Presented in order of awesomeness:
This master guitarist, a (former?) member of Sun City Girls, fell in love with a guitar that was too expensive for him. He kept going back and back to the small Swiss secondhand shop to play it. Eventually he found a way to take it home, and then to the West African city of Tangier, where he stayed in a room not far above the noisy street. He waited until the late night hours yielded the least amount of ambient sound to record these songs as single takes. The result is a collection of fantastic, Middle-Eastern and African-inspired instrumental pieces.
Standout track: "Safe House"
I sure do like middle-aged Dre better than young Dre. His production skills are sharper than ever, and he's way mellower, which is kinda my thing these days. There's also the noteworthiness of this being the first album he's released in a really long time, inspired by his biopic. That same biopic conveniently whitewashed his notoriously violent acts toward women, and his subsequent apology certainly did not suffice. But at least the album thumps.
Standout track: "Deep Water (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Justus & Anderson .Paak)"
This Bangkok outfit plays traditional, indigenous Thai molam music with a deeply funky foundation. I adore the blend of styles, which is adventurous yet familiar, and entirely down to earth. I bet these guys are amazing at a party.
Standout track: "Kwang Noi Chaolay"
Doom folk that will freak out your parents, unless your parents are cool. This lady is responsible for such deliciously dark heaviness; I truly wish I could eat it with a spoon, sleep under it, wrap myself up in it, drown in it.
Standout track: "Carrion Flowers"
Low has been around for like 20 years, and the fact that they still make good records of spare, introspective, haunting indie rock is a feat in itself. The fact that they are Mormon and yet still exude a dangerous cool seems like it's also worth mentioning.
Standout track: "No Comprende"
This young songwriter/dancer/director makes dark electronica that continues to impress, as well as improve. Multifaceted, talented beyond measure, and oh yeah she's beautiful. The EP title is pronounced "Melissa" btw.
Standout tracks: The entire EP.
Nyles Lannon, from San Francisco, is a singer-songwriter who bolsters his folky acoustic pieces with electronic elements and spacey effects. His soft, gentle singing voice sounds like many of my favorite hippie/beatniks from days of yore.
Standout track: "Kill All These Machines"
This futuristic rapper from Flint, Michigan combines glitchy modern electronic sounds with a high tenor voice, a near-R&B approach to hip-hop that energetically captures and holds your attention from first to last.
Track: "KYBM"
One of 2 albums this Melbourne Australia psych-garage ensemble released this year, and this one is way, way more my speed. You see, there are only 4 tracks, each 10:10 long, with a repetitive, meditative vibe that works incredibly well in spite of the length. I found myself a little surprised at how much I liked this album.
Standout track: "The River"
Two different Chicago projects, the improv-jazzy Natural Information Society and the electronical Bitchin Bajas, collaborate here to make some truly beautiful instrumental music that I find myself increasingly drawn to of late. Besides the track below, check out Side A.
Track: "Anemometer"
Arriving late in the year, and on this list right below two different albums of mostly instrumental long-form compositions, you might not be shocked to learn Vantzou creates ambient music that makes for good zonin-out. Based in Brussels and born in Kansas City, she also directs film.
Track: "Shadow Sun"
Writer of just about the prettiest cynical songs you'll hear anywhere, Josh Tillman is a Seattlite and (former?) drummer for Fleet Foxes who fearlessly details the ugliest parts of a relationship, and, well, being human. "Ready for another fuckin ballad?" he asked the crowd at Lollapalooza. "That's how you get the prime 2pm slot." I think I'm placing him so high the list partly due to his masterful cover of "The Suburbs".
Standout track: "Bored in the USA"
Colleen Green delivers tasty, crunchy power-pop from her base in L.A., and on this album she depicts her struggle with actually becoming an adult. I've seen up close what an artist's lifestyle can do for maturation, or rather what it doesn't do, so my unsolicited advice to Ms. Green: go home after your set and get some sleep.
Standout track: "Pay Attention"
French-Cuban twin sisters who sing in English and Yoruba, making an internationally-flavoured kind of R&B music, eclectic and funky, trip-hopped and effortlessly cool. "Ibeyi" means "twins" in Yoruba, a native language of Nigeria, where their ancestors were stolen from to become slaves in Cuba generations ago.
Standout track: "Ghosts"
These Canadians make dark, dynamic, instrumental music that is alternately heavy and delicate, incorporating found voices and power. Notoriously finicky about what people write about them, I'll just say I'm glad they created some new recordings, because it's fucking good.
Standout track: "Peasantry or 'Light! Inside of Light!'"
Here's my Top Albums of 2015, #21-60.
