Post by blade on Dec 24, 2015 23:55:06 GMT
Like last year I didn't buy a lot of new music this year - just three full-length albums in fact (I'm very picky) - so I've had to include a couple of EPs in my Top 5 of 2015:
5th Place
The New York-based quintet Hey Anna take my 5th spot. Unsigned, they released their first album (after two self-released EPs), called Run Koko, in July, via artist-funding website Pledge.
Here's a bit about Hey Anna:
"Fronted by sisters Anna, Katie, and Erin Rauch-Sasseen, Hey Anna is a family affair that specializes in ethereal harmonies reminiscent of ’00s indie-pop greats Feist, Chairlift, and School of Seven Bells. Shining above the competition is hard to do as an independent artist, but Hey Anna make it look easy on RUN KOKO. By experimenting with different musical styles, employing a variety of songwriting techniques, and creating songs with mindfulness to both melody and instrumentation, Hey Anna have concocted a cohesive, colorful record that encapsulates the warmth, the sunshine, and the feel-good nature of summer."
Listen here:
soundcloud.com/heyanna
4th Place
Free EP by Sarah P. The ex-Keep Shelly in Athens singer moved to Berlin and set up her own record label called Erase-Restart. After collaborating with lots of electro-pop artists she released her first solo 8-track EP on her birthday, December 12th.
Here are a few words about it:
"Fully utilising her gorgeously spooky voice, the end result is somewhat more direct than her previous work, maintaining a stark beauty while remaining eerie and sinister."
Listen here:
soundcloud.com/sarahpofficial
3rd Place
I discovered Lokatt by accident whilst listening to a compilation album that Sarah P was on. Lokatt (a Scandinavian lynx) are sisters Johanna and Nina Piroth, who call their music 'techno-pop from the woods of Sweden' and it's easy to imagine yourself in a mountainous pine forest whilst listening to them. They released the EP Karg in November.
A bit about it:
"They explore electronic spaces, playing with techno beats, mellotrones and synthpads. The folk mystique, the melancholic ambience and the dreamy vibe feel entirely fresh with new, dance-enticing and suggestive soundscapes."
2nd Place
I was going to put Wolf Alice at No.1 because they are the best new British band for many a year - witness all the gongs they have won. I just hope they're not getting so big I won't like them any more! I saw them live twice, in April (pre-album release) and June (post-album release) and each time was just crazy. I've never seen The Plug in Sheffield so wild!
Here's what NME had to say about My Love Is Cool:
"Consistently defying categorization and embracing synthetics as rock’s direct blood relation, ‘My Love Is Cool’ is the epitome of the pan-cultural 21st century rock album, and easily the debut of the decade so far. Get savaged."
There's no point including a link to listen to them because they're all over the place.
1st Place
The reason I didn't put Wolf Alice at No.1 was because of Braids. Braids are the most difficult band I've ever listened to to categorise. They released their third album Deep In The Iris in April, which built on the extraordinariness of their first two albums Native Speaker and Flourish//Perish.
I saw them live twice, in Leeds and Sheffield, and watched much of the two gigs with my eyes closed, not because they were no good, but because I was mesmerised, in a trance even. Braids do that to you, and it's something I've never experienced with any other band.
Here's some of Pitchfork's review:
"Deep in the Iris is dramatically different than the band’s previous release Flourish//Perish. Whereas in the past the Montreal-based trio’s sound has been similar to their electronic contemporaries like Purity Ring and Majical Cloudz, here the band ditches anything stark and futuristic. Instead, they opt for fleet, skittering jazz percussion, crackling beats and stuttering cuts in vocals, while delicate, classical piano runs beneath the electronic instrumentals. The glitchy, warped surface is offset by the clarity and versatility of Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s narrative vocals, which pull everything into focus."
Listen here:
soundcloud.com/braidsmusic
5th Place
The New York-based quintet Hey Anna take my 5th spot. Unsigned, they released their first album (after two self-released EPs), called Run Koko, in July, via artist-funding website Pledge.
Here's a bit about Hey Anna:
"Fronted by sisters Anna, Katie, and Erin Rauch-Sasseen, Hey Anna is a family affair that specializes in ethereal harmonies reminiscent of ’00s indie-pop greats Feist, Chairlift, and School of Seven Bells. Shining above the competition is hard to do as an independent artist, but Hey Anna make it look easy on RUN KOKO. By experimenting with different musical styles, employing a variety of songwriting techniques, and creating songs with mindfulness to both melody and instrumentation, Hey Anna have concocted a cohesive, colorful record that encapsulates the warmth, the sunshine, and the feel-good nature of summer."
Listen here:
soundcloud.com/heyanna
4th Place
Free EP by Sarah P. The ex-Keep Shelly in Athens singer moved to Berlin and set up her own record label called Erase-Restart. After collaborating with lots of electro-pop artists she released her first solo 8-track EP on her birthday, December 12th.
Here are a few words about it:
"Fully utilising her gorgeously spooky voice, the end result is somewhat more direct than her previous work, maintaining a stark beauty while remaining eerie and sinister."
Listen here:
soundcloud.com/sarahpofficial
3rd Place
I discovered Lokatt by accident whilst listening to a compilation album that Sarah P was on. Lokatt (a Scandinavian lynx) are sisters Johanna and Nina Piroth, who call their music 'techno-pop from the woods of Sweden' and it's easy to imagine yourself in a mountainous pine forest whilst listening to them. They released the EP Karg in November.
A bit about it:
"They explore electronic spaces, playing with techno beats, mellotrones and synthpads. The folk mystique, the melancholic ambience and the dreamy vibe feel entirely fresh with new, dance-enticing and suggestive soundscapes."
2nd Place
I was going to put Wolf Alice at No.1 because they are the best new British band for many a year - witness all the gongs they have won. I just hope they're not getting so big I won't like them any more! I saw them live twice, in April (pre-album release) and June (post-album release) and each time was just crazy. I've never seen The Plug in Sheffield so wild!
Here's what NME had to say about My Love Is Cool:
"Consistently defying categorization and embracing synthetics as rock’s direct blood relation, ‘My Love Is Cool’ is the epitome of the pan-cultural 21st century rock album, and easily the debut of the decade so far. Get savaged."
There's no point including a link to listen to them because they're all over the place.
1st Place
The reason I didn't put Wolf Alice at No.1 was because of Braids. Braids are the most difficult band I've ever listened to to categorise. They released their third album Deep In The Iris in April, which built on the extraordinariness of their first two albums Native Speaker and Flourish//Perish.
I saw them live twice, in Leeds and Sheffield, and watched much of the two gigs with my eyes closed, not because they were no good, but because I was mesmerised, in a trance even. Braids do that to you, and it's something I've never experienced with any other band.
Here's some of Pitchfork's review:
"Deep in the Iris is dramatically different than the band’s previous release Flourish//Perish. Whereas in the past the Montreal-based trio’s sound has been similar to their electronic contemporaries like Purity Ring and Majical Cloudz, here the band ditches anything stark and futuristic. Instead, they opt for fleet, skittering jazz percussion, crackling beats and stuttering cuts in vocals, while delicate, classical piano runs beneath the electronic instrumentals. The glitchy, warped surface is offset by the clarity and versatility of Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s narrative vocals, which pull everything into focus."
Listen here:
soundcloud.com/braidsmusic