My Top Albums

I always had a small collection of vinyl and I bought a new turntable last year, but I'm still surprised how touching albums, holding the artwork and watching the record spin add to the emotional connection. My love and attachment to music haven’t been this strong since I was a teenager.

Just as important as a band’s songwriting prowess, a huge part of what makes music special is the emotional attachment we create with it. It’s the memories we have while listening to it—it’s a window to our past struggles and celebrations.

So now that holidays are rolling around and I’m dead broke. But I have a ton of records, saw bunch of great shows and had a lot of fun. Here are my top 10 albums for 2015:

10. Chemical Brothers, ‘Born in the Echoes’

I didn’t think I was going to get into this record—the Chemical Brothers are cool, but they’ve never been a favorite. Turns out that Born in the Echoes has so many great songs and guest appearances. “Go” with Q-Tip is nothing but pulsating energy. “Wide Open”, which features guest vocals from Beck encapsulates so much sadness—that song really got me. This album runs through the whole emotional spectrum and is one of the Chemical Brother’s best works.

9. Deerhunter - Fading Frontiers

I had never really paid attention to Deerhunter before this year. However, because I reviewed two singles and then the entire album for Spacelab, I followed this LP closely. It’s clear that Deerhunter took their creativity and songwriting to new levels with Fading Frontiers. They’ve grown from lo-fi post-punk into something more elaborate and diverse. “Breaker”, “Living My Life” and “Snakeskin” are solid cuts—and this record has been in heavy rotation at my house since its release.

8. Bully - Feels Like

Simply put, Bully’s singer, songwriter and guitarist Alicia Bognanno is a badass. I saw her live before I heard the record and I was blown away by the power of her voice. She takes me back to the stripped down grunge vibe of the 90s and reminds me of groups like Helium—but with more bite. Feels Like has so much power and heart—I can’t get enough of it.

7. Camera Shy - Camera Shy

Members of Nothing and Whirr came together for this side project. It’s pretty lo-fi and has Johnny Marr style guitar work. The songs sound unfinished and rough, but I got stuck on this record and kept playing it over and over. Alexandra Morte has a haunting voice and the pretty, melancholic sounds of songs like “Your Only One” stayed close to me this year.

6. The Soft Moon - Deeper

I just got super excited because I realized Soft Moon is opening for Killing Joke next year. Luis Vasquez is an incredible singer, songwriter and performer. He brings the best of classic goth, darkwave and post-punk. This record is so dark—but so incredibly good. Seeing Soft Moon live was easily one of the best shows I went to in 2015.

5. Lou Barlow - Brace the Wave

I took a road trip in September and this was all I could listen to. Lou Barlow showed that with almost no production, he can write powerful, emotive music. “Wave”, “Boundaries” and “Moving” are, without question, three of the best songs to be released this year

7. Kurt Vile - b’lieve I’m going down…

I was waiting for this album for months. Kurt Vile is able to mix new wave, folk, country and low-key humor all into one. “Pretty Pimpin” cracked me up the first time I heard it—his sense of humor is weird and refreshing. “I’m an Outlaw” has some awesome banjo work. That’s right: awesome banjo work.

3. New Order - Music Complete

New Order has been one of my favorite groups since I started listening to music. The fact that this was their first record without Peter Hook made me worry that it wouldn’t really be the same band anymore. However, even though Bernard Sumner is almost 60, he writes songs just as solidly as he always has. The fact that Peter Hook wasn’t on bass allowed the band to experiment and expose new dimensions to their music.

2. Jamie XX - In Colour

“Loud Places” is one of the best songs to come out this year—Romy’s voice gives me chills. Jamie Smith has shown huge growth in his musical abilities outside of The XX—it’s clear now he was only getting started. This album mixes UK garage, house, rave and hip-hop. It creates an expansive world of beautiful synth tones and incredible songwriting.

1. Tame Impala - Currents

Although I always heard people talk about Tame Impala—I hadn’t listened to them carefully before this year. A close friend got a leaked version of this album and played it for me as we aimlessly drove around San Francisco on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Each song blew my mind and I couldn’t get over how incredible the bass guitar work was. The record came out on my birthday and I ran to get a special colored vinyl edition—I hadn’t raced to a record store like that in years.

2015 has been a great year for music. I can’t wait for 2016.