32/33 - Let the Larry Birding Begin (A musical guide to my 2015)

2015...guten nacht. Seriously, you kind of sucked. But I've turned 33 now. The Year of The Bird has begun and it is going to be a good one.

It's odd that in 2015 albums by Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Muse, and Decemberists came out and not one of them made my list of top albums of the year. Not that what follows is definitive for all music in 2015 and all shall obey (it's just what connected with me personally this year) and but those bands have been perennials for me. They've delivered in the clutch. So perhaps this year marks a changing of the guard. At any rate, here are my top 11 albums from 2015...ish. Some technically were released in 2014 but I didn't have a chance to really dig 'em until 2015. And dug I did. I Dig Dug'd 'em alright.

And why 11? No, it has nothing to one louder, and all to do with my love of prime numbers. They are just super cool numbers. 10 is a nice even base number but 11 is a beautiful looking prime number, dontcha agree? Dontcha? Dontcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me? Dontcha?!

Here they be.

Carrie & Lowell: Sufjan Stevens

An album about a man coming to terms with his mother's abandonment and death. On the surface it all seems forlorn but is less about death and more about love. It's...beautiful. It's empty. It's full. It's moving, stripped down and bare. More than anything it is simply honest. And that honesty is inviting and comforting. The music is by no means ornate like Sufjan's normal repertoire but that is a positive thing with this album. His song writing really shines on this album. And few artists understand melody like Sufjan Stevens.

In short, Sufjan Steven's explained the album best (naturally): "It's something that was necessary for me to do in the wake of my mother's death—to pursue a sense of peace and serenity in spite of suffering. It's not really trying to say anything new, or prove anything, or innovate. It feels artless, which is a good thing. This is not my art project; this is my life.”

Personally though I disagree somewhat; this album is some of the best art I have heard in awhile.

Selections:  Fourth of July, John My Beloved, No Shade In the Shadow of the Cross

[Also if you are looking for some nice hip-hop/R&B check out a collaboration between Sufjan, Son Lux, and Serengeti called Sisyphus. Start with Rhythm of Devotion or Calm It Down]

Our Love: Caribou

It's hard to know what to say about this album except that I kept coming back to it all year. Like, all year. I suppose you would classify it as electronica (which if you've listened to some of Caribou's earlier albums it quite the departure) but I would hesitate to label it as such only because that comes with a connotation that the music has no emotional integrity or musical thoughtfulness. But this album is quite the opposite. This is the type of album that really does work best as an album, in it's fullness. Headphones on and loud, and let it all envelope you.

Selections:  Can't Do With The Thought, Silver, Back Home

Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit: Courtney Barnett

Yes!!! The guitars are loud and catchy and the lyrics are fantastic. For serious, fantastic. I love when an artist doesn't hide behind lyrics but embraces them with candor and fun. And plus she's from Australia and that's pretty cool too.

Selections: Elevator Operator, Pedestrian At Best, Dead Fox

 Seeds: TV on the Radio

Having never listened to TV On The Radio I can't say where this album fits into their catalog but according to the band "the record is, 1,000 percent, without a doubt, the best thing we've ever done." And I'll just agree with them. They've got a post punk-dance beat influenced-very-modern-rock aesthetic to them. Richly written and produced the song writing brought me in and it was the production craft and subtle trimmings that kept me coming back.

Selections: Quartz, Careful You, Trouble

Madman: Sean Rowe

This is my favorite singer-songwriter album to come out in a long time. It's warm and makes me smile. I can't help but bob my head and sing along to every track. Seeing him perform this album live was, aside from seeing Spoon perform (finally!), my favorite concert this year. The album just feels good.


Selections: Madman, Shine My Diamond Ring, The Drive, My Little Man



Labor Against Waste: Christopher Paul Stelling

It's roots music, mostly folk, with some blues and blue-grass at times. The majority of this album is just him, his guitar, and his voice with a band and string accompaniment on occasion. With such a sparse setting it's his finger-lickin-good fingerpicking and lyrical imagery that add the flourish to this album. It's deep and mostly feels optimistic. "I know my work ain't done until I can see the good in everyone."

Selections: Warm Enemy, Horse, Burial Shroud

Sound & Color: Alabama Shakes

If you are a fan of Heartless Bastards or The Black Keys you may love Alabama Shakes. Actually scratch that! Those similarities are too restrictive. Just give Alabama Shakes a good listen. They are two albums deep now and they knew what they were doing from the beginning. They embody everything from American roots-rock to vintage-soul to classic rock without ever feeling like they are merely of photocopy of those genres and truly feeling like they belong there. And Brittany Howard's voice is...ranging. Rough or soft as needed, but always in control quite like Janis Joplin.

Selections: Sound & Color, Don't Wanna Fight, Guess Who, Shoegazing
 
[(Also, if you dig Alabama Shakes check out Brittany Howard's other band called Thunderbitch] 

If I Was: The Staves

A rock-folk trio made up of three sisters (the sisters Staveley-Taylor) from England. Just good song writing and beautiful vocals/harmonies. The vocals are particularly what kept me coming back to this album. Produced by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, this album is mostly about heartache. Love sometimes breaks and this is how it sounds.

Selections: Steady, Damn It All, Sadness Don't Own Me

Fading Frontier: Deerhunter

Deerhunter is an indie rock band with neo-psychedelia preferences in their past works; anybody who has read this blog in the past knows my struggles with psychedelia. But this album is far more accessible and more broadly influenced. In fact, along with the release of the album they released an "influence map" which shows the "musical influences" (there are other none-musical influences included) from R.E.M., Tom Petty, Al Green, and INXS. Not a bad combo at all if you are going for catchy but meaningful. Which this album is.

Selections: Breaker, Take Care, Snakeskin

II: Metz

 

This is the fix. This ones easy. The second album by the Canadian noise-rock trio. It's loud, it's noisy, it's fast, it hits...it's noisy. A 29-min punch. This is the fix.

Crank it.

Selections: Acetate, Spit You Out, I.O.U.

Ryan Adams: Ryan Adams

 

Between the work he did with The Cardinals and various side projects this is Ryan Adams 15+ album. The dude is prolific. Being so prolific can sometimes lead to some duds, but that is not what this album is. This is as good as Adams has ever produced. Plus it's got a real late 70s/80s singer-songwriter vibe and production value to it. Most often Tom Petty comes to my mind and I love it.

Selections: Am I Safe, Wrecking Ball, Stay With Me

 -Extra Credit -

Everybody Down: Kate Tempest - This one was just off the top 11. Kate Tempest is an award-winning poet, rapper, and playwright. This album is not a collection tracks but a story of characters dealing with love and daily bread. "More empathy, less greed." Lonely Daze, The Beigeness, Theme From Becky

Everything Will Be Alright In The End: Weezer - I know I was surprised too. But it's their best since Pinkerton. If you loved their first two albums give this a spin. You'll like it. I've Had It Up To Here

Flourish // Perish: Braids - This album was like a warm blanket/bath to me this year. And a great live show. December, Fruend

Ibeyi: Ibeyi - Twin French-Cuban sisters. Soul/jazz/pop/traditional sung in English and Yuroba. Ghosts

Monterey: Milk Carton Kids - Two brothers, two guitars, and two vocals. Nothing more. Nothing more needed! Monterey

La Isla Bonita: Deerhoof - For me the most accessible Deerhoof record to date. Paradise Girls, Tiny Bubbles 

American Soft: Chris Staples - Singer-Songwriter, a good old boy with good old songs. Dark Side of the Moon 

Traveller: Chris Stapleton - CMA 2015 album of the year, and very well deserved. Traveller, Parachute

To Pimp A Butterfly: Kendrick Lamar - One of the best, complete, and comprehensive rap albums I have listened to in a long time. If you grew up with 90s hip-hop you'll love the few G-funk throw-backs in this album. King Kunta, i

Enjoy.

(If you have the Spotify and want a playlist of these songs, shoot me a message and I can give you a link.)