My Favorite Albums of 2015
An A- year
In which I, you guessed it, rank my favorite albums of the year. All around I'd say A- year.
1. Young Thug - Barter 6
Some people don't like Young Thug -- I'm not one of those people. I highly recommend every song on this album, but if you want to get the best intro to wtf is going on with Young Thug and the insanity that is Barter 6, check out the "Constantly Hating" video. It's also worth reading up on the naming controversy surrounding the album. Crazy stuff.
3. Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
While I didn't like Sound & Color quite as much as Boys & Girls, it's still pretty damn good. It's also incredibly even throughout, and hard to pick a stand out song since they're all rock solid. If I had to choose, I'd recommend "Dunes" since it's fairly representative of the album and highlights Brittany Howard's vocals.
4. Jeremih - Late Nights
I recently recommended this album to somebody, and made the mistake of mentioning "Birthday Sex". They made a face and then missed out on a great album. If you know "Birthday Sex" and know this album and are confused, it's same guy. Yeah, I know.
I'd skip "Don't Tell 'Em", the winner here is "oui".
5. Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper
I've always appreciated Animal Collective and Panda Bear for their general weirdness, as well as the incredible number of references to Baltimore (my hometown) that they fit into their albums. Grim Reaper delivers on both counts. Listen to "Boys Latin," titled after a local all boys school that literally invented the lax bro, for an oddly great off kilter synth thing.
7. Miguel - Wildheart
I LOVE "Adorn", which, prior to this album, was about the extent of my Miguel exposure. Then this bombshell came along. Unlike "Adorn" and some of his earlier stuff, Wildheart is significantly more rock oriented. But fortunately for all of us, it still sounds a lot like sex. Check out "Hollywood Dreams" and "the valley."
10. Future - DS2
OK this one doesn't really belong on the list, but Future deserves some recognition and I like "Thought It Was a Drought" enough to put it on the list. Listen to the hook and tell me you can't feel Future's gradual post-Ciara descent into nihilism slapping you in the face:
I just fucked your bitch in some gucci flip flops
I just had some bitches and made em lip lock
I just took a piss and seen codeine coming out
We got purple Actavis, I thought it was a drought
Sorry Drake, I take back what I said earlier. Future wins best hook, better luck on Views.
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