Best of 2015: Television

It was another great year for television in what many are calling "peak TV" or the second golden age of television. Even with some terrific shows like Parks and Recreation, Mad Men, Justified, Hannibal and others coming to an end, there is no shortage of great television on almost a nightly basis.

It is partly because of this overwhelming amount of television that this is quite possibly the last year that I'll post my list of favorite TV shows. The silly self-imposed task of trying to watch every decent show on television is becoming more and more daunting each year. Even though I like to recommend the shows that I'm enjoying it's getting absurd to try to keep up with the nearly 400 scripted shows on network, cable and streaming services. I could easily do a list of my 10 favorite dramas and my 10 favorite comedies and that's without watching the most recent seasons of Mad Men, House of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, Veep and probably a dozen other shows that I'm sure are good. At this point, if you're having trouble finding good shows to watch on TV or Netflix, it probably means that you aren't really looking. That being said, if I stop posting my favorite TV shows then you can just do the old fashioned thing and ask me.

10) Parks and Recreation

The 10th spot on this list was a really difficult choice because there were several shows deserving of making the list so I decided as a final sendoff to add Parks and Recreation to the list. It was a truncated 13 episode final season that helped bring closure to the show that I loved watching for the last seven years. The final season was mostly very well done (with one glaring exception) and the series finale was a fitting sendoff for a show that was always about laughs first but never forgot to establish an emotional connection along with it.

9) Hannibal

The third and presumably final season of Hannibal was somewhat uneven but when it was good, it was very good. If you followed the show for the first two seasons then you probably had no idea who made it out alive from the season two finale except for Hannibal of course. With Hannibal on the run for the first time in the show, it took a slow build approach for the first handful of episodes but once it kicked into gear it was in top form.

8) Man Seeking Woman

This was a hard decision for me to make. Master of None on Netflix tackled the similar issue of a single man navigating the world of dating and friendship and it was arguably the better show but Man Seeking Woman's absurd humor for me won the day. Creator Simon Rich was one of the youngest writers in Saturday Night Live history and his bizarre comedic mind helped create one of my favorite comedies in recent years.

7) Nathan For You

Nathan For You is unlike anything else on television. In the third season it appears that Nathan Fielder and his team have realized that his shows are better when instead of a few short segments he focuses on one idea for the entire episode. If you're unfamiliar then it's tricky to explain briefly but he helps businesses with absurd ideas that are often just crazy enough to work. This season was full of excellent episodes during which he launched a fake bestselling fitness book and his own clothing brand Summit Ice to bring holocaust awareness to the public. If you that sounds bizarre and piques your interest then you need to watch this show.

6) The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst

Before the viral sensation that was Making A Murderer, there was HBO's The Jinx. Sure, Making A Murderer is the kind of show that was designed for binge-watching (as it was ostensibly just a 10 hour documentary) but The Jinx had real filmmaking polish to go along with its jaw-dropping murder story. Director Andrew Jarecki a decade prior had made the similarly haunting documentary Capturing The Friedmans about an insidious family and returned to the true crime genre to tackle the complicated story of Robert Durst. If you know nothing about the story then I urge you to watch it immediately without doing any of your own research and then be astounding by the mesmerizing final episode.

5) Better Call Saul

In its first season, Better Call Saul showed some flashes of brilliance and its shortcomings were really minor quibbles that are probably the result of the unfair but unavoidable comparisons to Breaking Bad. Bob Odenkirk made it obvious that he's capable shouldering the load as the lead and not just relegated to comic relief he was used for in Breaking Bad. It was also great to see Jonathan Banks reprise his role as Mike Ehrmantraut and he was showcased in a terrific episode that helped to explain his stoic disposition.

4) The Knick

I kind of understand why The Knick has never found a large audience; for one thing, not many people have Cinemax or know that they have any original programming. It's also somewhat of a niche show and certainly not a show for the squeamish but it's a great piece of television that deserves your attention not only for the first rate acting, excellent costumes, great direction and cinematography by Steven Soderbergh and phenomenal score by Cliff Martinez. Those are all perfectly good reasons to watch the show but there's usually a fascinating history lesson buried in every episode and the arc of Dr. John Thackery, loosely based on the real doctor William Halsted, is riveting.

3) The Americans

My natural recency bias finds it hard to remember at times just how excellent The Americans has been because it's usually one of the first shows that I watch every year. The third season might not have matched the great heights achieved in the second season but it was close. In lesser hands the story and close calls with Elizabeth and Phillip would have felt monotonous by now but it hasn't felt that way to me at all. And for those who have been watching the end of the last episode set things in motion that will end up having huge ramifications in the newest season set to debut this March.

2) Mr. Robot

Mr. Robot was one of the most clearly defined and original new shows in several years. Please don't let the title and seemingly odd casting choice of Christian Slater fool you. This is a terrific new show that you need to see and the less you know before starting it, the better off you will be. There are many shows that are well shot right now but the cinematography on Mr. Robot is among the very best and its use of music is impeccable.

1) Fargo

Fargo was my favorite show of 2014 by a wide margin and somehow it got better in its second season. The resurgence of the anthology series is the most exciting development in television over the past decade. It's why Fargo was able to attract an all-star cast of actors and actresses for both seasons and keep the show feeling fresh Creator Noah Hawley had big shoes to fill when he decided to make a television show inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers classic and he's done it superbly. It had a chance to be the best season of television I've personally ever watched and it came pretty damn close.


Honorable mention:

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Comedy Bang! Bang!

Justified

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The Late Show with David Letterman

Making A Murderer

Master of None

Review

Silicon Valley

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

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

Best of 2015: Songs

As per usual, all these songs and many more are on my Spotify playlist of the best songs of the year. There are no songs from the same band/album on the list otherwise half my list would probably be Mini Mansions and Tame Impala. I made an exception and included a couple of singles because I have no idea when the new Beck album will be out or if 'Dreams' will make the album and that song along with 'Never A Woman', 'Hallelujah', and 'The Chase' were just too good to overlook.

30) Hot Chip - Need You Now

29) The Staves - Make It Holy

28) Andy Kim - Sister OK

27) Albert Hammond Jr. - Losing Touch

26) Foals - Mountain At My Gates

25) Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love

24) Pell - Cafe Du Monde

23) Grimes - Flesh without Blood

22) Lower Dens - To Die in L.A.

21) Leon Bridges - Coming Home

20) Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk (feat Bruno Mars)

19) The Decemberists - Make You Better

18) The Front Bottoms - HELP

17) City and Colour - Wasted Love

16) Purity Ring - push pull

15) Tanlines - Pieces

14) Jeff The Brotherhood - Black Cherry Pie

13) Reptar - Ice Black Sand

12) Twin Shadow - To The Top

11) Panic! At The Disco - Hallelujah

10) Kendrick Lamar - i

9) Electric Light Orchestra - The Sun Will Shine on You

8) Jr. Jr. - Gone

7) Beck - Dreams

6) Future Islands - The Chase

5) Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better

4) Mini Mansions - Any Emotions (feat Brian Wilson)

3) White Sea - Never A Woman

2) Mew - Satellites

1) Majical Cloudz - Downtown

Best of 2014: Film

After somewhat of an inauspicious start, 2014 turned out to be a strong year for movies.

10) Interstellar

Christopher Nolan's films are always a unique experience. Interstellar wasn't my favorite of his films but it is on par with Inception and Memento as far as originality which is really saying something. I felt the slow build at the beginning was perfectly paced but the second act was slightly too long. That being said, I found it very enjoyable and thus one of my favorite movies of the year.

9) Nightcrawler

Dan Gilroy and Tony Gilroy aren't nearly as established as Joel and Ethan Coen or Tony and Ridley Scott but between their work on the Jason Bourne films, Michael Clayton and now Nightcrawler they're making quite a name for themselves. Nightcrawler was written and directed by Dan Gilroy and his directorial debut. It was an impressive feat which was aided largely by Jake Gyllenhaal who gives possibly his best performance in what is quietly becoming a fantastic career.

8) The One I Love

This movie more than any this year stayed with me for days after I walked out of the theater. It's done so simplistically with only three on camera speaking roles but leads Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss are perfect in every scene. It's like an episode of The Twilight Zone that focuses on the examination of a couple's deteriorating relationship. As with all great movies, you'll probably enjoy it more the less you know going in and it's the only one on my list now playing on Netflix, so go see it for yourself.

7) Selma

The problem with some biopics is that they aren't focused. The story of Martin Luther King Jr is too large to tell in a single movie. So instead of telling his story, it's story of the civil rights movement in Selma, Alabama during 1964 of which Martin Luther King Jr happens to be the key figure. It's a great story and told in a moving way by director Ava DuVernay.

6) The Imitation Game

I will actually be surprised if The Imitation Game doesn't win multiple awards in the next month. It's a fascinating story told nearly flawlessly with great performances including Benedict Cumberbatch who gives a stellar portrayal as Alan Turing.

5) Birdman

To say I hadn't been a fan of director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu before Birdman would be a massive understatement. I found his previous work with 21 Grams and Babel nearly unwatchable. However, I'm couldn't be happier to have given him another chance. The satire is played just right and the feat pulled off by Inarritu and cinematographer extraordinaire Emmanuel Lubezki is nothing short of amazing. If you're not paying close attention you might not notice that the entire film is essentially one long shot with a few cheats. The long take (or takes) help heighten the drama as the story builds to a crescendo and fits right in for a movie about a play without ever feeling like a gimmick.

4) Inherent Vice

Taking one of my favorite writer/directors in Paul Thomas Anderson and giving him the material of Thomas Pychon's Inherent Vice which is a blend of Chinatown and The Big Lebowski almost doesn't seem fair. It doesn't matter that it introduces more characters and subplots than you can track on a white board, it's just a terrific ride that made me laugh about as much as any other movie this year.

3) Guardians of the Galaxy

The best movie that Marvel Studios has ever produced and in the conversation with Superman, Batman and The Dark Knight for my favorite comic book movie. The opening has been criticized by some as being heavy-handed but I bought in immediately and never looked back. Director James Gunn introduced a universe and set of characters that could have taken a wrong turn at any moment but never did.

2) Whiplash

Fantastic performances from lead performers Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons elevate good material into a terrific film. Writer/director Damien Chazelle reportedly drew on his own experience as a member of a competitive jazz band to concoct the story of an abusive music teacher pushing his student beyond his breaking point. When you think you have an idea where the story is leading you, it takes a turn and then another leaving you at the end with an interesting question about whether or not the end justifies the means.

1) Boyhood

Boyhood snuck up on me. I didn't go in with the intention of disliking it but it felt impossible that it would live up to the hype that surrounded the movie for the months before I saw it in theaters. It's easy to pass it off as a cool idea to film a movie over a 12 year period and ostensibly the movie has no plot. That does not matter. The movie is about life and growing up which isn't scripted. I can't explain how or why but I left the theater feeling better and more hopeful which one of the rarest feats for this or any medium.






Honorable mention:

22 Jump Street

Edge of Tomorrow

Foxcatcher

Gone Girl

The Raid 2

Best of 2014: Television

This is the part where I have to explain that I watch as much good television as I can fit into my schedule but I just can't watch everything. I planned on catching up on the most recent seasons of Veep, Orange Is The New Black, The Bridge, Girls and Bates Motel but I wasn't able to. Even with Breaking Bad off the air, there was so much great new television that my TV dance card was completely full. It was such a good year in television that I could argue the case for any of my six favorite shows as the best show on television, so the rankings from that point on are somewhat arbitrary and just come down to my own personal enjoyment rather than objective quality. I think I could've pretty easily made a list of the ten best dramas as well as the ten best comedies as we are experiencing something of a renaissance for great comedy.


10) Homeland

I'd be hard pressed to think of another show that's had as much backlash as Homeland. Granted, the show started to jump the shark towards the end of the second season and has been teetering on that edge ever since but it's been entertaining and gripping just about every episode in spite of that. I don't think I'm alone in thinking that moving on from Nicolas Brody and his family was the best thing the show could've done. While it still wasn't perfect, there was a stretch during this season that was as good as the show has been.

9) Boardwalk Empire

Although it was never a smash hit critically or commercially, I always appreciated the storytelling the writers did on Boardwalk Empire. The fifth and final season was a fitting farewell even if they did have to shoehorn in the backstory of Nucky Thompson in flashbacks. The season wasn't without it's problems but it had some high highs and was overall a satisfying conclusion.

8) Brooklyn Nine-Nine

It was very hard not to put Parks and Recreation in this spot. It's my favorite sitcom of the last decade but they only aired twelve episodes in 2014. I only mention Parks and Recreation because I feel like the baton has been passed to Brooklyn Nine-Nine from co-creators Dan Goor and Michael Schur who both previously worked on Parks and Recreation. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is at times more formulaic that I would hope for as they often will have a case of the week but the characters are so well inhabited that it often doesn't matter what situation they're placed in. It's good for several solid laugh out loud moments every single week which is something not many shows can say.

7) Comedy Bang Bang

Comedy Bang Bang is one of the silliest shows on television but it is also one of the funniest. Host Scott Aukerman has taken his hilarious podcast and successfully transferred it into a television show. Each episode has multiple guests (usually one real guest and one fake guest) that are unlike any other talk show interview you'll see on TV and there are interstitial segments that are equally bizarre and funny. This year they will produce 40 new episodes and I'm excited for each one.

6) Hannibal

I wasn't sure how and why NBC had Hannibal after the first gruesome season but I was even less sure after the second season. NBC decided to bury it by moving it to Friday nights which isn't exactly in their Must-See-TV lineup but to fans of the show like myself, just airing it at all is all that's needed. I would argue that it's not only the darkest show on network TV but likely the darkest show on all of television. For my money, it's also the most beautifully photographed show on television. If you can stomach watching people eaten and die gruesome deaths (not necessarily in that order) than you're in for a proverbial treat.

5) The Knick

Director extraordinaire pulled triple duty on The Knick as he directs, films and edits every episode himself (the latter two under an alias). Clive Owen is terrific as gifted but trouble surgeon John Thackery but there are no weak links in this strong ensemble cast. The electronic score from Cliff Martinez on paper seems out of place for a show set in 1900 New York but it fits perfectly. From the opening sequence of the first episode, I was completely enthralled and I proceeded to watch the whole series in about one week's time (which for someone who generally dislikes the idea of binge watching was faster than I watched any series this year).

4) True Detective

Many shows can excel from the normal writer's room with a half dozen or so writers coming up with the ideas and writing each script but some of the very best work comes from a singular vision. Such is the case with True Detective from the mind of writer Nic Pizzolatto and brought to the screen by director Cary Fukunaga. The acting from leads Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson was tremendous. It's hard to talk about True Detective with mentioning the final scene from "Who Goes There" which is one of the most ambitious, intense and mesmerizing scenes in television history.

3) The Americans

I loved the first season of The Americans which earned it the #5 spot in last year's list. This season was even better- more focused and more character driven. It's strange that what is likely thought of and marketed as a spy thriller is arguably more of a drama about the dynamic of family. Every aspect of this show is executed perfectly. If you haven't started watching The Americans yet, catch up quick because the new season starts at the end of this month.

2) Nathan For You

The label of comedic genius is used improperly at times but in the case of Nathan Fielder I'm confident in using it. The first season was very funny but the second season was ratcheted up another level. Sure, he got headlines for Dumb Starbucks which was a fantastic episode but it was just one in a season of great episodes. Whether it was his out of the box ideas for a Realtor, a dating website, a pet store or an exterminator, it was guaranteed to make me cringe and laugh simultaneously.

1) Fargo

Taking one of the best movies of the last 25 years and turning it into a miniseries made me skeptical at best. In fact, I was interested when it was reported the Coen Brothers had signed off on it but it wasn't until word of mouth started to float back to me and I had a few episodes burning a hole in my DVR that I began to delve in. Creator Noah Hawley absolutely nailed the tone set by the Coen Brothers in the film and came up with an entirely new story while still giving a few tips of the cap to fans of the movie. There was no more satisfying television experience for me this year than Fargo.


Honorable mention:

Birthday Boys

Game of Thrones

House of Cards

Justified

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Late Show with David Letterman

Orphan Black

Parks and Recreation

Review

Silicon Valley

Best of 2014: Albums

I was actually surprised that when I started to compile albums for this list there was about 25 that were in the conversation but I'm pretty satisfied with the 10 that made my list and the 10 below I would consider the runners-up.


10) TV On The Radio - Seeds

Seeds came out later in the year and it didn't hook me immediately but thankfully I gave it another chance, then another and another. It's really grown on me and holds up very well against their early work which includes some of my favorite songs and albums of the last ten years.

9) The Life and Times - Lost Bees

Despite their last album No One Loves You Like I Do making my best albums list in 2012, this was an album that slipped under my radar when it was first released in August. However, once I found out it had been released it's been in constant rotation. It's hard to make music that's heavy and catchy at the same time but The Life and Times has it down to a science.

8) Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear

The first mainstream pop album to make my list since Adele's 21 in 2011. Doesn't matter to me though because regardless of how much radio airplay the single 'Chandelier' received, it was completely deserved. Unfortunately there are many other great songs on the album that are likely unknown to most casual music listeners. Sia is bonafide pop music hit-maker but with 1000 Forms of Fear, she shows that she's much more than that.

7) Death From Above 1979 - The Physical World

After the Coachella reunion in 2011 and several other shows I felt a certain sense of nostalgia towards Death From Above 1979. They were that band I used listen to and they had a really cool performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, but I wasn't chomping at the bit for new music from them. That might be why I so thoroughly enjoyed The Physical World. It blew whatever modest expectations I had for a new record out of the water. Watching them play a couple months ago it seemed clear that fans of the band enjoyed their new work as well.

6) Nothing - Guilty of Everything

My favorite new discovery of 2014 was Nothing's Guilty of Everything which I stumbled across on NPR's First Listen back in February. It is 38 minutes of heavily distorted bliss.

5) Spoon - They Want My Soul

Somehow every song that Spoon records is unmistakably their own but they continue to evolve with each album. They've been a band for over 20 years now and released some all-time records including my favorite album of 2010 Transference. They Want My Soul is another notch in their belt as it contains much of their signature sound while also exploring some new areas like with 'Inside Out' which has a very surreal music video to accompany the wonderful hallucinatory sounds. Seeing them perform live at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery the same week the album was released was one of my musical highlights of the year.

4) Wye Oak - Shriek

Wye Oak's Civilian was one of my favorite records from 2011 and like many fans I was concerned when lead singer/guitarist Jenn Wasner made the decision to get rid of the guitar for their follow up album. However, the lack of guitar with additional keyboard and bass give Shriek an added element of space to their sound. Wasner's vocals seem to float above the beautiful music made by her and drummer extraordinaire Andy Stack. Being lucky enough to see them play a couple times this year with both sets heavy on material from Shriek only reaffirmed by appreciation for the record.

3) Beck - Morning Phase

My excitement for a new Beck album was piqued with the release of several singles in 2013 including a remarkable 15 minute song called 'I Won't Be Long'. None of those singles made it onto Morning Phase which would have been a mistake had the album not been full of relentlessly great songs that mesh perfectly together. It has been compared to Sea Change with good reason as it's definitely more in the category of somber Beck music but as early as 'Jack-Ass' on Odelay or 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime' that's been some of my favorite music.

2) Tennis - Ritual in Repeat

The title of this album is extremely fitting as I listened to it almost daily for the first few weeks after it came out. Ritual in Repeat is a phenomenal record that rests comfortably between the worlds of rock and pop. Husband and wife duo Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore have created an album in which each song seems to build of the song preceding it. I had enjoyed some past work from Tennis but this album caught me by complete surprise in the best possible way and makes me eager to hear what they release next.

1) Future Islands - Singles

Singles was in heavy rotation from the time it was released in March. I had been a fan of their earlier albums but this was a step above those albums in production value and song writing. I was lucky enough to see them live twice this year and the songs from this record sound just as good if not even better live. I couldn't be happier for their success and the performance on David Letterman that went viral which opened them up to a whole set of fans.

Honorable mention:

The Antlers - Familiars

Caribou - Our Love

Jack White - Lazaretto

La Dispute - Rooms of the House

Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence

Little Dragon - Nabuma Rubberband

Manchester Orchestra - Cope

St. Vincent - St. Vincent

This Will Destroy You - Another Language

Tycho - Awake