So my good friend Nathan and I wanted to kick off our new music site, Tones of Home, with an awesome top 25 list but we blew making it in time for the end of 2015. Seeing as the Grammys are next week (more on them below) this might a great time for you to try something new from 2015. What albums did you enjoy from 2015? Would you be brave enough to try something from this list? If you haven’t gave these a listen, you should fire up your Spotify and spice up your life!
About the List.
Below are my 25 picks for the best albums of the year for 2015. Note: While there were plenty of great Hip-Hop and R&B albums released in 2015 (ex: Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples, or Drake) or perhaps a Top 40 or country album you love isn’t here, keep in mind that I stick to the categories I know best which spans indie/folk/electronic/alternative. The cutoff for the list was Dec. 31st which means no David Bowie’s (RIP) Blackstar, for example.
Our (Nathan and I’s) entire list of music is free to listen to via Spotify at:
Some Honorable Mentions / Apologies:
To Leon Bridges, a local Fort Worth artist who is quickly becoming freaking famous, I am so sorry I forgot about you when I made this list. Leon Bridge’s wonderful LP Coming Home is fantastic, and having lived in Fort Worth five years, I forgot and totally let Leon down. Also, I forgot about Alabama Shakes. Nathan remembered both of them and gave me crap about forgetting them so we’re cool. Also, I apologize to anyone who likes Adele, as I probably shamelessly used her smash hit, 27 or whatever number it is to prove a point, and I know plenty of people love her. I am not sorry that Taylor Swift is not on here.
Enjoy and Listen On!
25. “Star Wars” by Wilco
Who doesn’t love Wilco? They are literally the nicest band in the music world. Wilco consistently plays live sets so extensive and long-burning (often 30+songs) that die-hard fans often have to cut ties with a new boyfriend/girlfriend who can’t make it through the 4-hour tour de force because it’s a Thursday night and they are sick of standing still or are choking on the “vaporizer” haze. If that wasn’t enough, the Chicago band said screw it, let’s just give away our next album, Star Wars, because according to front man Jeff Tweedy, “we are doing financially well enough, and don’t need the money like up and coming acts; so let’s just give it to the fans”. Like I said: Nicest. Band. Ever. Now, to Star Wars: it is the opinion of most folks that this was Wilco’s finest offering since 2007’s Sky Blue Sky, but I will make the unpopular statement that I think their most recent The Whole Love from 2011 was more artistic, expansive, and most important, more substantial than Star Wars. As generous as Wilco has been to me, my argument about their 9th proper LP is going to seem both petty and selfish, but my main problem is that there just isn’t enough music on it. There seems to be 4 or 5 tracks missing from making this fully fleshed out record. The good news is that it could be quickly be fixed by releasing another side or even extra tracks like they did for The Whole Love but I think they wanted this to be a punchy short experience. I know albums needn’t be long if every track is dense and fleshed out but even on a track by track level of analysis tracks like EKG and Pickled Ginger aren’t really proper songs but sound like a slice of a track that was waiting for the band to rendezvous and add in one more verse or hook. Don’t get me wrong, there are 6 or 7 wonderful new tracks on Star Wars, the Joke Explained is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard from them. Perhaps, as is the case with nice guys throughout history, Wilco find themselves stretched thin; with the amount of work gone into making the third Mermaid Avenue tribute to Woody Gunthrie, Jeff’s solo work, and the endless touring, Wilco was heroically able to muster as many tracks as they could for the short yet satisfying, and completely free Star Wars.
24. “Untethered Moon” by Built to Spill
Indie rock heavyweights Built to Spill hit a creative pinnacle with the 2006 Indie monolith You in Reverse, their greatest album in my opinion, with the inventive Keep it Like a Secret coming in a close second. Since 2006, I don’t really feel like Built to Spill has received a lot of attention even by indie standards and I don’t think they could care less. Much like 2009’s There is No Enemy, Built to Spill seem hell bent on coloring within their own admittedly talented lines when it comes to their sound and delivery. Which is a good thing, if you like Built to Spill’s west coast indie rock style, with Doug Martsch’s high pitched wails, virtuosic guitar work, and “high brow” intellectual lyrics smattered in some with reggae and surf rock for good measure. The problem with this album is that it seems like Untethered Moon is their sort of “remember us?” tour de force album (it includes a track titled “all our sounds” for god’s sake), but that was the exact same angle Martsch and pals took six years ago on There is no Enemy. So while Built to Spill continues to be a very enjoyable indie experience, still the quintessential “college rock” band (a term seldom used nowadays), I continue to wait for these guys to take the experimental chances they did during You in Reverse.
23. “Boxed In” by Boxed In
London based front man Oli Bayston has assisted in the production for indie darlings Franz Ferdinand, Hot Chip, and Bat for Lashes, but on his first solo venture Boxed In, supposedly named after a Francis Bacon painting, Bayston delivers an offering of clean fresh indie dance music. Boxed In was an early entry in 2015 and missed a large number of AOTY lists. In London style, the songs have earworm hooks, squeaky clean production and a modern aesthetic; the selected drum and piano kits nod to New York’s LCD sound system, probably the best indie dance band ever, and rumored to be reforming by the way (more on this in 2016).The track Mystery is a up-tempo anthem not unlike something you’d hear from Holy Ghost! Or Empire of the Sun; Sailing has chopped and sequenced clips of lounge music that remind me of London Based Aluna George’s 2013 viral album, Body Music; Lo Life featuring the only cameo Cocknbull kid might be the only proper single bound to be endlessly mashed and remixed on the electronic dance scene. The best track for me was The Foot of the Hill which thumping bass lines are just a joy to drive frantically around town to. Let’s hope this project doesn’t run out of creative steam and avoids the pitfalls that down many great indie dance bands.
22. “Currents” by Tame Impala
When I read Pitchfork’s claim that Tame Impala’s third album Currents “reimagines and expands their relationship to album rock—like Loveless or Kid A or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, it’s the result of a supernaturally talented obsessive trying to perfect music while redefining their relationship to album-oriented rock”, obviously I couldn’t wait to see what album had to offer. Moreover, I thoroughly enjoyed Impala’s psychedelic Lonerism in 2012 so I had pretty high expectations for this album. While I would not call this album a disappointment, I do think the accolades are a bit of an overreaction mostly because I think Lonerism avoided flew under many people’s radar, which made the arrival of Currents surprisingly great to them for some reason. Currents is in every way a logical step forward from Lonerism, jumping from the soundscapes from late 70’s psychadelic fuzz, to mid 80’s soft rock like someone strolling down the decades’ aisle in the record store. Currents tool box of sounds isn’t really new wave like contemporaries Lower Dens or Wild Nothing; rather, crunchy, distorted rock riffs still drive the majority of the songs but are now paired with the an almost R&B type instrumentation; an abundance of soft synths and bells, paired with Kevin Parker’s soft crooning, often drenched in a ridiculous amount of flanger. Currents seems undeniably 80’s making all of these tracks irresistibly catchy and smooth. I still prefer Lonerism to Currents but I have to commend Tame Impala’s ability to use very different soundscapes without losing any of their identity. It’s like one of those cooking shows where Master Chef’s are given a pile of carrots, taco meat, and gummy bears and asked to make Hors d’oeuvres. You could give Tame Impala the sounds of Slayer, Rick Astley, and a Maraca, and they wold craft a respectable LP that makes “Best New Music” on Pitchfork.
21. “Carrie & Lowell” by Sufjan Stevens
I’ll be honest, I haven’t really kept up with all of Sufjan’s shenanigans the past few years. I still chuckle thinking about when he promised to pen an epic album for each of the 50 U.S. states only to echo Martin O’Malley 2016 presidential bid and bow out of the challenge after only two states: namely, Michigan (his best album in my opinion) and nearby Illinois (his most commercially successful album). Since then, Sufjan has composed string quartets for each Chinese new year animal (2009’s Run Rabbit Run), tried his hand at anti-capitalist electronic nihilism (2010’s Age of Adz), and recorded a painstaking 5 disc long Christmas record that will grace your hipster “ugly sweater” parties for seasons to come (2012’s Silver & Gold). Carrie & Lowell sees a return to form for Sufjan to an earlier style best captured on 2003’s Seven Swans which he actually squeezed between the two “states” albums. That form is Sufjan’s timid voice fluttering over very quietly strummed acoustic instruments, a meandering banjo often complementing, as he aims to stir up the listener’s emotions by telling some very sad or very happy, but always intimate stories. True to the album art, Carrie & Lowell seems to lean heavily on the theme of families, or at least very intimate friends, something he’s touched on before, but more often than not, Sufjan would speak more to his faith in God (Drawn to the Blood) or his fear of death (Fourth of July), themes that are universal to us all. This is easily Sufjan’s best album since Greetings from Michigan as he lets us into his private space more than ever before. By the way Sufjan, all the other 48 states are still patiently awaiting your tribute album.
20. “Foil Deer” by Speedy Ortiz
2015, the year of the female artist, we see a female led reincarnation of Pavement. Post-punk power chords and over-amplified solos this album screams Pavement, right down to the disorienting tempo shifts and sporadic screams and shouts . Mirroring the trajectory of Car Seat Headrest (see below) and other internet sensations, Massachusetts based Sadie Dupuis “just decided” to start this project at Summer camp no less (how Disney Channel is that?), and I guess the whole thing has spun out with control brings us to Foil Deer. Again, the frantic tempo is what reeled me into this LP, the wobbly guitars will take you back to Pavement or 1990s Built to Spill. Why were all the people at my summer camp such talent-less jerks?
19. “I Love You Honeybear” by Father John Misty
If you ever heard 15 seconds of Fleet Foxes, John Tillman’s voice will jump out at you quicker than a Spirit Airlines front desk can find a way to charge you an extra 15 dollars (hint: that’s pretty fast). Father John Misty, Tillman’s side project caught my ear with the titular single Chateau Lobby #4: In C for Two Virgins, a love song as sweet as it is very comedic, “…I want to take you in the kitchen, lift up your wedding dress someone was probably murdered in.” This song would have made a perfect credit roll for the Fort Year Old Virgin. True Affection overlays Tillman’s folksy tenor over a frantic glitch hop track, recalling Postal Service’s successful juxtaposition of Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard with the glitch electronic work of Dntel. Finally, we get to the opening crooner I Love you Honeybear (which I imagine will literally be the one track that either makes or breaks this whole project for 90% of listeners) a song that’s as sincere as it is awkward, funny, and downright inappropriate. Despite its innocuous sounding title, this one is not for the kiddos: Tillman drops the f-bomb twenty seconds in, talks about getting high on a mattress, and admits “I brought my mother’s depression, you’ve got your father’s scorn and a wayward aunt’s schizophrenia”. Odes to Jesus, choking fetishes, heart attacks, Father John Misty’s new album should borrow one of those corny chain BBQ restaurant signs: “If you can’t take the heat (strange), Get Out!”
18.”Skeleton Crew” by Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear
Twenty-six seconds into Skeleton Crew, Madisen Ward from Independence, Missouri belts out “…All I Need is a sip of Cherry Cola and Pie! And when I die, you’re going to know the reasons why”. The line is just a bit too innocent and naïve, surely it’s some ironic joke aimed at the South’s propensity for all things Paula Deen. I think many listeners will approach Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear ready to sift through its toothy, sunny presentation in search of something darker and cynical and with some digging, they will surely find it; perhaps buried within the morbid poetry of Dead Daffodils, or the wartime narration of Fight On . Let’s get some things out of the way. Yes, this band features a mother and son duo; Madisen and his mother Ruth. Yes, many of these tracks are destined to be played over one of those hyper-positive economy car insurance commercials aimed at milenials; Silent Movies, for instance, is doomed to appear on one of your Spotify “Have a Great Day!” playlists with its chippy acoustic C and G major chords sprinkled with plenty of “Ohs!” and “Woos!”; think Ho Hey by the Lumineers. But juxtapose this with Down in Mississipi, a Southern folk yarn with such poignant and sad verses I was certain that it must have an ancient southern lullaby re-spun, only to discover the entire song was penned by Madisen. Don’t let the sunny, saccharine veneer of Skeleton Crew steer you away from this wonderful piece of genuine Americana.
17. “Fast Food” by Nadine Shah
Do you love female singers that can rock that husky Contralto vocal range but are as sick of hearing about Adele as I am? Meet Nadine Shah. The instrumentation of Fast Food hearkens back to a goth rock aesthetic you might inhabiting an old Smashing Pumpkins record, or more recently, a Chelsea Wolfe LP. Nadine’s vocals definitely take the driver seat, as many tracks, such as Divided, feature repetitious drum taps and acoustic strums while Nadine’s singing does all of the heavy lifting. It shouldn’t be controversial to remark that Shah exercises the Contralto vocal space with equal amounts of raw talent as the highly exalted Adele, and in many cases, Shah flat out beats her with far more insightful lyrics, such as the track “Stealing Cars” which is a self dialogue with herself on concerning her reoccurring panic attacks, compared to the endless slog of groaning heartache that is Adele’s 25.
16. “Garden of Delete” by Oneothrix Point Never
Daniel Lopatin (Oneothrix Point Never; OPN) is an experimental musician who in addition to Tim Hecker and Four Tet continue to push the boundaries of ambient music by playing with the boundaries that separate ambient from varying electronic genres such as EDM, house, and detroit techno. Both Hecker and OPN’s more recent works have been able to explore new dimensions of conscientiousness by utilizing modernized timing algorithms to cut and paste arrangements of electronic pings and plucks along with an infinite amount of samples, a genre aptly dubbed plunderphonics. Garden of Delete is a monolith of plunderphonics, but takes a step towards playing with the EDM genre, such as in the album’s single (if you can call it that) Sticky Drama. Coming from the perspective of Lopatin, this single actually ignited a bit of appreciation for the new EDM and brostep phenomenon that I admittedly struggle to understand and appreciate. Speaking of under appreciated genre’s, Daniel Lopatin’s claim to fame is actually creating an entire internet fueled genre dubbed “vaporwave“; which features heart warming 80s and 90s tracks slowed down to a crawl, and repeated endlessly as to, according to Lopatin ” drive the listener insane”. His highly regarded album “EccoJams Volume 1” (which he even dedicates a track to in Garden of Delete) launched an entire vapor wave revolution even though Lopatin claims he made the project just goofing around at work. If you are a kid raised in the 90s, I dare you to listen to the EccoJam’s track “A3” and not have a nostalgigasm.
15. “Viet Cong” by Viet Cong
Along with one of my favorite Canadian Indie rocker Chad VanGaalen, I’ll have to admit the Alberta post-punk outfit Viet Cong is the only other act I’ve heard on Canadian based Flemish Eye records. Of course the very name Viet Cong is controversial given the outrages exchanged throughout the U.S. occupation during the Vietnam war. In September 2015, the band actually announced that they were going to change their name: ” We are not here to cause pain or remind people of atrocities of the past.” While I respect them changing their name (cough…Washington Redskins…), why now, and why self-title the first album? Anyways, Viet Cong’s er…. Viet Cong is a pounding LP that spews and sputters into your ears with the grace of an out of control fire hose. The last track, whether you like it or not, is a sprawling ten overdrive simply titled “Death”. The entire album never slows, drums hammer over crunchy distortion and lo-fi post-punk crooning. If you’re cool with the total lack of levity on this record, Viet Cong will be a pleasurable gauntlet of unapologetic cassette tape aesthetic, in a similar vein to indie contemporaries Beach Fossils or Wolf Parade, or if you slow the tempo down a bit, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra.
14. “No Cities to Love” by Sleater-Kinney
The fast and frantic girl punks from Olympia, WA are back. The demographic of all female power groups has experienced slow and steady growth in the last decade (Savages Haim, and La Luz come to mind ). One state south of Washington, Carrie Brownstein is still doing her thing on that little show called Portlandia with Fred Armisen. Then she somehow squeezed in some spare time to also drop her memoir, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl. Oh yeah, and she plays in this band called Sleater-Kinney. No Cities to Love is Sleater-Kinney’s new record somehow continues the band’ s liberation themed, far left political thrashing while seemingly being their most accessible record. This album is very fast paced, and unless I missed it, not one break is taken for a heartbreaking song, with cable TV stardom, novels, national shows, this powerful tribe from Olympia doesn’t seem to have time for anything that slow this time around.
13. “Beach Music” by Alex G
Yet another Band Camp, bedroom breakthrough, Alex Giannascoli (okay, now I see the need for the abbreviation) tries to capture lightning in a bottle again after his highly successful fifth LP DSU was featured on numerous AOTY lists by pulications no one’s ever heard of such as Consequence of Sound, The Washington Post, Vogue, and Pitchfork. Beach Music is an album that bums you out in the best way. Calling back to the sorrowful genius of the late Elliott Smith, Alex G’s style and imagery likens to ripping band-aids off your scuffed knee when you were a kid only to discover the flesh is still fresh and unhealed. Beach Music is a vessel for traveling back to those painful moments in your past, examining the full extent of the damage. On the track Brite Boy, for instance, Alex G seems to literally be singing with his younger self, voiced by a shrill prepubescent boy actually mirroring his verses. Many of the haunted yet saccharine tracks of Beach Music are just too vague, forcing you to fill in the lines with your own memories, like calling your old self, just to check in and say, “Hey…..we doing ok?”
12. “Depression Cherry/Thank Your Lucky Stars” by Beach House
Baltimore’s Beach House actually dropped a pair of albums this year, Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Stars. Since both are fantastic albums, I say screw the rules and will have two albums appear as one entry. Chances are if you enjoy Depression, you’ll enjoy Lucky. Three years after Bloom, what I consider a near perfect album from 2012, I still find it hard to put in words what makes listening to Beach House so rewarding, songs unfurl slowly, with melancholy guitar riffs and piano circling overhead, every song seems to be doomed to melt into a puddle of sound. Its like watching something ornate and beautiful sinking into the featureless ocean, like in Titanic when you watch all those dinner tables, statues, and chandeliers sink into the cold Atlantic ocean before Rose refuses to chair her raft at the end and totally murders Jack. Beach House recordings continue to really feel out a room, even the room is you stuck at the airport with half rate headphones on, you feel like you standing in the middle of a fuzzy shoe-gaze concert, hazy clangs bounding off all the walls. Rest in peace frozen Jack.
11. “From Kinshasa” by Mbwonga Star
Shout out the KXT 91.7 in Dallas for gracing one of my work commutes with this wild electronic journey. Before you try to understand the strange backstory that led to the creation of Mbwonga Star, pop on the single “Malukayi” and let your brain float away to this glittering dream-scrape laid over pounding drums . Sure we could slap a label this sensational cacophony of sound and rhythm (one reviewer termed it cosmic extra-terrestrial junkyard-funk), but I recommend this album just be listened to, contemplated, or not; just let it accompany directionless meditation as you head toward that Planet 9 they keep talking about on the NASA channel. In case you do want the backstory behind Mbwonga Star, its the same old trite rock and roll story: Congolese musicians Coco Ngambali and Theo Nsituvuidi, known for making up, in part, Staff Benda Bilili (who star in an award winning documentary) a troupe of paraplegic and homeless musicians whose escaped horrendous poverty in Kinshasa to achieve global recognition with their acclaimed documentary Benda Bilili, only to break up and subsequently team up with Paris-based Liam Farrell, a drummer and collaborator with Afrobeat legend Tony Allen, and form Mbwonga Star. Told you. Same predictable story.
10. “Believe I’m Going Down” by Kurt Vile
In what will go down as one of the worst job placements in history, Philadelphia’s Kurt Vile spent a good chunk of his adult life as a fork lift driver. Which is cool except I am a selfish person and now wonder how many more amazing albums he could have made when he wasn’t loading boxes of Snuggies off a Warehouse floor. What I mean to say, is Kurt is a monster of folk, and has been consistently releasing nothing but awesomeness lately. I need him to continue making music for a long, long time. 2013’s Walking on a Pretty Daze topped many AOTY lists, mine included, and Believe misses the extremely high mark it set by just a bit in my opinion. Kurt delivers very thoughtful, introspective, and often funny word play in his world-weathered deadpan voice. While Kurt’s humor is usually between the lines (opening track Pretty Pimpin being an obvious exception), the comedy is there to make the painful moments sting more, and his pondering more profound yet ironic. His skill on the guitar is apparent, may cuts require little post-production modification; you can always here the natural squelch of Kurt’s hands moving back up the neck, a noise guitar players are very familiar with, but rarely heard on a final cut; its a Vile trademark. Where Believe pushes his sound forward with fresh instrumentation (piano and banjo are new additions to the mix). I think its more soulful approach leaves it just a bit less transcendent than the more dreamy, psychedelic, and farther reaching Walking.
9. “Natalie Prass” by Natalie Prass
Her voice is so distinct, she sounds like a Disney princess cooing like a little high pitched bird over very, very cheery folk riffs. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, Natalie Prass has this sound going on too, but in a very tolerable way. For some indescribable reason, I can just tolerate the cooing of Prass; its all in the delivery. On Bird of Prey, Prass clashes her innocent, too sweet to be true tone against Motown radio jams. Swells of trumpets, and smooth grooves, this album is full of hits that should be topping the charts.
8. “Escape from Evil” by Lower Dens
My favorite album of 2012 was Wild Nothing’s master-piece Nocturne, a hyper-chill indie record drenched in 1980s New Wave (chorus petals, delay effects, punchy drums, and nasally male vocals). They certainly weren’t the first to try such a thing, in fact during the “New New Wave” alternative rockers (Interpol, Bloc Party, The Killers) did it in the 2000’s and indie acts like Toro Y Moi, Neon Indian, and Washed Out are leading the uhhhh…. New New New Wave. Lower Dens and Tame Impala (reviewed above) tap a similar vein in 2015 with differing success. Right from the start, Escape from Evil has us Escape from L.A. in a synth draped radio smash 30 years too late; like the Flock of Seagulls megahit, the narration is about escaping one’s putrid suburban existence. Later Quo Vadis is a wonderfully tragic love song ripped straight out of The Cure’s playbook. I do think the New3 Wave differ a bit from the New2 artists in their braveness and execution: the sounds and even emotions 80’s new wave can extract from a listener (like that big whoosh of clarity you feel from one of those expansive reverbed guitar solos mid song) are merely tools that bands like Lower Dens can dig out of the new wave tool kit, and weld to fit their aesthetic. Pending climate change or a nuclear winter, we can anticipate another New New New New Wave to bring us another well, wave of innovation.
7. “Vulnicura” by Björk
Icelandic superstar Björk has received 13, I repeat 13 Grammy nominations across her illustrious career and won zero awards. She is literally the musical version of Leonardo DiCaprio. If Vulnicura does not pick up a Grammy for best Alternative Album, I will officially give up on the Grammys (again), even though 3 other nominations are on my list, Wilco, Tame Impala, and Alabama Shakes, Björk has them beat in my book. With Bjork, there’s that undeniable voice, tone, and delivery that is otherworldly. She has undeniably honed her craft, timing her verses to pepper the backdrop of electronic sputters at precisely the right moment . 9 tracks blend the electronic off-tempo brilliance of electronic artist Arca (who’s 2015 Ambient release, Mutant, is also excellent) with Bjorks talent for narration and delivery. One valid criticism might be that the beat and string work of Arca, as well as Haxan Cloak make the largest contribution to the uniqueness of this piece of art, but Björk’s captivating voice is still the glue that keeps the art exhibit from from descending into chaos.
6. “Sometimes I just Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit” by Courtney Barnett
2015 was a big year for the female artist, and Courtney Barnett, nominated as this year’s best new artist (Grammys) did it the best in my opinion.
I was lucky enough to see Courtney put on a hell of a show at Club Dada in Dallas this June. The Australian songstress, whether viewed live, or pumped through you headphones excels at being able to transfigure the most mundane of activities(gardening, making coffee, etc.) into profound meditations on life and love. Unlike her last album, Sometimes steps on the gas petal with Elevator Operator and never lets off; a P-90x of an album that’s hard to sit still to and will make you want to jump around. You won’t find this album anywhere near many prominent AOTY lists, and the Grammy award looks like a long shot.. Oh well, like Courtney says, “put me on a pedestal and I’ll only disappoint you.
“5. “Fading Frontier” by Deerhunter
Deerhunter’s Monomania topped my list in 2013, and I definitely wasn’t expecting another smash hit so soon. Stupid me. Fading Frontier picks right back up with upbeat indie pop and solid songwriting, but cranks up the emotion and introspection. Where 2013’s Monomania was more rootsy rocking, like on the the track Pensacola , track’s like Living my Life full embrace icy synths, and super polished electronic production not unlike a glossy album from Hot Chip. Living my Life and Breaker also flex a great deal more introspection, front man Bradford Cox often sounds like he’s speaking to himself in the mirror. Fading Frontier manages to insert psychadelic guitar work with great success, a sound Tame Impala, for instance, actually moved away from this year. The most memorable track is the raucous party anthem Snakeskin, a swanky dance track that plays like a down-tempo version of Andrea True Connection’s disco classic “More, More, More”
4.”Time to Go Home” by Chastity Belt
Last June, Nathan and I braved unusually humid Dallas dankness to wait patiently for the arrival of Courtney Barnett (#6) at Club Dada. As I often do, I let my love of Deep Ellum IPA lose me a prime front row view of Barnett, and got separated from the pack later. While waiting for Barnett though, we simultaneously had our minds blown by this amazing indie outfit from Walla Walla, Washington. The girls, Julia, Lydia, Annie, and Gretchen, some bare-foot, are really, really good at what they do. Apathetic, existential ramblings laid over infectious hooks, pulsating drums, a little surf rock thrown in. Joke might just be the song of the year. We’ve been in love with them and their album ever since. They are so cool. So modern. Jeff Tweedy talks about them at Amoeba Records on Youtube. They are so…uh…… they just don’t seem to care, which Tweedy found pretty cool. We think one might still be tending a coffee shop in Seattle between tours. Talks of a road trip were in the works. Our obsession got unhealthy real fast.
3. “Teens of Style” by Car Seat Headrest
Welcome to the world of 23 year old Will Toledo. This dorm room rocker who until being recently picked up my Matador records was just another dude on BandCamp. One hilarious thing I remember reading was that Toledo urged listeners to ignore his earlier cut and paste projects because “the new ones sound better, I promise”. Internet phenoms launched to quick stardom (think Ernest Greene of Washed Out) can be a mixed bag, however, I think Car Seat Headrest really delivers the goods on “Teens of Style” by keeping things simple. I haven’t heard so many jangley tunes that made me crank up my car stereo and sing along since Smith Western’s 2011 Dye it Blonde. The two albums have much in common. Exciting young talent (ok, so technically Smith Westerns were even younger, like freaking 17 year old when I saw them open for Wilco) delivering memorable indie anthems that will age well.
2. “Citizen Zombie” by The Pop Group
I will fess up, I really had no idea who the Pop Group were prior to this year. The British post punk band hasn’t released a single in 35 years. The Pop Group is widely known for their infectious, dancey single “She Is Beyond Good and Evil“, a track dripping with so much cowbell it could have been a stand in for Blue Oyster Cult in the classic Saturday Night Live skit. Citizen Zombie has funk riffs and political overtones laid over huge crashes of percussion and reverb. The entire album is sewn together with sexy bass hooks that you might find on an early Red Hot Chili Peppers Funk LP. The track S.o.p.h.i.a. harkens back to that early 2000s dance rock craze ( think The Bravery, Franz Ferdinand); whereas Nations, above a pulsating organ, rattles off modern age truisms that sound like they were ripped straight from Ewan McGregor’s drug-addled ramblings at the beginning of Trainspotting….”Choose a Job, Choose a Family, Choose a big F#(*Q&$ Television …..Choose Life.”
1. “Payola” by Desparecidos:
Remember Conor Oberst’s other, other band Desparecidos? No, not the alt-country one, not Bright Eyes, the punk one. This outfit exploded onto the scene in 2002, with the fantastic, Read Music, Speak Spanish only to vanish for 13 years. Since then, we’ve elected a black president, endured a vicious economic recession, and for a lot of listeners, grown up and got day jobs. So I figured that if I while I had enjoyed the charged, frantic political lyrics of Read Music as a mindless teen, Payola will sound a bit too naive and idealistic to your wiser ears. Who has time to be pissed off at Wall Street when your paying off the car note for your Kia? Yes, Conor is still ranting on about materialism, Starbucks takeovers, our never ending military excess. But my reaction to this frantic, fast paced punk-rock tour that explores airport security frisks, Mexican day laborers, and drone strikes was surprisingly positive. This is Oberst’s best album since he rolled out his two very different but equally good I’m Wide Awake, Its Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn LPs in 2005.I am a 13 years older and wiser, but you know what, none of these things tick me off any less in 2016! Blame it on it being an election year, but Payola is a rare nod to those pop punk records from the Bush years that made you want to (almost) boycott buying Starbucks coffee.
Tones OF HOME 