Top 10 of 2015

[Idioteque Stalker]

1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2. Bjork - Vulnicura
3. Natalie Prass - s/t
4. Viet Cong - s/t
5. Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside
6. Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper
7. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
8. Tinashe - Amethyst
9. Death Grips - Jenny Death
10. Dawn Richard - Black Heart

Only the top four stand much of a chance of making my final top ten, but I don't foresee Kendrick or Bjork's albums moving much at all. Both are masterpieces.

Quick, unorganized thoughts:
Thought I was done with Panda Bear, then he threw the "Tropic of Cancer"/"Lonely Wanderer" one-two punch at me and got me interested again. Straight up prettiest things he ever touched. While Earl's voice isn't quite as distinct this time around, the introspection and moody production has me hooked again. I was a fan of Tinashe's Aquarius debut last year but still may like her new EP better. Seems like the mixtape format allowed her to indulge her more experimental impulses.

Anyway, what does your list look like?

[D_Davis]

Kendrick Lamar and Kamasi Washington are both in my top.

Both are total masterpieces.

[Acapelli]

Kendrick Lamar and Kamasi Washington are both in my top.

Both are total masterpieces.

i was watching the npr stream of his (kamasi's) concert last week. it was dope

[dreamdead]

Not sure about placement yet, but these albums get returned to quite a bit. Naturally, several demand even more time...

Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
Kauan - Sorni Nai
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Hop Along - Painted Shut
Dreadnought - Building Realms
Tame Impala - Currents
Joan Shelley - Over and Even
Stara Rzeka - Zamknęły się oczy ziemi


Cloakroom is the best blend of a post-Hum aesthetic that still tries to do something new, and Tribulation and Enslaved are my requisite metal releases. Hop Along opened for The War on Drugs this last tour and were stellar--their new album is equally good.

[sevenarts]

Here's a top 20 I made for another board:

Young Thug | Barter 6
Graham Lambkin / Michael Pisaro | Schwarze Riesenfalter
Sun Kil Moon | Universal Themes
Mount Eerie | Sauna
Kendrick Lamar | To Pimp a Butterfly
Sicko Mobb | Super Saiyan Vol. 2
Michael Pisaro | Melody, Silence
Eric La Casa / Taku Unami | Parazoan Mapping
Future | Beast Mode
Zum Goldenen Schwarm | Aufgang

Billy Woods | Today, I Wrote Nothing
Radu Malfatti | One Man and a Fly
Sean McCann | Ten Impressions For Piano & Strings
AL-90 | Code-915913
Jenny Hval | Apocalypse, Girl
Fraufraulein | Extinguishment
Tut | Preacher's Son
Tinashe | Amethyst
Ka | Days With Dr. Yen Lo
Nidia Minaj | Danger

[dreamdead]

Updated top ten

Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
Grimes - Art Angels
Kauan - Sorni Nai
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2814 - 新しい日の誕生
Dreadnought - Building Realms
Tame Impala - Currents
Joan Shelley - Over and Even
Stara Rzeka - Zamknęły się oczy ziemi

HM: Deafheaven's New Bermuda; Vince Staples's Summertime '06; Hop Along's Painted Shut

Chvrches's latest has four excellent singles and a lot of... just mediocre songs. It's bewildering to me how uneven that album is.

I'm hoping that the new Grimes delivers, and want to get to the Joanna Newsom as well.

[D_Davis]

To me, Chvrches sounds like one of those Christian bands that youth pastors try to get their kids to listen to by saying, "They're Christian, but they sound just like so-and-so!"

There is a quality to the vocals and the production that just screams Christian band trying to sound like a non-Christian band to me.

[D_Davis]

My top 10 right now:

1. Kamasi Washington - The Epic
2. Kendrick Lamar - TPaB
3. New Order - Music Complete
4. Marconi Union - Departures
5. Jaga Jazzist - Star Fire
6. Chris Dingman - The Subliminal and the Sublime
7. Eyeliner - Buy Now
8. Madoka Ogitani - City
9. Kiara - Delfines
10. CFCF - The Colours of Life

[dreamdead]

I like the new Marconi Union, but it's not nearly as dynamic for me as Different Colours. To me, there's not as many luxurious tones--it's more ambient, with two or three shifts in mood in each song, whereas their earlier material felt more vibrant. It's still good, but it's not as resonant or interestingthe last one, and it's so short that it doesn't recalibrate.

[D_Davis]

I like the new Marconi Union, but it's not nearly as dynamic for me as Different Colours. To me, there's not as many luxurious tones--it's more ambient, with two or three shifts in mood in each song, whereas their earlier material felt more vibrant. It's still good, but it's not as resonant or interestingthe last one, and it's so short that it doesn't recalibrate.

I totally agree.

It's been a rather lackluster year for great ambient.

[dreamdead]

On the bright side, I am seriously digging the Madoka Ogitani album. Solid stuff, especially the latter half of the album. It's got a quirkiness to it, but it isn't overwhelmed by it, finding nice textures and layers throughout.

And the Grimes--not quite what I was expecting, but excellent doubling down on pop aesthetics. The collaboration with Janelle Monae is fantastic.

[Thirdmango]

For context of how my ratings work 3 stars is essentially I barely liked it more than I didn't, and 2.5 is it's inverse. 2 is the inverse of 3.5 and so on.

5 stars

1. Major Lazer - Peace is the Mission
2. Michelle Chamuel - Face the Fire
3. Zedd - True Colors
4. Skrillex and Duplo - Jack U
5. Kamasi Washington - The Epic

4.5 stars

6. Doomtree - All Hands
7. Skylar Spence - Prom King
8. Everything Everything - Get to Heaven
9. Blackalicious - Imani Vol. 1
10. JME - Integrity
11. Widespread Panic - Street Dogs
12. Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves
13. Stratovarius - Eternal
14. Chvrches - Every Open Eye

4 stars

15. Shamir - Ratchet
16. Bring Me the Horizon - That's the Spirit
17. Foals - What Went Down
18. Mark Ronson - Uptown Special

3.5 stars

19. Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color
20. The Chemical Brothers - Born in the Echoes
21. Galactic - Into the Deep
22. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
23. Roisin Murphy - Hairless Toys
24. Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho
25. Muse - Drones

3 stars

26. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
27. Tame Impala - Currents
28. Ellie Goulding - Delirium
29. Shinedown - Threat to Survival

2.5 stars

30. Blur - The Magic Whip
31. Trey Anastasio - Paper Wheels
32. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
33. Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete

2 stars

34. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
35. Chris Cornell - Higher Truth

1.5 stars

36. The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ
37. Of Montreal - Aureate Gloom
38. Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late

And then finally the two albums which I tried to listen to but just had to stop halfway in because I did not like it at all.

Future - DS2
Vince Staples - Summertime '06

[D_Davis]

Album of the year:

Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa

Runners up:

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Dreems - In Dreems
Food - This is Not a Miracle
New Order - Music Complete (best surprise of 2015)
Jaga Jazzist - Star Fire
Chris Dingman - The Subliminal and the Sublime
CFCF - The Colours of Life
Madoka Ogitani - City

[Izzy Black]

1. Vince Staples - Summertime '06
2. Selena Gomez - Rebirth
3. Dawn Richard - Blackheart
4. Kelela - Hallucinogen
5. Tinashe - Amethyst
6. Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon
7. Beach House - Depression Cherry
8. Jamie xx - In Color
9. Kacy Hill - Bloo
10. Colleen Green - I Want To Grow Up
12. Bryson Tiller - Trap Soul
13. A$ap Rocky - AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP
14. Made in Heights - Without My Enemy What Would I Do
15. Jungle Pussy - Pregnant with Success

[Melville]

I've been trying to catch up on the year's music. Sufjan Stevens and James McMurtry are standing out right now. Mm, poignancy and Americana. Also liked the Beach House a lot when I listened to it earlier in the year. Liked the Lana Del Rey a lot less than I expected.