Best of 2016: Albums

To be honest, it was kind of hard to make the top ten this year and I really could have interchanged any of the top six albums because unlike the last few years there was no clear cut favorite album of the year for me. With that out of the way, here are the album I enjoyed the most from 2016.


10) Blood Orange - Freetown Sound

With third album the name Blood Orange, Dev Hynes made a very bold decision. Hynes once again is the primary composer and musician for Freetown Sound but he takes more of a backseat vocally as he recruited an amazing collection of female singers including Empress Of, Debbie Harry, Carly Rae Jepsen, Nelly Furtado and Kelsey Lu to provide a large amount of the vocals. The album changes tonally throughout the 16 tracks but somehow manages to remain cohesive.

Listen to Best to You

9) Lewis Del Mar - Lewis Del Mar

There's a hint of Alt-J and Tune-Yards in this debut effort from the New York City based duo Lewis Del Mar. That being said, the album felt like a breath of fresh air from an artist I wasn't familiar with before this year. From the opening track 'Such Small Scenes', I was instantly intrigued by the direction of the album.

Listed to Painting (Masterpiece)


8) Miike Snow - iii

I've been a fan of Miike Snow since shortly after the self-titled debut album was released in 2009. However, this year it was taken to another level with iii which is a great album that I was able to see performed live (most of it anyway) during a great concert at Pappy & Harriet's. iii has the great hooks you've come to expect from Miike Snow but also some slower and somber moments in terrific songs like 'I Feel The Weight' which never feels out of place.

Listen to I Feel The Weight

7) Explosions In The Sky - The Wilderness

Almost exactly five years after the release of their last studio album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, one of my absolute favorite bands returned with The Wilderness. For the unindoctrinated, Explosions In The Sky has no vocals and they generally don't write in songs as much as they do movements like a classical composer. The Wilderness has nine tracks which is more than any previous album and they are shorter than the typical Explosions In The Sky songs but remain incredibly powerful. The first time I gave the entire album a dedicated listen was five days after it was released as I walked along the beach in San Diego shortly after being laid off from my old job and it was a life affirmed experience. I was then lucky enough to see them live for the 8th time the next month at the Ace Hotel. I've mentioned it before but if you have a chance to see them live it will be something you will not regret.

Listen to Disintegration Anxiety


6) Nothing - Tired of Tomorrow

I first became aware of Nothing in 2014 when their debut full length album Guilty of Everything came out and made my list of favorite albums that year. Tired of Tomorrow expands on the shoegaze soundscape they created in the first album and is more accessible without compromising the unique sound that makes them so great.

Listen to Vertigo Flowers

5) Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye

From the opening notes of the very Pink Floyd esque intro track 'Daughters Of Cain', I was completely on board with Amen & Goodbye. Nearly a decade since their debut album All Hour Cymbals, Yeasayer has released what I feel is there most complete effort. Yeasayer as been tagged with the labeled of experimental rock which I think it generally misused when a band or artist can't be categorized into a traditional genre of music but in Amen & Goodbye they do experiment with a wide variety of sounds (including the theremin heavy track 'Uma') and the results of their experimentation are fantastic.

Listen to I Am Chemistry


4) Bon Iver - 22, A Million

If the second Bon Iver album was considered a departure from the first record, then the most recent album 22, A Million is from a different planet. Not everything on the album completely lands with me this time around but most of it does and several of them are among the best songs I heard this year even though they're difficult songs to reference in conversation like '8 (circle)' and '22 (OVER S∞∞N)'.

Listen to 33 "GOD"


3) Flock of Dimes - If You See Me, Say Yes

For fans of Jenn Wasner like myself, 2016 was a sweet relief. Not only did Wasner and her collaborator Andy Stack release a new Wye Oak record entitled Tween appropriately titled as it's somewhere between an EP and a full length LP, but Wasner also released her debut solo album under the moniker Flock of Dimes. You may not know her by name but there's a good chance you've heard Wasner's angelic voice as the Wye Oak song Civilian of the album of the same name has been listened to tens of millions times after being featured on an episode of The Walking Dead. If You See Me, Say Yes is full of expertly crafted melodies accompanied by Wasner's angelic voice that seeming floats above the music.

Listen to Semaphore


2) Jim James - Eternally Even

One year after releasing the seventh studio album with My Morning Jacket, frontman Jim James released his second solo album Eternally Even. As a member of My Morning Jacket, James has helped write a few of my favorite songs of the last 10-15 years (as well as a couple of my favorite late night talk show performances) and now he's created one of my favorite albums. Eternally Even is just one mellow groove song after another that flow so well together they practically melt into each other. It's album that feels like it could've been recorded in the late 1960s and should be able to continue to stand the test of time.

Listen to Here In Spirit


1) Hammock - Everything and Nothing

I remarked before on previous lists that when you listen to dozens or hundreds of albums every year, being able to remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard an album is general a good sign of the impression that it left on you. I remember Everything and Nothing was released on April 1st along with about half a dozen albums I really had been anticipating including two which also made this list (Amen & Goodbye and The Wilderness) but Everything and Nothing is the album that I kept coming back to as the year went on. I'm generally of the opinion that no album should be over an hour long but this is the exception that proves the rule as it glides for 76 minutes of sonic bliss.

Listen to Glassy Blue


Honorable mention:

The 1975 - I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
Beach Slang - A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings
Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial
Chance The Rapper - Coloring Book
Childish Gambino - "Awaken, My Love!"
Dinosaur Jr. - Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not
Francis and the Lights - Farewell, Starlite!
Frank Ocean - Blonde
Glass Animals - How To Be A Human Being
John K. Samson - Winter Wheat
Peals - Honey
The Radio Dept. - Running Out Of Love
Weezer - Weezer (White Album)

Best of 2016: Songs

Sames rules apply as per usual: no repeat artists or multiple songs from the same album. You can listen to my Best of 2016 Spotify playlist here that has all these songs and over a hundred more released in 2016. To be honest, I wasn't sure how this year was gonna measure up but I had to cut some songs I thought were really, really good to make this list of my 30 favorite.


30) M83 - Solitude
29) Sleigh Bells - I Can Only Stare
28) Everything Everything - I Believe It Now
27) Young The Giant - Amerika
26) Classixx - Just Let Go (feat. How To Dress Well)
25) Sundara Karma - Loveblood
24) Chairlift - Moth to the Flame
23) Jack Garratt - Worry
22) Car Seat Headrest - Vincent
21) Miike Snow - Heart Is Full
20) Frank Ocean - Ivy
19) Har Mar Superstar - Anybody's Game
18) James Blake - I Need A Forest Fire (feat Bon Iver)
17) Beach Slang - Punks In A Disco Bar
16) Flock of Dimes - Minor Justice
15) All Human - Desert Fox Cubs Play Under a Sky Full of Stars
14) Follin - Roxy
13) Day Wave - Stuck
12) Dinosaur Jr. - Be a Part
11) Childish Gambino - Redbone
10) Local Natives - Fountain Of Youth
9) Lucius - Born Again Teen
8) Hammock - Everything and Nothing
7) Grouplove - Enlighten Me
6) Nothing - Vertigo Flowers
5) Glass Animals - Youth
4) Weezer - Jacked Up
3) Yeasayer - I Am Chemistry
2) Blood Orange - Best to You
1) Bon Iver - 33 "GOD"

So Your Asshole Friend Without Kids Wants To Give You Parenting Advice...

As you can probably guess from the title, I understand the audacity of writing this but I felt it was worthwhile regardless.

Today I was out for a morning walk with my dog Arrow listening to the most recent album by Explosions In The Sky when I had a bit of an epiphany.

Before leaving on the walk, I had emailed my mom who had asked me twice already for a Christmas list. I doubt it's normal for a 34 year old man to send a Christmas list to his mom but for better or worse that's the relationship I have with my mom. It has become harder each year to come up with a list because the kind of tangible things I used to collect like DVDs and CDs have become more or less obsolete in the streaming world. I also have a job that pays me decently so when there's something I feel I really want or need, then I usually buy it for myself. I told my mom I wouldn't mind a Movie Pass or movie gift card and I could use a new pair of walking shoes because my current pair has a hole in the heel likely caused by slipping them on and off without untying the laces. However, this year, partly inspired by my friend Travis who came up with a similar arrangement for he and I, I told my mom she could just make a donation to a charity for me.

I suggested the charity Friends & Helpers which I made a physical donation to last night. It's a charity that works with domestic abuse victims who are primarily women and children who have had to flee their homes. During the holidays Friends & Helpers works to give those victims a Christmas to restore some normalcy to a family going through a traumatic time. I drove out to Sunflower School in Glendora, CA dropped off a bag with a couple of movie theater gift cards, a baseball glove, a football, a soccer ball and a few packs of baseball cards. I'm a little out of touch so I don't know if young children have any interest in baseball cards but I figured it wouldn't hurt. The volunteers met me at my car and helped me to take the items out of my trunk then gave me a clipboard to write down my information and I was on my way. It was quick and easy.

There's no right or wrong way to donate your time, money or energy to a charitable cause but this felt more special to me because I was Christmas shopping for a young boy or girl. I realized after the fact my gifts might have been a little too catered towards boys but I'll work on that next time. It was more fulfilling than just clicking a button or writing a check.

Now back to the aforementioned epiphany; I realized during my morning walk that when I was a young boy, my mom would take me and my brother Aaron to pick out toys around Christmas but they weren't for us. We were as spoiled as a middle class family could get around Christmas, don't get me wrong but we would buy some presents to take to a shelter for abused women and children. I don't remember the exact name of the shelter and I wouldn't post it anyway because the name denoted the location and I remember my mom telling me the location was a secret so the abusers couldn't locate their victims. The memory of doing this hadn't crossed my mind for over 20 years until I realized I had done the same thing which brings me to the advice portion of this post.

Most of you who have children will spoil your kids because you love them more than anything in the world and that is okay. You should let your children know they are loved and I'm not trying to preach some pie in the sky ideology that says material gifts don't equal love. One of the most important things my mom did for me was showing love, compassion and empathy for other people which is something that became so ingrained in my psyche I ended up following her example without even realizing it.

This week after Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, was Giving Tuesday which is sadly a lot less well known than the shopping holidays. I think part of it has to do with the fact that if you're anything like me, first of all- sorry, but secondly, it feels awkward to talk to someone about giving to a charity because maybe you'll think they'll judge you as someone who is only giving for the recognition. Over the last 24 hours, I've realized donating to charity is not something that only needs to be between you and your accountant when you file your taxes at the end of the year. So, don't feel the need to hold back from sharing if you do something charitable or see something charitable that inspires you but most importantly, share the process and experience with your children because it will help shape them into the men and women they will eventually become.

If this comes across as preachy and pious as it seems in my head, I hope my intentions are understood. I don't write this thinking I'm holier than thou. I can be angry, bitter, depressed or self-indulgent and sometimes all at once. I'll watch the David Foster Wallace commencement speech and try to be kinder to people then find myself honking and yelling at a stranger mere hours later but then I make a concerted effort to try again.

If you're looking for a first step in donations, I'd recommend checking a site like GuideStar just to make sure your hard earned money is going towards the charity and not to pay a board of directors who decides a good use of your money to send out nickels and address labels to contributors. The two charities I personally have donated to recently are Friends & Helpers and charity: water. As I was walking back towards my house and formulating these thoughts I felt a great sense of optimism because even though the country feels as angry and divided as it's been in a long time, the overwhelming majority of people are good and the friends of mine with children are raising them with love, compassion and empathy, and as long as we have that-

Best of 2015: Film

It was really a tremendous year for movies both large and small. Several of my favorite movies from 2015 had only a few characters or voice actors populate the entire film. There were movies that didn't make the cut for the honorable mention this year that might have been among the 5 or 10 best in previous years. Without further ado, here are my favorite films from 2015:

10) Room

Room definitely fits the bill of a great small independent film as the entire first act is ostensibly a play set in one small room. It doesn't hurt that one of the most emotionally jarring scenes of any film this year was set to one of my favorite songs by the tremendous band This Will Destroy You. Brie Larson had shown flashes of great talent before but her performance in Room is a revelation and she deserves every award she gets including the Oscar that's almost certainly coming her way. Room also showcases the incredibly likable and talented young actor Jacob Tremblay.

9) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a strange movie in the sense that it started as a very self-aware homage to great filmmakers but along the way the story progresses into something entirely different. The cast includes three terrific young actors (Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke) who are buoyed by a great supporting cast that includes Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon and Jon Bernthal. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon seamlessly transitions his love of film into a film that becomes a surprisingly emotional love story itself.

8) The End of the Tour

One of the biggest travesties of this year's awards season has been the lack of acknowledgement for Jason Segel's portrayal of brilliant but tortured author David Foster Wallace. The End of the Tour recounts a brief encounter between Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and David Foster Wallace. The movie isn't flashy or over-stylized but the performances are excellent and gives a glimpse into the soul of a successful smart person who struggles with his depression.

7) Creed

By the time the title card is revealed after a brief five minute scene, you know that you're in the hands of a more than competent director. To tell the plot of Creed sounds like a near carbon copy of its predecessor Rocky but it's much more than that and largely due to the terrific direction of Ryan Coogler.

6) Ex Machina

Alex Garland was an established writer who went from novelist to screenwriter and made his directorial debut with Ex Machina which he also conceived and wrote. Much like one of my favorite films of last year The One That I Love, it plays like a great episode of The Twilight Zone and also features only three on camera speaking roles.

5) Anomalisa

Adapted from an audio play written by Charlie Kaufman and told using stop motion animation, Anomalisa is one of the most original movies of the year despite telling a very relatable and universal story. Kaufman skillfully illustrates that what was once fresh and new quickly becomes old and the same. Kaufman is the brilliant mind behind some of my favorite movies ever made and this one feels layered in a way that demands repeating viewings.

4) Inside Out

This one might stick out as one of these is not like the others but it's not. Inside Out is possibly my favorite Pixar movie and it was one of the best movies of 2015. Director and co-writer Pete Docter wanted to come up with a way to understand his daughter better and came up with the genius idea of having her emotions (joy, sadness, anger, etc) turn into animated characters. It might be a little hard to follow for young kids but it is a great heartwarming movie for any age range.

3) Sicario

One of the more underrated films of the year was Sicario. French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve has been working for a quite a while but only recently made the transition to English speaking films and has already made a significant impact. His collaborations with my personal favorite cinematographer in film history Roger Deakins have given his movies a unique style and Sicario is no exception. It's a very dense and intense film but if you give it your full attention then it will amaze you.

2) Mad Max: Fury Road

I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I've never seen any of the original Mad Max movies. I was intrigued by the trailer to Mad Max: Fury Road and planned to watch them ahead of time but didn't get around to it. That is to say, I think Mad Max: Fury Road is best viewed without any preconceived notions but even people who saw the originals mostly seemed impressed. It's stunning visually with some jaw-dropping action sequences. Tom Hardy is great as the titular character but it's Charlize Theron's performance that carries the movie and is a breath of fresh air in the action genre.

1) The Revenant

I went most of the year thinking I wouldn't see a better movie that Mad Max: Fury Road but then the day after Christmas I walked into ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood and watched one of the best films I'll ever see in my life. The Revenant is one of the most beautiful looking films ever made and it's also tremendously well acted. It features several of the most harrowing and intense action sequences that I've ever seen. It is a simple yet fascinating story told in a relentless yet deliberate pace. This is without a doubt, the best film of the year and maybe the best film of this decade. I honestly believe The Revenant is a film that will be studied for the next hundred years.


Honorable mention:

All Things Must Pass

Black Mass

Hateful Eight

It Follows

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

The Martian

Spotlight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Straight Outta Compton

What We Do in the Shadows

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