2024: By The Numbers

Another year, another set of data, and that can mean only one thing: time for some number crunching! Whilst I entered 2025 with a strong push to get last year's analyse done, I rapidly hit a few roadblocks; turns out, my data entry just hasn't been that good for the last twelve months (in some areas, at least) 😬

This is definitely something to focus on for the end of 2025, and I've updated my annual theme calendar as a result. My hope is that December can become data gathering/normalisation month (alongside Christmas, of course), putting me in a better place come the New Year. Fingers crossed that works, because trying to rapidly sort photos, write reviews, and build out journal pages, all whilst collating and analysing end-of-year reports from various services, has proved quite the workload πŸ˜…

Still, I'm very happy to have gotten this year's article out the door faster than any year previously, and I remain a huge fan of this little series; it's easily the post I return to the most in the subsequent twelve months. I guess that's an indication that I'm an even bigger nerd than I thought πŸ˜‚ If you're interested, you can see past year's data for 2023 and 2019[1].

Music

In many ways, 2024 was an absolutely huge year for music. I went into the year a little annoyed that I had closed out 2023 just shy of breaking 10,000 scrobbles, and that irritation fueled a real shift in behaviour. For the last twelve months, I've been taking any excuse to listen to music; even during periods where this typically falls off, such as during travel, I've been pushing for sessions in the car, on planes, or in any downtime between activities.

All of that positive pressure has paid off. Not only have I utterly smashed my previous listening records β€’ and that 10,000 scrobble ceiling β€’ but I think I have fundamentally changed my listening habits. I'm not sure that I'll make 10,000+ again this year, but I also wouldn't be surprised if I did.

We also made an effort to get back into live music, and I'm feeling particularly good about how many gigs we got to with other people, even if that is feeling harder and harder to manage.

On the other hand, my record collecting and vinyl listening both took a hit. Whilst unemployment proved a boon for listening to Spotify whilst I tinkered on various projects, it also left me without much spare cash. As a result, record buying was put on pause β€’ though I can confidently say that next year's stats are going to reverse that trend significantly πŸ˜‰

The record player itself also saw less use, mainly because the amp started playing up (and ultimately completely died) in the latter half of the year. I'm struggling to find a replacement that meets both budget and features and, again, we've been keeping a closer eye on expenses. With my first pay check now safely received, this is another area I'm hoping to focus on in the first few months of 2025.

A grid of 25 album covers, from Sick Boi by Ren in the top left, to Bayview by Project Smok in the bottom right. It covers the top 10 albums, in order, listed below, plus Cacophony (Paris Paloma), Viimane suusataja (Puuluup), Black Cuillin (duncan chisholm), The Death of Slim Shady (Eminem), Hide and Hair (The Trials of Cato), Escape That (Sam Sweeney), Hymns (MC Xander), Vermillion Sands (Lazy Habits), Taumel (Meute), For The Night (Elephant Sessions), My Mind Now EP (Paris Paloma), The Outset (Project Smok), From Zero (Linkin Park), Gangbusters Melody Club (Caravan Palace), Bayview (Project Smok).
My top 25 albums of the year, clearly showing how the bizarre release schedule of Paris Paloma's debut album hurt its ranking (the second inclusion is the EP).

Top 10 Albums (2024)

Numbers in brackets show the total number of times I listened to any track from that album.

  1. Sick Boi, Ren (364)
  2. Soul Boy IV, The Skinner Brothers (360)
  3. amaXesha, Bongeziwe Mabandla (306)
  4. If Summer Was A Sound, Goldfish (298)
  5. Empor, Meute (280)
  6. Never Going Under, Circa Waves (239)
  7. The Art of Sampling, Parov Stelar (181)
  8. Painless, NilΓΌfer Yanya (165)
  9. Pleasure Seekers, The Electric Swing Circus (163)
  10. Learn To Swim, A Mixtape, Joshua Idehen (161)

One of the big differences this year was how clustered the bottom of the list was. Half a dozen albums would have been in the top 10 with a single additional listen.

Most notable is Paris Paloma's Cacophony, which finished the year at a respectable 11th overall, with 156 listens. However, the album had a weird release schedule. They launched some tracks very early in the year, got a lot of buzz, and put out an EP called my mind (now)... then held the whole album for almost six months!

As a result, I wracked up 109 additional plays with the EP, as well as dozens more on each single. That fragmentation changed the top 10 considerably: if the album had been released straight away, it would have finished the year at #4 with 298 plays. I hope the weird release schedule worked πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

Top Albums (All Time)

Arrows indicate a change in rank, including overall direction and total number of places gained or lost. A sparkles emoji (✨) denotes a brand new entry.

  1. Lazy Habits, Lazy Habits (841)
  2. Vermillion Sands, Lazy Habits (698) β¬†1
  3. Into The Spider-Verse, Various Artists (609) β¬†1
  4. Eyeopeness, MC Xander (605)
  5. River, Cee-Roo (585)
  6. Escape That, Sam Sweeney (567) β¬†2
  7. Hymns, MC Xander (512) ⬆4 ✨
  8. An Awesome Wave, alt-J (511) β¬‡2
  9. If Summer Was A Sound, Goldfish (503) ⬆40 ✨
  10. x Infinity, Watsky (476) β¬‡3

Like last year, two albums drop out of the top ten: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO (Billie Eilish, ⬇2) and Drink The Sea (The Glitch Mob, ⬇3). Interestingly all top ten albums β€’ including these two that fall out of the ranking β€’ gained plays in 2024, which isn't actually all that common, and probably helps explain why there's been so much movement.

Prediction: I think Escape That has likely settled, whilst Hymns and If Summer Was A Sound will continue gaining ground. The big question is whether x Infinity will survive another year? It's been in the running since 2017, but there are a few competitors knocking at the door. I think it probably will, but by a whisker.

Top 10 Artists (2024)

Numbers in brackets show the total number of times I listened to any track by that artist.

  1. Ren (421)
  2. Meute (417)
  3. The Skinner Brothers (378)
  4. Goldfish (349)
  5. Bongeziwe Mabandla (345)
  6. Paris Paloma (310)
  7. The Cat Empire (276)
  8. Circa Waves (268)
  9. Parov Stelar (267)
  10. Linkin Park (221)

Some years its hard to work out who the top ranked brand new artist is, but this year all three podium places could have taken that spot! Of course, that means Ren is my highest ranked new artist, most listened to artist (I was in the top 0.62% of fans globally), top album artist, and has the third most listened to track of the year, so I think it's fair to award them the title of Artist of the Year β€’ another win for rap, it seems πŸ˜‰

That said, this is also a win for tracking the music I watch on YouTube this year. Based on Spotify alone, Meute were my top artist, and it seems likely that the extra four plays that tipped Ren over the top came from watching Sick Boi, which still hasn't returned to Spotify after a copyright dispute. And speaking of Meute, they may have had their title stolen on my rankings, but I ranked on their charts in the top 0.1%, with a staggering 2,352 minutes spent just listening to them!

Top Artists (All Time)

Arrows indicate a change in rank, including overall direction and total number of places gained or lost. A sparkles emoji (✨) denotes a brand new entry.

  1. Lazy Habits (2,005)
  2. Goldfish (1,509)
  3. MC Xander (1,154) 
  4. Watsky (972)
  5. The Cat Empire (931) ⬆3
  6. The Offspring (756) ⬇1
  7. Jeremy Loops (745)
  8. Bongizwe Mabandla (741) ⬆23 ✨
  9. Bonobo (740) ⬇3
  10. Emancipator (697) ⬆3
  11. Pretty Lights (695) ⬆7
  12. Gorillaz (688) β¬‡3
  13. Howard Shore (631) β¬‡3
  14. NF (628) ⬇2
  15. Jamie T (622) ⬇4
  16. Sam Sweeney (599) ⬆8
  17. Cee-Roo (592)
  18. Linkin Park (588) ⬆16 ✨
  19. Childish Gambino (576) ⬇3
  20. alt-J (573) ⬇5
  21. Smokey Joe & The Kid (572) ⬇7
  22. Caravan Palace (563) ⬆5 ✨
  23. Billie Eilish (555) β¬‡2
  24. The Glitch Mob (536) ⬇4
  25. Big Gigantic (512) β¬‡6

Leaving the top 25 are Rare Americans (⬇5), twenty one pilots (⬇5), and β€’ finally πŸ˜… β€’ Miike Snow (⬇8). On the other hand, several old favourites have joined the party, with both Linkin Park[4] and Caravan Palace feeling like they ought to have been here all along.

Though the biggest winners are Bongizwe and The Cat Empire πŸ™€ The latter slid a spot in 2023, but it seems the combo of a London gig and a new album were just what the vet ordered, boosting them back up to the #5 spot β€’ equalling their previous peak in 2021, but now with a frankly ridiculous gap between them and their nearest competitor!

Also, I can't finish without celebrating that Lazy Habits have finally cracked 2,000 plays πŸŽ‰ They were the first to 1,000; will they be the first to 3,000? πŸ‘€

Prediction: I think Bukahara will crack the top 25 next year, though who they replace is impossible to judge. Billie Eilish has the least sticking power, but it's tight at the bottom β€’ even someone like Childish Gambino isn't fully safe! Linkin Park, on the other hand, will gain several more slots; could the top ten beckon?

A wave chart, showing genre prevalence throughout the year. Starts with a mix of folk, indie, and rock, before contracting and introducing South African and lounge. Ska, soul and alectronic make up a spike around August, before October rapidly expands with rap and RnB.
Not so many bizarre/corny genres this year, but I still find it funny that "south african" continues to be a grouping. I feel like Bongeziwe is a bit easier to categorise than that πŸ˜‚

Top Tracks (2024)

Numbers in brackets show the total number of times I listened to a song. Tracks must be listened to independently of an album; this is determined by adjusting ranking based on comparative listening rates of adjacent album tracks.

  1. As Good A Reason, Paris Paloma (52)
  2. Labour, Paris Paloma (42)
  3. Seven Sins, Ren (37)
  4. Houdini, Eminem (33)
  5. Not Like Us, Kendrick Lamar (33)
  6. On The Winds of Chaos Born, Duncan Chisholm (31)
  7. Off My Nuttt, The Skinner Brothers (30)
  8. Heavy Is The Crown, Linkin Park (24)
  9. Chasing Tomorrow, Goldfish (22)
  10. Big Dawgs, Hanumankind (22)

I'm happy to see Paris Paloma top one of these charts, and according to Spotify I was in the top 0.05% of listeners for As Good A Reason β€’ which is probably deeply confusing to some marketing exec somewhere πŸ˜‚

On the other hand, the inclusion of On The Winds... is definitely an artefact of how often Spotify uses it in folk mixes; I mean, it's from a great album that I did listen to a lot, but I'd hardly categorise it as a "banger"!

It's also notable that Chasing Tomorrow has managed to chart two years running! Will it be there in 2025 as well? There's a slim chance, to be fair; it's a crackin' summer tune!

Media

So it finally happened: we officially watched fewer films than seasons of TV. Not sure how I feel about that to be honest, but it isn't exactly a surprise. Between Alison's time at uni and my own pattern of watching some TV before bed, shows were just a lot easier to dip in and out of. In fact, in some ways, 2024 can be considered the year of Dragon Ball and Star Trek, given how much of both I've seen πŸ˜‚

Television

Top 10 TV Seasons Watched

  1. Dimension 20: Mentopolis: 5.5*
  2. Arcane (season two): 5*
  3. Deep Space Nine (season six): 5*
  4. The Sandman (season one): 5*
  5. The Next Generation (season seven): 5*
  6. Dragon Ball Super: Tournament of Power: 5*
  7. The Gentlemen: 5*
  8. Deep Space Nine (season seven): 5*
  9. Agatha All Along: 4.5*
  10. Dragon Ball: King Piccolo Saga: 4.5*

An honourable mention must go to The Sandman: Calliope, which has a 5* rating, but it felt cruel including it here when it's a one-shot episode. Also to A Series of Unfortunate Events, which also managed 4.5* for its second season, but fails to rank due to the lack of room...

There are also no dishonourable mentions this year 🀯 I will say that I bailed on the third season of Dragon Ball: Z and, if I ever return, I think it will get a pretty low score, but it hasn't been reviewed yet, so I can't count it πŸ˜„

The lowest rating given in 2024 was 3*, a perfectly respectable score awarded to seasons of Jack Ryan, Dragon Ball, Deep Space Nine, and several others. The Black List also achieves the "honour" of most-consistent show, with four seasons each being rated as 3.5* πŸ‘

Films

Top 10 Films Watched

I typically split this into "new" and "rewatched", but that doesn't seem necessary this year.

  1. Fantasia: 6*
  2. Dune: Part Two: 5*
  3. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: 5*
  4. Dunkirk: 5*
  5. The Scapegoat: 5*
  6. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: 5*
  7. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: 4.5*
  8. Wonka: 4.5*
  9. Deadpool & Wolverine: 4*
  10. This Is Where I Leave You: 3.5*

As might be obvious by the fact that my top ten includes a 3.5* rated movie, there were quite a few clunkers this year. At the bottom of the bunch were Welcome to the Jungle and Dead Zone, with 2* each; barely doing any better, there's a four-way tie for third-worst, with Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget,  Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom, Blue Beetle, and Morbius all achieving 2.5*.

Games

Last year I said that I wanted to expand this section with board game data. Did I ever implement that functionality? No, not really... however I did capture some information, so with the caveat that this is an incomplete picture:

Books

After years of saying "this will be the year that I read more", I purposefully didn't set any kind of reading goals for 2024. As you may guess, that means I read more books than any previously tracked period πŸŽ‰

Podcasts

If 2024 was the year that I finally managed to read, it was also the year that my podcast backlog pretty much only grew. By myself, I continued to listen to Cortex, largely keeping up with releases for most of the year; I also listened to a couple episodes of Ologies and The Rest Is Entertainment on various road trips in Jordan and Seattle.

Unfortunately, Spotify has stopped providing stats on podcasts; I might have to revert to using CastBox as my main app, though it feels a little ridiculous to need a dedicated app for such a small amount of usage, and I haven't even installed it on my new phone yet πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

Adventures

As a year, 2024 was simultaneously defined by travel and friends, both feeding into each other like some kind of feedback loop. Almost every single one of the flights or trips that we took was, in one way or another, driven by one or more friends. Whether it was travelling to weddings in four different countries (including the UK), visiting folks in far-flung locations like Jordan and Poland, or just taking a few weeks to tour the UK in a big loop, each stop enabling us to see someone who we haven't caught up with since our own wedding, it truly became the core thread controlling our lives away from Carshalton.

The few trips we took entirely for ourselves were typically focused on Alison's Masters in Norfolk, or my desire to go birdwatching β€’ thankfully, that left a lot of room for overlap.

Travel & Events

Food & Drink

Top 10 Beers

  1. Peanut Butter Cookie, Narrows Brewing, Golden Ale: 5*
  2. Oompa Loompa's Jumper, Lakes Brew Co, Imperial Stout: 5*
  3. Dynamit, Pinta, Real Ale: 5*
  4. Sumerian, Durham Brewery, Wheat Beer: 5*
  5. Yorkshire Stingo, Samuel Smith's, Real Ale: 5*
  6. Biscoff Lucaria, Thornbridge, Pastry Stout: 5*
  7. Yub Nub, Vibrant Forest Brewery, Barley Wine: 5*
  8. Serendipity, Siren Craft Brew, Pastry Stout: 5*
  9. Elf, Otter Brewery, Real Ale: 4*
  10. Kaleidoscope, Mad Cat, IPA: 4*

Choosing the two 4* rated beers was hard; I had dozens to pick from! Special mentions have to go to our "old faithful" in America, African Amber by Mac & Jack's (Amber Ale), as well as the deliciously different Huck It by Big Sky Brewing (Blond), another American highlight that was astonishingly unique; the Great Bustard from Stonehenge Ales, one of the best bitters I've had in ages; and When I Wake by Neighbourhood Brewing, an IPA that tasted like ripe paupau and lime in a can 🀀

Dishonourable mention goes to Belgian Blonde from Everards Brewery, scoring a solitary 1* for being the weirdest (and worst) blonde I've ever tried β€’ a real surprise, given how solid Everards' beers otherwise proved to be throughout the year!

Top 10 Non-Beers

  1. Mogu Mogu, soft drink: 5*
  2. Crop Circles, cocktail: 5*
  3. Man o' Words, whisky: 5*
  4. Castreudau, cocktail: 5*
  5. Mistrel Nobel Pisco, liqueur: 4*
  6. Pear Ginger Martini, cocktail: 4*
  7. Birds Aren't Real, cocktail: 4*
  8. Cucumber Gimlit, cocktail: 4*
  9. Cock'n'Bull Ginger Beer, soft drink: 4*
  10. Baby Guinness, shot: 4*

A year dominated by cocktails (mainly from a single evening in Manchester, at The Washhouse), but still topped by a delightful soft drink that tastes like caramel-butter popcorn in a bottle 🀯

The non-beer dishonourable mention goes to Caramel Rum, a liqueur that sounds right up my street, but tasted pretty darn awful, as well as Şalgam, an uber-salty soft drink β€’ both rated 2* πŸ‘Ž

Nature & Wildlife

Prediction: we've seen the local fox population take a real hit over the last 12 months. Whilst we did get one sleeping in the garden on a couple of occasions, I haven't seen any from the study all year! That said, I think whatever poison or disease swept through in late 2023 should now be clearing out, and I reckon I'll get them back on the list in 2025.

Health

I think it's fair to say that exercise, specifically, took a bit of a backseat in 2024. We never managed to get football back up and running, and with Alison away in Norwich for much of the year, any hope of table tennis sessions or picking up something like climbing left with her. The one area of progress was with running, as I (finally!) found a treadmill that was (vaguely) affordable, could fold up and be stored away easily, and would go fast enough. Unfortunately, after several months of pretty regular use, the combination of travel and illness meant I haven't used it at all since the start of autumn 😬 One for a renewed focus in 2025!

A simple bar chart showing sleep duration throughout the year, with one bar per week. Weeks with a positive average of sleep are coloured green; those without are blue. The first half of the year is predominantly blue, switching abruptly around the end of June.
If there was ever clearer proof that a 9am start time is simply unhealthy for me, it's right here! Just look at how much my sleep improves when I don't have a job πŸ˜‰

Photography

I have continued to refine my photography workflow, as well as heavily prioritising photography day trips and excursions throughout the year. However, I have relied heavily on a significant December (and, if I'm fully honest, January πŸ˜‰) boost in terms of tagging and sorting. Better late than never, right? πŸ˜…

The big (and, honestly, a little surprising) trend then of 2024, is how much of a difference upgrading my phone has had! Combined with Alison using the G7x much less than typical, my phone has rocketed into third place amongst cameras, and it honestly deserves it β€’ I've been blown away by the quality of the images, and surprised how big of a difference the upgrade has made, given that the beloved V20 was far from a slouch in this department.

Prediction: with the relative failure of the 1.4x converter, and a constant stream of technical errors on both bodies, I would not be surprised if 2025 was the year I finally retired the 150-600 lens and the M6ii. Quite what replaces them is trickier to say, but if the rumours of an R7ii are valid, that would be a prime contender πŸ‘€

Writing

My blogging and general writing got off to a genuinely impressive start in 2024, with seven articles published in January alone! Unfortunately, this was largely a result of my work drying up, which only got worse after being made redundant, so that the second half of the year only saw three total. Consistency? Nah, no need for that around here πŸ˜‚

As for the content of those posts, the highlights of the year are:

Top Categories

Category name, followed by number of published articles, with category in primary and (secondary) slot.

Articles

  1. Nuts & Bolts: 7
  2. Notes from the Editor: 5 (1)
  3. Inclusion: 2
  4. HTML & CSS: 2
  5. Technology: 1 (1)
  6. JavaScript: 1
  7. Projects: 1
  8. The World Wide Web: 1
  9. Content Design: (1)
  10. Frontend (1)
  11. Typography: (1)

Notes

  1. Frontend: 10 (4)
  2. HTML & CSS: 10 (4)
  3. The World Wide Web: 10 (3)
  4. Technology: 8 (1)
  5. Inclusion: 6
  6. Nuts & Bolts: 5 (2)
  7. Anthropocenic View: 4 (2)
  8. JavaScript: 4 (1)
  9. Natural World: 3 (2)
  10. Content Design: 3 (1)
  11. Web Design: 2 (1)
  12. Photography: 1 (1)
  13. Animation: 1
  14. Arts & Crafts: 1
  15. Moving Pictures: 1
  16. People & Places: 1
  17. Projects: 1
  18. Typography: 1
  19. User Experience: (1)

Journals

  1. People & Places: 2
  2. Notes from the Editor: 1
  3. Frontend: (1)

Unlike last year, I haven't done a deep dive or review into category use, so I can't say with certainty that all of the above is correct, but it is the current state of things πŸ˜‰ Once again, Musical Notes is entirely absent from use, though I maintain that it remains useful. Other absences last year are: Graphic Design, L-Space, World Building, and To Boldly Go.

Both Notes from the Editor and Projects made a comeback, though I remain convinced that these could be improved. I hope to tackle this later in 2025, as part of a general overhaul of my note-taking system.

Footnotes

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