The Top 14 Best Greatest Ever Albums of ‘15
14
Fuzz – II (In The Red)
In certain circles (the right ones), this is a supergroup.
Fuzz is a power trio consisting of Charles Moothart of Charlie and the
Moonhearts on guitar, Chad Ubovich of Chad
and the Meatbodies on bass (replacing
Roland Cosio) and Ty Segall of popularity on drums and vocals. Put flatly, II
is easily one of the best rock records of 2015. It’s a heavy homage
to Sabbath, Purple and basically riffs everywhere. It has the
off-the-cuff feel of three friends jamming in the garage/basement but with the
addition of a recording studio documenting the end result and that you and your
friends are extremely talented. More than anything, this is a fun record that
doesn’t get bogged down in the details. Derivative but still with enough of a
Ty Segall sound to give this an original edge. Harmonic melodies break through
the drop d blues jams to really create some unique moments. Even some very
welcomed strings make it on the record via the meltdown at the end of the track
“Let It Live”. Strong up-front vocals in the mix and the ripping guitar solos
really stand out on this record and always seem to enhance the already
bombastic rhythm section and structural riffage of these songs. This would be
even higher on the list but the album runs a little long given the sound they
are trying to accomplish. II could have been a great 9 song shower of an album
but was released as more of a grower at its current 14 track double lp set.
First there was Ty Rex, II
proves there is now Ty Sabbath or maybe Black Segall or even Deep Segall? Call
it what you want, it’s one of 2015’s best.
13
Wilco – Star Wars (Anti-,
dBpm)
Not going to lie- a real shock to see Star Wars and Wilco on this particular 2015 list. This album
is a surprise in that it was both an unannounced digital free for all and, most
importantly, an unexpected return to form. A familiar voice and sound that had
been bowed and broken seem to have found their love for experimentation and the
abstract again. With that perfectly cracked voice, PhD level drumming and
overall veteran experience, Star Wars proves even Wilco’s most far out attempts at being inventive still
come out with a sheen that sounds ready for the radio. Whether this was their
intention, who knows? Without question though, the end result is an album of
some of their most adventurous and loose sounding material in over a decade.
Honestly, not much needs to be said here. Wilco is an arena level act at this
point. You already know the band, you’re either on board or don’t care. This
record moved me back to the former from the latter. The question is what 2016
will hold for these long standing Chicago mainstays?
12
Dick Diver – Melbourne,
Florida (Trouble In Mind, Chapter Music)
Compiling year-end lists in December, the start of the
winter season in the Northeast U.S., can become somewhat of a hidden influence
if you allow it. Summer jams that soundtracked those long car rides out of the
city on lengthy, sun soaked days with sing along choruses, indie riffs and
hypnotizing hooks are now distant memories in the rear view mirror. Reduced to
nothing more than a forgotten summer fling. Good thing for Australia’s Dick
Diver it’s still summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Their oddly and aptly
titled third album, Melbourne, Florida
(surprisingly a real city named after their hometown) was a 2015 summer
revelation as was the band in general. At a surface level, Dick Diver fits into
the current burgeoning Australian indie scene with bassist Al Montfort also
spending time in Total Control, Lower Plenty and East Link to name a few. This band is more than that though, with four equal
singer/songwriters whose combined output speaks for itself. With a Wellington
capital “P” for pop jangle spotlighting boy/girl vocals and a “Clean” guitar sound, Dick Diver holds
its own against the flood of Ozzie bands currently storming U.S. college
student’s streaming services of choice. Light and airy at first listen
revealing a surprising bit of heft over time with synth, piano, and especially
horns splashed all over this album adding depth to their already perfect pop
tracks. The effect giving their songs a comfortable retro edge ranging from 70s
AM on some to 80s FM on others. Dick Diver, who obviously know their U.S. literature, also showed in 2015 they know their U.S. indie labels by signing with
a doozy, Chicago’s Trouble In Mind. Solid songwriting, a vision in sound and a
remarkable three album base have this band more than ready for the big leap.
11
Zombi – Shape Shift
(Relapse)
The Pittsburgh, PA duo of Steve Moore and Anthony Paterra,
collectively known as Zombi, are quietly amassing a pretty stellar catalog. A
mighty prolific one too if you add in their solo albums, soundtrack work and
side projects. Even with all this output, make no mistake, both musicians’ best
work continues to be when performing together in Zombi. On Shape Shift, their fifth proper full length, they have hit a
high laser mark in a successful career of locating that sweet spot between
Krautrock, classic horror soundtracks and seventies arena prog rock.
Instrumental workouts are built on rock solid rhythms with an opaque synth
cloud floating just over top accentuated by either a repetitive bass line and/or
even more synth! Resulting in a complex, sparse sound that uses tension and
some form of dark energy to fill its open spaces. Limited but fully formed;
groove based and, at times (believe if or not) danceable moments make the songs
lithe on their feet but still dense with potential. Inventive yet referential
like new music from the past arrived via some sort of time portal. Repeated
listening will have your mind dreaming up it’s own dystopian, sci-fi alternate
universe where this music is the classic rock of a forgotten society from
hundreds of years in their past but also somehow from our own future as well.
In the best possible way Shape Shift
is a time trap. After each listen you realize an hour of your life has been
lost in what feels like an instant but, in return, an atom’s worth of knowledge
about the secrets of the universe can be gained from their music. Ultimately,
this is a losing battle for mere mortals like ourselves but that smaller than a
grain of sand’s worth of enlightenment is very much worth the risk.
10
Lou Barlow – Brace The
Wave (Joyful Noise)
Full disclosure- if you released a solo album and you
are/were a part of the original Dinosaur
line-up, you are going to make this best of the year list. You may call this
biased, but in reality it’s just known as being absolutely correct. In 2015,
Lou Barlow released just the third album of his long career under his own name Brace
The Wave which follows ‘04’s Emoh and ‘09’s Goodnight Unknown.
Though recorded in a studio, it has that warm 90s lo-fi vibe that recalls his
best work. Mostly a vocals with guitar and/or ukulele affair with minimal
accompaniment highlighted by a finicky Korg Bass Synth on a couple tracks
(Moving, Boundaries). Packed with middle age melancholy and ample heartbreak,
Barlow is a master of earnest and overwrought lyrics presented with a heavy
sense of humility and humanity. He is a thinly disguised open book typed in
large font. The anchors in this
thick atmospheric, moody world created by Barlow are the amazing melodies found
on his instruments of choice. There is just something otherworldly created with
the right combination of his vocals, his guitar work and especially that
baritone ukulele. Sure, there are individual tracks that don’t work (Nerve) as
well as others (Redeemed) but the songs on Brace The Wave are all vital for the overall effect. This record is
so publicly private, it can be uncomfortable at times but that’s part of the
charm of this rare treat from an open deep wound of an artist.
9
Six Organs of Admittance –
Hexadic II (Drag City)
2015 was an interesting year for Ben Chasney who released
two records in quick succession- one focusing on electric guitar (Hexadic) and the other acoustic guitar (Hexadic II). Both albums showcasing his newly patented Hexadic
Composition System. An idea that he describes as an “assemblage of techniques”
used to “point toward a new way to think creatively about the guitar or even
language…”. Without even dipping a pinky toe into the deep end trying to
describe this system which is based on a deck of cards, let me just say that
the overall idea spotlights an artist looking for inspiration near the halfway
point of his career. Brian Eno employed a similar idea when
making one of his career highlight Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) in the 1970s. Out of all the possibilities in life,
taking a cue from Eno regarding your artistic aspirations doesn’t seem like a
bad one. With Hexadic II, Six
Organs find their way through the malaise and the doldrums of mid-career stagflation to
uncover a discographal highlight. In direct comparison with its electric twin,
the acoustic sequel of the Hexadic duo easily produces more of a memorable
document. The acoustic guitar providing a more direct and delicately blunt path
to the natural voice created through the Hexadic technique. Throughout his
career, acoustic has always been Chasney’s strongest suit, adding card based
systemic creativity only adds to that legacy. Six Organs had no need to bluff
in 2015, they were holding a winning hand.
8
Sunn O))) – Kannon
(Southern Lord)
Any year with a proper Sunn release is a good one. It’s been
a long wait since 2009 when their last opus, the mighty Monoliths &
Dimensions, was unleashed for public
consumption. That is not to say that Sunn hasn’t been active, releasing two
collaborative albums last year, Soused with Scott Walker and Terrestrials with Ulver, along with various archival demo and
live releases. That’s not even touching the solo output of both principal
players in Sunn, Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, which is substantial to
say the least. Kannon clocks in
at a slim 33 minutes covered over three tracks simply titled, Kannon 1, Kannon
2 and Kannon 3 (an earlier version of this song originally appeared on the 2011
live album Domkirke), which is substantial yet leaves you craving more. There is no bloat, no excess to this record. Bass, guitar, synth, vocals- everything fits like a puzzle piece into the presentation of these songs and this record. Filled with the sound of Earth’s
core rumbling and vocal shrapnel courtesy of the legendary Attila Csihar, this album
oozes nothing but purely heavy, heavily eerie vibes. A triumph of style and substance over
form and structure that brings to mind visions of uncompromising genius
operating free of hesitation based on the undeniable empirical evidence of
validation of their innermost voice. Kannon is a much-welcomed addition to the storied Sunn
cannon.
7
Invisible Things – Time As
One Axis (New Atlantis)
Another supergroup? The evidence points to yes. Chicago
luminary Mark Shippy of Shorty and US
Maple is the most familiar name here. He
is responsible for everything you hear on the record outside of the percussion.
Even given that fact, based on the activity behind that drum kit, Shippy could
easily be considered the supporting cast. Powerhouse Jim Sykes of Grooms and ethnomusicology demonstrates his ability to
keep up with his venerated “art rock” partner, making this a record of brain
stimulating harmonic collaboration and a true marriage of two disparate parts.
On Time As One Axis, they expand on the sound of their debut
album, 2012’s Home Is The Sun, with
their partnership now three years further down the road. The overall vision of
their output (writing, performance, production) is more defined. The vocals
sound more pronounced in the mix with a cohesion in their instrumentation that
displays an innate sense of when to offer structure or veer off into tangential
threads. This record finds new and interesting places to explore down an
already well-traveled path and is a goddamn delight that continues to give up
something new with every listen.
6
Bill Orcutt & Jacob
Felix Heule – Colonial Donuts (Palilalia)
There’s just something about drums and guitar… in the hands
of the right people. Harry Pussy’s own
Bill Orcutt puts down the acoustic and picks up the electric guitar for this
recorded document with Jacob Felix Heule behind the drums. Apparent frequent
collaborators who have put together a record of varying sound quality but
consistent in its substance and power. On most tracks you can feel the room,
feel the hands on the instruments- hear the humanity mixing with the
electricity, the tactile, booming power of sticks on a resistant surface. This
record perfectly captures a naked and depraved expression of fractured
emotional blues that was able to bind the actions of both performers into a
coherent artistic statement. There is a spirit to Bill Orcutt’s playing that
produces uniquely original sounds right down to his almost evangelical
“speaking in tongues” tonal outbursts and yelps. While Jacob Felix Heule is not
as well known as Orcutt, he provides equal footing throughout the life of the
album with both overwhelming support and an unabashed desire to expose his own
inner voice. This album has a wild spirit inside the shell of its musical
physicality, it possesses an otherworldly power to transport you to the very
time and place it was brought to life. This is beautifully emotive music that
can strike a primitive, primal chord if you allow it.
5
Anthony Pasquarosa - Morning Meditations (Vin Du Select
Qualitte)
Technically recorded in late summer/early fall 2014 and put
out shortly thereafter as a small run of 100 self-released cassettes.
Thankfully, the venerable Vin Du Select Qualitite (VDSQ) label finally gave
this album a chance to shine with a proper release on vinyl in late 2015. With
a long history of playing on his own and in bands in his native western
Massachusetts, Anthony Pasquarosa is already a musical veteran. However, Morning
Meditations is only his second official
release as a solo artist under his own name. VDSQ has released both of these
albums and look to be the champion of this up and coming acoustic guitar and
banjo performer. In an interesting artistic choice, throughout the entirety of Morning
Meditations, a river can be heard in the
background with occasional bird sounds in the distance. With repeated listens,
this proves to be a brilliant move that appears to have given the record both
its title and a very relaxed, peaceful tone. The recordings have been captured
in a lo-fi fashion but this doesn’t take away from the power and emotion
invested in each song. Through an obvious innate skill that has been honed by
hours and hours of dedicated work, these songs seem to float by with an ease
and sense of adventure. The constant of the river sounds allowing for one song
to merge into the next without interruption. With this aural technique, it
feels as though it is always time to flip the record as the sides seem to go by
so deceptively fast. In a year with releases by other notable acoustic
guitarists, Pasquarosa has leap-frogged many to record one of the best in this
growing genre in 2015. With little other recorded output as a solo artist, Morning
Meditations acts as an exciting primer for
an artist with potential to experience a long and rewarding career.
4
Protomartyr – The Agent
Intellect (Hardly Art)
This band gets a lot of press and, at the end of 2015, is
still in the midst of their upward swing which doesn’t seem to have plateaued
just yet. That is great news but also somewhat puzzling. Would the
Pitchfork-type experts have predicted this band or this sound to be making the
jump to middle indie success in 2015? In a way, it can be argued they did
having doled out glowingly positive album reviews and writing myriad features
about the seemingly NPR written backstory of the reluctant lead vocalist who
was odder/older than the rest of the band. Pushed as a Detroit success story
that had a unique twist on the indie front man singing behind a mix of pop and
weariness packaged with a tough exterior and metallic edge. While these stories
are all true, all that wouldn’t make much of a difference if not for their
musical appeal. Protomartyr’s music really does offer a little bit of
everything for your generic independent music fan, from eighties pop guitar
lines with a produced polish to the almost nineties post punk bass lines and
rhythmic drumming that form the starting point for their pop and/or metallic
tangents. Speaking to the power of their front man, even with all that
marketability, the music takes a backseat once vocalist Joe Casey’s lyrics
enter the mix with rhythmic sing-spoken poetic tales of downtrodden people,
places and things. From a historic perspective, it’s only a matter of time
before the backlash comes back around to hit them right in their momentum.
Still, that is a badge of honor for any largely successful band that eventually
makes it to theater-sized stages. This band is well on their way to major successes
as The Agent Intellect is another solid
record for this relatively young group. The future is becoming an interesting
proposition for Protomartyr as they continue to climb the ladder higher than
most ever expected due to quite a few variables at play. In 2015, I am still on
board and it appears that everyone else is as well. Honestly though, the only
way to know the future for sure is through the passage of time, so lets check
back in about five years and see how this all settled out.
3
Cherubs – 2 Ynfynyty
(Bloody Panda Records)
20 years gone like it never passed. The story of Austin,
Texas based band, Cherubs, now includes three full-length albums (not including
the compilation Short of Popular). Two
albums released in their prime in the early 1990s, the second actually released
posthumously after internal conflict split up the band. As is the case with
many short-lived bands, their legacy has blossomed in certain circles. During
their absence, the posthumous second record, Heroin Man, has turned into a cult classic (along with the
debut, Icing, and basically just
the band in general). Through some miracle of timing and internet rumblings,
Cherubs surprisingly returned in 2015 with a follow up to their now revered
back catalog. As Heroin Man in particular
sets the bar so ridiculously high, the new record, 2 Ynfynyty, shouldn’t be held to that standard and just be
applauded for its mere existence. Not to worry, 2 Ynfynyty stands on its own merit and contains a few tracks
that could be considered career highlights for Cherubs. An honest to goodness,
feel-good story for 2015 that shows the generational nostalgic cycles of
musical rediscovery can actually be used for more than just arena sized cash
ins. If Cherubs are new to you and you also enjoy the bulk of the Touch and Go
Records catalog, do yourself a favor and listen to this band’s shortened
recorded history. It will provide the proper background to allow full
appreciation of just how lucky we all are this record is now part of mankind’s
collective history.
2
Daniel Bachman – River (Three Lobed Records)
Buy this record. In 2015, the baton of the official American
Primitive Guitar relay team is now firmly in the talented hands of Daniel
Bachman. Even though these comparisons are surely trite at this point, you
still cannot talk about the sound of this record without mentioning the
shoulders on which Bachman is standing- a line of giants that starts with John
Fahey that goes all the way to modern
legend and dearly departed Jack Rose. This is not to cast any dispersions on this relatively young artist,
John Fahey himself, ground zero for APG, would be more than willing to extol
the virtues of the many 78rpm influences on the structural integrity of his own
“original” sound. Bachman has never disappointed with his releases but this one
surpasses all expectation. While titled River, Bachman’s latest
release could just as easily be named after his home state of Virginia as it
serves as an obvious point of inspiration. Out of the seven tracks included, two
are covers of fellow Virginian artists- Jack Rose’s “Levee” and William
Moore’s “Old Country Rock” (also covered
by John Fahey, a native of neighboring Maryland). Instead of trying to spout
how these songs sound like drinking moonshine while leaning on a flowering
dogwood or skipping through a country ham farm when the springtime comes again,
the Virginia theme and Bachman’s intentions of this record are overtly
expressed in the liner notes and artwork of River. With this
clarity in focus comes another complementary layer of lucidity, this 2015
release is the first Bachman album to be recorded in a real studio making the
final product, River, basically his
debutante ball to the suitors of the world. Book-ended by a sprawling 14-minute
opus to start and a comparatively succinct reprise to close the record, a
nearly perfect cyclical journey is captured by professional studio equipment
through steel strings and the will of one uniquely Virginian mind and body. Buy
this record.
1
Bob Dylan – Shadows In The
Night (Columbia)
Records that stand out from the rest of the pack sometimes
have to be a risk- a big artistic swing that will leave some cheering and
others yelling “Judas” from the darkened crowded masses. Given his storied
history of unexpected left turns, Bob Dylan can’t be playing for anyone but the
voice(s?) in his head. While he has taken bigger and sharper turns and made
more head scratching decisions as an artist, his latest offering is still a bit
of a surprise. At 74 years of age, that continued sense of freedom and lack of
hesitation is both inspiring and refreshing. Shadows In the Night is a record of Frank Sinatra covers
played by his current backing band at a constant, easy mid-tempo pace with
pedal steel guitar and bass taking advantage of created space. As a
thirty-sixth proper record, trying to take on the king of crooners with
withered and weathered vocal chords is a hell of a task. On paper this doesn’t
work, it really doesn’t. However, in the recording studio, something magical
happened. The melancholy, the warmth, the atmosphere, that beautifully beaten
voice- it all comes together as one of the most enjoyable listening experiences
of the year. Recorded in the same studio that Sinatra belted out many of his
best, the tracks on this record were captured within only a handful of takes
with Dylan and his band in the same room playing together during the sessions.
Certainly not sounding undirected or off the cuff, there is still a certain
sense of life and humanity that bleeds from this record. The microphone picks
up everything in the room from between verse breaths to the occasional missed
note or off key moment. At the same time, there are lines that have Dylan’s
voice sounding 50 years younger producing nostalgic Pavlovian chemical reactions
in the brains of anyone of a certain age. Easily my most listened to record of
2015, I can say with certainty that this was an undertaking and an artistic
vision realized for Dylan. His voice being given a workout like no other record
in his catalog, allowing for those brief aforementioned moments where his
timber wakes up and actually does look back. Mostly though, his distinctly
battled and grizzled baritone more than finds its rightful home in the songs.
On Shadows In The Night, the beauty of
these standards made famous by Sinatra are given a new life with these
atmospheric arrangements and a voice no one but the possessor of would choose
to turn the mic toward. In that honesty, in that humility and in that
rebellious spirit these songs are reborn from the new ground they are allowed
to now tread upon. Per usual, whether you like it or not, it doesn’t seem to
really matter to Dylan. As he says himself on this record, “Why Try To Change
Me Now”.
