Apocoloptogon's Top 10 Albums of 2015!

Ah 2015, some great albums have come out this year. Here I will be listing my favorite albums that were released this year. Excuse my fantano albums I allowed in here. Let’s get right to it big boys.
I tried doing the recommended album things like cartrox did, but the stupid spoilers keep showing even though they aren’t open, rip.
First let’s start off with three honorable mentions:
HM 1

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Killing Joke - Pylon

All I have to say about this album is that it is pretty much primal sounding metal. This album has a lot of repetitive riffs over minimal drum beats, and strange post-punk-like vocals. Not my favorite album, but it does have some really good heavy tracks in here.

Recommended Tracks: Dawn of the Hive, I Am the Virus[/details]

HM 2

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Periphery - Juggernaut Alpha and Omega

I really like Periphery’s djent sound with catchy vocals and melodies. This album is really a double disc, but it is separated for purchase as individual albums. Alpha is a softer and catchier album, emphasizing more clean vocals, and Omega is a darker and heavier album (djentier) with much more harsh vocals and a couple long prog songs. In my opinion, Omega is definitely the better album, but definitely check out both.

Recommended Tracks: A Black Minute, Omega [/details]

HM 3

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The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness

This is an album I didn’t really expect to like, but it really is a nice, poppy-RnB album. Of course, this album will always be compared to MJ, and it really shows from the great vocals and grooves of this album.

Recommended Tracks: Tell Your Friends, Can’t Feel my Face

Now let’s get to the top ten!
10.

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TesseracT - Polaris: This is one of the best “djent” albums I have heard this year. The vocals are incredibly melodic, and the riffs are djently-low tuned(hahahahahahahh). It isn’t too much different than their previous stuff, but it is still very good. Definitely check out if you like progressive metal with good melodies.

9.

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Baroness - Purple: This is the first time I heard a full album of theirs. I have heard pieces of Yello and Green before, but not the whole thing because it didn’t interest me that much. This album on the other hand, greatly blends catchy melodies, along with huge heavy sludgy, but not too dissonant riffs.

8.

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Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss: Some really dark, haunting, noisy, and doomy rock tunes on this album. This is the first time I have heard her music, and I liked it on my first listen. I really like her vocals and they fit very well with this noisy-folky album.

7.

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Deafheaven - New Bermuda: If you’ve heard this band’s last album, Sunbather, this is kind of like that, except the loud parts are much more abrasive and show more influence of thrash and black metal, and the softer parts show an even greater influence of post-rock. Definitely check out if you want a good loud but also beautiful metal album.

6.

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Mutemath - Vitals: This is a nice synth pop album from the really experimental rock band Mutemath. They have never really made an album that is the same, and this is definitely much different from their previous three. Chcek out if you want some great synth sounds and good modern synthpop music with great vocals.

5.

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Alustrium - A Tunnel to Eden: This is a really awesome technical death metal album. Really focusing on heaviness, technicality, and progginess. The three-track-long suite at the end is a great finisher to the album.

4.

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Death Grips - The Powers that B: A frickin noisy ass album is what this is. I remember being blown away by the pure loudness of the title track to this double album. The first part of this album “Niggas on the Moon” is a much more experimental album, while the second part “Jenny Death” is much more straightforward, loud, and in-your-face kind of music. Check this album out if you want your eardrums blown out.

3.

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Our Oceans - Our Oceans: An absolutely beautiful atmospheric rock album. I really liked this album the first time I heard it. Each song swells with layered and ambient instrumentation with great vocals and great mellow musicianship.

2.

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Kamasi Washington - The Epic: Another great album. This is pretty much jazz from space. I love how it can go from smooth sounding jazz, to really noisy and chaotic, almost free jazz. If the length seems like it’s too much for you, listen to disc at a time, or just one song at a time, because a large amount of the songs are over 8 minutes long.

1.

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Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly: This album is just too good. The message on this album is great and the music perfectly flows with each story told on the album. It really needs to be heard to fully understand. If you have not heard this album, you are really missing out on what may be a modern classic.

And now I will recommend a couple classic albums to check out:
CA 1:

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DJ Shadow - Endtroducing: This albums is pretty much a work of art made from other works of art. DJ shadow, using a very minimal amount of equipment, creates a whole new world of music with other pieces of music. It doesn’t really have a hip-hop sound, yet it is produced like a sampled hip-hop album. Changing the original emotions of the songs to something different, making completely new pieces of art, it is really amazing.

CA 2:

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Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden: This is a fantastic album that shows the early workings of a genre that would be labeled as “post-rock”. While at first it doesn’t sound too much like a post-rock album, you can definitely hear the influence from early first wave post-rock bands such as Bark Psychosis and Sigur Ros. This is an album that was so ahead of its time, being released in 1988, and it doesn’t sound dated that much at all. A beautiful album showing the great works of art that can come from improvisation.

I recommend you listen to some of these albums if you haven’t heard them before and they interest you.
What are your favorite albums of the year? List them below!

3 Likes

Heyyyy I’m really glad you were able to check out Kamasi’s album! i too think it’s pretty psychedelic and spacey. You need to get the vinyl. it sounds amazing, despite being sometimes over half an hour per side lol.

i’ll also say again that you need tptb on vinyl. sounds great too, especially notm. jenny death sounds better imo because of the dynamics of vinyl, so it’s not so hard on the ears. :slight_smile:

going to post my personal top ten and honorable mentions tonight, too!

1 Like

Kendrick Lamar, good choice.

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Okay here is my personal biased top 10 releases of the year

Honorable Mentions

HM1

[details=Click to expand]James Ferraro - Skid Row

A really chill off-kilter R&B/pop record. Ferraro may not be the best singer in the world, but he has a great tone to his voice. His slow whisper rapping sounds really pleasant too. His lyrics came from poems he wrote, which evidently became Skid Row. You can just relax to this thing, even with its ominous and political undertones, as it’s a record about Los Angeles and the violence in it.

Recommended tracks: White Bronco, Street Freaks, Thrash and Escalate, To Live and Die in L.A.

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HM2

[details=Click to expand]Brian Eno - My Squelchy Life

Okay, okay, it was originally recorded in 1991, but it was just bootlegged until it was released officially this year. My list is called favorite releases this year, though, right? Anyways, great 11 (or 12 since the official release comes with an unreleased bonus track) track effort from Brian. It’s very coherent, and the whole thing is very spacey and relaxing. Some great ambient rock and pop. I love Eno’s voice a lot too. He has a very rich voice. You can hear it especially on Under and Everybody’s Mother. Also, the drums on Under are boss.

Recommended tracks: Not to Fail in the Harness, My Squelchy Life, Some Words, Stiff, Juju Space Jazz, Under, Everybody’s Mother

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TOP TEN TIMEEEEEE
10.

[details=Click to expand]The Prodigy - The Day is My Enemy

Some energetic British rave music. They were more popular in the 90s, but they’re still around, even though this is their last album. They’re just making eps from now on.

The synths are harsh and gritty and the beats are pretty slick. The vocals sort of have this punkish vibe to them, and a lot of this record could be considered electronic punk, really. It has a nice flavor to it! Also, the artwork is sweet. I have a shirt with an all-over print of the album cover and I wear it a lot. Not a bad record at all. Obviously it’s still one of my favorite releases of the year because, duh, it’s on my list!

Recommended tracks: The Day is My Enemy, Nasty, Destroy, Wild Frontier, Rok-Weiler, Beyond the Deathray, Roadblox

[details=Click to expand]Death Grips - The Powers That B
This double album compiles two albums from this rap trio, although this music is much more than just rap. Most of the vocals are shouted on the second half while the vocals are sometimes near whispered on the first half. The lyrics are abstract and dark. The beats are ear-ache inducing, mind-bending, and freaking noisy. Not for the fain of heart! It gets you hyped and/or ready to rage. Really enjoyed the albums. Can’t wait for more of this insanely unique group.

Recommended tracks: Up My Sleeves, Billy Not Really, Black Quarterback, Big Dipper, I Break Mirrors With My Face in the United States, Inanimate Sensation, Turned Off, The Powers that B, On GP

[details=Click to expand]Squarepusher - Damogen Furies

Tom Jenkinson returns with an album of 8 tracks and no filler. All jazz elements in previous records? Nope. Gone. Overwhelming glitch and IDM is in the forefront here.The vinyl tracklist is in reverse, so we get a intense trip from dark (D Frozent Aac) to light (Stor Eiglass). All tracks are cold and computerized, with everything being generated from Tom’s own software, made for live performances. The result is quite pleasing. Candy sweet synths with gritty, growling basses with crunchy acid grooves are common while punchy and dynamic drums puncture through the mix. This is one of Squarepusher’s best modern records.

Recommended tracks: Baltang Arg, Exjag Nives, Rayc Fire 2, Stor Eiglass

[details=Click to expand]Four Tet - Morning/Evening

Despite this album being 40 mins. long, there are only two tracks. That’s right, the tracks are 20 mins. each. This ambitious release has a nice focus on progression, and being split into two parts. Morning Side is a nice mix of lush ambient swells, Hindi vocals, and crisp drum beats. There’s a cool and disorienting breakdown in the middle where the drums get washed over with echo and delay. The end of Morning Side reminds me of waking up from a dream, where fragments of the dream flash past your eyes occasionally (some of the plucks become dissonant), and I’m sure that’s what Four Tet wanted. Evening Side is more spacey and ambient-oriented, with the drums only 2/3 of the way through. In the meantime, there are some pretty haunting vocal samples and melodies. Beautiful. Eventually the woozy bass lines fade out and the only things playing is the drums. There are subtle changes that occur over time, here. Both sides have something special. Just close your eyes and put this on.

Recommended tracks: lol the album is just two tracks silly

- YouTube OMG HAHA THE END OF THE LINK SAYS PEE IT SAYS PEE[/details]

[details=Click to expand] Aphex Twin - Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2

There wasn’t a direct part one release, but Aphex’s pt1 was all the acoustic tracks on his 2001 album, Drukqs. This was a pretty nice follow-up! This time, however, he brings in his drum playing robots. They’re called HAT (Hit AnyThing) and SNAR (which can do some pretty impressive snare solos [see “snar2”]). The dark and mysterious pianos are accompanied by even darker and more mysterious beats! Sometimes the drums even have their own brief interlude, and these could be great DJ tools. I’m sure AFX just wants someone to chop these up and make a jungle track. However, you can make the robots do breakcore by whacking up the vinyl up to 45 rpm, which is even recommended on the label. Incredibly fun release.

Recommended tracks: diskhat ALL prepared1mix 13, snar2, diskhat1, piano un1, arpej, hat 2b 2012b, piano un10 it happened
sorry couldn’t get official audio, go out on spotify or summing

[details=Click to expand] Venetian Snares - Your Face

Despite only hearing this in full last week, I’m happy that it didn’t fully go under my radar. What a great EP. There are great melodies and great percussion all over this thing. The tones, textures, and drum programming are masterful. Extremely varied release, but for some reason it’s pretty coherent, actually. Venetian Snares isn’t doing anything too different here but that’s exactly why the EP is still great. Mr. Funk just keeps doing what he’s best at!

Recommended tracks: Your Face When I Finally, Red Orange 2, Become Magic Dolphins, Stockpiles of Sentiment, Your Face When I Finally (Glass Version)

[details=Click to expand] AFX - orphaned deejay selek 2006-2008

Aphex Twin’s THIRD release this year, it’s also his best, despite being under his other alias. Lots of acid house and just straight techno. There’s jungle, drum and bass, and a midi pipe organ solo? Like “Your Face” a varied, yet cohesive release. It’s pretty chill yet exciting. This release occasionally comes with a bonus track called umil 25-01, which is a highlight and worth downloading as well.

Recommended tracks: serge fenix Rendered 2, oberheim blacet1b, bonus EMT beats, simple slamming b 2, midi pipe1c sds3 time cube/klonedrm, umil 25-01

[details=Click to expand] Kamasi Washington - The Epic

Sax player Kamasi Washington’s first major label release is quite the ambitious one. Stretching to 3 disc, 3 hours long with half of the tracks over 10 minutes long, Kamasi and his band play all types of jazz, occasionally backed up by orchestra, choir, and/or wonderful vocalists. You may not have 3 hours to spare frequently, so you can just listen to the three albums on their own. Lots of spacey and psychedelic jazz here. The mastering on this album is superb too, whether it be vinyl or digital. The drums are crisp (the solo on The Message is insane!) and Kamasi’s powerful solos sound phenomenal.

Favorite tracks: Change of the Guard, Askim, The Rhythm Changes, Re Run Home, Clair De Lune, The Message
really all tracks are great though! Kamasi Washington - 'Askim' - YouTube

[details=Click to expand]Oneohtrix Point Never - Commissions II
This EP still gets played frequently. All three tracks are amazing in their own right. On the first track, Bullet Hell Abstraction I, OPN even tries his hand at breakcore and he succeeds, but he doesn’t keep with it, first giving the listener a tease of ambient, but quickly destroys it with harsh noise: creepy risers and sharp. abrasive and time-stretched synths squeals that puncture near complete silences, creating a dramatic effect. The second track, Bullet Hell Abstraction III, is more rhythmic throughout, yet there are still plenty of unexpected twists and turns. Lots of interesting glitchy high frequency patterns. The end almost delves into house music with some more subtly time-stretched synth stabs and glitchy drum patterns that last only for about… like 10 seconds. The B-side is completely engulfed by a 19 minute epic, entitled Suite from Magnetic Rose. It’s an exercise in progression and is full of lush textures and melodies. It’s quite the trip, and so is Commissions II.

Recommended tracks: can’t get any official audio but just listen to all of them, again! there’s only three songs. it’s a close second, but imo it’s a no brainer to give the tippy top spot of my list to…[/details]

1.

[details=Click to expand]Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
That’s right: OPN didn’t just knock it out of the park one time this year, he did it two times this year! This album was so amazing, and extremely worth the wait.

A while before release, Daniel Lopatin created a whole entire virtual reality, with a mysterious fictional band called Kaoss Edge who is an influence of OPN, and a ficional character named Ezra, a fan of KE and also Oneohtrix Point Never. Kaoss Edge hires Ezra to be their new webmaster and creates www.kaossedgeofficial.com This site has many MIDIs which were found courtesy of Ezra on an abandoned KE USB stick. These melodies belonged to KE, but Ezra also shares the melodies with OPN. OPN decides to pay homage to KE on this new album and many of the tracks feature the MIDIs, albeit in synthesized form.

Enough backstory! OPN has changed his style once again. It’s completely different as always, but it’s darker than anything he’s ever done before. This album features plenty of singing (computerized vocals), so this album has a lyric sheet included for the first time, and this album also sometimes features guitars. OPN is still glitchy, frenetic, and sample-based as always, but he introduces emotional electronic rock and pop. It’s electronic mixed with death metal mixed with grunge mixed with progressive mixed with pop mixed with ambient mixed with noise and every genre in between. It’s visceral and beautiful. It’s accessible yet so weird. It’s different, but it’s completely OPN. I can’t say enough nice things about it. I’m still emotionally drained from it and absolutely speechless.

Recommended tr–BUY THE WHOLE ENTIRE THING.

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That’s my list. I didn’t listen to a lot of new stuff this year, but I think 2015 was a great year for music. Let’s keep this thread going with all of your favorite music!

1 Like

Nice, i’m not in to that much IDM or glitchy electronic stuff, but I’ll check some of those out and all of the others when I can.

Also good idea with the recommended tracks, I was gonna do something like that but I didn’t know if the a lot of youtube links were going to work. I’ll probably update my list with some.

and @tsukasa, yeah i bet you didn’t see that coming

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oh garden of delete has lots of metal influence, and opn created a genre called hypergrunge to describe his fictional band. here’s what it sounds like: https://www.soundcloud.com/konfrontationrecords/sets/platitudes-2015

yeah I heard one of the songs from that album and it actually sounded pretty good imo, I was going to listen to it but I haven’t given myself the time to yet.
Also that link sounds really weird but cool.
And update on my top 10: I can’t add the recommended tracks or alter the format at all for the albums in the top ten, like I did for the honorable mentions, because it shows all of the things in the spoiler even though it isn’t open :confused:

1 Like

too bad!