The Music Of 2015 - Singles

Last year I believe I had about 100 singles for this list but this year I've shortened it down to only 25. Again, it's heavily centered on artists and releases from the first half of the year and a very small amout is from the third quarter. There's definitely room for improvement and there's a lot of things missing from here that I might have enjoyed if I'd had the time to visit their music but this list as it is, will have to do. I'm hoping it still has a few unknown tracks on it.

Favorite Tracks of 2015

25. Sun Kil Moon - With A Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry [Universal Themes]


24. Father John Misty - Holy Shit [I Love You, Honeybear]

23. Makthaverskan - Witness [Witness]

22. Young Fathers - Still Running [White Men Are Black Men Too]

21. Lolina - Lolina [Relaxin']

20. Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld - The Sun Roars Into View [Never Were The Way She Was]



19. Open Mike Eagle - Dark Comedy Late Show [A Special Episode Of]

18. Chicklette - Predator [Unfaithful]

17. Young Thug - Check [Barter 6]

16. Nicolas Jaar - The Three Sides Of Audrey And Why She's All Alone Now [Nymphs II]

15. Fantasma - Shangrila [Free Love]



14. Råd Kjetil Sanza Testa - Dödligt Vapen [Levande Död I Norra Norrland]

13. Blanck Mass - Detritius [Dumb Flesh]

12. Tricot - Noradrenaline [A N D]

11. Marching Church - Your Father's Eyes [This World Is Not Enough]

10.  Joanne Robertson - Hi Watt [Black Moon Days]



Dean Blunt is one of my favorite artists that are active today. I've already had a track from long time collaborator Inga Copeland (released under the name Lolina) on this list at spot 21 but on spot 10 we find a song from his most recent collaborator, Joanne Robertson who've worked with him on his last two albums. Black Moon Days is a decent record in a similar vein to artists like Grouper where atmospheric and lush folk run into a kind of ambient, lo-fi structure. It's an enjoyable record for someone who is into the kind of Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill but it isn't revolutionizing in any way. However, the song, Hi Watt separates itself from the rest, not only through the production by Dean Blunt but also by straying from the instropective, overplayed sensitivity of the other tracks and sounding more urban and modern than before, almost like a mixture of  Robertson's solo stuff and Blunt's most recent, folk-ish songs from Black Metal.

9. Grimes - Realiti [Realiti]
An important distinction is that the Realiti in question is the demo one, released early on in the year as a thank you to fans and not the remade version that ended up on Art Angels. They are very similar songs but there's something less artificial about the demo version. It feels more lo-fi, not as cleanly mastered and the main melody feels far more prominent. The album version ended up sounding far more like a club banger, which a lot of Art Angels actually did, but the demo felt more intimate, while still staying true to the feel of a song like Genesis, which is one of my all time favorites.

8. Ghost Bath - The Golden Number [Moonlover]



The full album Moonlover is really nothing more than a cheap, watered down version of Sunbather, where Ghost Bath tries to capitalize on the success that Deafhaven had with fusing shoegaze, black metal and post-rock. Most of the tracks on here are weak imitations of post-rock which give their best at trying to build into some kind of climax but never achieve more than slowing down the pace of the record. The Golden Number is also an attempt at being Deafhaven, but this track is more in the vein of the phenomenal single Dream House. Maybe it doesn't reach exactly those heights that Dream House but it's god damn close. Powerful repetive guitar riffs, banshee-esque screams all culminating in an almost ridiculous heavy metal riff which shouldn't work in the slightest but which actually ends up holding the song together, making it more than just a Deafhaven knock off. Moonlover isn't even good enough to end up on my Honorable Mentions but The Golden Number deserves a top ten spot amongst best tracks.

7. Kendrick Lamar - i [To Pimp A Butterfly]
Hearing i for the first time, the single i, that is, made me very unsure about what Kendrick was aiming to do with his followup to the tremendous Good Kid M.A.A.D. City and when I first got a chance to hear To Pimp A Butterfly I was still unsure of how the penultimate track was to going to work in the context of the record but having drastically changed it, it ended up proving to be the albums highest point, not only as a climactic ending to the long, almost concept-like story that is To Pimp A Butterfly but also as a musical turning point, where Lamar's poem has ended and we move into the self-loving, excusably narcisistic cry for people to "love themselves". One of the most important on one of the most important records of the year.

6. Jamie XX - I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) [In Colour]



I Know There's Gonna Be is an all-purpose song, executed with regards to every little day and more or less a perfect pop song. The kind of song that I can see appeal to more or less every kind of crowd. It's easy going, it's fun, it doesn't try to be anything that it isn't and it also pulls likeminded artists from different backgrounds onto the same track, Thugger representing modern day pop-rap, Popacaan as a more alternative bridge and Jamie XX as someone loved by both Tumblr-crowds and the guys at Pitchfork. It hits every note right, it's the kind of song that I have no problem hearing over and over again; there's really no fault to it. The only reason it isn't higher is because it's not more than a pop song. It is simple, it doesn't challenge and it will be done in a similar fashion, in a different way in another year or two but today, I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times) is a text book example of how to make good music.

5. Erik Lundin - Suedi [Suedi]




I was very excited to get to write about this. I normally don't care for what certain critics praise and seeing this claimed as the best new rapper in Sweden is something I seem to hear once every year from Swedish critics but Erik Lundin shines as something different and unique from a pool where there isn't all that much exciting. Suedi almost deserves a mention for the beat alone which is terrfic and unique, sounding not too far from the cloud-rap movement and challenging some of guys like ASAP Rocky and similar's beats but Lundin is also a very skilled lyricist, writing a cohesive song about the oppression and racism that you'll find in Sweden while also rapping about the Swedish political climate of today and retelling his story of coming to terms with an ethnical identity. Very excited for what else Lundin might make and I'd love to hear a full-length debut from this go, let's hope he doesn't go the same way as most "next big things" here in Sweden and drop mediocre EP's until he's forgotten about.

4. Timbre - St Cecilia: An Ode To Music [Sun & Moon]



Timbre is the new flavor of the month on RateYourMusic for this year but their praise is nothing but warranted. Combining the more exciting parts of baroque folk of today (comparisons to Joanna Newsom have been done a thousand times but can definitely be mentioned again) with a classical tinge. The second side of this enormous double album is titled Moon and features the mesmerizing St Cecilia: An Ode To Music, a 13-minute track consisting of flutes, harps and the most beautiful choir you'll hear this year. Timbre's Sun & Moon is an incredibly rewarding listen, one that led me on a long path down classical choral music and this track is the most powerful entity on the record, one I knew would be on this list when I first heard it.

3. Sherwood & Pinch - Stand Strong [Late Night Endless]



Early on in the year Brittish producers Adrian Sherwood and Rob Ellis (aka Pinch) released a collaborative album titled Late Night Endless which seems to have passed every critic who isn't centered on brittish electronic music by. Luckily, I came across it and enjoyed it immensely. The stand out track is the song Stand Strong a dub-techno with an african-influence which perfectly captures the late night mood and feel of a moving city. It's a song I've come back to a lot with very little similar stuff to find. It captures an atmosphere and it does it incredibly well, which is something the rest of the album unfortunately can't match.

2. Death Grips - On GP [Jenny Death]



I don't think I'll ever forget the hype and craze surrounding Death Grips' supposedly final album Jenny Death. It is a culmination of a carreer (maybe) and while the record unfortunately doesn't match up to their, in my opinion, greatest releases it still feels like a fitting end to a long and very important musical chapter.
I remember being at a party that was winding down as people were going to bed when I spotted a new release from Death Grips, a sign that Jenny Death was actually on the way which at the time was huge. On GP sounds like the final breaths of a short but important carreer and it is an uncomfortably close look on the mysterious rapper and front-man MC Ride's thoughts and life.
In the end I'm not quite sure of what I want. Ending the band Death Grips on a track like On GP would leave them at their best, but at the same time I'd always love to hear whatever the three guys would cook up next.

1. Sufjan Stevens - No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross [Carrie & Lowell]




Having to pick the number one spot for this year was quite hard. The list for best songs is usually my favorite even if they're the hardest to write about. There's a much bigger pool to pick from and it isn't hard to make a top 100 like I did last year. The final six or seven tracks were all in the run for the number one spot this year and I'm still not quite sure if Death Grips shouldn't have had it but when I think back on when I first heard No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross I realize that it needs to be number one.
Sufjan Stevens was the kind of artist that I had somewhat moved away from when this track was first released in February but it revitalized my love for his music through this introspective piece which shows us a Sufjan that we didn't know existed. It's a dark song, despite the somewhat longing instrumental about losing oneself. It is the kind of song that I'd never expected from Stevens and I guess that's what shocked me so much about it. It wasn't overly gleeful or melodramatic in any way, it was a naked, exposed Sufjan and it's an absolutely treffic song.

The Music Of 2015 - Singles
Anton Öberg Sysojev