Best electronic music albums of 2024: an introduction

This is part of a series, currently live-blogging on 3, 4 & 5 January 2025. Read the posts so far.

Welcome to my annual countdown of the best electronic music albums of 2024. I am about to write about a bonanza of bleepy bangers that are arbitrarily linked to one particular orbit around the Sun. Why group albums by year? It makes no sense.

Except my annual countdown is no longer annual. I had blogged my Best Albums every year since 2009, but last year, I didn't do a list. I had good reasons. My brain was recovering from a stroke, and so was, as the result of the stroke, the rest of my body. It's a good reason to miss a year. Consider this as a surprise return from a long absence, like Oasis or the Labour government or that bloke who turned up in the shower in that episode of Dallas one time.

I should start by giving my usual mealy-mouthed caveats:

• This list is not comprehensive. I usually miss something obvious – no, let's correct that. I always, without fail, miss something obvious.

• This list was written on a whim, without much forethought, care or attention. It's totally first-drafty and the list might have ended up entirely different if written on a different day, or if I woke up without drinking my usual bottle of morning Toilet Duck. In short: don't take it too seriously.

I try to avoid more obvious and popular electronic music, so this will be a different list to other compilers. Don't expect any Pet Shop Boys or Charlie XCX, despite their albums having more merit than a merit factory that has accidentally over-producing merits on its merit conveyor belt so everything's going to explode in what will be known as the Great Merit Factory Disaster of 2024. Having said that, there is one pop album, at number 20. You'll have to wait to find out.

I have 95 albums on my best-of-2024 list.

• 75 of these albums will be dealt with very quickly in nine summary blog posts, bish bash bosh, blink and you'll miss them. These posts will be published on Friday 3 January 2025.

• For the top 20, I will write something a bit more detailed. Probably. I don't know – I haven't written any of it yet. But those posts will publish throughout the weekend of 4 and 5 January 2025.

This will cumulate in my grand announcement of the number one top dog Best Electronic Music Album of 2024. This will happen some time later on Sunday, although I am popping out to see Nosferatu so you might have to wait while I get down with the vampires. When I do finally reveal my number one, feel free to celebrate with party poppers, fireworks, palm fronds and ritual sacrifices.

So sit back, pop your feet on a pouffe, and crack open a bottle of fizzy cola. It's time to bleep the best of the year. Further blog posts incoming.

This is part of a series, currently live-blogging on 3, 4 & 5 January 2025. Read the posts so far.