Music: Best Albums of the Year Series: 2015

[Sleemans]

Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

 

[Saturated Fats]

2015 was a great year on my docket for both hip-hop and metal. I was digging through my folders and crate, and found a handful of things that I didn't even know were from the year - things that I love. Really brought the year into focus as one of the best of the new millennium. Four albums in my (current) top-100.

But without even thinking, I know that my favourite album of 2015 is the transcendent To Pimp a Butterfly. The more and the deeper I get into hip-hop, the more I realize what elements of the genre I enjoy and appreciate. But with TPaB, it's not just what makes good hip-hop - it's what makes good music. Kendrick hits on every single element of what makes music the most vital art form in existence. The message, the beats, the flow, the production - it's Mozart in the 21st century. I implore anyone who doesn't consider themselves into hip-hop to sit down with it, from start to finish, with an ear both for critical engagement and enjoyment. You'll quickly see why it's a top-20 album of all time. And climbing.

1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

2. Björk - Vulnicura
3. Misþyrming - Söngvar elds og óreiðu
4. Lianne La Havas - Blood

5. Deafheaven - New Bermuda
6. Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle
7. Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
8. Mgla - Exercises in Futility
9. Sons of Kemet - Lest We Forget What We Came Here to Do
10. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
11. Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction
12. Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

But without even thinking, I know that my favourite album of 2015 is the transcendent To Pimp a Butterfly. The more and the deeper I get into hip-hop, the more I realize what elements of the genre I enjoy and appreciate. But with TPaB, it's not just what makes good hip-hop - it's what makes good music. Kendrick hits on every single element of what makes music the most vital art form in existence. The message, the beats, the flow, the production - it's Mozart in the 21st century. I implore anyone who doesn't consider themselves into hip-hop to sit down with it, from start to finish, with an ear both for critical engagement and enjoyment. You'll quickly see why it's a top-20 album of all time. And climbing.

I tried man, I tried. Couldn't get through the whole album. I'll try again in 10 years or so, as of now, my brain doesn't compute what's supposed to be interesting about this, and my hears now need medication.

 

[frisco]

Snake Eyes-Must've Been In A Coma

My Best-Carey