Best of 2015

 

OK... here's our 50 favourites of the year, overstuffed with soundcloud and youtube [tip: just let the page fully load before you navigate on it]. It was put together pretty quickly, and it applies more to what I've been listening to than what might have been selling in larger quantities through the store. Hopefully you'll see a few things you already like, find a few things you end up liking, and find even more things that make you curious to hear more... OK?  HERE WE GO.  Oh, by the way, they are just in alphabetical order, not ranked.

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The list first without audio/video:

Anamai - Sallows (Buzz)

Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars (Sub Pop)

Benoit Pioulard - Stanzas (Kranky)

Big/Brave - Au De La (Southern Lord)

Cemeteries - Barrow (Track and Field)

Chris Forsyth / Koen Holtkamp - The Island (Trouble in Mind)

Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld - Never Were the Way She Says (Constellation)

Deerhunter - Fading Frontier (4AD)

Disasterpiece - It Follows OST (Milan)

Doldrums - The Air Conditioned Nightmare (Sub Pop)

Donnacha Costello - Stay Perfectly Still (self-released)

Find the Others - Empire of Time (Forward)

Ghost and Tape - Shift (Slaapwel)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress (Conste

Helen - The Original Faces (Kranky)

Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle (6131 Records)

Jóhann Jóhannsson  - Sicario OST (Varese Sarabande)

King Midas Sound / Fennesz - Edition 1 (Ninja Tune)

Kreng - The Summoner (Miasmah)

Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin' Down (Matador)

Liturgy - The Ark Work (Thrill Jockey)

Lou Barlow - Brace the Wave (Joyful Noise)

Martin Courtney - Many Moons (Domino)

Moonsocket - Eurydice (Noyes)

Mount Eerie - Sauna (P.W. Elevrum & Sun Ltd)

Multicast Dynamics - Scandinavia (Denovali)

Nap Eyes - Whine of the Mystic (Paradise of Bachelors)

Noveller - Fantastic Planet (Fire)

Obnox - Boogalou Reed (12XU)

Ought - Sun Coming Down (Constellation)

Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (Domino)

Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect (Hardly Art)

Pyramid Vritra - Indra (Rhymesayers)

Rival Consoles - Howl (Erased Tapes)

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma - Frkwys Vol.12 (RVNG)

Ryley Walker - Primrose Green (Dead Oceans)

Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)

Steve Gunn and Black Twig Pickers - Seasonal Hire (Thrill Jockey)

Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)

Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes (Caldo Verde)

Sunn O))) - Kannon (Southern Lord)

Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart - S/T (Secret City)

Tanlines - Highlights (True Panther)

Teen Daze - Morning World (Paper Bag)

The Declining Winter - Home for Lost Souls (Home Assembley)

The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ (Merge)

Tiny Vipers - Ambience 3 (Box Bedroom Rebels)

U.S. Girls - Half Free (4AD)

Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp (Merge)

William Basinski - Cascade (2062)

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Anamai - Sallows (Buzz)

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Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars (Sub Pop)

 *
Benoit Pioulard - Sonnet (Kranky)

 *
Big/Brave - Au De La (Southern Lord)

 *
Cemeteries - Barrow (Track and Field)

 *
Chris Forsyth / Koen Holtkamp - The Island (Trouble in Mind)

 *
Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld - Never Were the Way She Says (Constellation)

*
Deerhunter - Fading Frontier (4AD)

*
Disasterpiece - It Follows OST (Milan)

*
Doldrums - The Air Conditioned Nightmare (Sub Pop)

*
Donnacha Costello - Stay Perfectly Still (self-released)

*
Find the Others - Empire of Time (Forward)

*
Ghost and Tape - Shift (Slaapwel) [note this track is not from Shift]

*
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress (Constellation)

*
Helen - The Original Faces (Kranky)

*
Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle (6131 Records)

*
Jóhann Jóhannsson  - Sicario OST (Varese Sarabande)

*
King Midas Sound / Fennesz - Edition 1 (Ninja Tune)

*
Kreng - The Summoner (Miasmah)
*
Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Goin' Down (Matador)
 
*
Liturgy - The Ark Work (Thrill Jockey)

*
Lou Barlow - Brace the Wave (Joyful Noise)

*
Martin Courtney - Many Moons (Domino)

*
Moonsocket - Eurydice (Noyes)

*
Mount Eerie - Sauna (P.W. Elevrum & Sun Ltd)

*
Multicast Dynamics - Scandinavia (Denovali)

*
Nap Eyes - Whine of the Mystic (Paradise of Bachelors)

*
Noveller - Fantastic Planet (Fire)

*
Obnox - Boogalou Reed (12XU)

*
Ought - Sun Coming Down (Constellation)

*
Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (Domino)

*
Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect (Hardly Art)

*
Pyramid Vritra - Indra (Rhymesayers) [too late i realize this is a 2014 release, but f#ck it, enjoy]

*
Rival Consoles - Howl (Erased Tapes)

*
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe & Ariel Kalma - Frkwys Vol.12 (RVNG)

*
Ryley Walker - Primrose Green (Dead Oceans)

*
Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)

*
Steve Gunn and Black Twig Pickers - Seasonal Hire (Thrill Jockey)

*
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)

*
Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes (Caldo Verde)
>|
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Sunn O))) - Kannon (Southern Lord)

*
Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart - S/T (Secret City)

*
Tanlines - Highlights (True Panther)

*
Teen Daze - Morning World (Paper Bag)

*
The Declining Winter - Home for Lost Souls (Home Assembley)

*
The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ (Merge)

*
Tiny Vipers - Ambience 3 (Box Bedroom Rebels)

*
U.S. Girls - Half Free (4AD)

*
Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp (Merge)

*
William Basinski - Cascade (2062)

October, November, December Vinyl of the Month choices

MAN!!! It's been a long lazy time. Well not entirely lazy, some of it has to do with the encroaching (now here) holiday season and all the prep that goes with it... but still. We're forced to slap together a post featuring three months' worth of Vinyl of the Month choices to end the year. Enough with apologies, here are the choices:

For October the pick was Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect. Great follow up to one of our favourite albums of last year, Under Color of Official Right. This is the noise of Detroit, Michigan... which sounds a little bit like the noise of Minnesota circa mid-to-late 80s when bands like Hüsker Dü and The Replacements walked the earth. A little pissed, a little sloppy, a little amazing.

For November we had Martin Courtney - Many Moons. Solo album by the lead singer for Real Estate, this opens things up and lets a little folksy light into the sparkly rock sound of his band. But make no mistake, the easy to like/hard to pinpoint vibe still dominates.

And finally December brings us Sunn O))) - Kannon. For those uninitiated to these sludge/doom masters this is a good jumping on point. After growing ever more expansive in their own work (their last proper band release Monoliths and Dimensions back in 2009 was epic) and varied in collaborations that featured everyone from Scott Walker to Nurse with Wound to Ulver, Kannon strips things back to a more basic roar of distress and dismay. You know, in a good way.
And that wraps up 2015. We're starting back up in 2016 with the club as it stands, but also with a couple of possible adjustments to make it even more user friendly for every. Stay tuned for details coming very very soon.

2015 Vinyl of the Month Picks:

January: Siksiyou - Nervous
February: Pond - Man it Feels Like Space Again
March: Ryley Walker - Primrose Green
April: Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld - Never Were the Way She Says
May: Robert Pollard - Faulty Superheroes
June: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call
July: Peacers - S/T
August: Mike Krol - Turkey
September: Lou Barlow - Brace the Tide
October: Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
November: Martin Courtney - Many Moons
December: Sunn O))) - Kannon