My 2015 - Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World

http://www.decemberists.com

The songs on What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, produced by long-time collaborator Tucker Martine, are more intimate and personal than some of the early Decemberists narrative songs. The band – Chris Funk (guitars), Jenny Conlee (keyboards), Nate Query (bass) and John Moen (drums) – offer instrumental class, as they weave around Meloy's voice, allowing the lyrics to express their intention and work their magic. This is never more true than on the standout track Till The Water is All Long Gone, a dreamy song that Maloy wrote on a child's guitar that his wife Carson Ellis (who illustrated the Wildwood trilogy) has kept since she was a kid. The melody and chord progression came out of casual strumming and the band help turn the composition into a marvellously groovy track. TUK

My 2015 - Joanna Newsom “Sapiokanikan” video

Joanna Newsom collapses space, time, and street corners in the charmingly lo-fi, jaunty video for “Sapokanikan.” Her lyrics already traverse history (“The cause is Ozymandian”) and her fleet orchestral tapestry is timeless, like antique furniture re-presented for a chic storefront. Shot over the course of a single evening gloaming in her former haunts of Manhattan’s East Village and Washington Square Park, the “Sapokanikan” clip is particularly remarkable for how well-timed it is to the song’s instrumental bobs and weaves. As flutes spiral in volume and clarity at the three-minute climax, Newsom skips past a clot of fire engines, bathing the scene in shrill red light that matches the moment’s intensity. And then, just past her solemn face in the final shots, a food truck pops up. Her camera leaves her at the subway, and all is well in the world. — H.B.

My 2015 - Girlpool - before the world was big

When I was seven or eight, my parents started to let me walk to the park by myself. It was only a few blocks away, but it felt like the biggest deal, like this was the furthest in life that I could go and, wow, wasn’t it far! I had a sense of freedom and wonder then that I’ve never felt since and, as my horizons have broadened, I can’t help but feel more constricted, and sometimes I wish I could relive those early days when my biggest accomplishment for the day was touching the top of the pole on the swing set. Girlpool’s “Before The World Was Big” takes place about a decade after that elated feeling, when you’re in high school and the place where you grew up is now grubby and familiar, and you’re just counting down the days until you can get out. stereogum

Much like a certain overwrought island drama, the dramatic tension of Girlpool’s debut LP Before the World Was Big comes about because its main characters have to go back. Unlike Lost, the Philadelphia-based indie pop duo is concerned not with a return to a secluded world of violence and mystery but the sunny, welcoming oasis of adolescence. Full of misty-eyed idealism, Harmony Tividad and Cleo Tucker construct Blake-ian (but not Bono-vian) songs of innocence — creaky cries for a return to the greener grass of the recent past. spin

ÒOR - a​-​da​-​da​-​da - 2015

hello monday, nice to meet you 

hopeful-stupid, guess its mundane 

we come to score 

just want a nice thing, nearly different 

to hold on your nose, pull down your cheek and pour 

if you need me when i’m sleeping 

you can come in through the floor (you'll make it all the way) 

and if you wake when you are sleeping 

you can breathe into the silence of all of these creaky doors 

or you could always be my 

on your chest, you don’t get sick 

sometimes it would be nice to hear some silence as relief 

am i a person? a machine? 

and as a function, i am mean 

i take baths upon your shore 

and in the morning, 

if i’m sleeping, 

you’ll find keys under the rocks right by the other broken doors. 

you could always have a sweatshirt on your waist, 

a different face, for different days, 

or something 

High Bloom - Haloed - 2015

Micah Van Hove haunting and uplifting, obliterating and calming. it's got an intensity and balance that i haven't heard from many artists. beauty packed in this a++

Play for Paris - 2015

This awesome compilation was created in order to help out the victims of the Paris attacks and their families. All the proceeds go to the FENVAC organization, which support the victims of terrorist attacks and accidents in France. More info on their website: fenvac.com

We suggest you to donate 5€ or 10€ if you can (which is equivalent to 5$ and 10$ now). 

Cette compilation a été réalisée pour venir en aide aux victimes et aux familles des victimes des attentats du 13 novembre à Paris. L'argent récolté va à la FENVAC, association venant en aide aux victimes (et leurs familles) d'attentats et d'accidents collectifs. Plus d'infos sur leur site : fenvac.com 

Nous vous invitons à donner 5€,10€ ou plus si vous le pouvez. 

Merci pour votre soutien, et restez rock'n'roll. 

#PlayForParis

Bob Spector OK, I haven't listened to all of this massive compilation, but there certainly is powerful stuff here. And, c'mon, folks -- this is a fundraiser for victims of the Paris attacks. Why not get this ginormous 85-track(!) sampler both to pitch in a bit and to hear a vast variety of sounds?

Fernando - Leave The Radio On - 2015

Bucky Hauntingly dark, brooding indie-psych coated with an Americana rock n roll backbone. Reverb drenched, slow rumbling fuzz traced with steel guitar lurks within the gorgeous arrangement of instruments to create a fantastically varied musical experience.

zanders - buried men - 2015

There are some voices that just grab you immediately and refuse to let go: Alex Saraceno has been gifted with one of those, a mix between Fiona Apple’s boundless leaps and Regina Spektor’s more idiosyncratic side, mixed with a certain firepower all her own. Within the first few minutes of Buried Men, her second full-length as Zanders, she’s already firmly established herself as a force to be reckoned with, whether whispering or belting at full power. “I stay wrapped up in layers to keep warm, even though I’m not a cold person/ It’s just poor circulation.” On the mounting vocal runs of “This One,” she punctuates: “I knew you/ I knew you were meant for me/ But now all that I share with you are memories.” stereogum

Fazerdaze - Little Uneasy - Single 2015

we are young, so we untie 

we are young, we get tired 

walking on rooftops, feel so heavy 

I could never leave you if you let me try 

go on and let me try 

steady now but falling slack, 

stepping out but falling back 

under-passing all your dreaming 

I'll admit feeling a little uneasy about 

you want to cut me out 

just one more take 

I'm still feeling my way 

still feeling my way 

we are caught so we unwind, 

we are caught till we untie 

talk about leaving here together 

one more try it'll all get better I doubt 

you want to work it out 

just one more take 

I'm still feeling my way 

still feeling my way

yellowbirddd - CENTINELA b​-​sides - 2015

http://yellowbirddd.com

Some great bedroom acoustic music from Liam McCormack… 

“This Brooklyn-by-way-of-Boston lone wolf plays frail and beautiful with profound melancholy.” – Rochester NY City Newspaper

My 2015 - Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit - 2015

courtneybarnett.com.au

David F I love it! Some of this music reminds me of Sheryl Crow, but like if she grew up in West Heidelberg... How'd you time machine these anthems from my youth anyway? Favorite track: Kim's Caravan.

Ray in L.A. I can hear flavor a of Neil Young, John Fogerty & Kurt Cobain in nearly every song! Favorite track: Pedestrian At Best.

Mitchell Wust Proves Aussie artists are still under rated the world over,there's plenty more like CB

A young man adrift ditches work mid-commute... a swimmer passes out trying to impress the person in the next lane... a couple goes house-hunting and ends up peering into the life of a widow: These are just a few of the ordinary-extraordinary moments captured on Courtney Barnett's Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. And like all moments, they pass, sometimes with event but usually without. Not that event seems to matter either way to Barnett, who shows up in her own songs like a bemused local taking questions from a camera crew that rushed to the scene in hopes of finding someone more interesting. "I had goggles on," she notes in the swimmer song ("Aqua Profunda!"). "They were getting foggy/ I much prefer swimming to jogging." PF

Folkadelphia Sessions Volume III - 2015

Folkadelphia Sessions Volume III is a collection of some of our favorite in-studio performances tracked during our third year of making live sessions a component of our weekly WXPN radio show, December 2014 - November 2015. 

Folkadelphia is a Philadelphia-based folk-adjacent organization that hosts a radio program on WXPN. More information can be found at www.folkadelphia.com. 

Listen to the first two volumes of Folkadelphia in-studio from 2013 and 2014 -- 

Volume I: folkadelphia.bandcamp.com/album/folkadelphia-sessions-volume-i 

Volume II: folkadelphia.bandcamp.com/album/folkadelphia-sessions-volume-ii

Eef Barzelay - EP 1 (I don't even want to know) - 2015

From the ashes of Eldorado the fan inspired EP's rise again, and fall gently upon your ears through buds forever blooming. 

5 of these songs are covers suggested by members and 2 are by Eef.

My 2015 - Said the Gramophone songs of 2015

These are (some) 100 favourite songs of 2015: songs I love more than fruitbowls, commas and national parks.

I follow just one arbitrary rule: that no primary artist may appear twice.

http://www.saidthegramophone.com/archives/best_songs_of_2015.php

My 2015 - Five Bandcamp albums/ eps from 2015

Adeline Hotel is the project of songwriter Daniel Knishkowy. Released in August 2015, How Strange It Is To See is a short song cycle built from the familiar restlessness of needing to pick up and leave but not knowing where to go or how to get there.

adelinehotel.com

Florist’s music centers on moments of specific intimacy. “Hold me when I’m starting to cry,” Emily Sprague sings on “Holdly,” the title track off the band’s new EP. This lyric translates a universal desire into something precise and personal, a real feeling delivered with commanding impact even through hushed vocals. Unadorned, riveting lyrics like these are certainly a hallmark of the Epoch — the dreamy folk-rock collective that Florist and Sprague are also affiliated with — but Holdly moves by itself. It’s just under 20 minutes of the sweetest melodies swimming with powerful, deeply existential reflections stereogum

Lancaster-based songwriter Tyler Burkhart is back with a new EP Back Against the Wall, only a few months removed from his lovely full-length June release Sweet Spell. On Sweet Spell, Burkhart brought us a gorgeous, mostly upbeat portrait of suburban life. His tools were simple: lush guitar arrangements and simple but deceptively emotional lo-fi vocals. But while his sound may be similar on Back Against the Wall, Burkhart and his message couldn’t be any more different. thekey

Rose Melberg is an indie-pop veteran. She’s swirled around the DIY scene for years and played in various twee-leaning bands in both the Bay Area and Vancouver, including Tiger Trap, Go Sailor, and the Softies. After a recent stint as a solo artist, she’s back with a new band, having recruited Love Cuts members Kaity McWhinney and Tracey Vath and drummer Gregor Phillips for her latest project, Knife Pleats. Melberg has one of those sweetly honeyed and deeply melodic voices that burrows straight into the pleasure centers of your brain, and it’s the kind of thing that sounds completely familiar but also completely amazing atop some vocal harmonies and pleasantly fuzzy, upbeat guitar lines. 

Sonic artist Anto Pascoe has just released his new mini-album To Escape through Christchurch-based music label Melted Icecream. The eight-track effort was recorded in a home studio with Anto laying down the vocals, synths and drum patterns, while David Francisco came onboard to offer up bass and guitar lines.

Spencer Radcliffe - Looking In - 2015

http://www.runforcoverrecords.limitedrun.com

Currently living and working in Chicago, Spencer Radcliffe still calls Ohio home. Anticipating which direction he will be growing next as an artist, however, is not as easy to pinpoint. After self-releasing a number of brief albums recorded at different points in time throughout scattered locations, the multi-instrumentalist turned the ear of the underground in his direction last year with the release of Brown Horse, a split cassette on Orchid Tapes alongside R.L. Kelly. This fall, he joins Run for Cover Records for the release of his debut full-length, Looking In. The album, recorded in solitude at Queen Mary's Lighthouse in Chicago, encompasses all corners of Radcliffe's songwriting style, leaving no part of his sonic map uncovered. Guitars and carefully outlined drums accentuate his pop craft on tracks such as “Mia” and “Yankee.” Traditional songwriting methods come apart naturally elsewhere through tumbling Rhodes piano, modified electronics, and brass in disarray. The one instrument that stitches the album's atypical patchwork together is Radcliffe’s voice, allowing listeners to draw up their own impressions of his often equivocal work.

Snapdragon Sweetgum this album is an audacious gentle beast with alex g's sense of chord progression after it ate mushrooms and learned a lot about life.

the use of horns, synths, samples, acoustic guitar, and even [wine] glasses and other unique percussion (idk what this dude is doing in all honestly, but he sure does) in modern music, and the incredible realist lyricism that goes beyond poetry you hear pop punk artists sing nowadays, make this probably my favorite album of the year- just because of the genre spencer creates for himself. salesman just seems loudest to me- these songs are undeniably grand. Favorite track: Salesman.

Evan Gordon This album is the most engaging & impressive piece of art I've heard in years. A collection of crazed thoughts presented with a child's grin. An orchestra of deranged monks learning how to communicate again. The darkness lurks just below the surface, but it never engages you. This is the best album that Yoni Wolf forgot to write in 2002-03. It's such an exciting time to be alive. Favorite track: Other Side.

Tiny Ruins & Hamish Kilgour - Hurtling Through - 2015

Jeremy (HI54LOFI) Hollie never fails to shut up everything else going on around me. Favorite track: Hurtling Through.

DJ Shaz And then, totally out of the blue, my fave indie folk artist releases a rekkid with my fave indie rock artist. And, I'm like, TRIPLE PLUS WOW! The synergy is astounding... Favorite track: Hurtling Through.

My 2015 - Five songs from 2015

Advance Base - Trisha Please Come Home

Air Waves - Milky Way

Girlpool - Cut Your Bangs

Rah Rah - Be Your Man

Family of the Year - Make You Mine

Molly Drag / Anti​-​Freeze Split Cassette - 2015

Recorded over a spring period in 2015, the release of this split is a clashing of two similar yet distinct musical approaches to melody and story telling. It is best listened to from start to finish. 

Open Casket (Hidden Meaning) was recorded at the humble former abode of Molly Drag. 

Everything else was recorded and mixed at Satan's Cove in London, Ontario by Anti-Freeze. 

Gleamer - Moving Away - 2015

The third full-length from this Colorado 4-piece, 'Moving Away' treads boldly through the changing of times and the heartache that comes with it. It prods at emotions one would rather leave unsaid but not without purpose. It's a record that finds a more suitable home in times of reflection, and the jagged pace likens to that of the human spirit - never quite at home. For fans of Cocteau Twins, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Title Fight. Tape with Download.