Our Top 10 Lists have been named in honor of late Blog Director and DJ Clarence Ewing, who pioneered and published this annual feature for nearly a decade.
Our next list is from Danielle Sines.
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been blogging these best of, year end lists for the past eight years. These entries have become my diary of sorts; a modern day livejournal of the wonderful musical memories that happened each year.
This year, my band Impulsive Hearts released a remastered version of our debut album Sorry in the Summer. It's a good reminder to back up your work (my computer died and those files are gone) and to collaborate with others (thanks Cavity Search Records and Brian Fox for remixing this home recorded nightmare).
Without fault, each and every time though, I’ll get to February or so and realize that of course, I forgot an album that I loved. So please know that I try, but apparently have blind spots—my seemingly ironclad methodology of checking my top played streaming services lists, and discogs for records I bought, etc. doesn’t seem to hold up. I'll keep a real journal in 2026, I promise.
Here are the left out albums, of those I can remember:
2018: Lala Lala - The Lamb ( I seriously don’t understand how I forgot about this one. I listened to this record so much.)
2019 : Bleached - Don’t You Think You’ve Had Enough? | Automatic - Signal
2020: Fenne Lily - BREACH | Hazel English - Wake UP!
2021: Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg
2022: Courting - Guitar Music | Grace Ives - Janky Star | Lyzza- MOSQUITO | SZA - SOS
2023: Amaarae - Fountain Baby
2024: Kendrick Lamar - GNX
Here’s to next year’s music! Stay strong and keep each other safe CHICAGO. <3
10. Baby by Dijon (R&R)
My friends and I have been leaning on singer, songwriter, and producer Dijon Duenas to fill the void that only a new Frank Ocean album could. His lyrics are soulful, honest and sexy on third album Baby! On opener, "Baby!" (1) Dijon croons, "I got wild with your mother, ended on the bed," in a tell-all song of a romantic relationship with gorgeous, confessional lyrics about his wife and first-born, named Baby. "Another Baby!" (2) keeps the romance story-line in a funky, fun upbeat Prince-vibe track that is infectious. Dijon calls the album “mania of domesticity," as he made the album at home in near-isolation with his new family. "Rewind" is perhaps the most emotive with Bon Iver For Emma... vibes—intense and beautiful, perfection.
Listen: Dijon webstore
9. Is It Now? by Automatic (Stones Throw)
This LA trio continues to make reliably good, catchy post-punk with sounds similar to ESG or the B-52’s. I’d sing the title track every time I’d cut my bangs, singing, “Cut your hair with kitchen scissors. New look, a different image.” Synths swell on “Smog Summer” with quick beats that will make you want to dance during the apocalypse. The lyrics sum up the current state of abyss, “Can you tell? We woke a living hell. Our old horizons have failed. Don’t think I handle it well.” Same girl, same.
Listen: Bandcamp
8. Chin Up Buttercup by Austra (Domino)
Canadian electronic pop artist and producer Katie Stelmanis is back with her fifth album after a devastating heartbreak. Similarly to Lily Allen, she lays it all on the line and is brutally honest about the split. Lyrics on “Math Equation” begin, “You said I needed my own friends, so I found them, then you fucked them,” over pulsating beats, for example. Her voice is beautiful, soul-piercing and gorgeous. My favorite track is “Fallen Cloud” for it’s Tori Amos/Kate Bush meets Robyn/Grimes vibes.
Listen: Bandcamp
7. BLACK STAR by Amaarae (Interscope)
Amaarae, the New York native, whose real name is Ama Serwah Genfi, has breathy, high pitched vocals similar to Ravyn Lanae or Grimes. On the Ghanaian-American's latest record she blends Y2K inspired dance-pop and R&B. Most of the record is not radio friendly, but it’s so catchy. She collaborates with PinkPantheress on duet "Kiss Me Through Your Phone pt 2” and has more Y2K pop on "Girlie-pop!" (which, if you haven’t been called this term by a youth, is a trendy slang term, popularized on TikTok, for a person who embodies hyper-feminine traits like being bubbly, cute, and “slaying.”). I totally meant to put 2023's Fountain Baby on my best of list. Whoops.
Listen: Bandcamp
6. do it afraid by Yaya Bey (drink sum wtr)
Yaya has been busy releasing hit record after hit record. I still had jams from her last great masterpiece in my head (see my 2024 Top Ten list for her #2 spot) when she dropped her latest record. It starts off slower, funkier, like a lil sister Solange type of album. She’s rapping and singing over jazzy instrumentations with catchy hooks and ethereal vocals for the first half of the record. But shortly after the gorgeous ballad “spin cycle,” she’s making clubbier, danceable music with Grace Jones “Pull Up To My Bumper” references
Listen: Bandcamp
5. BRONTO by The Hidden Cameras (EvilEvil)
Ugh, I love this record from Canadian singer and songwriter Joel Gibb. It’s dark and brooding, reminiscent of a goth Pet Shop Boys or Duran Duran. It explores unrequited love from the first track, with breakup anthems punctuated by violinist Owen Pallet’s sharp, poignant string arrangements. My favorite track on the record is club ready “Undertow’ with soul-piercing lyrics, “Is it better, the unknown, than to drown a hundred times? I was warned about the undertow, and was told not to go too far.” And later, “So you're going back to him and just like that you were a different man.” Stab-me-in-the-heart lyrical perfection.
Listen: Bronto webstore
4. Malabar Princess by Vendredi Sur la Mer (A+LSO)
I barely speak any French, but that didn’t stop me from listening to this record non-stop this year. It’s a breezy, fun pop album from Swiss artist Charline Mignot (her real name). Try my favorite track that I listened to constantly, “Tout résonne” (translated to “Everything resonates”) for it’s exceptionally catchy melody.
Listen: Vendredi Sur la Mer webstore
3. The BPM by Sudan Archives (Stones Throw)
Sudan Archives AKA Brittney Parks continues blending her violin prowess with 80s dance club beats, R&B and traditional African music on her third release. The result reminds me of nostalgia classics like La Bouche, Snap!, or En Vogue and takes me back to my childhood, rollerblading carefree in the summertime. Ahhhh. Bliss. You can dance to this record, you could go to Rollerhaven (or Fleetwood, if you grew up in Chicago) and vibe with your friends. It’s infectious. It’s a good mood booster. She’s confident and sexy as hell on the record and puts on a great live show too.
Listen: Bandcamp
2. moisturizer by Wet Leg (Domino)
The second installment of Isle of Wight duo turned 5 piece band doesn’t disappoint and keeps the tongue-in-cheek jams of the debut going. Single “Mangetout” is a stand-out favorite with great, catchy lyrics from the start: “Nice try, get out the way/You’re in our way, you bottom feeder.” I imagine them singing this to the male dominated music industry. It’s great to see these women get the praise they deserve. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them this summer at the top of their game, their live performance was captivatingly energetic.
Listen: Bandcamp
1. West End Girl by Lily Allen (BMG)
Telling myself that this isn’t my #1 album of the year would be a lie. I was obsessed. I felt like an old college girlfriend had called me up and told me everything about her divorce in a familiar, charmingly beautiful British voice. Was it all a delicious PR scheme to get us to care about “Stranger Things” again and sell a luxury brownstone in Brooklyn? Perhaps. But it was also so relatable and honest in a refreshing way that only Lily Allen could do. I’m also a fan of creative insults during a breakup and she does not disappoint. She eloquently pens a song nonchalantly sing-songing about butt-plugs in one track and calls David Harbour a “4chan Stan” in another song. Brutal, but beautiful take down, dear. Also bonus points for her creating my favorite word of the year in song, “Nonmonogamummy.” Bless you Lily.
Listen: Lily Allen webstore
Honorable Mentions
Buscabulla - Se Amaba Asi
Translates to “troublemaker"
married duo continue to make sultry tropical pop.
Mykele Deville - Rings Around the Tub
Great local hip hop artist with the ability to gather community and the heart of a lion.
Lambrini Girls - Who Let the Dogs Out
Punk angst
Joao Selva - Onda
Breezy, beautiful music from Brazilian singer songwriter. When I think of hosting a dinner party, this would be a go to album.
Blood Orange - Essex Honey
The gorgeous songwriting journey continues
Hiromi - OUT THERE
I saw her performance at Chicago Symphony Orchestra (shout out Underground Night at the CSO!) and was mesmerized by her dynamic stage presence.
The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie
Another great record from this New Zealand powerhouse.
Axons - Great Parties EP
Written using a DIY scrabble tiles like oblique strategies, local civil rights lawyer wrote, played all instrumentations, recorded, and produced this four-song EP in less than six weeks. The results sound like indie buzz at the end of the world. I also appreciate the effort to keep recording more snap-shot like and not lamenting about the details for years...
Courting - Lust for Life, Or: ‘How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story
Rambunctious rock from Liverpool. I also should have put their 2022 release on my top ten.