OOPS! 50 of 2024 / #5-1: An Orchid, Eeels and Old Scratch

We are here. The last 5 songs on the OOPS! list. After today you will have 100 songs from 2024 to catch up to. Be sure to check the podcast notes for links to the Top 50 and OOPS! 50 playlists on Spotify. So, without any more fluff, let’s get into it!

5. Jane Paknia: Alice in Orchidverse

Anything referencing Alice in Wonderland is going to be trippy and Jane Paknia does not disappoint. This clubby dance track has driving bass with trippy vocal effects and loops that make you feel like you’re partying with the Mad Hatter. This track works to either liven up a party or to zone out to for some own personal meditation. EDM is a blind spot for me, so it is great to find music to feature on the OOPS! list.

4. Being Dead: Van Goes

This three piece indie rock band from Austin, Texas has a dash of 60s pop thrown into it. Their largely DIY style rock has a lo-fi vocal that works really well, but gives me some 60s pop / surfer music vibes. Singing about the mundane aspects of life and how they conflict with larger pursuits of the soul has a classic rock theme of the downtrodden nature of being a cog in the capitalist machine. Having said that, the track is so catchy and expertly crafted that such a dark message goes down smoothly. I love the vocal and the band’s raw sound, which is a fresh detour from a year largely dominated by heavily produced pop.

3. Jack White: Old Scratch Blues

I don’t know how I missed this track on the top 50. No Name is Jack White’s best record post White Stripes and this track is killer. I think it is a victim of coming out earlier in the year. Old Scratch Blues kicks the record off and it has one of the most killer guitar riffs in 2024. This is classic Jack White lo-fi blues rock, which is what I fell in love with when I first heard The White Stripes. The drummer, Carla Azar, pounds on the drums within an inch of their lives. When Jack’s guitar and the drums get going, I’m worried that it will crack the Earth’s crust. This is lo-fi rock at its best and a return to form for Jack White.

2. Shabaka: I’ll do Whatever You Want

Experimental jazz artist Shabaka blends organic flute instrumentation and xylophone with futuristic electro hums in this transcendent sonic experience. To say that it is a song sells it short. Shabaka’s work verges on performance art and something I hope I can see live at some point. Flute, guitar, bass and electro beeps fade in and out of the mix in a futuristic form of acid jazz. Moreover, this song boasts an uncredited contribution by flutist André 3000. This work by Shabaka is part jazz fever dream and part Picasso painting…truly a song that needs to be experienced.

1 Waxahatchee: Much Ado About Nothing

Waxahatchee’s new record Tiger’s Blood leans into a Lucinda Williams type of raw country rock full of love, regret and suffering. This track has soaring vocals, a huge emotional core and a wonderful country twang. Musically, this reminds me of the best of alt country, which combined traditional country instruments (slide guitar and acoustic guitar in this case) with modern pop pacing and structure. This is an excellent track which continues the big country revival of 2024.