There’s been a great deal written here and elsewhere about the best albums of 2015, but in this day and age, more often than not, it is the individual tune that has the greater impact. Albums don’t always get listened to in their entirety – unless of course you happen to be a music critic, which is probably why we bang on about them and make so many lists – so in celebration of the humble single and the killer album track here are five great songs from 2015.
The Echo and The Always were an amazing discovery this year and this track pretty much encapsulates what they are all about. I didn’t actually give ‘Capable Of’ much credit on first listen, there are other more immediate tracks on the album, but it has grown on me and repeated listens have revealed more and more.
I fell in love with Wolf Alice in the middle of 2015 and have been playing them to death ever since. ‘Your Love’s Whore’ was the track that did it for me, don’t know why really, just something about it gets me every time.
‘My Terracotta Heart’ is so wrapped in the history of Blur, and particularly the relationship between Damon and Graham, that it has a significance way beyond the norm. Anyone who loves this band cannot fail to be touched by its stark beauty.
Dave Gahan‘s album with Soulsavers had a tremendous impact on me this year, no song more so than ‘Tempted’. This is a quite sublime performance that gives me goosebumps.
IMHO, ‘Gunga Din’ is quite simply the best thing The Libertines have ever done. Lyrically, it is fantastic, musically, it nails it, but most importantly it has that little extra “I don’t know what” that great tracks need. Killer.
Going through other end of year lists and also reading reviews from other publications, I can’t help but feel that there is a tendency to celebrate the technically proficient, the groundbreaking or the daring, with little emphasis on how music actually makes you feel, which is surely the most important thing, no? I mean there are things in life that you fall in love with totally illogically, it’s not important how technically good it is, sometimes it’s simply how that thing, person or piece of music makes you feel. Anyway, my so called best records of the year are not necessarily the most technically brilliant, but each and every one of them moved me one way or another. Here’s the third and final part.
Girl Band – Holding Hands With Jamie
Luckily, Girl Band manage to combine daring with emotion; their music spoke to me in ways I can barely begin to express. Sublime.
Wolf Alice – My Love is Cool
A constant on my headphones since July, this is an album of great songs about friends and lovers with a very cool indie/pop/rock vibe. Its highly listenable, easily relatable and even the filler is killer.
British IBM – Psychopaths Dream in Black and White
A fairly simplistic easy going record with beautiful swathes of cello that turn it into a soothing feast of aural delight. Lovely.
Sam Duckworth – Amazing Grace
A deceptively deep album underpinned by subtle atmospheric touches beneath the folky acoustics; it’s a bit like running into an old friend and being greeted with the warmest of hugs.
Haybaby – Sleepy Kids
Haybaby have a hard edged indie sound described as sludge pop and slop rock, whatever they may be, and they make a mighty fine racket. I absolutely adore their album – buy it!
The Libertines – Anthems for Doomed Youth
Contains song of the year in ‘Gunga Din’ plus a host of other top moments like ‘Barbarians’ and ‘Iceman’. It’s lyrically sharp, musically vibrant and has just the slightest hint of music hall charm. Comeback of the year.
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
Obvious choice I know, but it’s really good; you don’t get eleven Grammy nominations by chance you know. This is the kind of direction hip-hop has been begging for, a little less bling and a lot more substance and with killer tunes like ‘i’, ‘King Kunta’ and ‘Alright’ Kendrick is the Negus right now.
Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love
Quite simply a great album. The veteran Riot Grrls came back with slice after slice of hook filled punk fuelled badass tunes. Every track a winner.
What’s that? Put them in order! Really? You´re sure?
Ok, go on then; counting down from twenty to one here are the top twenty records of the year in my humble opinion.
20 Luna Sol – Blood Moon
19 Blind Wives – Recovery positions
18 The British IBM – Psychopaths Dream in Black and White
17 Romans – – = +
16 Sam Duckworth – Amazing Grace
15 Girl Band – Holding Hands With Jamie
14 Of Allies – Fragments
13 The Libertines – Anthems for Doomed Youth
12 Iron Maiden – Book of Souls
11 Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
10 Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love
9 Halestorm – Into the Wild Life
8 Haybaby – Sleepy kids
7 Blur – The Magic Whip
6 Placebo – Unplugged
5 Public Enemy – Live from Metropolis
4 D’Angelo – Black Messiah
3 The Echo and the Always – And After That The Dark
2 Dave Gahan & Soulsavers – Angels and Ghosts
1 Wolf Alice – My Love is Cool
There’s a strong indie flavour to my listening right now, with Wolf Alice still more than pertinent, but as ever, I’ve been getting through a lot of music and there’s certainly been some cool new discoveries, like Haybaby, mentioned below. However, as I have given a fair amount of space to some of the bands that are on heavy rotation before, and don’t want to risk sounding repetitive, I’m only including the most relevant things this month, just in greater depth. Enjoy!
Haybaby – Sleepy Kids
Reviewed this the other week for Already Heard and have been playing it to death ever since. There are rough edges aplenty and some seriously sloppy guitars; throw in the lazy croon of Leslie Hong and some histrionics, and you’ve got a superb mix for their songs about life and lust. I’m finding more and more that I like with every listen; from the “I don’t give a fuck” attitude of ‘Old Friends’ and the breezy bass of ‘Her’, through to the insistent melody of ‘Elevator Song’ and the awkward geekiness of ‘Shy’. It’s a sublime record well worth repeated listens, whether it’s to revel in the emotional outpouring of the monumental ‘Edelweiss’, for the vaguely sinister ‘Doored’ or the superb ‘Pizza Party’, there’s never a dull moment and ‘Sleepy Kids’ is fast becoming one of my favourite records of the year. Full review here:http://alreadyheard.com/post/131624144363/album-review-haybaby-sleepy-kids)
Girl Band – Holding Hands With Jamie
Similarly sublime, significantly more sinister but no less enjoyable is the wholehearted festival of noise that is Girl Band. There is something strangely compelling about ‘Holding hands with Jamie’, making it a challenging but rewarding listen that will have you rethink how music should be. There’s no bullshit here, it’s music as art that reaches deep inside – go on, dive in. (Full review here:https://hardpresseded.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/girl-band-holding-hands-with-jamie-review/)
The Libertines – Anthems for Doomed Youth
I kinda missed out on the whole Libertines furore the first time round, so I didn’t have the same level of anticipation/expectation about this album as many people did. I’d got into Pete and Co recently though, so for me it just picked up from where they left off, the band members’ individual histories having no bearing on my enjoyment of the record. As such, I’ve been racking up the streams and loving Doherty’s poetic, semi music hall, Artful Dodger take on the world. Anthems is lyrically sharp, especially on the superb ‘Gunga Din’, surely the Libertines at their very best. Other high points are the rousing ‘Barbarians’, the quintessentially British ‘Iceman’ and the boisterous ‘Heart of the Matter’. All in all, the whole album is thoroughly enjoyable, highlighting everything that makes the Libertines the most important British act since Britpop.
Hard Pressed 