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Pierre wrote:I'm enormously amused by the reaction to Pitchfork awarding a "Best New Track" feature to Carly Rae Jepsen's "All That". I doubt it will be nearly enough to make "E MO TION" the "1989" of 2015 (what a confusing sentence that makes, thank you Taylor Swift)

When I said that back then in April, I was only joking. But now, when I see the reviews E•MO•TION is getting I'm fearing to be in for the Most unnecessary Nostradamus moment award of 2015

Listening to Destroyer's "Poison Season". Their last album, "Kaputt", was easily one of my favorite albums of the first half of the decade. "Poison Season" isn't bad, but it's sure one hell of a letdown. :/

"Poison Season" is a "pretty good" album that just happens to be a followup to a "freaking excellent" album.

Pierre wrote:

Pierre wrote:I'm enormously amused by the reaction to Pitchfork awarding a "Best New Track" feature to Carly Rae Jepsen's "All That". I doubt it will be nearly enough to make "E MO TION" the "1989" of 2015 (what a confusing sentence that makes, thank you Taylor Swift)

When I said that back then in April, I was only joking. But now, when I see the reviews E•MO•TION is getting I'm fearing to be in for the Most unnecessary Nostradamus moment award of 2015

Yeah. E•MO•TION was one of those albums that was so poppy that I had to stop listening. Actually the same thing with 1989 for me.

PlasticRam wrote:

Pierre wrote:

Pierre wrote:I'm enormously amused by the reaction to Pitchfork awarding a "Best New Track" feature to Carly Rae Jepsen's "All That". I doubt it will be nearly enough to make "E MO TION" the "1989" of 2015 (what a confusing sentence that makes, thank you Taylor Swift)

When I said that back then in April, I was only joking. But now, when I see the reviews E•MO•TION is getting I'm fearing to be in for the Most unnecessary Nostradamus moment award of 2015

Yeah. E•MO•TION was one of those albums that was so poppy that I had to stop listening. Actually the same thing with 1989 for me.

Same, for 1989 at least. "Blank Space" was okay, but I just couldn't get into it.

Haven't Heard Emotion, but I didn't like "Call me Maybe" at all, so I don't have high hopes.

Tame Impala-Currents
Florence + The Machine-How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp a Butterfly
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds-Chasing Yesterday
Civil Twilight-Story of an Immigrant
Jason Isbell-Something More than Free
Dodos-Individ
Sufjan Stevens-Carrie and Lowell
Belle and Sebastian-Girls in Peacetime want to Dance
Courtney Barnett-Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
Father John Misty-I Love You, Honeybear
Bjork-Vulnicura
Years & Years-Communion
British India-Nothing Touches Me
Mumford and Sons-Wilder Heart
Mbongwana Star-From Kishasa
Art of Dying-Rise Up EP
Titus Andronicus-A Most Lamentable Tragedy
AWOLNATION-Run
Mountain Goats-Beat the Champ
Sun kil Moon-Universal Themes
Tltshft-Tides EP (Fine. Can't put my acquaintances up too high, but I did like the production here)
jonathan Tyler-Holy Smokes
Birds of Tokyo-Anchor EP
Disturbed-Immortalized (Fan-pandering at its finest. It won't resonate with everyone, but it will resonate greatly with those it does hit. I did like the "Sound of Silence" cover especially)
Decemberists-What A Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
Miguel-Wildheart
Muse-Drones
Doomtree-All Hands

Carly Rae Jepsen's new album is....surprisingly good. Not mindblowingly great or anything, but a really well done pop album. My only complaint is that there isn't an original thought on the album. Everything is done in the same retro 80's throwback style that's currently in vogue. But still, the album has a certain "innocent love, holding hands, cuddling and kissing, first crush, girl next door" kind of vibe that's easy to like. If you liked "1989", check this out.

Kate Pierson - Guitars And Microphones: Catchiest pop album of the year. Top 10 of the year contender for me.

Also I think To Pimp A Butterfly is finally clicking with me.

The Weeknd's newest album confirms that the only interesting thing he's put out was "House of Balloons". His debut studio album "Kiss Land", was the absolute definition of mediocre, and his second studio album, "Beauty Behind the Madness", is only a hair better.

Imagine you had an album almost entirely composed of filler. Just milquetoast R&B/pop song after milquetoast R&B/pop song, with only a couple good songs breaking up the boredom. There's nothing here egregiously bad, but...wow, what a snoozefest of an album.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

5/10 (and that's being generous)

Nick wrote:The Weeknd's newest album confirms that the only interesting thing he's put out was "House of Balloons". His debut studio album "Kiss Land", was the absolute definition of mediocre, and his second studio album, "Beauty Behind the Madness", is only a hair better.

Imagine you had an album almost entirely composed of filler. Just milquetoast R&B/pop song after milquetoast R&B/pop song, with only a couple good songs breaking up the boredom. There's nothing here egregiously bad, but...wow, what a snoozefest of an album.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

5/10 (and that's being generous)

I haven't listened to his latest album yet but I've heard mixed things about it. Some love and some don't. It seems like he is trying to become a pop star with his singles really taking off but as you said he may never make anything better than HOB.

Anyone listen to this Miley Cyrus-Flaming Lips album that dropped today? I haven't but I must say my curiosity is provoked.

Listyguy wrote:Anyone listen to this Miley Cyrus-Flaming Lips album that dropped today? I haven't but I must say my curiosity is provoked.

Miley Cyrus, Wayne Coyne, and Ariel Pink...all competent musicians whom I absolutely despise as human beings, which is saying something coming from a Kanye fan

Listyguy wrote:Anyone listen to this Miley Cyrus-Flaming Lips album that dropped today? I haven't but I must say my curiosity is provoked.

The first five seconds of the first song killed any curiosity I had.

Listyguy wrote:Anyone listen to this Miley Cyrus-Flaming Lips album that dropped today? I haven't but I must say my curiosity is provoked.

I just gave it a go. It sounded like a Flaming Lips record where Miley was doing the lead vocals, alongside some leftovers from Bangerz. As far as Miley goes, it therefore certainly is experimental, but for people who are acquainted with the indie psychedelic pop scene, there's not necessarily many fresh ideas to find here. And it remains rather pop, that's not St. Vincent or Björk-level experimental pop (close, but not quite there yet). As for the lyrics that I caught (remember English is not my native language), they range from the average to the outright embarrassing. Overall, that's listenable, but there are moments you'll be glad to have your headphones so no one else can hear. It's overlong and bloated, and the length is not justified by the quality; there's a lot that could have been cut for a tighter record, but I guess it's not the idea behind it anyway. There are good songs, but they're drowned in the more average stuff and crappy skits in such a way that you don't necessarily remember them when you reach the end.

I don't really know what critics will do with it. Like the most Prince-ish tracks from Carly's album, it feels like she's trying to get some credential from indie/hipster critics. Whether they will fall for it or not, I can't tell.

There's a Miley Cyrus/Flaming Lips album?

This sounds like a post somebody made in a thread made at the end of 2014 where everybody throws out joke headlines that they predict for 2015. Like "Kanye West drops acoustic folk album, called by Paul Simon to be greatest folk album of all time".

I'll give it a listen.

1) Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
2) Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
3) Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experience - Surf
4) Dan Deacon - Gliss Riffer
5) Salut C'est Cool - Sur le Thème des Grandes Decouvertes
6) Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too
7) Shamir - Ratchet
8) Jamie XX - In Colour
9) Hop Along - Painted Shut
10) Godspeed! You Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
11) Various Artists - PC Music Vol. 1
12) Mourn - Mourn
13) Blur - The Magic Whip
14) Hot Chip - Why Make Sense ?
15) Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass
16) Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
17) Father John Misty - I Love You Honeybear
18) Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit
19) Gaz Coombes - Matador
20) Algiers - Algiers
21) Faith No More - Sol Invictus
22) Four Tet - Morning/Evening
23) Haiku Salut - Etch and Etch Deep
24) KEN Mode - Success
25) The Decemberists - What a Beautiful World, What a Terrible World
26) Lil B x Chance the Rapper - Free
27) Everything Everything - Get to Heaven
28) Vince Staples - Summertime '06
29) Colleen Green - I Want to Grow Up
30) Tame Impala - Currents
31) Beach House - Depression Cherry
32) Viet Cong - Viet Cong
33) Millencolin - True Brew
34) Ho99o9 - Horrors of 1999 EP
35) Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves
36) John Carpenter - Lost Themes
37) Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
38) Crapulax - Violence Gratuite et Flûte de Pan
39) Warren G - Regulate... G Funk Era, Pt. II
40) The Dodos - Individ
41) Refused - Freedom
42) Built to Spill - Untetherd Moon
43) Lupe Fiasco - Tetsuo & Youth
44) BC Camplight - How To Die In The North
45) Jessica Pratt - On Your Own Love Again
46) Bjork - Vulnicura
47) Muse - Drones
48) Enter Shikari - The Mindsweep 
49) Madeon - Adventure
50) Panda Bear - Panda Bear meets the Grim Reaper
51) Holly Herndon - Platform

Salut C'est Cool is too much fun to be resisted, though I guess it will have much less impact if you don't understand French. But Bibliothèque seriously is one of the funniest song ever. I'd recommend "Je suis dans un rêve" if you want to know what the band sound like (the answer being kitschy synth-heavy electronic music).
Four and Haiku Salut both released very interesting records that will deserve further spins, I expect Four Tet to at least crack my top 20 at some point, unless the end of the year is solid.
Every other new entry is good but not great, from Warreng G to the a bit too over the top ho99o9.
Depression Cherry might be my favorite Beach House album, but that's not saying much, just that I felt much less like dozing off than usual. Same for Currents, I don't fully get the level of acclaim of those 2 bands.
The new Refused album, thought not as bad as critics said, doesn't have much interest.

Have You in My Wilderness is further evidence that Julia Holter is magical. She made Natalie Prass's debut and Joanna Newsom's return rather tame four songs in - and everybody here knows I am a Newsom fanboy all the way. This is gorgeous. It's the otherwordly sucessor of Scott Walker's Scott 3 or any of Talk Talk''s masterpieces; beautiful and dreamy string arrangements; unexpected turns and such an organic feeling throughout. I just want to lay and let this record take me to wherever Holter conceived it. I once said she's the greatest songwriter of this decade. She's so ahead of the pack, it's getting ridiculous. Four very individual records in five years. 9/10

Have You in My Wilderness features what is easily some of the most ornate, beautiful instrumentation I've heard since Modern Vampires of the City. Combine that with Holter's knack for writing lyrics that could double as modernist prose, and you've got one of the best albums of an already great year on your hands. In fact the orchestral backing often seems to offer wordless answers to the questions found in Holter's lyrics.

While I am still digesting her other great works, Loud City Song and Ekstasis, I feel one of the strongest parts of this record in particular is Holter pushing her music in a more extroverted direction, giving this record a sense of immediacy and accessibility than its companions. It does this, however, without any sort of compromise or dilution of her trademark sound, and invites what is sure to be many repeated listens of the album as well as its companions.

Earlier this year I took my first trip to New York, and this record seems to evoke the same sense of wonder and curiosity I felt walking around Manhattan. The sense of being utterly dwarfed by millions of other lives, like living in the belly of a whale, yet filled with peace and curiosity instead of fear. Like that trip, Have You in My Wilderness is sure to be among the more memorable parts of my year.

*note: I will not be showing my scores for albums or lists until the end of the year

La Di Da Di, the third album from Battles, is streaming over at NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2015/09/09/438878493 ... a-di-da-di

Ibeyi - Ibeyi 8 Beautiful voices and melodies. Björk is not too far in some songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAzjmDZD4aY

Dan, HRS, if you have not listened to this album yet, you can try. It's your dope I think.

I may never fully understand what possessed Ryan Adams to record a track for track cover of the latest Taylor Swift album, but I'm sure glad he did. On "1989", Ryan Adams channels Wilco and Springsteen to create one of the more perplexing albums of the year. It's no masterpiece, but even Swift haters will probably find something to like here.

75/100

CHVRCHES! Their debut album is one of my favorite albums ever — almost every track on it feels like it could be a single. I can't listen to the new one for several hours, but you can bet I'll be rushing to it!

http://www.npr.org/2015/09/20/439491238 ... y-open-eye

Sweepstakes Ron wrote:CHVRCHES! Their debut album is one of my favorite albums ever — almost every track on it feels like it could be a single. I can't listen to the new one for several hours, but you can bet I'll be rushing to it!

http://www.npr.org/2015/09/20/439491238 ... y-open-eye

Well I loved their last album so I'm looking forward to this one as well.

Women are hitting it out of the park of an already amazing year. Three great Eps by Robyn (w/La Bagatelle Magique) , FKA Twigs and the funky Wondaland Present: The Eephus headed by Janelle Monae.

Have You In My Wilderness is a beautiful listen, the tracks that were not immediate standouts are growing on me. The haunting drone of How Long? reminds me of some of the string sections found on Vulnicura. I was also a fan of the debut, self-titled, by Georgia, kinda like M.I.A in some ways, I'm looking forward to what she gets up to in the future.

I'm really enjoying Honeymoon by Lana Del Rey. While I think the album is 3 tracks too long, there isn't a stretch of tracks that feel like filler. I'm happy to see an album that isn't just front loaded, some of the best tracks are in the second half. I don't think it's going to get her many new fans, but if you were a fan of Ultraviolence, I would definitely give it a listen.

I can not express how bloody excited I am for Divers by Joanna Newsom. I'm glad I can't stream the tracks released so far because I would have played them to death. Leaving the City is glorious, the first time the guitar (?) comes in and she picks up the pace and then there are drums thundering along, I can't handle it. If these two singles are indicative of what is to come I expect it to be high on the AOTY lists.

I'm listening to the new Chu-ver-ches album. I haven't listened to their debut, so I don't know if it's a step up or down yet.

Edit: And now Sexwitch is streaming, and I'm liking it on first listen http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicb ... bum-stream
Edit 2: Peaches today as well http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2015/9/Fir ... eaches-Rub

I like the Lana Del Rey album as much as her previous efforts. Songs on this new album have a unique, wonderful way of growing on you as the song progresses.

Anyone know what's going on with Popmatters? Servers seem down last few days. If they're gone I will need to find another source which reviews less popular genres.

New Lana Del Rey is okay. Though she really abuses the echo effect and comes off as emotionally forced.

Jirin wrote:Anyone know what's going on with Popmatters? Servers seem down last few days. If they're gone I will need to find another source which reviews less popular genres.

They are still publishing new stories, so not gone - but you need to be lucky to actually be able to load up the pages. They are having technical issues (see their Twitter feed).

New Bermuda, the 3rd Deafheaven LP is streaming now:

http://www.npr.org/2015/09/23/441531170 ... ew-bermuda

I'll continue the love for Julia Holter, she just continues to put out amazing albums surprisingly frequently. This might be my album of the year, and perhaps it's more psychedelic pop sound will be enough for her to finally get some love on EoY lists from mainstream critics. Unfortunately, the amount of high profile artists who released albums this year will make that difficult--too bad she didn't have an album out in 2014, when there wasn't as much competition.

Electronic music isn't much in vogue near here, but Floating Points is releasing an album called Elaenia which is shaping up to be fantastic. The first single (Silhouettes) is probably my track of the year.

The pope is releasing an album?

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... p-20150925

The new Deafheaven is really good. It won't make any converts, and it's not quite "Sunbather" levels of great, but it's still a very strong album. If you're a fan of their previous work, it's a must-listen.

It seems that the slightly underwhelming series of singles leading up to the release of Disclosure's Caracal was an omen *ba-dum tiss*. Aside from Lorde's contribution, great as always, the duo have settled (more puns) for a mildly enjoyable collection of same-y midtempo house-influenced r&b. Not terrible, but not a must-listen by any means, especially in a great year like 2015.

So many good releases (at least it looks like) this year that I haven't listened to yet. I have been stuck in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s lately.

notbrianeno wrote:It seems that the slightly underwhelming series of singles leading up to the release of Disclosure's Caracal was an omen *ba-dum tiss*. Aside from Lorde's contribution, great as always, the duo have settled (more puns) for a mildly enjoyable collection of same-y midtempo house-influenced r&b. Not terrible, but not a must-listen by any means, especially in a great year like 2015.

I'll second this. "Settle" was absolutely amazing, but "Caracal" is just a poor man's version of that album. It may make for serviceable background music at a party, or a semi-decent soundtrack to your local Urban Outfitters, but besides that it doesn't really have too much use. Some of the songs (like the one with Lorde) are pretty nice though, and there's nothing outright bad on the album. At it's worst, "Caracal" is just boring.

6/10

So are the new U.S. Girls, Girl's Names and Girl Band as promising as the last Girls' album? I felt it was very quirky like the show Girls with a dash of The New Girl's eccentric poise without being too hipster to get bashed on 2 Broke Girls. Like something you would have heard on Gilmore Girls.

luvulongTIM wrote:So are the new U.S. Girls, Girl's Names and Girl Band as promising as the last Girls' album? I felt it was very quirky like the show Girls with a dash of The New Girl's eccentric poise without being too hipster to get bashed on 2 Broke Girls. Like something you would have heard on Gilmore Girls.

One thing's for sure. Their cover of the Beastie Boys' "Girls" may just be "song of the year".

So, travelling alone gives plenty of time to listen to new albums, when wifi is working at least :

Disclosure - Caracal : I'll second what has been said, decent background music, big deception

Chvrches - Every Open Eye : not as stunning as their first, maybe because the surprise is not there anymore, but still very consistent. I expect at the very least Leave a Trace and Keep You On My Side will make it to my EOY list

Ought - Sun Coming Down : slight disappointment, not for lack of quality but I consider the 4 first tracks of More Than Any Other Day to be masterpieces (and the rest of the album was very solid too) so I had high expectations. I'll give it time though, I didn't consider Habit or the Weather song to be outstanding at first.

Girl Band - Holding Hands With Jamie : loved it, the band has finally found his style. It's raw and noisy so won't be everybody's cup of tea but as a garage noise rock release it's great (much more interesting than Waves x Cloud Nothings)

Battles - La Di Da Di : meh

Low - Ones and Sixes : mixed bag, but the best tracks are among the best of the years and outweight the few duds. I was a bit surprised by the review calling the band a great one trick pony, cause while this would have been true for some of their albums, they showcase here a real ambition to expand their sound, and with a lot of success.

Deafheaven - New Bermuda : one of the best albums of the year so far. It's less welcoming and post-rock than Sunbather so I expect less support In the forum, but its dark beauty and power is still overwhelming, with more elements you'd expect In a metal album (the solo in Baby Blue for instance). And it has my favorite cover album of the year for what it's worth.

Run the Jewels - Meow the Jewels : strangely enjoyable, except for Alchemist all producers took the concept surprisingly seriously. I don't care much for remix albums, and no song here is better than the original, but by replacing a lot of the punch of the original with more dark and moody productions, they at least show them through a différent light. Best title puns of the year anyway.

Well 2015 is 3/4's of the way through. Here's how the year's music stacks up.

1. Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp a Butterfly: 95

2. Tame Impala- Currents: 85
3. Jamie xx- In Colour: 85
4. Father John Misty- I Love You, Honeybear: 85
5. Sufjan Stevens- Carrie & Lowell: 85

6. Dr. Dre- Compton: 80
7. Björk- Vulnicura: 80
8. Shamir- Ratchet: 80
9. Sleater-Kinney- No Cities to Love: 80
10. Blur- The Magic Whip: 80
11. Kamasi Washington- The Epic: 80
12. Tobias Jesso Jr.- Goon: 80
13. Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Multi-Love: 80
14. Beach House- Depression Cherry: 80
15. Deafheaven- New Bermuda: 80

16. Panda Bear- Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper: 75
17. Viet Cong- Viet Cong: 75
18. Courtney Barnett- Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit: 75
19. Alabama Shakes- Sound & Color: 75
20. Ryan Adams- 1989: 75
21. Chvrches- Every Open Eye: 75
22. Carly Rae Jepsen- Emotion: 75
23. Titus Andronicus- The Most Lamentable Tragedy: 75
24. Miguel- Wildheart: 75
25. Destroyer- Poison Season: 75
26. Four Tet- Morning/Evening: 75

27. Battles- La Di Da Di: 70
28. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment- Surf: 70
29. Drake- If You're Reading This It's Too Late: 70
30. Natalie Prass- Natalie Prass: 70
31. Wilco- Star Wars: 70
32. Day Ravies- Under the Lamp (EP): 70
33. The Libertines- Anthems for Doomed Youth: 70
34. Holly Herndon- Platform: 70
35. Vince Staples- Summertime '06: 70
36. Thundercat- The Beyond/Where Giants Roam: 70
37. Passion Pit- Kindred: 70
38. Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress: 70

39. Nicolas Jaar- Nymphs III (EP): 65
40. FKA Twigs- M3LL155X (EP): 65
41. Eternal Summers: Gold and Stone: 65
42. Clark- Flame Rave (EP): 65
43. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds- Chasing Yesterday: 65
44. Bob Dylan- Shadows in the Night: 65

45. Disclosure- Caracal: 60
46. Yumi Zouma- EP II (EP): 60
47. Todd Terje- It's It's Remix Time Time (EP): 60
48. Nicolas Jaar- Nymphs II (EP): 60
49. Mac DeMarco- Another One (EP): 60

50. The Weeknd- Beauty Behind the Madness: 55
51. Sun Kil Moon- Universal Themes: 55
52. Modest Mouse- Strangers to Ourselves: 55
53. Joey Badass- B4.Da.$$: 55

54. A$AP Rocky- At. Long. Last. A$AP: 40

On My Radar:

Deerhunter- Fading Frontier- October 16th
Joanna Newsom- Divers- October 23rd
Grimes- TBA- October

Animal Collective- TBA- TBA
Chromatics- Dear Tommy- TBA
Frank Ocean- Boys Don’t Cry- TBA
James Blake- TBA- TBA
Kanye West- Swish- TBA
Radiohead- TBA- TBA
Spiritualized- TBA- TBA

luvulongTIM wrote:So are the new U.S. Girls, Girl's Names and Girl Band as promising as the last Girls' album? I felt it was very quirky like the show Girls with a dash of The New Girl's eccentric poise without being too hipster to get bashed on 2 Broke Girls. Like something you would have heard on Gilmore Girls.

Well I don't know. But this is definitely the silliest review of 2015:http://www.popmatters.com/review/us-girls-half-free/

DaveC wrote: Well I don't know. But this is definitely the silliest review of 2015:http://www.popmatters.com/review/us-girls-half-free/

"Mike Opal has a B.A. in English from Pomona College, which explains a lot about him." It sure does.

Probably my penultimate list before the year ends. New | Great - Good - Okay

1. Florence + The Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
2. Bjork - Vulnicura
3. Will Butler - Policy
4. Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon
5. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think...
6. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
7. Lonelady - Hinterland
8. Kate Peirson - Guitars and Microphones
9. Sexwitch - Sexwitch
10. Peaches - Rub
11. Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
12. Blur - The Magic Whip
13. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
14. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell

15. Villagers - Darling Arethmatic
16. Janelle Monae (Wondaland) - The Eephus (Ep)
17. Colleen Green - I Want To Grow Up
18. Georgia - Georgia
19. Robyn - Love Is Free (Ep)
20. FKA Twigs - M3LL155X (Ep)
21. Laura Marling - Short Movie
22. Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass
23. The Chemical Brothers - Born In The Echos
24. Sleater Kinney - No Cities To Love
25. FFS - FFS
26. Hot Chip - Why Make Sense?
27. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
28. Shamir - Rachet
29. Husbands - Husbands
30. Tobias Jesso Jr. - Goon
31. The Dead Weather - Dodge and Burn
32. Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too
33. Django Django - Born Under Saturn
34. Bob English - Constant Bop

35. Chvurches - Every Open Eye
36. Jamie XX - In Colors
37. Tame Impala - Currents
38. Matthew E White - Fresh Blood
39. Gwenno - Y Dydd Olaf
40. Everything Everything - Get To Heaven
41. Unkown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
42. Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meet The Grim Reaper
43. Gaz Coombes - Matador
44. Brandon Flowers - The Desired Effect
45. Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space
46. Mark Ronson - Uptown Special
47. Ryley Walker - Primrose Green

My current top of list:

1. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress
2. Mount Eerie - Sauna
3. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love
4. Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp
5. Kail Baxley - A Light That Never Dies
6. Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool
7. Royal Headache - High
8. Tame Impala - Currents
9. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment - Surf
10. Lonelady - Hinterland
11. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
12. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
13. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
14. Viet Cong - Viet Cong
15. Kate Pierson - Guitars And Microphones
16. Nicholas Krgovich - On Cahuenga
17. Miguel - Wildheart
18. Tonik Ensemble - Snapshots
19. Cannibal Ox - Blade of the Ronin
20. Dick Diver - Melbourne, Florida

Some of my favorites, off the beaten track

1. Ryley Walker - Primrose Green (singer/songwriter)
2. The Apartments - No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal (chamber pop)
3. Steve Von Till - A Life Unto Itself (singer/songwriter)
4. Natalia Lafourcade - Hasta la raiz (chamber pop)
5. Other Lives - Rituals (chamber pop)
6. Jacek Sienkiewicz (techno)
7. Neon Indian - Vega Intl. Night School (Synthpop)
8. Noel Gallagher - Chasing Yesterday (Alternative Rock)
9. Robin Trower - Something's about to change (Blues)
10. Bilderbuch - Schick Schock (indie pop)
11. My Sleeping Karma - Moksha (space rock)
12. Balthazar - Thin Walls (indie pop)
13. mind.in.a.box - Memories (future pop)
14. Knxwledge - Hud dreems (instrumental hip hop)
15. Bettye Lavette - Worthy (r&b)
16. Dr. Yen Lo - Days with Dr. Yen Lo (hip hop)

Tame Impala-Currents
Florence + The Machine-How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Editors-In Dream--I knew from the first few tracks I heard this would be a winner. Won't please everyone, but satisfied me. I'd even go so far as to say it's their best album yet!
Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp a Butterfly
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds-Chasing Yesterday
Civil Twilight-Story of an Immigrant
Jason Isbell-Something More than Free
Dodos-Individ
Deafheaven-Brought to the Water--Interesting. More my kind of metal than Sunbather was. I'd say this is on par with that one at least.
Sufjan Stevens-Carrie and Lowell
Belle and Sebastian-Girls in Peacetime want to Dance
Courtney Barnett-Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
Father John Misty-I Love You, Honeybear
Bjork-Vulnicura
Years & Years-Communion
British India-Nothing Touches Me
Mumford and Sons-Wilder Heart
Mbongwana Star-From Kishasa
Art of Dying-Rise Up EP
Halsey-Badlands-Standard pop that doesn't offend me, but doesn't move me too much either.
Titus Andronicus-A Most Lamentable Tragedy
AWOLNATION-Run
Mountain Goats-Beat the Champ
Sun kil Moon-Universal Themes
Tltshft-Tides EP
Jonathan Tyler-Holy Smokes
Wilco-Star Wars--Nothing special. Wilco being Wilco is fine, but this was not unique, to me.
Birds of Tokyo-Anchor EP
Disturbed-Immortalized
Decemberists-What A Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
Miguel-Wildheart
Muse-Drones
Doomtree-All Hands

DaveC wrote:Well I don't know. But this is definitely the silliest review of 2015:http://www.popmatters.com/review/us-girls-half-free/

Just clicked on this - holy crap. Wow. Just, wow. Is "tp:dr" (too pretentious, didn't read) an official abbreviation? If it isn't, it should be.

"Such a synecdoche is not strictly solipsistic..." Also, it sells seashells by the seashore.

It looks like the release of Grimes' new album is nearing; she just revealed that it will be titled "Art Angels" and she has unveiled the cover art (which you will either find fantastic or awful; I hope you like mangas).

http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/10/g ... r-vampire/

Oh, and as the title of the article indicates, it features a song about Al Pacino as a transgender vampire (from the viewpoint of his role in The Godfather Pt. 2). The worst thing is that I'm not even surprised anymore.

I hope it won't be a disappointment; it's easily my most anticipated release of the year.

Pierre wrote:It looks like the release of Grimes' new album is nearing; she just revealed that it will be titled "Art Angels" and she has unveiled the cover art (which you will either find fantastic or awful; I hope you like mangas).

I initially read that as "hope you like mangos."

It's not nearly as disturbing as the guro insert art from Flying Lotus' You're Dead! last year. I'm used to looking at it now, but it was a total shock to my system upon first exposure - normally, I actively try to avoid those kinds of images. The Grimes cover is positively charming by comparison.

- Well Divers is absolutely fantastic, not that there was any indication that it wouldn't be.
- I don't know how I feel about the new Majical Cloudz record.
- The Grimes artwork is unforgivable.
- Now I'm craving mango.

Harold wrote:

DaveC wrote:Well I don't know. But this is definitely the silliest review of 2015:http://www.popmatters.com/review/us-girls-half-free/

Just clicked on this - holy crap. Wow. Just, wow. Is "tp:dr" (too pretentious, didn't read) an official abbreviation? If it isn't, it should be.

"Such a synecdoche is not strictly solipsistic..." Also, it sells seashells by the seashore.

Huh.

Once in my sophomore year of high school, I had an english assignment to write satire in a sort of Jonathan Swift inspired style. I ended up writing an essay criticizing pretentiousness, but writing exclusively with large indecipherable words that I looked up in a thesaurus.

It read a lot like this review.

I made a point to mention both the 'Conceptual pretext' and the 'Perceptual context' in the same sentence.

- I actually love the art for Flying Lotus's "You're Dead"!
- That being said I hate the art for the new Grimes album
- Excited to hear the newest by Joanna Newsom, Deerhunter, and Neon Indian
- Julia Holter's newest album is really good, even better than "Loud City Song". Really enjoying the poppy turn she took.
- Just ate some mango

Following the trend,a few quick thoughts:

-Beach House's new album,Thank Your Lucky Stars, just continues to prove that they are, along with The National, possibly the most consistently great band of the decade.

-New Joanna Newsom is another surprising sonic leap for her (synthesizers and ragtime!), and is unsurprisingly great. Much like her other albums, it will doubtlessly provoke tons of listening and analysis on my part.

-The above records and the upcoming releases from Drake and Grimes have the potential to make October 2015 one of the best release months of the decade so far.

-The new Bloc Party single is the worst song I've heard from a good band in a long time.

Not any more love for Get to Heaven? I relistened to it recently and it shot up to the top of my list, fantastic record.

The Bloc Party single was really depressing...Fading Frontier was good, New Bermuda a bit meh, had Enter Shikari's album out January a spin and it was...definitely not for me