Writing a good review — from selecting an album, giving it multiple listens, and doing the necessary research — takes time. This was my first year with the Indy, and I started out last winter reviewing albums. In the spring, I took on duties as a copy and assistant editor, and in the fall, I took over for Dallas Hyland as opinion editor. Dallas, an award-winning photographer and documentary filmmaker now serves as our photo editor, and to fill his shoes as opinion editor, I have grown the requisite beard.
However, given my new responsibilities, I seldom have time for writing album reviews anymore, and consequently we are looking for someone both musically inclined and possessing a way with words to take over that role. Send inquiries and samples to editor@infowest.com.
People want to read about what’s coming out now. No one wants to read an album review from decades ago; otherwise, I would’ve just reviewed all of Kate Bush’s albums back-to-back. So I was forced to listen to a lot of contemporary mainstream music this year, which I normally avoid like the Hague (way too cold!). As a result, I heard some great music as well as some seriously god-awful tripe. And I didn’t get around to reviewing everything I liked. So starting with the best, here are my top ten pop albums of 2015.
Chvrches: “Every Open Eye”
Remember when M83’s Anthony Gonzales said that he was specifically trying to create music that sounds like the soundtrack to “The Breakfast Club”? Michael Ian Black isn’t the only one who loves the ’80s. That’s when I grew up, and we’re still imitating the sounds of that decade.
No one does it better than Chvrches. Both this album and its predecessor, “The Mother We Share,” are nonstop fist-pumping, asskicking singalongs that never seem to get old.
Susanne Sundfør: “Ten Love Songs”
I first heard Sundfør when she collaborated Royksopp on “Running To the Sea.” However, in “Ten Love Songs,” she far surpasses their craftsmanship, blending neoclassical elements with electronic production to bring something that is both powerful and elegant. And like Bjork, she writes and produces everything she does. Sundfør is a force to be reckoned with.
Read my full review here.
Braids: “Deep in the Iris”
Braids combine some of the tightest breakbeat drumming around with Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s elf-witch vocals to create a musical soundscape that ranges from deep and ethereal to spacious and frenetic. It makes a great companion to 2013’s “Flourish // Perish.”
Read my full review here.
Nils Frahm: “Solo”
Young Nils Frahm is one of the best solo pianists out there. Think of him as Brad Mehldau, Jr. He mixes his own classical minimalist aesthetic with electronic media live — but on “Solo,” he only plays the mammoth, one-of-a-kind Klavins M370 piano. It’s something you have to see to believe. The M370’s unreal sustain and Frahm’s plaintive vocabulary make “Solo” is an unforgettable album.
Read my full review here.
Percival Pembroke: “Concurrent 386”
I love ambient music. It’s almost exclusively what I listen to. I learned about Percival Pembroke from a friend and collaborator in Florida, Tristan Whitehill — aka Euglossine. “Concurrent 386” exhibits surreal elements of Boards of Canada but without the beats, resulting in a floaty, sample-based ambient experience that has been on my iPod all year — and it’s gonna stay there.
I didn’t review this album, but you can (and should) stream it here.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra: “Multi-Love”
How are these guys not huge? “Multi-Love” is like Tom Waits’ and Stevie Wonder’s collaborative funk-rock album. People swooned over Tame Impala’s “Currents” and fawned over Kevin Parker’s retro, uber-compressed production. But Unknown Mortal Orchestra did the exact same thing earlier this year — and I’d argue that they did it better.
I didn’t review this album, but you can stream it here.
Tame Impala: “Currents”
While Unknown Mortal Orchestra may have beaten Parker at his own game months ahead of the release of “Currents,” it’s still a great album for all the same reasons as Chvrches’s “Open Every Eye.” The opening track, “Let It Happen,” is a timeless neo-disco anthem. It’s what the “repeat” function was made for.
Read my full review here.
Hundred Waters: “The Moon Rang Like a Bell (Remixed)”
Not only did I have the pleasure of touring with and playing shows with Hundred Waters the year before I moved to Utah, I briefly lived with them. Hearing “The Moon Rang Like a Bell” being rehearsed in the living room while I was cooking dinner was … well, that just doesn’t happen everyday. They were on Letterman, they were featured in the Superbowl, they toured with the aforementioned Braids, and they created their own festival in Arizona. Of course someone remixed them, and the remix album is almost as good as the original, like an unofficial disc two.
Read my full review here.
Mandy Cook: “See”
I had the pleasure of playing frequently with Mandy before I left Nashville for Florida, and I’ve only met one other singer in my life who can captivate an attention-defect audience the way she could — and that person is local legend Laura Lounsbury. “See” is Mandy’s first full-length album, and it’s a good representation of her writing, her playing, and her singing … although there’s still nothing as arresting as hearing her live.
Read my full review — and an exclusive interview with Mandy — here.
Everything Everything: “Get To Heaven”
Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw should have started a band fronted by Mark Twain called “Dancehall Mayhem.” Since they didn’t, there’s Everything Everything. I didn’t even know who these guys were before I reviewed “Get To Heaven.” Jonathan Higgs has got to be one of the most talented lyricists alive, and hearing him spit condemnations of the status quo like the Micro Machines Man meets Howard Zinn meets is both jaw-dropping and invigorating. From the first play-through of the chorus of “Distant Past,” to the final violent verse of “Good As My God,” I was hooked on this album. If anything, it has too much energy. Is that a thing?
Read my full review here.
