2015 in music.

Against Me!'s Transgender Dysphoria Blues won 2014. Let's see who wins 2015.

Billboard chart-topping albums of 2015:
Taylor Swift - 1989 (cont. from 2014)
Meghan Trainor - Title
Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho
Drake - If You're Reading This, It's Too Late
Imagine Dragons - Smoke + Mirrors
Big Sean - Dark Sky Paradise
Kelly Clarkson - Piece By Piece
Various Artists - Empire Soundtrack
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Wale - The Album About Nothing
Various Artists - Fast 7
Shawn Mendes - Handwritten
Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
Zac Brown Band - Jekyll + Hyde
Mumford and Sons - Wilder Mind
Various Artists - Pitch Perfect 2
Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface
ASAP Rocky - At Long Last ASAP
Florence and the Machines - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Muse - Drones
James Taylor - Before This World
Breaking Benjamin - Dark Before Dawn
Meek Mill - Dreams Worth More Than Money
Tyrese - Black Rose
Future - DS2
Jill Scott - Woman
Cast - Descendants
Luke Byran - Kill the Lights
Disturbed - Immortalized
The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness
Drake and Future - What a Time to Be Alive
Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap
Janet Jackson - Unbreakable
Selena Gomez - Revival
Pentatonix - Pentatonix
5 Seconds of Summer - Sounds Good Feels Good
Chris Stapleton - Traveller
Justin Bieber - Purpose
Adelle - 25

Billboard chart-topping singles of 2015:
Taylor Swift - Blank Space (cont. from 2014)
Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Wiz Khalifa - See You Again
Taylor Swift - Bad Blood (cont. from 2014)
Omi - Cheerleader
The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face
Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean
The Weeknd - The Hills
Adelle - Hello

What are your top three albums for 2015? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be:
1. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
2. Tame Impala - Currents
3. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly


What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later?

YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm

 

1. mewithoutYou - pale horses
2. the money pit - s/t
3. vince staples - summertime '06
4. tame impala - currents
5. david bazan - monthly volume 2
6. desaparecidos - payola
7. beach house - thank your lucky stars
8. max richter - sleep
9. birds in row - personal war
10. the world is a beautiful place - harmlessness
11. hop along - painted shut
12. kendrick lamar - to pimp a butterfly
13. purity ring - another eternity
14. viet cong - s/t
15. julien baker - sprained ankle
16. tommy boys - s/t
17. justin bieber - purpose

 

remainder of the top 12:
4. All Dogs - Kicking Every Day
5. Deafheaven - New Bermuda
6. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
7. Mount Eerie - Sauna
8. Wilco - Star Wars
9. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
10. Baroness - Purple
11. Kowloon Walled City - Grievances
12. Cloakroom - Further Out

honorable mentions:
Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color
Beach House - Depression Cherry
Beirut - No No No
Built to Spill - Untethered Moon
Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion
Caspian - Dust and Disquiet
Chris Stapleton - Traveller
Chvrches - Every Eye Open
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
The Cribs - For All My Sisters
Cult Leader - Lightless Walk
Dawes - All Your Favorite Bands
The Dead Weather - Dodge and Burn
Desaparecidos - Payola
Earl Sweatshirt - I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
Failure - The Heart is a Monster
Future - 56 Nights
Future - DS2
High on Fire - Luminiferous
Hop Along - Painted Shut
Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material
Khruangbin - The Universe Smiles Upon You
Kurt Vile - B’lieve I’m Goin Down…
Low - Ones and Sixes
Mew - +-
Mewithoutyou - Pale Horses
Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves
Mutoid Man - Bleeder
My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall
Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
Purity Ring - Another Eternity
Ryley Walker - Primrose Green
The Sidekicks - Runners in the Nerved World
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
Swervedriver - I Wasn’t Born to Lose You
The Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird is Home
Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Torche - Restarter
Turnstile - Nonstop feeling
Vince Staples - Summertime ’06
Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp
The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness

stuff to check out:
Belle and Sebastian - Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
Bjork - Vulnicura
Brandi Carlile - The Firewatcher’s Daughter
Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
City and Colour - If I Should Go Before You
Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
Eric Church - Mr. Misunderstood
Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Mac Demarco - Another One
Mark Ronson - Uptown Special
Meek Mill - Dreams Worth More Than Money
The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ
Mumford and Sons - Wilder Mind
Panda Bear - Meets the Grim Reaper
Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife
Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
Wolf Alice - My Love is Cool

 

Wow, almost every one of the chart-topping singles was MASSIVE.

 

One of my favorite music years!

1. Butch Walker – Afraid of Ghosts
2. Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free
3. Dawes – All Your Favorite Bands

Tough cuts:

Noah Gundersen – Carry the Ghost
Chris Stapleton – Traveller
Logan Brill – Shuteye
John Moreland – High on Tulsa Heat
Mandolin Orange – Such Jubilee
Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material

Also love:
Ashley Monroe – The Blade
Brandon Flowers – The Desired Effect
Turnpike Troubadours – The Turnpike Troubadours
A Thousand Horses – Southernality
Matt Nathanson – Show Me Your Fangs
Maddie & Tae – Start Here
Kelsea Ballerini – The First Time
Josh Ritter – Sermon on the Rocks
Will Hoge – Small Town Dreams
Carly Rae Jepsen – Emotion

Honorables:
Eric Church – Mr. Misunderstood
Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
Frank Turner – Positive Songs for Negative People
Josh Abbott Band – Front Row Seat
The Damnwells – The Damnwells
David Ramirez – Fables
William Clark Green – Ringling Road
Cam - Untamed
Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi
Striking Matches – Nothing But The Silence
Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams
Old Dominion – Meat and Candy
The Maine – American Candy
Glen Hansard - Didn't He Ramble
Kip Moore - Wild Ones
Mat Kearney - Just Kids
Adele - 25
Ryan Culwell - Flatlands
The Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird Is Home
Third Eye Blind - Dopamine
CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
Motion City Soundtrack - Panic Stations
American Aquarium - Wolves
Brett Eldredge - Illinois

 

Weird year for me, apparently. I really thought I listened to more music than this, especially because this is the year I finally dove into streaming. Even the albums I did listen to are rarely the bands' best work.

1. The Money Pit - The Money Pit

• I honestly like this album more than any Gatsby's album other than Volcano. One of my favorite voices in pop punk finally leans all the way into writing catchy choruses, then mixes them with self-aware old man angsty lyrics? I'm in!

2. Marianas Trench - Astoria

• 80s worship/pastiche that I don't love quite as strongly now as I did when it came out. But the songs are overall extremely strong here and I got to see the band live on this tour. I'd also like to use this space to say that my library had Ever After on the wrong year, or I would've added that in 2011 and it absolutely would've made top 3.

3. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

• My first Kendrick album! I remember cooking in my kitchen when I put this on for the first time and just being absolutely engrossed by it. I really wish each song didn't expand upon the poem/spoken word bit because it gets pretty annoying by the end, but this album rules and will likely always remain my favorite Kendrick album.

Honorable Mentions
Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho

• I know this is where some people think FOB loses the plot, but I love this album. It's got a very spontaneous late summery feel to it and they successfully try a few new things.

Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface

• Who didn't listen to this album in 2015?? I only gave it a few spins because everyone else was and it turns out to have some pretty good pop music mixed in with some very cringy moments ("gangsters don't cry, therefore I am misty eyed")

Chris Stapleton - Traveller

• This album is WAY too long but has some absolute classics on it.

Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion

• This album is not as huge for me as it is to indie music Twitter, but it's cool to have a great pop album.

The Maine - American Candy

• This is where I first started paying attention to the band. Half great, half ok, this definitely sets up the band for the greatness that would follow.

You, Me, & Everyone We Know - Dogged EP

• Good songs! Catchy choruses!

Marina & The Diamonds - Froot

• Probably the most fully realized Marina & The Diamonds album. I like the throwback/futuristic sound.

Nate Ruess - Grand Romantic

• Even though I love a few individual tracks on this album, it hasn't really ever been anything but disappointing, mostly because of the potential left on the table.

Frank Turner - Positive Songs For Negative People

• The last fully good Frank Turner album. IMO the cracks are beginning to show a bit here, but the energy more than makes up for it.

Lord Huron - Strange Trails

• My favorite Lord Huron album is too long and a little meandering, but the hits hit.

Others
Cage the Elephant - Tell Me I'm Pretty

• This is where the band fully loses the plot. The album preceding this one is my favorite and then they work with Dan Auerbach for this album and shave off just about everything that made them interesting.

Muse - Drones

• Some massive riffs here mixed in with the usual Muse schlock.

Motion City Soundtrack - Panic Stations

• I have come around on this album a bit, but wow I was disappointed when it was released. The production kinda sucks and most of the songs are painfully straightforward compared to what this band was capable of.

FIDLAR - Too

• Some anthems mixed in with some strange angry boi energy. "Punks" still rocks though.

Mark Ronson - Uptown Special

• This is the nature of albums such as this, but some songs are incredible and some aren't.

MUTEMATH - Vitals

• Another switch in sound, another good album.

 

1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2. Hop Along - Painted Shut
3. Jessica Pratt - On Your Own Love Again

HM: Jeremih - Late Nights: The Album
Suf - Carrie and Lowell
Both Beach House records (TYLS is mad underrated)
The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness

seems a bit over the top to say sneaky great for a year with TPAB and the late career Sufjan masterpiece, but sneaky phenomenal year

WATTBA

 

1. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion
2. The World Is A Beautiful Place - Harmlessness
3. Earl Sweatshirt - I don't Like Shit, I don't go outside

4. Future - DS2
5. Turnover - Peripheral Vision
6. The Wonder Years - No Closer to Heaven
7. Grimes - Art Angels
8. Marietta - As It Were
9. Jeff Rosenstock - We Cool?
10. Vince Staples - Summertime 06

HM - Spraynard - Marble, Lil Peep - Part 1

 

2015. What a fun year for music.

1.The Front Bottoms - Back on Top
2. Turnover - Peripheral Vision
3. Foxing - Dealer

Other good'ns:
Chvrches - Every Open Eye
All Get Out - Movement EP
The Early November - Imbue
Kendrick - To Pimp a Butterfly
Hit the Lights - Summer Bones
mewithoutYou - Pale Horses
Pentimento - I, No Longer
Rainbow Kitten Surprise - RKS
Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface

 

My list is incredibly incomplete. Looks like my last year of Army was a mess.

 

Great year, honestly had a hard time picking a top 3:

1. Turnover - Peripheral Vision
   
   This record was one of the few things in 2015 that really brought me joy. I was struggling hard with my mental health and college life was kicking my ass in a multitude of ways. Its a depressing record but these songs made me feel like I wasn't alone in the struggles I was facing at the time.
   
   
2. Title Fight - Hyperview
   
   Like most, I didn't really 'get' Hyperview at first, but over time I really grew to appreciate this record especially looking back at it now with all the nostalgia around Title Fight. I honestly think Hyperview and Peripheral Vision were the two records that influenced me to dig into the realm of shoegaze, even if neither of the bands/records are explicitly shoegaze.
   
   
3. Turnstile - Nonstop Feeling
   
   I wasn't as big on Turnstile back in 2015 as I am now but I'd say they were my gateway to a lot of hardcore/hardcore adjacent music. I got into TUI, Angel Du$t, Backtrack, and a bunch of other bands thanks to hearing this record. Its also fun to look back at this era of the band given how much they've blown up with Glow On.
   
   
4. The Underachievers - Evermore: The Art of Duality
5. Tame Impala - Currents
6. Superheaven - Ours Is Chrome
7. Foxing - Dealer
8. Caravela - Caravela Forever
9. Cloakroom - Further Out
10. Citizen - Everybody is Going To Heaven

 

1. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion
2. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
3. The Wonder Years - No Closer To Heaven

3 5/5s for moi and pretty interchangeable.

 

1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2. Tame Impala - Currents
3. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

ALSO
The Wonder Years - No Closer To Heaven
Jamie XX - In Colour
Young Thug - Barter 6
Future - DS2
Jeff Rosenstock - We Cool?
Drake - if you're reading this, it's too late
Turnover - Peripheral Vision
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Travis Scott - Rodeo
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Paper Mache Dream Balloon
Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
Between the Buried & Me - Coma Ecliptic
Third Eye Blind - Dopamine
Four Year Strong - Four Year Strong
Foxing - Dealer
The Maine - American Candy
The Dear Hunter - Act IV: Rebirth in Reprise
Motion City Soundtrack - Panic Stations
Turnstile - Nonstop Feeling
Death Cab For Cutie - Kintsurgi
Leon Bridges - Coming Home
State Champs - Around the World and Back
The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness
All Time Low - Future Hearts
The Early November - Imbue

 

1. Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material
2. Spraynard - Mable
3. August Alsina - This Thing Called Life
4. Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap
5. J. Cole - Forest Hills Drive

HM: Dr. Dre - Compton

 

1 Chvrches - Every Open Eye
2 Florence + The Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
3 Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION
4 Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
5 The Front Bottoms - Back On Top
6 Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material
7 Desaparecidos - Payola
8 Tame Impala - Currents
9 The Money Pit - The Money Pit
10 Purity Ring - Another Eternity
11 Miguel - wildheart
12 Mutemath - Vitals
13 BØRNS - Dopamine
14 Grimes - Art Angels
15 Ryn Weaver - The Fool
16 Jeff Rosenstock - We Cool?
17 The Early November - Imbue
18 Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
19 Good Old War - Broken Into Better Shape
20 Misterwives - Our Own House

 

fuck I unabashedly love the Fetty Wap album

 

It was really fucking good. I don’t think he has put out anything noteworthy since, but for a short while there he was on a wild run.

 

1. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion
2. MewithoutYou - Pale Horses
3. Murder by Death - Big Dark Love

Ellie Goulding - Delirium
Purity Ring - Another Eternity
Baroness - Purple
Madeon - Adventure
Little Boots - Working Girl
MS MR - How Does it Feel
Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
Foals - What Went Down
Chvrches - Every Open Eye
Clutch - Psychic Warfare
Grimes - Art Angels
Turnover - Peripheral Vision
Doomtree - All Hands
Fox Capture Plan - Butterfly
MisterWives - Our Own House
Foxing - Dealer

 

1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
3. The Early November - Imbue

4. Tame Impala - Currents
5. The Maine - American Candy
6. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion
7. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
8. Chvrches - Every Open Eye
9. Death Cab for Cutie - Kintsugi
10. Grimes - Art Angels

11. Drake - If You're Reading This, You're Too Late
12. Sara Bareilles - What's Inside: Songs from Waitress
13. Halsey - Badlands
14. Wolf Alice - My Love is Cool
15. Blur - The Magic Whip
16. Knuckle Pick - Copasetic
17. Justin Bieber - Purpose
18. Florence & The Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
19. Passion Pit - Kindred
20. Hop Along - Painted Shut

 

This year is Carly Rae vs Kendrick. Who would have thought a pop and hip-hop album would be 1 & 2 fifteen years ago on AP? lol

 

1. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
2. Lord Huron - Strange Trails
3. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion

Tough cuts to Brandon Flowers and Butch Walker.

Sprained Ankle is my favorite album of the past ten years.

 

1. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
2. mewithoutYou - Pale Horses
3. The Oh Hellos - Dear Wormwood

EPs
All Get Out - Movement

 

1. Bring Me The Horizon - That's The Spirit
2. Tame Impala - Currents
3. Dustin Kensrue - Carry The Fire
-------------------------------------
4. Foals - What Went Down
5. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall
6. Title Fight - Hyperview
7. Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface
8. Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves
9. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
10. Clutch - Psychic Warfare
11. Eagles Of Death Metal - Zipper Down
12. Silversun Pickups - Better Nature
13. Kurt Vile - b'lieve i'm goin down...
14. Foxing - Dealer
15. Wilco - Star Wars
16. Hot Chip - Why Make Sense?
17. Turnover - Peripheral Vision
18. Atlas Genius - Inanimate Objects
19. CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
20. Kuroma - Kuromarama

Honorable Mention:
Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
The Arcs - Yours, Dreamily,
Baroness - Purple
Belle and Sebastian - Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance
Best Coast - California Nights
Big Data - 2.0
Blur - The Magic Whip
Cage The Elephant - Tell Me I'm Pretty
Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Balcony
Chris Stapleton - Traveller
Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
Dawes - All Your Favorite Bands
Day Wave - Headcase EP
Death Cab For Cutie - Kintsugi
Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
The Districts - A Flourish and a Spoil
EL VY - Return To The Moon
Eric Church - Mr. Misunderstood
FIDLAR - Too
Foo Fighters - Saint Cecilia EP
Hippo Campus - Bashful Creatures / South
Hop Along - Painted Shut
Incubus - Trust Fall (Side A) EP
Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
Joywave - How Do You Feel Now?
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
Leon Bridges - Coming Home
Lonely The Brave - The Day's War
Lord Huron - Strange Trails
Mark Ronson - Uptown Special
Motion City Soundtrack - Panic Stations
The Mowgli's - Kids In Love
Muse - Drones
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
Passion Pit - Kindred
Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts - Blaster
Skylar Spence - Prom King
Small Black - Best Blues
Smallpools - LOVETAP!
Superheaven - Ours Is Chrome
Third Eye Blind - Dopamine
Turnstile - Nonstop Feeling
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
Wavves / Cloud Nothings - No Life For Me
The World Is A Beautiful Place... - Harmlessness
Zac Brown Band - JEKYLL + HYDE

Checking Out In Full for First Time (Artists' 2015 album):
All Get Out
All Time Low
American Aquarium
Ash
Brandon Flowers
Breaking Benjamin
Butch Walker
Citizen
City and Colour
Cloakroom
Coheed and Cambria
The Cribs
Deafheaven
The Dear Hunter
The Decemberists
Dinosaur Pile-Up
Fall Out Boy
Four Year Strong
Frank Turner
The Front Bottoms
Gary Clark Jr.
Good Old War
Guster
Highly Suspect
Iron & Wine / Ben Bridwell
Jeff Rosenstock
JR JR
Kruangbin
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Knuckle Puck
Local H
The Maine
mewithoutYou
The Money Pit
Mutemath
Neck Deep
Old Dominion
Papa Roach
Protomartyr
Shinedown
The Sidekicks
Sorority Noise
Spraynard
Stereophonics
The Story So Far
Sublime With Rome
The Sword
Thee Oh Sees
Torche
Toro Y Moi
The Weeknd
White Reaper
The Wombats
The Wonder Years

 

Not a memorable year for me.... I had a lot going on personally, and listened to a lot less new music. Luckily 2016 was a big bounce back in my opinion.

 

1. Turnpike Troubadours - self titled
2. William clark Green - ringling road
3. Turnover - peripheral vision

Excruciating cuts in no order:
The Maine- American Candy
All time low - future hearts
Brian Fallon - Painkillers