Favorite albums of 2015 from a guy who gets up early and works with earbuds in every morning
Not a lot of surprises on this list, but maybe you'll find something new that's worth hearing.
Grimes: Art Angels - a 27-year-old from Canada wrote, produced, and played most instruments on a record that I must've listened to 100 times in November.
Standout tracks: "California," "Flesh Without Blood," "Artangels," "Realiti."
Beach Slang: The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us - the first full-length album from a Philadelphia band, headed by a guy nearly my age, that sounds like a cross between the Replacements and Japandroids.
Standout tracks: "Throwaways," "Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas," "Too Late To Die Young."
Jamie XX: In Colour - mostly instrumental compositions from a DJ/producer who is also a member of the British band The XX.
Standout tracks: "Gosh (great video)," "Hold Tight," "Loud Places."
Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp A Butterfly - some failed experiments make this 75-minute record hard to listen all the way through, but when it works it'll stop you in your tracks.
Standout tracks: "These Walls," "How Much a Dollar Cost."
Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit - stick-in-your-head songs from an Australian indie rocker. "Depreston" is the best song about gentrification I've ever heard.
Standout tracks: "Elevator Operator," "Depreston," "Dead Fox (great video)."
Kacey Musgraves: Pageant Material - third album from Texas alt-country singer-songwriter.
Standout tracks: "Dime Store Cowgirl," "Miserable."
Jason Isbell: Something More Than Free - another good alt-country record; sometimes boring, though "24 Frames" is astonishing.
Standout track: "24 Frames (great video)," "The Life You Chose."
Titus Andronicus: The Most Lamentable Tragedy - straight-up indie rock from the New Jersey suburbs (Glen Rock).
Standout tracks: "Fired Up," "Fatal Flaw," "Dimed Out (great video)."
Deerhunter: Fading Frontier - not Bradford Cox and Co.'s best, but still awfully good. Their poppiest.
Standout tracks: "All the Same," "Breaker," "Snakeskin."
Tobias Jesso Jr: Goon - pop ballads that recall Wings-era Paul McCartney.
Standout tracks: "Without You," "Can We Still Be Friends."
And a few great tracks from albums that didn't quite make my list:
"Maggie I've Been Searching For Our Son" by Craig Finn
"Pretty Pimpin (great video)" by Kurt Vile
"Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd
"Warm Like Summer" by Braids
"'Cause I'm A Man" by Tame Impala