Top Albums of 2015: #11 thru #25

January 6, 2016

#25) George Clanton – 100% Electronica

37951-100-electronicaFormerly 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

25768-time-to-go-homeThe 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

36659-savage-hills-ballroomOnce 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

35004-highThe 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

40251-teens-of-styleReally 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

32329-the-epicThe 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

23647-viet-congEmerging 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

39173-fading-frontierOne 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

36433-have-you-in-my-wildernessJulia 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

39171-harmlessnessOne 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

24227-natalie-prassReleased 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

32265-the-most-lamentable-tragedyI 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

27235-ten-love-songsMost 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

38822-diversA 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.

[“Leaving The City” – Divers]

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#11) Chvrches – Every Open Eye

36804-every-open-eyeOne 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]

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A Round of Sound: 2013 Mixtape

January 18, 2014

2013 Mixtape

Finally, it’s time for the annual playlist that caps off my countdown. Rather than do a ranking of favorite songs, I choose to compile what I think is a good representation for the year in music, all on an 80 minute CD-R. Per the norm, plenty of my favorite songs couldn’t find their way on here due to length, or production techniques of the track, so in some cases I’ve got songs on here that aren’t even my favorite from its respective album.

Other notes: I managed to squeeze 20 tracks onto this years mix, same as last year. This is a very top 25 heavy playlist, as only two songs show up from albums outside my top 25. Those songs being The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die’s “Gig Life” and Tegan and Sara’s “Closer” from their very nice album Heartthrob, my #35 album of the year, which is the lowest ranked album to find a song on my playlist in 2013. Of the remaining tracks, 10 come from albums in my #11-#25 range, and 8 from albums in my top 10. The only top 10 albums that don’t have a representative on my mix are Sunbather and Reflektor. As always, the order of the Mixtape is not a ranking, but rather an order based on how the song appears on its respective album.

Below, you’ll see the tracklist, and after the jump you can listen to every track if you so choose. I’ve also created Rdio and Spotify playlists, the latter of which is embedded below. (Note, “new you” isn’t available on either service.)  There’s also my Amazon.com list which has my entire top 25 albums of the year, nice and neat in a one page form (and access to my all my lists since 2001). And last but not least, this is the 6th straight year Amy Boyd has stepped up to provide me my album art. She actually spent part of her birthday working on this, but that’s why she gets paid the big bucks. (Disclaimer: there are no bucks being transferred, much less big ones.)

2013 was a great year for music, and a very tough act to follow. Let’s see what you got, 2014.

1) “Closer” – Tegan and Sara :: Heartthrob
2) “You & I” – Local Natives :: Hummingbird
3) “The Mother We Share” – Chvrches :: The Bones of What You Believe
4) “KV Crimes” – Kurt Vile :: Wakin On a Pretty Daze
5) “Backyard Skulls” – Frightened Rabbit :: Pedestrian Verse
6) “Counting” – Autre Ne Veut :: Anxiety
7) “Song for Zula” – Phosphorescent :: Muchacho
8) “Borrowed Time” – Parquet Courts:: Light Up Gold
9) “Royals” – Lorde :: Pure Heroine
10) “Step” – Vampire Weekend :: Modern Vampires of the City
11) “The Wire” – Haim :: Days Are Gone
12) “Byegone” – Volcano Choir :: Repave
13) “Sea of Love” – The National :: Trouble Will Find Me
14) “Dropla” – Youth Lagoon :: Wondrous Bughouse
15) “new you” – My Bloody Valentine :: m b v
16) “Hold On, We’re Going Home” – Drake :: Nothing Was The Same
17) “Avocado, Baby” – Los Campesinos! :: No Blues
18) “She Will” – Savages :: Silence Yourself
19) “Gig Life” – The World Is A Beautiful Place… :: Whenever, If Ever
20) “Doin’ It Right”  – Daft Punk :: Random Access Memories


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Top Albums of 2013: Honorable Mentions

January 14, 2014

Honorable Mentions

Let’s get things started with my Honorable Mentions for 2013. These are not necessarily albums 26-30, but rather just some albums that I think deserve extra attention for one reason or another. I’m also doing things a bit differently this year, by including my most underrated album of 2013 (that doesn’t appear in my top 25), as well as taking a look at a reemerging genre.

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Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt

3c24b9685631433837babfca419e440a-98The second album from Birmingham, AL native Katie Crutchfield as Waxahatchee is an exquisite collection of alt-folk songs showing off Crutchfield’s impressive songwriting abilities. The songs are intimate like the Mountain Goats, sweetly charming as Kimya Dawson, beautifully sweeping as Cat Power, yet retain some of the feminine angst of a Liz Phair. It’s a pretty impressive fusion of influences that ushers in a new engaging voice in indie rock.

[“Lips and Limbs” – Cerulean Salt]

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Neko Case – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You

3887635acea0431a8617fb6354203c89-98And then on the flipside, you have an established voice, and boy do I mean voice, with her latest collection of folk songs, this time as honest and personal as anything she’s ever penned. Neko Case’s mouthful of a 6th album (now Grammy nominated) is Case at her most confident with her voice impeccable as always and musically the tightest she’s ever been, but this time there’s a darkness to her songs that give a glimpse of the enigmatic psyche within.

[“Man” – The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You]

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Foxygen – We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

3b90bb271731f035c6ec9d133ad33b15-98One of 2013’s breakout acts was the L.A. psych-rock duo Foxygen, due in large part to their sophomore album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, as well as their notoriously crazed live shows. It’s a retro album, full of psychedelic songs that retain enough pop sensibility to never veer towards druggy jam band tropes. It’s a pleasant listen that while not doing anything revolutionary, is an example of a band coming into their own as fine songwriters.

[“No Destruction” – We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic]

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Rhye – Woman

d443d6ed8c22a1cdb65df6fe69a750bd-98The debut album from Mike Milosh and Robin Hannibal is a supergroup album of sorts, as both members were busy with their own work before initially meeting in 2010 and reconnecting after they each moved to L.A. separately. Woman is a lush group of sexy R&B songs highlighted by an opening trio of tracks as strong as any to open an album all year. The rest of the album doesn’t quite reach those heights, but it’s still a mesmerizing listen thanks to Milosh’s entrancing vocals and Hannibal’s minimalistic instrumentation.

[“Open” – Woman]

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Washed Out – Paracosm

0f0f08e76758a7b1f5b149f4aaa0531d-98Considered one of the founding fathers of the chillwave genre, Perry GA’s Earnest Greene is now one of its lone remaining members holding strong to the sound as his musical peers veer in other directions. Paracosm is the follow up to his fine 2011 debut and continues down the path of Within and Without and its proceeding EPs. Greene’s patented dreamy soundscapes are in full force here complete with melodies that show off Greene’s songwriting abilities serving as an example of Greene’s progression from producer to full-fledged musician and singer/songwriter status.

[“All I Know” – Paracosm]

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Most Underrated Album: Cults – Static

563abd4537d4e777d7d4ef16d26560db-98Now, my actual most underrated album is probably up in my top 25 somewhere, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least give a shout out to the sophomore effort from Brooklyn pop duo Cults. This album came and went with barely a whimper and coming off their very successful self-titled debut (my #9 album of 2011), that was a bit surprising to me, because it’s a very solid follow up. It’s not quite as immediate as their debut and doesn’t really have a standout track, but much of this album is centered around the breakup of Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion making for an immensely personal album that I have a hell of a lot of respect for. It’s a wonder these two were able to remain professional enough to write and perform these songs side by side, and listening to the album can almost be an uncomfortable experience, but it’s hard to deny its honesty.

[“I Can Hardly Make You Mine” – Static]

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Emo Revival

An interesting development in 2013 was the reemergence of emo as a viable genre of music. Now, when I say emo I’m not talking about the Fall Out Boys or My Chemical Romances who co-opted the genre when it gained mainstream attention about a decade ago. Before that dark time, emo was a subset of indie rock, and really was what started me on my musical journey in my late high school days. In those days, emo was evolving into what became known as the Midwestern Emo sound featuring bands like The Promise Ring, American Football, Mineral, Braid and even early Jimmy Eat World and Death Cab For Cutie among many many others. This grew out of the early D.C. underground hardcore scene which is considered the birthplace of emo and really it’s 1st wave.

In the last few years, there’s been bands trying to rekindle the Midwestern Emo sound with varying success in what is now considered the 4th wave (or 5th depending on who you talk to). Top Shelf Records came along as a home to many of these groups and is largely responsible for the attention the genre has garnered. In 2013 many of these bands have surfaced from the underground by releasing some damn good albums that feature the sounds of emo’s glory years, and many more bands have albums on the horizon. It’s something I’m looking forward to in 2014. Below, I’m featuring three of the groups who released albums in 2013 that helped legitimize this new wave’s emergence.

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The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – Whenever, If Ever

homepage_large.96864cf2The best of these emo-revivalists is Connecticut band The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die (often shortened to TWIABP), whose debut album Whenever, If Ever is a collection of passionate and tight songs filled to the brim with melody reminiscent of some of the best emo bands of the 90s. The first thing that jumps out about this group is of course that ridiculous name, which is taken from the lyrics of excellent album closer “Getting Sodas”, but if you’re able to get past how off-putting that is you’ll find some exhilarating tunes that evoke musicianship as deep as Explosions in the Sky while capturing the youthful exuberance similar to that of a Los Campesinos!, all in a nice emo package.

[“Heartbeat In The Brain” – Whenever, If Ever]

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Into It. Over It. – Intersections

4ff529203402e94abcdf6a3c784e972a-98Now here’s an album that probably has the most emo feel for those casual listeners of the genre dating back to right before bands started finding mainstream success. Into It. Over It. is the brainchild of Evan Weiss who is one of the forebears to this emo revival having been a part of numerous Midwestern emo bands the last few years, but with Intersections he’s put together his best group of songs which at times harkens back to Death Cab For Cutie or Hey Mercedes. Lyrically, this is certainly the most emo of the bands I’m featuring here, which isn’t necessarily a good thing, as it highlights the juvenile characteristics of the genre, which is one of its worst tendencies. But the songs are good enough that those lyrics can be overlooked, and heck for some people, it might actually strike that perfect balance. (Note: Into It. Over It. and TWIABP are heading out on tour this Winter along with fellow emo revivalist, A Great Big Pile of Leaves.)

[“A Curse Worth Believing” – Intersections]

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Crash of Rhinos – Knots

homepage_large.3f050240By far the best example of how Midwestern Emo isn’t really a regional identifier comes from British band Crash of Rhinos. The Derby, UK five-piece has created a very American sounding album touching on the more abrasive side of the genre; think Fugazi or Braid. If there’s an example among these revivalist of the emotional hardcore aspect of emo that actually spawned the genre, Knots is it. It’s more on the screamo side of the genre, but more Thursday than Touché Amoré (who released an excellent album this year, but can’t quite be called emo).  For longtime fans of emo, this may actually be the most nostalgic listening experience, but should be enjoyable enough for those with no preexisting knowledge of the genre.

[“Luck Has A Name” – Knots]

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Dishonorable Mentions

For this year’s dishonorable mentions, I’ve added a Most Overrated Album, which shouldn’t really be called dishonorable, but I didn’t have anywhere else to put it. However, the other two albums mentioned fit this section quite well.

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Most Overrated Album: Disclosure – Settle

4709b4817a40933d9e45a9e6131df12b-98Now I’m no expert on dance music, so perhaps I’m not the best judge, but I really just don’t get what’s so special about this album, the debut from English duo/brothers Disclosure. Maybe it’ll eventually click with me, but I listened to Settle a good bit, and save a song here or there, nothing really jumped out at me. It seems like very generic electronic music, that isn’t really doing anything particularly original or interesting. The beats come across rather formulaic and bland to form an enjoyable, but mediocre listen, one not worthy of the critical praise it’s getting.

[“Latch” – Settle]

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Yuck – Glow & Behold

0e8aa118ea3d223b63f1e7dda9888f3c-98Oh my, what a massive disappointment this album was. Part of me wants to give them a pass due to the ugly departure of frontman Daniel Blumberg right before recording of this album, but no. I feel like many bands have survived similar situations, but Yuck just couldn’t recapture what it had on that self-titled album in 2011 (a top 15 album for me then), and regressed mightily on Glow & Behold. Rather than find a new lead vocalist, the group decided to promote from within, and Max Bloom just doesn’t have what’s required of a frontman. He seems so disinterested in these songs, creating a passionless and just plain boring listen. And it’s not all his fault; the songs themselves are uninspired and devoid of any ambition. It’s a purposeless album with no direction that seems to have no reason for existing.  In a year of numerous disappointing follow ups to breakout albums (Smith Westerns, Surfer Blood, Free Energy, Christopher Owen’s post-Girls solo debut) this one makes those look like masterpieces.

[“Middle Sea” – Glow & Behold]

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The Avett Brothers – Magpie and the Dandelion

b2c00a93b39c87b129fbeff41a56677d-98When Rick Rubin teamed up with The Avett Brothers to produce their 2009 breakout album I And Love And You, I thought the results were actually quite good. Sure, it was polished to a mirror sheen, but the songs showed maturation and an improved songwriting that made the album a success, while still retaining the energy that gave the songs so much of their charm.  The returns weren’t quite as successful on 2012 follow up, The Carpenter, as Rubin’s style started to rob the band of that patented energy, and on Magpie and the Dandelion, the band’s 8th studio album, that energy is completely gone.

Now, part of the problem with this release is that these songs are essentially b-sides that have no business being on a proper album. These tracks were recorded during the same studio session that spawned The Carpenter, and while I’m not against using such songs to build another album (Heck, Timberlake did it this year, and Radiohead did it very successfully with Kid A & Amnesiac), when they feel so much like leftovers, it comes across a rather large miscalculation. Yes, these are songs that have been part of The Avett Brothers’ setlists at live shows over the years, and I’m sure hardcore fans of the band are excited to have these recorded, but there’s just not enough heft to warrant a brand new album. Make it a b-side or rarities release for those fans to complete their collection, but it’s pretty insulting to the casual fan to package these songs and call it a new LP.

However, what really cements this album as the worst I heard in 2013 is the inexplicable inclusion of a live version of “Souls Like The Wheels”, a song that already appeared on The Second Gleam EP back in 2008. Make it a bonus track, and that’s perfectly fine. Heck, I could maybe even forgive it if it was the final track on the album, but to place this song in the middle of its second half is as jarring and bizarre a moment I can remember on any album in quite some time. It has absolutely no place on this album, or any album that a band is trying to bill as their latest studio release and renders what was already a failure, an absolute disaster.

[“Another Is Waiting” – Magpie and the Dandelion]

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