Your wish is my command *rubs genie hands together*

Anteater's Favorite 31 Records Of 2015

Its... Its... Its...

Just what I wanted, a bunch of albums I never even listened to and apparently really need to listen to because of awesome descriptions, and also this sentence is getting really long and I have no idea how to stop.

I wish I had magical genie powers.

Don't we all my son...don't we all.

I'm also surprised by the lack of variety in a lot of the lists I've seen so far in this thread. Remind me a lot of the lists I see NPR or NME compile. Which is fine and all if those are your primary sources of finding new stuff, but you run into a trap where hired website staff are putting records on pedestals that they were paid to review in the first place. And all those sites tend to overlook a lot of great stuff in other genres, particularly when it comes to metal or pop stuff that doesn't conform to the typical indie pop-rock aesthetic.

I am probably being a total hypocrite for saying such a thing due to my own list. But I spend a lot of time looking through end of year lists to find anything that I missed. I have generally listened to everything being advertised as the best this year. With a few exceptions. More notably, yours, innerspaceboys, Tristan Geoffs, Frownlands.

Some more honourable mentions

The Body/Thou - You, Whom I Have Always Hated
Soul crushingly dense sludge.

Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
Great vocals with dark instrumentation.

Swans - The Gate (live)
****ing Swans live.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - A Year With 13 Moons
Ambient/drone.

Alio Die & Lorenzo Montana - Holographic Codex
Electronic drone ambient stuff once again. These guys have a pretty unique approach imo.

Debashish Bhattacharya - Slide Guitar Ragas From Dusk Till Dawn
Indian classical music infused with Western slide guitar. Brilliant stuff that stays true to the original ragas.

DJ Khalab - Eunoto EP
Sudanese (I'm guessing) inspired hip hop.

Liturgy - The Ark Work
Medieval sounding metal/electronica/experimental thing going on here.

Uneven Eleven - Live at Cafe Oto
Free improvisation with Guy Segers of Univers Zero, Charles Hayward of This Heat, and Kawabata Makoto from Acid Mothers Temple.

Maurizio Bianchi - Untitled 1980/Untitled 2013
Ambient noise stuff.

We can all be a bit hypocritical at times, but I still wouldn't take any list seriously that puts Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly at #1 arbitrarily. Not because it isn't a decent record, but because I just don't see anyone revisiting it on a regular basis nor compulsively jamming it back to back with people they know. Same thing applies the D'Angelo album: they seem more like albums that people are are acclaiming because everyone and their grandma is prodding them to do so as opposed to genuinely loving them. The relevancy of these albums culturally shouldn't make people forget that there needs to be a real hook or motif beyond their stories to last beyond the moment.

^^^

I actually thought To Pimp A Butterfly was fantastic. I thought a lot of records this year were fantastic. I generally do not read reviews of records until after I have listened to them. Then I read the reviews to see if I am going with or against the grain. I do see the COS, NME, Pitchfork, records all getting put on end of the year lists like you said though even though no one really is talking about those records on a day to day basis.

This has been a helluva competitive year for music. If I had more of a Top 100 or something I think Lamar would make it, but there's too many gems that didn't get a $2 million advertising budget that must be brought to light. :wave:

I haven't listened to all the albums yet.

I know Compton, Documentary 2 (I'll lump both albums together), I Don't Like ****, I don't Go Outside, That new Pusha T album, and the new Yelawolf album are all ones on my list that I haven't heard yet. That in mind my list that I have been thinking about since September.


5. Ho99o9-Dead Bodies In The Lake Mixtape.

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This mixtape came out of nowhere and I love it. Ho99o9 is an experimental hip hop group that fuses industrial sounds with horror punk rock and raps along with it. They have not released one bad project so far, even though their projects are a bit short. This mixtape is their biggest project so far with 10 songs on it. They definitely used a bit more of their punk rock influences with this. I just can't seem to get enough of this group. Favorite song from that album would have to be Death Kult Deciples (999 Anthem).



4. Tech N9ne-Special Effects

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If I had to name a favorite rapper it'd probably be Tech N9ne. Good thing I don't have to though. Of all 17 albums Tech N9ne has put out I've loved all but 3 of them. Those three being Celsius, The Gates Mixed Plate and the new Strangeulation II he just released last month. This album did not fail to impress me and still gets it's fair share of play throughs. I love how diverse the songs can be. He goes from darker sounding theatrical songs to heavy alternative metal to the psychedelic rock to club rap to dubstep and etc. My favorite song from the album would have to be Shroud.



3. Twiztid-The Darkness

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Twiztid just seems to get better and better. They went from primitive rhymes with corn ball ICP sounding lyrics to beasts that could stand toe to toe with the giants of today. And this album, although not as good as their new template for a great Twiztid album Abominationz, shows that they don't plan on stopping their new found growth spurt in music. It sounded like they tried to showcase the different styles they have touched with this album ranging from the grungy rock sound on Back To Hell to the old school horror hip-hop sound they had back in the House Of Krazees days with Seance. My favorite song would have to be Down Here.



2. Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp A Butterfly

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Ohhhh, Kendrick Lamar. This mother ****er right here. This goddamn genius. This little slice hip hop heaven with god butter spread all across it to form an angelic taste of pure nirvana better than the best orgasm you have had times ten. Maybe over exaggerating a bit, but I love this guy. Ever since I came across his music, which is a bit late compared to most but none the less. One of my favorite rappers out right now. Definitely on his way into legend status in my book. Too new to be there, but lets face it, he's going there. His new album was absolutely wonderful. It was a perfect commentary on what he is going through right now as an black person from the slums who has made something of himself during this time period where we are trying to erase the last remnants of racism. He talks about how artists go broke because they spend their money like maniacs rather than invest it into their future. He talks about how his fame and fortune brings this guilt inside of him because while he lives this life he still has friends and family that struggle from where he came. He talks about self loathing and self love. He talks about abusing his fame to using it responsibly. He tries to empower his race while scrutinizing it. The self contradicting look into Kendrick Lamar's mind is what really makes this album human and relate-able. The Yams are the power that be!!!! My favorite song is Blacker The Berry.



1. Lupe Fiasco-Tetsou & Youth

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Everything that everybody has ever claimed Kendrick Lamar to be, Lupe Fiasco was X5 about a decade earlier. I love Lupe. This album was in every way an artistic masterpiece. This is an album that you have to study and pick apart. It's an album designed to make you think, riddled with double meanings and completely genius word play like Lupe is known for. I liked every single song from this album, every damn song. I had to put this at number one because it came out at the beginning of the year and I still listen to it way more than any other album that came out this year. Every time I listen to it, I find something new to like about it. Mural was the perfect example of the lyrical genius that Lupe is. Prisoner 1 & 2 told a very great story about how 1st prisoner is the one in prison while the 2nd prisoner is the prison guard who beats down the first prisoner while trying to find reasons to keep the 1st prisoner locked up out of jealousy because while he gets released the guard is still stuck at the prison. So many great songs on this release, it's hard to choose a favorite, so I'll just link Body Of Work.

I do. That's how I based my list, on what albums I listened to the most. For a long time I was listening to TPAB back to front a lot. I have played it back to front for 3 people too.