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SPACERITUAL wrote:Best music discussion of 2015

Neanderthal Head wrote:

casecandy wrote:

Neanderthal Head wrote:

casecandy wrote:Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

This is the first Sufjan record that's stuck for me. Superb stuff.

Yeah it's really good

...just has the deep lyrical substance...

With this record, I needed to extract myself out of this environment of make-believe. It’s something that was necessary for me to do in the wake of my mother’s death—to pursue a sense of peace and serenity in spite of suffering. It’s not really trying to say anything new, or prove anything, or innovate. It feels artless, which is a good thing. This is not my art project; this is my life.

foomanfat wrote:Foxes and Brother Sister are pretty much even in my head. They are both so, so excellent. It's All Crazy... is weirdly high up there for me, as well.

casecandy wrote:

Neanderthal Head wrote:

casecandy wrote:

Neanderthal Head wrote:

casecandy wrote:Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

This is the first Sufjan record that's stuck for me. Superb stuff.

Yeah it's really good

...just has the deep lyrical substance...

They're good because they're so real. He didn't attempt to make them poetic, he just went with what came out of his mouth as he was writing.

With this record, I needed to extract myself out of this environment of make-believe. It’s something that was necessary for me to do in the wake of my mother’s death—to pursue a sense of peace and serenity in spite of suffering. It’s not really trying to say anything new, or prove anything, or innovate. It feels artless, which is a good thing. This is not my art project; this is my life.

THE LIST (IN PROGRESS)

★★★★★
Bell Witch - Four Phantoms
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
The Milk Carton Kids - Monterey
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

★★★★
Death Grips - The Powers That B
Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside

★★★
Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color
Björk - Vulnicura
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Viet Cong - Viet Cong

★★
Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife

★
Mumford & Sons - Wilder Mind
Refused - Freedom

HAVEN'T HEARD YET, BUT INTERESTED

NSFW: show

High On Fire - Luminiferous
Dan Mangan - Club Meds
Desaparecidos - Payola
Jenny Hval - Apocalypse, girl
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper - After
Monolord - Vænir
Mount Eerie - Sauna
Punch Brothers - The Phosphorescent Blues
The Sonics - This Is The Sonics
Stornoway - Bonxie
Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp

NOT OUT, BUT HIGHLY ANTICIPATED

NSFW: show

Baptists - Baptists III

RATINGS KEY

NSFW: show

★★★★★
Five stars means an instant classic. Not only is this album enjoyable and relevant in 2015, but it's entirely likely that it will continue to be discussed and debated for decades to come. Succeeds on all fronts: musicianship, lyrics, social relevance, cohesiveness/coherence of theme, etc. Not only did I personally love it, but it's as close to objectively perfect as any record can be.

★★★★
A lot of the hallmarks of a great record, but just short of being wholly successful, whether due to some flaw in execution (album too long, production too polished, etc.) or simply because it's not readily apparent that it will find the staying power or wider audience that a five-star record definitely will. Will likely become cherished in certain circles of musicians, fandoms, genres, etc. I personally loved it.

★★★
A good record that neither reinvents the wheel nor particularly sucks. The most likely scenario for a three-star rating is an adequate rock record with a few songs that are truly incredible. Likely a later effort by a formerly great band, either that, or an untested newcomer that shows a lot of potential. Everybody likes this record. Not many love this record.

★★
At best, adequate. At worst, completely nondescript. The "LOL U TRYED" rating. Essentially, two stars exists to separate complete failures on all fronts from the larger sea of run-of-the-mill junk. In the same sense that a four-star rating indicates largely personal approval, this could be largely personal disapproval. You might like it.

★
The anti-classic. A complete failure on musical, political, social, and spiritual fronts. A record so spectacularly forgettable that, in existing, it drives the overall progress of the human race backward; listening to this record kills brain cells. In the same sense that a classic is universally appreciable, a one-star is rightfully the subject of nigh-on-universal disdain.