Happy Xmas Eve, all. Hope everything has a great night. Stay safe, y'all!
(4 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)
Loading... By far the best rock album of the year. Since this album grabs you by the throat right out of the chutes and doesn't let go for 35 glorious minutes, I decided to feature the first song.
(6 votes, average: 7.67 out of 10)Loading... DK is unsurprised.
I heard this song the first time while waiting for TV on the Radio to come onstage (great show), and it got its hooks in me instantly. There were lots of warm summer days soundtracked by this song, as well as the rest of Currents.
I haven't solidified a lot of my list, but this one has been the only realistic choice for "Song of the Year" for me.
Weird that the next song on the album is the worst song created by an artist that I like all year.
(8 votes, average: 7.63 out of 10)Loading... Here's the new collaboration between Matt Berninger (of the National) and Brent Knopf (of Ramona Falls), doing the title track from their record on Conan. Also, their touring drummer has been Andy Stack of Wye Oak.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cJabOt6zIM
I can't play my favorite track off this album, since this is a family website, so instead, here's a stripped-down version of the closing track, "Careless".
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hRlt7xEx9c
I hope we're not all supposed to be putting our 2015 lists in these, cause...mine's not totally ready yet.
(6 votes, average: 8.17 out of 10)Loading... It pretty much came down to a tie between Ms. Holter and Joanna Newsom for album of the year.
Both were records I had eagerly awaited and neither disappointed. Just incredibly lovely music.
A stripped-down version of the beautiful closer to Have You In My Wilderness
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd94q_jHblA
I saw Joanna on Thursday night at The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, my first visit that venue. Gawd, what a dump. 🙂
In all seriousness, truly one of the best concerts I've ever seen--and I've seen a few in my day.
This baroque country western(?!) number from Divers was one of the many highlights.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTOREKA4DiA
Best of 2015
1. (tie) Julia Holter Have You In My Wilderness
Joanna Newsom Divers
Gorgeous genre-defying, dare I say, masterworks. Seriously. Both sound timeless to my ears. Well done, ladies.
3. Kurt Vile b'lieve i'm going down<
Another artist who has quietly become a favorite of mine. Mellower than anything he's done, this one didn't grab me like some of his earlier records but it grew on me big time.
4. Giant Sand Heartbreak Pass
Like a letter from an old friend. Cult artist Howe Gelb has been recording for over 30 years and this is one of of his best. Sadly, but not surprisingly, slipped under most folks radars.
5. Sleater-Kinney No Cities to Love
Northwest power trio returns with a more mature sound that still takes names and kicks ass.
6. Beach Slang The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us
Cut from the same cloth as Japandroids, but with a heavier Replacements vibe than the latter's Husker Du leanings. Still, it scratches that same itch.
7. Destroyer Poison Season
Dan Bejar releases a record, I'm in.
8. Sufjan Stevens Carrie and Lowell
Full disclosure, I'm a longtime fan but I only listened to this one a few times before setting it aside. I just found it way too sad for me to enjoy at the time. I also heard enough that it will likely become another important record in my life. Giving the guy the benefit of the doubt.
9. Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly
Picked up because both Ms. Holter and Ms. Newsom have cited it as a fave. Still digesting, but headphones are quickly proving them right.
10. Floating Points Elaenia
Like Bitches Brew Miles Davis fed through somebody's laptop and reconfigured as dance music for replicants.
(6 votes, average: 8.17 out of 10)Loading... And here you were probably expecting Courtney Barnett.
I decided it would be nice to feature something that's not been played at the basement before. After AMR referenced Bad Bad Hats (I keep wanting to add a comma after the first "Bad"), this song caught my attention and compelled me to check out the rest of their new album.
You can download the entire Psychic Reader album here for free (or purchase it in vinyl) if you're so inclined.
(4 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)Loading... As per usual, I listened to a lot of new music this year. Only problem is that it was only new to me. But! I did listen some stuff actually released this year. I definitely had a year of somewhat cheesy power metal, so my favorite from the past 12 months was the second album, Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards, from an awesome band I recently discovered:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kChfb8uNmRg
Continue reading Gloryhammer – Rise of the Chaos Wizards/Legend of the Astral Hammer
(5 votes, average: 6.40 out of 10)Loading... Don't you hate it when you have a pretty good idea of what your top 10 will be for the year, and then you hear something really excellent close to the end of the year and it throws everything into chaos? Yeah, I thought so!
Anyway, I read about Nadia Reid's debut album Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs (a melancholy album about a break-up by a woman is pretty much my wheelhouse this year) and immediately queued it up on Spotify. And when I finished listening to the album, I started it over again. And then got home and listened to it a few more times. This is pretty much all I listened to while writing papers for school last week. Anyway, here's probably my favorite song from it, "Holy Low."
J said the album gave her feelings of nostalgia that she couldn't quite place, and I totally get that. Her voice evokes a lot of bands I listened to in my late teen years, but I can't quite put my finger on who. Not that it really matters, since I just listen to the album over and over and worry that recency bias will make it too high in my top 10 this year. I suppose that isn't the end of the world when an album is this good.
For whatever it's worth, I think this is my top 10 as constructed today. It'll probably change sometime before the end of the year, but it's something!
01. Chastity Belt - Time to Go Home
02. Colleen Green - I Want to Grow Up
03. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
04. Nadia Reid - Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs
05. Speedy Ortiz - Foil Deer
06. Wimps - Suitcase
07. Childbirth - Women's Rights
08. Future - DS2
09. The Intelligence - Vintage Future
10. Spelljammer - Ancient of Days
(4 votes, average: 8.25 out of 10)Loading... Carrie and Lowell is on many (if not most) Best Of lists this year (though no Grammy nods), and with amazingly good reason. This album is one of the most heartfelt, wonderful, awful records I've ever heard. More or less written about his childhood, the complicated relationship between him and his mother, and the time of her death (if you want more background, it's out there and easy to find, so I won't go too much further into the backstory).
I know there's been some pushback on the whiney singer/songwriter wailing over his acoustic recently, and this album could be construed as that, but I don't think it applies. In my mind, he wrote this album strictly for himself. He was kind enough to invite us in on what must have been a substantial and devastating cathartic journey. Littered throughout are so many baldly personal, terrible little slices of life. Take the first two verses this song alone:
Light struck from the lemon tree
What if I’d never seen hysterical light from Eugene?
Lemon yogurt, remember I pulled at your shirt
I dropped the ashtray on the floor
I just wanted to be near you
Emerald Park, wonders never cease
The man who taught me to swim, he couldn't quite say my first name
Like a Father he led
Community water on my head
And he called me “Subaru”
And now I want to be near you
It may not be my favorite of his (I mean, my god, Age of Adz), but it is definitely his finest work to this point. Sparse, sharply honed, and expertly crafted. A simply masterful album from one of my favorite craftsmen.
...oh, right, I should probably play the song now.
2015
Sorry, I wanted to find something professionally done from this album, however, strangely, none seem to exist.
Anyway, if this piques your interest, here's the album version of the first track, also awfully wonderful/depressing:
(6 votes, average: 7.50 out of 10)Loading... httpv://youtu.be/VvlTwSWyqUM
Here's the title track off of Something More Than Free, which has taken over Metamodern Sounds as the album I listen to probably too much, but I just can't help it. I'm still highly debating the concert in February. Bonus "Hudson Commodore" after the break. Continue reading Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free
(6 votes, average: 7.67 out of 10)Loading...