- Top Tens
Top 10 Albums
1. Mew, + / -
2. Decemberists - What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World
3. Gengahr - A Dream Outside
4. Torres - Sprinter
5. Maccabees - Marks To Prove It
6. Libertines - Anthems For Doomed Youth
7. Tame Impala - Currents
8. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
9. Laura Marling - Short Movie
10. Leisure Society - The Fine Art Of Hanging On
Top 10 Gigs (in date order)
Barr Brothers 31-Jan Winchester, Railway
Little Comets 25-Feb Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
Father John Misty 26-Feb Village Underground
The Leisure Society 15-Apr Islington Assembly Halls
Pretty Vicious 17-May Winchester, Railway
Alvvays (support Gengahr) 25-May Southampton, Joiners Arms
Adem 19-Oct MOTH Club, Hackney
Akala 01-Dec Village Underground
Christopher Owens 03-Dec Bethnal Green, St John
Mew 14-Dec Village Underground
Top 10 Festival Appearances (in date order)
Plastic Mermaids - Southampton, Common People Festival
Kindness - Best Kept Secret Festival, Netherlands
Royal Blood - Best Kept Secret Festival, Netherlands
Ratboy - Truck Festival
Girl Band - Visions Festival
Rae Morris - Victorious Festival, Portsmouth
Meilyr Jones - End Of the Road
Torres - End Of the Road
Tame Impala - End Of the Road
Gaz Coombes - Independence Festival, Southampton
Best Song of the Year:
Pumpkin Noir, by Happyness
TV show of the year: Family Guy
Film of the Year: Kingsman, The Secret Service
Best musical moments of the year:
1. Will Doyle (East India Youth) performing solo and unmicked on the ‘Piano in The Woods Stage’ at End Of The Road Festival
2. Dancing to ‘Let it happen’ the 8-minute opening track of Tame Impala’s ‘Currents’ album at EOTR silent disco
Most disappointing musical moment of the year : Songhoy Blues live set.......
- Top Tens
Mike Youe of The Blue Aeroplanes selects his Top Ten Albums of 2015
1. Richard Thompson - Still
2. Jemima Surrender - The Uninhabited World
3. Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes
4. Akala - Knowledge Is Power Vol II
5. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometime I Just Sit
6. John Carpenter - John Carpenter's Lost Themes
7. Slaves - Are You Satisfied?
8. Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting & Nancy Kerr - Murmurs
9. The Unthanks - Mount The Air
10. Neil Young & The Promise Of The Real - The Monsanto Years
- Top Tens
Top Ten Albums 2015
1. Bully- Feels Like
2. Blur- The Magic Whip
3. Du Blonde – Welcome Back To Milk
4. Destroyer- Poison Season
5. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lovell
6. Sleater-Kinney- No Cities to Love
7. White Reaper – White Reaper Does It Again
8. Matthew E. White – Fresh Blood
9. Bella Hardy – With The Dawn
10. The Charlatans- Modern Nature
Top Ten 2015 Gigs
Sleaford Mods @ Rock City, Nottingham
Bella Hardy @ MAC Birmingham
Haiku Salut @The Guildhall, Derby
Chris Leslie @Village Folk, Chellaston
White Reaper @ The Leadmill, Sheffield
Super Furry Animals @ Brixton Academy
Metric @ The Institute Birmingham
Menace Beach @ The Hairy Dog, Derby
Ben Holder & Stuart Smith @ Dog & Partridge, Marchington
The Charlatans @ Civic hall, Wolverhampton
Top Ten 2015 Festival Appearances.
Chris Wood , The Mighty Doonans @ Unity Folk festival in Wakefield
Boxed In @ Long Division in Wakefield
Slug, Du Blonde, Ibibio Sound Machine @ Deershed
Sufjan Stevens, Low @ End of the road
Calan , The Dovetail Trio @ Derby Folk Festival
Song of the year
Savages – The Answer
Ali
- Top Tens
Albums
1 - Admiral Fallow - Tiny Rewards
2 - The Staves - If I Was
3 – Lau - The Bell That Never Rang
4- The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
5 – Blur – Magic Whip
6 - Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows
7 – The Unthanks – Mount the Air
8 - Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi
9 – Idlewild – Everything ever Written
10 - Father John Misty – I Love You Honeybear
Gigs
1 - Lau - Colchester Arts Centre
2 – Suede – Roundhouse
3 - Admiral Fallow - Bush Hall
4 - The Rails - Bush Hall
5 - Danny & The Champions of the World - Colchester Arts Centre
Song of the Year
Blur - Ong Ong
- Top Tens
Albums
1) Admiral Fallow - Tiny Rewards
2)The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
3) Lau - The Bell That Never Rang
4) Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows
5) The Leisure Society - The Fine Art of Hanging On
6) Stornoway - Bonxie
7) The Staves - If I Was
8) Death Cab for Cutie - Kintsugi
9) Danny & The Champions of the World - What Kind of Love
10) Keston Cobblers Club - Wildfire
Good Year this year, I had to leave out albums by Blur, The Unthanks & Idlewild.
Gigs
1) Admiral Fallow - Bush Hall
2) British Sea Power (with Brass Band) - Barbican
3) The Rails - Bush Hall
4) Lau - Colchester Arts Centre
5) Danny & The Champions of the World - Colchester Arts Centre
6) Lau - Union Chapel
7) Megson - Colchester Arts Centre
8) Trembling Bells - Colchester Arts Centre
9) Matt Berry - The Forum
10) Withered Hand - Lexington
Festivals
1) Blur - British Summertime
2) Stornoway - Cambridge Folk Festival
3) Frank Turner - Cambridge Folk Festival
4) The Unthanks - Cambridge Folk Festival
5) Keston Cobblers Club - Cambridge Folk Festival
6) The Proclaimers - Cambridge Folk Festival
7) Show of Hands - Cambridge Folk Festival
8) Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting & Nancy Kerr - Cambridge Folk Festival
9) Joienne Clarke & Ben Walker - Cambridge Folk Festival
10) Bella Hardy - Cambridge Folk Festival
Song of the Year
Richard Hawley - Heart of Oak
- Top Tens
Top albums of the year
1. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
2. Charlatans. Modern Nature
3. Natalie Prass. Natalie Prass
4. Gaz Coombes. Matador
5. Boy & Bear. Limit of Love
6. Hop Along. Painted Shut
7. Leon Bridges. Coming Home
8. Foals. What went Down
9. Ezra Furman. Perpetual Mutual People
10. Alabama Shakes. Sound & Color
Festival shows
1. Wilco. TURF
2. St Paul & The Broken Bones TURF
3. Public Service Broadcasting. SXSW
4. Natalie Prass. SXSW
5. Soak. SXSW
6. Ibeyi SXSW
7. Viet Cong SXSW
8. Leon Bridges SXSW
9. Alabama Shakes. Field Trip
10. Shakey Graves TURF
Non Festival shows
1. Ride. Danforth Music Hall
2. Johnny Marr. Forum/London
3. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats . Phoenix Concert Theatre
4. Natalie Prass. Horseshoe
5. Pixies. Horseshoe
6. Districts. Horseshoe
7. Ibeyi. Mod Club
8. Primal Scream. Danforth Music Hall
9. Noel Gallagher. Sony Center
10. Norman Blake/Joe Pernice. Dakota Tavern
Song of the year
"Look It Here" Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Jim
- Top Tens
Albums
1. Father John Misty – I Love You Honeybear
2. Israel Nash – Israel Nash's Silver Season
3. Stornoway – Bonxie
4. Jason Isbell – Something More than Free
5. Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat – The Most Important Place in the World
6. Mumford and Sons – Wilder Mind
7. Blur – The Magic Whip
8. Diagrams - Chromatics
9. Songhoy Blues – Music in Exile
10. Public Service Broadcasting – The Race for Space
Gigs
1. Father John Misty – Village Underground 26.2.15
2. Ride – Roundhouse 24.5.15
3. Mogwai – Roundhouse 24.6.15
4. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Wilton's Music Hall 3.6.15
5. Suede – Roundhouse 14.11.15
6. Teleman – Village Underground 27.1.15
7. Matt Berry – Forum 13.2.15
8. British Sea Power – Barbican 24.1.15
9. Mumford and Sons – O2 Dome 9.12.15
10. Jesus Jones – Garage 12.11.15
Song of the Year
Public Service Broadcasting – The Other Side
TV Show
Detectorists
Film
Slow West
- Top Tens
Ten Albums listened to the most in 2015' by Terry Banks of Washington band Dot Dash
1. The Velvet Underground, 1969, Vol. 1
2. The Velvet Underground, 1969, Vol. 2
3. Alex Chilton, Live at The Ocean Club, NYC 1977
4. The dB's, Repercussion
5. The Blue Van, The Art of Rolling
6. The Blue Van, Dear Independence
7. The Replacements, Tim
8. Buzzcocks, A Different Kind of Tension
9. Big Star, Radio City
10. The Jam, In The City
Washington garage rockers Dot Dash have just released a new video for the song 'Flowers' from their most recent album Earthquakes & Tidal Waves as well as giving away a free MP3 of the same song for Christmas.
- Top Tens
Top Ten albums of 2015 from Julia at Loose Music.
"Our rules at Loose are that we’re never allowed to include our own releases in our Best Of lists, otherwise my list would almost definitely include Frankie Lee, Andrew Combs, Barna Howard, Danny & The Champions Of The World, Joe Pug, Israel Nash & Justin Townes Earle...!"
So with all Loose albums excluded, my list looks like this :-
1. Sons Of Bill - Love And Logic (2015 European release )
2. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
3. Kristin Diable - Create Your Own Mythology
4. Josh Ritter - Sermon On The Rocks
5. Bop English - Constant Bop
6. Le Volume Courbe - I Wish Dee Dee Ramone Was Here With Me
7. Gill Landry - s/t
8. Ryan Adams - 1989
9. Found - Cloning
10. Tame Impala - Currents
- Top Tens
Ken’s Top Tens 2015
Albums
1 Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
2 Songhoy Blues – Music In Exile
3 Foals – What Went Down
4 Tame Impala - Currents
5 Father John Misty – I Love You Honeybear
6 Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool
7 Rachel Sermanni – Tied To The Moon
8 Public Service Broadcasting – The Race For Space
9 Kendric Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
10 Idlewild – Everything Ever Written
Top 10 Gigs
1 Father John Misty – Village Underground
2 Nick Cave – Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
3 Death Cab For Cutie – Brixton Academy
4 Mercury Rev – Oval Space
5 Mumford & Sons – Oslo Hackney
6 King Crimson – Birmingham Symphony Hall
7 Matthew E White – Village Underground
8 Lau – Arts Centre Colchester
9 Calexico – Shepherds Bush Empire
10 Black Mountain – 100 Club
Top 10 Festival Performances
1 Sufjan Stevens – End Of The Road
2 The War On Drugs - End Of The Road
3 Patti Smith - Glastonbury
4 Wolf Alice - Latitude
5 Goat - Glastonbury
6 Florence & The Machine - Glastonbury
7 Ryan Adams - Glastonbury
8 Tame Impala – End Of The Road
9 Giant Sand - Glastonbury
10 Motorhead - Glastonbury
Best Song
Foals – London Thunder
@kenjameswallace
- Top Tens
Top 10 albums:
1. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
2. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
3. Darkstar - Foam Island
4. Jamie xx - In Colour
5. Raury - All We Need
6. Romare - Projections
7. Kamasi Washington - The Epic
8. Oddisee - The Good Fight
9. Brolin - The Delta
10. Ryan Adams - 1989
You can find my top 40 albums, together with comments on the Top 10
Top 10 gigs
1. Atomic Bomb! Live - Royal Festival Hall, London
2. Jon Hopkins - Brixton Academy
3. Sinkane - XOYO, London
4. Public Service Broadcasting - The Roundhouse, Camden
5. Songhoy Blues - Oslo, Hackney
6. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Islington Assembly Hall
7. Algiers - The Lexington, London
8. The Gaslamp Killer Experience - Koko, Camden
9. Run The Jewels - 100 Club, London
10. Caribou - Brixton Academy
Top 10 Festival appearances
1. Patti Smith - Field Day, London
2. Beck - BST Festival Hyde Park
3. Son Lux - Visions Festival , London
4. Clark - Field Day, London
5. The Flaming Lips - Victorious Festival, Portsmouth
6. Future Islands - BST Festival Hyde Park
7. Super Furry Animals - Victorious Festival, Portsmouth
8. Peter Hook & The Light - Victorious Festival, Portsmouth
9. Loyle Carner - Visions Festival, London
10. Run The Jewels - Field Day, London
Merry Christmas one and all!
Cheers,
Russell
- Top Tens
Top Ten Albums of 2015 from Mark Bruce, frontman of The Self Help Group whose album Dead Stars is out now
1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
2. Other lives - Rituals
3. Father John Misty-I Love You,Honeybear
4. Israel Nash Gripka - Silver Season
5. Tallest Man On Earth-Dark Bird Is Home
6. Low-Ones and Sixes
7. Vetiver - Complete Strangers
8. This is the kit - Bashed Out
9. Beruit - No No No
10. The Staves - If I Was
@thegroupies