Todd Grotenhuis

other 2024 reviews here

2024 was the year that I found out that iTunes Match and Apple Music were “eating” my music by dropping files, replacing with different editions/formats, or failing to sync some material. I already knew that Google did terrible things when going from Google Play Music to Youtube music, but Apple was a surprise to me. I resolved to not let such things happen any more.

I set out to rebuild my library by:

• re-downloading lossless versions of my Bandcamp purchases
• getting the best format download from other places I’d bought digital music
• re-ripping our CDs in lossless format
• backing it all up
• normalizing metadata with MusicBrainz Picard
• running Plex Media Server to share the music
• running Tailscale to make the server available without putting it directly on the web
• running PlexAmp clients for an awesome listening experience
• scrobbling my listening with last.fm

I’m not finished with the project, but I have over 200 artists, 600 albums, and 6000 tracks re-deployed, with much more to come. Because I’m not complete, the listening may not have as much variety as it could have.

Artists:

• Clubroot is my go-to for evening chillout music
• Juno Reactor is a constant fave
• 3-5 are prolific industrial-ish artists that use various project pseudonyms, and I listen to a lot of each

Albums:

• HolyName’s self-titled is sorta doomcore taize and is a great Sunday listen
• Excursions is a collection of early Front Line Assembly side-project work
• Imagine… is a re-release of Juno Reactor’s first 5 albums as a compilation
• Celldweller is another project from Circle of Dust (Klayton/Scott) which has probably eclipsed CoD
• A Homeland Denied was a hardcore compilation as benefit for Palestinians
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra broke in for me this year, mostly because of their Christmas music

Tracks:

• 1 and 3 are a couple of those excellent Clubroot grooves
• Hammer & Gavel is a prophetic anthem from a 2-person wall of sound I discovered this year (American Arson)
• HATEFUL is a single from HEALTH and my favorite thing from them so far
• Listen! was one of my “listen on repeat tracks” this year from Oak Pantheon’s excellent 2023 album “The Absence”
• Kindred Void (and some other Koan Sound) tracks get honorable mentions

As usual, Industrial, Electronic, Metalcore, Rock, and Metal dominate my listening (with many varied subgenres therein).

We are not surprised my listening is not “normal”. I also expect this chart is not my normal either due to the project I mentioned at the start of this post. I’m not sure how useful these are, especially with no definitions. I’m sharing them anyway.

Stay tuned to get a copy of my “faves” playlist, courtesy of Album Whale.

What was your favorite this year? Anything you discovered?