TranscendNoise

00. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly Before entering the last part of the top albums of 2015, I have to name my one and only honorable mention. My zero of this list, To Pimp A Butterfly could have taken any spot of the following, but I want to make different point with this mention. You can read about the complexity, the huge message and meanings of To Pimp A Butterfly on a bunch of articles and reviews. To cut it short: You´ll have to listen to this record, read and study the lyrics. It´s no coincidence that “Alright” has become a common chant of black protestors and got panned by white media for inciting violence. What Kendrick has crafted, demands attention and breaches the boundaries of music.  Surely, music has political charge, if implicit or explicit, it can incite thoughts and action, just as art is meant to do. But, and this is my point, To Pimp A Butterfly is more art, than music meant for consumption. This record should be included into history less...

20. Oneohtrix Point Never – Garden Of Delete Toying with Oneohtrix Point Never and his conceptual ideas is great: Garden Of Delete is his reoccurrence of youth, the revenge of a kid, not cool enough to be grunge. His own Jeremy, “Ezra” is not the story of shooting up schools, it´s about a acne ridden kid. Garden Of Delete as a whole is the guitar wielding dream of Daniel Lopatin, the wish of becoming like the great bands of the 90´s, shredding away their pain. But dude only knows his electronics, his weird sounds and warped processed voices and has to make do with what he can. So you´ll hear the weirdest and roughest of Oneo´s digital clash yet, like puberty, not knowing where to go and what to do, your face melting constantly. 19. Battles – La Di Da Di La Di Da Di is pure energy. A band playing math-rock with such an intensity and sense of progression over crazy starts and stops, you´ll never catch a hint of strain in the twists and turns of their music. ...

30. The Winter Passing – A Different Space Of Mind The dynamic of duo vocals, a female and a male voice, is a known in emo bands. The Winter Passing also have that trait running in favor of their place in this genre: The rougher male vocals, the also punky, but more tender female vocals. Nonetheless, the way the band is able to utilize this dynamic, not only trading verses or having a song lean on the one more than on the other, is drawing you in. Take “Flowerpot” for example: The tender vocals deliver the chorus, but do not work against the tortured male part, delivering maybe an uplifting moment, and work as two parts of the same. A Different Space Of Mind can be read as a fight with the troubles of adolescence, more often than not the lingering question of purpose in life. This also, is very emo, but doesn´t grow old, especially as the interplay of The Winter Passing is not in any way lax or lo-fi, escaping any associations of being aimless and full of negativity altoget...

40. Anna Von Hausswolff – The Miraculous The Miraculous is one dark, brooding organ trip. Shedding almost all the lighter, more uplifting moments of Ceremony , Anna Von Hausswolff creates such a mood, the images of Gothic churches and evil processions don´t even start to capture the feel. While the few longer tracks like “Come Wander With Me / Deliverance” and “The Miraculous” bring out the atmospheric qualities of Hauswolff and her instrument of choice, the short, almost song like tracks, have a much sharper, invocational vibe, putting the lyrics upfront and attacking you with long, drawn out howls. The power and reward of The Miraculous will only show after continuous listens, when you begin to grasp the whole nuance of the gloom. 39. Caspian – Dust & Disquiet I´ve followed Caspian since they broke with their first EP You Are The Conductor in 2005. Their music has been a constant in my life, delivering a unique headspace of its own, helping me cre...

55. Flo Morrissey – Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful Nostaglia is a huge deal in folk-music. My mental image most of the time involves someone old, pained and beautifully ridden by life´s playful banter. Breaking this image, many young artists are emerging with huge success, bringing in their own nostalgia, one that is not restaurative anymore, but of the more beautiful kind: of the reflective. Flo Morrissey record is there fittingly titled Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful . As every track here conveys the feeling of looking back, a dreamful resistance against the contemporary, this kind of nostalgia somehow haunts you forward, towards a tomorrow and a different, if not even idealistic world where love, longing and believing still hold true against the world. It´s not “Once I was young, and the world was full of wonder”, it´s “I´m young, I want to dream”. Very Deafheaven indeed. If that´s too much for you, Flo Morrissey has such a unique voice, its sheer tone is worth listening to all t...