Time for my one, maybe two Tumblr posts of the year! 2015 has been absolutely ridiculous when it comes to music – it feels as if all of my childhood favorites have put out exceptionally amazing records, and I have pretty much got to see a ton of artists who were on my bucket list. My plan is to do a Best of 2015 for Albums, Songs, favorite Musical Moments of the Year, and the favorite photos that I've taken.
Let's start with the albums: this was the toughest AOTY list I've ever compiled, and it feels like any of these records could be the best from this year. But for the sake of a list...
Full disclosure - I know these guys and they are friends of mine. However, bias aside, they have put out a record of fun garage rock that is impeccably produced for a small-town band (they’re out of Marietta, GA.) Reminds me of a less punky Wavves, and I find myself humming melodies from the record at any point of time. Hopefully this record can gain some traction in 2016, because it’s a fantastic debut for Sea Ghost.
My Favorite Song: Goldfish
14. The Tallest Man On Earth - Dark Bird is Home
I was completely unfamiliar to TMOH before this year, and this album soundtracked my May. Kristian Matsson’s lyrics can hit you in the gut, and for the first time in his career, he’s fleshed out his sound so he is more than just a “guy with a guitar.” I didn’t expect to like this album, but it has shown that it’s a grower – I’ve played it more and more as the year has progressed.
My Favorite Song: Timothy
13. The Districts - A Flourish and a Spoil
I really enjoy this band; they embody the garage/Americana revival going on in the Indie world right now, and I feel like this would have made it much higher on my list if it would’ve been released later in the year. They can go from controlled with precision (the chorus to “Hounds” comes to mind) to absolutely unhinged, as evidenced by the kickass nine-minute opus that is “Young Blood.” These guys are cool, and they will definitely make some noise in 2016 and onward.
My Favorite Song: Young Blood - seriously, just listen to it.
12. Years & Years - Communion
My weird, pop pick for the list. Hear me out: this is the best pop record of 2015. Forget about Art Angels or whatever Bieber’s peddling – it blows my mind that this album has not caught on with American pop radio yet. Olly Alexander’s voice can turn from fragile to powering in one beat, and the instrumentation behind it is enough to make me have an embarrassing dance party in my car while one of my teachers is in the lane next to me. Call it a guilty pleasure pick.
My Favorite Song: Worship
11. Beach House - Depression Cherry
Critics didn’t see this record as favorably as Beach House’s other releases, but I truly think that expectations were too high after the one-two punch of Teen Dream and Bloom. What was expected was a continued progression in their sound, and Beach House instead went back to the basics with an incredibly simple record. However, I find that I enjoy this album more than any other Beach House record. It’s just beautiful, and the little nuances that affect their music (the slide guitar in “PPP,” the arpeggiated keys in “Space Song”) feel more organic when everything is simpler. Simple can be a good thing.
10. The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Harmlessness
First off – what a band name. Wow. These songs are like if Mewithoutyou and Godspeed You! Black Emperor had a baby – long, punky epics with plenty of post-rock influence. This record breathes and gets bigger as it plays, and has the best buildup of any album this year, reaching a ferocious climax with the final two songs. If you listen to it, listen to it from front to back: it may be the best vinyl purchase I’ve made this year.
My Favorite Song: I Can Be Afraid of Anything
9. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
This man is a freaking magnet – I saw him in Birmingham in October and it felt like everyone in the room (including myself) was attracted to him. With good reason too: this record is stellar. I didn’t love Fear Fun, so I was skeptical as to how this would turn out, and I also started listening to this album later in the year. However, Josh Tillman’s lyrics are both self-deprecating and self-aware, and incredibly biographical. This album will have you laughing and standing in awe at some of its most beautiful moments (the harmonies at the end of “I Went to the Store One Day” were probably supplied by angels.)
My Favorite Song: Strange Encounter
8. Majical Cloudz - Are You Alone?
The music Majical Cloudz makes is reflected in their album artwork: minimal. I was a huge fan of their first album, and they successfully avoided the sophomore slump with this record. Stereogum described it as “a perfect fall album,” and I have to agree. The way that this album flows is impressive, as it feels like it rises and falls – from sparseness to cathartic climaxes. Devon Welsh’s lyrics strike me, as well, as he really explores the ideas of loneliness and control within a relationship. I really enjoyed this one.
My Favorite Song: Silver Car Crash
7. Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color
I was not a fan of the Alabama Shakes. I found them overrated and relatively forgettable apart from the fact that Brittany Howard’s voice is just a beast. This record changed my mind – somehow, they created something timeless. Incorporating what got them famous (driving, golden-age blues rock) with various elements of today (impeccable production, synths and strings,) the Shakes created an album that could be played in both 1965 and 2025. They created a new fan in me, and that is without even talking about the voice. Brittany Howard may be the best vocalist in music today, and she successfully learned how to utilize her voice to the fullest extent on Sound and Color.
My Favorite Song: Gimme All Your Love
6. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
I love UMO. It’s been so entertaining to watch them go from the “unknown Myspace-demo band” to what was proven on this record. On Multi-Love, Ruban Nielson creates a world that blends equal parts psych-rock with Prince funk. The lyrics have never been as prominent on UMO’s releases, but this album chronicles the highlights and fallout of a polyamorous relationship. Nielson explores what it’s like to maybe be in love with two people, and it is shown to be brutal (”Multi-Love”) but fun (”Ur Life One Night.”) This is probably the danciest indie record you’ll hear all year (side note - they are an amazing live band.)
My Favorite Song: Can’t Keep Checking My Phone
5. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
I have a feeling we’ll look back in a decade or so and see this as a landmark album for rap (although we already kind of do.) Kendrick created something special here, blending his style of West-coast rap with jazz and soul. The meaning behind it is heavy – in light of the police brutality tragedies and general animosity shown towards black Americans, the album takes on an almost rallying call for change and hope. I remember when this album dropped unexpectedly, and I took a day out of school to completely digest it. It’s a monster, and a truly magnificent record.
My Favorite Song: The Blacker the Berry
This is the first purely electronic record that I’ve ever loved. Jamie’s work with Gil Scott-Heron (RIP) was impressive, but nothing came close to the perfection that he achieves on In Colour. His music feels alive, like it wasn’t sculpted in Pro Tools or stolen from other artists. The record feels genuine, and to date is the only electronic album that has elicited any emotion from me. You can feel this record; it has life although it is electronic. And Young Thug’s showcase may be the best moment of 2015.
My Favorite Song: Good Times - DUH.
3. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
I discovered this record by chance. A blog post to the premiere of Julien’s song, and I was hooked. This is one of the most confessional records you are going to find this year: just her and a guitar singing her lungs out. It would be boring if not for the subject matter. Baker, a 20 year old student from Memphis, TN, tells stories of addiction, loss, and a breakup through the album. It almost feels pervasive to listen to the record – like you’re intruding on a girl’s darkest thoughts. That may have been its intent though, to share things that cannot necessarily be said. Listen to this girl: she will floor you.
My Favorite Song: Something
2. Tame Impala - Currents
Tame Impala is one of those bands that I have loved since their debut, and after Lonerisms (one of my favorite records that year) I only expected to be disappointed by their follow-up – there’s no way that they could go 3 for 3, right? Wrong. Currents is a masterpiece, their best record, barely bested by my #1. It can be attributed to the production, as Kevin Parker’s perfectionism pays off tremendously. Everything about this album is sleek and sexy. They take what is so great from their first two albums and improve on it by making a timeless record; like I said earlier about the Alabama Shakes’s album, this sounds like it could have been recorded in 1965 or 2045. It’s definitely (as much as Parker will deny it) a break-up album, and the lyrics hit me in the gut as I was struggling through relationship issues of my own. It’s a masterpiece, and pretty much perfect all the way through. I can’t tell you how close this was to being No. 1.
My Favorite Song: Eventually
1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
Sufjan Stevens has a tendency to keep his fans waiting. After 2010′s The Age of Adz (which I enjoyed, and critics did not,) he disappeared, resurfacing every now and then to do various orchestral compositions and guest on the occasional album. The five years turned out to be some of the most tumultuous of his life, as his distant mother, Carrie, passed away in 2012 from stomach cancer. Instead of internalizing his sadness, Stevens wrote this album, a gut-wrenching collection of songs detailing his relationship with his mother and step-father and his coming-to-terms with her death. It is a sparse, mournful record, with the most Sufjan is accompanied with being a guitar and keyboard. The lyrics don’t hold back any punches, in “John My Beloved,” he takes on the role of a desperate, self-deprecating man, singing “I am a man with a heart that offends / With its lonely and greedy demands.” “Fourth of July” contains the most heartbreaking moment of a song in 2015, when he imagines his mother speaking to him in a dream, saying “And I’m sorry I left, but it was for the best / Though it never felt right.” As a child of divorce who lives in two households, I know the loss that Sufjan felt when his mother left: a confusing, hopeful sadness. Sufjan approaches his mother’s death with this same form of sadness, and by the end of the album has confronted his demons and forgiven his mother for what she did to him by leaving. Carrie and Lowell a powerful statement on loss, mortality, and forgiveness, and I’m thankful that Stevens could make something this beautiful.
My Favorite Song: Fourth of July
There you have it. Best Songs of 2015 will come soon!
izzy806
turnnoffyourmind
snowghoul
romaincrisis
dailybridgerton
annaxmalina
yousharknotpass
