2015 in music. • Page 2

my top 3 from this year are pretty close to all timers but it cuts off kind of after 6 or 7

 

1. Sufjan - Carrie & Lowell
2. TWIABP.. - Harmlessness
3 tame impala - currents

 

1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
2. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
3. Joanna Newsom - Divers

Three Masterpieces

 

Also a masterpiece

 

kendrick winnin this year i think.

 

Wild year. I was in a pretty bad place this year and music was my only real escape. Top 3 was the hardest to decide on yet. 1 and 2 switch a lot now, but Turnover was the easy top for a few years after.

1. Turnover - Peripheral Vision
2. Caspian - Dust and Disquiet
3. Foxing - Dealer

4. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle

The Rest:

Bring Me The Horizon - That's The Spirit
Citizen - Everybody is Going To Heaven
Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi
The Early November - Imbue
Jamie XX - In Colour
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Khruangbin - The Universe Smiles Upon You
Mewithoutyou - Pale Horses
Superheaven - Ours Is Chrome
Title Fight - Hyperview
The Wonder Years - No Closer to Heaven
The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness

 

This one is 2016, but a great album nonetheless.

 

1. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
2. Foxing - Dealer
3. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion

4. Baroness - Purple
5. Grimes - Art Angels
6. Young Thug - Barter 6
7. father John Misty - I Love You Honeybear
8. Mew - +/-
9. Chvrches- Every Open Eye
10. mewithoutYou - Pale Horses

 

oops. My phone shows March 11, 2015 but wiki shows March 11, 2016. Weird.

 

1. HEALTH - Death Magic
2. MewithoutYou - Pale Horses
3. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle

Remaining Top 10:
4. Envy - Atheist's Cornea
5. Foxing - Dealer
6. Loma Prieta - Self Portrait
7. The Money Pit - The Money Pit
8. The Wonder Years - No Closer to Heaven
9. Ghost - Meliora
10. The World Is a Beautiful Place - Harmlessness

Great, great year for music. Some albums I definitely need to revisit.

 

I didn't even realize Death Magic was this year. My eardrums wish I never heard that album or saw HEALTH live. The ringing will be a constant memory.

 

I still stand by my #1 for this year:

01) MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK - Panic Stations

The current swan song from of our scene's most vital bands was still my favorite from this year

02) TAME IMPALA - Currents

Kevin Parker's blend of psych rock and modern R&B began his world domination here

03) ELLE KING - Love Stuff

An absolute blast full of sassy attitude and old fashioned rock n' roll

04) FATHER JOHN MISTY - I Love You, Honeybear

There are so many layers of irony on this it can be hard to stomach but this is an incredible presentation of songs

05) ADELE - 25

A big blockbuster follow-up to a blockbuster record

06) JAMES BAY - The Chaos And The Calm

Opposite of Father John Misty in that this is so incredibly earnest and sincere that it stood out

07) BIG DATA - 2.0

A slew of guest stars allowed for Alan Wilikis to make his electro-pop debut great even if it went nowhere commercially

08) JOYWAVE - How Does It Feel Now?

Speaking of Big Data, the singer from Joywave sang on Big Data's hit "Dangerous" and Joywave themselves put out an excellent electro-rock major label debut

09) TWENTY ONE PILOTS - Blurryface

The well-deserved breakout of the year and the first Gen Z band to annoy millennials at scale

10) X AMBASSADORS - VHS

A neat concept album about the various stages of growing up with beautiful and fun pop/rock songs

11) FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

Perfect blend of her first two albums which finalls put her onto the arena stages she desrved to play on

12) BUTCH WALKER - Afraid Of Ghosts

A spiritual cousin of Letters, this is Butch's most personal and devastating release to date

13) JAMIE XX - In Color

This record may have single-handedly gotten me over my "I don't listen to DJ's" stance

14) MUTEMATH - Vitals

Another excellent entry in a sadly underappreciated band's catalog

15) ALABAMA SHAKES - Sound & Color

Following up an acclaimed debut with an album that is perhaps weirder and less accessible but still rewarding

16) WOLF ALICE - My Love Is Cool

Brits are still true believers of rock and Wolf Alice is another example of why

17) SMALLPOOLS - Lovetap!

Buzzy indie pop band gets signed off of one song and produces an album full of jams to unfortunately go unnoticed and get dropped

18) GRIMES - Art Angels

As much as Grimes and her antics annoy me, this album is still great

19) NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

The Fallon endorsement started the buzz but these guys know how to play and these songs are excelelnt Americana-style rock songs

20) JASON ISBELL - Something More Than Free

Another slice of Americana but this time more somber, I think this is Isbell's best

21) BEACH HOUSE - Depression Cherry / Thank Your Lucky Stars

Before Beach House gave us a proper double-record in 2022 there were these two companion pieces which showcased how consistently beautiful their music is

22) CITY AND COLOUR - If I Should Go Before You

Dallas Green just needs to keep writing songs and I'll continue to listen

23) BORNS - Dopamine

Quirky and seductive pop by a dude who sounds like he's from England but actually from Michigan

24) THE DARKNESS - Last Of Our Kind

These guys never rebounded after their initial brush with success in America (I think they're still big in the UK) but this album rips from front to back

25) FALL OUT BOY - American Beauty / American Pyscho

Doubling down on their new sound Fall Out Boy found even more success (and more detractors) with this one

26) PUSCIFER - Money Shot

I think Maynard is still most dedicated to this project as it allows him to work outside the confines of his other bands for a much more dynamic approach

27) MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS - Froot

While never quite reaching the levels of the likes of Ellie Goulding or Charli XCX, Marina made a bid for big tent festival pop in 2015 and succeeded

28) MISTERWIVES - Our Own House

The comparisons to No Doubt are slightly lazy (female singer, horn-influenced pop/rock) as Misterwives definitely made their own unique statement

29) THE DECEMBERISTS - What A Terrible World What A Beautiful World / Florasongs

The Decemberists deliver another solid collection of songs (and a B-sides companion)

30) BOB MOSES - Days Gone By

The late night hours haze of regret and partying, this is a great soundtrack to city life

Honorable mentions:

CAGE THE ELEPHANT - tell ME I'm Pretty
CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
COURTNEY BARNETT - Sometimes I Sit And Think, Sometimes I Just Sit
MUSE - Drones
PURITY RING - Another Eternity
BEACH SLANG - The Things We Do To People Who Feel Like Us
AWOLNATION - Run
THE ARCS - Yours, Dreamily

 

Seeing them live a few years back has definitely left a ringing. Saw them with Youth Code so got kicked in the ears right at the start.

Love me some HEALTH haha.

 

1. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall
   
2. Coheed and Cambria - The Color Before The Sun
   
3. The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Harmlessness

Honourable Mentions:

• Failure - The Heart Is A Monster
• Nmesh / telepath - The Path To Lost Eden
  
• Faith No More - Sol Invictus
  
• Nils Frahm - Solo
• Martin Gore - MG
• Baroness - Purple
• Dan Mason - Miami Virtual
• Bullion - Rooster

It's a little controversial but I think that Coheed album is an absolute joy. One of the best examples of a proggier band making a more streamlined, poppier record with big hooks, and pretty much nailing it.

 

This video wasn't originally made specifically for the song but it was an inspired choice for them to pair it. Great combination. Good album too.

 

1. Kendrick LaMar - To Pimp A Butterfly
2. James McMurtry - Complicated Game
3. Kamasi Washington - The Epic
4. Joanna Newsom - Divers
5. Phil Cook - Southland Mission
6. Kurt Vile - b’lieve i’m going down
7. Joan Shelley - Over and Even
8. Jake Xerxes Fussell - S/T
9. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
10. John Moreland - High on Tulsa Heat
11. Charlie Parr - Stumpjumper

 

Great year, lots of good stuff.

I didn't put Emotion because I don't listen to the full album that much, but shout out to "Run Away With Me" which is the song of the year by a mile.

1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
2. Grimes - Art Angels
3. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
4. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
5. The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ
6. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
7. Vince Staples - Summertime '06
8. Tame Impala - Currents
9. Jamie XX - In Colour
10. Sophie - Product
11. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit
12. Beach House - Depression Cherry
13. Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp
14. Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin Down
15. Purity Ring - Another Eternity

 

I like Emotion a lot, but it's a classic example of having one song that's so clearly the highlight (IMO, anyway) that I can never help but be a little disappointed that the rest of it isn't nearly as great.

 

@Craig Manning yes, the clear highlight is Making The Most of The Night, right? Oh wait, maybe you meant Gimme Love... or the title track? Oooooh it's Favorite Color, or maybe Love Again? Probably is All That or Run Away With Me actually. Actuallly it's When I Needed You, huh?

 

Yea emotion is just banger after banger

 

Gotta be honest, I’m drunk and just skimmed through this tbh. But if Twenty One Pilots don’t win, wtf is going on. I’ll be back later. Bye. Oh yeah:

1) Twenty One Pilots: Blurryface

 

Oh no Vs, oh no.....

 

All good songs! But “Run Away With Me” an all-timer and none of the others are even close to it.

 

Blurryface is one of those records I dont think I can ever listen to again solely based on the fact I couldn't ever fucking escape hearing the singles everywhere I went for what felt like 3 years

 

1. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
2. Houndmouth - Little Neon Limelight
3. Josh Ritter - Sermon on the Rocks

HMs to:
High on Tulsa Heat by John Moreland
All Your Favorite Bands by Dawes
The Desired Effect by Brandon Flowers
All Across This Land by Blitzen Trapper
What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World by The Decemberists
The Firewatcher’s Daughter by Brandi Carlile
Glitterbug by The Wombats
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett
Before the World Was Big by Girlpool
Coming Home by Leon Bridges
Live Harvest by Blitzen Trapper
The Most Lamentable Tragedy by Titus Andronicus
Kintsugi by Death Cab For Cutie
Painted Shut by Hop Along
The Traveller by Rhett Miller
The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us by Beach Slang
Star Wars by Wilco