Catchy synth beats from Grimes and Drake (badly) dancing are only a couple of things that define the 2015 music scene. However, all Internet memes aside, we’ve compiled a list of albums released this year and wrote down a couple thoughts.
Most Furr-ocious Beats
Run The Jewels “Meow the Jewels”
Not really sure what to make of this. “Run The Jewels 2” with remixed with cat sounds – don’t mind if I do? Run The Jewels promised fans a “re-meowed” version of their sophomore album and it is truly an accomplishment for all of cat kind. Killer Mike and El-P have broken boundaries with their politically conscious lyrics about police brutality and racism – this album pushes the envelope in a completely different way, and you will hate how much you love it’s charm.
Album Made For Another Decade
Leon Bridges “Coming Home”
Leon Bridges soulful voice transports you to a decade of quintessential R&B. Vintage-esque tunes like “Better Man” encompassed the ‘60s, and the track seems like it’s been stored in a time-capsule buried during the Kennedy administration. The amount of brass instruments Bridges’ band uses to explore this period of time are as delightful as tambourine shakes on tracks like “Smooth Sailing” and “Flowers.” Bridges attention to detail in songwriting also makes for a modern twist of the genre.
Best Throwback Album
A Tribe Called Quest — “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (25th Anniversary Edition)
It’s been 25 years since this debut album solidified A Tribe Called Quest as an underground hip-hop group. Despite this album being older than most of us, decades later it is still important, relevant and classic. There are a few new additions to the reissue including remixes by CeeLo Green, Pharrell and J. Cole – but it’s not like the reissue needed any new content,
as the rhythmical poetry of the group speaks for itself. This album has replay value not because of what it meant to the 90’s, but the captivating stories it timelessly continues to tell.
Most American Album of the Year
Kendrick Lamar “To Pimp A Butterfly”
With so much emphasis on superficiality and decadence, it’s easy to forget that hip-hop’s roots lie in social commentary. “To Pimp A Butterfly” celebrates blackness and addresses black suffering in America. The album and the myriad of characters on it brazenly confront racism: both white on black and black on black.
It’s an album that can be overwhelming on the first spin, requiring four, five, or even six listens to fully appreciate. Highly layered and employing funk riffs, found sound, free jazz, spoken word and skits to tell its story—or rather a collection of loosely connected stories—“To Pimp A Butterfly” envelops you in its whirlwind.
Paradoxical, satirical, painfully self-aware, and even strangely optimistic at times, it’s a complicated album to say the least—leaving the listener disoriented, with more questions than answers; questions that need to be asked, especially in a year that has seen the subterranean racism of our institutions bubbling up to the surface.