Even after teaming up to select the best songs of 2024, we weren’t about to let December end without shining a light on some personal favorites that weren’t represented in our group-voted songs list. For the following exercise, each Stereogum staffer selected 10 standout tracks from this year. No songs from the main list were eligible, and none could repeat across multiple staffers’ lists. The result is five personally curated mixtapes full of music that meant the world to us this year. —Chris DeVille

Scott Lapatine

A music business economist recently told Music Radar that in 2024 more music is released in a single day than was released in all of 1989, so it took me extra long to narrow down my faves this year. While it wasn’t a requirement, with these picks I wanted to highlight artists who weren’t on Stereogum’s general album or songs lists. The exception is Mk.gee — he made one of our 50 Best Albums, but the loosie “ROCKMAN” sounds too much like the Police for me not to include, and I was at the show where Zack debuted a recording of it on the decks after the fifth “DNM.” Anyway, maybe with these you’ll hear something you missed when Stereogum first posted it. And god knows Ari could use the publicity.

1. Omni – “Plastic Pyramid” (Feat. Izzy Glaudini)
2. Mk.gee – “ROCKMAN”
3. ScHoolboy Q – “oHio” (Feat. Freddie Gibbs)
4. Greet Death – “Same But Different Now”
4. Chris Cohen – “Sunever”
6. Arooj Aftab – “Aey Nehin”
7. Brennan Wedl – “2 Dollar Pistol”
8. Ariana Grande – “supernatural”
9. World News – “Hellhole”
10. Bullion – “World_train” (Feat. Charlotte Adigéry)

Tom Breihan

Tommy Richman can’t really sing. It doesn’t matter. When the Virginia singer bleats joyously over just the right kind of cheap computer-funk, endorphins flood directly into one of the strange, unexplored crannies of my brain. Somehow, Richman made two of my favorite songs of 2024, and they’re the only two Richman songs that I like.

My favorite moments of the year all hammered away at my animal brain in bright, visceral ways. I’m talking about cheap pop thrills: Billie Eilish making Charli XCX’s proudly trashy electroclash throwaway even hornier; Central Cee and Lil Baby passing flexes back and forth across the Atlantic; Tyler, The Creator throwing a joyous parade of rap-star cameos; and Kendrick Lamar screaming his producer’s name. But cheap pop thrills sometimes came through guitars, too. Sometimes, that meant sneaky emo bangers from Worlds Greatest Dad and Origami Angel, or tooth-shattering hardcore anthems from Speed and Spaced. All this shit got my blood pumping before I stopped to figure out why. I can’t map my taste profile onto those songs. They map themselves onto me. That’s the difference between good and great.

1. Tommy Richman – “Million Dollar Baby”
2. Kendrick Lamar – “tv off” (Feat. Lefty Gunplay)
3. Charli XCX & Billie Eilish – “Guess featuring Billie Eilish”
4. Central Cee & Lil Baby – “Band4Band”
5. Tommy Richman – “Devil Is A Lie”
6. Worlds Greatest Dad – “Taking One For The Team”
7. Speed – “Real Life Love”
8. Tyler, The Creator – “Sticky” (Feat. GloRilla, Sexyy Red, & Lil Wayne)
9. Origami Angel – “Dirty Mirror Selfie”
10. Spaced – “Rat Race”

Chris DeVille

Some of my absolute favorite songs this year cracked our staff list (and are therefore ineligible here), and if the Cindy Lee or Shop Regulars albums were available to slot into Spotify and Apple playlists, they’d be represented too. I’ve also been unironically listening to vocal jazz lately, but trust me, the scatting would fuck up this mix’s vibe. Still, just as leftovers sometimes taste even better than Thanksgiving dinner, what remains after all those qualifiers is stunning — a collection of tracks that, after all the burn I gave them this year, will unlock a nostalgic rush within me for the rest of my life. I’m confident some of them will make you feel that way too.

1. Mannequin Pussy – “I Got Heaven”
2. This Is Lorelei – “Dancing In The Club”
3. From Indian Lakes – “The Flow”
4. Christopher Owens – “No Good”
5. Sabrina Carpenter – “Please Please Please”
6. Grumpy – “Saltlick”
7. Onsloow – “Brakes”
8. The Marías – “No One Noticed”
9. Zach Bryan – “Pink Skies”
10. Fred Thomas – “Embankment”

Abby Jones

2024 will go down in infamy for numerous reasons, but it bears at least one redeemable quality: I started working at Stereogum this year! Writing for the World’s Best Music Blog has reaffirmed why I wanted to write about music in the first place, and boy howdy, 2024 provided a lot of good music to write about. One day when I’m much older and shoegaze is no longer fashionable, I’ll fondly remember that my first year at Stereogum coincided with Brat Summer and Manning Fireworks Fall. Both of those albums are loaded with loud, catchy songs, which is typically what I crave when I need a lifting of the spirits. Here are a few more songs that helped me keep my head above water this year; I hope some of them do the same for you.

1. Wishy – “Spit”
2. MILLY – “Blocked On Everything”
3. Hovvdy – “Forever”
4. Liquid Mike – “American Caveman”
5. Mabe Fratti – “Enfrente”
6. Sabrina Carpenter – “Juno”
7. Oso Oso – “Stoke”
8. Nilüfer Yanya – “Keep On Dancing”
9. Prize Horse – “Know Better”
10. They Are Gutting A Body Of Water, Greg Mendez, & Sun Organ – “Krillin”

Danielle Chelosky

A lot of my picks are probably skewed by recency bias, but I have not forgotten that this year started off with the phenomenal album Deep Sage by Gouge Away. “Maybe Blue” stands out as one of the best songs in their discography (I had an amazing time witnessing it live at Bowery Ballroom, headbanging and spilling wine all over myself). Meanwhile, I’ve been a sucker for shoegaze as usual, and Shower Curtain, november girl, and MUZZLE are underrated acts in the currently overpopulated genre. Hot take: The new Harmony album fucks, it’s Brat 2.0, it’s like if the Dare wasn’t bad, “Your Girl” slaps, I’m not sorry, you’re welcome.

1. Gouge Away – “Maybe Blue”
2. Shower Curtain – “wish u well”
3. DIIV – “Little Birds”
4. Soccer Mommy – “M”
5. november girl – “Yesterday”
6. bar italia – “The only conscious being in the universe”
7. Balance And Composure – “a little of myself”
8. Harmony – “Your Girl”
9. Wisp – “I remember how your hands felt on mine”
10. MUZZLE – “You, The Acrobat”