The year is almost at the end, so let me give you something to research and discover over the holiday season. Without further ado, the best of the best of 2024!
Best Foreign song discovered in 2024
There are a few songs that I really loved this year, so I can’t really have one single “best song of the year” so I’m going to try to pick a best song on various categories. And the one below is the best song in a language that isn’t Romanian and English. And this is:
Валентин Стрыкало - Наше лето
Valentin Strikalo - Nashe Leto (Our Summer)
The funny video, the catchy instrumental, the beautiful lyrics, all add up to a masterpiece. Discovered it in the soundtrack of Arrhythmia // Аритми́я (2017).
Яхта, парус, в этом мире только мы одни
Ялта, август, и мы с тобою влюблены
The yacht, the sail, we’re the only two in this world
Yalta, August and us together in love.
Best Live Performance Discovered in 2024
Somehow I never found out about this song until this year and I feel like I’ve been living under a rock. The song itself is great, but what makes it a masterpiece is the performance delivered by the vocalist. It’s got poise, feeling, sadness, expectation, it’s a lifetime in four minutes.
Future Islands – Seasons (Waiting On You)
This was broadcast on BBC at Later… with Jools Holland back in TBD
Best Romanian Album of 2024
There might be a ton of great albums released in 2024, but for me, there’s one that stands above others. Maybe it’s because it was written over the span of a few years, maybe it’s because it has some of the greatest songs of this band, who knows?
The Kryptonite Sparks – ERAI /// Eterna Reîntoarcere A Identicului
The album title is a word play, “ERAI” meaning “you were” and which is also a backronym for “The Eternal Return of the Identical”. As I already said, it has some of the best songs ever released by The Kryptonite Sparks.
But the best song of the album remains 3310_(Suflete_în_ghiozdan), a heartfelt nostalgic song that still gives me goosebumps 3 years after its release.
Mai bine să te ții de mână decât să te ții de carte
Better to hold hands than to hold books
Best Album of 2024
The enshittification of media is going at a rapid pace, and yet the US music scene still manages to release something that is not only commercial, but also good. If the nineties had Nirvana and the turn of the millenium had Linkin Park, the last decade is definitely the decade of Twenty One Pilots. Throwing out one great album after another, hits upon hits, catchy beats, great lyrics, this is the music of the new generation and it doesn’t sound bad at all.
Twenty One Pilots - Clancy
This visual album is a journey, one that connects to the previous albums in both lore and stylistic ways. I will recommend only a few songs from this album, but you should experience the entire story. Youtube playlist here
Best song from the album? Hard to pick one, maybe it’s Overcompensate because of the awesome drums. What a banger!
Best Romanian Song(s) Released in 2024
There were quite a few great songs released by Romanian artists, but there’s one that stands at the top.
Marú & Ivcelnaiv (feat. Florin Piersic jr.) - S i n g u r ǎ t a t e
A great melancholic song about loneliness, a reminder that whenever Marú releases something, it’s very very good. Featuring the sublime recitation by Florin Piersic Jr., one of the best actors on the Romanian scene, and the brilliant verses written by Ivcelnaiv, the result is a soft song that melts the heart.
Marú & @HelenMusic & Ivcelnaiv (feat. Florin Piersic jr.) - L’emancolie
Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I couldn’t choose only one song, and as much as I love the song above, this one is pretty much just as good. I wish I could set them apart, but it’s impossible, they are both beautiful and heart-touching.
Best Song Released in 2024
Sad, melancholic, haunting, absolutely beautiful. David Gilmour shows us that his talent is far from being depleted and accompanies his daughter on a way towards greatness.
David & Romany Gilmour — Between Two Points
Just let them walk all over you
Laugh through the punches and the pain
Let the life-blood drain away from you
They’re right, you’re wrong
Best TV Series of 2024
TV Series seems to suffer from a big decline. Production companies are pushing more into more expensive sets and cinematography and they cry and moan when they don’t hit their super-secret KPIs. That’s why some of the best series released in 2023 and 2024 are already cancelled. Thankfully, there are some mini series which can tell a story completely in six to ten episodes and close a story better than a series that’s been canceled after one or two seasons. That’s why it prompted me to pick a mini series as the best TV series of the year, not only because it has Hiroyuki Sanada in it, but also because it’s a great story, well told and beautifully displayed: Shogun.
Best Movie of 2024
Without a doubt, it has to be Morometii 3, the last installment in the epic saga of the Moromete family. Written, directed and acted flawlessly, it’s a movie that concludes properly the story and adds a bit of flair to it. In terms of movies in the English language, I have to say that Hollywood is pretty silly, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) being a good watch.
Best Game of 2024
Despite playing a lot of other games this year and even if it’s 20 years old, World of Warcraft manages to remain evergreen with more things to do and another great expansion, The War Within, with strong visuals and good music, as well as good changes to the solo gameplay, while taking deeper into the story.
