Best of 2015: Albums

10) Jeff Lynne's ELO - Alone in the Universe

There might be some nostalgia in this first selection but I believe it's a really solid album. Jeff Lynne is to me one of the most underrated musicians of the last 50 years and he returns with his first new material in over a decade. The opening track 'When I Was a Boy' has a classic Electric Light Orchestra sound with a hint of The Beatles as much of his work does. In November, I was one of the lucky 2,000 people who got to see him play in the United States for the first time in over 30 years which also helped leave me with a good impression of this album.

Listen to The Sun Will Shine on You

9) Beach Slang - The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us

The album title might be unwieldy but The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us is one of the more raw records I heard this year. It hearkens to a punk rock sound of the later 90s but has great production value and seems to have more lyrical significance than most of the music of that era.

Listed to Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas

8) Majical Cloudz - Are You Alone?

Canadian singer-songwriter Devon Welsh created a beautiful and sometimes somber album. The music has a haunting quality which is a perfect match for Welsh's moody baritone voice. While Are You Alone? is best experienced as a complete piece, no song stayed with me more than 'Downtown' which ended up at the top of my list for songs of the year.

Listen to Downtown

7) JEFF The Brotherhood - Wasted On The Dream

The duo of brothers has evolved quite a bit over the past decade. They still have a very raw sound but having more time to spend in the studio working on Wasted On The Dream paid off. It's a great pure rock album complete with an appearance from Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson in what I can pretty comfortably say is the year's best flute solo.

Listen to Black Cherry Pie

6) Mark Ronson - Uptown Special

By now you've probably heard 'Uptown Funk' dozens or hundreds of times. It's a great funk pop song but the entire album is littered with good songs from collaborators Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), Andrew Wyatt (Miike Snow), Mystikal, Bruno Mars and Stevie Wonder. I'm personally partial to the tracks that Kevin Parker worked on but the whole album is solid.

Listen to Feel Right

5) Tanlines - Highlights

The debut album from Tanlines Mixed Emotions was near the top of my favorite albums of 2012 and they certainly avoided a sophomore slump. Highlights contains some of the catchiest hooks I heard all year but this album seems to have more depth and layers than its predecessor.

Listen to Pieces

4) Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

Sufjan Stevens is one of the most interesting musicians working today. He went from releasing The Age of Adz which was one of my favorite records from 2010 to 58 track Christmas album clocking in at nearly three hours. Carrie & Lowell, written for and about his mother and stepfather, might not be as ambitious an undertaking as some of his earlier projects but it feels like his most personal.

Listen to John My Beloved

3) Purity Ring - another eternity

For me, one of the marks of a good album is remembering where you were when you first listened to it. Purity Ring's another eternity had actually been out for a couple months when I listened to it while walking through the Oakland, CA airport terminal and it's stayed with me ever since. another eternity is one of the more atmospheric albums I heard in 2015 and it builds from the first notes of the opening track until the very end.

Listen to push pull

2) Tame Impala - Currents

Tame Impala is technically a band but the music is the creation of Kevin Parker who writes and records all of the music himself much like Jeff Lynne who appeared earlier on this list. Following up his 2012 critically acclaimed album Lonerism was always going to be a tall order but he was equal to task. From the first time I heard the opening track 'Let It Happen', I knew I was going to love the album and I was part of the audience at The Fox Theater in Pomona, CA last April who were the first to ever hear the song played live.

Listen to Let It Happen

1) Mini Mansions - The Great Pretenders

This was the easiest decision of the list for me. Several albums were great this year but none of them resonated with me like The Great Pretenders. The band itself seemed to know what an incredible piece of music they created and acknowledged it while also using the Voyager Golden Record as the album cover. From the opening notes of 'Freakout!' to the dreamy fadeout of 'The End, Again' it is 45 minutes of audio bliss. Seeing them perform almost the entire album live in October only cemented my opinion that it was my favorite album of 2015.

Listen to Any Emotions


Honorable mention:

Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color

Chvrches - Every Open Eye

City and Colour - If I Should Go Before You

Foals - What Went Down

The Helio Sequence - The Helio Sequence

Kendrick Lamar - How To Pimp A Butterfly

Leon Bridges - Coming Home

Mew - + -

No Devotion - Permanence

Twin Shadow - Eclipse