Albums/Song of 2015

[DANGERMAN]

Hendo did this last year. No vote because the odds on any of us mentioning the same album are pretty remote, just pick your favourite song of the year and your 5 favourite albums

Song of the year
Caspian - Run Dry

Caspian, traditionally, are an instrumental band, and in the middle of their new album (Dust and Disquiet) is this. It probably works better in the context of the album, but I really like how stark it is. Plus I can't think of too many stand out tracks without picking from my top 5 albums. Dust and Disquiet is a really good album too fwiw



Album of the year
We Lost The Sea - Departure Songs

I already had a favourite album of the year nailed on until I heard Departure Songs last month. I haven't been as struck by an album in years, and that was before I found out what the album was about. We Lost the Sea are now an instrumental band, they weren't until this album. Their singer committed suicide and rather than replace him they decided to go without vocals, and they've produced the best post-rock album I've heard since Yndi Halda.

Each track on the album is themed around someone giving their life for a greater good, and it's worth reading up on what each track is about (there's a PDF wih the album on Bandcamp ). Honestly it's a beautiful album, as explicitly heartfelt as any album I've ever heard


Marriages - Salome

This was the best album I'd heard in 2015 for a long time and it's very different from WLtS. Salome is all fuzz, it reminds me of live shows I went to. It's incredibly 90s


*takes a breath*
The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Harmlessness

I quite liked TWIA...'s last album but the vocals on it were more than a little hard to get past. They've replaced the singer on this one, and brought in a female singer to add some contrast, and it works much better. As pretentious as the band name might be the album is quite upbeat and energetic. The lyrics to the track I picked (January 10th 2014) don't start great, but it gets where they want it to, and it's got plenty of hooks, which is indicative of the rest of the album


And So I Watch You From Afar - Heirs

And So I Watch You From Arar's first album was great. Heavy post-rock. Heirs is lighter, more poppy, and with loads of vocals, it's almost a dance album, in a non-electronic sense. I really like it, it's got a lot of energy, it makes me smile with its nonsense, and it sounds like AIWYFA have got their own sound now


Walleater - I/II

another fuzzy 90's sounding album. I did toy with putting Everclear's album in, so maybe I just had a nostalgic year. Walleater I/II has a bit more depth than just being fuzzy punk rock, but it's still probably the most traditional album on here



Special mention
The Oh Hellos - Through the Deep Dark Valley

Through The deep Dark Valley came out in 2012 but I only heard it this year and I loved it. Folky rock, which I know isn't everyone's thing, but it does have a slightly darker tone to it. Wishing Well is possibly the standout track, but the band split vocal duties between members, and there's a couple of other tracks that aren't far off being as good. They put out a follow up album this year that continues the themes, it's pretty good, not quite as good, or maybe it suffers in comparison

[radiofloyd]

Album of the Year

1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell

This interview is a great companion to the album.

2. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

Brilliant follow-up to Good Kid, Mad City.

3. Grimes - Art Angels

Flesh Without Blood/Life in the Vivid Dream

Like Sufjan Stevens, Grimes was an artist that I hadn't really listened to much before this year but I love this album.

4. Majical Clouz - Are You Alone?

Downtown

Just love this album, I could listen to it over and over.

5. Joanna Newsom - Divers

Divers

I love Joanna Newsom! I've been listening to Have One On Me non-stop for five years and Divers is another great album, without quite reaching those heights. Looking forward to seeing her live in Dublin next year.

Honourable mentions - Goon (Tobias Jesso Jr), Sound & Colour (Alabama Shakes), I Love You, Honeybear (Father John Misty)

I'm too tired to write paragraphs about those albums now but I think all those songs I linked are good examples.

Song of the year is a tough one but I think I would give it to "Fourth of July" by Sufjan Stevens.

[Hendo]

I'll have to have a proper dig through my Spotify list, though I don't think I spent the last year listening to much recent music.

[Duck]

I'll get on this tonight. Mines probably all over the shop genre wise.

It still disgusts that me and Ben have sort of similar taste in music..

[DANGERMAN]

Ha ha, I went back through last year's thread and saw that post again

Our taste is impeccable!

[HandsomeDead]

I don't listen to a lot of new music. The only albums I bought released in 2015 are 'Something More Than Free' by Jason Isbell, 'Faith in the Furture' by Craig Finn and 'Contradictions' by Paul Smith and the Intimations. All kinda boringly occupy a similar space. I'd probably rank them in that order, too.

The more interesting stuff I've been listening to is from other years.

But I like it. This one is probably one of my favourites from Isbell:

[Duck]

Ok let's do this! Only going to do 5 but I'll probably do more..

In no particular order..

Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss

http://youtu.be/pvbJY2CjrUI

Spotify calls this 'Doom drenched electric folk'. Which is about right. Sometimes it's very doomy, sometimes her stuff is electronic in Massive Attack'y kinda way, sometimes it's both. Amaaaahzingly talented. Like a darker Zola Jesus. Probably my favourite album of the year.

Beach Slang - The things we do find people who feel like us

http://youtu.be/hWWXc9NnFDI

Terrible band and album name. But that doesn't matter. A very good shoegaze'y pop punk album in the vein of The Replacements.

Mutoid Man - Bleeder

http://youtu.be/ufgpuLpHpHw

I've spoke about this album abit in the currently listening thread. I didn't like it at first. But fuck, it's a grow'er. Pop'y metal with punk/mathy elements. So good.

Carpenter Brut - III

http://youtu.be/wy9r2qeouiQ

Synthwave. I hate it. Most of it sounds like crappy montage music. But I really like the Brut, it could be the aggressiveness of their sound. I think they have a few songs in Hotline Miami 2 but I haven't played it yet.

This was the finale in the "trilogy" and my favourite of the 3. Good gym music.

Nils Frahms - Screws Reworked

http://youtu.be/_tLCaWw2BRw

I love Nils Frahms. Technically not a new release but a bunch of old remixes of a 3 year old album. But it was released this year so I'm taking it. I prefer this to the original.

[Jimboxy]

Just been looking through my Spotify and I think the only album I've listened to that was released in 2015 is Public Service Broadcasting - The Race for Space. To be fair it is a cracking album, so I guess that's my choice.

I'm going to try and listen to more music in 2016.

::Mental Edit::

I'd forgot about the Godspeed album which also came out this year, but that was a little disappointing so doesn't make my exclusive list.

[Hendo]

So these are the new albums I listened to last year:

Guy Garvey - Courting the Squall

Faith No More - Sol Invictus

Prodigy - The Day Is My Enemy

Blur - Magic Whip

Ryan Adams - 1989

Since the start of this thread, I've been listening to We Lost The Sea who are really good.

I'm not sure which of those albums I've listened to I would hold up as the best I've heard. I haven't sat down and listened to a new album from start to finish in a long time and I've spent the last year listening to a lot of old jazz, dub, classic hip-hop and a lot of the same old stuff I listened to years ago.

She gets over played but I genuinely think the best song I heard last year was "Hello" by Adele. If she hadn't have taken off, everyone who hates her would instead be saying how it was a shame that she was ignored.

[Hendo]

Other stuff I forgot:

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard - Noeth Ac Anoeth

These are friends of mine who are a stoner rock/doom band who seem to be blowing up somewhat, good reviews in Kerrang, Metal Hammer, etc.

Jessica Curry - Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

Nero - Between II Worlds

[DANGERMAN]

So these are the new albums I listened to last year:

Guy Garvey - Courting the Squall

Faith No More - Sol Invictus

Prodigy - The Day Is My Enemy

Blur - Magic Whip

Ryan Adams - 1989

Since the start of this thread, I've been listening to We Lost The Sea who are really good.

I'm not sure which of those albums I've listened to I would hold up as the best I've heard. I haven't sat down and listened to a new album from start to finish in a long time and I've spent the last year listening to a lot of old jazz, dub, classic hip-hop and a lot of the same old stuff I listened to years ago.

She gets over played but I genuinely think the best song I heard last year was "Hello" by Adele. If she hadn't have taken off, everyone who hates her would instead be saying how it was a shame that she was ignored.

I really liked the new Faith No More album, it's much better than I thought it would be. For whatever reason a lot of bands are coming back, FNM have been one of the more successful ones imo, Alice in Chains have managed a couple of decent albums, the Pixies' one last year was good, Soundgraden's less so. Most of the others haven't been all that, but maybe I just need to give the likes of Skunk Anansie's more of a chance

Glad you like We Lost the Sea. At some point I'm going to listen to their earlier stuff, but not yet

with Adelle. Her problem, or my problem, is she's from a fame school, and just 'a' fame school, the same one that produced a bunch of acts around the same time. There was a guarantee of airplay for them, which almost guarantees success, so you've got the insincerity (is probably not quite the correct word) of a fame school, plus the cynicism of the music industry backing.

That's not to say people are wrong to like her, or she's never put out a good song, because the has, but I'd argue the time off has seen her regarded as more valid than she otherwise would be

[Hendo]

If you watch interviews with her though, she doesn't come across as media-trained at all and does come across as genuine.

The thing for me entirely comes down to the song. I don't care who the person is, whether the song was written purely to make money or whether the singer wrote the song or not. If the song is good, that's all that matters.

There are some of my favourite bands and artists that are as "real" as you'd like but they've written some bad songs and done bad albums.

A couple of my friends have some weird hang-ups that affect whether they like music or not.

One friend used to (he doesn't do this anymore, thank Christ) only like bands and songs that could be done live as on record. So the first time we saw a Killers video, we heard the synths but no-one in the video was playing them. So he took a real dislike to them. Until he found out that the singer was the keyboard player and did them live and then he switched and liked them.

Another friend only likes pop artists that write and play their own instruments, so because Adele co-writes her songs he didn't rate her until I told him, "well, you know she plays guitar, keys and drums? Her first tour she went out on her own with just a guitar? Is she still not a real artist?"

I just don't get the hang-ups. Music exists outside of all these things for me. A good song is a good song regardless.

It took me a long time to realise that. It took me getting over my hatred of Liam Gallagher to finally appreciate Oasis.

I still hate him though.

[DANGERMAN]

fair enough. I think, and I don't mean this accusingly, that it's about what you take from music, and everyone's different in that regard, often inconsistent

For some people a song is a song, a band is a band. They listen to the radio at work or in the car, and if they like a song that's as complicated as it gets. Sometimes the band or song they like can be fairly vacuous but be tied to a place or time for them that gives it meaning.

Sincerity goes a long way for me personally. I can like some poppy punk stuff, but when you get a group of 30 year olds still writing songs about being at high school I'm done. Similarly something like Adelle, or Lana del Ray (especially her, ultra cynical marketing product that she is) are very much not for me, even if I'd concede there's some good songs. In the same way my favourite Bjork song is Joga and my favourite REM song is Country Feedback, both are relatively trite songs in terms of subject matter, but delivered incredibly honestly

each to their own. I'm looking at buying a print because I think it looks cool, there'll be people who'd go mad at that reasoning, but we can't be that intense about everything

[Hendo]

It's an interesting one. These days it's difficult to know what is truly genuine.

It used to be sex and drugs and rock'n'roll by default and now I just see that as fake.

A guy I used to be in a band with constantly devoured music journalism myth stories and would pretty much try to live out some of the lifestyle he read or ways of making music or ordering people about like James Brown. And again, that wasn't genuine.

We've gotten so entrenched in all those old stories and the Internet has made everything available that image and reality is a difficult thing to distinguish.

[DANGERMAN]

yeah, you look at Amy Whinehouse. She was one of the first to appear from the talent school Adelle did, in fact she's probably the reason Adelle got her shot. As disingenuous as she may have started out, it's hard to say she didn't live the life

[radiofloyd]

I've listened to Adele's new album, 25, a couple of times in the last few days. It's shit. Hello and When We Were Young are by far the best songs on it. There are a couple of other decent tracks. but nothing in the vein of Someone Like You or To Make You Feel My Love.

Maybe it's just my taste in music, but to me it feels like American music has been shitting all over British music in recent years. There have been British albums that I've loved - The xx's debut album, Primary Colours by The Horrors, Once I Was an Eagle by Laura Marling, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon by King Krule - but there aren't that many.

By all accounts we have a new Radiohead album coming this year though, so that should reset the balance (unless they give us another TKOL).