5:5:5: XVIII. 2024.

Over here on the FlrtLstn blog, January means but one glorious thing… Label crew, cohorts and regulars have nurtured and polished a golden cache of 5 X 11 tracks, five individual pieces loved and aurally hugged during (but not necessarily from) the preceding year, 2024.

Below then, in no particular order, is a cacophony of heavy rotation tracks, an outrageous variety of sounds to trawl and sift, search and share, delve and delight in.

Massive thanks to the selectors below, we collectively invite you to dive in at your leisure, for your pleasure…

| Ben Khan || Branner Griswell || Electric Ape |
|| Clas Tuuth | Stephen Kin;aesthetic | Ring Modulator ||
|| Proprio | Readsy | Damian Evans ||
| zillagramwiches || Alphabets Heaven |

 

1.

Gaoule Mizik - A Ka Titine

[1989, Self Released]

Stunning spiritual and synth-driven Gwoka LP from the Guadeloupean group (1989).

This private press album is resplendent with jazz, hypnotic drumming and a range of rhythms, reflecting the ancestral narratives of the Gwada tradition.

‘A Ka Titine’ is based on the propulsive toumblak rhythm, which, expressing joy and connection, is commonly heard at celebrations. I listened to a lot of Gwoka and Moroccan Gnawa this year.



2.

Clara La San - All I Wanna Do

[2024, CLS Music]



Manchester-born La San wrote, sang and produced her first album, ‘Made mistakes’ this year. It took her a decade to finish. ‘All I Wanna Do’ entranced me and was a repeat listen.

I’ve heard her music described as ‘nocturnal R&B-pop’, I reckon this is a good description.


3.

Marion Brown Quartet - Capricorn Moon

[1966, ESP-Disk]

The inclusion of this breathtaking 22 minute free jazz opus is representative of a beautifully connecting conversation in a shop in Lewes (Union Records!).

Driving, lyrical, spacious and ‘abstrusely melodic’, ‘Capricorn moon’ was a balm for the mind this year and for me, helped mitigate against the overwhelm of a tumultuous year.  Rashied Ali’s drumming is especially outstanding.



4.

Hatfield And The North - Son Of ‘There’s No Place Like Homerton

[1974, Virgin]

2024 has been quite a proggy year for me - lots of Caravan, Vangelis, Van Der Graaf, Picchio Dal Pozzo and Gentle Giant. I’ve included a track from the Canterbury’ bands first album.

It's heavily choral and for me, almost elegiac in mood. I often start the song 3 and a half mins in, just when the luminous singing starts.




5.

Moin feat. Olan Monk - Guess It’s Wrecked

[2024, AD 93]

Moin is the two blokes from Raime coupled with skilled and salient drummer, Valentina Magaletti -Magaletti has had a year of rude creative health, featured in many well-enjoyed releases from Holy Tongue and CZN to V/Z and Tomaga.

Eschewing the primacy of electronics -and bringing in a range of vocalists on their great third album, ‘You Never End’ is a powerfully stark guitar-driven record that I kept returning to. As always, Magaletti brings ridiculous polyrhythmic heat to the entire LP.

 
 

1.

Mustafa - Name of God

[2024, Arts & Crafts/Jagjaguwar]

This Indie-folk track from the Canadian poet/musician caught me by surprise a bit.

This was a real standout from the Dunya album and definitely the biggest earworm of the year for me. The rest of the album isn’t quite my style, but I had this song on repeat. I really don’t know why it stuck with me so much, but I guess if we knew that secret we’d all be doing it.

Really catchy, really nicely executed; it’s a great song.

2.

Speakers Corner Quartet - This Is How We Walk On The Moon

[2024, OTIH]

A cover of an Arthur Russell song which is one of those widely accepted, stone-cold classics that just completely passed me by and this was actually the first version of the song that I heard. Absolutely love it, as I did the Speakers Corner Quartet 2023 album.

This is from their score/soundtrack to the BBC Mr. Loverman series. The majority of that album is largely within the incidental/score vibe for obvious reasons, but check out the filtered down Proceed EP which only has the full “songs” on it, including this one.

All great, but this is the standout for me.

3.

Lexa Gates - I Just Can’t Be Alone

[2024, 48 Lights/Goodtalk]

It was a toss-up between this song and Lover, which is the last track on her Elite Vessel album. I decided to go for I Just Can’t Be Alone as it was the first song I’d heard by Lexa Gates and it totally hooked me in and got me impatient for this album coming out.

It’s a truly excellent record, something like what an underground Lauryn Hill or noname might sound like, but with a totally unique personality of her own. My most listened-to album of the year for sure.

4.

John Glacier feat. Eartheater - Money Shows

[2024, Young]

I always feel like my 555 selections are really obvious and mainstream compared to the rest of the contributors, but I’ve got to be honest, right?

I suspect John Glacier is going to get even more massive in 2025 when her album comes out in February and so, in the very short future, this selection is going to seem as revelatory as me recommending checking out Brat. Anyway, insecurities about looking on the cutting edge or not aside, this song is a beast!

So atmospheric and dense-sounding even though it’s a really minimal production. Love it! Perfect soundtrack for feeling like a super-villain on late night walks home.

5.

Kelz feat. Jay Som - My Friend (rework)

[2024, Bayonet]

Another artist that passed me by until this year. Gold Panda did a remix of a different track on the same EP, which is what got it on my radar, but My Friend is what pushed me to check out everything else by Kelz. As the "rework" suggests, this is really just a tweaked version of the original, which is on her amazing 2022 album 5am and I Can’t Sleep.

I actually don’t know if I prefer the original or this version, so I recommend both, but seeing as this is a 2024 list I’m picking that one!

1.

Floating Points - Birth 4000

[2023, Ninja Tune]

Shake off 2024, we feelin' a touch of Moroder and some strobes.

A change in direction from the orchestral mellifluousness of 2019's Crush that might throw some people off with the techno vibes.

The first track, "Vocoder Club Mix" was a close second,and starts this album off with a proper banger. Wouldn't mind being on the floor for these live sets in London.

2.

Mining - Arise

[2024, Leaf]

And now for something completely different... Winner of the Neptune Prize, this album was co-composed with a former alum at Uni Brighton's Digital Music and Sound Art programme.

It's partly based on sonification of weather data from a storm event recorded by the Chichester West Pole Beacon, a comprehensive weather information system recording conditions in Haling Bay, West Sussex. Most sonification projects I find, risk being dull or overly stochastic and random, but this is certainly not.

 3.

Colin Stetson - The Righteous Wrath of an Honorable Man

[2011, Constellation]

I'm just getting turned onto Stetson, once again thanks to the algorithm. Bit late to the game!

This track is so airily ecstatic and the first that stood out as completely unique. I've been playing this as I walk through London Bridge Station during peak hour and just throws a slant on the overcrowded stress of trying to make it home after a long day.

As a former woodwind player, I have no idea howcircular breathing is possible but Stetson seems to reap the rewards. I will be diving into thecatalogue.

4.

Imagradan - Les Filles de Illighadad

[2017, Sahel Sounds]

Touted as first ever professional Tuareg Female guitarist group so right there we are listening to history and the beauty of will. The backstory on this band is stunning and worth a read. Hands down will be snapping up tickets if they come around. Their style to me conveys an elegance and at times a playfulness.

They also look dope as hell. Something about that desert... no other music has called me to a landscape I will probably never seen but have longed to go and experience. Had an amazing conversation with an acquaintance who had been to Festival au Désert.

That is long gone for some sad and tragic reasons, and its good to know there are still places this music can thrive. Ad Sahel Sounds writes, they come from a "secluded commune in Central Niger". Ahhh.

 5.

Raul Lovisoni & Francesco Messina – Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo

[1979, Cramps / 2018re, Superior Viaduct]

Italominimalism, from a 1979 reissue in 2018. Yep, nineteen… seventy…nine… It was the year of Punk and New Wave classics: Joy Division, The Slits, Gang of Four, The Talking Heads - jolty, trebly, staccato rhythms.

This IV drip of a track would have been the antidote to all of that if in a heralded genre timestamp overdose situation. This sonic oasis of a tune clocks in over 20 min so ease into the sofa or lie supine on the carpet and take it in. Delicately iterative Nyman-esque piano riffs,transcendent and lilting in the foreground, ever shifting, with ambient synth washes in thebackground.

This song is not rushing to go anywhere. A cascading synth riff doesn't even begin until the 15 min mark or so. You are being transported. What year is it again?

1.

Assale - Ayah Yako!

[1979?, Sodogil Editions]

I stumbled across this sublime 12" heater on a digital dig, racing percussive afro soukous energy out of late-70s Côte d'Ivoire (possibly via Mali), the second release on the Sodogil Editions label, a wonderful case of do-judge-by-the-cover! The standout red-alert sleeve framing a striking b/w shot of (presumably) Koffi Assalé proudly cradling his Sax, but as is so often the way, this 13+ minute fire hot afro rhythm is a truly collective effort, 13 members credited on the back cover, by first name only it seems; Clement et Albert, Theodore, Franck, Victor, Thomas, Aman, Woubla, Franck (2?), Bahama, Abou, Tagus & Assalé - you guys sure know how to fire things up!

2.

Serafina Steer - Drinking From The Pools Of Night

[2024, Fire]

Less than two minutes of harp-laden wonder from the quietly masterful, Serafina Steer - new solo material is always a treat, deep with character and rich with inventiveness, here laying Anderson' O Superman -esque vox clouds, to be buffeted by the dramatic slipstream of cello (Joe Zeitlin) and violin (Dan-Iulian Druțac), and all propelled by Steer's soaring harp arpeggiations; a glorious soundtrack in waiting.

3.

Melvitto feat. Krisirie & Gabzy - Close To Me

[2019, Melvitto/Amuseio]

Melvitto is a master of the sweetest, super spacious, hyper-sharp Afrobeats productions - I kept switching my choice of which track to include here! Fall In Love just dropped a few weeks ago and was in this spot for a while, but Close To Me won out, the xylo-beat that originally got me hooked. This crispest of Afro-Reggaeton-Dancehall swung beats laid bare for that rippling Krisirie/Gabzy duet, I mean the whole Thenightisyoung EP has been on repeat.

There's surprisingly little out there about Nigeria born Melvitto aka Melvin Alli-Owe, considering his tracks have millions of streams, he's a relative digital enigma. When Rihanna & Melvitto collab?

4.

Four Tet - Skater

[2024, Text]

Perhaps the album I've listened to most this year since its release back in March, and Skater in particular feels to me like Kieran Hebden returning with a glorious amalgam of his 30-year-spanning musical phases: grungy 90s guitar tones bring the roots of early experimental shoe-gazey, post-rock output as a member of Fridge, morphed with Hebden's hip-hop nodding, ever-exemplary Pause-Rounds-era beatwork, hemmed tightly together with his latter, stratospheric fluro- synth manipulation and voice sampling melodics. Skater, as per, is produced and mixed with sheer wow and dazzle, capturing Four Tet's singular, rich sound with goose-bumping intent, and basically underlines Hebden as a musician whose cult influence seems hard to over-state.

5.

Neşe Karaböcek – Dert Ortağım

[1972, AS]

A bit of a Turkish flurry of finds in 2024, dug this super b-side by Neşe Karaböcek early in January in the brilliant Jelly Records shop. This track radiantly arranged by Işıl Öztunç, Dert Ortağım is a just-over-two-minute blur of intricate percussion and live-wire bouncing bass, propelling the sweetest of arabesque flute lines, while Neşe's impassioned vocals command the whole glorious affair.

 

1.

Henry & Louis meet Blue & Red - Jah Jah Never Fail I (Version)

[2003, 2Kings Records]

Part of my ongoing love affair with dub. It all made sense when I experienced a dub sound system (Brighton’s Heavytone Hi-Fi) in the flesh (metal?) for the first time: visceral, physical, deep, addictive.

This track was played to me by Ben ‘Kubla Khan’ during a pre-gig dub session. Dub goodness.



2.

Tim Hecker - Monotony

[2023, Kranky]

The ever-reliable Tim Hecker answers the ambient cynics with a cracker of an album, incorporating all his usual tropes combined with a new shifting urgent rhythm overtaken by noise.

Glorious and sad as usual.


3.

The Sorcerers - Yasuke In Roppongi

[2024, ATA Records]

There’s nowhere near enough 70s Ethiojazz revivalism going on so it takes a group of three talented blokes from Leeds to do it. They’ve nailed it.

Check this one for the handclaps.

What a groove, what horn soloing!

4.

CV313 - Subtraktive

[2024, Echospace [Detroit]]

Picked this up in Space Hall in Berlin when I was out there for Superbooth 2024 during a vinyl digging session.

Got it home and just played it all day – warm dub techno chords to envelope and caress you. (The B-side live take is a thing of beauty too.)

Echospace have started re-releasing a lot of seminal CV313 records in the last year, and long may it continue. Just timeless.

5.

Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Co. - Oleo Strut

[1976, Earthquack / 2023re, Cuneiform]

One of the joys of updating your collection on Discogs is finding some unplayed/undiscovered gems like this one.

I’d filed this away after maybe one listen during a historic synth dig.

What was I thinking?

This is glorious minimalist, beautiful, clever stuff – like a synth contemporary to Steve Reich or Terry Riley.

All played live by the talented individuals with David Borden who worked with Robert Moog when he set up the band.

 
 

1.

Sieg Über Die Sonne - Sovjet Supreme

[2006, Cynosure Records]

Since first hearing Jarre's Equinoxe back in 78, I still and always have got a thrill from the change between side one and two……

When that bass sequencer solo breakdown kicks in at - 30 seconds in Part 6 seguing into 7…..it always hit me without knowing what a sequencer was at that time….that unrelenting rhythm that just grabs every part of me……..

I still get that tingle…exactly the same…..but it doesn’t last long enough……Sieg Über Die Sonne get that same feeling and thats why Sovjet Supreme exists…..

9 minutes of pure sequential lust….stick on repeat

….forever.

2.

Marc Collin - Future Shock

(Le Choc Du Futur OST)

[2019, Kwaidan]

Title track from the most fantastic film ever…(honestly)……Vocals by Clara Luciani……..the film alludes to this track from a basic composition on a modular and the acquisition of a CR78……

It’s c’est magnifique, it’s sexy, it’s simple it’s just beautiful  simple synthesis and incredibly sexy vocals from the stunning Clara….honestly…just watch the film and melt….then this track will continue to do the same to you forever.........

3.

The Unknown Cases -

Masimba Bele

[1983, Rough Trade]

This has been doing the rounds since ’83……it pricked up my ears a few years back on a Crammed Compilation and clicks numerous cogs for me……..

Whilst heavy Afro Beat rhythms drive this single along with the vocals from Rebop Kwaku Baah, Helmet Zerlett and Stefan Krachten provide a subtle German groove with a looping sequenced bassline along with appropriated funkiness…….in 83 this must have sounded like the future……it still does………drop this anywhere in a set and ..........

4.

The Emperor Machine - Vas-y Le Chat (Dub)

[2024, Leng Records]

Everyone knows my love for Andy Meecham’s Emperor Machine, so when Island Boogie came out in summer, I was in my usual Emperor Element…….all those funky squelchy basslines, but with a slightly lighter less dubby feel….making it more Balearic (I hate that phrase)…..not a duff track……..so a month later when the Island Dubs album came out….

holy shit……

Oh those funky bassline grooves…..like Hancock’s Watermelon Man meets Hawkshaw & Bennett’s Oddball…..

Severine Mouletin’s playful vocals make this cute, sexy and ultimate dubbed out International Club Pop.

5.

Von Spar - V.S.O.P.

[2014, Italic Recordings]

Whilst I have had some Von Spar in my collection for a while…….it’s only been this year that they really have become a bit of an addiction. There’s something about V.S.O.P. that is full of surprises…….

Chord changes from fantastic Juno String Pads and that occasional unpredictable drop that makes you go…WTF???   this is brilliant….this is a pure euphoric pop track that isn’t….it drives and keeps you on the look out and pinches you in a place I enjoy and makes me want more and more…..

Beautiful descending chords that bring you straight back  from temporary melancholia to blissful euphoria….synthetic lushness. Get in your Karmann Ghia and floor it down the autobahn with this at full blast.......

1.

Champion, Four Tet, Skrillex, Naisha - Talk To Me

[2024, DisOrder Records / Capitol]

Heavy ground thumper, bringing back those chugging speed-garage vibes.

Champion & Four Tet's 2016 Text b-side got rewaxed and polished with added X shine from Skrillex, while the original Hideaway mash is switched for tight-as Hindi/English flow/refrains from Naisha.

Total. Banger.

2.

Kangding Ray - Nacht Und Tag

[2023, Ara]

Shimmering frost-bitten synth-ambience blows cool, echoing synth lines gently warmed by bassline murmurs.

David Letellier's work as Kangding Ray is new to me, taken here from the digital-only Kiss My Wounds OST via Letellier's own Ara Imprint on Bandcamp, this track's heavy atmosphere lept out and leaves me imagining the scene it soundtracks.

3.

Nala Sinephro - Contiuum 1

[2024, Warp]

Super-absorbing synth-jazz ambience, Endlessness flows as one evolving piece, so would it be cheating if I picked the whole album?

Oh fine. Well then the opening track Continuum 1 sets the deep oceanic tone, pulling you under, modular/synth waves and currents swirl an irresistable tide, crashing drums break, breathing saxophone movements duck and dive. Just let it take you, you'll float.

4.

2000black - London Boogie 7

[2024, 2000Black]

Yes Dego! Swinging, skipping synthfunk broken beats from the 4hero legend, Dego quietly dropping flash-fried Afro Bruk rhythms to stun as 2000black on imprint of the same name.

Sublime synth and beatwork, heated electronic swung boogie vibes for the dancefloor, must be Dego.

5.

Sampha - Without Gabriel (Tiny Desk Concert)

[2023, Unreleased version/live]

Closing an amazing Tiny Desk performance, Sampha, Blake Cascoe, Elsas, Rosetta & Ruthven break into a five-way percussive workout from 14m30s.

Building a sparse, arresting version of Without, soaked with close spiritual harmonies, this tight quintet bring a raw synchronicity, backed by that rounding synth pad refrain, before sliding through an inspired blend with Roy Davis Jr's Garage classic, Gabriel.

 

1.

Koreless - Deceltica

[2024, Young]

Koreless crafts a space that feels both expansive and intimate, playing with the dynamics of tension and release. The subtle, evolving textures draw listeners into a hypnotic state, making the track feel almost like an auditory landscape.

Another stunning masterpiece from the genius Welsh producer, who has laid down beats for the likes of FKA Twigs.

2.

Marc Rebillet - Vibes Alright

[2024, Bored Certified]

Marc Rebillet's Vibes Alright is a free-flowing, funktafied outing, that encapsulates his signature style of live-looping and improvisation.

It features a blend of funky electronic beats, outlandish vocal samples, and a playful, positive aura. Rebillet has a talent for creating engaging, spontaneous music that thrives on energy and charisma.

3.

Barış Manço & Kurtalan Ekspres - Alla Beni Pulla Beni

[1981, Türküola]

This artist was recommended to me by a colleague and admittedly the artists music had passed me by.

After digging the catalog, I was instantly drawn into this stunning track. Alla Beni Pulla B is apparently a classic from Turkish rock legend Baris Manço, released in 1975 as part of his influential work blending traditional Turkish sounds with Western rock influences. The song stands out for its catchy rhythms, distinct instrumentation, and Manço's charismatic vocals. It's a vibrant piece that showcases his ability to fuse folk music with contemporary genres, making it a standout track in Turkish music history.

4.

LOR - Daze

[2023, Distorsion]

A psychedelic blend of pitched down Asian vocals , breakbeats and pulsating 303 type synth.

A multi layered builder of a track, that is reminiscent of mid 90s electronic music created by artists such as Leftfield, that wouldn’t sound out of place at a full moon party.

5.

Jitwam - opendoors

[2019, Tartelet]

opendoors demonstrates Jitwam's ability to craft deeply textured soundscapes that draw listeners in, creating a feeling of both personal connection and cosmic wonder.

There's a cool, effortless flow to the track, making it feel both meditative and energising.

 

1.

Gruff Rhys - Peace Signs

[2024, Rough Trade]

Rhys' ability of creating some of the most memorable melodies in modern music shows no sign of letting up, as his 8th solo studio album, Sadness Sets Me Free, proves.

Most people would be happy to retire after writing a song as good as this. The Beach Boys influenced chorus and outro must be up there with the most stunning pieces of music he has produced. 


2.

Sahra Halgan - Sharaf

[2024, La Région/Danaya Music]

This personal highlight from the Somali singer's latest album, the excellent Hiddo Dhawr, combines an irresistible foot-tapping rhythm, Tuareg-inspired guitar riffs and Halgan's unique and wide ranging vocals.


3.

Kneecap - I'm Flush

[2024, Heavenly]

A frantic 90 miles an hour belter from one of the bands of the year.

DJ Provai's energetic beats are the perfect backdrop for Mo and Moglai's full-on rap in a track that never lets up and leaves you wishing it was at least double its 3 minute length.

4.

Jane Weaver -

Love In Constant Spectacle

[2024, Fire]

For me, the standout track from perhaps Weaver's finest album to date.

An album that saw Weaver work with the great John Parish to create hypnotic grooves, textured guitar and electro layers backing melodies equal to anything she has produced to date. 

5.

Belong - Souvenir

[2024, Kranky]

This belter from the New Orleans duo's latest album is a driving slice of modern shoegaze with more than a nod to My Bloody Valentine (Not that that's a bad thing).

As it's only Belong's third album in 18 years, perhaps they are trying to also replicate MBV's frustratingly infrequent output.

1.

the booyah! kids - idwtgtbt

[2018, the booyah! kids]

Cute in a way that gets me. Got that bedroom production quality that I love a lot. Simple but effective.


2.

Vince Staples - 745

[2017, Def Jam]

This track slaps my face off of my face every time I hear it.

Bass line and lyrics are huge.



3.

Crumb - Recently Played

[2017, Crumb Records]

Super smooth. Crazy instrumentation.

4.

Vegyn - The Path Less Travelled

[2024, PLZ Make It Ruins]

More classically the type of music I go for, which I have been branching out from a lot this year, but I still have to get my instrumental electronic hip hoppy breaky stuff in where I can.

5.

sodistilled - feel so bad

[2023, 25/7 Records]

Awesome newer band recreating a bit of that 90's grungy stuff with a unique personal flavour.

Some songs hit different from others. I respect the variety whilst still staying true to that grungy aesthetic.

It has a distinct vocal editing style to give a lil flavour of electronic sound.

1.

Mad Honey / Another Taste - Setback

[2022, Space Grapes]

I’m still confused this wasn’t made in 1983.

For fans of Leroy Burgess, Alicia Meyers, and all the other good stuff.


2.

Madam X & Cartridge - Hoodlum FC

[2024, Kaizen]

Banger.

3.

Brainstory - Gift Of Life

[2023, Big Crown]

Nothing quite sounds like this band. Beautiful doo-wop production mixes surprisingly well with psychedelic synths.

4.

Taylor McFerrin feat. Anna Wise - Memory Digital

[2019, From Here]

I have no idea how I missed this in 2019.

Incredible boom bap track that should have got a lot more attention in 2019. Hopefully it’ll get a bit more as the time goes on.

5.

Photay - Derecho

[2024, Mexican Summer]

Photay continues to be Photay.

And we should all be thankful for that.

I’m always amazed and struck by the sheer mix of music highlights in these end of year collections, and it’s a place I find myself returning to regularly - re-visiting some of the hundreds of tracks from previous years and picking out some thread to explore further. Such passion lies behind these selections, countless listening hours and endless vinyl digging, and hopefully these pages represent a quiet, agenda-free, uninterupted internet space to spark some filtered listening inspiration,

Thanks indeed if you made it this far, there will be a batch of new 5:5:5 posts coming up in 2025, and perhaps something else besides.

S;K

Last years’ 2023 5:5:5: selections can be found over here: