Favourite Albums - 2015

Four tiers this year; I couldn't make up my mind on a well structured 10 or 15 or whatever.

Honourable Mentions (More of the Pop side of things or just didn't quite make it) in no particular order:
- Vince Staples - Summertime '06
Probably would/should be higher, but just didn't spend enough time on it.

- Freddie Gibbs - Shadow of a Doubt
Same situation as Vince Staples.

- CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
Really solid, but just a bit too much like 2013's Bones of What You Believe, which I still prefer.

- Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION
Just some really solid pop fun, but more grown up than her last effort. Couldn't get it out of my head.

- Derrival - Departure & Arrival EP
I'm biased: I love these boys and am really proud of them, but dang, this is some fun power indie pop goodness.

- Josh Ritter - Sermon on the Rocks
I had broken up with Josh Ritter a couple albums ago, but "Young Moses" and "Getting Ready to Get Down" won me back for now.

- Grimes - Art Angels
Adorably creepy and very shiny pop music.

- The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ
While I love The Mountain Goats (a LOT), this isn't my favourite effort of theirs. But I could not stop playing "Foreign Object" on repeat. That track slays.

- Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
Quirky rock/pop with some really fun story telling and lots of fun energy. Glad she's starting to get some decent recognition.

- Arca - Mutant
I've listened once. It was great. I loved his last album so I'm sure this would be higher if I'd gotten around to giving it the close attention it deserves.




TIER THREE (A ten-way tie for 8th, 9th, and 10th place):
Note: All of these albums are reaaaaally good. I just couldn't decide which to put where.

- Bell Witch - Four Phantoms
Richly textured and gorgeous doom metal. Four tracks with a play time of over 66 minutes. This is the album I've been waiting for from them. Easily one of my favourite metal albums of the year.

- Prurient - Frozen Niagra Falls
Oh man, this record is exhausting. It feels like being stuck outside in a snowstorm. There are glitchy noise tracks which just sounds like ice and wind tearing past your face. There are pretty spoken word tracks which feel like you've ducked into an old church to escape the weather for a bit. And there are tracks where you feel like you're being beaten physical and verbally. It's an album of isolation, despair, anger, and regret. But there's something very cinematic to it as well.

- Zs - Xe
How to describe this album? Aphex Twin, Neu, and Krallice all merged to play jazz. It's a really mesmerizing experience to hear what I think is a fully live band (aka no programming) playing intricate and glitchy prog jazz jams. Yes. All I can do is throw buzzwords at you and hope you realize that this ambitious project is well worth exploring. The drumming is terrific. Like really really good.

- Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
It's amazing how much noise two guys can make. This is the most ferocious and ambitious garage rock album I've maybe ever heard. One guitar, one drumkit: MASSIVE sound and amazing riffs. Once I put this on I don't want it to stop. So frenetic and chaotic but always totally in step with each other. Some of the drumming had me on the edge of my seat. So hard hitting and SO fun.

- Ghost - Meliora
I started listening to this album this week. If I'd discovered it earlier it may have been solidly in the second tier. I don't usually go in for melodic metal and clean vocals, and even more rarely do I accept cheesy organ/key solos in my metal. But for some reason this is the perfect blend of theatrical goofiness, good groves, catchy tunes and heavy riffs to work for me. I've had a hard time listening to anything else since I found it.

- Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
This is a heavy freaking album, and Chelsea's vocals are hauntingly gorgeous. Super crushing and beautiful. Really enjoyable.

- Björk - Vulnicura
This is a really incredible album. It's a devastating chronicle of a divorce. I think it is probably one of the best albums of the year, but didn't quite make it higher because it's so exhausting to listen to. However if you dig into the lyrics and the music on this one it is well worth the effort. You can see my full review in a previous post.

- Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
Man, Tier Three could have competed with other year's top ten lists in and of itself. I wasn't as impressed with Julia's last album as I had been with her first two really excellent and (very) challenging albums. It had felt a little unfocused - like it couldn't decide between pop and weird. This one finds the balance I think she was looking for and has some lovely songs with really great arrangements with strange instrumentation. Her voice is very soothing, but lyrically she has many subtle layers which I wish I'd spent more time on this year. This album will be one I keep coming back to to find more.

- Thundercat - The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam
Thundercat featured heavily on To Pimp a Butterfly this year, as well as on You're Dead! last year. This solo EP is super dreamy while still showing off his incredible bass-playing prowess. Sounds like a companion piece to You're Dead! in a lot of ways - which is a great thing. At only 16 minutes it's basically a short suite of songs. Really great production, tone, and arrangements.

- Torres - Sprinter
This album surprised me. It almost slid by without me noticing it. But Torres' vocals are SO intense - even at their quietest - and the instrumentation (in someways very basic and straightforward) really lets her shine. This album is at times uncomfortably personal. It reminds me most of Lisa Germano's masterpiece Geek the Girl. This is one album I rarely felt like listening to, but as soon as her voice got in my head, I couldn't turn away. Really, really intensely great. My biggest surprise of the year probably.




TIER TWO (Solidly in the Top Ten):
7) Kamasi Washington - The Epic
Epic indeed! Kamasi was the band leader for a lot To Pimp a Butterfly - especially the jazzier sections. This is his band at full force. Three discs (nearly THREE HOURS) of incredible modern jazz. This thing has everything. I know I've barely scratched the surface of this thing in my listens. I don't think I've done the whole thing straight in a row yet for one thing. But I can't stop coming back to it, and each song is worthy of attention in and of itself. A really amazing blend of modern music and older jazz traditions. I really don't know what to say except that the band is super tight, the arrangements are super ambitious, and...just go listen.

6) Lin Manuel Miranda, et al. - Hamilton - Original Broadway Cast Recording
Now, musically this album is not as impressive as many of the albums in Tier Three, but as a whole this project is a massive musical feat. This is a hip hop Les Miserables set in NYC during and in the aftermath of the American revolution. It's this high on the list because I CANNOT stop listening to it. The way Miranda blends musical themes, history, and hip hop and makes it feel cohesive is truly remarkable - and I haven't even SEEN the show. This will make you laugh one moment and give you a lump in your throat the next. Also, how did he make a cabinet meeting about a financial system into an exhilarating rap battle? Seriously. You heard that correctly. Go listen to this. I really hope it tours coz I want to seeeee it.

5) Baroness - Purple
Yellow & Green made my top albums of the year in 2012 ago, and it was far from perfect. It was too long and there were definitely some filler tunes mixed in with the killer tunes on the massive double disc. Regardless, Baroness should have exploded that year, but a devastating bus accident nearly killed the whole band. John Baizley, writer/singer/guitar player and prolific artist (all the band's STUNNING album covers have been painted by Baizley) was told he would never play guitar again. But he persevered in pursuing music and this is a reinvigorated Baroness with a mostly new line up (a couple of the former band members decided to give up touring after the accident). This album cuts all the fat on Yellow & Green and just delivers solid riffs and huge hooks. This album oozes energy and despite the somewhat dark lyrics (as always) there is a new sense of vibrancy here. The video for album centrepiece "Chlorine & Wine" shows a band just EXPLODING with how excited they are to be making this music. It's EXHILARATING to watch, and this album was pencilled into my top ten on the strength of that single alone, but when the album released with great tune after great tune I couldn't deny it a place in my top five.

4) Destroyer - Poison Season
Destroyer was the best live show I saw this year and I'd be lying if I said that this fact didn't influence how high this album is on my list. But it's solid on it's own merits. Destroyer has always put out interesting albums, with complex and thoughtful lyrics full of obscure references to a very broad section of music history. Poison Season continues to reinforce Destroyer as one of my favourite artists. Dan Bejar is a poet at heart, and sometimes can lean towards the understated, but his band is SO tight here. With three versions of the same song (opening, dividing, and ending the album) this almost feels like a very long (52 minutes) EP. That might sound unappealing to some (hearing the same song three ways) but each version brings out a different character of the track. Same with his re-working of "Archer on the Beach." This is not a new song, but the new arrangement brought such a new take on it that it took me a while to recognize it the first time I heard it. Bejar has always been self referential, weaving his own mythology and world by reinterpreting or quoting his older songs, and there are plenty of gems for long time Destroyer fans here. But this album is also solid by itself for new fans. Lush production and great arrangements (plus an amazing live show) put this solidly up in my top five.



TIER ONE (Clear Winners):
Note: These three albums were a good couple steps ahead of the rest of the pack.

3) Joanna Newsom - Divers
This was my most anticipated album of...well since Have One On Me came out in January of 2010. FIVE YEARS later, here it is! Joanna Newsom is one of the most unique artists of our time. She plays harp and piano mostly, and her chirping voice swoops and soars in complexly melodic tongue twisters, spinning magical tales of (in Divers) time-travel, oceanic exploits, and birds at war. The longer I waited for her next album the more worried I grew about what it would be. Have One On Me was a gorgeous album (my favourite of the decade, still) born out of trauma and heartbreak, and in the ensuing years she got married to Andy Samberg (ya, THAT Andy Samberg) and I was scared that marital bliss would somehow work against her musical genius. NOT SO! Once again she casts her magic spell and I am entranced. The first single, "Sapokanikan", begins with a lilting piano and a charming melody which just grows as the arrangement expands, while lyrically Newsom discusses the founding of the city of New York with references to Ozymandius as well as native american legends, and somehow it's still a love song. Divers has no "On a Good Day" style little charming songs, nor a counterpart to the heart-rending "Baby Birch", which is why it didn't soar as high as Have One On Me did for me, but it did not disappoint and I am still very excited for everything Joanna Newsom will do in the future. This is a really magical album worth diving into deeply (pun not intended).

2) Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
I've always respected Sufjan, but I've never really fallen in love with him, until now. This album is very sparse (the polar opposite to something like Illinois) and deals with loss, trauma, abuse, a crisis of faith, and suicidal thoughts, all while being stunningly gorgeous AND human. I have posted below part of a review I didn't finish from when the album first came out if you want a deeper analysis about why you should listen to this. "The Only Thing" is my favourite track of the lot if you need a place to start. To summarize my love for this album let me say this: On Carrie and Lowell, Sufjan Stevens' honesty hurts me and heals me, saddens me and gives me hope.

1) Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
Well this should be no surprise by now as I've mentioned TPAB a number of times on this list already. Kendrick wins 2015. Hands down. This album... man... what can be said that hasn't been said already? Good Kid M.A.A.D City was my favourite album of 2012. TPAB is maybe better. But the important thing is that Kendrick hasn't lost his strong narrative voice or point of view, which is what makes him one of the best musical artists of our generation. GKMC was about growing up, and trying to take responsibility for yourself in spite of your environment; TPAB is about expanding that responsibility out TO your environment. Race, Culture, Fame, Greed, Depression, and History - all battle for influence in Kendrick's life. Musically you get a history of west coast rap music through Dr. Dre's influence, combined with jazz music (courtesy of Kamasi Washington), as well as some deep soul elements. It's a masterpiece of urban synthesis. Thematically the whole album is tied together by a poem, of which we hear a little more every song or two, which guides the narrative, until it culminates in a chillingly recreated interview with Tupac Shakur. Along the way Kendrick fights for his freedom from Uncle Sam (Greed incarnate) who wants to hold him down with debt and the desire for things, Lucy (Lucifer) who wants him to sell his soul for fame, and fake fans who want to take from his recent gains. He also fights with himself - depression, hypocrisy - and comes through able to say "I love myself."

I didn't even try and tackle a full review of this album. There's too much. "King Kunta" is groovy brag rap at it's best. "Alright" which basically became the theme song for #BlackLivesMatter, chants "I'm fucked up/ homie, you fucked up/ but if God got us/ then we gon' be alright!" On "The Blacker the Berry" Kendrick declares "I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015" when he rants against police against young black men, but then finds himself turning his back on others who need help. "How Much a Dollar Cost" has him confront his new found wealth and try and sort out his negative and dismissive attitude towards a homeless man begging. And I haven't even mentioned how he modulates his voice to portray multiple characters and perspectives, the fact that his flow is always impeccable, and how he can be hilarious without detracting from the broader important point he's trying to make. This is an album of a young man wrestling to find something greater than himself, while at the same time trying to find where he fits in. Kendrick at I are the same age, and To Pimp a Butterfly gives me a window into a world I have no understanding of. It challenges me, in my relatively easy environment, and shows me my complacency. Kendrick is fighting for his humanity, and for the humanity of those around him. And he learns, and teaches, much on this journey. That's why this is easily my favourite album of the year. Thanks Kendrick.

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (2015)

Sufjan Stevens opens Carrie & Lowell with the beautiful “Death With Dignity” which acts as a thesis statement of sorts for the rest of the album. This album is Sufjan’s attempt to work through the emotional backlash caused by the death of his mostly absent mother. (He talks about it himself in an interview with Pitchfork here: http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/9595-true-myth-a-conversation-with-sufjan-stevens/) “I forgive you mother, I can hear you, and I long to be near you.” Sparkling acoustic guitars contrast with the fear and self doubt as he attempts to air the wounds of childhood trauma. Haunted by his mother’s “apparition” Sufjan doesn’t know “where to begin.” While most of the production on this track remains uniform, there is great little piano interlude which acts as a bridge before the last verse, which is adds echoed vocals before accepting that Carrie will “never see us again.” Immediately following this realization is the first of several beautiful hymn-like codas which act as transitions between songs. They seem to act as wordless prayers, emotional outpourings which cannot be expressed even with Sufjan’s impressive songwriting skills. This first coda is unique in that it has a lap-steel solo which adds a melodic aspect to the swelling guitars.

“Should Have Know Better,” one of my favourite tracks on this album, is beautifully structured from a poetic stand point. The verses are made of five line stanzas, each with the line “my black shroud” in its centre. The second stanza is one of my favourites on the album:

I should have wrote a letter

And grieve what I happen to grieve

My black shroud

I never trust my feelings

I waited for the remedy

Repression, self doubt, and procrastination have led to regret and lost opportunities for healing, as they have in my life and I’m sure in many others. Avoiding grief deepens grief later. The first chorus reveals just how traumatic having Carrie as a mother could be: “When I was three, three maybe four, she left us at that video store.” While the song opens in a very somber mood - acoustic guitars, floating background vocals - after the second chorus there is a wonderful tonal shift brought about by a chirping casio-keyboard solo (the kind which were very popular in indie music from the early 2000s). After this solo Sufjan confronts the fact that while yes, he should have wrote that letter, “the past is still the past, the bridge to nowhere.” And so, discarding his black shroud of first half of the song, Sufjan reflects on the “beauty” and “illumination” brought into his family’s life by the birth of his niece. This is one of the few moments which really opens up, which soars in hope, which approaches any of the exuberance of 2005’s Illinois. The coda breaks the spell with swelling chords descending back into the gloom of depression.

“All of Me Wants All of You” opens with one of the most devastating verses I have heard in a very long time. Nothing could convey Sufjan’s sense of disconnection or his failed search for love and meaning in relationships than the line, “You checked your texts while I masturbated.” While in the first track he felt his mother’s apparition pass right through him, now he sings “I’m just a ghost you walk right through.” The emptiness caused by his mother’s death, now reinforced in his lover’s indifference, begins to encroach on the realm of faith as he sings, “Revelation may come true.” There is both hope and doubt in that line, a dichotomy which persists throughout the rest of the album.

Dismembered beasts, the the ingredients of a failed spell, fill “Drawn to the Blood.” While praying for love, Sufjan wallows in self pity, “How did this happen?” Strangely he calls on Delilah, a figure of betrayal in the Old Testament, to avenge his grief. And yet, despite the questioning self pity, the coda is one of the most extended and beautiful, swelling upwards and seeming to resolve more than many of the other codas, as if maybe there is an answer to his questioning.

“Eugene”, one of many references to Oregon on Carrie & Lowell, is the city where Carrie met Lowell, and the place where Sufjan and his siblings spent their three best summers with their mother as children. The refrain at the end of each verse intones a deep desire to be near his mother. Images of baptism (“Like a Father he led community water on my head,” and “In the sprinkle I mark the evidence known from the start.”) and death (“From the bed near your death, and all the machines that made a mess”) contrast each other while he continues desperately to “pray to what I cannot see.” But in the end hopelessness sets in:

For the rest of my life

Admitting the best is behind me

Now I’m drunk and afraid

Wishing the world would go away

What’s the point of singing songs

If they’ll never even hear you?

“Eugene” ends very abruptly on that last “You?” This is the first song without a coda, and they don’t return for a while, as if the “What’s the point” extends past singing songs to “What’s the point of prayer, or hope, or life?"

The imagery rich “Fourth of July”  seems to be a conversation with his mother, who he refers to as “my fading supply.” It’s almost as if she’s a drug he’s addicted to and he knows that withdrawal is going to kick in soon. Despite being implored to “make the most of your life, while it is rife” and wondering “What could I have said to raise you from the dead?” the song ends with a long litany meditating on the line “We’re all gonna die.” Musically there is a sense of hospital room beeps and the pulse of life support machines, along with a shimmering, dream-like effervescence, but again, no coda.

“The Only Thing” is hands down my favourite track on this album. The guitar line dances, the melody flows gorgeously, and Biblical and Mythological allusions abound. Despite the uplifting mood of the music, the lyrics are the darkest yet, with Sufjan discussing possible ways of committing suicide: "The only thing that keeps me from cutting my arm/ Cross hatch, warm bath, Holiday Inn after dark” (like The Death of Seneca by Manuel Dominguez.) So what is the only thing which prevents this self destructive behaviour? Is it faith? Signs and wonders? God’s grace? It seems that these things, while contributing to a sense of hope, are less sure for Sufjan than they may have been in the past. They’re there, but perhaps not giving him the security he hoped. Sufjan’s sweet falsetto croons “Everything I feel returns to you some how.” Is that a prayer to God? To his mother? I think both. So, again the question is, what’s the only thing? There’s one line in the song which doesn’t fit into the established verse structure: “I want to save you from your sorrow.” From this line erupts the second truly transcendent moment on the album with electric guitars adding more energy with a high counter point. In the next verse, possibly my favourite on the album, Sufjan, saved from despair by wanting to spare others seems to elevate to yet another reason to continue striving:

The only reason why I continue at all

Faith in reason, I wasted my life playing dumb

Signs and wonders, sea lion caves in the dark

Blind faith, God’s grace, nothing else left to impart

And yet, even this is not conclusive. The question of the reason for existence hangs in the air, like the last fading chord at the end of the song.

"Carrie and Lowell” is probably the track which reminds me most of Illinois with it’s percussive layering of sounds. It is a simple, impressionistic tune in which Sufjan shares a story about Carrie breaking his arm, possibly while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Dido’s Lament by Henry Purcell, a gorgeous song about death and love (seriously look it up), is also referenced. Strangely, the arm breaking incident comes after energetic shift upwards at the end of the song which is then followed immediately by the coda’s return after a number of songs.

NOTE: This is an incomplete review posted about 7 months after it was written, because I won’t ever finish it at this point.