Sunday, July 19, 2015

The Best Albums of 2015 so far

July is well underway, the temperature's rising and amid capital controls, financial and various other types of crisis and closely averted (?) catastrophes, we remain dedicated to the cause of new music discovery.

In this spirit, as we always do at the halfway point in the year, we have prepared a list of 40 albums, that may or may not be the "best" of the year so far, but they are certainly those that we have listened to the most in the past six months.

As usual, this list is without an "official" ranking, however the order of presentation is definitely not random and there is no doubt in my mind that the four albums at the top by newcomer  Courtney Barnett, '90s-school rockers Sleater-Kinney and Built To Spill, and (surprise - surprise) Holly Herndon with her left-field electronica, will be among the contenders for "Album of the Year" in less than six months from now.

Top 40 Albums of January - June 2015

  • Sometimes I sit and think, and sometimes I just sit - COURTNEY BARNETT
  • No cities to love - SLEATER-KINNEY
  • Untethered moon - BUILT TO SPILL
  • Platform - HOLLY HERNDON
  • Ivy tripp - WAXAHATCHEE
  • Escape from evil - LOWER DENS
  • Viet Cong - VIET CONG
  • "Freedom tower" - No Wave dance party 2015 - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
  • The magic whip - BLUR
  • Foil deer - SPEEDY ORTIZ
  • Hinterland - LONELADY
  • Sub-lingual tablet - THE FALL
  • Strangers to ourselves - MODEST MOUSE
  • Short movie - LAURA MARLING
  • Another eternity - PURITY RING
  • The race for space - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
  • What a terrible world, what a beautiful world - THE DECEMBERISTS
  • Heartbreak pass - GIANT SAND
  • Fast food - NADINE SHAH
  • I want to grow up - COLLEEN GREEN
  • California nights - BEST COAST
  • MCIII - MIKAL CRONIN
  • Kintsugi - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
  • Born under Saturn - DJANGO DJANGO
  • To pimp a butterfly - KENDRICK LAMAR
  • Shadow of the sun - MOON DUO
  • Universal themes - SUN KIL MOON
  • My love is cool - WOLF ALICE
  • Wire - WIRE
  • II - METZ
  • Deeper - THE SOFT MOON
  • Transfixiation - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
  • Panda Bear meets the Grim Reaper - PANDA BEAR
  • Carrie & Lowell - SUFJAN STEVENS
  • Edge of the sun - CALEXICO
  • Distractions - SAUNA YOUTH
  • Peanut butter - JOANNA GRUESOME
  • Mutilator Defeated At Last - THEE OH SEES
  • Whatever, My Love - THE JULIANA HATFIELD THREE
  • Blade of the Ronin - CANNIBAL OX

Listen below to a playlist with some of our favorite tracks from our Top Albums of 2015 so far:

And since "Sub-lingual Tablet" is not on Spotify yet, here's "Auto Chip 2014-2016" from the still mighty Fall:

The Fall - Auto Chip 2014-2016

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