1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)
This album is a beautiful return to form for Stevens, whose ability to write tastefully-arranged acoustic folk is unmatched. I can't get over how the album is so perfectly balanced, delicate, intelligent, and deep. As you may be aware, Carrie & Lowell is about Stevens' effort to grapple with the 2012 death of his mother Carrie, an alcoholic who struggled with mental illness, and wasn't able to be as present in his life in the first place. Losing her was like losing her a second time, I imagine, and the album documents his feelings of loss and attempts to drown in distractions while facing down some burly demons.
What makes the album doubly powerful for me, in addition to my lifelong love of sad, beautiful songs, is the fact that both of my parents died within a few years of each other, and within a few years of Carrie. They were both touched, more my father than my mother, by stuggles with addiction and mental illness. My mother, Janice, is wholly responsible for my love of sad, beautiful songs.
She would have loved Carrie & Lowell. I love Carrie & Lowell. So gracefully ugly.
Standout tracks: "Fourth of July" / "The Only Thing" / "Eugene" / "Should Have Known Better"
2015 is the year I discovered Laura Marling, age 25, as she released her fifth album of biting, agile folk. (So yeah, I like folky music - thanks mom!) Yet I hate being late to parties, in particular the Laura Marling is amazing party; I can't believe it took me so long to find her. Nevertheless, this past Spring I was listening to Short Movie on headphones at work, after hours, not really paying full attention. "Strange" comes on, and about halfway through the song I stop grinding and realize that what I am listening to is fucking incredible. 9 months later I'm still sucking the juice out of this magnificent recording, gliding into to Martyr's to see her play live, astounded at her skill and maturity, reveling in her presence.
Standout tracks: "Strange" / "Easy" / "False Hope" / "Don't Let Me Bring You Down"
I got a bone to pick: I don't want to read another think piece on this game-changing rapper again. I'm mad, but I ain't stressin. The production on good kid, m.A.A.d. city was annoying and trendy, in my opinion, so I couldn't get into it. This record right here, on the other hand, is sonically perfect, poetic interludes notwithstanding. I love this dude's voice, and his point of view is unflinchingly real. The funk shall be within you. Lamar is digging in, uncovering and addressing his heaviest emotions about being a black man in America in 2015, offering up thorny struggles with success, respect, and community. He's gonna win all the awards, top all the polls, and goddamn right he is.
Standout tracks: "King Kunta" / "The Blacker the Berry" / "i" / "How Much a Dollar Cost"
After a decade out of the indie rock game, Sleater-Kinney returns triumphant. I'm just gonna say it: this is their most consistently satisfying, strongest album. Dig Me Out and The Woods have better songs between them, but No Cities to Love has no bad songs -- it's 100% great. They are a punk band, a riot grrl band, a pop band supreme. So glad Corin, Carrie and Janet got back together, because while I like Portlandia, Carrie Brownstein will always be a better guitarist, songwriter and rock star than comedian. These three people bring the best out in one another. Sounds so goddamn good.
Standout tracks: "Surface Envy" / "Price Tag" / "No Anthems"
The debut album from a young singer-songwriter who mostly sings about heartbreak and misunderstandings - instantly relatable topics, from an individual who appears to have emerged already fully formed as a musician. Douglas is based in Brooklyn, and identifies as neither male nor female, a matter which has lead to some heartbreak and misunderstandings, I suspect. The quiet, harmonious, beautiful songs, plucked and strummed on an electric guitar mostly (not entirely), alongside Douglas' soft voice, make for a charming, catchy, lyrically heavy, and a top-to-bottom quality listen.
Standout tracks: "Ease" / "Joey" / "Know More"
