The Top 10 Albums of 2015...So Far

The year is half over, and thank the music gods, it has been an amazingly good one so far. Several acts broke long hiatus..es? Hiatusi? Plus, plenty of new talent showed up to make the first half of 2015 one the best first halves on record.

Shall we begin?

10. Young Fathers
White Men Are Black Men Too

Young Fathers are a hip-hop group out of Edinburgh, Scotland, and if that wasn't strange enough, get a load of the "hip-hop" they make. Okay, let's all just agree to not be genre-snobs here and say that White Men Are Black Men Too is not only a triumphant entry in the group's catalog, but also an upbeat, poignant, and well-timed (given the year's current events) album that showcases the Mercury-Prize-winning act's talent. The parallels with TV On The Radio go beyond coincidence, but that by no means lessens the work's creativity. A lo-fi journey through the UK's most innovative pop-hop, this album is too good to skip.
"Shame"

9. Holly Herndon
Platform

Holly Herndon is no stranger to the weird and esoteric. Her debut full-length, Movement, was an insane trip through some the the oddest sounds man has ever recorded. But somehow, through everything, it was grossly immersive, a body of work to completely give yourself to. Platform is no different in the total control it takes of your aural faculties, but is much less random (seemingly) than its predecessor, and includes some...interesting ASMR entries (if you don't know, just google it and get ready for some of the weirdest YouTube videos ever). Platform plays like a 10-song extended version of Bowie's "Warszawa," full of unintelligible lyrics that might be super-deep, bro, but could just as easily be nonsensical wailing. Their combination with disorienting drum patterns and masterful synth chords make this easily the most interesting and thought-provoking album you'll hear this year...maybe ever.
"Chorus"

8. Lightning Bolt
Fantasy Empire

If you didn't know about Lightning Bolt until now, welcome to the club! You'll be happy to find out that Fantasy Empire is their eighth album, and the duo has been active since 1994! Metacritic named them the #8 most important artist of the decade (2000-2009). So yeah, we're lame for not knowing who they are, or even that they existed. But our repentance begins now. Fantasy Empire is a harsh, loud, fast record packed with so much noise you'll give yourself a migraine. Never before has something so intense been recorded by just two people, but damn if it isn't worth every ear-splitting second. What makes it is Brian Chippendale's fuzzed-out, mumble-screaming that lends the whole thing an ominous pallor. And the drumming...God, the drumming. Let's just assume cybernetic arms and hope he doesn't decide to use them for evil.
"Horsepower"

7. Thee Oh Sees
Mutilator Defeated At Last

For John Dwyer, a Thee Oh Sees hiatus is 18 months long. Either he doesn't understand the definition (and the accepted average length) of "hiatus," or the man is just so ridiculously filled with music bursting out of his brain that any length of time outside a studio would look like a Scanner was nearby (you know the picture...don't make me get it...fine). Luckily for us, the catnap didn't result in a rushed return-to-form. Instead, we got Mutilator Defeated At Last, a bad-ass, bombed out homage to everything awesome and psychedelic that could possibly come out of a San Francisco garage. Mimicking the best of Sir Lord Baltimore, and with a production level to match, Thee Oh Sees have created an intense, grooving experience unlike anything else this year. Just watch out for that...weird...strawberry monster, or whatever, on the cover.
"Web"

6. Jamie xx
In Colour

Though he might not be using the most creative stage name, considering his other musical career, Jamie xx is turning popular electronic music on its head. Here, there are no bombastic drops, or even truly memorable hooks, just gorgeously composed synths and ear-worming samples. In Colour presents a sonic world wherein drum patterns can just be interesting and drive the song, without having to over shadow subtle musicianship or expertly created loops. A world where the most fascinating sounds are an interplay between a lap guitar and steel drum. A world where your guest vocalists surprise with increased range and a willingness to take risks. Even the seemingly out-of-place "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" makes the best of a strange pairing by turning what could have been an ill-advised rap platform into a carefree, island-themed song of the summer.
"Obvs"

5. Shamir
Ratchet

If you're looking for upbeat party music, you've come to the right place. Shamir has burst onto the scene with the hoppingest, bounciest, most fun album in...well, maybe ever. Ratchet takes musical cues from equal parts LCD Soundsystem, Hercules & Love Affair, and Lipps Inc., and combine it all with lyrics that turn hip-hop on it's head. Ratchet is a geek gangster rap. Shamir could easily have been the main character in Dope. Bright colors and simple, understated beats make the perfect back-drop for a beautiful countertenor voice that only increases the party attitude and amplifies the greatness of the "born this way" movement. Both political and off-the-cuff, Ratchet is the soundtrack to the Present Age, where freedom and true equality are closer than ever, no matter what the news might tell you. So pick up your cowbell and get in that conga line, because Vegas is a state of mind.
"On The Regular"

4. Sleater-Kinney
No Cities To Love

After 10 long, punk-free years, the Ladies of Riot-Upon-Grrrlshire have returned with a fierce, rambunctious album with No Cities To Love. If Shamir's Ratchet is a party celebrating being yourself, Sleater-Kinney are having a party too--to blow off the steam built up by a crappy world where the crappy Man gives you crap all the time. But while No Cities To Love has an overwhelming angry tone, that doesn't mean each song isn't carefully constructed and produced to achieve maximum effect. This is not their first rodeo, and Sleater-Kinney prove again and again (as if they needed to prove anything anymore) that they have an amazing ear for the sounds of angst and crushing complacency--the powder keg of tumult and the match to light the fuse. In the immortal words of Scott Pilgrim: WE NEED TO PLAY NOW AND LOUD!
"Bury Our Friends"

3. Sufjan Stevens
Carrie & Lowell

Long having made his name well-known in the indie circuit for bombastic orchestral arrangements and flourishing horns, Sufjan Stevens still continues to create, even though it might not be anything you can actually get copies of. But what his die-hard fans know that many passing listeners don't is that Sufjan is more than a one-Music-Man-trick pony; he is also brilliant at transferring his most deeply personal feelings and experiences to you through sounds so intimate, you'll feel like they were yours all along. Such is the case with Carrie & Lowell, Stevens' ode to his late mother and step-father. Much of the album is simply memories from summers he spent with them, and how those times felt grandiose and important, if only because of the innocence of youth. Looking back, through the harsh lens of adult objectivity, those long trips were...troublesome at best. Most outsiders would have reported them, but that's the magic of being a child, and Sufjan's gift of musical storytelling. It's not a dilapidated shack, it's a lost cabin on the frontier. She's not a disheveled, unbalanced manic-depressive, she's Mom. The trouble with growing up is how you view the past...and how you imagine the future.
"Fourth of July"

2. Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp A Butterfly

One of the great mistakes of my critical career was not discovering Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d. city until it was too late to include on any lists. I swore such an egregious error would never happen again, and have been monitoring the ingenious rapper's progress ever since. To Pimp a Butterfly is the epically creative concept album Lamar has chosen as his follow-up, and while it's far less traditional in its structure and songwriting, it's infinitely more awe-inspiring. Where as GKMC was an ode to Lamar's childhood and hometown, Butterfly is an entire stage play dedicated to the Black-American experience. As likely to drop your jaw as it is to make you strut, Lamar's third record is full of double-take moments and inventive breakdowns. Lamar's skill on the mic is not, and never has been, in question, but it is only expanded when backed by some of the most original backing samples and recurring theses that have come from this, or any genre. To say it's release is well-timed given current affairs would be the understatement of the century, but to deny it's prescience would be to deny a movement it's very necessary theme.
"King Kunta"

1. Drenge
Undertow

To get the cliches out of the way early, there are no words to describe my first encounter with Undertow, Drenge's second full-length album and colossal masterpiece. I have long awaited the arrival of the chosen ones, those that would take up the mantle of grunge only to dash it on the rocks of the ever-expanding shore of sonic discovery. What Drenge does with traditional alternative rock goes beyond a simple studio trick or additional guitar pedal--it eviscerates standard protocol and writes it anew in a monolithic, god-like image. Undertow is what would happen if Nirvana, The Clash, and Duran Duran had a baby. Throw in a little White Stripes and a dash of The Killers and the resulting concoction puts Drenge so many leagues beyond their contemporaries they might as well have traversed a wormhole. Undertow is the pearl inside the oyster that is rock-and-roll; listening to it is truly an experience. If you even deign to hear this album, it will soon become the only thing you ever want to hear again. In terms of a lifetime spent discovering rock music, Drenge's Undertow is like being reborn.
"Running Wild"
"We Can Do What We Want"
"Side By Side"

The Top 20 Songs of the Year...So Far

"Don't try me, I'm not a free sample"

                                                       --Shamir

The year is half over, and thank the music gods, it has been an amazingly good one so far. Several acts broke long hiatus..es? Hiatusi? Plus, plenty of new talent showed up to make the first half of 2015 one the best first halves on record.

Shall we begin?

20. Moon Duo

"Thieves"

Moon Duo have been around long enough to be an established name, but it wasn't until they added a third member (making the whole "Duo" thing a little obsolete) that they really came into an amazing sound. "Thieves" is one of many highlights on and album filled with deep grooves, and the eerily produced vocals make it that much better.
Listen

19. Kendrick Lamar
"The Blacker the Berry"

"The Blacker the Berry" was the lesser known pre-album release when compared with the frustratingly lower-case "i." It is, however, infinitely its superior. With it's lyrical phrasing and brilliant use of sampling, Kendrick Lamar showcases just how ingenious he is, and how diverse the genre itself can be.
Listen

18. Shamir
"Make a Scene"

Shamir burst onto the scene in such a spectacularly fun way, it's almost unbelievable that that many party songs could fit in one mind. But the simplicity of each beat, and strut-ready lyrics make everything just...just perfect. You can't listen to this without smiling.
Listen

17. Sufjan Stevens
"All of Me Wants All of You"

Sure, Sufjan can dazzle with big horn and string arrangements; those bombastic musical-theatre-type productions were not only what made him famous, but also what proved he was a true genius. But he doesn't need to prove his cerebral capacity anymore than Mozart or Hawking, and in the end, his most moving work has always been the quiet closeness of him and a guitar. "All of Me Wants All of You" brings not only that, but incredibly touching lyrics as well. A patented Sufjan hit to be sure.
Listen

16. A Place to Bury Strangers
"We've Come So Far"

While APTBS has gone on an insane garden path of musical style, now approaching Lynchian levels of random, their trademark has always been driving bass lines, marked with industrial drums and ear-shattering noise guitar. "We've Come So Far" has those in spades, and is one of the few songs to live up to the group's promise made on Onwards to the Wall and Exploding Head. If only their newest record had been filled with more like this.
Listen

15. Moon Duo
"Night Beat"

The second entry from Moon Duo (Trio), "Night Beat" is like Electric Zoo being held in a funeral parlor. Hyper-repetitive but with such a smooth groove it becomes impossible to turn off. "Night Beat" is hypnotic and trance-inducing in a most appealing way.
Listen

14. Sleater-Kinney
"Bury Our Friends"

Sleater-Kinney's new album, after a decade out of the scene, compares with their very best work, and while every song is good, "Bury Our Friends" is truly exceptional. The off-time chorus, the abrasive guitar mix, the seemingly random drums, all combine to prove these punk rockers haven't lost a step.
Listen

13. Thee Oh Sees
"Web"

Thee Oh Sees Mutilator Defeated At Last was one of the very best surprises of 2015 so far. "Web" is both the album opener and the first single from that album, and what a hook to sink in. Amazingly well produced, the lightning guitars and eerie, psychedelic vocals mix for a near-out-of-body experience. Repeat listening is almost required.
Listen

12. Viet Cong
"Continental Shelf"

"Continental Shelf" was the first single offered by Viet Cong, an insanely good nose-rock band made from the remnants of experimental group Women. The strange lyrical delivery almost hides the darkness contained in the droning organs and white-noise guitars. Like many of their other songs, the bass is driving and varied, and the chorus, both complex and non-recurring, is a trap that will ensnare even the most casual listener.
Listen

11. METZ
"Acetate"

METZ is the sonic equivalent of a carpet bombing. They're not subtle, they don't follow the Geneva Convention, you can hear it for hundreds of miles, and their remnants can be found for decades after they've stopped. "Acetate" is no exception, with METZ' trademark ear-shattering guitar and cymbal combination, as well as barely intelligible screams making the heaviest and most hardcore song of the year so far.
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10. Lower Dens
"Non Grata"

Obviously, I can't make a list without at least one entry from a Baltimore band. Lower Dens, looking to one-up their hometown counterparts, Future Islands and Beach House, created an album with Escape From Evil that rivals the best the Mobtown scene has to offer. "Non Grata," though not a single, is so amazingly well constructed, with a bouncing bass line and catchy chorus, you almost don't notice the orchestral synths and peerless vocal delivery.
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9. Yowler
"7 Towers"

Yowler is not an act you'll find...anywhere, really. Neither her debut album, The Offer, nor the name itself has a Wikipedia page. There wasn't really a tour. And with only 8 guitar-and-vocal songs about water, who could really blame "them." But that's not to say listening to "7 Towers" isn't an overwhelmingly moving experience. With each syllable, you feel the power Yowler is describing in such detail. The sparseness of Death Valley and the verbosity of Tolstoy contained in a single sound.
Listen

8. Lightning Bolt
"Horsepower"

Before my discovery of Lightning Bolt (I'm a little late to the party, I'll admit), I had never heard such an immense sound created by only two people. "Horsepower" starts off fast and only gets faster, each bass note pounding like a thousand armies marching, and drums so intensely performed it's no small wonder Brian Chippendale's arms don't fall off, his indiscernible cries only highlighting the sheer intensity of the effort. The song builds and builds until it explodes in a crushing wave.
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7. Jamie xx
"Obvs"

Jamie xx' debut solo effort is brilliant. That's not news, it's just plain fact. But it's brilliance isn't in the club-ish sampling of songs like "Gosh," or guest-filled rap-overs like "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)." It's in songs like the subdued and gorgeously produced "Obvs," which hosts an airy and uplifting call-and-response between a guitar and steel drum. Who does that? It's ingenious, and addictive, and a truly beautiful sound.
Listen

6. Young Fathers
"Shame"

Since TV On The Radio won't be putting out an album this year--and probably not coming to a city near you--Young Fathers' "Shame" will more than substitute. The minimal, highly repetitive lyrics and "do-doo-doo" backing are so damn catchy and bouncy you won't even notice how depressing the subject matter is. It's made by the choir-esque breakdown that then slams back into song's chorus--a moment so amazing it alone deserves a spot on this list.
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5. Drenge
"We Can Do What We Want"

Drenge is, by a wide margin, the best act of the year so far. Their newest album, Undertow, is also the best so far. It is highlighted by damn-near every song, but single "We Can Do What We Want" is unforgettable. What starts as a simple beach-rock guitar phrase, becomes a grunge breakdown, becomes a brit-punk groove as heavy as a million suns. Eoin Loveless' vocal delivery is brilliant, and his brother Rory's drumming is Bonham-esque, making this song one that is on repeat often.
Listen

4. Hot Chip
"Huarache Lights"

Hot Chip is a band that has been, and always will be, capable of the most awesome summer beats in the dance industry. Part Bee Gees, part LCD Soundsystem, with a little En Vogue mixed in for good measure, "Huarache Lights" is the hands-in-the-air-like-you-just-don't-care song of 2015. It's robotic breakdown and sparse bridge make the finale pay-off that much sweeter. If you're looking for hooks to last the ages, you can never go wrong with a little Hot Chip.
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3. Kendrick Lamar
"King Kunta"

It's no surprise that Kendrick Lamar could write a song as instantly gratifying as "King Kunta," but the fact that such a song exists means there might yet be hope for the barren wasteland that is the popular music industry. There has never before been a bass so bodacious, or a hook so insanely satisfying as Lamar provides in "King Kunta." If you didn't believe in his ability to change the face of rap before, you certainly will after this. We Want The Funk!
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2. St. Vincent
"Teenage Talk"

In a year when St. Vincent has no plans to release an album, this Record Store Day single is so immensely beautiful, the stark contrast it makes with her most recent, self-titled album is overpowering. I will admit, it's nostalgic lyrical content does come at exactly the right time for my 10 year reunion, only compounding its effect on me, but it's guaranteed to do the same to you. It's simple, poignant lesson: the past is great, but living there isn't worth giving up the future; is so fantastically delivered with simplistic synth patterns and soft vocals that it will make you break down. "Teenage Talk" does nothing but prove that Annie Clark is a musical genius of the highest caliber.
Listen

1. Shamir
"On The Regular"

It's always so nice to have an album so delightfully absurd and fun top the list. "On the Regular" is Shamir's calling out of all those "gangstas" that made fun of him for his counter-tenor voice and personality, and it is amazing. If you don't find yourself giggling at lines like "step to me and you will be handled," as delivered in a jaw-dropping bridge, there's something quite seriously wrong with you. Highlights include "really really? Really really?" and the aforementioned bridge, which is so beautifully presented, and placed so appropriately within the song that you are blown away by such writing talent. Where has Shamir been? His album, and "On The Regular," in particular, have arrived like they were summoned by a Bat-signal made of hater blockers.
Listen! Dance!!

Coming Soon (Mid-Year Edition)...

The Conquest of Gaul is taking off this week in order to prepare some awesome mid-year lists for y'all.

Tuesday, 23 June  OUT NOW!!!
THE TOP 20 SONGS OF 2015...SO FAR

Tuesday, 30 June OUT NOW!!!

THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2015...SO FAR

New(ish) Music (6.09.2015)

Shamir
Ratchet

I may be a little behind the ball here (this album was released on May 19th), but I can truly say, the wait was totally worth it.

To say that listening to Ratchet is the most fun I've ever had listening to an album might seem like hyperbole, but I assure it is not. The lead single, "On the Regular," alone has been on repeat for so long now it's basically Deee-Lite. Shamir is the best house-dance act to come around since Hercules & Love Affair's debut album.

The comparisons between those two don't just end with their genre; both use an extensive amount of Lipps, Inc. style percussion, and both use love as a theme both celebratory and funerary. The thing that separates the two is Shamir's vocals, which are so though-out and amazingly paced that you are inundated with wordplay and moribund philosophy in equal amounts until you forget which is which.

The beats here are simplistic, but carry a great danceablity, reminiscent of some of LCD Soundsystem's more techno-esque offerings (I'm thinking of "Too Much Love" or "One Touch"), and the turns in musical phrase between bridges and chorus make even the longest tracks interesting to the very end.

While a few might find Shamir's voice too high or nasally, it works with the sound of Ratchet so well, it wouldn't be possible to make the album any other way. His countertenor brings the same kind of beneficial androgyny as the band name "Queens of the Stone Age," which Josh Homme described as "good for both the boys and the girls," making the appeal universal.

If nothing else, Shamir knows what he's doing. The samples and sound effects are as ear-worming as the songs themselves, and the lyrics are the kind teens will be trying to memorize while driving to the beach in their first car.

In music, the new rule is Ratchet = Youth. Now to re-listen for the gazillionth time...

New Music (6.02.2015)

Jamie xx
In Colour

It is a rare thing indeed, when an electronica album, written by a member of an indie-pop band, makes you sit up and pay attention--and not for it's bombastic drops or earwigging hooks. No, In Colour, Jamie xx's full-length debut, catches you off-guard with it's overly simplistic beauty.

From it's pleasant yet jaw-dropping album art, to the upbeat rhythms and major-chord samples, it becomes obvious that In Colour's major theme is "life is beautiful." Even the Young Thug helmed "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" is less Pitbull-esque raver and more Drifters soul relaxation.

Jamie Smith (the real, less interesting name) uses a full compliment of recording tricks to keep the album fresh: loops are often created with live percussion and piano. similar to Caribou, or even early Moby; electronic beats are kept quiet and unobtrusive, just audible enough to let you know they're there; when the tempo changes it is done in an interesting way, not the unsusal drum pattern punch-up/pitch shift.

Each song on In Colour has it's own identity. There is not gentle melding of tracks into one 42-minute session, but instead there is a near-constant upheaval from house, to dubstep, to trip-hop, and back.

Finally standing out from the shadow of The xx, and his many remixes and producer credits (obviously his work with the incomparable Gil Scott-Heron was fantastic, as were his contributions with Drake and record producer "40"), In Colour is a fantastic spotlight.