Here’s a playlist of my favorite 100 albums released this year.
They should be in alphabetical order!
If you want to discover some great new music, put it on shuffle and skip the ones you know.
My 25 Favorite albums of 2,015
I listened to over 250 albums this year, here are some of my favorites, in order from least to most favorite.
25. Star Wars by Wilco
24. Sleeping Operator by The Barr Brothers
23. Such Things by Saintseneca
22. My Love Is Cool by Wolf Alice
21. Bones by Son Lux
20. Rituals by Other Lives
19. Strange Trails by Lord Huron
18. Yume by Helios
17. Carry The Ghost by Noah Gundersen
16. Archive Vol.1 by Iron & Wine
15. The Valley Below by Bryan John Appleby
14. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats (self titled)
13. Thank Your Lucky Stars by Beach House
12. Painted Shut by Hop Along
11. All Yours by Widowspeak
10. Depression Cherry by Beach House
9. If I was by The Staves
8. Home by Josh Garrels
7. Dark Bird is Home by Tallest Man on Earth
6. The Bearer of Bad News by Andy Shauf
5. Coming Home by Leon Bridges
4. Vestiges & Claws by Jose Gonzalez
3 Currents by Tame Impala
2. Sound & Color by Alabama Shakes
1. Carrie & Lowell by Sufjan Stevens
Thanks for reading. let me know your favorites!
I’ve got my favorite song from all these albums on a playlist over HERE
My top 100 albums, not in order, are on a playlist HERE
and 200 songs released this year that I enjoyed are on a playlist HERE
Here are some great artists who released albums today: Sufjan Stevens The Staves Godspeed You! Black Emperor Death Cab For Cutie Ryley Walker Reptar Faith Healer Houndstooth
Andy Shauf is a singer-songwriter from Saskatchewan, Canada. Recently signed to local Portland indie label Tender Loving Empire.
His music reminds me of the dark, rainy feel of Elliott Smith. This album introduces a great deal of storytelling, akin to Bob Dylan.
Neither of these comparisons really capture this artist. Andy Shauf is an incredibly inspiring artist to me. After discovering him in January, I must have listened to his discography a dozen times over.
SIMILAR ARTISTS: Elliott Smith, Bryan John Appleby, Sufjan Stevens
2.
ARTIST: Elephant Micah
ALBUM: Where In Our Woods
Elephant Micah is the stage name of Southern Indiana folk singer Joseph O’Connell. Where In Our Woods is very warm, calm, and inviting.
O’Connell plays a spanish guitar, drawing comparisons to Jose Gonzalez, but with much more Americana leanings. This album is great for driving around beautiful places or just letting it lull you to sleep.
SIMILAR ARTISTS: Jose Gonzalez, Damien Jurado, J. Tillman
3.
ARTIST: Old Wave
ALBUM: Old Wave
I first heard about Old Wave through an NPR article recommending them. I was instantly hooked after hearing their song ‘Indigo’.
I picked up their debut album and listened to it over and over again before I found out they are from Portland… where I live. It is going to take some time for me to forgive myself for my ignorance of my own local music scene.
Old Wave reminds me of everything I loved in first discovering indie rock.
SIMILAR ARTISTS: Givers, Rogue Wave, Matt & Kim
4.
ARTIST: The Amazing
ALBUM: Picture You
The Amazing is a band from Sweden. Their latest album straddles the line between folk music and psychedelic indie rock. The mixture sounds odd on paper but is diverse and beautiful to listen to.
SIMILAR ARTISTS: Woods, Dungen, Luluc
5.
ARTIST: Dan Mangan + Blacksmith
ALBUM: Club Meds
In first discovering Dan Mangan, I found his music to be very similar to broken-down folk music. He has since expanded his sound. Club Meds is full of ferocity and full instrumentation. The album is great from start to finish. I am now planning to rediscover the band’s back catalog.
SIMILAR ARTISTS: Wintersleep, Hey Rosetta, The Barr Brothers
Iron & Wine / Archive Series Vol. 1
I fell in love with Iron & Wine's music much later than most.
I was 11 when Creek Drank The Cradle was released and I was busy listening to much more embarrassing music, like most 11 year olds.
But when I found Creek Drank The Cradle, it changed everything about me as a musician.
It was a sound that I loved to hear, but also knew that I wanted to make music just like this.
Fast forward a few albums...
I felt that Kiss Each Other Clean had a few songs that were enjoyable, but the album as a whole was hard for me to listen to. When Ghost on Ghost was released I was completely disappointed.
Not because either of these albums are bad, but because I fell in love with an older sound.
This album, released today, is a gift.
16 unreleased tracks from around the same time Creek Drank The Cradle was released.
I realize that she was nominated for album of the year... but even if she would have won, it wouldn't have been the album of the year. This probably has nothing to do with Beck receiving the Grammy, but regardless, her album was not released this year or last year.
This is not an anti-Beyoncé rant or a pro-Beck rant. It is an anti-Grammys rant.
(Also anti-Kanye West as a rude human being)
The grammys are very pointless and arbitrary, in my opinion, and this shows it even further. What if an album did win ALBUM OF THE YEAR that was released in 2013? Why was it even nominated. Why wasn't it nominated last year? All the other albums nominated were released in 2014.
More reasons why the grammys are pointless:
How can you say something is album of the year when there are so many different genres that are great in their own right?
People who love Beck are usually not the type of people who love Beyoncé. What I think the best album of the year was is not what higher-ups in major record labels think the best album of the year was.
Both Beyoncé and Beck released great albums that were so completely different from eachother. Saying one is better than the other is like comparing apples and oranges.
Please keep in mind that the Grammys aren't a popularity contest.
The winners are decided by votes from people within the music industry.
I am surprised Beck won, but I did love the album.
In the end, Beyonce still has about twice as many grammys than Beck and has been nominated about 3 times as much as Beck has.
P.S.
If I was Beyoncé (and most of you don't know for sure that I'm not) I'd tell Kanye to stop speaking up for me and probably tell him I don't want to be his friend anymore.
If I was Jay Z, I'd send Kanye a very strongly-worded email, because that is probably what rappers do at his age.
Hardcore/metalcore albums I listened to extensively in 2014
Frameworks - Loom Forevermore - Telos Silent Planet - The Night God Slept Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown Wolves At The Gate - VxV '68 - In Humor And Sadness
In order from most to least favorite!
Obviously, this is just my opinion, based on my musical taste.
If you believe I missed something great, or found something particularly obscure this year, feel free to share that with me
Follow this spotify playlist HERE
the Soil & the Sun – Meridian
S. Carey – Range of Light
Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire For No Witness
Mimicking Birds – Eons
Saintseneca – Dark Arc
Shakey Graves – And The War Came
Luluc – Passerby
Copeland – Ixora
PHOX – PHOX
Bahamas – Bahamas is Afie
Hurray For The Riff Raff – Small Town Heroes
Damien Jurado – Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
Sharon Van Etten – Are We There
Reuben And The Dark – Funeral Sky
Spoon – Rent I Pay
Vacationer – Relief
Vancouver Sleep Clinic – Winter
Real Estate – Atlas
Chris Staples – American Soft
Low Roar – 0
Tycho – Awake
Vance Joy – Dream Your Life Away
Manchester Orchestra – Cope
Snowmine – Dialects
St. Vincent – St. Vincent
Wye Oak – Shriek
Tweedy – Sukierae
Beck – Morning Phase
Bootstraps – Bootstraps
Hundred Waters – The Moon Rang Like A Bell
From Indian Lakes – Absent Sounds
Prawn – Kingfisher
Painted Palms – Forever
You Blew It! – Keep Doing What You're Doing
Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow
Mogwai – Rave Tapes
Lake Street Dive – Bad Self Portraits
Quilt – Held in Splendor
Run River North – Run River North
Margot & The Nuclear So And So's – Slingshot to Heaven
The Family Crest – Beneath The Brine
Temples – Sun Structures
Ages and Ages – Divisionary
St. Paul & The Broken Bones – Half the City
The Decemberists – What a Terrible World, What A Beautiful World
Special Explosion – The Art Of Mothering
Nothing – Guilty of Everything
Bear Hands – Distraction
I Break Horses – Chiaroscuro
Tennis – Ritual in Repeat
Lost In The Trees – Past Life
Eternal Summers – The Drop Beneath
Ray LaMontagne – Supernova
A Sunny Day In Glasgow – Sea When Absent
Horse Thief – Fear in Bliss
Matthew And The Atlas – Other Rivers
Chad VanGaalen – Shrink Dust
Noah Gundersen – Ledges
The Wild Reeds – Blind and Brave
Broods – Evergreen
HalfNoise – Volcano Crowe
Kye Kye – Fantasize
Hozier – Hozier
Papercuts – Life Among the Savages
Trampled By Turtles – Wild Animals
Willie Watson – Folk Singer Vol.1
Novo Amor – Woodgate, NY
The Apache Relay – Apache Relay
Benjamin Booker – Benjamin Booker
little hurricane – Gold Fever
Mac Demarco – Salad Days
Dry the River – Alarms in the Heart
The Antlers – Familiars
Colony House – When I was Younger
Landlady – Upright Behavior
Blackbird Blackbird – Tangerine Sky
Death From Above 1979 – The Physical World
Black English – El Prado
J.E. Sunde – Shapes That Kiss the Lips of God
Wildcat! Wildcat! – No Moon at All
Brooke Fraser – Brutal Romantic
Tow'rs – Tow'rs
Joe Henry – Invisible Hour
Shovels & Rope – Swimmin' Time
Chambers – Inner Room
The Barr Brothers – Sleeping Operator
French For Rabbits – Woke up to a Storm
Frankie Cosmos – Zentropy
Ruth – Voila
Death Vessel – Island Intervals
Woods – With Light and Love
The Rentals – Lost in Alphaville
Celestial Shore – Enter Ghost
Lily & Madeleine – Fumes
Mr. Gnome – The Heart of a Dark Star
Alcest – Shelter
William Fitzsimmons – Lions
The Franklin Electric – This Is How I Let You Down
Free Christmas albums to get you in the Christmas spirit
Sleeping At Last - Christmas Collection 2014
The Oh Hellos - Family Christmas Album
Branches - Songs For Christmas
Paste Magazine Sampler
(featuring Sufjan Stevens, Good Old War, Bright Eyes, Little Hurricane)
I feel as though most new music being released (let's say 80% of it) is either folk-based or electronic-based.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of innovation in between those two genres.
15 Second Review: Damien Rice / My Favourite Faded Fantasy
Beautiful, calm, nearly Icelandic new album.
Worth the wait.
Not as passionate and tempestuous as O, but far better than 9.
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