Nora's Top 10 Albums of 2015

2015 was a really big, crazy year for me. I finally graduated from high school and I finally got to start living on my own. There was a lot of change and a lot of emotion, and the music that carried me through it all will always be special. It's also the first year I would say I've been actively trying to keep up with music culture and follow releases past bands I already like, so I would say my tastes really expanded and developed as well, which is a big part thanks to my slack fam, thanks guys.  So here we go, the top 10 albums that narrated my life in 2015:

(well, actually first this)
Honorable Mention goes to Ava Luna- Infinite House (which, again, I listened to before sam told me to). I think I appreciate it more every time I listen. I really really hope they get more popular and don't give up on being a band because they deserve it and because I would miss them.

10. The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die- Harmlessness

This album has a lot of range. It opens with a single acoustic guitar and singing recorded in poor quality and gently swells and grows into the emotional mammoth that is their nine piece band I saw a few weeks ago. There is a lot here, and I still haven't digested all of it, but I know it stands out among the crowded emo scene as a thoughtful and masterfully crafted work of art. The dueling male/female vocals were an element that I liked here and also on Adventures' Supersonic Home this year. I can't listen to many tracks on this album without getting goosebumps.

9. mewithoutYou- Pale Horses 

MewithoutYou is one of those bands where I don't know if they will ever put out an album that isn't in my top 10 for the year. I love every metamorphosis of this band and Pale Horses did a great job of balancing all the sounds they've had over their discography. I'm happy to have 11 more songs full of delicious lyrics to analyze, dissect, and ultimately scream in a crowd of sweaty punk kidz. My favorite part of the album is the second half of Mexican War Streets with the synth melody in the background. It's probably the most satisfying minute of music I've heard this year. As usual with mewithoutYou, the closer is a heavy-hitter too, with allusions to earlier moments in the album and huge, powerful swell in the middle. These guys always end albums with punches to the gut that leave me breathless. They are masters.

8. Brittle Brian- Verisune

Since moving to Boston I have heard a lot of cool music coming out of the scene, but nothing grabbed me like Brittle Brian. Her quiet but urgent delivery of very personal lyrics has been comforting to me on nights when I've felt alone and starved for meaningful connection at school. When I needed a best friend in my dorm at 2am to inspire me, Verisune became that person. I saw her live a few times and she was just as captivating there. Best track is definitely Lizard Eyes.

7. Julia Holter- Have You in My Wilderness

Julia has been on my radar since her last album, so I had been anticipating this one, but it completely blew away my expectations. This is one of those albums that I listen to and think "Wow, music is really cool. People are making really really cool music". It's whimsical and innovative and overall gorgeous. I listened to it a lot while traveling around Boston people watching and exploring and it created a perfect mental setting for all the newness and excitement and freedom.

6. Destroyer- Poison Season

I think of this album as almost a companion to Have You in My Wilderness because I started listening to them at very similar times near the beginning of the semester in Boston and because they're both so dramatic- verging on theatrical. Therefore, I love it mostly for the same reasons I love Julia's: the prominent, unique, and emotional vocals, the complex instrumental compositions that I get lost in, and because of the connection to my first month of college. This album really caused Destroyer as an artist to "click" for me so I have an exciting back catalogue to explore too. He also put on one of my favorite live shows of the year.

5. Girlpool- Before the World Was Big

There were a lot of punk-y whiney-voiced feminist girl groups this year and I enjoyed listening to a lot of those them, but they all seemed to kinda blend together and nothing really grabbed me emotionally. When I first heard Girlpool I naively grouped them into that category, but on my first full listen through this album they had me 100%. I want to hug Girlpool. While the prominent bass in these songs is incredibly reassuring and relaxing to me, the sometimes rough harmonies endear me with their imperfection and command me to hear the lyrics, which I fall in love with more and more on every listen. On the first track they urge, "tranquilize me with your ideal world", perfectly translating frustration with small-talk and the beauty of getting to the core of another person. On "Chinatown" they ask "do you feel restless when you realize you're alive?", voicing the increasing fear I feel that in the fog of Netflix and twitter I'm withering away my youth and not leaving room to seek meaningful opportunities. With this album, I felt instantly and strongly that Girlpool was speaking directly to me. It was personal and powerful and I love them.

4. Sufjan Stevens- Carrie and Lowell

I love this album, but in a different way than most on this list. I love it not because I could relate to it or because it was relevant to my life, but because it made me feel emotions something that I have never experienced firsthand, and for that reason I think it is a powerful work of art. A situation and relationship as complicated as that which inspired this album needs to be explored and turned into something meaningful and I don't think Sufjan could've done a better job of that. Every time I listen I'm surprised by the magnitude of emotions I feel. I have no reason to understand based on events in my life, but I'm feeling them anyway. Sufjan's music is just that powerful.

3. Kendrick Lamar- To Pimp a Butterfly

Like C&L, TPAB is on this list not because I have a personal connection to it, but because it's a force that I can't ignore. If this was an objective list it would be #1. Obviously I can't relate to anything Kendrick's rapping about, but that's why it's important: he has the power to educate. Enough things have been written about this so I won't try to add anything, I'll just say I always forget how great it is and then it floors me every. single. time.

2. Car Seat Headrest- Teens of Style

Good ole Will Toledo, my favorite discovery of 2015. I actually first fell in love with his earlier album from this year, How to Leave Town, but eventually this one won me over simply because it's easier to digest. Though this was his first album produced with the backing of a label, I love that he stuck with the grainy production of his previous work. There's a certain intimacy I feel when listening to lofi music that's really unique. Past that, Will is just a great songwriter. He knows how to use the lofi production creatively and effectively, as in "Times to Die" when he cuts parts in and out creating an interesting choppy rhythm. I felt the desperation in the lyrics of "Something Soon" a lot this year. I probably listened to Car Seat Headrest more than any band this year. If I didn't listen for a few days I craved Car Seat Headrest. Will's melodies wormed their way into my brain on train rides and convinced me I couldn't live without them. "Thanks for fucking with my head, come again soon"

1. Jeff Rosenstock- We Cool?

I didn't think I was going to name an official album of the year (or that my top ten would be ordered at all), but the more I think about it, We Cool? undeniably summarizes my year best. I listened to it pretty constantly throughout the year and I loved different songs at different times as things in my life changed rapidly and in big ways. I felt "Nausea" ("I got so tired of discussing my future, I started avoiding the people I love") as the pressures of choosing a college/a major/a life plan became overwhelming and I felt "You, In Weird Cities" hard when I realized hanging out with my best friend is becoming much more of an Event than something I got to do everyday. I got to see Jeff play to 15 people with her in a dive in Nashville and I got to see Jeff play to a few thousand with new college friends in New York. Jeff and I both had a blast at both. And that's really my takeaway from this year: I can weather a lot of change and a lot of emotion because at the end of the day music can always make my world feel alright.





I'm not nearly as happy with my top 50 as my top 10 in terms of order and officialness, but I made it so here it is as well.