The Last Listens of '15
A list of albums I'll need to run through the 15th of this month to get my 2015 AOTY set. |
| 1 | | Deepchord
Atmospherica Vol. 1
Detroit native usually releases tons of material all year, this snuck in at the last quarter. |
| 2 | | Deepchord
Ultraviolet Music |
| 3 | | Dusky
Lydia EP
Up and coming tech house duo, now owner of label 17 steps released an earlier EP titled Ordinary World with dance moving tracks "Parakeet Feet" and "Skin Deep". I expect bigger things from this guys in the future, this second EP released a few weeks ago. |
| 4 | | Cleric
Codes of Chaos
"Distant Cry", one of the tracks of this EP that I've heard is a seminal top techno track of 2015. It reverberates with such stealth, it's an amazing |
| 5 |  | Roots Manuva
Bleeds
If there's one hip-hop album that will go criminally underrated, I thought it may be this. After first listening to the first few tracks, I can agree reaffirm it is Roots Manuva's Bleeds. It is his best work since his debut Brand New Second Hand, picking up from his earlier release in 2011 4everevoltion. Dirtier and more experimental production from the British stalwart only reinforces his prowess. |
| 6 |  | Crippled Black Phoenix
New Dark Age
Hesitant on this one. They've sometimes managed to clump their conceptual ambition and instrumentation to such overly stacked ends that it feels like a jumbled mess, but for the most part they manage to untangle it. Not sure what to expect from New Dark Age. |
| 7 |  | Bicep
Just
The man kills it live, and I imagine this EP will be a pinnacle deep house release this year. |
| 8 |  | SOPHIE
Product
I've heard so alarmingly beautiful things about this - challenging, rewarding, dancefloor greatness. I have yet to hear any of the singles. Should be good. |
| 9 |  | My Disco
Severe
Their Little Joy album was one of my favorite releases of that year, top 10 if I remember correctly. They have a calculating post-punk lethality, where their vocals practically act as another bass line with its monotone, cold demeanor. |
| 12 |  | Rosetta
Quintessential Ephemera
Not sure what to expect. Some of Rosetta's material is quite up there in terms of quality, but they've managed to fall on their faces a few times, going into a more streamlined, straightforward approach at times with mixed results. |
| 13 |  | Scale the Summit
V
It'll be grand, I'm sure of it. |
| 14 |  | Shamir
Ratchet
Pitchfork electro house darling Shamir released Northtown EP, which with all sincerity was worthy of acclaim, I'm curious to see if Ratchet will hold to his promising talent. |
| 15 |  | Shampoo Boy
Crack
As described: a powerful alloy of extreme electroacoustic music, luminous ambience and the mineral fundaments of rock and black metal. As before, they’re staring down the void, but this time they’re looking beyond it, too, for the fissures and faultlines that might let some light in (I'm wary of my senses) |
| 16 |  | Silversun Pickups
Better Nature
This is one of those bands, for me at least, is a guilty pleasure. They do what they do extremely well, but there really isn't anything essentially groundbreaking in the process. I expect more pop hooked alternative tunes to grace me. |
| 17 |  | Son Lux
Bones
Unlike most, I never went crazy for their debut release At War With Mazes, and truthfully have yet to delve into their other work. We'll see if this turns me over. |
| 18 |  | Speedy Ortiz
Foil Deer
beautifully frenetic rockers Speedy Ortiz sophomore effort, I enjoyed their debut, though it had some missteps of consistency. |
| 19 |  | Stendeck
Folgor
Think soundtrack styled synth anthems masked with industrial touch. Get the picture? |
| 20 |  | Steve Hauschildt
Where All Is Fled
According to Kranky, the record makes use of both Hauschildt’s trademark synthesizers as well as orchestral instrumentation, processed crowd sounds, re-sampled text-to-speech synthesis, piano, and animal noises “which reveal themselves after repeated listens and blur together notions of artificial and natural sound”. ooooooooo |
| 21 |  | Sufjan Stevens
Carrie and Lowell
Critical darling. |
| 22 |  | Sun Kil Moon
Universal Themes
He may be an asshole, but he made me a believer with Benji. |
| 23 | | Tears
33
Post-punk that seems to create its own emotional space (from a description of whom recommended it to me). |
| 24 |  | Tei Shi
Verde
My guess is synth pop with a bluesy nature. |
| 25 |  | The Chemical Brothers
Born in the Echoes
Totally holding my breath for expected disappointment. |
| 27 |  | toe
Hear You
These dudes have progressively gotten stronger as they've grown older. It's been 6 years since the excellent For Long Tomorrow. |
| 29 |  | Vince Staples
Summertime '06
Friends have told me to listen to this, constantly. I will, I listened to his mixtape Stolen Youth way back, it was solid. |
| 30 |  | Vril
Portal
"VRIL debuted on the Delsin-label with his excellent Vortekz EP early in 2014, which came after releases on his family-label Giegling and also Semantica in previous years, and was followed up by the Torus LP, a double 12” on Giegling affiliate Forum. Now he's back with his second full length." |
| 31 |  | William Basinski
Cascade
Along with Deluge EP, Cascade EP most likely be grounded in his usual aesthetic. I imagine it will be quite the journey. |
| 32 |  | Wolf Alice
My Love Is Cool
I don't know. I guess I'll listen to this since it has had so much fucking hype. |
| 34 |  | Zenker Brothers
Immersion
Smooth beat heavy tracks with 90's techno aspiration. |
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