Before I start my full list of albums, I want to say that of course my own band's album was the best one of the year. Since you won't believe me anyway, listen for yourself. I will, however, leave it out of the ranking. Vronsky's second album Time of Letting Go takes Vronsky's indie folk sounds into a bit more melancholic direction. The sound world is a bit more diverse, including various keyboard instruments, a theremin, electric bass instead of double bass and the overall sound is a bit more modern in general. Personally, this is the first proper album I have been involved with and I'm quite happy with the way how it turned out. Hopefully you, writers of other blogs, have a chance to listen to the album and hopefully you find it good and worth writing something about. To me, the whole list below is overshadowed by this. So take a good listen to this on our bandcamp page.Also to all you Finns who are reading this, I want to mention Petri Vähäsarja's self-titled debut album. Delicately beautiful folk music with melancholic melodies and beautiful lyrics. Since this is best appreciated if you get the lyrics, I did not include it in the official listing, but I highly recommend listening to this album on Spotify.
And then for the actual listing...
Moon Duo's Shadow of the Sun is a great album combining psychedelia and 70's-style Krautrock. The sounds are very close to some of the Krautrock classics in the 70's. The songs are quite similar and there's not much variety between them. That may be the only downside of this album. The sounds are beautifully rough, still maintaining complete control. This is great music to hypnotise and even the guitar riffs and solos are quite impressive. The song Zero takes a little bit different approach than most of the songs and there are some clear influences from Joy Division style industrial post-punk. In a Cloud is a bit more relaxed song with lazy Sunday feel. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Tobias Jesso Jr. brings 70's singer-songwriter sound alive with his album Goon. Songs remind me of such artists as John Lennon, Elton John and Cat Stevens. Sometimes the references to these artists are even a bit too clear. Nevertheless, if you like good melodies and pop songs played by a piano, this is really good music. The lyrics are quite romantic ranging from the sensation of falling in love, loss of love and to happiness that comes from longer term relationships. The songs are a bit monotonous, so after a few songs you think you've already heard them all. I'm not bothered by this though, because I happen to love this kind of music. The strings added on top of the piano and vocals seal the deal for a great album. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Evangelist is a project by Gavin Clark, who passed away this year's February. He was only 46 years old. Members of UNKLE and Toydrum, that have been working with him on this project finished the album and this dark and haunting album gets even more effectiveness from the fact that it appeared from beyond the grave. The album is filled with hauntingly beautiful ballads sung with heartbreakingly sad vocals, rough garage rock pieces, psychedelic rock epics and hypnotising Krautrock songs. Clark's vocals are absolutely amazing and fit into these haunting songs like a hand in a glove. This is the kind of album that requires a few listens before it opens up. It's not always beautiful, but it manages to carry a range of emotions. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Natalie Prass' debut album is an ambitious album filled with dreamy dream pop, strong soul and excellent singer-songwriter-type melodies. The core band gets more power from amazing string arrangements and brass section. Prass has definite strength in her vocals, it ranges from cute and quiet squeals to full-on strong soul yells. As a songwriter, she's also amazingly good, considering that this is her first album. Although, she has been making music for quite some time. Her first EP was already released in 2009. Nevertheless, if she's capable to make a masterpiece like this as the first album, the expectations for her future are quite high. I hope the usual law of pop music doesn't happen to her, that she starts touring excessively and loses the songwriting ability at the same time. Listen to the album on Spotify.
London-based Ultimate Painting made a promising recording already the previous year, but their Green Lanes LP really hits the jackpot. There's some lovely authenticity in their sounds. The electric guitars sound exactly as they would sound live without any effects added on top. Everything sounds as if it were played live in the studio. In that sense it reminds me of the great albums of the 60's that were only recorded with one microphone. There are similarities in sound to Mac DeMarco, but Ultimate painting keeps their rhythms tighter and there's no out-of-tune effect, that I find a bit off-putting. This is as fresh as indie rock can be these days. The sounds are classic, already familiar from the 60's, but still this sounds so fresh and new that I just have to nod my head to it. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Diagrams is an indie pop-rock band from South London. Their songs have brilliant melodies and endearing indie-pop sounds in the style of Grandaddy. The electric guitars are a bit echoey, but otherwise all the instruments sound quite authentic. This is all changed by the brilliant synth and organ sounds that are full of space elements. The vocals are soft and beautiful and the coal harmonies have been carefully composed. The catchy melodies make you want to listen to these songs over and over again and to learn the lyrics by heart just to sing along. You Can Talk to Me is one of the most beautiful songs of the recent years comparing to best compositions by Teenage Fanclub. Shapes even sounds a bit like The Shins. Listen to the album on Spotify.
After Sufjan Stevens released his Brooklyn-Queens Expressway album of noisy and experimental music, I thought I had heard everything interesting he had to offer. I'm glad to say I was wrong, because Stevens' heartbreaking album Carrie & Lowell takes his sound back to his old great folk albums. Where Illinois sounded massive with full orchestra, Carrie & Lowell finds beauty in simple things. Stevens' delicate voice, pure piano sound and quiet picked string instruments. It's a bit sad that artists so often have to confront personal suffering and loss before they can truly make great albums, but once again this has worked. The melancholic melodies are absolutely beautiful and the way these songs are sung is heartbreaking. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Joanna Newsom has become one of my favourite artists in the past years. Ys is still one of the best albums ever made. Have One on Me was a bit too long and the individual songs did not stand out as much. Divers fixes this by presenting a collection of absolutely amazing dreamlike songs. The title track Divers is one of the best songs she's ever made. Perhaps due to the more soulful sounds and the selection of instruments, this album sounds a lot like Kate Bush in the 70's. Still, Joanna Newsom manages to be even more original in her sounds. I was lucky to see her live this year and her amazing harp playing really showed the true genius of her music. It's one thing to do that for an album, but to do that same stuff almost better live, is so impressive, that I just have to appreciate in awe. Listen to the album on Youtube.
Australian Courtney Barnett made an impression me already with her gig at Field Day in 2014 and with her two EP collection in 2013. This album really hits the jackpot though. Her sharp and lo-fi guitars sound as rock n' roll as you possibly can and her laconic and cool vocals make her a true rock star. The music is combining greatest elements from garage rock and indie rock. I think to truly appreciate this music though, it's essential to see here live. This music is made for jumping up and down to. I usually like a sense of drama on albums, but here it's all fireworks from the beginning to the end and I have nothing bad to say about that either. Listen to the album on Spotify.
This year's number one is a surprise even to myself. I probably would not have believed last year that my favourite album for this year will be a three LP/CD epic jazz album. That's what happened. Kamasi Washington's masterpiece takes clear influences from 50's and 60's classic jazz albums, but also makes it sound very modern. There are some wild free jazz songs, slower mood pieces and absolute playing skill, but what I'm most pleased about, are the funky jazz jams such as Re Run Home. Washington is himself an amazing saxophone player, but the whole band plays as tightly as you possibly can. This is like three excellent albums in one. I'm just thinking to myself, why did it take him 7 years to release anything after his previous recording. I think this album answers my question. He wanted to release all of those seven years at once in a one massive epic. Listen to the album on Spotify.
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