Because believe me, when you have comeback records like No Cities To Love by Sleater-Kinney and Tetsuo & Youth by Lupe Fiasco that show huge returns to form, they deserve at least a shoutout. Hell, an album that features a creative rebirth like Baroness' Purple which dropped very late in the year deserves it too. And then you have underappreciated gems like Escape From Evil by Lower Dens, one of the great unsung synthpop records of this year. And on that note, as much it might be a bit of a contentious statement to say that hip-hop had a great year, I stand by it - when you have Earl Sweatshirt, Jay Rock, The Underachievers, Yelawolf, Pusha T and Czarface dropping stellar sophomore records, coupled with comebacks of unexpected quality from Ludacris and killer debuts from Joey Bada$$, all of which might have had a shot for this list in a weaker year, that's saying something. And that's not counting the list itself that's at least twenty percent hip-hop, but we'll get to that - hell, might as well start with...
25. I think I covered more conscious, socially aware hip-hop this year than ever before, to the point where it didn't quite hit mainstream radio but definitely made headlines in the hip-hop conversation. This album didn't quite get the publicity, but it deserves to be a part of the conversation all the same.
25. 'Kill The Wolf' by B. Dolan
Best Song: 'Who Killed Russell Jones?'
This is easily B. Dolan's most focused and tightly written project to date, taking the self-flagellating honesty that's always underscored his darkest work and fusing it with impeccable wordplay, great guest appearances, some explosively gritty production, and one of the most finely tuned progressive messages you'll ever hear. But it's not all about that message either, a record thematically exploring the transience of life itself and the desperate struggle at its core, even if it all might ring for naught. An impressively moody and layered album that has the punch to demand urgent attention - highly recommended.
24. Sequels to established classics are always a tough sell if you want to do them right. I think I might have said this before, even on one of these lists, but while some use the sequel as a chance to ride off of past laurels, few continue the thematic progression and power to create something the equal of its forebear. So it's always nice to see industry veterans take a crack at it - especially when they pull it off with magnificent results.
24. 'Beyond The Red Mirror' by Blind Guardian
Best Song: 'At The Edge of Time'
Yeah, it's a massive narrative-driven power metal epic, a sequel to Blind Guardian's genre-defining Imaginations From The Other Side... and they nailed it. The progressive touches with stellar production, the spectacular melody-driven compositions, Hansi Kursch's tremendous voice, and a story that plays in broad iconography and yet has the thematic core of balancing reason and imagination by fusing reality with the fantastic. These are veterans returning to a genre they shaped and doing it justice twenty years after making a classic, and oh, it was worth it. It may have dropped early in the year - and yes, you've got to have some tolerance for fantasy-driven metal - but it definitely doesn't deserve to be forgotten, so check this out.
23. So to speak briefly about music that wasn't near as good for a second, there are people who are of the opinion that I 'hate' Lana Del Rey, when in reality, I just don't care. Yeah, I don't have any liking for her public persona and I find her music toeing the line between tedious and tasteless, but what frustrates me is how much more I should like it. I like baroque pop, I like that elegance and class when played well - and this year, we got it.
23. 'Have You In My Wilderness' by Julia Holter
Best Song: 'Everytime Boots'
This was an album I got to late, but oh wow, I'm so happy I found it. Julia Holter is a fantastically compelling melodic composer with production that can only be described as heavenly, but what caught me much deeper was her content and delivery. Beautiful subtleties in her poise, incredibly well-detailed stories told in few words and atmosphere, it's a record about romantic ideals - and then serves to show how those ideals need to give and take, as without balance they can turn into something ugly. And yet, it never demonizes romance and that beauty along the way - just asks for a better class of it. Reciprocity has rarely sounded this gorgeous.
22. I would make the argument that country music didn't exactly have a great year in 2015 - yeah, it was awesome to see a bunch of indie favourites score #1 albums and Chris Stapleton finally getting some long-deserved rewards, but in terms of albums that pushed the genre forward, it wasn't as strong as, say, last year. And no record is as emblematic of that as this one - but hey, when you get it this right, it needs to be acknowledged.
22. 'Hold My Beer, Vol. 1' by Randy Rogers & Wade Bowen
Best Song: 'El Dorado'
What I love about this album is the subtle complexities that underscore a reasonably straightforward neotraditional country record. Ten songs with a gentle rollicking tone that might seem to be playing things very easy with only traces of weary melancholy around the edges, but for men taking the rough road of integrity, it's a profoundly rewarding listen - mostly because that's the underlying theme of the album. The collaboration is the story here - a simple one, but so well told with great warm production, excellent compositions, and a real sense of wit behind it, it might not strike you as anything all that unique on the first few listens, but you'll be surprised how much it really sinks in.
21. I struggled a lot whether I could put this album on this list. Because while the compositions are beautifully understated and excellently produced and the writing toes the line between intricate and painfully raw, it was an album I found hard to revisit - it got under my skin that much. And yet on that note, I had to include it - if only because it's rare for a record to hit like this one did.
21. 'Carrie & Lowell' by Sufjan Stevens
Best Song: 'The Only Thing'
You ever get the feeling when hearing an album that you really shouldn't be hearing it, that it's too private and personal and deeply cutting than it has any right to be? That was Carrie & Lowell for me, an album that on the surface seemed to be dealing with the complicated relationship Sufjan had with his mother as she died which he seemed to have resolved... only for that resolve to untangle and collapse along with his relationship with God, searching for answers and resolution he doesn't find. There's no clean ending to this record, a hope against hope that we'll get that answer and yet it never really materializes... and even as you know that, you can't stop. A devastating listen from front-to-back that I can't revisit outside of the privacy of my home, even despite its subtle, plain-spoken beauty. Not Sufjan's best in my opinion, but when you have a discography like his, that's not saying much at all.
20. And yet while there are albums so raw I can barely revisit them, we also have the flipside: a record so intricately construction, so meticulously crafted, where every word and interweaving melody is impeccably timed, that I'm almost hesitant to touch it, for fear that I might somehow break the music. Of course, I never did - which is why I had to keep coming back for more.
20. 'Divers' by Joanna Newsom
Best Song: 'Goose Eggs'
Originally I didn't think this album would hold up long enough for me to make this list, but I was proven wrong in the best possible way. Divers might not have won the critical acclaim of her previous works, but this gorgeously elliptical album exploring the endpoints of life - birth and death - rife with high-concept physics and sci-fi to fit with some of her most diverse compositions to date - was so ridiculously smart, beautiful, and heartfelt in its own esoteric way that it really stuck with me. I still marvel at the mirrored nature of this record, with so many little subtleties that only further enhance the themes and narrative arc through layered metaphors and musical motifs. And while I'm a little uncertain whether I buy the album is about her husband Andy Samberg's death - it's kind of an alarming theory to read through - it's rare I've found a record so cosmic that yet feels so grounded.
19. And on the topic of brilliantly written records exploring the nature of time, specifically at the halfway point...
19. 'Halfway' by Uncommon Nasa
Best Song: 'We Living In These Dark Times'
I slept on this guy for far too long. Uncommon Nasa teams up with Black Tokyo's damn excellent production to deliver the sort of cerebral yet heartfelt hip-hop of which I wish there was more. Off-kilter yet meticulous, featuring some of the most potent sampling I've heard all year, and then there's Uncommon Nasa's thoughtfully dense wordplay that had me returning to it time after time to try and dig up all the little intricacies. From high-concept narratives like 'The Study' to the politically-aware songs that seem like the natural outgrowth of those seeing their lives threatened by a broken system, Uncommon Nasa remains one of the most underrated MCs in the underground, and if you're looking for one of the most chilling and thought-provoking releases of this year, definitely pick this up.
18. And next on our list... hmm, you know, I wonder what it says about me that so much of my list focuses on exploring mortality - except in this case, replacing death with the subtler slip out of memory. But I wasn't going to be forgetting this.
18. 'Hand. Cannot. Erase.' by Steven Wilson
Best Song: 'Hand Cannot Erase'
It's his most pop-friendly, electronic-tinged album to date - and in my opinion, easily Steven Wilson's best solo record and the best thing he's made since Porcupine Tree. Gorgeously melodic progressive rock with a narrative exploring the choice to isolate from the world and slip out of mind, only to hit one of the most tragic endings you'll get all year. It's a record about vanishing and invisibility in the modern world, and yet it's almost certainly one that'll stick in the memory thanks to brilliant compositions, gorgeous production, and a title track that is the best pop song anyone released all year. Again, not exactly an easy listen - especially that ending - but highly recommended all the same.
17. Of course, when you have albums that are so meticulously crafted, you sometimes need something wild, borderline unhinged and careening out of control - and The Wombats delivered just that.
17. 'Glitterbug' by The Wombats
Best Song: 'Curveballs'
I don't know if The Wombats will ever be able to top their brilliantly neurotic debut, but Glitterbug comes damn close. Stellar grooves and swell that fits the larger-than-life party that runs through most of this album... only to be brutally satirized and undercut at every turn as the album doesn't shy away from showing the comedown in heartbreaking detail, especially when you consider that The Wombats might have been writing about their own uncertain relationship with the public beneath the surface. And while so much of this record works thanks to Matthew Murphy's self-aware yet earnest desperation, the real key is that it's an album smart enough to know the consequences, and yet reckless enough to dive in and take the punches anyway. This record was definitely underrated by a lot of people this year, check it out if you haven't already.
16. Of all the albums I covered this year, this was the one I least expected. Not only because nobody knew he was working on the damn thing until he released it by surprise, but because his last record had been a mess of gigantic proportions - how do you recover from that?
16. 'Mr. Misunderstood' by Eric Church
Best Song: 'Mistress Named Music'
Where this album works where The Outsiders didn't was a sense of scope and authenticity - sure, there's a fair share of bombast and off-kilter musical choices, but Eric Church grounds it with subtler instrumentation, tighter writing, and by framing himself in a much more honest light. And sure, it's easy for me to empathize with another introverted music nerd, but he approaches it with the sort of honest sobriety that frames those choices properly. Coupled with great melodies fused through some of Jay Joyce's more eccentric and yet subtle production, this was the comeback record I never expected, but I'm definitely glad I got.
15. And speaking of comebacks... yeah, not quite that here. More of a return to form... but in the best way possible.
15. 'Meliora' by Ghost
Best Song: 'He Is'
I understand that Ghost can be a bit of a hard band to take seriously - the retro-leaning heavy metal that flirts with symphonic and progressive touches, the lyrics that outright embrace Satanism - but again, when the compositions are this good, I find it hard to care. Meliora wasn't just a return to form for Ghost but the sort of heavier, more experimental record that didn't just test the band, but pushed their sound into places I never expected - and yet were always able to bring the instantly memorable hooks with them. Coupled with writing that's a fair bit smarter than people gave it credit and some titanic songs that remain the best of the year, Ghost brought their A-game in one of the most fun metal records I heard all year, and it's great to see them fearlessly hoist that black banner.
14. I've said before that I love art exploring the creative process - half because it speaks to my own creative impulses and neuroses, but also because it's fascinating to see what other people create. There are two records on this list that explore these concepts, and this one is probably the more complex - yet no less excellent all the same.
14. 'Poison Season' by Destroyer
Best Song: 'Girl In A Sling'
Albums like this one are the reason I discuss and review music, because Dan Bejar is such a strong, layered writer who can put together absolutely masterful records even when he's exploring second-guessing and confusion at his future path. Pivoting towards smooth jazz and the classier side of cinematic music, Poison Season is the sort of record that seems incomprehensible until you get the necessary snapshot of clarity - which is telling, because that's the thematic arc of this record, choosing not to mine his personal life for drama in the face of an unsteady muse and instead chart a unique path outside of expectations. And yet for such esoteric fare, it's got a heartfelt power to it that drew me back and kept me relistening time and time again. Incredibly well-produced, brilliantly written, rare has it been that anyone makes artistic confusion this beautifully rewarding.
13. And on the topic of 'cinematic records'... this will probably be the most controversial record I put on this list, mostly because I don't think there's a solid critical or popular consensus anywhere close to it. And really, that's not all that surprising - when you have a record coming from a living legend, replacing one that has been delayed and pushed back for over a decade... well, it's bound to be controversial. But as someone who never really embraced Dr Dre's work in the past... well, it made this list.
13. 'Compton' by Dr. Dre
Best Song: 'One Shot, One Kill' ft. Snoop Dogg & Jon Connor
Let's get real here: this is probably the best album we could have ever expected from Dre, and I completely get the complaints that this doesn't really feel like a Dre album - but that's the point. Compton is framed as a hyper-stylized cinematic exploration not just of Dr. Dre, but the city and world his music helped define, anchored in stellar guest performances that you would never expect, production that goes harder and has more unique Dre flavour than many gave it credit, and a narrative that shows gangsta rap at its best and its unstable, horrifying worst. And when you throw in excellent framing with far more subtlety in the writing that anyone gave it credit, I predict there'll be a fair few people who come around to this record and help pull it out of the backlash zone. In other words, if this is how Dre wanted to go out, what a way to go.
12. So one of the genres I started delving into this year was black metal, particularly on the more atmospheric side - and while one quick look at a list from Myke C-Town shows I've got a long ways to go, one of my biggest fears was that I just wasn't going to find a band that'd stick with me in the long run, that the genre just wasn't for me. Thankfully, I was proven wrong.
12. 'Autumn Eternal' by Panopticon
Best Song: 'The Wind's Farewell'
And you know, on some level it makes sense that I'd like Panopticon - it's atmospheric black metal mixed with touches of folk and bluegrass, of course it'd be right up my alley - and yet the album Austin Lunn made that connected with me the most drew upon those other genres the least, this time bringing in progressive touches for startlingly gorgeous effect. And yes, this'll be the one entry on this list where I still haven't managed to make out all of the lyrics, but when the melodic swell and atmosphere on this record are this strong, you don't need the words to get it. And I love that I've got a black metal record I truly adore: it's a sign the genre can click with me and that I've got a lot more work to do. And while I've already set 2016 as a year of exploration and expansion for myself, one of 2015's best metal records deserves the acclaim.
11. And yet I'd be remiss to not mention the other genre I've been exploring in depth over the past few years, an album so damn good that even Young Thug couldn't ruin it for me.
11. 'In Colour' by Jamie xx
Best Song: 'Loud Places' ft. Romy
I love this record for the little details. The production is goddamn breathtaking, with so many little subtleties that get me every single time, stunningly organic in painting a massive yet intimate picture. It's festival for enormous crowds music that makes every individual moment feel like the most important thing in the world, that doesn't so much feel composed but grown, with some of the best melodies and transitions you'll hear all year. And yeah, it's not genre-pushing for electronic music and that it can be easy to dismiss as backwards-looking or 'vintage', but I'm not going to deny the swell or power. If this is how Jamie xx wants to start his solo career, I am completely on board, even if the rest is noise.
10. Granted, Jamie xx wasn't the only new act to blow my mind this year.
10. 'Algiers' by Algiers
Best Song: 'And When You Fall'
This is one of those records that I'm stunned in the thirty-plus years of post-punk we never got until now. The genre has always flirted with more gothic, religious undertones, but Algiers took things in a wildly original direction, bringing in more soul and gospel to fuse with noise and post-punk than ever before, fused with songs that read like the best progressive manifestos and hit with righteous rage from one of the most commanding frontmen you'll hear all year. Again, this is not easy or even pleasant music, but Algiers aren't writing about pleasant issues, political but nuanced in an era that seems afraid of even trying, apocalyptic yet poised and rational. And when the institutions around them finally collapse, I can see Algiers step out of the darkness, the firebrand held high.
9. This album has faded a lot on me - more than I expected. Maybe a little overexposure, maybe that in a year of great pop music it just got a bit lost in the shuffle, but I did make sure to revisit it before the end of the year, to check to see if it still deserved to be on this list. And it turns out...
9. 'Blurryface' by twenty one pilots
Best Song: 'Not Today'
It's weird that as I speak, more people are paying attention to twenty one pilots than ever before, arguably off of the worst song from this record - hell, I was arguing with a friend about this album last night. And yeah, it's a messy, genre-bending, self-referential, frequently insufferable and borderline emo experience. And yet, this is some of the best music about making music I heard all year. Putting aside how damn solid of a pop core there is, with great hooks and a more refined sound, Blurryface is smart and well-framed enough to know that their greatest enemies are themselves, and the finale of the record does show them acknowledging it and breaking free. And there are so many bits of great wit that I really like about this album, between the fourth wall breaking and that despite the self-awareness it's still painfully earnest, it's an album that cares too much about what we think - and for it to land this high on the list is a testament to how well it paid off.
8. This record falls into a bit of a weird place for me. Sure, it's damn great and it's even higher on one of my lists than its predecessor, but that's basically because it's imitating and improving on the same formula that made said predecessor great. The band effectively reused the same formula as their debut but better - how often does that work?
8. 'Every Open Eye' by CHVRCHES
Best Song: 'Leave A Trace'
For as much as The Bones Of What You Believe got critical acclaim, I'm absolutely mystified that the brighter, more accessible and diverse, yet still excellently written and brilliantly performed sophomore effort from CHVRCHES didn't really get it. Sure, it's not quite as high concept, instead grounded in the relationship from hell that Lauren Mayberry needs to end, but it runs deeper than that. This is an album that doesn't just push into the high-energy gloss of mid-80s synthpop, but digs deeper into the ugly consequences to trying to prolong a bad relationship for all of the wrong reasons. And for a nice change of pace, while there are complexities in the framing and especially in Lauren Mayberry's superbly nuanced performance, the record really is just a blazingly tight, sharply written synthpop release of the best variety, and I couldn't ask for any more.
7. Of all the albums that I covered this year, this is probably the one that rose the most in terms of my opinion. I mean, I knew the writing was brilliant and the compositions were damn near perfect in matching the understated cleverness of it all, but in terms of thematic richness, this one grew the most on me. And if you've seen my last list, you' should already know what it is.
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7. Of all the albums that I covered this year, this is probably the one that rose the most in terms of my opinion. I mean, I knew the writing was brilliant and the compositions were damn near perfect in matching the understated cleverness of it all, but in terms of thematic richness, this one grew the most on me. And if you've seen my last list, you' should already know what it is.
7. 'Complicated Game' by James McMurtry
Best Song: 'Long Island Sound'
I don't think there's much more to say beyond James McMurtry is one of the best songwriters in alternative country music - this is a record that would have made this list on writing alone. But that shouldn't discount the other elements: McMurtry's haggard, more mature delivery, the abundance of phenomenal instrumental textures that might not burn as brightly as his earlier work but still stand out, and a thematic richness that shows a dozen different, amazingly well-detailed stories all centred around the complicated game of maturity. This is a very adult album in its stories and messages, and in a year where I think I feel a fair bit older than my age, it definitely got to me. I guarantee the majority of you haven't taken the time to check this out: definitely make an effort to change that, because this is something special.
6. Now one of the other things I noted about my tastes this year were a liking of records exploring rather reprehensible people getting a healthy dose of reality rammed into their face. There were two albums that exemplified that fine tradition this year, and this is the first one. Fair warning: it's kind of insufferable - but in the best way possible.
6. 'Return To The Moon' by EL VY
Best Song: 'Happiness, Missouri'
Side projects are always contentious to talk about, and nowhere was that more apparent than the collaboration between Matt Berninger of The National and Brett Knopf formerly of Menomena, which took Berninger's depressive angst and beat it with the meat tenderizer of self-aware satire. The lyrics only begin to make sense when you realize that the loose narrative serves to show him the consequences of his preening, phony self-deprecation - and no matter how hard he tries to fix things, there are some things and people you can't just fix. Coupled with the best kind of framing, some of the most quotable lines of both men's careers, and a musical foundation that's both genre-bending and yet hook-driven and instantly memorable, EL VY is the sort of collaboration that I desperately would love to see more, if only because it's too weirdly fascinating to ignore. It's most certainly not for everyone, but again, it made this list.
5. I struggled between this record and James McMurtry's as the country-adjacent album I liked the most. In the end, while I'd definitely give McMurtry the edge on writing, this was the country album that pushed the sound furthest - and in a pretty rough year for country, it's easily my favourite this year.
5. 'Something More Than Free' by Jason Isbell
Best Song: 'Children Of Children'
Does it hit the insane high notes of Southeastern? Honestly, probably not, but it trades it for thematic cohesion and consistency, to say nothing of some of the most gorgeously textured country compositions you'll hear all year. Like McMurtry, the songwriting is top of the line in sketching out the brilliantly detailed and nuanced stories that have always been Isbell's hallmark, but where McMurtry places the past and present in harmony, Isbell is slamming the door on the old darkness behind him, finding closure and moving towards whatever might come next. Coupled with some of Dave Cobb's best ever production, Something More Than Free is transitional in the best way possible, and a sign of only greater heights to come.
4. I feel I have to justify this album not topping my list, like it has for so many others. And in terms of cultural impact, I don't think there is a more important record that was released this year. And yet it's not quite my favourite - but make no mistake, Kendrick Lamar raised the bar yet again this year, and people are still struggling to catch up.
4. 'To Pimp A Butterfly' by Kendrick Lamar
Best Song: 'The Blacker The Berry'
To call To Pimp A Butterfly a hip-hop tour de force would be understating it, as Kendrick takes his uniquely complicated insight to a much higher level in its exploration of black culture in the United States - and yet for as big as the scope of this record is, drawing on R&B, funk, jazz, and the darkest corners of black music, it's still an intensely personal story about Kendrick tracing his own legacy to the greats and his own path holding against temptation to find his transcendence. It's the sort of groundbreaking hip-hop release that makes you hope it'll become as influential as some of the greats truly were. But by now, everyone's heard it, praised it, written lengthy think-pieces about it... what, for me, was better?
3. This next album is not for everyone, but for me, it's a stirring example of what hip-hop can be at its absolute best: focused, cohesive, excellently written, pushing real boundaries with its sound and wordplay, from five MCs and two producers who have earned their reputation as some of the fiercest spitters in the industry. And I've been cheerleading for this group all damn year, so you already should know who it is.
3. 'All Hands' by Doomtree
Best Song: 'The Bends'
This is yet another album where I'm baffled at the lack of greater buzz. Where else are you going to find five MCs who can all spit with impressive punchlines and nuance against some of the most aggressive and powerful production outside of El-P? And while some might be a little intimidated by the group's white-hot message and explosively alien production that runs cold - again, not an easy listen - there was no other hip-hop collective that could maintain such a thoroughly consistent and explosive record than Doomtree. Coupled with the hooks and energy that put the lie to 'hip-hop doesn't need good lyrics', All Hands was Doomtree refining and crystallizing their art down to its core, and while a part of me did miss some of the more organic instrumentation, they still delivered in spades. Most of you haven't checked this out since it dropped in January - change that.
2. For the past few months, the top spots on this list have been a two horse race between two records that I would consider the closest things to perfect scores I've ever reviewed. For the longest time I couldn't make a choice, and I went back and forth between the two, both only possessing a single track apiece that I'd call good instead of amazing. And yet there could only be one, and that means...
2. 'I Love You, Honeybear' by Father John Misty
Best Song: 'The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apartment'
This was the second record focusing on a complete asshole getting a healthy dose of reality - but while with EL VY everything fell apart, Josh Tillman took a much more complex route with I Love You, Honeybear, pairing the opulent, magnificent instrumentation and honeyed vocals with a relationship that only seems to succeed despite all evidence to the contrary. And yet it works because of brilliant framing, a great sense of humour, a surprising amount of earnest passion, and lyrics that are so damn witty and quotable that I find myself revisiting the album time and time again. Oh, and it also has great hooks, a ton of unique instrumental character, and some of the most high-concept ideas pushed through simple musings I've heard all year - what could be better?
1. At the end of the day, there was only going to be one. And from the moment I put this on to the last relisten I gave it before putting together this list, I think I knew deep down this was going to top it. I don't think there's been a record that has both cut through my critical faculties and yet satisfied them in spades like this one has, an emotional roller-coaster that tells an incredible story and yet makes it so much more. So in the end... gentlemen, welcome back.
1. 'Astoria' by Marianas Trench
Best Song: 'Astoria'
There's not a record this year that hit my pure joy receptors like this one did, where despite being their most flagrantly pop record to date draws upon classic rock like The Who and Queen and a borderline cinematic approach to composition that makes Astoria an epic to behold. Marianas Trench have always had high ambitions, but Astoria reaches the pinnacle set by Masterpiece Theater and then keeps going, with Josh Ramsay's most personal story to date acting as the foundation to a record that at the end of the day feels so much more significant, transcending broken relationships to the art that tells and immortalizes that story. It's living proof that pop music can be as powerful and moving as any other type, with high ambitions backed by fantastic melodies and the best performance of Josh Ramsay's career. In my opinion, Astoria by Marianas Trench is the best album of 2015, and if 2016 can deliver albums like this, we're in for a great year ahead.
Now here comes the million dollar question: is Astoria better than Masterpiece Theater? Who knows, right?
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