Italy & The World: 2015 Top Ten Best Albums
It's been a great year for Italian music, so it dawned on me that I could include music from my country in this yearly Top Ten. All of them are really cool record, you should check them out! Enjoy! |
| 10 |  | Algiers
Algiers
There's nothing like a fine, consistent, strong debut album. Algiers can pack a good punch and, simultaneously, fuse soul/gospel/post-punk in 11 brilliant tracks about 21st century slavery. Kendrick is not alone. |
| 9 |  | Godblesscomputers
Plush And Safe
Lorenzo Nada is part of an amazing new wave of electronic producers (like Populous, Clap!Clap! and Yakamoto Kotzuga), which is shaking the very basis of Italian music. "Plush And Safe" is liquid, elegant and collected but capable of releasing high-octane energy when necessary, like a sci-fi samurai. |
| 8 |  | Bjork
Vulnicura
2015 gifted us with a nice set of break up albums. Everything was bittersweet and ironic then Bjork decided to completly shred the game. Vulnicura is both painful and caring, it can crush your heart into pieces and heal it the moment after. Top notch production is the icing on the cake. Take notes, please. |
| 7 |  | The Tallest Man on Earth
Dark Bird Is Home
I'm a big fan of Kristian's works and this album lived up to the expectations. Dark Bird Is Home is the perfect evolution of the Swedish songwriter: more instruments, better production and same old sensibility. Well... less cool fingerpicked guitar but whatever... still loving it. |
| 6 |  | Jamie xx
In Colour
This is the record I wish I had composed in my room, years ago. Sensitive and jaunty at the same time, like that pale kid in your high school classroom who busted those great moves at parties. “Loud Places” is pure shivers down my spine every time that gospel choir kicks in, “Good Times” makes me wanna go out and dance like there is no tomorrow and “Seesaw” chills all that ruckus and sends me in another universe made of cotton, lightly clinking gears and cuddles. All in just one record. Wow. |
| 5 |  | Matilde Davoli
I'm Calling You From My Dreams
Matilde truly is a Goddess. Multi-instrumentalist and producer Matilde Davoli shapes her work around massive, loud and lush synths, the rest of the job is done by her dainty and soft voice. The apex reached with the track “Dust” sums the whole LP: Matilde can build entire worlds, landscapes and galaxies effortless, like a dreaming Goddess. She is calling you from her dreams to join her. |
| 4 |  | Grimes
Art Angels
The whole “21st century Pop Music” info page of every encyclopedia ever should be summed up just using the word “Grimes”. Over-exaggerated a bit there, huh? I don’t think so. Grimes is so honest with herself and her fans: she can’t stand delegating work to producers or third party players when it comes to her job. She puts all of herself in that little disc, that’s something you shouldn’t overlook in a business where most pop artists are puppets or simply “actors” of songs which do not represent them. Grimes is a volcano of crazy and silly creations, this time with a better production. Do you need anything more? |
| 3 |  | Sufjan Stevens
Carrie and Lowell
The first time I listened to Carrie & Lowell, I felt almost embarrassed. I thought I had no right at all to listen to such intimate words, painful experiences and whispered feelings but then I realized that people deserve beauty in their lives. Incredible sense of melody and lyrical tenderness are key concepts of this work that you will relish for a long time. |
| 2 |  | Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly
Everyone said everything about this album and it's completely useless to say anything more about it. I just wanted to say that before this album I had no love for rap music. Things changed quite a bit now. |
| 1 |  | Iosonouncane
DIE
Italy has an everlasting songwriting tradition and a new incredible electronic scene. This album is the perfect synthesis of those two sides of the coin and DIE is the coin. Jacopo Incani spent 3 years all around Italy to collect natural sounds and folk chants and piled everything in masterfully produced tracks that are the very soul of the beautiful country which is Italy. An outstanding piece of Italian handicraft. This is not the time to be narrow-minded, believe me. |
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