Hi friends and followers, you might notice that while dated for the end of 2024, this "best of" list for 2024 has been published at the end of May 2025. This was not intentional. I was halfway through finishing this post in late December of 2024 when my beloved cat, Gertie-Socks, took a sudden turn for the worse, spent several days in the vet ER, had one last weekend at home with me, and then died in my arms on the last day of the year. Her genetic heart condition got much worse in 2024, and the medication she took probably gave her a couple extra months with me, but there was nothing that could prevent her early heart failure once it had begun. She was 6 years old, the sweetest tuxie there ever was, and the love of my life. I have been devastated since.
|
Returning to finish this piece has been a struggle, largely due to grief, but also chronic illness, my day job, and *gestures wildly* everything awful happening in the U.S. and around the world in 2025. Every month I have tried to sit down with this music list, and every month until now I have failed. Finding the words has been impossible. Even in this moment, it is difficult to hold space for my emotions, to not close the computer and walk away from this once again. I've also thought a lot about if finishing this list is even worth it, given how little I write for my own music website anymore.
|
|
Since moving to Colorado in 2016, this (unpaid, labor of love) site has taken a necessary back seat to many other school, career, and life priorities. And just when I was starting to do more with it again, in 2018 and 2019... live music and the industry drastically changed in 2020, and my life also hasn't been the same since. As a result, writing here has frustratingly become much less of a joy and cathartic release, like it used to be, and more of a guilt-inducing responsibility that I feel dread about not keeping up with. (Hello, ongoing burnout!)
In order to find a more sustainable balance of work and rest in my life, and to release myself from the burden of extra unpaid work that chains me to a computer screen (after 40+ hours a week at my day job, volunteer emails, life emails, and paid freelance writing), I will likely just be doing these once a year "best of's" and whatever strikes my fancy (if anything), for the foreseeable future. It pains me to purposefully take a step back, when I still have so much love for music — but if I don't, I'll become so burnt out that I could lose even that, too.
However, 2024 was a year with some really great music, and I don't want to forget that. So please enjoy this (delayed) best of 2024 list and playlist. I hate that it's late. But sometimes, I have to admit that done is better than perfect.
In order to find a more sustainable balance of work and rest in my life, and to release myself from the burden of extra unpaid work that chains me to a computer screen (after 40+ hours a week at my day job, volunteer emails, life emails, and paid freelance writing), I will likely just be doing these once a year "best of's" and whatever strikes my fancy (if anything), for the foreseeable future. It pains me to purposefully take a step back, when I still have so much love for music — but if I don't, I'll become so burnt out that I could lose even that, too.
However, 2024 was a year with some really great music, and I don't want to forget that. So please enjoy this (delayed) best of 2024 list and playlist. I hate that it's late. But sometimes, I have to admit that done is better than perfect.
RSS Feed