A Round of Sound

#25) George Clanton – 100% Electronica

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.

[“Bleed” – 100% Electronica]

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#24) Chastity Belt – Time To Go Home

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.

[“Joke” – Time To Go Home]

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#23) Youth Lagoon – Savage Hills Ballroom

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.

[“Highway Patrol Stun Gun” – Savage Hills Ballroom]

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#22) Royal Headache – High

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.

[“High” – High]

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#21) Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Style

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.

[“Strangers” – Teens of Style]

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#20) Kamasi Washington – The Epic

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.

[“The Rhythm Changes” – The Epic]

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#19) Viet Cong – Viet Cong

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.

[“Silhouettes” – Viet Cong]

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#18) Deerhunter – Fading Frontier

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.

[“Living My Life” – Fading Frontier]

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#17) Julia Holter – Have You In My Wilderness

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.

[“Feel You” – Have You In My Wilderness]

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#16) The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Harmlessness

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.

[“January 10, 2004” – Harmlessness]

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#15) Natalie Prass – Natalie Prass

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.

[“It Is You” – Natalie Prass]

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#14) Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy

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.

[“Dimed Out” – The Most Lamentable Tragedy]

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#13) Susanne Sundfør – Ten Love Songs

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.

[“Kamikaze” – Ten Love Songs]

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#12) Joanna Newsom – Divers

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 4^th 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.

[“Leaving The City” – Divers]

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#11) Chvrches – Every Open Eye

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.

[“Clearest Blue” – Every Open Eye]