While 2014 may hold the title for longest playlist ever (54 songs), I figured that 2015 would be easy to beat (29 songs). With some of the albums I expected to be released, it just seemed like it was time. But it ended up being only 32 songs, despite a strong start. Here it is...
There are a lot of returners from 2013 and 2014 here, but the follow-ups were not as strong. I really expected more songs, and as you can see, a lot of them are from the same artists. It ended up not being the strong album year that I expected.
Garbage really delivered with Strange Little Birds, and did so in an unexpected way. It was so industrial and moody, but it still sounded like Garbage. The Naked And Famous delivered Simple Forms, and I panicked a little at first, because it didn't grab me the way their last album did. However, after more listens, I loved it more. It doesn't beat In Rolling Waves, but that thing was epic.
Then there were a number of artists that put out stuff that was just OK. Grouplove's Big Mess is pretty good, but I was expecting the greatness of the last two albums. I love about half of it, and I'm "meh" about the rest. Phantogram's Three is really good, but it's just so damn short. I like Aurora's All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend, but it's one of those things you just have to be in the mood for. Young The Giant turned in the biggest disappointment with Home of the Strange. I can't put my finger on what it is that causes such indifference, but it's not Mind Over Matter, which was completely brilliant. I haven't listened to Bastille's Wild World enough yet, but I'm leaning toward a pretty good effort.
Of course, the thing I can't not mention is that we grew to be pretty serious Hamilton fans at Puzzoni World Headquarters. It's not something that you just listen to for a song or two... you have to invest the two and a half hours to really listen. There is so much going on in that show, and it's brilliant. It pays homage to so many genres of music, especially 80's hip hop, and yet it's something totally original. My perceptions about it being gimmicky prior to actually listening to it were totally wrong. It's huge, it's going to stay huge, and I think it will have the commercial staying power of Phantom (and even without seeing it, I think it's better). We're going to have to try and figure out a way to see it next year, if possible.
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