a feast of twenty fifteen favorites

With the turnover of the calendar comes the passing of the torch for albums of yesteryear.  An exciting and exhausting avalanche of considerations threaten to bury me as best of lists come rolling in from friends, magazines, blogs, and other media.    This is the year that was and these are the albums and songs that have thrilled and continue to thrill me.  





albums:


Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
coming out of the woods to shake it like never before with an anthemic answer and ferocious force



Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
an emotional acoustic tribute to the memory of his mother. amazing.



Kendrick Lamar -  To Pimp A Butterfly
they had this one at the library and i renewed it six times.  survivor's guilt leads to mad respect.  turns out that version had all the naughty words edited out.  i didn't miss them.  



Björk - Vulnicura
the grieving process in charming crystalline colors





Ryley Walker - Primrose Green
folk jazz flavors of nick drake and tim buckley




Neon Indian - VEGA INTL. Night School
those disco synthesizers bring to life cartoonish visions of new york after dark





Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon
multi-dimensional, polyrhythmic gangster shit




Jenny Hval - Apocalypse, girl
explores death and devotion through a trip hop aura of amusement and acceptance




Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper
psychedelic freak folk funk to contend with a cosmic colossus




Grimes - Art Angels
freaky freeform feminist fury of eclectic pop deconstruction 

New Order - Music Complete
restlessly returning to the game with their electronic technique intact

Deerhunter - Fading Frontier
a groovy experimental elegy to illusions and ephemera

Kamasi Washington - The Epic
a monumentally magnificent modern jazz message of freedom of the mind

Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
expressive freestyle exploitation by a do-it-yourself whip-smart wise-acre

Jlin - Dark Energy
a flowering of footwork into a statement of deep rhythm and cinematic abstraction

Wilco - Star Wars
the liberation of wild irreverent infectious reinvention comes as no surprise

Beach House - Depression Cherry
subtle shifting soundscapes spark dark and playful levitating lullabies





Kurt Vile - b’lieve i’m goin down
takes the edge off with the acoustic aspirations of sophisticated singer songwriter upcycling

Jamie xx - In Colour
xx producer finds his own way through kaleidoscopic rave euphoria







Tame Impala - Currents
channeling surreal solitude into a shimmering psychedelic disco 

My daughter commandeers the radio in the car; so I've been exposed to more pop music this year than in a very long time.  



songs:


Major Lazer & DJ Snake,  "Lean On" (feat. MØ)
"we would only hold on to let go"




Bastille,  "Pompeii"
"where do we begin, the rubble or our sins?"




Mark Ronson Ft Bruno Mars,  "Uptown Funk"
"girls hit y'r hallellujah"





Fall Out Boy, "Uma Thurman"
"bury me 'til I confess"




X Ambassadors, "Renegades"
"All hail the underdogs All hail the new kids All hail the outlaws Spielberg's and Kubrick's"


Genevieve, "Colors"
"Recreate the world in your own good vibes"




twenty one pilots, "Stressed Out"
"We used to play pretend, give each other different names, We would build a rocket ship and then we'd fly it far away, Used to dream of outer space but now they're laughing at our face, Saying, 'Wake up, you need to make money.'"





Macklemore & Ryan Lewis,  "Downtown"
"There's layers to this shit player, Tiramisu, Tiramisu"



The Weeknd, “Can't Feel My Face”
"And I know she'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb
And she'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come
All the misery was necessary when we're deep in love"

Katie Garfield, "Put Me Back On My Throne"
"Mercy, you won't find it in me"






Unknown Mortal Orchestra, “Can’t Keep Checking My Phone”



Missy Elliott, "WTF (Where They From)" (featuring Pharrell Williams)



Hudson Mohawke, “Ryderz”



CHVRCHES, “Clearest Blue”




Rihanna, “FourFiveSeconds” (featuring Kanye West and Paul McCartney)



Lana Del Rey, “High By the Beach”



Madonna, “Living For Love”