AOTY2015

[Rest]

This thread's mainly for talking about albums that has come out this year. Bad albums, good albums, the very best albums of 2015, talk about it here!

Let me set the bar extremely high with...

^ it'll be very hard for any other album coming out this year to top this. It's everything that we could ever hope for hip-hop music to be, but I won't write a whole essay to try to convince anyone here why's it's as great as people say it is. It's an album you have to listen to and experience for yourself.

Other stuff I loved from this year are Lupe Fiasco's Tetsuo & Youth, Viet Cong's Viet Cong and Björk's Vulnicura, though I haven't heard much new releases. What's yours?

 

[maccrash]

when I first heard Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell (which came out like two weeks ago) I said to myself "man no way anything that comes out is going to be better than this." and then that Kendrick album came out and now I'm not so sure anymore. it's the best hip hop album I've ever heard, probably (granted I've only heard it thrice but that should be a testament to how good it is, I've heard it once for every day it's been out so far and will probably listen again today). while Sufjan's stuff resonates with me more, Kendrick's album is undeniable, man.

 

[Squirrel]

ok so Marina and The Diamonds' album FROOT came out and it's one of the better albums I've heard.

FROOT is definitely a great album, she continues to top herself yet again. I'm also a big fan of Rebel Heart but I think there'll be a lot more great stuff to come, the year's just getting started.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

For me, Q1 of 2015 has been defined by two groups coming back after very extended hiatuses with, IMO, their best albums yet: No Cities to Love by Sleater-Kinney and Everything Ever Written by Idlewild. Neither of them are the flashiest albums ever, but they do what they do verrrrrrrrrry well, producing music that is electric and dynamic to listen to over and over again. And both have been listened to many, many times in these first three months of the year!

Runners-up include Natalie Prass' eponymous debut album: a slow-burn break-up album with more horns and strings than you can shake a stick at; and Gold Shadow by Asaf Avidan: described to shenanigans as "Amy Winehouse meets Youth Lagoon" - I want this guy to sing the next James Bond song so badly it hurts! I'm also three songs into the new Kendrick Lamar and, whilst I wasn't the biggest fan of good kid, m.A.A.d city, I'm liking this a lot (and I love the shit out of 'i').

 

[Rest]

when I first heard Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell (which came out like two weeks ago) I said to myself "man no way anything that comes out is going to be better than this." and then that Kendrick album came out and now I'm not so sure anymore. it's the best hip hop album I've ever heard, probably (granted I've only heard it thrice but that should be a testament to how good it is, I've heard it once for every day it's been out so far and will probably listen again today). while Sufjan's stuff resonates with me more, Kendrick's album is undeniable, man.

It is undeniable. I've been bumping his more mellow tracks as of late (Momma, Complexion, You Ain't Gotta Lie), but every single track is a stunner both aesthetically and thematically (and thematically, it's incredibly extensive, from the hypocrisy of black-to-black crime, to ignoring one's degree of "blackness of skin", the pervading selfishness in society, as well self-hate leading into self-love, etc.), and that's not something I'd be able to say for a vast majority of albums I listen to. I'll be bumping this album hard throughout the year.

For me, Q1 of 2015 has been defined by two groups coming back after very extended hiatuses with, IMO, their best albums yet: No Cities to Love by Sleater-Kinney and Everything Ever Written by Idlewild. Neither of them are the flashiest albums ever, but they do what they do verrrrrrrrrry well, producing music that is electric and dynamic to listen to over and over again. And both have been listened to many, many times in these first three months of the year!

Runners-up include Natalie Prass' eponymous debut album: a slow-burn break-up album with more horns and strings than you can shake a stick at; and Gold Shadow by Asaf Avidan: described to shenanigans as "Amy Winehouse meets Youth Lagoon" - I want this guy to sing the next James Bond song so badly it hurts! I'm also three songs into the new Kendrick Lamar and, whilst I wasn't the biggest fan of good kid, m.A.A.d city, I'm liking this a lot (and I love the muk out of 'i').

I need to listen to the Sleater-Kinney album again! I wasn't really sure what to make of it the first time-round but it did remind me of Buke & Gase's General Dome from two years ago. Definitely will listen to it a second time. Will check out FROOT and Everything Ever Written among others soon!

One more album I was surprised to like a lot...

 

[champagnepapi]

i honestly havent listened to a lot this year but i would go with To Pimp a Buttefly as well, unless we are using "pitchfork years" in which case i would give Black Messiah the slight edge

 

[Rest]

Some music news from the past week or so!

1. New Tame Impala album out soon (it's called Currents). They released a track off the upcoming album as well called "'Cause I'm a Man" (link here), as well as the album art:-

Spoiler:

2. New Frank Ocean album in July!

Defo excited for both, Frank Ocean's especially. Channel Orange was chilllllllll and I'm really intrigued to see where he'll go next with his sophomore studio effort.

 

[Crunch Punch]

Something very, very special will need to come out to beat To Pimp A Butterfly. First time I heard the ending of Mortal Man had my mouth drop to the floor.

 

[maccrash]

after letting the two gestate for awhile I've determined that Carrie & Lowell is probably going to be my AOTY; at the very least I like it more than To Pimp a Butterfly. that's probably a byproduct of my being a white kid from the suburbs, though. To Pimp a Butterfly is still, like, game-changing, but C&L resonates with me way more.

excited for the new Frank Ocean, though!

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

I love Courtney Barnett's Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. I don't think it's going to quite top the Sleater-Kinney/Idlewild bifecta that are currently fighting for my top spot so far, but I've probably listened to "Pedestrian At Best" more times than anything else this year, and I've only had this album for just over a week!

Also - and please don't hate me, music nerds - I didn't like Carrie and Lowell or To Pimp A Butterfly. Or, rather, I liked them OK but don't think they're the masterworks that they're being proclaimed as. I'm gonna go now before I get run out of PC with pitchforks from Pitchfork!

 

[Rest]

after letting the two gestate for awhile I've determined that Carrie & Lowell is probably going to be my AOTY; at the very least I like it more than To Pimp a Butterfly. that's probably a byproduct of my being a white kid from the suburbs, though. To Pimp a Butterfly is still, like, game-changing, but C&L resonates with me way more.

excited for the new Frank Ocean, though!

I'm liking Carrie & Lowell more and more. I've listened to it a lot in the past month and I've pretty much memorized the guitar play, but I'm still discovering its lyrics. Beautiful stuff. Reminds me of Joanna Newsom somewhat; not their actual writing style which are different in a lot of ways, but how the lyrics are immediately touching. The Only Thing, Eugene, John My Beloved and Fourth of July melttttttt me

speaking of Joanna Newsom, still waiting on new Joanna Newsom since forever

I didn't like Carrie and Lowell or To Pimp A Butterfly

boo boo :(

 

[Ice1]

So Dance Gavin Dance's Instant Gratification just released, and I don't think there is a single song on there I don't love. At the moment it's my favorite album this year, but I the Mighty, The Story So Far and State Champs also have new releases planned this year, so I'm not going to call it my album of the year yet.

 

[Rest]

So Dance Gavin Dance's Instant Gratification just released, and I don't think there is a single song on there I don't love. At the moment it's my favorite album this year, but I the Mighty, The Story So Far and State Champs also have new releases planned this year, so I'm not going to call it my album of the year yet.

Ooh, new Dance Gavin Dance. I liked Acceptance Speech a fair bit, so will defo check this out especially since I've been kinda out of sync with new post-hardcore releases.

 

[Ice1]

Ooh, new Dance Gavin Dance. I liked Acceptance Speech a fair bit, so will defo check this out especially since I've been kinda out of sync with new post-hardcore releases.

It's really good. John and Tillian's voices mix so well, and combined with the funky guitars it works so incredibly well. It's definitely a better album than Acceptance Speech, and I really liked that one already.

 

[Rest]

It's really good. John and Tillian's voices mix so well, and combined with the funky guitars it works so incredibly well. It's definitely a better album than Acceptance Speech, and I really liked that one already.

Heard some tracks and it's definitely poppier and catchier with a more mixed sound than Acceptance Speech, which should be interesting really.

I like Tillian a lot off the tracks I've listened to :o I didn't like how his cleans sounded like in AS, wonder what changed.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

Two recent albums that I highly rate are NO NOW by Clarence Clarity and White Men Are Black Men Too by Young Fathers. Both are highly eclectic, highly danceable (whether in da club or, in my case, in ma chair), and highly unclassifiable in terms of genre. WMABMT is classed as 'experimental hip hop' on its Wikipedia page, and I guess that's a good description, even if I'd never have come up with it myself; NO NOW doesn't have a Wikipedia page, and I have genuinely no idea what to group it under, apart from 'electronic mindfuck'. That's a genre, right? Both are verrrrrrry good to relisten to, which helps given that they're not the most accessible albums out there. Having said that, WMABMT is much easier to listen to than Young Fathers' Mercury-winning debut, so there's that!

 

[dad]

cherry bomb by tyler, the creator was pretty impressive imo. a ton of people don't care for it because it's not as hard as tyler usually goes but it's quite relaxing. i wasn't in love at first but it's one of those albums that you crave after the first listen. idk, maybe i just like it because some of these songs speak to me.

also really looking forward to frank ocean's new album woo.