ALBUMS
I tried to cut down on alot of albums here, but some I couldn't resist adding in. This is a mix of what I thought were the "best of" and "honourable mentions", in alphabetical order of artist:
1. Alabama Shakes, "Sound & Color": Soulful instrumentation, and that voice of Brittany Howard's is so enthralling, it pulls you in from the first listen.
2. Beach House, "Depression Cherry": A long-awaited LP sees my favourite dream pop duo take a step back to what made them indie darlings in the first place; slow-cooked and meditative tunes.
3. Deerhunter, "Fading Frontier": Deerhunter go back to experimenting with dream pop influences to interesting effect, it sits well with Microcastle and Halcyon Digest, two of my favourite releases from them.
4. Destroyer, "Poison Season": A compelling listen with Broadway-esque tunes about love, heartbreak and death, so up-lifting yet pulls you under before you know it. This has got to be my favourite release.
5. Dorsal Fins, "Mind Renovation": Great debut effort that blends different influences into eclectic pop.
6. Drake, "If You're Reading This It's Too Late": Drake comes thru with more disses and shoutouts in a retrospective mixtape, ever so-often about his rise to the top.
7. Drenge, "Undertow": Building on the momentum of their excellent self-titled, their sophomore gives them space to grow in songwriting and expand in instrumentation.
8. Dutch Uncles, "O Shudder": Odd, art-pop at its best. "Upsilon" is the perfect example.
9. East India Youth, "Culture of Volume": Things become more pop-oriented for Will Doyle while retaining his roots in electronica. Soaring vocals and instruments mix well with hasty, heavy beats.
10. Everything Everything, "Get to Heaven": The art rock four-piece at its gnarliest, grittiest and baddest ever.
12. Foals, "What Went Down": Almost like a split LP , with a grimy, heavy side and a slower, dreamier side on the other, reminiscent of the excellent Total Life Forever (which I prefer).
13. Gengahr, "A Dream Outside": A debut full of potential from the London psychedelic-dream rock four piece.
14. Grimes, "Art Angels": Claire Boucher returns with odd pop, a wide array of expertly-programmed instruments and beats, and guest vocalists that sit very well throughout the album.
15. Hot Chip, "Why Make Sense?": Hot Chip peers deeper into nostalgia to craft their trademark songs to great effect.
16. The Internet, "Ego Death": An great blend of R&B and hip-hop, the music contrasts with Syd Bennett's vocals but still go so well together.
17. Jamie xx, "In Colour": So many people have said this, and I will as well; this is probably the best electronica/house album this year. "Gosh" hooks and pulls you in, regardless of whether it be your first or tenth listen.
18. Madeon, "Adventure": Like EDM, with soaring choruses, heavy beats and breakdowns, but only better.
19. The Maccabees, "Marks to Prove It": The five-piece comes back with more hasty instrumentation, but Orlando Weeks' lyrics hit closer to home.
20. Neon Indian, "VEGA Intl. Night School": This is the 80's no doubt, but it feels...different, more futuristic, and hell, certainly more groovy than ever.
21. Outfit, "Slowness": On their third effort, things seems more expansive and relaxed, which makes for an exceptional listen from start to finish. "Swam Out" is one of the most gorgeous album closers I have ever heard, and leaves me wanting more.
22. Real Lies, "Real Life": 80's club scene-inspired beats coupled with introspective, reflective lyrics prove to be a winning formula for the trio's debut. It reminds me a little of Underworld's beats and New Order's instrumentation.
23. Sufjan Stevens, "Carrie & Lowell": Sufjan sings about life with and without his late mother. How could I not shed a tear or two on listening to this beautiful work of art?
24. The Tallest Man on Earth, "Dark Bird is Home": Heartbreak sets in for Kristian Matsson, but as he sings on the album, "this is not the end, this is fine".
25. Tamaryn, "Cranekiss": Tamaryn strips back on guitars and places more focus on her voice but still retains her signature hazy, shoegaze sound.
26. Tame Impala, "Currents": A crossover in sonic direction to 70's-inspired disco results in a refreshing new release from current (ha) king of psych rock Kevin Parker.
27. Title Fight, "Hyperview": Drawing on shoegaze instead of their usual hardcore/emo punk sonic trajectory, Title Fight comes through with a slower, more atmospheric and beautiful album.
28. Tobias Jesso Jr., "Goon": A warm, heartfelt listen from the get-go, Tobias' debut will definitely see him go places.
29. Turnover, "Peripheral Vision": Turnover ditches their usual punk sound and go light, jangly and shoegaze-y for their sophomore release.
30. Unknown Mortal Orchestra, "Multi-Love": A little less lo-fi, a little more odd-ball, a little darker and a little more fun.
SONGS
Here's a chockfull of songs that were my jams of 2015, in no particular order. I had to exclude so many other songs to avoid an excessively long playlist, and tried to limit every artist to no more than two songs. Some were love at first listen, while others were growers.
ARTISTS
I think this year I was exposed to more artists. I felt myself appreciating rap and pop more as well. And, kudos to Carly Rae Jepsen and Ryan Adams for making pop interesting again, especially Adams with his full-album cover of Taylor Swift's 1989
In the new-artist front, I feel that Ratboy, Slaves, Dorsal Fins, Gengahr, Real Lies and Tobias Jesso Jr. certainly have alot of potential in their next releases. I can't wait to see what they have in store in the next few years!
GIGS
I've been to a handful gigs this year, including:
Laneway festival (Singapore): Mac DeMarco, Jungle, Eagulls, Courtney Barnett, Future Islands, FKA Twigs, St. Vincent, Banks, Pond, Royal Blood, Little Dragon, Chet Faker, Angus & Julia Stone, Jon Hopkins
Mew
Alt-J
Neon Lights festival: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Bo Ningen, Kiasmos, Ride, Damien Rice, Rachel Yamagata, Ratatat, Flight Facilities
Perfume Genius
MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2016
Next year includes new albums from:
DIIV
Animal Collective
Radiohead
Savages
Wild Nothing
Chairlift
Frank Ocean
Gorillaz
M83
Metronomy
The Last Shadow Puppets
Yuck
Fleet Foxes
Vampire Weekend
The Strokes
Real Estate
2016 is going to be a year of pretty highly anticipated albums, especially for Radiohead, Frank Ocean (!), Gorillaz and Animal Collective. I'm also pretty happy to see The Last Shadow Puppets album in the works here; I wonder how their sound will change given a rather dismal Arctic Monkeys release in 2013. A Vampire Weekend release would be interesting as well given that Modern Vampires of the City marked a sort of an "end of a trilogy" of albums they have released. I'm also excited about how the new DIIV album would sound, especially since Cole has spent a very long time in the studio for it.
As always, I'm hoping for The National to drop surprise material next year, although they've already made it clear they won't release an album in 2016. But well...one can only dream, right? Oh well, at least they have a Grateful Dead tribute compilation in the works, which features their frequent collaborators and friends, like Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, and Sharon Van Etten.
2016 GIGS
Next year seems to be the year for gigs as there are so many events happening in the span of three months. Laneway festival seems like an annual affair for me as it has the bulk of artists that I want to see (very happy that I can finally see a DIIV and Purity Ring set, above all else). On top of that Bon Iver is performing on 26th February, and there's going to be another festival in March, with Death Cab for Cutie as the top bill. It's good news for my gig-loving self, but bad news for my already-very battered bank account.
What are your 2015 music picks? What are you looking forward to most in 2016?
Till next time,
Yolande
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