{"id":285,"date":"2024-12-30T23:16:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T04:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kumar.com\/blog\/?p=285"},"modified":"2025-03-31T14:53:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T18:53:56","slug":"top-ten-albums-of-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kumar.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/12\/30\/top-ten-albums-of-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Ten Albums of 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s to another year of discovering music, mostly outside the mainstream, in styles not really considered au courant. So much great music this year, I had lots of difficult decisions — several of the honorable mentions could easily have made the list. More artists than ever are getting their music out there, and as I find ones I really like, I buy their music to support them, in the hopes they continue making more. Remember to support your<\/strong> favorites, especially if they are not popular, mainstream artists, because streaming services surely won’t.<\/p>\n

Christopher Owens<\/strong> – I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair<\/em> – Owens was half of the duo Girls<\/strong> who produced two excellent albums and an EP from 2009-2011 that made numerous critics best of lists (including mine). Owens went solo, but his career was derailed in 2015 by a serious motorcycle accident that left him bedridden without money for health care. During this time, he lost his job, apartment, and fiancee. As he recovered, he tried for a reunion with friend and former Girls<\/strong> bandmate Chet “JR” White. But White’s health was on a downward spiral and he was unable to contribute much. He passed away in 2020. Owens has made a beautiful, melancholic, heart-on-the-sleeve album about working through all of the loss and grief he has endured. His guitar work is excellent throughout and his empathetic backing band provides a supportive backbone for the mid-tempo indie rock. Many songs speak directly to his trials. “No Good” and “White Flag” seem to be directed at his ex-fiancee, but that’s later tempered by “Two Words” which is about coming to terms with a failed relationship. “I Think About Heaven” is about White’s death. The stunning “Beautiful Horses” might be the album highlight for me, or perhaps the epic closer, “Do You Need A Friend”, which is life-affirming, even as it lays bare the long and difficult journey of emotional healing. I loved Girls<\/strong>, but I think this is his best work ever.<\/p>\n