Some of the best PNW records released in 2024. by Dave Segal It was hard to narrow our favorite Seattle-area music list to 10 entries—a nice problem to have. Somehow, though, we managed. Below are the 2024 albums that provided surplus pleasure this year... and will continue to do so until further notice. 01 Afrocop, Afrocop (Wax Thématique)  Improv music is a precarious tightrope from which it's easy to descend into dull meandering and/or shrug-inducing chaos. But for over a decade, Afrocop have proved themselves to be masters at keeping things rhythmically, melodically, and tonally scintillating. The trio's many years of gigging and studio woodshedding culminated in their masterpiece, Afrocop. Keyboardist Noel Brass Jr., drummer Andy Sells, and bassist Carlos Tulloss are locked in and loaded with ingenious ideas. Following producer Teo Macero's methods with Miles Davis's groundbreaking fusion LPs, Afrocop savvily chop and stitch their epic jams into concise, flavorful portions. Telepathic miracles of funky psychedelia, trip-hoppy dub, and ambient astral jazz ensue. 02 tondiue, Word to the Centipede (Kelp Roots) A rising force of nature in Seattle's electronic music underground, tondiue put the world on notice with their astonishing sophomore album, Word to the Centipede. The producer (aka Cameron Kelley) describes their creativity as an outgrowth of "exploring the sacred roots of afrofuturistic sound design." That impulse comes to extravagant fruition on Centipede, whose five lengthy techno tracks do spectacular things in the wild terrain outside of the genre's overfamiliar grid. An unclichéd, trippy vibe permeates the album while delivering a surplus of deceptive funk and a panoply of third-ear-dilating textures. The whole thing sounds and feels so damned organic and vital, even as it's helping you leave reality far behind. Can't wait to hear what's next from tondiue. 03 J.R.C.G., Grim Iconic...(Sadistic Mantra) (Sub Pop) Respect to Sub Pop for going out on a limb by signing J.R.C.G. (Tacoma drummer/vocalist Justin R. Cruz Gallego, formerly head of Dreamdecay), an uncompromising ninja of an artist who previously released on John Dwyer's Castle Face Records. His 2021 album, Ajo Sunshine, rocked hard and dark, but Grim Iconic stresses Latin-inflected danceable rhythms more than aggression and noisiness, plus there's room for electronic elements and poignant slow ones that won't rot your teeth. The record memorably ends with "World i," whose mesmerizing, chunky rhythm recalls that in Can's "Yoo Doo Right." It gradually gains in intensity and density, cohering into a cacophonous jazz blowout—a fantastic climax. As with everything Gallego's done, the songs on Grim Iconic sound as if the stakes are life or death. 04 enereph, Immortal Mirth (NAGA) Seattle producer enereph (aka Connie Fu) creates electronic music that's at once dizzyingly cerebral and sensually physical—a rare combination. An adherent of local electronic-instrument company Madrona Labs, Fu uses its software synth Kaivo and other products to finesse intricate tracks that alight across many styles with a knack for strangely compelling timbres. The Immortal Mirth mini-album finds enereph attaining new heights of rhythmic complexity and textural richness. This is headphone music par excellence, yet it also translates to dance clubs—provided the clientele have exceptionally fast reflexes and can handle tricky beats. Evoking rarefied strains of trip-hop, drum & bass, ambient, and Autechre-esque IDM, Immortal Mirth sounds like a breakthrough release that should thrust enereph to international attention.  05 somesurprises, Perseids (Doom Trip)  Leading off with one of the best rock songs of the decade, the soaring spangler "Be Reasonable," somesurprises' second album epitomizes the quartet's understated grandeur and melodic beauty. Led by guitarist/vocalist Natasha El-Sergany, the group maneuvers into the forefront of America's burgeoning neo-shoegaze scene with Perseids. On its nine soothing songs, a sublime languor melds with gorgeous melodic flourishes and a feeling of peaceful ascension. Although El-Sergany, guitarist Josh Medina, bassist Laura Seniow, and drummer Benjamin Thomas-Kennedy may seem to be too introverted to become stars, their music evokes said celestial bodies. It's literally a sheer sonic delight and, most crucially, a balm for the soul. 06 Blutbraüer, Seven Locusts in Golden Gowns (SFI)  The Blutbraüer project is shrouded in mischief and an improbable backstory. They may or may not be composed of the deft multi-instrumentalists Erik Blood and Corey J. Brewer. Whatever the case, Blutbraüer demand your attention. Their second soundtrack for an imaginary film, Seven Locusts in Golden Gowns, is a work of marrow-chilling genius. These tracks allegedly score a giallo, an Italian twist on macabre horror flicks. Fans of Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai, and Goblin's most tenebrous compositions will sink their fangs into this album's 15 suspenseful and sometimes sanguinary tracks. Which is not to imply that Blutbraüer forget to drop in some funkiness, disorienting psychedelia, and idyllic languor. Brewer says that Seven Locusts was “inspired by an episode of the Fragments of Fear podcast... discussing the film Crimes of the Black Cat. The director tried to get another giallo made with a similar name and we took that and ran with it"—which they did, with Olympian speed. 07 Domenica Diavoleria, Orange Clearing (Eiderdown)  A relative late bloomer in the electronic music world, Olympia's Domenica Diavoleria has been making up for lost time in recent years with two outstanding albums of dark, minimalist ambient: 2022's Forever Your Salesgirl and this year's Orange Clearing. On the former recording, Diavoleria (real name: Domenica Clark) conjured the mysterious hums and alienating auras of shopping malls in microscopic detail. On Orange Clearing, she subtly adds more rhythmic elements and paints more vivid atmospheres—again, with help from Madrona Labs' unconventional tools. Billed as a "children's album" by Diavoleria (who's hosted DJ shows on KAOS and Hollow Earth Radio), Orange Clearing will likely be too unsettling for most young'uns. A track such as "Fun Forest" is more likely to make kids cry than squeal with delight. Marketing terms aside, this album is a triumph of miniaturist mood-mongering, ideal for soundtracking an art-house film that tragically may never come to a theater near you. 08 Black Ends, Psychotic Spew (Youth Riot)  Making rock sound fresh, vital, and catchy in 2024 is a formidable task. But guitarist/vocalist Nicolle Swims's trio Black Ends have accomplished this feat with Psychotic Spew, which twists its roots in punk and grunge until it resembles something akin to the Pretenders' classic self-titled album run through a No Wave filter. Swims's vibrant and astringent guitar tone clangs and radiates all over her trenchant songwriting, while her singing style mixes tenderness with truculence. Bassist Ben Swanson and drummer Billie Jessica Paine provide the tricksy rhythmic ballast while elite guest cellist Lori Goldston adds coruscating coloration on three tracks, including the LP's cataclysmic peak, "Red Worry."  09 Hound Dog Taylor's Hand, Things That May Exist (HDTH) At its best, Hound Dog Taylor's Hand's music engulfs you in a maelstrom of cyclonic rhythms and artfully fiery guitar caterwauling. But, like one of their main influences, Jimi Hendrix, they also excel at the more contemplative and beautiful end of the rock/jazz/blues continuum. The members—guitarist Jeffery Taylor, bassist John Seman, and drummer Mark Ostrowski—have been creating strange waves in the city's underground for decades, yet they continue to defy the deleterious effects of aging with each new release, including Things That May Exist. Like Afrocop, HDTH rely on improvisational ingenuity to lay down their unpredictable, exhilarating tracks. With disciplined skill and wild noisiness in isometric tension, their combustible sound keeps you guessing and gasping in equal measure. 10 megacat, megacat (Share It Music) When Smokey Brights keyboardist Kim West and bassist/guitarist Ryan Devlin linked up with drummer/percussionist Aaron Benson in 2023, something unusual happened: they discovered that they had a keen knack for intriguing, funky instrumentals that scan as modern interpretations of '70s library music. That sound is a rarity in Seattle, so that makes megacat's excellent renovation of it doubly welcome—even if it weren't the band's intention. "Rat Fight" ranks as the album's most suspenseful and funkiest song. As I wrote in a previous Slog post, "The track exists in the exalted realm of KPM Records library music that's geared for movie thrillers and tense scenes in TV cop shows, thanks to Doppler-effected horn stabs, humid bongo slaps, loopy flute, a Mission: Impossible-like 5/4 rhythm, and Saharan desert-rock guitar." Other cuts hint at afrobeat and Alain Goraguer's eerie La Planète Sauvage soundtrack. Righteous.  Honorable mention: Terror/Cactus, Forastero (Chika Chika Collective); bloococoon, bloococoon (Little Cloud); Mt Fog, Ultraviolet Heart Machine (Ghost Mountain); Day Soul Exquisite, Sanguine & Cardamom (La fem/Den Tapes); Spiral XP, I Wish I Was a Rat (Danger Collective)