#1 Album of 2015, TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY, by Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly is a high-end-artistic endeavor deserving of being called the undisputed/Best Album of 2015.  It's so artistically dense... that I'm not sure how anyone could digest the record in a day, week or month to review the album confidently.  In an era where hip-hop culture/music has become pop culture/music - Kendrick opted to take an introspective look at why “Black is Beautiful” in 2015.  

View fullsize

yaaaas!

I also love that it defiantly reminds a listener not of color of the journey they're embarking on.

Stand Out Tracks:

1. How Much a Dollar Cost
2. King Kuta
3. i

#2 Album of 2015, I LOVE YOU, HONEY BEAR by Father John Misty

I kiddingly told Rhiannon that I would enroll in a college course if this album was dissected and discussed for an entire term.  In some ways it kinda reminds me of Neutral Milk Hotel's An Airplane Over the Sea...   I recall listening to that record and instantly recognized it as a contribution to higher art. 

I had the same feeling upon hearing I LOVE YOU, HONEYBEAR the very first time...  Throw on a set of headphones and reach for a lyrical sheet and stare out into wonderment like I have for the past 11 or so months.   I dare you.

View fullsize

Stand Out Tracks:

1. True Affection
2. Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)
3. The Night Josh Tillman Came to Our Apt.

#3 Album of 2015, IVY TRIPP by Waxahatchee

Like the albums by Seahaven and Boat in 2014 and 2013 respectfully, this is my personal favorite album that I don't have the guts to put atop my best of the year list.  Ivy Tripp covers a lot of emotional ground in 38 minutes.  I hope to get Rhiannon to appear on a Podcast in the coming days and ask her what the songs on this record invoke from her as a woman...   as a man, I kinda feel like I'm intruding in a space I shouldn't be in.  It kinda gives me the same feeling I got when I heard the Julie Ruin nearly 20 years ago...

View fullsize

Stand Out Tracks:

1. The Dirt
2. Under a Rock
3. La Loose

#4 Album of 2015, CURRENTS by Tame Impala

This album had me the moment I saw the album sleeve.   It’s such an incredible progression from the work they did on their 2012 album LONERISM…   I had to kinda pinch myself a few times after I heard it from start to finish on my first listen.  If someone asked me in 2025 to give an example of what music sounded like in the mid - 2010’s - I would probably reference this record.  

View fullsize

In an alternate universe, this would be the R&B record that the Flaming Lips have been dying to record and release... 

Stand Out Tracks:

1. Let It Happen
2. The Moment
3. The Less I Know the Better

#5 Album of 2015, MCIII by Mikal Cronin

Put simply, MCIII is a beautiful indie rock album with one of the most memorable soundscapes I heard the entire year.  In many ways, it picks up where MCII left off a few years ago but I think there's something very rewarding in hearing Mikal's lose himself in executing his auditory vision/journey.

View fullsize

Stand Out Tracks:

1. Made My Mind Up
2. Turn Around
3. vi) Circle

#6 Album of 2015, THE HIGH COUNTRY by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

When I pulled out the 40 or so albums I purchased in 2015... I immediately set this record aside and considered it my #11 record of the year.   Time didn't permit me to put together a top 20 list, so I then put this atop my list of Honorable Mentions.

I then got around the analyzing what albums I listen to the most in 2015 and SSLYBY's The High Country ranked within my top 5 most listened to albums this year.   I debated putting this album into my top 5 but couldn't see myself moving anyone above it into the #6 slot.

View fullsize

I purchased this record just after it came out while I was out on assignment in Seattle.  There's tracks on the album that reminded me of the band GIRLS, Weezer and the Strokes....  It's a personal fave that I may look back on in 10 years and wonder why I didn't fit in the Weeknd into best of list.

You can't argue with statistics amigos.  It also doesn't hurt to have a track on your album that features the name of your niece on it...

Stand Out Tracks:

1. Step Brother City

2. Full Possession of All Her Powers
3. Madeline 

#7 Album of 2015, IN COLOUR by Jaime xx

If you haven't had a chance to experience Jaime xx's debut album IN COLOUR , prepare to embark on an immaculately curated sonic experience that took 5 years to craft.  For those already in the know, I found myself re-immersing into IN COLOUR's UK Garage/House atmosphere throughout the year... specifically in my workday when I desperately needed to escape and stay in place.

View fullsize

On the short list for Best Album Covers of 2015

 Stand out tracks:

1. Stranger In a Room
2. Sleep Sound
3. Gosh

#8 Album of 2015, THE DESIRED EFFECT by Brandon Flowers

The Desired Effect by Brandon Flowers... was an unexpected favorite listen in 2015.

I'm not really a big fan of the Killers (Sam's Town may be the most important sophomore album of the 2000's) but anything produced by Ariel Rechtshaid should get a patient listen. I'm not sure if this album got any ground in Radio or not but there's a number of songs on here I thought could own the Summer.

View fullsize

The "Thriller" font gave me great pause...

I've always considered Brandon Flowers to be newer Billy Joel...   I hear a lot of Springsteen on this record and I'm holding him now in much higher regard.

Stand Out Tracks:

1. Still Want You
2. Between Me and You
3. Can't Deny My Love

#9 Album of 2015, THE THINGS WE DO TO FIND PEOPLE WHO FEEL LIKE US by Beach Slang

If you're over the age of 40 or within spitting distance of it, you've probably heard that this record kinda sounds like the Replacements - LEFT OF THE DIAL.  It does.  I haven't gone out of my way to confirm if the band openly does this because they're an influence or perhaps this is a genuine College Rock album that sorta belongs in the growing spectrum of WALL OF SOUND artists like: Metz, White Lung, Pity Sex, Yuck and the Cloud Nothings.  I'm somewhere in the middle I guess...  I'm a die-hard Replacements fan and have been known to slink off into the dark and listen to Mats records while drinking alone.

View fullsize

Beach Slang's - THE THINGS WE DO TO FIND PEOPLE WHO FEEL LIKE US - is a record that sorta fell victim of coming out in late October.  It likely would have placed higher on my best of 2015 list if it came out in the beginning of the Summer...   It stirs up a a lot of feelings and memories, but its certainly a record I go out of my way to dig out when I have the appropriate company over.  The friends who have kinda given up on exploring music because life gets freakishly crazy when you get on the wrong side of 35.   These songs are bursting with youthful abandon and I can't wait to see where they go and grow from here.

Stand out Tracks:

1. Bad Art and Weirdo Ideas
2. Hard Luck Kid
3. Throwaways 

#10 Album of 2015, GOON by Tobias Jesso Jr.

Every now and again, you run across a recording that sorta transcends time and space...  GOON is a soft rock record that finds it footing in the 1970's but is actually grounded in 2015.  The album is dripping with influence and seems a little out of place for a top 10 selection for anyone's list.  It however gave me the feels on the first ever listen I gave it and it remains a staple in our home on slow sleepy mornings.

View fullsize

Stand Out Tracks:

1. Without You
2. Can't Stop Thinking About You
3. The Wait