Greatest Discards of 2015

Before the numbered lists start, I present to you my honorable mentions of 2015. All the tracks that are worth being listened to, but didn´t make the final cut. A simple alphabetic order and one sentence to get you hooked. Enjoy and stay tuned for the real deal. As this year was packed with great releases, expect to be blown away.

So in the spirit of 2015:

A$AP Rocky – Canal Street feat. Bones (AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP)

As Rocky presents himself and his persona, there isn´t much sadness and grit. But by A.L.L.A, it exists.

Akisai – Sicilienne (Images)

A dreamy ballad, think Studio Ghibli and tender emotions.

(A snippet of Sicilienne starts around 0.47)

Alpines – Up For Air (Yuck)

Straightforward drum beat muzzled through a crashing of layered vocals full of longing.

Andrea – Without You (Black Magic)

Not a big year for trap infused beat music, but Andrea knows how to keep it solid and banging.

Anoice – Autumn Waltz (Into The Shadows)

A swaying classical piece glowing in the unique sadness only Anoice is able to create.

Beach House – Beyond Love (Depression Cherry)

Beach House can evoke the feeling of childhood nostalgia even in a five-year old.

CHVRCHES – Leave A Trace (Every Eye Open)

Every Eye Open wasn´t anything else than a solid album. Leave A Trace is the CHVRCHES formula at its best.

Daniel Bachman – Won´t You Cross Over To That Other Shore (River)

This is what "shredding" on an the highest level of acoustic guitar sounds like; an epic on nature.

Desaparecidos – Radicalized (Payola)

Driving punk with a political message as true as loud as the shouts by Conor Oberst.

Disclosure – Magnets feat. Lorde (Caracal)

Lorde singing over a house tune by Disclosure works without fail. If you don´t feel house, it´s still Lorde singing.


 

Emily Kinney – Birthday Cake (This Is War)

Walking Dead displayed Kinney´s very fragile voice to the world. While nothing mind-blowing, you´ll get her blend of folk-pop at your touchy moments.

Endless Melancholy & Desolate Horizons – Reflections (Deep As The Dark Blue Sea)

The collaboration of these two artists seems to work best when the drones are tuned down to a minimum and Endless Melancholy delivers a sweet piano tune.

Envy – Your Heart And My Hand (Atheistʼs Cornea)

Envy don´t need to prove anything to anyone anymore. Let them deliver spoken words over high reaching post-rock vibes for years to come, I will listen.

Errors – New Winged Fire (Lease Of Life)

Weird dancy experimental trip.

Esmerine – My Mamma Pinned A Rose On Me (Lost Voices)

If your searching for the best use of xylophone/marimba this year.

Fakear – Skyline (Asakusa)

Fakear has been crafting his imprint of dense electronic music with incomprehensible catchy vocals for some years now and he never fails to hit the mark.


Fakear - Skyline (Official Music Video) from nowadays records on Vimeo.

Florence + The Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful)

While I´d rather have Florence dwelling on the first slow moments before bursting into the usual pomp, this song finds grace in volume.


FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE "HOW BIG HOW BLUE HOW BEAUTIFUL" from VINCENT HAYCOCK on Vimeo.
(Not the full song!)

Future – Rich Sex (Dirty Sprite 2)

DS2 might be the best Future project. Smoke, drink or as intended, have sex to it.

FUTURE-RICH SEX from EIF RIVERA on Vimeo.

Haiku Salut – The No-Colour Of Rain And Dust (Etch And Etch Deep)

Balmorhea come to mind. Meaning here is band that plays mostly acoustic music  with a wide variety of instruments to build little wordless narratives with every song.

Hana – Clay 

Grimes´ protege and a voice in electronic pop music to be excited about.

Inventions – Wolfkids (Maze Of Woods)

When Eluvium and Mark T. Smith come together as Inventions, ambient ensues.

Jeff Rosenstock – Nausea (We Cool?)

"I got so tired of discussing my future / I´ve started avoiding the people I love / Evenings of silence and mornings of nausea"
















Jeff Rosenstock - "Nausea" from Bryan Schlam on Vimeo.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Love After Love (A Year With 13 Moons)

Please, do emerge into Cantu-Ledesma´s fog.

Jlin – Erotic Heat (Dark Energy)

Footwork in the vain of Jlin. Read: "Experimenting with how many sounds can be lumped together and still be danceable".

Kassem Mosse & Simone White – Flowers In May (Three Versions)

If Kassem Mosse had had a hand in the famous remix of Tom´s Diner, we would have achieved world peace by now.

Kelela – All The Way Down (Hallucinogen)

For six tracks Kelela showed her face in 2015 to let other r´n´b singers know that they should put out quality music and not collaborate on shitty songs. Listen here.

Kevin Gates – Plug Daughter (Luca Brasi 2)

No comment on Gates´ antics and views on the world here. Just keep delivering resonating bass- heavy music.

Kiasmos – Swept (Swept EP)

I´ve been missing piano driven dance music this year. Arnalds and Rasmussen knew.

Kollektiv Turmstrasse – Hour After Hour (Sorry I´m Late)

The right amount of beauty in the thump.

Kurt Vile – Pretty Pimpin (B´lieve Me I´m Going Down)

The life of a stoner and the basis for Vile´s nac for catchy songwriting.

















Kurt Vile 'Pretty Pimpin' from Daniel Henry on Vimeo.

Kyle – Really? Yeah! (Smyle)

The gaming inspired beat paired with the bass heavy production, the simplistic vine-like hook and irony - Kyle has the balls to build his style.

Leon Bridges – Smooth Sailin´ (Coming Home)

Don´t let Apple´s way of gutting great music to sell their shit get in the way of enjoying well done revivalist soul music.

Ludovico Einaudi – Night (Elements)

Einaudi is one of the best composers of modern classical music today.

Main Attrakionz – Ain´t No Other Way (808´s & Dark Grapes)

Friendzone and Main Attrakionz deliver a positive anthem about money making and the drive for staying creative.

Maserati – Montes Jura (Rehumanzier)

A synthesized tale penned by Maserati with the clearest vision they had in years.

Matrixxman – Necronomicon (Homesick)

The best opener for an album this year. Patience is key.

Maxime Dangles – Amsterhodes (Resilience) 

The circular but uprising fashion of electronic music played at it´s highest levels.

MG – Stealth (MG)

Melodic, eerie, ghostly and driving. Martin Gore is a musical genius not only in his work for Depeche Mode.

Mick Jenkins – Alchemy (Wave[s])

Drink more water. I can´t wait for Jenkins to enlighten us in 2016.

Miguel – What´s Normal Anyway (Wildheart)

Miguel´s release this year was experimental and detailed while still seeming rushed. I don´t know how that works, but What´s Normal Anyway is simplistic and heartfelt in all the right amounts.

My Morning Jackets – In Its Infancy (The Waterfall) 

Water has been inspiring art forever. My Morning Jackets build a dense and varied track (and album) around it.

Nils Frahm – The Shooting (Music For The Motion Picture Victoria)


Frahm can do no wrong, just watch the movie.

Rabit – Pandemic (Communion)

It´s hard not to sound messy when doing fast paced electronic music between the heavy and the experimental. Communion fell victim to that, but Pandemic is industrial bliss.

Rarity – Anna Hathaway (Alive In Your Eyes)

Where was the flawless Tony Hawks Pro Skater for this flawless punky-emo rock track to skate to?

Rina Sawayama – Tunnel Vision 

In case you needed the short soundtrack for the online romances of this age. 

Rothko – Past Tense (Severed Tense)

Rothko reemerging after years, toying with the idea of time and laying down some expressive guitar ambiance. Buy and support here.

Rustie – Peace Upzzz (EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE)

Just wait for it. Twice.

Ryan Hemsworth & Lucas – From Grace (Taking Flight EP)

Hemsworth seems to building his rooster of gifted electronic artists. "Gee, Ryan, what do you want to do tonight?"...

Secrets – Dance Of The Dead (Renditions EP)

Sometimes the whole hardcore thing works well without the shouts. Only sometimes.

Shy Girls – Right, Alright (4WZ Mixtape)

For the lighter, not self-destructive moments of modern R´n´B this year.

Strange Mountain – Deep Inside Our Modern Sadness (Glass Clouds II)

Shout out to the Needle Drop! Let yourself be enveloped by the sparkling synths of Strange Mountains.

Susanne Sundfør – Fade Away (Ten Love Songs)

Ten Love Songs is yet another great release by Sundfør. Fade Away has her delivering disco with a twist.

Takaakira Goto – Till The Night Comes (Classical Punk and Echoes Under the Beauty)

Just a short reminder that MONO is beauty and Taka Goto´s fleshed out demos from 15 years ago are a nod to the sublime.

Tayá – Got Me Wondering 

A great shiny track. Question is, if Tayá will deliver more with a full release.

Tellison – Tact Is Dead (Hope Fading Nightly)

Sometimes I think, this kind of music is beginning to be outdated, but as long as adulthood is shitty, there is a place.















 

The Body & Thou – Terrible Lie (You, Whom I Have Always Hated)

Covering a song should involve making it your own. This collaboration breaks the original.

The Game – 100 feat. Drake (The Documentary 2)

Soulful undertones, straight-forward spitting and Drake´s bravado.

The Tallest Man On Earth – Darkness Of The Dream (Dark Bird Is Home)

Sunsoaked but somehow sad or what The Tallest Man On Earth does everytime.

The Weeknd – The Hills (Beauty Behind The Madness)

A big NO to the "Can´t Feel My Face" Weeknd and a big YES to the menacing bass line of The Hills.