Best of 2024 | Albums | Songs | Irish albums | Irish songs | Best Of Podcasts | Guest lists |
Max Zanga aka Filmore! dropped his 2024 EP Idle Death Gamble features pop punk, 80s synths, D&B breaks and hyperpop and is a trip. Max guested on our Tyler podcast episode recently.
Here are his top 10 songs of the year split into Irish and international.
Filmore!’s top 5 Irish songs of the year
Ahmed, With Love. – GeorgianFlip.
Eternally playful, I’m not sure Ahmed, With Love knows how to be fully serious. I’m not sure he’s supposed to be. It’d be akin to Spongebob in a therapy session musing about the finite nature of existence. That isn’t to say that Ahmed doesn’t have anything to say, in fact, he has a lot to say he just says it with a smirk. ‘GeorgianFlip’ is in equal parts flirtatious, goofy, raunchy, manic, chaotic and entirely unpredictable. The musical equivalent of channel-surfing Sunday morning cartoons. Every creative decision in ;GeorgianFlip; makes absolutely no sense to me – from the production with its surprising electronica influence to the ethereal Brazilian-inspired outro. Nevertheless, it’s still perfect. ‘GeorgianFlip’ is determined to make you laugh. I guess in that sense, he is like the Joker.
Sprints – Adore, Adore, Adore
Sprints are special man, but you don’t need me to tell you that. Every idiot has been echoing that same sentiment nonstop these past two years and unfortunately for you I am also one of those idiots. ‘Adore, Adore, Adore’ encapsulates what I do think makes Sprint’s so special; their lead vocalist Karla has the spirit of an actress.
Every line in the song is performed with such flair and at times is borderline flamboyant but it all registers as true in a painfully guttural way. A woman on the edge. Misunderstood. Full of self-doubt. Being a point of want and longing but also a source of ire. It promises madness if she’s pushed one step further. Everything ‘Adore, Adore, Adore’ tells me, I instinctively believe. The song is inherently and addictively persuasive.
Olive Hatake – Memory Lane ft Jafaris
Ireland’s answer to Fred Again, which admittedly is an unreasonable expectation to place on a newer artist but what does he expect? If Olive keeps producing songs like ‘Memory Lane’ we’ll be forced to keep insisting on greatness from him. It’s odd to refer to this song as subtle.
Both Olive and his music are usually quite direct but ‘Memory Lane’ is a little murkier than his usual work. The piano is moody. The synths propel the track but from a distance and the song is dynamic in its constant state of flux but the points of change are masked, hidden. The fog of memory is like trying to hold the past, to fix it in place but it remains elusive. In keeping with this theme he also resurrects Jafaris from the dead to give one of the best verses of his career. But most importantly…it’s a banger.
Shiv – Cherry Pie ft Kojaque & Gaptoof
R & B songstress, Kildare native (yes I am biased) and all-round national treasure Shiv does something truly special on ‘Cherry Pie’. She manages to perfectly capture the feeling of returning home after a period of being away and finding that your Mam has fresh food on the table waiting for you.
The song is full of love and vulnerability as Shiv utilises every facet and tonality in her voice to tell you about the importance of home and taking your mother’s advice.
It’s so unapologetically sweet and sincere in a way that most music as of late isn’t. The vocal layering is fantastic and the production is imbued with this feeling of warmth like it’s a summer evening and the stars are twinkling in perfect synchronicity with the keys.
Gaptoof and Kojaque are also fantastic additions to the record. It feels international but not in the same way as ‘Blockbuster’ (see below).
Here it’s more like finding points of connection with all the differing aspects of Shiv; The Dublin star, the London up-and-comer and the little girl from Zimbabwe listening to soul songs with her Mam in Kildare.
Travy & Elzzz – Blockbuster
To put it simply, Travy & Elzzz make cool music. At face value, this doesn’t say a whole lot but in the context of Irish hip-hop they’re wholly unique in their approach. From beat selection, ad-libs and overall song construction they wield the concept of cool like a knife, piercing your emotions and filling you with an unearned confidence.
Take ‘Blockbuster’ for example it does exactly what the name implies, paints the duo as bigger-than-life superstars and Dublin as their plaything. Travy oozes arrogance and Elzzz pairs it with an icy tenacity that has me on the edge of my seat because surely this must be the biggest film of the year? Throw in a slightly distorted bass, a pretty random Zelda-esque flute and a kick so clean you’d gladly eat off it, how could it not be in my top 5?
Filmore!’s Top 5 International Songs
Kendrick Lamar – Euphoria
In 2024 all roads lead back to Mr Kendrick Lamar. The entire music industry, maybe all of media in general feels like it’s been swallowed up by the Compton rapper and his months long battle with Drake. Overall, this thing has been intensely entertaining but nothing has captivated my attention and awe like Kendrick first real foray into the battle with ‘Euphoria’.
Euphoria is dense. Less a song and more a prophetic thesis picking Drake apart and fortelling his future if he dares to step in the ring against Kendrick. It’s weird, funny, petty and scathing. While I loved this song at the time, as the months pass and everything Kendrick predicted comes to fruition it’s become a sort of calling card of the year. 2024 the year Kendrick Lamar in a state of battle-induced euphoria accurately foretold the future.
Tyler The Creator – Balloon ft Doechii
On one hand picking a favourite song from Chromakopia should be really tough…assuming Ballon didn’t exist. It’s the embodiment of the fun of excess. Tyler and Doechii here revel in the meaningless joys of their celebrity. They’re self-serving, selfish and definitely not celibate.
Doechii gives the best verse of her career and the second best hip-hop performance of the year. I could talk to you about it’s playful use of samples, piano etc but who cares Doechii literally says ‘I air this bitch out like a queef’, like what more do I need to say?
Nialler9 Podcast: Tyler, The Creator’s Chromakopia (with Max Zanga)
Charli XCX – I think about it all the time
Charli XCX doesn’t make ‘party girl’ music. She makes ‘elevated party girl’ music and nowhere is this more evident than in this song. A moment of divine clarity on the centre of a dancefloor at 1am as Charli start’s to question everything. H
er career, her life choices, the meaning of existence and our relatively short time on this planet. But it lacks the philosophical precision of a deep poet, it’s glitchy production, muted synths, a soft two step rhythm as Charli tries and fails to dance her doubts away. It’s remarkably human.
Creepy Nuts – Otonoke
Listen unless you’re a massive weeb or Japanese the words ‘DanDaDan’, ‘Creepy Nuts’ or ‘Otonoke’ probably don’t mean anything to you. And that’s fine, I promise not to hold it against you. This song still gets my number three spot because its a beautiful(like painfully beautiful) blend of Jersey Club, Japanese hip-hop and oddly enough – noughties R&B.
The songwriting is also really sharp with ton of references to the occult and the mysteries of the unknown but you like me most likely don’t speak the language. That’s fine they also say the phrase ‘DanDaDan’ like a hundred times and it’s literally the catchiest thing I’ve ever heard.
Beabadoobee – Take a Bite
The British singers folky-indie version of Americana always makes for a fun listen. Baebadoobee might not be the best singer in the recent pop girl resurgence but she’s certainly the best sounding. Her vocals are sweet and delicate with a mesmerising tone.
‘Take A Bite’ contrasts this apparent innocence in a voice to paint her as someone with an all consuming and dangerous obsession that’s masquerading itself as love. And absolutely I love it.
Best of 2024 | Albums | Songs | Irish albums | Irish songs | Best Of Podcasts | Guest lists |
