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Last Active 12-11-18 12:34 pm Joined 03-14-13
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| 2015: A Year in Review
Hey! It's that time of the year again. Actually it's a bit early for an "End of the year" list, by I'm gonna visit my family in a few days and will not have time to check any more albums out over the next two weeks. So I figured I might post my obligatory end of the year list right now. It's been a good year, although I kinda hoped for an even better one, but some of the "big ticket" releases really didn't do it for me. But hey, it was good enough to write a needlessly long list about all the good albums in it, so I'm not complaining too much. Looking forward to 2016 and all the awesome music that will come out. Feel free to comment and recommend stuff that I missed. First 5 picks are Bonus albums, that have been released before 2015, but I stumbled upon them this year, and wanted to highlight them. | 65 | | Uyama Hiroto A Son of the Sun
Just a few Albums I want to highlight that I stumbled upon in 2015, even though they were released earlier. All of these come HIGHLY recommended. (Rating 4.0 or higher)
Genre: Jazz/Electronic
Best Song: Stratus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEgS9493djY | 64 | | Aidan Baker The Sea Swells A Bit...
Genre: Ambient/Post-Rock
Best Song: The Sea Swells a bit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg4O5nsqTVw | 63 | | Grace Jones Hurricane
Genre: Soul/Pop
form is temporary. class is permanent.
Best Song: William's Blood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rjsYVXZ2hs | 62 | | Stellardrone Light Years
Genre: Electronic/Ambient (free download on Bandcamp)
https://stellardrone.bandcamp.com/album/light-years
Best Song: Airglow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHz-3O4V3Vo | 61 | | Jungle Jungle
Genre: Funk/Indie-Pop
Best Song: Heat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlEwiO6HNnQ | 60 | | The Early November Imbue
Genre: Alt-Rock
Opening up my list are The Early November with “Imbue”. Their brand of slightly whiny alt-rock is usually not my cup of tea and I think that genre has been downward trajectory for years now. But “Imbue” is at least a decent spark of the dying flame. The band brings a fair amount of energy to both the instrumentation and (especially) the vocals. While the songwriting doesn’t ever take any chances or deviates from the tropes of the genre, I really do enjoy the delivery on quite a few of those songs.
Best Song: Narrow Mouth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBEALw4T-q4&list=PLKcGEIO7V0rVfHhlqZE2UrZBRl6fR4U7g&proxmate=us | 59 | | Songhoy Blues Music In Exile
Genre: Blues
“Songhoy Blues” is made up off Malian refugees who had to flee from Mali because of the civil strife that is going on over there. You can definitely hear a lot of longing for their home country in the slower songs. Otherwise this is a surprisingly traditional blues-rock album (Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s was involved in the recording) that features a lot of pretty impressive (if predictable) guitar work and mostly stands out because of the very good execution and the vocals which are completely in their native tongue.
Best Song: Desert Melody, Link is for Soubour because I couldn’t find Desert Melody on YT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4FqZg12g7g | 58 | | Alabama Shakes Sound & Color
Genre: Blues/Southern-Rock
To be frank, this album is good, because lead vocalist Britanny Howard is great. The band crafts some nice southern rock tunes, that don’t really stand out to much and remind me of earlier Kings of Leon stuff, but Britanny Howard at the vocals is just killing it from start to finish. The album is at its best, when they provide her a stage to shine (which happens quiet often), but quickly becomes less enjoyable when they try to become a bit less conventional (“Gemini”), while I appreciate their dabbling in different sounds and styles, most of the time the end results are just not that impressive.
Best Song: Don’t Wanna Fight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-5OX7CO26c | 57 | | Mondo Drag Mondo Drag
Genre: Psych/Prog
A short but very sweet burst of nostalgic psych. There is really not a single original note played in this album, but I’ll be damned if they don’t imitate that late 60s/early 70s psych feel very well. They (for the most part successfully) rely on the fact that they really know what they are doing at their respective instruments. Everyone gets a chance to show off at some point. The album is pretty short, but that actually works in its favor, because I think this jam session would have become stale if it went on for 15 minutes longer.
Best Song: The Dawn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M_0tS6mXB0 | 56 | | Modest Mouse Strangers to Ourselves
Genre: Indie/Alternative
I dunno guys, I still liked it? This album is a mixed bag for sure, but in my opinion Modest Mouse has always had pretty high highpoints (on this album: “Lampshades”, “Coyotes”, “Pups to Dust”, “The Ground Walks…” and pretty stupid lowpoints (“Shit in your Cut”, “Pistol”). A band that is as weird as Modest Mouse is bound to have a few misfires every once in a while. But mostly Issac delivers a few performances that remind everyone why he’s one of the most beloved frontmen in recent years and overall I did enjoy my time with this record. (Just delete pistol and the album is like 10% better guys)
Best Song: The Ground walks, with time in a box https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55epdZ3JBdc&index=6&list=PLNKnNwQ3xNGPgRakdGyqEQMOa1wjpJydM&proxmate=us | 55 | | Lord Huron Strange Trails
Genre: Folk/Indie
Another day in the office for Lord Huron. They deliver another album of vaguely connected stories with pretty, upbeat instrumentation and Ben Schneiders cheerful vocals. What sounded like a fresh, new take at the usually pretty whiny folk genre, is quickly becoming their “shtick”. This time around I still enjoyed it a lot (even though I liked their debut better), but there is no way that they can coast by on that sound alone for another album. I really hope they go back to the drawing board and expand their repertoire.
Best Song: Fool for Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvoJ7qUh3y8 | 54 | | Thee Oh Sees Mutilator Defeated At Last
Genre: Lo-Fi Noise Rock/Psych/Experimental
Very strange album with a lot of fuzzy, wailing guitars and frantic drumming that manages to stay surprisingly accessible due to some catchy vocal harmonies and hypnotic choruses that just drill themselves into your ear. Some of the songs don’t really amount to much and sound like sketches then fully developed songs, but there is enough energy on every song to make them at least decent. This sounds less positive, than I actually feel about this, it's pretty entertaining stuff actually.
Best Song: Web https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpakQW8-_zA | 53 | | T'Saatsuna/Reverend Desaad Churnmilk Peg!!/Hypatian Codex: Compendium Dub
Genre: Electronic/Gypsyowlmanswagbullshit
Read Johnny’s review, he is 1000x better at writing and his review dead on the money. This is very accessible stuff, so give it a bash.
Best Song: ShenVerbti. https://solarmasscollective.bandcamp.com/album/churnmilk-peg-hypatian-codex-compendium-dub (Full Stream/Free Download) | 52 | | Destroyer Poison Season
Genre: Indie/Pop
I was slightly disappointed by Bejars followup to the magnificent “Kapput” which is one of my alltime favorite records. That doesn’t mean that this is bad by any stretch of the imagination though. From the roaring, springsteenworshipping “Dream Lover” to the introspective, touching “Bangkok” there is certainly a lot to like about this album. I just hoped for something slightly more cohesive, but then again it’s impressive to see the range of his songwriting.
Best Song: Dream Lover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyRF8iRz470 (live from Paris) | 51 | | Blur The Magic Whip
Genre: Britpop
To be honest, in my opinion a Blur comeback in 2015 was a recipe for disaster. Aside from (arguably) “Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds” Britpop is mostly an abandoned genre. And Damon Albarns solo antics haven’t been very promising either. But alas, they proved me wrong. “The Magic Whip” is a return to form. The songs are as catchy and well-crafted as ever, the sound of the band has been carefully modernized with a lot of subtle, oftentimes Gorillazesque touches (“New World Towers”), and while the album has a few misfires, it is mostly a satisfying listen.
Best Song: Mirrorball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK9TEeLo3jk | 50 | | The Chills Silver Bullet
Genre: College-Rock/Jangle-Pop
R.E.M. worship from New-Zealand. It’s very well done for what it is. A few times it ventures into boring territories, but the top notch instrumentation and decent lyrics always drag it back into enjoyable territory for me. Not an album that will go down as one of the greatest of its genre, but definitely a satisfying listen if you are into this kind of stuff.
Best Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmAr7o9YMX0 | 49 | | Hanni El Khatib Moonlight
Genre: Garage Rock
Think “The Black Keys” but without all the bells and whistles they added over the years. In my opinion the rawness adds a lot to the songs. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like my garage rock produced like it’s the newest Coldplay album. Hanni El Khatib manages to vary his songwriting up just enough to stay engaging over the course of the whole album and delivers a lot of heartfelt blues rock songs that you shouldn’t miss out on.
Best Song: Mexico https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWNnvX-Tb6Y | 48 | | Deerhunter Fading Frontier
Genre: Indie-Pop/Rock
A marked improvement over their disappointing last effort, Deerhunter come back with a more poppy, refined record. I really enjoyed this, but I feel like it has a weaker period in the middle section of the album and the record is already pretty short. It’s not as good as “Halcyon Digest”, but still a worthwile addition to your catalogue.
Best Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-p9wDQkxt4 | 47 | | Florence and the Machine How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Genre: Pop
I mean, how bad can an album with Florence at the helm really be? She just has that ability to sing like very few people out there. It’s not like the album is bad in any other regard. It has some really strong singles (“Ship to Wreck”, “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”, “St. Jude”) and the songwriting has generally improved over her last album. But she has still has a tendency to just resort to singing as loud as she can in the chorus and not do anything else with the song. And the instrumentation is still a bit too generic in some spots. A fine record, but definitely not an AOTY contender and feel like she has better music in her if she’d be willing to take more risks.
Best Song: Title Track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1ZOmI_AR1k (Coachella Live) | 46 | | Joanna Newsom Divers
Genre: Folk/Indie
Indie Darling Joanna Newsom returns with her new album “Divers” and my opinion on her remains much the same. She’s got a real talent for putting together incredibly lush songs with incredible instrumentation (a lot of which she provides herself on the harp, which is used to great effect) and writes a lot of songs I genuinely love.
But then she also sings. I have a really hard time getting into her as a vocalist and this album doesn’t really (try to) convince me otherwise. Her voice and pronunciation just don’t really sit right with me. This easily had top 10 potential if I liked the vocals more and I still liked it enough to put it on this list, so definitely give it a bash if you haven’t yet.
Best Song: Leaving the City https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSqrk7QYD40 | 45 | | Patrick Watson Love Songs for Robots
Genre: Chamber Pop/Electronic
Patrick Watson has a remarkable knack creating haunting atmospheres from very little. The opening seconds of the Title Track when that drone gently glides into the simple piano and the subdued guitar lick are just sublime. Splattered all over the album are moments of genius, clever uses of certain instruments and nice little melodic touches. Unfortunately Watson also struggles to tie all of the ideas together into a compelling song. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and the result is just kinda frustrating at times. Could have been fantastic, but ends up “just” being very good.
Best Song: Title Track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgpRVGDfvxg | 44 | | Sufjan Stevens Carrie and Lowell
Genre: Folk/Sadboy
While I’m kinda disappointed that Sufjan hasn’t followed up on the much more interesting and adventurous “Age of Adz” there is no denying that he delivered his most emotive and relatable album to date. The lyrics are sometimes crushingly sad, the instrumentation is sparse and Sufjan seems to be constantly on the verge of losing his cool when he sings. Unfortunately the instrumentation on most of the songs is sooooooo stripped, that a few of them become boring, especially since Sufjan neglected to explore the more ambient touches he puts into some songs (“Fourth of July”, “Blue Bucket of Gold”) further.
Best Song: Death with Dignity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWZtDUkJJ9o | 43 | | Stara Rzeka Zamknely Sie Oczy Ziemi
Genre: Experimental/Drone/Folk
A veeery experimental Album, that requires quite a bit of patience from its audience, but rewards them with one of the most atmospheric and unique experiences of the whole year. This definitely requires some attention while listening to it and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to everyone, but if you can take a 90 minute trip down this strange lane, you’ll be rewarded in spades.
Best Song: Stara Rzeka https://stararzeka.bandcamp.com/album/zamkn-y-si-oczy-ziemi-instant-classic (full stream, sadly no Youtube link) | 42 | | Elder (USA-MA) Lore
Riffs. Riffs. Moar Riffs. The best Sabbath album you will listen to in 2015. I do enjoy it a lot, maybe not as much as someone who is really into that style of music. The instrumentation is definitely very strong on this record, but in my eyes the songwriting is at times a bit directionless. Still, good enough to place on this list, so you know I enjoyed my time with it overall. (Also I looove that album cover)
Best Song: Compedium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdkmefAuCGM | 41 | | Kate Boy One
Genre: Pop
Infectious and enjoyable electro-pop from Sweden, think Robyn but with less snarky breakup songs but a lot more dub-wub-wub-dub as well as slightly more powerful vocals. Features a ton of insanely catchy pop hooks and rhythms that just demand that you get up and dance to them. On the downside I think the album is a bit to samey and could have been cut down to a slightly shorter running time, because in the 2nd half of the album it becomes very apparent that they are basically repeating the same formula over and over, which is easy to forgive as long as they are churning out bangers, but becomes boring very quickly when the songs are just decent.
Best Song: Human Engine (Unfortunately no link to YT, because Germany) | 40 | | Nickelus F and Shawn Kemp Trick Dice
Again, Johnny is a way better writer, read his review. This album is raw as fuck, Nickelus F delivers a lot of great bars and Little Ugly Mane provides execellent production. If you’re into hip-hop at all, definitely give this a bash.
Best Song: Bathory Motives https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsWZV_TAwps | 39 | | Turnover Peripheral Vision
Genre: Indie Rock
Former Pop-Punk outfit Turnover basically shed their former sound completely and aim for a slightly shoegazy stab at Indie Rock. The result is for the most part a resounding success. Austin Getz provides some very charismatic vocals and the more laid back, slightly melancholic style of music seems to fit them much better than their former direction. The songs all have a very relatable, emotional core and the instrumentation isn’t spectacular but checks all the necessary boxes. The record is getting kinda samey in the second half in my opinion, maybe they can expand their sound a little on an eventual follow up.
Best Song: Humming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFzlCYgjPDw | 38 | | Slum Village YES!
Genre: Hip-Hop
“YES!” is a return to form for Midwest Hip-Hop ensemble Slum Village. The album sounds very much like their first two albums, a lot of organic sounding arrangements, pretty laid back overall and that’s no wonder because they used J-Dilla tracks. (How many of those posthumous J-Dilla instrumentals are floating around out there btw?) Former permanent Member Illa J and underground darling De La Soul are the most prominent guests and both of them shine on their guest spots.
Best Song: Tear it Down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep8DELszA7Y | 37 | | C Duncan Architect
Genre: Pop for weird people
C. Duncan’s debut album is a remarkably mature and well thought out album, while featuring pretty conventional song structures, Duncan adds a lot of layers and little details and doesn’t necessarily tries to write the catchiest pop hook every time. This album doesn’t offer anything completely outstanding but is a very enjoyable atmospheric pop album with a lot of clever ideas, nice harmonies, thoughtful lyrics and good production.
Best Song: Say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R15J_yfHJ8g | 36 | | Built to Spill Untethered Moon
Genre: Alternative/Indie
Doug Martsch is incapable of doing wrong. This album is another piece of evidence. Built to Spill continues to be Built to spill, and all I can say is: Don’t ever change.
Best Song: Some other Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ght0s-7J0 | 35 | | 2047 Snow
Genre: Ambient/Electronic/Vaporwave
Chilean Ambient you say? Why yes. A pretty obscure pick maybe, but worthwhile nonetheless. This album is all about the atmosphere it crafts. For an ambient album it’s relatively busy, so don’t expect any stretches where it just loops the same drone for 15 minutes. It reminded me a lot of Solar Fields but slowed down as much as possible. Since I’m a really big Solar Fields fan, that’s obviously a good thing in my book.
Best Song: 12 hour drive http://noproblematapes.bandcamp.com/album/--3 (pay what you want on BC) | 34 | | bansheebeat Lumine
Genre: Electronic/Anime worship
Sputnik’s very own bansheebeat returns with his sophomore record “Lumine”. The album is more adventurous, more varied and ultimately better produced than his debut album “Spiral Power”. Bansheebeat has a great talent for crafting richly detailed soundscapes and manages to very deliberately construct a certain atmosphere over the whole record. Unfortunately I gotta admit that I preferred the slightly darker “Spiral Power” to the occasionally slightly cheesy (“Rainy Love”) “Lumine”. But that’s not to say that this album doesn’t have some staggering highpoints (“Lumine”, “Sea of Lights”). Even though I preferred his debut, this still comes highly recommended.
Best Song: Lumine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsJZZPZPydQ | 33 | | Black Wing ...Is Doomed
Genre: Experimental/Shoegaze/Electronic
The Brain behind Have a Nice life, is trying something completely different on this album and for the most part he succeeds. “… Is Doomed” is one of the weirdest album I’ve heard this year, but it’s also pretty accessible because of the almost anthemic character of many songs. Of course those anthems are almost drowned out in hazy electronic vibes. But the hooks are still there. Definitely interesting enough to warrant a listen, especially if you are one of the many Have a Nice life fans on this site.
Best Song: My body betrayed me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNxJ3PfAu_M | 32 | | Humans Noontide
Genre: Electro/Indie
I’ll be honest with you, this album would have ranked way higher if the year ended in summer. Not just because a lot of good albums have surpassed it by then, but also because it grew off me quite a bit. Humans offer a pretty weird mix of lo-fi electro arrangements that seem to belong on a more experimental record and catchy vocal hooks. That mix sometimes pays off and results in very interesting pop jams, which I certainly enjoyed over the course of last summer (and still do to a slightly lesser extend), sometimes the songs fall a bit flat and leave me wondering what they were shooting for. An interesting and overall still very good release that flew nearly completely under the radar, so check this out.
Best Song: Watusi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK7OaLm1Q-k | 31 | | Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Chasing Yesterday
Genre: Britpop/Dadrock
This album won’t change your opinion on Noel. If you like Oasis and his solo stuff, you will like this album. There is a good chance you will like it more than his previous solo album, because it’s more consistent and still brings some killer singles. (“Riverman”, “The Right Stuff”, “Lock all the Doors”) If you already disliked him, just stay away, there is nothing here that will change your opinion.
Best Song: The Right Stuff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p88BjKrxW48 | 30 | | Until The Ribbon Breaks A Lesson Unlearnt
Genre: Electro/Pop
British ensemble “Until the Ribbon Breaks” continue their obsessive genre-hopping showcased on their EPs on their debut album. Influences of hip-hop, rnb, rock as well as pop are fused into a very enjoyable and varied album. Frontman Lawrie-Winfield seems to be the brain behind the band, unfortunately he’s not the greatest vocalist and relies on a nasally falsetto that doesn’t impress on every song. The interesting arrangements and top notch songwriting carry this album for the most part.
Best Song: Perspective https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QixD0BVBUaM (full album) | 29 | | DJ Krush Butterfly Effect
Genre: Trip-Hop/Downtempo
Grandmaster Krush is back after an 11 year hiatus from recording, and on “Butterfly Effect” he picks up where he left off. The album offers a varied, very well executed take at Trip Hop, Krush focuses on crafting a laid back atmosphere without ever venturing into boring waters. A few times he dips into just producing hip-hop songs (“Sbayi One” and “Everything and Nothing”) and while these songs are pretty great on their own, they arguably don’t really fit with the rest of the album. Still, DJ Krush’s return is a return to from.
Best Song: Coruscation (YT Germany ruining my links, sorry) | 28 | | Steve Gunn and The Black Twig Pickers Seasonal Hire
Genre: Americana/Folk
“Seasonal Hire” sounds like something you’d hear in an old western. The Band seems hell-bent on recreating a sound that is all but forgotten today and with the use of traditional instrumentation and a very crisp production they manage to pull this off. This is one of the most interesting and unique albums of this year, although I suspect your enjoyment will be dependent on a fair bit of patience, because they definitely take their time developing the songs.
Best Song: Dive for the Pearl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw87D7ddhYU | 27 | | PINKSHINYULTRABLAST Everything Else matters
Genre: Shoegaze/Dream Pop
I’m not usually into shoegaze, but these guys are something else. Their sound is pretty diverse, sometimes they are deeply drenched in a My blood Valentinesque aesthetic and the listener is drowned in the sound of their hazy guitar walls. But then there are times like the first 20 seconds of “Holy Forest” when the Wall of Sound is gone and they just throw a sweet guitar lick out there. In general the songs are ever shifting, but never really feel disjointed as a result, which is remarkable especially on a debut album. But guys c'mon what the fuck is that bandname, seriously.... my GF laughs at me when she sees this on my Ipod.
Best Song: Wish we were https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZO2psc4En4 (dunno wtf is going on in that video) | 26 | | Moderator The World Within
Genre: Trip-Hop/Hip-Hop
Greek Producer Moderator delivers a 30 minute hypnotic downtempo release that is just long enough to justify the LP title. This record is surprisingly well executed and has a lot going for it. The atmosphere is hazy and laid back, the beats are crisp and all the guest vocalist do a great job as well. The weakest track “Vasai-Virar” sticks out like a sore thumb though. I don’t know if he was trying to channel his greek heritage or something, but it doesn’t work at all and feels out of place. Other than that there is no reason not to check this out, if you’re at all into Trip-Hop, this is one of the freshest releases and it’s streaming on BC as well.
Best Song: Space Vandals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC_cQS8Y3FE | 25 | | Kamasi Washington The Epic
Genre: Jazz
Talk about a fitting album title. “The Epic” is the 3-hour debut album of Kamasi Washington (collaborator of both Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar) and it’s not too long by any stretch of the imagination. I’m not well versed enough in the Genre to really evaluate this critically, I can just say that I enjoyed multiple full listens of a 3-hour Jazz CD and that means that they are doing a lot of things right. Kamasi is a beast at the sax for sure, there are more impressive sax sections on this album than on the rest of my list combined.
Best Song: The Rhythm Changes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkLz4MyDmuE | 24 | | Gunship Gunship
Genre: Synthpop/Retromania
It’s entire ably possible, that I rate this album higher than I should, because I’m just a sucker for that 80s Synthpop aesthaetic they recreated so perfectly on this album (I mean just look at that album cover and you know exactly how this album sounds). Your mileage may definitely vary on this, because the songwriting here is kind of hit and miss. Sometimes it really, really genuinely works (“Kitsune”, “Fly for Your Life”, “Tech Noir”) and sometimes it falls flat on its face and it seems like they just had 1 neat idea that they stretched out for way to long.
Best Song: Kitsune https://gunshipmusic.bandcamp.com/releases (No YT Link available) | 23 | | Currensy Pilot Talk III
Genre: Hip-Hop/Stoner
The most drugged out album of the year probably. Currensy (No, I’m not gonna spell your name with a $) has always delivered his best material on the “Pilot Talk” series and that doesn’t change at all on this LP. The dreamy, slightly jazzy production is the standout feature of the album and easily carries it into my End of the year list. Currensy also delivers at the mic, even though he can be faulted for being pretty limited in the themes he’s approaching on this record, (He’s the best, weed is dope, look out for your fam, Underground Hip-hop > Mainstream) he always brings enough nimble wordplays and memorable bars to get past that fault.
Best Song: Long as the Lord Say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwhguCmjR9k | 22 | | Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow Ex Machina
Genre: OST/Electronic
Ex Machina is (while not groundbreaking) one of my favorite movies I’ve seen this year. And this Soundtrack just fits this movie like a glove. You won’t find any big sweeping orchestra tunes here, the two composeres took a similar approach like Atticus Ross/Trent Reznor and focused on creating a (fittingly) gloomy and creepy atmosphere for the movie. It is still a great listen if you haven’t seen the movie and dig ambient/electronic type of stuff. I hope those two guys are able to establish themselves in the scene, because I’d love to see more of them.
Best Song: The Turing Test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6zt0AfjCcY | 21 | | Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly
Genre: Hip-Hop/THISISNOTAJAZZALBUM
Something something best album of the century, something something setting a new bar for hip-hop something something. To be completely honest, I don’t really buy it and I preferred GKMC over this. But it’s still a very good album with a lot of worthwhile songs, adventurous instrumentation, interesting lyrical content etc. etc. I just don’t see it as the flawless, genre defying masterpiece that most people make it out to be. But you know…. It’s really good for sure.
Best Song: How much a Dollar Cost (Thx again YT Germany) | 20 | | The Souljazz Orchestra Resistance
Genre: Souljazz (?)
The Souljazz Orchestra definitely chose an apt name for themselves. It’s comparable to U2 calling themselves the “Arenarock band”. “Resistance” is arguably a step down after last years “Inner Flame” but still features great grooves, fun brass sections, excellent vocals and is just overall a great time to listen to. Sometimes the songs are a bit to long for their own good and become a bit repetitive, but overall I definitely recommend this album. At least check out “It’s Gonna Rain” because it’s like the best song ever.
Best Song: It’s Gonna Rain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKCKXRSLPwk | 19 | | Natalia Lafourcade Hasta la Raiz
Genre: Folk/Pop
Mexican Folk music isn’t really a genre I’m well versed in, but if it’s always as fun as this, then I definitely need to get on that someday. Natalia LaFourcade has an endearing voice and the instrumental arrangements on this are really, really well done, the sound of the album is upbeat and not too different from indie-pop/folk from the U.S. or G.B., but there is just enough flavor to make it stand out. I really think a lot of you peeps would dig this (provided you can get over the fact that the vocals are in Spanish).
Best Song: Mi Lugar Favorito https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ7MnNWnXzE&list=PLFjKug6vaPgQOnTyNjGCldJEiDw_J-7Yl&index=2&proxmate=us | 18 | | Hiatus Kaiyote Choose Your Weapon
Genre: Experimental/Jazz/Soul/Funk/Indie-Pop/Fusion/I don’t even know
These guys are something else. There are so many things going on on this album, it’s bound to make your head spin at some point. When “Shaolin Monk Motherfunk” with its bluesy/soul opening its psychedelic breakdown at the ending and soaring chorus is one of the most straightforward songs on the album, you know you’re in for a ride. Half of the songs seem to switch between genres mid-song and make for a pretty crazy jam session. Vocalist Nai Palm does a good job holding together the craziness that is “Choose your Weapon” and more often than not I find myself loving the hell out the end result of their experiments.
Best Song: Jekyll https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghw26g3h6L0 (link is not the album version) | 17 | | Son Lux Bones
Genre: Experimental/Electronic/Pop
Composer Ryan Lott teamed up with 2 additional musicians for the first time to produce his most expansive and adventurous album to date. This album is just ridiculously filled with little ideas, melodic flourishes that come and go very fast, the songs are constantly shifting and developing and Ryan Lotts vocals keep the songs together well (for the most part). As much as some of the songs are amongst the best music you can listen to in 2015, there are some songs that fall flat because Lott seems to loose himself in the plethora of ideas and fails to string them together. As such this is kind of a bipolar record, which is really, really good in certain spots and kinda hapless in other spots.
Best Song: Flight, but link is to Change is Everything because YT Germany https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGtUDffAdy8&index=5&list=PL4yYFtIyTsFexmlBonZy7-QXUk9XdWA-s&proxmate=us | 16 | | Hnny Sunday
Genre: Electro/House/Chill
Swedish producer Hnny (what a terrible stage name) delivers a laid back and very relaxing album that is drenched in nostalgia and retro vocal samples but features very modern sounding, hazy instrumentals. The production on this is very, very good sometimes it’s maybe a bit too laid back for its own interest and struggles to retain the attention of the listener. But it’s ideal background music for chilling out with some friends (or if you’re a sad lonely sputnikker alone) and also features enough detail and texture for repeated listens:
Best Song: Memory Tape One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRVWMABktec | 15 | | Clutch Psychic Warfare
Genre: Stoner-Rock/Hardrock
Oh Clutch, you’re another of those bands that is not allowed to change, ever. Some may lament that they’ve become more ludicrous over the year and are bordering on self-parody on this point, but I don’t know, I just enjoy the hell out of this. Neil Fallon is one of the best frontmen out there and riffmaster 3000 Tim Sult is still going strong as well. If you didn’t like them before don’t bother, if you’re already a fan why aren’t you onboard already?
Best Song: Firebirds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAyFS_v47go | 14 | | Sleater-Kinney No Cities to Love
Genre: Garage-Rock/Punk-Rock
Talk about a comeback. Sleater-Kinney came back with a vengeance from their almost 10 year long hiatus. “No Cities To Love” doesn’t do much differently than their previous efforts. Most of the time the band is firing on all cylinders an combine punchy drums with catchy riffs and snarky lyrics like it’s 1997 (release of their best album: “Dig me out). The songwriting is as sharp as ever and the album is just a good time overall. Yes, one or two songs are misfires (looking at you “Gimme love”) but this record is a way better Sleater-Kinney album than anyone could have expected in 2015.
Best Song: A New Wave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgZ2rnzprBE&list=PLbOGt8cOph4Ux9cY0YOOLF7aPCDqiwLls&index=5&proxmate=us | 13 | | Yuri Gagarin At The Center Of All Infinity
Genre: Space Rock
One might (rightfully) point out that this album is about as generic as it gets. But tbh who cares? The Swedish rock outfit are just at the top of their game on this record. Great riffs are apparently very easy to come when you’re up in space. I just love how intense this album is. From the very first note of the album, the Swedes are cruising at full throttle and very rarely take a few moments to breathe (“I see no god up here”). The album is smart enough to overstay its Welcome with a modest running time of 40 minutes.
Best Song: Title Track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFhXMb0sFuY | 12 | | Applescal For
Genre: Electronic/musictherobotslistentowhentheydanceonourgraves
“For” is a cold, almost mechanical sounding record. Pascal Terstappen takes a lot of ques from the more atmospheric and slow paced producers in Dubstep (read: Burial) but he’s adding his own spin to the genre with a lot of subdued piano loops and looped vocal samples that create an almost trancelike listening experience. Definitely one of the very best electronic releases of 2015 and an album that almost flew completely under the radar despite being on the relatively prestigious Atomnation label and featuring a great album cover.
Best Song: Overseas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP4wBr10rEk | 11 | | Titus Andronicus The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Genre: Punk Rock
Overly ambitious? Sure. Sometimes annoying? Maybe. A whole bucket of awesome? Yes. The long awaited Titus Andronicus album has been pretty polarizing, while some lament (badum tss) the ridiculous running time, the sloppy instrumentation and very out there vocals, others celebrate the rawness and energy as well as the plethora of interesting lyrical ideas. I happen to fall in the latter camp and while I definitely can see what people dislike about this album, that doesn’t really matter to me once I listen to stuff like “Lookalike”, “Lonely Boy” or “Fired Up”.
Best Song: Dimed Out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dX6LL7b8Y0 | 10 | | Saintseneca Such Things
Genre: Folk
“Such Things” arrives just 1 year after their last effort “Dark Arc”, but Saintseneca have arguably changed more in these 12 months, than between “Dark Arc” and “Last”. More than ever they are willing to push their boundaries of their folk sound, which is especially apparent on the first two songs of the album, which are more foot stomping lo-fi rock anthems than quiet folk sounds. The songwriting remains as solid as ever and they make better use of their two vocalists than on their other albums. Aside from 2-3 kinda irritating and pointless interludes I don’t really have anything bad to say about this album. Check this out if you haven’t.
Best Song: Sleeper Hold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccEwtZfnlMg | 9 | | U.S. Girls Half Free
Genre: Indie Pop/Shoegaze
Wrote a review, so if you’re interested in my opinion just click on the album.
Best Song: Sororal Feelings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khQcQot09SI&list=PLFi-fnCojWn9WoZP1feOvPTfoHqZj5nkn&index=4&proxmate=us | 8 | | George Clanton 100% Electronica
Genre: Vaporwave/Electro
I’ll leave it up to you to read the 100000 potsy comments about this and why this is one of the greatest albums of this year. This is free to download. Just do it.
Best Song: Kill you in Bed https://100pelectronica.bandcamp.com/album/100-electronica (Free Stream and Download!) | 7 | | Jasmine Guffond Yellow Bell
Genre: Ambient/Drone
I think explaining ambient to other people is one of the hardest things when it comes to talking about music. Guffond manages to craft a very cohesive atmosphere on this record, with some very minimalistic tools she manages to very deliberately evoke a certain gloomy mood. Vocals and instruments are used very sparsely and add to the sense of foreboding that is apparent within the whole LP. Due to the relatively short length and also because the songs are fairly busy (for an ambient album) I think this also a very good starting point to get into the genre if you’re at all interested.
Best Song: R.R. Variation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73JO3nqUjyY | 6 | | Foals What Went Down
Genre: Indie-Rock
I can’t help it, I just love these guys. “What went Down” is the logical progression after “Holy Fire” which is not necessarily something I’m really happy with, because I think “Total Life Forever” was their best work and they have strayed pretty far from that sound and inched dangerously close to arena rock territory. Still, you can clearly see that I rank this among my very favorite Albums of the year and in my opinion for good reason. Yannis has stepped up his vocal game another notch and the songwriting is a lot better than on “Holy Fire”. The instrumentation is as awesome as usual and when all is said and done this is just one of those albums I can listen to everyday and never get sick off.
Best Song: Birch Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOBM8aRoRMY (Cool 8-Bit Remix, because Youtube Germany won’t let me link the original) | 5 | | The Tallest Man on Earth Dark Bird Is Home
Genre: Indie/Folk
Definitely a polarizing record, “Dark Bird is Home” marks a turning point in Kristian Mattsons career. He traded in his very sparse, acoustic sound for a “full band” approach. While this has been kinda apparent on his last album already, this time he really makes the transition. While many had problems with that change and direction and didn’t really like the reverby sound he went for, (Watch out as potsy how complain about the production in the comments) I really liked this new approach. Yes he could town down the reverb a bit and sometimes the added instrumentation doesn’t really add that much to the songs, but I think he’s taking a lot of steps in the right direction and already provides a very good album. (Also “Slow Dance” is easily in the Top 3 of my favorite songs of the year)
Best Song: Slow Dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKOu6uaRmVE | 4 | | Jaga Jazzist Starfire
Genre: Electronic/Post-Rock/Jazz
Sputnikmuisc.com. Where is the Love? Seriously, didn’t you guys used to be excited about Jaga Jazzist back in the day? Why then is “Starfire” sitting at 34 ratings, when it’s easily their best effort since 2005 (in my opinion it’s their best period). You guys need to get on that asap. “Starfire” is a tour the force in the best sense of the word, the instrumentation and production is full of textures and details, the songs are incredibly dense without being cluttered or losing their focus. The band is faaaar ahead of your run of the mill post-rock band in both technical ability as well as songwriting. I don’t get why this isn’t showered in praise, while “Depature Songs” is among the high rated albums of the year. Seriously, title track “Starfire” has more going on than any other post-rock album I’ve heard this year.
Best Song: Starfire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QpJbNW_JaI&proxmate=us | 3 | | Little Simz A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons
Little Simz – A Curious Tale of Trials and Persons
Genre: Hip-Hop
I’ve written about this in detail in my review, other people have probably also told you about how great this is, so I won’t waste my breath again, just do it. In a year where all of sputnik decided to be hip-hop experts in Kendrick Lamar threads, there is really no excuse that this hovers at ~60 ratings.
Best Song: Wings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4F153GlOKY | 2 | | Lianne la Havas Blood
Genre: Neo-Soul/Pop
Lianne La Havas may very well be my favorite vocalist on this planet. It’s just incredible to hear how effortlessly she evokes/displays emotions without having to resort to just singing as loud and forceful as possible all the time (Yes I AM looking at you Florence). It’s not just her vocal performance though. Blood is a marked improved over here previous album, it is both broader in the scope of its instrumentation and lyrical content and also executed way better. The lyrics are thoughtful and introperspective and while Lianne doesn’t tackle any “original” themes, she’s very accomplished at telling her personal stories. The instrumentals are classy as well. Another album you probably missed and need to check out.
Best Song: Unstoppable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRBUAQfScrQ | 1 | | Big Blood Double Days II
Genre: Lo-Fi Folk/Psych
Here it is. The best album of 2015. Double Days II is so much better (and different) than its companion piece Double Days, I have a hard time believing that it’s been written by the same band. They present a very interesting spin on the folk genre on this album, most of the song are pretty long and stretched out and that stems from their tendency to be a bit repetitive. But that actually works in favor of the songs, because they conjure up a hypnotic atmosphere that just grabs the listener and won’t ever let go. Can’t really praise this enough, if you’re at all interested in folk then by all means, this is a must listen. It’s also a free album, so there is no excuse really.
Best Song: Walk on Water https://dontrustheruin.bandcamp.com/album/double-days-ii (Free stream and download on BC) | |
RadicalEd
12.16.15 | shoutout to Aaroniscrunchy, calculatinginfity, potsy, JT, JohnnyontheSpot, SachikoM, Doofus, wtferrothorn(stupid name bro) Sowing and I guess everyone else I had cool interactions within in the last year. See you guys in 2016. (Although I probably post a few things here and there over the next days)
List IS ranked, but after the top ten, many places are kinda interchangeable. | Mort.
12.16.15 | sweet list man, feature worthy for sure
realizing now how much ive not checked this year | Rowan5215
12.16.15 | Still haven't checked 1 should I do it | Sowing
12.16.15 | Great list, nice work. | Yotimi
12.16.15 | Props for applescal | RadicalEd
12.16.15 | thx guys. @ yotimi yeah that album almost cracked my top 10. Really Really cool stuff.
@ Row. Do it birthday boy. | guitarded_chuck
12.16.15 | 3 isnt even that good wtf | Ebola
12.16.15 | Rad list | Captain3
12.16.15 | Cmon, 42 should be higher. but nice list, i dig a lot of these | NorthernSkylark
12.16.15 | no viet cong. | RadicalEd
12.16.15 | Was not a fan of that Viet Cong release tbh.
@ Ebola: Thx
@ Captain: Well, everything that makes this list is very good in my eyes. So 42 is not a bad place to be =D
Also thx for the feature to whoever featured this. | VanPelt
12.16.15 | Great list, found 13 thanks to sputnik and couldn't be happier!
I usually just open a dozen of lists like that in separate tabs and sort through stuff I couldn't be arsed with throughout the year. | Archelirion
12.16.15 | Thanks for the shoutout man :] I can see you've put a phenomenal amount of work into this, and there's an awful lot on here that I wanna check out. I'll be checking 1 out for sure. | RadicalEd
12.16.15 | Thx guys. Yeah 1 is obviously my highest recommendation and it's free as well =D. List took quiet a bit of time, but with my exams done and my GF studying abroad I had some time to spend and enjoyed looking back at the year. | Conmaniac
12.16.15 | really good analysis of 45 man! totally agree. also nice work with this list | Spacesh1p
12.16.15 | Props for the detailed list | ihaveaids
12.16.15 | i have aids | RadicalEd
12.16.15 | good for you buddy. We have guy here who IS aids. Also thx conman and Spacesh1p. | JWT155
12.16.15 | Excellent list, great descriptions. | hal1ax
12.16.15 | damn u put some work into this. nice list ed | RadicalEd
12.16.15 | yeah those description sure took some time^^ thx. | hal1ax
12.16.15 | glad to see yellow bell and blood so high. love both of those albs | HepatitisK
12.16.15 | the effort is commendable but you've written so much about blasé music here | RadicalEd
12.16.15 | what is blase msuic. | JamieTwort
12.16.15 | Great list man. There's a fair few on here that will make my list.
Will read through some of the descriptions when I get a chance. | RoundOnEndHiInMiddle
12.16.15 | nice job on this, the effort is apparent. 3 is 3 for me too, so dope. | Ryus
12.16.15 | list is (mostly) super nice
well done | RadicalEd
12.16.15 | what's with the caveat ;) | Ryus
12.16.15 | that is due to stuff like 5, 11, 15, 44, 47, and 56 | RadicalEd
12.16.15 | Fair enough, I can see what people dislike about all of those. | shauno5166
12.16.15 | Solid list, glad to see a bunch of my favourites on this (10,12,17,18,34,39) | Lord(e)Po)))ts
12.17.15 | nice list and thanks for including my alb | L4titudes
12.17.15 | wow nice work.. can't wait to check some of these out | klap
12.17.15 | great list dude gonna check a few of these | CrazyDiamond7
12.17.15 | The inclusion of Strangers to Ourselves is questionable, but aside from that it's another solid sputniker list. Def gonna give some of these a listen.
Good to see some Saintseneca love around here as well. | Calc
12.17.15 | took the time to link songs? ya just dont see that. good on ya | RadicalEd
12.17.15 | Thx guys. | klap
12.17.15 | the C Duncan is legit | Mystletainn
12.17.15 | 27 best band name, dunno what you're talking about
they got the name from an astrobrite record | DoofusWainwright
12.17.15 | Such a great list and some of your descriptions will make it hard to say something different in my AOTY list (DJ Krush, Black Wing, Modest Mouse, etc). I'm a bit unfair on your #1 because for me it has the feel of an EP more than an album which is a strange criticism but it just doesn't feel substantial enough (even though the songs are lengthy). It has some amazing songs on it though. My list will have to wait for the Baroness album which from the songs I've heard will be my 'rock album' of the year. | RadicalEd
12.17.15 | @ Rudy: Yeah it's really cool.
@ Mystletainn: I DUNNO I DON'T LIKE ALL CAPS
@ Doof: Thx man, 1 is a bit short, but it's kinda the second disc of a double LP and I just enjoy every second of it. Baroness singles were 'aight, but I won't be having the chance to check the album out before 2016. | InfamousGrouse
12.17.15 | yay lianne | Valkyrion
12.17.15 | many of these would make my end list if I made one tbh, Divers is my AOTY however | SublimeOctopus
12.17.15 | Great list dude, loads of material here I need to check out. Just one thing: that Jungle LP is out since July 2014 | Artuma
12.17.15 | not much here that would interest me but 11 is probs my aoty | jtswope
12.17.15 | Some really great picks on here. | Pangea
12.18.15 | Fantastic list. Great to see tallest man on earth so high. 6 and 11 kinda sucked though | RadicalEd
12.18.15 | "Great list dude, loads of material here I need to check out. Just one thing: that Jungle LP is out since July 2014"
The first 5 albums are not part of the actual list. | Rev
12.18.15 | Spiral Power is a bad record but I might do a rerelease | RadicalEd
12.19.15 | It's really not a bad record, would definitely appreciate a rerelease. But I think a Lot of artists end up disliking their early stuff | Lord(e)Po)))ts
12.19.15 | "Spiral Power is a bad record but I might do a rerelease"
yeah do a rerelease of 2 year old bandcamp music you dont like, that makes sense and you are definitely a successful enough artist for that to be relevant to anyone | RadicalEd
12.20.15 | ^ I mean, if he reworks it into something he actually DOES like, I definitely think it'd be worth his time. | insomniac15
12.21.15 | Some awesome stuff in the list man, props! I have to check out Kamasi Washington's stuff because many people recommend it. | RadicalEd
12.21.15 | Check out 4 before that | Rev
12.21.15 | "yeah do a rerelease of 2 year old bandcamp music you dont like, that makes sense and you are definitely a successful enough artist for that to be relevant to anyone"
this is a good point but also there are definitely people who enjoy it enough for it to be something that would be worth doing. the original release wasn't even actually mastered so part of it comes from wanting to put it out on a small physical release and also to do the record up right. now that i travel a lot for shows i would like to have some of the songs redone enough where i can reintroduce them to my setlists
also if you're not feelin the cheese you might not be down with my next stream of stuff but also it's not going to be anything like Rainy Love (I dropped my vaporwave kick super quick, but I liked that track enough to rework it and include it for the record). but know that I'm planning to move back to more serious and dark themed stuff in the future. | RadicalEd
12.22.15 | That's cool to hear, will definitely look out for your upcoming stuff. But I mean your new album still easily made this list, so I did enjoy it a lot still. | Rev
12.22.15 | have you heard anything i've dropped since the record came out? | Lord(e)Po)))ts
12.23.15 | @rev im just bustin ur balls dude, id listen to ur remaster
| RadicalEd
12.23.15 | @ Rev, no tbh. I rarely listen to other stuff than EPs/LPs | Rev
12.23.15 | "@rev im just bustin ur balls dude, id listen to ur remaster"
word but probably half of that reasoning is that im still trying to convince myself lol
"@ Rev, no tbh. I rarely listen to other stuff than EPs/LPs"
ah word. a lot of my in between stuff is released as singles on comps and stuff.
but if you wanna check out those things in an album context you should peep these
https://galaxyswimteam.bandcamp.com/album/sky-parade-gst-05
https://deskpopmusic.bandcamp.com/album/desktape |
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