I am fascinated by the current state of music. The market has changed
so dramatically and so rapidly, the bar of entry has been lowered in such a way
that it can be scarcely kept up with. Never before has music been both so pervasive and evanescent, and so fundamental in its breadth to our daily lives. And I believe that we are better for it. The
marketplace of musical ideas is more robust than ever. There is no shortage of
great work out there to engage with. Ultimately, that is the point of this exercise. There is a lot out there, and this is our effort to sort through it; to separate wheat and chaff.
A few general impressions of
the year of 2015 in very broad strokes:
It was a huge year for
hip-hop. Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A
Butterfly, though I didn’t personally connect with it, is a massive and
ambitious work whose greatness I acknowledge, and it certainly feels like the
appropriate choice for the year that was 2015, as it has been anointed almost unanimously by the critics. Hip-Hop is not my proverbial bread and butter, but as a casual fan, I
cannot recall a year where there were more records that I thought were
top-to-bottom excellent. Though only two cracked my personal top ten, just on
the periphery were Vince Staples, Action Bronson, Joey Bada$$, A$AP Rocky, STS,
as well as a couple of very interesting records from the Ghostface Killah, Big
Sean, Freddie Gibbs, Earl Sweatshirt, and a surprise late-December release from
Pusha T—all of which I would recommend highly. All that was missing was a
full-fledged release from Kanye West (though his 2015 one-offs were universally excellent).
It was also a particularly
good year for American roots music, country, and Americana with more great work
from, Jason Isbell, Ashley Monroe, Kacey Musgraves, Justin
Townes Earle, and newcomer Chris Stapleton to name just a few.
Similarly, it was a big year
for the revival of old sounds lead by Leon Bridges, with nods across the board
to Pokey LaFarge, and Constant Bop (again, to name a few).
Contemporary Pop music is
really quite good, and I think that contemporary music culture has all but erased
the notion of “guilty-pleasures”. It feels like it’s nothing if not cool to
listen to Taylor Swift, adult male or otherwise – with Ryan Adams’ full-on
cover of 1989 providing the perfect punctuation mark to this case. It’s safe to
unironically jam out to the new Justin Bieber track (hat tip to Diplo &
Skrillex, who both had massive years). That said, I do not believe that artists
like Adele holding streaming services hostage to eventually cash in with
something like 80% of the year’s actual music sales is at all healthy or the
right answer to the music industry’s problems.
I struggle to articulate
exactly why, but Lean On by Major Lazer was hands-down my favorite song of the
year. A departure from my usual melancholy pick.
If you are a Spotify
subscriber and have not yet spent time with their Discover Weekly feature, you
would do well to spend some time with it one of these weeks. It has proven to
be an indispensable and fascinating resource in my musical life.
Also, it sure is great to
have a new song from Missy Elliott.
And now, a list:
10 Surf by Donnie
Trumpet & the Social Experiment
Is the new sound of indie hip-hop: lively, optimistic,
musically rich, smart, uniquely 21st century. Watch this
video and it will all become clear.
9 Constant Bop by
Bop English
Is a classic throwback, a record that believes in the
unadulterated joy of the best that 70’s rock & roll had to offer, updated
for the modern era.
8 Art Angels by
Grimes
Is the sound of a prodigious talent hitting her stride: it
is challenging and rewarding, all framed underneath a shimmering pop sheen.
7 Vestiges & Claws
by Jose Gonzalez
Is a beautifully rendered and realized, probing record, a
spiritual successor to the work of Nick Drake, that feels nonetheless crucial
in the modern age.
6 I Love You,
Honeybear by Father John Misty
Is a caustic love record from the indie scene’s asshole-poet
laureate whose fundamental unpleasantness can’t overshadow his stupendous song-craft
and witty lyricism, especially with his renewed faith in the meaning of life
with love in it.
5 Compton by Dr. Dre
Is the most consistently listenable hip-hop album of the year. A return to form for a legend of hip-hop, fleshed out with a deep cast of talented lyricists who fully realize the good Dr.'s grand ambitions. It is the first record since Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy that has succeeded at both mammoth artistic and populist ambitions.
4 Sometimes I Sit and
Think, Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett
Is whip-smart and just an incredibly done wordy rock record
from 2015’s unanimous rookie of the year; a work of musical literature that perfectly encapsulates the life of a 21st-century 20-something (or 30-something).
3 Love Songs for
Robots by Patrick Watson
Is a beautiful meditation on life in the modern age – it is
immaculately crafted, symphonic and Beatles-esque, it is the sound of a group
of touring musicians firing on all cylinders, concerned with the world they
occupy: apocalyptic, wistful, hopeful.
2 Divers by Joanna
Newsom
Is massively, frighteningly, frustratingly ambitious, an
exploration of life and time, a work buried deep in literature and philosophy,
across eleven unique arrangers who each treat Newsom’s compositions with great
care, for better or worse. The album is incredibly dense, and demands and
deserves attention. It is the sound of a singular artist operating at the
height of her ambitions, if less obviously emotional, and more obtuse for it.
1 In Colour by
Jamie XX
Is a gorgeous and textured musical voyage. It is
simultaneously an exploration of the history of electronic music, and a bold
step forward, paying homage as it points forward. It is eminently listenable,
beautiful, and engrossing. It is the album that I turned to more than any other
this year. It is the sound of an old friend. It is a warm blanket. It is
excellent.
Click here
for a youtube playlist of some of my favorite songs of the year.
Click here
for a Spotify playlist of some of my favorite s
ongs of the year.
Honorable Mention:
No Cities to Love
by Sleater-Kinney
Summertime ’06 by
Vince Staples
1989 by Ryan Adams
Carrie & Lowell
by Sufjan Stevens
Star Wars by Wilco
From Kinshasa by
Mbongwana Star
Multi-Love by
Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Currents by Tame
Impala
Sound & Color
by Alabama Shakes
Traveller by Chris
Stapleton
Everybody’s A Good Dog
by Diane Coffee
Second Sight by
Hey Rosetta!
Coming Home by
Leon Bridges
Something More Than
Free by Jason Isbell
The Blade by
Ashley Monroe
After by Lady Lamb
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