Top 40 Albums of 2015
Melodic. Rough around the edges. Biblical motifs. For the win.
Percussive yet ambient. Perfect work music.
Alabama Shakes keep marching forward with an excellent sophomore release. Bluesy, snarly, overdriven.
Technical and punishing instrumental metal.
Tunes best suited for the bar on a Friday night.
Guitar rock for the indie inclined. I do hope all my favorite bands stay together.
Why can’t all bad news sound so pretty?
Oasis tone updated to the 2010s.
Icelanders do pop differently. I mean, look at that music video?
Catching some Feist vibes from this new artist.
3-piece outfit including Mike Portnoy on a small kit and vocals drenched in 90s grunge. Fun times.
Experimental but catchy.
Mr. Bay sure has a voice. A fun album to sing at the top of your lungs.
Certified indie rock chaos. Hadn’t listened to this band in years but glad this record drew me back in.
Still gorgeously constructed. Now with drums!
A phoenix rising from the ashes of the Civil Wars, VENUS displays a variety of influences and styles with varying degrees of success.
I don’t always listen to metal these days, but when I do, I listen to August Burns Red.
Sparse. Humble. Naked emotion.
Winner of the most-likely-to-dance-around-the-kitchen award.
This band knows how to execute bombastic multi-instrumentation pop hits.
A step down from pinnacle Death Cab, perhaps partially due to the departure of Chris Walla. Still worth a listen.
Half the album offers some of the best Decemberists tunes in the catalog. The other half… not so much.
Tim Wilson & co. have mastered the melting pot of indie-pop-rock.
I’ve found my replacement for the Civil Wars.
An excellent sophomore effort that falls just short of the debut.
Progressive bluegrass. I call it “prog-grass.”
Side project with members of the National, Menomena, and Ramona Falls. A recipe for success.
A continued trend away from Balkan folk toward standard indie rock. I’m ok with this move.
The music is solid but the album’s lyrics provide the lasting power. Bonus points for a Cormac McCarthy reference in the title.
Josh Ritter writes a novel in every song. Each word resonates deeply.
Garage rock with all the reverbs. A stellar effort.
Jason Isbell offers my kind of country. A focus on melodic hooks with a touch of twang. There’s no mentions of honky tonk here. Thanks Jason.
Dustin Tebbutt provides an Australian version of Bon Iver. Will buy the vinyl whenever this releases in the U.S.
Kendrick Lamar is literary rap. “King Kunta” draws on Ellison and Achebe.
A track-by-track cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989. Adams strips the production values down to let the sad lyrics shine.
Electronic pop with a keen sense of the metal breakdown. This album gets better with every listen.
Crisply executed art pop. Probably the most daring song construction on the list.
Highly percussive with acoustic guitar dexterity.
Sufjan allows his listeners to experience the pain of losing his mother. A departure from previous albums but beautiful in its simplicity.
Whoa. The gospel and soul influences on this record take it over the top. The melodies and song structures shine.
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