Matana Roberts was my album of the year by some considerable distance - I can't even think of one that comes close - and it's probably the decade's best record for me, so far, too.
This year was tough, work- and personal-wise, but next year will be tougher. I'll be at the business end of writing my book and, if the Seasons They Change experience is anything to go by, I'll disappear for most of the year and emerge a blinking husk at the end. Good-o!
A technical point: YouTube doesn't like me much anymore. I'm presuming it's because I've got adblock in rather than being a personal campaign of attrition, but it barely lets me embed anything in blogger now without a huge rigmarole. I've avoided where I can and put in Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Vimeo instead. Using different formats seemed to reflect the varied and multiple ways we listen to music these days. On an unrelated note, making a virtue out of a necessity is one of my favourite pastimes.
As always, we're alphabetical order, but if you're pushed for time my tops of the toppermosts are the Matana, Lena Willikens, Pete Rock, Demi Lovato, Jenny Hval, DonMonique, Rihanna, F ingers.
1. ANAMAI: Everyone
I've heard a lot of delicate, disturbing experimental folk in my time, and it takes a fair amount to impress me. And, still, I ate this album up with a spoon.
'Wrestling with idealism, fantasy and memory' (Interview, FACT)
2. Felicia Atkinson: L'Oeil
'I used to be played more often. I used to be crucial.' Atkinson shifts persona throughout this extended song-poem. At that point she was a forgotten hit from four decades earlier; by the time you get your head around that, she's something else, 'crafted by unfortunate children.' It's like one of those round robin things you had to sing at school. But better, obviously.
Ceremony of Gathering: Felicia Atkinson & Chicaloyoh interviewed (the Quietus)
3. Erykah Badu: Cel U Lar Device [Hotline Bling]
Always loved Erykah, and her mixtape But You Caint Use My Phone is a stunner. Feels a bit cheaty to pick a cover version from it, but it's so ten million miles better than the original (which is still pretty good, to be fair to Drake. And I'm not usually fair to Drake).
4. Blanck Mass: Dead Format
Sacred Bones was a label of the year (see also John Carpenter, and Jenny Hval, below). This is half of Fuck Buttons, who I like anyway, and what I especially adore about 'Dead Format' is it gets in loads of stuff - eighties pop glitch, screamo goth, and the playful end of Digital Hardcore - yet still sounds itself, and still sounds completely of this year.
(Video here).
'What's more grand than the idea of someone's internals?' Blanck Mass interviewed (Dummy)
5. David Bowie: Darkstar
Many things in this world piss me off, and one of them is the way that every Bowie album since Black Tie White Noise has been 'hailed' as a 'return to form' (i.e., THANK GOD IT'S NOT TIN MACHINE). This song takes Bowie's alleged form, and sails right the fuck past it on a boat made of post-rock and alien terror.
The Inside Story of David Bowie's Stunning New Album, 'Blackstar' (Rolling Stone)
6. Tom Brosseau: Hard Luck Boy
Bear with this one. I first heard it and thought 'oh my god, it's the worst bits of Devendra Banhart and James Taylor'. Yet... almost before I could finish that sentence, I was blubbing. Some might call it hardcore emotional manipulation; some might call it mawkish misery porn. Some (me) might call it a beautifully narrated and perfectly delivered vignette.
Tom Brosseau: Walk a Mile in his Shoes (Interview, Acoustic Guitar)
7. Alessia Cara: Here
Loner teen angst.
Meet Alessia Cara, the soulful voice behind this year's antisocial pop anthem (Complex)
8. Caribou Vibration Ensemble: Ahmed, Colin, James, Kieran, Kyle, Rob & Steve
Many cool things happened this year, and one of them was interviewing Kieran Hebden. As always, he's been prolific in 2015, but this is my favourite, and reminds me of one of the things we were talking about. He was reminiscing about seeing Tortoise at the Water Rats: 'It was literally one of the most exciting moments of my life. Before the show even started, just looking at the equipment onstage was absolutely breathtaking.' This song doesn't really sound like Tortoise, but it has a similar expansiveness and space.
Caribou's Dan Snaith on his decade-long electronic music evolution (Tape Op)
9. John Carpenter: Night
OOOOoooooOOOOOOooooo.
'I'm ready to have Beyonce open for me': John Carpenter on soundtracks, video games, and Lost Themes (FACT)
10. Carter Tutti: Sin
Magazine cover of the year (and if I'm honest, that cover and its interview swayed me so much that I put 'Sin' in here... it is a great tune, though).
As If By Magic: Carter Tutti Void interviewed (the Quietus)
11. Chairlift: Ch-Ching
The final track to make my top 50. Only heard it a few days ago. LOVE.
12. Cruel Boyz: Umeqo Emagqomini [Dub Mix]
See, this is why I religiously listen to all the Pitchfork featured tracks even though most of the time it's wading through indifferent electronica or fathoming the cavernous gulf between doom and sludge metal. Never would have heard this gqom (a South African House variant) TUNE TUNE TUNE otherwise. Thanks, PF!
What the foq is gqom? (Dazed)
13. Death Grips: Runway N
Partnership between underground music and mainstream fashion is not without its problems, but at its best (here) it brings a cheekiness and frivolity to two arenas constantly in danger of being up their own arses.
14. Donato Dozzy: Personal Rock
I'm gonna stick my neck out, and say that this is the best tune with prominent Jew's Harp EVER.
15. DonMonique: Tha Low
She's my Trap queen.
'I'm not changing myself for the rap game': Rising Brooklyn Rapper DonMonique (Billboard)
16. Eartheater: Wetware
A track that's both busy and calming. With that crazy-ass voice that makes incredible sense.
'I'm trying to make a movie, but all I have are sound and lyrics': Meet Eartheater, the queen of Hausu Mountain (FACT)
17. Missy Elliott featuring Pharrell Williams: WTF (Where They From)
No surprise that I love Missy, and one of the reasons for that is she's seldom lazy. If she hasn't got much to say, she won't say it, so when she comes back: I listen.
Missy Elliott on hoverboards, Pharrell Williams and WTF (The Guardian)
18. Enya: The Humming...
Policemen are getting younger, and I'm putting Enya in my chart. I learned a lot about Enya during a long Piccadilly line journey - it's really fascinating, especially about her relationship with Nicky and Roma Ryan - and I gave the new album a listen. Of course most of it is unbearable bland dreck, but I love this.
Enya interview: Ireland's most successful solo artist on being stalked, living in a castle, and why she's single (Independent)
19. EULA: Like No Other
Admiring the perennially-fashionable post-punk era degenerated into one long spot-the-reference fest this year (hello, Viet Cong!) but EULA captures the feel of the time without directly ripping it off. Also, the album is called Wool Sucking, which is what our little foster kitten Rocket did because he missed his mum :(((((
We interviewed Eula's Alyse Lamb in a bouncy castle made of boobs (Noisey) (OH DO FUCK OFF SIT IN A PUB LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES)
20. Ella Eyre: Comeback
She's been called 'the new Tina Turner' and I think they mean more than the hair. With as much lava as Krakatoa, we've all got to take the pain and let the motherfucker burn sometimes.
Ella Eyre proves why she is a diva in the making (Glamour)
21. The Fall: Auto Chip 2014-2016
Why this Fall track, when there was probably an equally good one last year I didn't include in my list? But that's the thing with The Fall. They're always there, rather like housework, and mostly you don't feel like doing it, but sometimes you do, and you do it, and it's satisfying, and you have a sit down afterwards.
Mark E Smith: The Interview (Chorley Guardian)
22. Fifth Harmony: Bo$$
They're a put-together and aggressively consumerist girl group, and we all know I'd feel completely empty inside if I didn't have at least one of them in my chart.
How well do Fifth Harmony know each other? (Official Charts)
23. F ingers: Tantrum Time
Went to a Blackest Ever Black night at the ICA this year. I've been keeping a close eye on what the label has done ever since. If you're feeling too relaxed, just listen to this artery-narrowing nightmare.
I Can't Give You What You Want: the Romantic World of Blackest Ever Black (FACT)
24. Floating Points: Silhouettes (I, II & III)
Apparently he used to be a neuroscientist. And he very much likes Laughing Stock. We all like Laughing Stock, don't we?
I DJ, therefore I am: Floating Points on musical experiments and marathon sets (The Guardian)
25. Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Peasantry Or 'Light! Inside Of Light!'
Braved my least favourite venue (Shepherd's bloody Bush bloody Empire) to see them this year. Sublime. Of course they were.
26. Steve Hauschildt: Where All Is Fled
It's noodle, but the kind of noodle I really like. And hearing this led me back into his old band Emeralds, something I'm posthumously gorging myself on. Good ol' kranky.
Steve Hauschildt Interview (The Seventh Hex)
27. Jenny Hval: That Battle Is Over
'I'm more likely to get breast cancer, and it's my own fault, it's divine punishment...' This hits wayyyyy too close to home.
Jenny Hval tells us all about the making of her incredible new album Apocalypse, Girl (The Line Of Best Fit)
28. Jack Ü featuring Kiesza: Take Ü There [Missy Elliott Remix]
I liked the Justin Bieber one as well.
Diplo and Skrillex are Jack Ü: The Interview (Cuepoint)
29. Talib Kweli and 9th Wonder featuring Rapsody: Every Ghetto
It's a terrific track all the way through, but Rapsody is the one who pushes it over into amazeballs territory.
Rapsody Talks Secretly Working On Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly (Spin) (There's a couple of these Lamar-focused interviews out there, which is kind of nice that she's getting attention, but also annoying that it's all about him rather than tracking her down more for her own stuff. ANYWAY.)
30. Lolina: Miss Understood
This is Inga Copeland, who won my track of the year last year. Lolina seems to represent her impish side.
31. Lonelady: Silvering
She's never far from my end-of-year reckoning when she releases something. Icicles drip from her.
32. Demi Lovato: Cool For The Summer
Banger of bangers. Popjustice called it an ode to seasonal lezzing, and I can't really top that.
Pop Life: The Interview (Complex)
33. Marina & The Diamonds: I'm A Ruin
The Gordian knot pop song. So difficult to get right. Far too often it goes over into Florence '+' The sodding Machine territory: in its attempts to be subtle, it ends up with the exact opposite. 'I'm A Ruin', like Banks' 'Brain' last year, gets it on the money.
34. Bonnie McKee: Bombastic
This is such a stupid song, and it's not even good-stupid. It sounds even more pathetic coming straight after 'I'm A Ruin'. I should have left it off in favour of Oneohtrix Point Never or something. But I didn't.
Financial Lessons from Bonnie McKee, Music's Millennial Powerhouse (Forbes)
35. Nadia Nair: Hardships
Is there anything better than a corking pop song being 'a bit ethnic'? It's a fine tradition of cultural appropriation which I think we can all enjoy.
Press Play: Nadia Nair (Kaltblut)
36. New Order: Tutti Frutti
Lovely memories of this one - walking down the street with it belting out of a phone, like teens coming home from Alessia Cara's crap party.
37. Peaches featuring Kim Gordon: Close Up
Celebrity vaper Kim Gordon proves yet again why she's the best. And Peaches isn't half bad either. Remind me to tell you why I think The Teaches Of Peaches invented the 2000s when you've got a spare four years. Video NSFW.
The Pleasure of Peaches (Pitchfork)
38. Princess Chelsea: Too Many People
This is a really narky song disguised as a pretty, twee little thing. It's kind of an update of Jackie Lee's 'The Town I Live In': small town, small minds...
Seven Quick Questions: Princess Chelsea (Under The Radar)
39. Rich White Ladies: Love Is For The Week
My favourite video of the year. #BBHMM might have the drama, but #LIFTW has the hair.
40. Max Richter: Sleep
Eight hours. You're meant to actually sleep while you listen to it. I haven't done that yet. But I will.
41. Rihanna: Bitch Better Have My Money
Yea-yo! The track that spawned a million 'think' 'pieces' just gets better every single time you hear it. I spent a very happy afternoon going through tons of handbag mixes of it (the R3hab one was the best) but nothing beats the sheer fire of the original.
Rihanna in Cuba: The Cover Story (Vanity Fair)
42. Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Three: river run thee
Album of the year and track of the year. If Max Richter can be in here with eight hours, Matana can be in here with 45 minutes. Part three of her epic ambition to evoke African-American multiplicity is all a piece, impossible to divvy up into units, a fact rammed home when I saw her perform it this year. Unbearable, unbelievable, insurmountable.
Matana Roberts: 'I feel sorry for George Zimmerman' (The Guardian)
43. Pete Rock: Dilla Bounce (R.I.P)
So joyful. And the best tribute to J Dilla, whose Donuts I came to late, but I came to hard.
Pete Rock Interview (Bona Fide)
44. Shopping: In Other Words
Me including this is a bit rich after what I said (at number 19) about Viet Cong. Oh well.
45. Tanika: Fuckboy
'Fuck them, and fuck you'. Not quite as cool as 'Bad 4 U [Hamilton Remix]' last year, but still really fucking cool. Look at her owning Brixton! Just look at her!
Tanika is the no-bullshit new voice of UK R&B (The Fader)
46. United Bible Studies: Recruited Collier
Bette Davis once said: if I didn't smoke at all times, no one would even know it was me. If I didn't include a UBS track in my list, no one would know it was mine.
There was a great Wire (not online) piece about UBS this year. But here the website gives a bit of info, and a live recordings thing (The Wire)
47. U.S. Girls: Damn That Valley
It's hard to say this without sounding uber-glib, but the world has been a terrible place this year. Probably the worst (in terms of history, rather than personal experience) that I have experienced. This U.S. Girls track feels like a very now-borne song; about a woman who has lost her partner to a global conflict. It's not sentimental. It's just, this is the way the world is now. Completely logical collateral damage, while personal worlds cave in.
Reality is Strange: An Interview with U.S. Girls (the Quietus)
48. VV: Instincts
I bet it's dead frustrating being VV (nee Brown). She's gone from strength to strength, artistically speaking, but people give less and less of a shit about her. She feels, to me, like a very substantial artist who will probably be rediscovered in years to come; cold comfort to her now, I suspect.
The Evolution of VV: A Glitch in the Musical Matrix (The Beat)
49. Lena Willikens: Howlin Lupus
This year I got into the board game Eldritch Horror. One of the facets of the game is keeping on top of monsters who appear from supernatural gates in various of the world's cities. One of them is a werewolf! He can jump on you in the game and drain your health.
50. Young Ejecta: Welcome To Love
So reminiscent of that 90s trend for 'perfect' easy listening, yet with a really harrowing underbelly.
Discovering the Planet of Young Ejecta (Impose)
