Warm Visions

Hello valued reader – welcome to the list of records that are good but not as good as 50 others according to me. Let me stress this again though, these are very, very good. I wanted to make a list of 50 because I always make a list of 50. A list of 65 would break the norm and you know how I hate breaking Norm. Norm is a fragile, fragile man with a weak mind. It would get ugly, let’s put it that way. Also 50 and 15 is cleaner, capiche? Bada boom bada bing, let’s see these honorable mentions of 2015:

• Ash Koosha – GUUD
• Death Grips – The Powers That B
• Drake – If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
• Gossamer – Automaton
• Heathered Pearls – Body Complex
• Juan Wauters – Who Me?
• Lakker – Tundra
• New Order – Music Complete
• Ought – Sun Coming Down
• Ryley Walker – Primrose Green
• Sicko Mobb – Super Saiyan Vol. 2
• Sleater-Kinney – No Cities To Love
• Susanne Sundfør – Ten Love Songs
• Westkust – Last Forever
• White Reaper – White Reaper Does It Again

OBSERVATIONS:

I gotta hand it to If You’re Reading This… as it finally converted me into somewhat of a Drake fan. There’s still the occasional line that makes me throw my headphones across the room, but wow his aesthetic came through hard and fast on this thing and its undeniably intoxicating. I’m one step closer to fully understanding the 6 God, maybe 2016 will make me a true believer. Speaking of “6 God” I’m 100% certain that the beat was lifted from Donkey Kong Country 2. Just sample around – there are some similar rhythms all over the place.

Something happened with me and post punk this year. Not really sure what happened, but for some reason I had a bit of a fallout with it. I thought the Ought record was great, but something about it was just… I dunno, not spectacular. Same goes for the Protomartyr record, but to a lesser degree. That one didn’t really impact on me at all. Sauna Youth & Institute also put out great post punk records that I dug a bunch, but faded quick.  The only post punk record that really crushed me this year was Viet Cong’s, which you’ll see on my Top 50.

Comeback albums from New Order & Sleater-Kinney succeeded with me! I even had the pleasure of working with the New Order record at college radio, which was a blast, although it was a bit dispiriting to hear “who’s New Order” or even “who’s Joy Division” from college kids who listen to music for a living. But I digress – both of these albums I held the expected hesitation towards before they were released and was elated to find that they’re both awesome! Never been the most involved Sleater-Kinney fan, but this album kicks ass. Definitely inspired me to re-listen to their back catalog and hoo-boy was that a good decision.

Three of the most fun albums of the year are present here – Juan Wauters, Sicko Mobb & White Reaper. Juan is such a lovable, goofy dude and his simple music is great time. It was absolutely perfect for the immediate post-grad relax time and also doubled as a de-stresser once shit got bananas. With Sicko Mobb, I mean, have you even listened to this yet? This album is bonkers. It’s like happy drill music with absurd skits laced throughout. The songs are catchy as all hell and each one is an infectious sugar rush. I can’t believe it won me over but here I am, head over heels for this album. Then we have White Reaper, partying the night away. Like Sicko Mobb, each of these songs has the potential to get stuck in your head. The hooks! The riffs! The melodies! It’s honestly all here and it’s so badass.

There’s a good collection of somewhat bizarre (depending on who you’re talking to) electronic records in Ash Koosha, Gossamer, Heathered Pearls & Lakker. Gossamer & Heathered Pearls definitely lean on the more ambient and downtempo side of things while Ash Koosha and Lakker are far louder and more intense. All of these might have made it onto my earlier Overlooked Records Of The Year list, and here I am again, repping them hard. For all the electronic fans, these are for you.