2024 is almost over, tons of year-end lists are already out (ours are coming soon!), and most of the year’s albums have already been released, but there are still a few trickling out. This is a shorter version of Notable Releases than usual, but still with a few things you might wanna hear before you consider 2024 a wrap.

Before I get to my picks, this week’s honorable mentions include Saint Etienne’s The Night (which Bill reviewed last week), Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre, DMX, Fat Joe, Sleepy Hallow, Paul Wall, BossMan Dlow, Mario, A Flock of Seagulls, Fabiano do Nascimento & Shin Sasakubo, YhapoJJ, Bandages, the Valee & Surf Gang EP, the Stella Rose EP, the Mustard Plug odds & ends EP, Amen Dunes remix album, the Electric Wizard live-in-studio album, PlayThatBoiZay’s VIP deluxe, Röyksopp’s live-recorded re-interpretation of 2022’s Profound Mysteries, Laibach’s Opus Dei Revisited, Daniel Blumberg’s The Brutalist soundtrack, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Lebo M Mufasa’s The Lion King soundtrack, The Go-Betweens box, the Fang Island box, Victoria Monét’s Christmas version of Jaguar II, and A Certain Ratio’s Christmas EP.

Update: I also highly recommend the new Rifle EP that I didn’t hear until after Notable Releases was published.

Read on for my picks. What’s your favorite release of the week?

Roc Marciano & The Alchemist – The Skeleton Key (Pimpire/Marci)

Roc Marciano already released a year-end-list contender with this year’s Marciology, and now he releases one more album before the end of 2024 entirely produced by The Alchemist, marking their second full album together after 2022’s beloved The Elephant Man’s Bones (which was one of our favorites of that year.) (Alchemist has also had a busy year, having released his own new album, an album from his duo Gangrene with Oh No, and an album with Big Hit and Hit-Boy.) The Skeleton Key finds this pair doing what they always do best–both separately and together–making smoky, patient, post-boom bap that sucks you in more and more with each listen.

The Cure – Songs Of A Live World: Troxy London MMXXIV (Polydor)

The Cure are already having their biggest year in a long time, thanks to the release of Songs Of A Lost World, their first album in 16 years and one that’s widely considered one of the best of The Cure’s nearly-50-year career. And now they’re keeping the momentum going with Songs Of A Live World: Troxy London MMXXIV, a live recording of the full album performance of Songs Of A Lost World from the album’s livestreamed London release show. The Cure had already been road-testing and winning crowds over with most of these new songs even before the album was officially announced, so it should come as no surprise that they sound great here, as the loudly-cheering crowd agrees after every song.

The National – Rome (4AD)

This late-in-the-year release day has not one but two worthy live albums, including one from The National. The 21-song, hour-and-38-minute album was recorded at Rome’s Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone earlier this year (on June 3, 2024), and the recordings have been immaculately mixed but what you hear is what you get live; a press release confirms that no overdubs were added. As I’d imagine most National fans would agree, they’ve always had a different energy to their live shows that separates them from the records, and this live album really captures that.

Whispers – Yom-Ma-Lok (Flatspot)

Badass metallic hardcore from Thailand’s self-described “Bangkok Evilcore” band Whispers, with guest vocals from members of Speed, Demonstration of Power and Kickback.

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Looking for more recent releases? Browse the Notable Releases and Indie Basement archives.

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