[I hesitated to make this end of the year list this time, because i agree with the sentiment, that the only list that counts is the one of the many people, who died in all those fucking wars. To be clear, i publish these end of year lists not with the goal to shift product, but as a way to keep notes. I have always been a list-nerd and i find it helpful to return to them in the future, to see what i enjoyed or what inspired me a few years ago. But increasingly so i use lists to assist my faltering brain. I publish this on December 31. because i never understand why people can publish their end of year lists at the start of December. The year 2024 is now done, and what a bummer it was in many ways. Let’s see what 2025 has in store for us]
Album
Patrick Carpenter – Electric Envelope
It seems unbelievable, that this is the first solo album by PC, who we know from DJ Food and Cinematic Orchestra. Creative, playful, great
Little Simz – Drop 7
Look, this is not the most exiting album by Little Simz, but any release by them is fantastic, brave and surprising
Midland – Fragments Of Us
The album is dedicated to the AIDS crisis. The songs with spoken words are deeply touching
Track
Compagnie Jolie Môme – Hymne des Femmes
[French] This song was circulated during the Pelicot trials in Avignon. A powerful battle cry
Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
In case you wondered, i was team Kendrick Lamar in that hilarious battle. This song is epic
Kabin Crew & Lisdoonvarna Crew – The Spark
These “crews” lifted my mood for weeks
Big Zis – Ufa
[Swiss-German] One of the most powerful tracks ever by Big Zis, if a bit harsh on my ears towards the end
Milena Patagônia – Sad – Dashcam*Devi Remix
[Serb & Swiss-German] This remix shreds, Milena remains my favorite local artist
Video
L’armee des romantiques
[French] Yes, the series eulogizes the same old and mostly male canon. But the way this series is illustrated, its animations are magic and almost immersive
Draw for Change – Culture
Another great documentary series by Arte portrays women cartoonist speaking truth to power in various degrees of peril
Fell in Love with Fire : A Documentary about the 2019 Uprising in Chile
Riot porn of the year
The Night Won’t End
If this documentary does not make you cry, you are dead inside
Autism Self diagnosis is invalid!
Despite its sarcastic title this video lists the reasons why self diagnosis is actually more than valid. So can you please stop with the silly “actually autistic” bs
It’s Revolution or Death – Part 1 : Short Term Investments
Peter Gelderloos collaborated with sub.media for this documentary series about the climate crisis as seen from an anarchist perspective, part 1
Podcast
Undercover
Season two of the series about the undercover cops who infiltrated activist circles. But the most relevant message remains that we need to keep trusting each other, activism is based on trust
Ton Steine Scherben
[German] Story and background of one of my old time favorite bands
Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman
What a pig. But for me it was pathetic how subdued the reaction among his leftist fan base was
Buried
Environmental reporting at its best
Marco Pantani: Death of a Pirate
I think this series is a few years old, but listening to it during this year’s edition of the Giro was perfection
Tested
Released just before the Paris Olympics this series offered much needed context on the over-hyped trans athletes in sports debate
Mask Bans Are Everyone’s Fight | Death Panel
Mask bans should be everyone’s fight. But sadly i do not count on it. The “left” might not notice that to wear a mask is an act of defiance and an anti-fascist praxis
Data Vampires: Going Hyperscale
After the one last year on Elon Musk Paris Marx had released a second series worth listening to. This one is about data centres
Book
Non Fiction:
Constellations of Care – Edited by Cindy Barukh Milstein
Essaies on care and grieving from anarcha-feminists
Klee Benally – No Spiritual Surrender
The book by the late Klee Benally (RIP) is a deeply moving must-read
Peter Gelderloos – They Will Beat The Memory Out Of Us
Not my favorite book by Gelderloos, a bit chaotic in its structure, but the parts about the ageism in our political scenes seem important
Violet Blue – The Covid Hand
The crowd funded book assembles arguments and tricks for those of us, who are still taking the pandemic as serious as everyone in fact should
Shane Burley & Ben Lorber – Safety Through Solidarity
The tagline says it all: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism. This is a highly relevant book in a time when antisemitism is on the rise. Notable that the author do not shy away from a critique of the state of Israel
Anarchik
Anarchik is one of my favorite comic characters, this book is an English translation by N.O. Bonzo
Fiction:
This year i read, or in some cases re-read, all the books by Ursula k. Le Guin in her so-called Hainish cycle. I can highly recommend this experiment. But i did not have time to read much else in fiction.
Miranda Juli – All Fours.
Parts of this book are great, especially where it talks about menopause and tackles that taboo
TV Series
This Town
Plays in the 80’s, has great character development, loved it
Baby Reindeer
What a story. And what a fuck up to claim that it was based on a true story
Slow Horses
Jackson is my hero
After The Party
A moving series from NZ
Slip
Sex positive series of the year
Movies
The End We Start From
I am sick and tired of fucking dystopias, when will they start to make films about utopias (Ursula k. Le Guin anyone)? But this movie was well done
Origin
Shows the universal roots of racism
Must-Read Articles
Notes on Love [crimethInc]
Love as a foundation for militancy
Édouard Louis: Your Identity Isn’t Private Property [jacobin]
The smartest thing i have read so far in regards to identity politics and the culture war debate
We need an exodus from Zionism | Naomi Klein [the guardian]
Some of the examples from Israel Klein cites in this article are simply horrendous
Structural Violence and the Pandemic: An Update on Our Collective Reality | Beatrice Adler-Bolton
One of the most relevant writers around when it comes to disability justice
To Voice the Unspeakable | Rupa Marya–Deep Medicine [substack]
Rupa Marya is facing censorship and risks losing her career for her stance on Gaza. A scandal
Let’s Get Started | Vicky Osterweil [substack]
Vicky Osterweil gives me hope
Cute and/or hilarious
Some of my own stuff
Testimonials of the Collectively Abandoned
Well, “own” is wrong, obviously. This was a collective project assembling entries written by several covid-cautious accounts on Mastodon. We did edit and publish it though
Schnitzupönks
[Swiss-German alert] In this video i tried to create anarchistic Schnitzelbänk, which is a Swiss carnaval tradition, mostly in Basel. The video tanked
[Explicit] Porn 4 Yer Ears – Kinkygrindah
Is it absurd to create a sexually explicit DJ mix during a time when our own sex life has been reduced to the max because of pandemic and Long COVID? Probably yes
In No Particular Order
May Add More Later
Suggest Stuff Please
Have Fun
Tell A Friend 😉
And Some Other Best Of 2024 Lists
sgtpepper2024 [b3ta]
DJ Food – 2024The Quietus Tracks of the Year 2024
Bleep Top 10 Albums Of The Year 2024
10 best games of 2024
The Best Memes of 2024
Previous Years