On which Emmett Kelly and co step out from backing Bonnie Prince Billy and deliver a record which takes its cue from guitar-pop as practiced by the Byrds and more recently, Guided By Voices. From Paste Magazine: "The whole album is charming. The pop dregs it siphons have had recent conjurers—White Fence’s Tim Presley, The Fresh and Onlys’ Tim Cohen to name a few. What Kelly has summoned is a shot of the good stuff from the wellspring of material everyone has to work with, and in the process he’s produced one of the best albums of 2015."
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It has been seven years since Robert Forster's previous album, The Evangelist, a record which was downbeat and reflective in the aftermath of the sudden death of his fellow Go-Between, Grant McLennan. Recorded live to tape somewhere in remote Australia, with two of the John Steel Singers as his band, Songs to Play sees him recovering some of his wit and playfulness and shows that his gift for writing superb lyrics remains undiminished.
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Like his previous album Kaputt, Poison Season is awash with saxophones, as well as strings and percussion as Dan Bejar fleshes out his well-crafted songs. A.V. Club review: "Bejar sounds completely comfortable in any setting. No matter what the context—horn-section rave-up, string quartet, druggy miasma—he sounds completely at home. Poison Season is the sound of an artist in complete control of the strange chaos around him."
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Drowned in Sound review: "Ought’s brand of schizophrenic, paranoid, patchwork songwriting could well make for an uneasy listen, but with every passage of brutal sonic assault they offer a warm bed of AM hooks, balancing every handful of poison with a batch of antidote. There’s a marked step forward in the deceptive depth of Sun Coming Down, and Ought perhaps traded in some of their debut longplayer’s immediacy in getting it, but their wit and emotional complexity remain stronger than ever."
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There is no doubt that this is arguably the most important album of 2015. Far from a conventional hip-hop release, this opened the ears of many to free jazz (and the mighty Kamasi Washington), and as a protest record it was uncomprising and overwhelming. I found it quite a difficult listen at first, and I think that was its intention. This piece from Complex sums up its impenetrable nature as well as its importance.
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A lovely sprawling release from Four Tet, two twenty minute pieces, one per side - one for 'Morning', one for 'Evening'. It blends modern electronica with samples of Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar. This review, from Pretty Much Amazing, totally gets it: "In a world drowning in nocturnal “brooding” electronica... it’s a pleasure to get a clear-eyed electronic record from a guy who’s actively trying to evoke a fragile, non-angsty repose."
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A political concept album, mainly in Welsh, based on a dystopian sci-fi novel where robots have taken over the world, created by a former Pipette; it's fair to say that Gwenno's debut was a surprisingly successful one, creeping up on people the way Jane Weaver did last year. It does not matter about what language it is in (there's a track in Cornish too) as the synth-pop tunes are so well sequenced that the whole album is a joy to listen to.
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Low's best album for a while, Ones and Sixes is more electronic than their previous album the Invisible Way. They mix pretty tunes and dark moods better than anyone, and the instrumentation here really suits the material. The centrepiece is the epic ten minute 'Landslide'. Their eleventh album, and on this evidence, there will be many many more.
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This was the album where Follakzoid found their own voice. This Chilean bunch are learning and developing all the time. Their previous album ('II') was great but devotees of Krautrock or late 80s psych-rock would have found much of it familiar. 'III' sees them developing their electronic side over four lengthy tracks - it's less of a freak-out, more of a trance-like immersion - and the vocals are used sparingly, creeping up on you like a ghost in the mix.
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Sam Shepherd's debut album as Floating Points will surprise people who only know him as a (very eclectic) club DJ. Beats seem less important than texture over the relatively brief 43 minute running time. Instruments are played live by a large group, and they touch on jazz and post-rock. The best tip I got before I listened to this album was to play it loud, mainly because the quiet parts are equally worth hearing. A dynamic range worth exploring.
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Bjork's return to the high points of Homogenic and Vespertine is a very uneasy listen. Vulnicura is not just a break-up album, it is an intimate study of heartbreak. Tiny Mix Tapes review: "This is broken music. This is tortured, wracked noise. This is music that gnaws at your bones. And it is nothing short of breathtaking."
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Aided this time around by Alexis from Hot Chip, Serafina Steer, and some members of This is the Kit and Francois and the Atlas Mountains, Rozi Plain's third solo album is a delicately beautiful affair. Deviate magazine said "a mesmerising collection of alt-folk songs that capture the fragile depths of “a difficult year, a tumultuous year” and the potent rejuvenating power of music and companionship," which sums it up beautifully I think.
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Death and Vanilla are a Swedish band who tread that delicate line between sixties psychedelia, dream pop and hauntology. Oh, and there are some beats thrown in for good measure. They wear their influences proudly - from Silver Apples to Broadcast - yet ultimately this album has enough in the form of pretty tunes and interesting atmospherics to stand as a valid contemporary release. In fact you would be hard pushed to find a better record within those genres in 2015.
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My review of this on the 405: "This music recalls the minimal quirkiness of múm, the melodic sweeps of Sigur Rós, and at times comes across like Yann Tiersen's Amelie soundtrack if had been transported to the recent future. It is still surprising to find that Haiku Salut have created all this in Derbyshire and not somewhere more exotic. Ultimately though, it is about mixing disparate influences and seeing how they blend together. Happily for all of us, this approach works brilliantly."
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Always a pleasure to include music that comes from Northern Ireland, and I'm even more pleased to say this is my favourite drone pop (for want of a better description) release of the year. Spacemen 3 and Kosmische influences are to the fore, and there is a sprinkling of 90s indie too. Backseat Mafia said "‘Drone Pop #1′ is an intelligent literate foray, a rich and expansive, magpie’s eye treasure trove of wonders, the romance of a Byronic “Grand Tour” for a disposed generation," so there!
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Whilst I have enjoyed most of the Trembling Bells releases to date, this is the first one that I absolutely love. What has changed? Well, for a start there's an extra (electric) guitarist which manages to skew their already heady brew of psychedelic rock and traditional folk towards something leaner like Television. The main reason this album works is that the songs are stronger this time around, and their vocals, as always, are something to behold.
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9. Julia Holter 'Have you in My Wilderness' (Domino)
A worthy follow-up to the excellent Loud City Song, this release saw Holter step away from the city towards a more pastoral setting. This time her songs are refined and accessible, her voice taking centre stage, crystal clear. Great review from MusicOMH here.
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Brilliantly surprising debut solo album from the mainman behind Superchunk, a kind of song-cycle detailing the lives of a couple of goth kids in the early 80s, and unashamedly in love with synth-pop. This is the sound of someone feeling their way back into the music of their youth, and the end result is so much more than a vanity side project. I reviewed it here (but I like it even more now) and interviewed Mac about it here
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Garden of Delete is so audacious and so ambitious, and despite being the maddest record on this list, parts of it also qualify as some of the most accessible music which Daniel Lopatin has made. For a start there are some sung vocals, and electronic glitches sit beside soft rock and somehow it all works. Its accessibility may stem from the fact that all this music has a back story, and Lopatin invented imaginary bands and characters through blogs like this.
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Recorded in his adopted home of Tokyo with some great Japanese musicians, Simple Songs sounds fantastic, and the intricate arrangements mean that every time you come back to the songs they reveal something new. Most of all it gives a snapshot into the contradictions which make Jim O’Rourke so fascinating. Lyrically this is the grumblings of a middle-aged man and musically this ends up somewhere between easy listening and math-rock. This is widescreen music, not for background listening.
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Awards may be regarded as useless by many of my peers but if Kathryn Joseph had not won the Scottish Album of the Year Award, I doubt that I would've heard this. The album is still under-reviewed and I know little about her. The songs here are haunting and sometimes intense, her striking voice accompanied mostly by minimal acoustic piano. This review from Herald Scotland explains a bit more
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Whilst watching Girl Band's London show, I was shoved out of the way by a guy who forced his way to the front to take a picture of the guitarist's effects board. Like me, he must have been wondering, "how do they sound like that?" They are probably the single "guitar" band pushing things forward and this debut further proves that. It passes over some of their astonishing early singles in favour of a set of fresh new songs. Paste Magazine sums it up nicely: "Girl Band’s latest is a startling upending of any and all expectations you would dare place upon a modern rock group."
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It's a cliche to say that an album rewards repeated listening, but this is definitely true of Joanna Newsom's latest. Divers is one of a few albums on this list that people will still be listening to and marvelling over decades in the future. The arrangements are stunning, it is beautifully recorded (by Steve Albini of course) but most of all it is proof that if you write fantastic songs then you can't really fail, and there isn't a songwriter to touch her in terms of talent right now.
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My favourite rock album of the year, by one of the best rock bands around today. It's hardly a dramatic change in sound after the major line-up change a couple of years ago, and in fact this even trumps 2013's fab Floating Coffin. Thee Oh Sees would be a classic power trio if only they hadn't added the extra drummer, and instead they come across as a Nuggets style garage band who are overdosing on Can. This review from the Quietus sums up how good it is.
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This was always going to be my number one. 2015 was a year where I spent various visits to my old family home picking through the remnants of my childhood - old diaries and photographs. This album resonated like no other. Sufjan's other two masterpieces (Michigan and Illinois) were expansive and ambitious records, and Carrie & Lowell sits proudly beside them, although it is a much more personal introspective work, focusing on his long distance childhood relationship with his mum and step-Dad. He articulates the difficult family circumstances of his upbringing with this set of simple, beautiful songs.
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