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Some 2024 Listening Pleasures


It started with a gift of two JBL Control 25 speakers, and by "gift" I mean "borrowed" -- a.k.a. "will never return" -- from an obsolete tech detritus pile at work. I may have snagged more than two gifts, of course, but the raw footage proving such a claim remains elusive.

And after installing the JBL speakers into the upper corners of the music room, and after installing speaker stands for the rear speakers I already had, and after making the hard choice between a big-ass bean bag and a comfy leather recliner to properly center myself in the audio field (R.I.P., big-ass bean bag), there was only one missing piece: the Apple TV 4K unit.

So for me, 2024 was the year I streamed a lot of music in Atmos through Apple Music, surrounded by new tunes and old bops in thrilling new dimensions. Some might say you don't need surround sound, 'cos the two ears + two speakers modality has been dandy for a while now, but that's like saying you don't need to feel the sun on your head and shoulders 'cos you have two eyes to see it.

I still bought physical media as I always have, of course -- right now, I'm surrounded by a pile of graphic novels and vinyl records I had professionally cleaned -- but sitting in my recliner and cranking Atmos versions of Who's Next and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Dream Police was and is pretty fucking awesome. And sure, my room and my set-up could be even better, but as I started from near zero, I'm pretty jazzed about the whole thing.

I was also pretty happy with the following 2024 albums, too:

English Teacher - This Could Be Texas 
Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere 
Father John Misty - Mahashmashana 
The Cure - Songs Of A Lost World 
St. Vincent - All Born Screaming 
The Last Dinner Party - Prelude To Ecstasy 
Jack White - No Name 
Nilüfer Yanya - My Method Actor 
Cassandra Jenkins - My Light, My Destroyer 

Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown 
Field Music - Limits Of Language 
Ibibio Sound Machine - Pull The Rope 
The The - Ensoulment 
Jane Weaver - Love In Constant Spectacle 
Charli XCX - Brat 
Brigitte Calls Me Baby - The Future Is Our Way Out 
John Grant - The Art Of The Lie 
Saint Etienne - The Night

And now, if you'll excuse me, it's back to my recliner to see what glittering treats the Atmos Fairy has in store for my aging ears.

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