Now we come to my annual playlist that caps off my list. I find it way to difficult to do a ranking of songs, so this is my way to capture the tracks that defined the year. As always, I try to make a playlist that fits on a standard CD-R, to kind of limit myself. Keep in mind these aren’t necessarily my favorite songs of the year, but rather a mix that I think is a good look at what 2015 had to offer. Also, the order is based on how the songs show up on their respective albums, and is in no way a ranking.
This year’s mix consists of 19 songs, down one track from year’s past. Seven of the songs come from albums in my top 10, with five songs from albums in my 11-25 range, leaving the remaining seven from those outside my top 25. The lowest ranked album to have a song featured is Pagans in Vegas from Metric, whose new synth pop direction didn’t always work rendering it 64th in my rankings, but it did give us one of the year’s best pop songs.
Below, you’ll see the tracklist as well as the Spotify playlist (RIP Rdio). Also, Amazon has discontinued their Listmania service, which is dumb, but if you want to see my entire Top 25 in simple list form, I’ve got it here on the list app. And finally, this is the 8th straight year Amy Runner has provided the album art for the mix. She’s basically the only person who gets even a hint of how my list is shaping up, so you should be extremely jealous.
2016 has a tough act to follow, but some recent developments (LCD Soundsystem!Radiohead, maybe!) have me more excited than I was just a week ago.
You’d expect some rust after a 10-year layoff, but there’s none to speak of on No Cities To Love, the first release since 2005’s The Woods from Washington girl rockers Sleater-Kinney. Everything about No Cities sounds just as vital as the seven albums that preceded it, and the ability of Tucker, Brownstein, and Weiss to be able to churn out hooks of this caliber with this much urgency is staggering, and perhaps while it shouldn’t be, it’s a surprising comeback that further cements Sleater-Kinney as one of the most influential rock bands of the last two decades.
When I saw Hop Along open for The War On Drugs back in March, there is absolutely no way I would’ve expected the Philadelphia rock band to find its way anywhere near my top 10. Of course, this is largely due to me missing part of their set, and not really paying attention to what I did get to hear, but I also just couldn’t get into lead singer Frances Quinlan’s vocals which seemed to want to sing for a different band. However after hearing more and more about the band’s third album Painted Shut, I decided a second chance was in order, and well, it all just clicked, especially Quinlan’s beaten-down yet passionate vocals. This is a fantastic rock record full of great musicianship, but it’s in Quinlan where this band finds its soul.
The year’s best hip-hop album comes from Kendrick Lamar which should come as no surprise considering his previous album is one of the best hip-hop albums since, I dunno, ever. His highly anticipated follow up is an absolute juggernaut of an album clocking in at just under 80 minutes, featuring intelligent social commentary and an artist completely embracing his role as an Important with a capital I voice of his generation.
Anyone who is familiar with the work of The xx knows the album art for their two albums simply features a large X overlaid on a black or white background which to me has always signified the minimalistic tone that’s defined their work. On In Colour, Jamie Smith’s first proper solo album, the producer’s album art features what seems to be a random sliver of white in the lower left corner which sure looks like it could be part of a larger X. With these chilled-out club jams, the foundation of what makes The xx remains, but exploding from behind are starbursts of tightly produced lush soundscapes establishing Smith as a phenom in the electronic music scene.
Coming off the brilliant, but divisive among metalheads, Sunbather, Deafheaven was going to be under the microscope for their follow up to either fall back into the metalhead’s clutches or continue to push the boundaries of what black metal could be, and with New Bermuda they do…both! The metal is more metal–double bass pedals! Darker riffs!–but the post-rock breakdowns, and shifts in style still remain in these 5 thrilling tracks and even manage to expand on their sound in pretty impressive ways–90’s indie rock! Prog-rock intros! Oasis! All of this could serve to further alienate their detractors, but it should be lauded for not pandering to the metal community and continuing to experiment and transcend a genre.
In this immensely personal and earnest album, Sufjan Stevens returns to his folk roots with 11 devastating tracks inspired by death of his estranged mother. I said of Age of Adz–which I loved–that it was the type of album Stevens always wanted to make but just didn’t know how. With Carrie & Lowell, Stevens returns to his bread and butter with stunning results, showing this is the type of album he should be making.
What happens when someone with a cynical viewpoint on love happens to fall in love? That’s the question Josh Tillman tries to answer on his masterful second album as Father John Misty. It’s an album steeped in irony and sarcasm as Tillman wrestles with this idea of love and marriage in satirical ways that only he and his Father John Misty persona can deliver. I Love You, Honeybear stands on its own musically, as these are gorgeously rich and melodic folk songs, but after delving into the lyrics and the paradox within, it becomes something else entirely, a fascinating look at a tender but messy subject through the mind of someone as confused as any of us.
Eschewing the psychedelic guitar drenched rock of Innerspeaker and Lonerism for synth-pop that could have easily found its way onto Random Access Memories, Kevin Parker has fully formed Tame Impala into his production vehicle, and what results is an album of mesmerizing pop gems. Now, some of the psychedelic elements do remain on Currents, as does that alienating yet somehow inviting atmosphere the Australian is known for, but it’s hard to deny that Parker has created an expertly crafted record unlike anything he’s done before with some of the strongest songs in his catalog.
I’m a music first kind of guy – meaning the first thing that appeals to me upon listening to a song is the music, and lyrics come later, if at all. Rarely do bad lyrics ruin a perfectly enjoyable song for me, but upon repeated listens I do find good lyrics can elevate a mediocre song to something more. But when top notch music is paired with exceptional lyrics, you truly get something special and such is the case with Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, the year’s best debut album. Courtney Barnett’s mundane and witty lyrics first gained attention on her excellent EPs (repackaged as A Sea Of Split Peas Double EP in 2013), where her rambling deadpan style took what could be considered slacker rock to much greater heights.
There really is no finer lyricist working today, which yes, is quite a claim to lay on the 28 year old Australian singer/songwriter, but Barnett is able to write subtly clever lyrics that are also relatable and poignant helping to transcend relatively banal topics into something profound. But all of this shouldn’t overshadow the fact that Barnett can write some killer rock songs and play a mean guitar at that. The songs are straightforward, with no pretentions in sight, and just plain fun, making this an accessible collection of substantial hook-laden rock songs from the year’s best new artist.
As Claire Boucher closes out Art Angels, her magnificent fourth album as Grimes, she states “I’ll never be your dream girl”, a statement that seems to be a direct shot at a pop music industry with pre-conceived notions of what it takes to be a female pop star, while also blasting her critics and fans with whom she’s had a contentious relationship with in the years since releasing her breakout album Visions in 2012. Boucher has always marched to the beat of her own drummer, pushing the boundaries of pop music conventions with her experimental DIY vision, while simultaneously claiming Mariah Carey as her favorite musician. So when she announced she signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation, and shortly thereafter released the EDM influenced “Go” (a song she wrote for Rihanna, who turned it down) while working on a new album, the reaction was polarizing among diehard fans who felt betrayed. The album was scrapped (though Boucher claims it had nothing to do with the negative reaction), and then the waiting began with Boucher appearing periodically to tease the new album with weird little details. The new album became almost mythical and was my most anticipated release of 2015, one that could’ve been a disaster as easily as a triumph. Fortunately, with Art Angels the latter prevailed, as Grimes has released the best album of 2015, a blown out pop record, but pop music on her terms.
Rarely does an album have my three favorite songs of the year, but that is perhaps the case with Art Angels. Lead single “Flesh Without Blood” was the first introduction as to what to expect on Art Angels, complete with a guitar riff that could be found on A Perfect Circle record, and glossy production with scathing kiss-off lyrics masquerading as a break up song (Grimes is done with love songs) which make it my song of the year. Then there’s “REALiTi”, the lone track from her aforementioned scrapped album, a song released early in the year in demo form which was so well received that Grimes decided to include it here even though she says she doesn’t even like it (you can tell her reluctance based on the fact it’s left off the vinyl release). The more polished version is included here, and while the demo may still be preferable among fans, it’s hard to deny that the reworked song fits better with this set of songs. But no discussion of Art Angels can be had without mention of the exhilarating “Kill V. Maim”, which has to be the pinnacle of Grimes the producer to this point. Anyone who has followed Grimes can attest to how thrilling it is to see her evolve into an artist who can create a song of this caliber. It’s an absolute club jam with elements of k-pop where one second Grimes’ cheerleader-like vocals are chanting out “B-E-H-A-V-E Aggressive!” only to be shortly followed by her carnal shrieking of “Waaarrrr!” That’s the kind of juxtaposition which has always defined Grimes; sweetness with an underlying aggression. It’s astounding.
But the true accomplishment of Art Angels all comes back to what sets it apart in the pop landscape; an album with Top 40 ambitions but still weird and inventive and exuding an idea of pop music that’s undeniably from the mind of Boucher. Art Angels is 100% Grimes and not just because she wrote/produced/performed every aspect of the album (she taught herself violin, drums, guitar, keys and ukulele for this release). In this age of female pop music reemerging as a viablemusicartform, poptimists finally have their landmark album to which they can stake their claim as something authentic, undeserving of the critical dismissal most pop receives. In her delightfully awkward interview with Nardwuar (which, by the way, get better Nard!), Boucher responds to the question of why people should care about Grimes by genuinely saying “because it’s the future of music.” How right she was.
Formerly known as Mirror Kisses, this is the first release from Clanton under his own name which he released on Bandcamp through his own record label. I like to describe it as a poor man’s LCD Soundsystem mixed with the chillwave vibe of Washed Out. Clanton clearly has a love of 80’s music as there’s a nostalgic feel throughout the album, most notably on the albums final two tracks, which close out a stretch of 5 songs as strong as anything you’ll hear in 2015.
The second album from the Seattle girl group sees the band use their fuzzed out but catchy DIY post-punk songs as avenues to describe their fed up feelings with mansplaining (“Drone”) and slut shaming (“Cool Slut”), among many others topics with feminist undertones, making it one of the year’s most slyly confident and on-point releases.
Once again Youth Lagoon releases one of the more underrated albums of the year. Even though Savage Hills Ballroom can’t quite match the fragile vulnerability of Wondrous Bughouse (which finished 2013 in my top 10), I still come away impressed with the songwriting chops of Trevor Powers, who seems to have memorable melodies in abundant supply.
The second album from Australian punk rockers is the year’s finest punk album, full of throwback garage-punk tunes as catchy and confident as any album you’ll hear in 2015, but with enough skuzz that its authenticity can’t be questioned. What sets it apart for me are Shogun’s lead vocals which are some of the best punk rock pipes I’ve heard in quite some time; soulful and full of range that allow these 10 tracks to truly become something special.
Really more of a compilation (so yeah, I guess I’m kinda breaking my rules here), Teens of Style is the first release for Seattle’s do it yourselfer Will Toledo on Matador Records, who signed Toledo to put out this album of some of his reworked lo-fi melodic indie rock songs from his 11 (!) self-released Bandcamp albums, and then follow it up with an album of brand new material in early 2016. Toledo is only 22 years old, but is a fantastic songwriter with no shortage of great ideas, and emerged as one of 2015’s best new artists.
The debut album from the Los Angeles jazz saxophonist is perhaps the most appropriately titled album of the year as this nearly 3 hour long triple album is indeed best described as epic. Now I’m no jazz expert, so it’s hard for me to say what makes a great jazz album or what makes a bad one, but I do know that collection of easy listening accessible but boundary pushing modern jazz tunes is easily among the best 25 albums I heard in 2015.
Emerging from the ashes of the band Women, Viet Cong’s debut album (and Polaris Music Prize shortlisted) is a visceral album of 7 post-punk songs which paint industrial soundscapes of immense but not overwhelming magnitude. It’s a rewarding listen that presents itself as vital throughout. These guys will reportedly return in 2016 with their follow up, albeit with a different name.
One of the most consistent bands going, Deerhunter’s seventh album may also be their most accessible. Aside from funky lead single “Snakeskin”, the tunes on Fading Frontier have a dreamy quality to them and as a whole feel cleaner and lighter than anything Deerhunter has produced, while in no way being less substantial.
Julia Holter’s fourth album of avant-garde pop is a personal yet approachable release full of gorgeous songs that manage to carry a sense of grandiosity despite being so intimate. Holter’s style exudes subtle experimentation that adds to the appreciation upon repeat listens, but somehow doesn’t come across as challenging for the casual listener.
One of the bands I featured in my 2013 Honorable Mentions post regarding the emo revival returns with their sophomore album and it just shows a great leap in quality that legitimizes this as not just an emo front runner, but a band that should be paid attention to across all genres. Granted, it is still something that will grab emo purists first and foremost, but with Harmlessness the group has gone though some lineup changes that allowed for a more focused and cohesive indie rock album while retaining their emo soul.
Released all the way back in January, the self-titled debut from the Richmond, VA based artist had some major staying power as one of my favorite albums of the year, thanks to impeccable songwriting, exquisite voice, and lush production. This is sophisticated pop from a musician who’s staying power is going to be much longer than just one year if she can continue to pump out songs as stunning as album bookends “My Baby Don’t Understand Me” and “It Is You”, the latter of which sounds like the best Disney song not actually written for Disney.
I don’t think Titus Andronicus will ever be able to match the epic scale of The Monitor (my 2010 album of the year) but they sure aren’t going down trying as evidenced by the 29 track, 90-minute, rock opera The Most Lamentable Tragedy. When announced I wasn’t sure if they were joking around, and if it wasn’t an exercise in self-indulgence, but they pulled it off with this concept album full of their patented punk-rock and highly literate lyrics.
Most people give Björk credit for creating the year’s best breakup album, but Norwegian artist Susanne Sundfør’s sixth album is where I’ll stake my claim. While lyrically it may not match the raw emotion of Vulnicura, Ten Love Songs is inventive baroque-pop music masquerading as club bangers, friendly enough for the radio but with a surprisingly dark core.
A victim of a stacked 2015, Joanna Newsom finds her album Divers just outside my top 10 which is in no way an indication of a drop in quality as compared to her previous releases. If anything, Newsom’s 4th release is arguably her most musically ambitious record yet, but by eschewing epic triple albums and long run times for 11 brisk (at least for her) chamber-folk songs, it’s also perhaps her most accessible.
One of the year’s most anticipated releases came from the Scottish electro-pop band Chvrches and their follow up to their brilliant 2013 debut. There is absolutely no let down with Every Open Eye, as the trio polished their crystalline sound to diamonds, while Lauren Mayberry somehow managed to improve her already dynamic vocals. If song of the year contender “Clearest Blue” is any indicator, this is a group that seems to be gelling into an absolute powerhouse and if they can continue to harness their skills, a true masterpiece very well may be on the way.
Let’s get things started with my honorable mentions for 2015. These are not necessarily albums 26-30, but rather just some albums that I think deserve extra attention for one reason or another. Also featured is a dishonorable mention as well as a few other awards.
On the heels of 2014’s Northtown EP, Ratchet was one of the year’s most anticipated debut albums, as Shamir Bailey’s genre bending version of dance-pop stood out as something new and weird and impossible to classify. The Las Vegas native’s countertenor voice is easily the most striking thing you first notice, full of vulnerability in sound and lyrics, while the songs are relentlessly catchy in all their glitchy glory.
Only two albums in and Sadie Dupuis has already established herself as one of the go-to voices in the recent uptick of female empowerment dialogue found in today’s indie music scene. Dupuis scathing lyrics are on full display on the excellent Foil Dear, and musically the aggressive rock tunes serve as a perfect backdrop for all the angst Dupuis seems to have bottled up.
At 10 songs and just 26 minutes, Beach Slang’s debut album provides a non-stop barrage of anthemic punk rock songs Japandroids would be proud of. This quartet from Philadelphia (which, by the way, is on fire right now) seems to have no shortage of hooks and fist-pumping sing along jams announcing Beach Slang as one of 2015’s breakout acts.
The best 90’s grunge record of 2015 comes courtesy Mackenzie Scott and her second album as Torres. Following up her self-titled debut, Sprinter was one of my more highly anticipated releases of 2015, and the Nashville rocker didn’t disappoint with a powerfully dense album showcasing her passionate songwriting akin to a heavier rock version of Sharon Van Etten.
The second album from the Virginia Beach quartet often classified as pop-punk is so much more than that unfortunate designation. Sure, these guys recently opened for New Found Glory, but Turnover elicits an indie-rock version of pop-punk more in line with the emo stylings of The Appleseed Cast fused with the dream-pop of Real Estate. Peripheral Vision is a pleasant and infectious collection of 11 songs that does well to break away from its peers.
Let’s call this my most underrated album that didn’t finish in my top 25, because my actual most underrated album probably a good bit higher. While this is certainly a step down from the 80’s tinged Confess, I still find enough enjoyable with Eclipse that I don’t see it as quite the disaster many critics seem to think it is. Twin shadow has always been cheesy, melodramatic, and over the top and Eclipse is just taking that to the mainstream and modern arena-pop levels.
Likewise, my actual biggest surprise is probably up in my top 25 somewhere, so I’ll call this my biggest surprise that didn’t make my top 25. Surprising for not only its out of nowhere (and free!) release, Star Wars also happens to be the best Wilco album since 2004’s A Ghost Is Born. Jeff Tweedy seems rejuvenated on these 11 songs, and the short 33-minute run time allows the group to cut the fat that has marred their last few albums.
File this one under disappointing and bad. Though to be fair, my expectations weren’t super high for this album considering it’s rare for a band to come back at the top of their game after a 17 year layoff (although Faith No More seemed to handle it pretty well), but Freedom failed to meet even those paltry expectations by delivering an album of watered down stadium rock. Following up a classic like The Shape of Punk To Come was never going to be an easy task, but reuniting to release an album that seems to have no direction and full of fake conviction doesn’t necessarily tarnish the legacy of the Swedish band, but does raise the question of what was so important that they couldn’t just remain dead.
I get why this album was a critical darling: it’s a debut album full of stripped down emotionally raw folk/punk songs from a duo whose 2014 EP gave them a little bit of hype. And it’s a fine album, but it’s essentially Kimya Dawson, which outside the quirkiness of a cute indie movie comes across more irritating than charming.
Another return from a Scandinavian band, this one from Denmark’s Mew with their first album since 2009’s No More Stores…. Mew’s prior albums had a great sense of majesty that for whatever reason just didn’t connect with time this time. I’m not sure if that’s a Mew problem or a Me problem, but the spark seems be missing from +- which causes it to sound a little more phoned-in and lacking the inspiration of their previous two releases.
Well that was one helluva year of music, now wasn’t it? Coming off an uninspiring 2014, I had high hopes for 2015, and boy did it deliver. Having said that, I do think this year’s list is going to be, well, boring. My top 10 is pretty much chalk from what you’ve been seeing on other lists (though the order may differ), as opposed to last year which was so weak that it allowed some not necessarily universally acclaimed albums to find their way up my rankings. I do think this is my strongest top 25 to date, and am probably more excited to share the #11-#25 albums since there may be some stuff in there that shakes things up a little bit (and in other year’s probably would’ve cracked my top 10 in many cases.)
For 2015, the theme or trend I kept noticing over and over again was the impact of female artists. As the year when on, I was blown away how many of my favorite albums were from female singer/songwriters, female groups, or female fronted bands. It’s very good to have this variety in music, no doubt, and while these were great albums in their own right, many of them became so much more thanks to the voices of female empowerment basically calling bull-shit on the double standards and many social norms in our male dominated society. I found it inspiring, and I think you’ll see that reflected as I unveil my rankings over the next few days. As always, I like to start off by listing the albums eligible.
This past year I purchased, in some form, 88 albums, 82 of which are eligible. I do not include EPs, reissues, soundtracks, live albums, holiday Albums, or b-side/rarity type releases as eligible for my list, and this year 6 of my purchases were EPs. As always, there’s plenty of albums that I never got around to procuring, so yes, there’s going to be very worthy albums that don’t make my list. So if you have a question as to why your favorite album isn’t on my list, well it’s because I either didn’t get it, or just plain didn’t care for it as much as you, simple as that. After the jump, you can see the list of all albums I purchased, in order of release date. Also, over to the right, you can see the schedule over the next few days as I continue the countdown.
Posted by Hawkins 
A Round of Sound 