hooky bit of R&B-infused garage (or is it garage-infused R&B?), while the latter follows a more wistful path, combining child-like vocal fragments with the most introspective of wobbles. With their soft-focus melodies and warm textures, both of these tunes have plenty of nostalgia for the late 2000s and early 2010s baked in, but when the hooks—even the wordless ones—are this good, it’s unlikely that even the biggest of bass music snobs will complain.
comforter2 “14 (Peach Remix)” (Nous’klaer)
When comforter2’s Tell Me Something Happy (Remixes) was released, Peach commented that the source material had resonated with her because she “grew up on guitar music (lol).” I’d wager that she’s far from the only dance music artist with that sort of history, and given that her remix of “14” is easily the best thing the London-based Canadian has done since her 2018 breakout “Silky.” it seems that her old listening habits clearly came in handy. Anyone with a passion for post-punk, or the indie dance era of the early 2000s, will surely take a liking to the song’s chunky angular bassline, but more than anything, this stylishy sashaying version of “14” is a dreamy house cut, and an excellent one at that.
NOT FOR THE CLUB
Jabu “Oceanside Spider House” (do you have peace?)
The music industry still seems content to slap the “shoegaze” label on anything with a little bit of reverb, but in many cases, “dream pop” would be a more apt descriptor. 2024 was a big year for artists with a Cocteau Twins fetish, and while that produced a glut of smudgy songcraft, it also resulted in majestic numbers like Jabu’s “Oceanside Spider House.” Though the group first came together more than a decade ago in the dubby murk of the Bristol bass circuit, they sounded positively celestial on this year’s A Soft and Gatherable Star LP. The enchanting vocal work of singer Jasmine Butt has a lot to do with that, and on “Oceanside Spider House,” her airy register is dripping with what appears to be a profound sense of longing, yet it rings out all the same, sparkling atop a pool of sparse, trip-hop indebted instrumentation. It’s not a new formula, but very few acts have done it better than this.
Night Cycle “Dead End of August” (Eternity Acres)
One the year’s most pleasant surprises, Night Cycle is a Canadian band that includes two house music producers, Cooper Saver and Pop District, but makes music that ultimately has almost nothing to do with the dancefloor. Grunge and shoegaze are the group’s calling cards, and “Dead End of August” is a swirly, distortion-filled gem, one heavily rooted in the “alternative” culture of the 1990s—think skate videos, MTV’s 120 Minutes, “modern rock” radio, disaffected suburban teens and Clerks-style slackers. It’s deeply nostalgic, but it should also be more than satisfying to anyone who regrets selling their Breeders and Lush CDs to the local record shop back in the day.
claire rousay “lover’s spit plays in the background” (Thrill Jockey)
claire rousay spent the bulk of 2024 indulging her emo-pop fantasies, and if the dejected state of her social media over the course of the past year is any indication, it’s not something the acclaimed ambient / experimental artist will be doing again anytime soon. (In fairness, touring the world mostly alone while also hauling around an elaborate stage set-up that mimics an actual bedroom is enough to wear anyone out.) Nevertheless, this musical side trip has left the world with sentiment, a remarkably vulnerable album of bare-bones emo laments. LP highlight “lover’s spit plays in the background” aches in the way that only a heartbroken, self-loathing young person can, with rousay’s warbling, heavily Vocodored voice doing the emotional heavy lifting. For someone who started as a drummer and generally specializes in long-form abstract compositions, she sure knows how to pour her heart out, and does so in a way that should connect with emo kids of any age.
Pavel Milyakov “the thrill (feat. Yena Pavlova)” (Psy X)
Magic happens when Pavel Milyakov (a.k.a. buttechno) and Yena Pavlova get together. Back in 2021, the two teamed up on the BLUE LP, and while “the thrill”—a track from Milyakov’s Enthropic Vision release—wasn’t billed as an official sequel, it does radiate the same sort of smoky, late-night charm. That said, it’s warmer than BLUE, and less indebted to post-punk, pulling instead from trip-hop and the hazy sparkle of acts like Mazzy Star. Think of it as a hypnotic, ’90s-flavored lullaby, and though Pavlova’s voice sounds like she’s carrying the weight of the world, she and Milyakov somehow make that burden seem not only beautiful, but enticing.
Jay Glass Dubs “Swint” (Sundial)
Released at the end of September, Jay Glass Dubs’ Resurgence came and went in a flash, one of the many victims of the absolutely staggering volume of new electronic music that’s dropped during the past few months. That’s a shame, because “Swint,” the record’s closing track, just might be the finest thing the Greek dub specialist has ever done. Clocking in at more than eight minutes, it’s a proper journey, one that begins with a mellow dub riff and rapidly builds into a towering wall of sound. Lesser artists might collapse under the weight of all that echo and distortion, but Jay Glass Dubs luxuriates in it, extending his reverb tails and maintaining the song’s low-end groove as the composition cooly cruises toward oblivion.
Oliver Coates “Ultra valid” (RVNG Intl.)
Over the course of his career, UK composer Oliver Coates has picked up all sorts of impressive production and songwriting techniques, but at the end of the day, the man is a brilliant cellist, and there’s nothing more powerful he can do than sit down and play his chosen instrument. “Ultra valid” is a testament to that, and the song—which opens his Throb, shiver, arrow of time album and also feels like a spiritual successor to his work on the Aftersun soundtrack—is a cinematic stunner, one whose grand melodies and deeply resonant strings are capable of making even the most stoic of listeners squeeze out a tear or two.
Tristwch Y Fenywod “Blodyn Gwyrdd” (Night School)
A self-described “Welsh-language gothic avant-rock power coven,” Tristwch Y Fenywod are a group that legitimately sound like no one else—save for maybe the musicians who perform at your local Renaissance fair. The trio’s dual zither attack surely has something to do with that, but “Blodyn Gwyrdd”—the opening track of the band’s self-titled debut album—offers more than medieval pageantry, as its witchy majesty and gothic siren calls also nod toward the otherworldly sound of The Cranes, Dead Can Dance and other ’80s avant-pop outfits.
james K “Blinkmoth (July Mix)” (AD 93)
Nobody has come up with a snappy name to describe all of the dub / ambient / trip-hop / shoegaze hybrids that found their way into the world this year—and there were a ton of them—but however you want to label that hazy little corner of the electronic music universe, one could make a convincing case that james K has become its defining voice. The New York-based artist was busy in 2024, guesting on multiple records and popping up on various compilations, but she shined brightest on her own tracks, especially “Blinkmoth (July Mix),” a breathy standalone single that surfaced in July. Swaddled in plush textures and riding atop a low-slung trip-hop beat, james K kept the vocal processing to a minimum, allowing her sonorous voice to ring out unobscured. The cool kids will undoubtedly compare her to Elizabeth Fraser, but she also sounds a bit like Dido—in a good way!—and the song’s cozy confines would have been just about perfect for a hip coffeehouse circa 1999.
Kito Jempere “Love Myself but I Can’t Make It Love” (Self-released)
Twenty years ago, Kito Jempere played guitar in a student rock band called Naked Lunch, and though the decades that followed took him in a vastly musical different direction—he’s best known as a house producer—he never forgot where he came from. In recent years, he’s slowly drifted back toward pop sounds, and when the time came to start work on 2024’s Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness album, he turned to Naked Lunch for inspiration, cooking up the deliciously fuzzy “Love Myself but I Can’t Make It Love.” Combining Britpop-style bombast with the post-grunge guitar squall and slacker hooks of bands like Weezer and Modest Mouse, it’s a literal throwback—Jempere even teamed up with his old bandmates on an alternate (and decidedly more screamo-influenced) version of the song. The original, however, was a solo endeavor, albeit one that still exudes the messy jubilance of life as a teenage rocker.
Bianca Scout “Midnight (feat. Mun Sing)” (Sferic)
Like most releases on Sferic, Bianca Scout’s Pattern Damage album was a sonically ambitious effort, but even with its forays into cinematic ambient, bedroom synth-pop and experimental composition, the LP’s most powerful song is the one which involves the least amount of production wizardry. A collaboration with former Giant Swan member Mun Sing, “Midnight” is an intimate lament, and though it consists of little more than acoustic guitar, Scout’s delicately lilting voice and just enough reverb to amplify the palpable sense of melancholy, it still packs a hell of an emotional punch.
Man Rei “If It’s Fine” (Somewhere Press)
During a time when even novice producers have access to a seemingly infinite library of sounds and production techniques, there’s still no substitute for the human voice. Man Rei understands that, and on “If It’s Fine”—the arresting lead track of the Thread LP—the Estonian artist’s multi-tracked vocals are borderline angelic, their elegant interplay enhanced by just a touch of shimmering reverb. Inspiring reverence without ever feeling ostentatious, this is a gorgeous tune—and one that deservedly draws Enya comparisons.
J. Albert “Memo” (Self-released)
One of electronic music’s true wild cards, J. Albert refuses to be hemmed in by notions of genre or even the expectations of his most ardent fans. The NYC producer simply follows his muse, and on “Memo,” that muse drove him to combine some chilled guitar loops with some voice notes that had landed in his phone. From a composition standpoint, it’s a relatively simple track, but it’s also deeply poignant, as the loving words of a close friend hammer home the importance of maintaining connections with those we hold most dear. It’s often said that less is more, and while that’s not always true when it comes to music, “Memo” bucks that trend, wisely populating its open spaces with the most fundamental of human emotions: love.
Shawn Reynaldo is a freelance writer, editor, presenter and project manager. Find him on LinkedIn and Instagram—and make sure to follow First Floor on Instagram as well—or you can just drop Shawn an email to get in touch about projects, collaborations or potential work opportunities.