MY FAVOURITE MUSIC OF THE YEAR: 2015
December 16th 2015
NEW ALBUMS
1 C Duncan, Architect
One man’s vision – part classical, ambient, other worldly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvbJS3YVae0
2 Kamasi Washington, The Epic
Jazz is rarely like this: mixing big band, soul & funk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCIAMO3Al1A
3 Floating Points, Elaenia
Stunning harmonies, spaces and silence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfYP7uTZX8Y
4 Tame Impala, Currents
Real departure for guitar sound into dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFptt7Cargc
5 D’Angelo, Black Messiah
Rarely has political funk/R&Bsounded so good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2r5yqjlVrI
6 Mark Ronson, Uptown Funk
Good time infectious dance/pop
7 Julia Holter, Have You in My Wilderness
Mysterious, serious, haunting, beautiful sort of folk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OERixQR-hxY
8 Public Service Broadcasting, The Race for Space
When space & the future were filled with hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY-kAnvOY80
9 Steven Wilson, Hand Cannot Erase
About a body left in a London flat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCHEj70o-OM
10 Drive-By Truckers, It’s Great to Be Alive
Great US rock n roll band 3 album live set
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FthiOls0w4I
BEST COMPILATION
1 Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Collected Recordings 1983-89
Piles of demos, obscure tracks & all their vids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvptsWYx6A4
2. Bob Dylan, The Cutting Edge 1965-66
Not a Dylanhead, but his golden period
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EF1mDgfKKM
BEST REISSUE
1 Duke Ellington, The Conny Plank Session
The Duke and the legendary soundman from 1970
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-0ibQhGZcc
BEST PREVIOUSLY RELEASED
1 Steven Wilson, Cover Version
Six singles; six covers & originals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuDVJsUIArg
2 Nina Simone, Live at Ronnie Scott’s
Nina in stunning form; recorded 1964
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgROGsAaZhY
BEST CLASSICAL
1 Max Richter, Sleep
8 album set taking you thru sleep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N84hEgk8b1M
BEST BOOTLEG
1 New Order, 12 X 12
Comp of NO reissued 12 inches over 4 albums
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2fAMG-DUTA
2 Blue Nile, B Sides and Rarities
Collects all their loose tracks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P75xSmJbnJ4
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
1 Frank Sinatra, A Voice on the Air 1939-55
100 tracks from radio shows.
One low point of the music year (Sinatra’s 100th anniversary of his birth) was this set apart the sheer paucity and inadequacy of any reissues. The Sinatra estate is to blame for this: and in a future a Frank reissue series is needed of the quality of Dylan, Miles and Elvis. Sadly this year was a big missed opportunity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKsmKrYWBmE
2 Jilted John
1978 album of the one hit wonder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN45OjB-cCU
LATE ADDITIONS:
1 Jason Isbell, Something More than Free
One time Drive-By Trucker guitarist records country/folk/hard times classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKX5caTE0I
2. Young Fathers, White Men are Black Men Too
Edinburgh winners of 2014 Mercury embrace rock/hip-hop mix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiQw8fqFh3M
TWO BELATED DISCOVERIES THIS YEAR:
Pharaoh Sanders, Karma, 1969
Sanders combines a Sun Ra like eclecticism and ambition with gorgeous soul funk inspired jazz. Only got into this in 2015 – and by coincidence – then into Kamasi Washington – who clearly took inspiration from his work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ6lB7FKxi8
ESG, A South Bronx Story, 2000; A South Bronx Story 2, 2006
What a discovery these were this year (via Bob Stanley’s Yeah, Yeah, Yeah): a missing link between post-punk and dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlbTgyJOI4c
