Top 40 Albums of 2015 (40-21)

This year didn’t quite live up to the high expectations I had back in January. Artists like Chance the Rapper, Frank Ocean, Jai Paul, Kanye West, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, and The Wrens didn’t make good on their promise for a new full-length album in 2015. Fortunately, others were there to pick up the slack and provide us with some great albums. Below you will find this year’s edition of what I consider the top 40 albums of the year. You’ll find albums from varying genres and possibly a few albums that are new to you. In a time where you can look up any song on a streaming service and hear it instantaneously, I hold on tightly to a love for the album as a whole, a collection of songs that work off each other, building toward one major theme or mood. As you will see in the list below, I’m a bit obsessed with new music and the art form that is the album. I take great pride in this list and hope that you find something worth checking out by the end.

20 Best Album Covers of 2015

With the year coming to a close, it’s that time again to take a look back at some of the best that the music world had to offer in 2015. First up, I will run-down the most compelling album covers of 2015. Throughout the year, I kept a list of album covers that I found strange, beautiful, and provocative.  This list is a compilation of my favorites from this year-long collection.  Anyone who loves the album as an art form knows the importance of a powerful LP image, and the following 20 covers elevate their corresponding albums.

Top 20 Albums of 2015 (So Far…) 20-11

We are almost halfway through the year, and there have already been some great releases in 2015. With a stockpile of potentially great albums coming down the pipeline soon (Chance the Rapper, High On Fire, Beach House, Deafheaven, Frank Ocean, Jai Paul, Kanye West, Joanna Newsome, Majical Cloudz, Ghostface Killah, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, and allegedly, The Wrens) I’d like to take a breather and appreciate some of my favorite albums from the year so far. To try to keep some semblance of control, I’ve limited my list to 20 albums released prior to June 1st. Below are albums 20-11.

Honorable Mention

An Autumn For Crippled Children, The Long Goodbye

Joey Bada$$, B.4.DA.$$

Built to Spill, Untethered Moon

Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress

Lightning Bolt, Fantasy Empire

The Mountain Goats, Beat the Champ

Sannhet, Revisionist

Collin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld, Never Were The Way She Was

Thee Oh Sees, Mutilator Defeated At Last

Fred Thomas, All Are Saved

 

RE-UPLOADED: BDWPS Podcast #34

Since my earlier attempt to post the latest podcast had an error (I apologize!), I re-uploaded the file late last week, and it should be good to go. If you have any issues, let me know.

On this month’s episode I discuss my week at SXSW and some new music from Dan Deacon, Viet Cong, Courtney Barnett, and Doomtree. I also discuss classic tracks from Gang of Four, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan. Check out the podcast HERE or better yet, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher (search: BDWPS).

Track List:
Dan Deacon “Meme Generator”
Viet Cong “Continental Shelf”
Gang of Four “Damaged Goods”
Doomtree “Generator”
Courtney Barnett “Dead Fox”
Modest Mouse “Coyotes”
Jimi Hendrix “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Bob Dylan “You Ain’t Goin’ No Where”

Top 20 Songs of 2012

I told myself all year that I wouldn’t create a “Top Songs” list for 2012.  In years past, I’ve invested massive amounts of time to create what had over the years turned into a list of the Top 100 (!) songs, a list that pretty much no one every read or cared about (here’s last year’s list!). I decided this year that my time was better spent focusing solely on my albums list.  Then again, as the month of January has crept forward, I kept getting the itchy typing finger to still throw a list of songs together. I’m not quite sure why I ever made a song list considering I’ve always been an “album” kind of guy.  Then again, there are always those tracks that stand out and get revisited when I’m not listening to an album in its entirety. Most commonly my favorite songs from the year are found  on mediocre albums that I’m not interested in revisiting in their entirety, but you will also find familiar tracks that can be found on my definitive “Top 40 Albums of 2012” list. What you read below is far from definitive. Simply put – it’s a collection of songs that you may enjoy as sweet little morsels of dessert to follow my 40-course meal of albums.

Top 40 Albums of 2012 (40-21)

It’s that time again – time to look back on all the great albums released this past year. 2012 has been filled with fantastic albums, and as a result, I’ve come up with a doozy of a list.  You’ll find a variety of genres here ranging from rap to folk to metal to punk.  No matter what type of music you enjoy (minus country) you’ll find something on here that you’ve either already been enjoying or music you should be enjoying. Whatever the case, enjoy!

Honorable Mention:

The Amazing “Gentle Stream”

Bison B.C. “Lovelessness”

Crystal Castles “(III)”

The Evens “The Odds”

Lambchop “Mr. M”

Metz “S/T”

Mind Spiders “Meltdown”

Pilgrim “Misery Wizard”

Lee Renaldo “Between the Times & the Tides”

Twin Shadow “Confess”