Page 28 - Go Guide Street 12/3/2015
P. 28
MUSIC
BEST OF 2015 POP AND ROCK ALBUMS
Lamar, Barnett
made the year’s
most vital pop
By Greg Kot THE MORNING CALL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015 rock sound spontaneous Titus Andronicus, “The The year’s best albums include releases by, clockwise from top right, Grimes, Protomartyr,
and casual, yet absolutely Titus Andronicus, Vince Staples, Shamir, Kendrick Lamar and Courtney Barnett.
Tribune Newspapers vital. Most Lamentable Trage-
The Chills, “Silver Bul- with the chiming, guitar- Tame Impala, “Currents”
Let’s face it, because Protomartyr, “The dy” (Merge): A five-act, pop zeal of old. (Interscope); Miguel,
nobody can listen to the triple-CD rock opera cen- lets” (Fire): Martin Phil- “Wildheart” (ByStorm/
thousands of albums re- Agent Intellect” (Hardly tered on singer Patrick lipps was one of the prime The next 10: RCA); Sleater-Kinney, “No
leased each year, a year-end Art): In the hard, gray ter- Stickles’ struggles with architects of New Zealand’s Cities to Love” (Sub Pop);
“best of” list is really a list rain blasted out by this manic depression may not flourishing indie-rock Van Hunt, “The Fun Joanna Newsom, “Divers”
of “favorites,” the record- no-nonsense Detroit band, sound particularly inviting. scene in the ’80s and early Rises, The Fun Sets.” (God- (Drag City); Seinabo Sey,
ings that made the most singer Joe Casey finds But Stickles and his band ’90s, and this album marks less Hotspot); Eleventh “Pretend” (Virgin); Wire,
impact on one particular unexpected reservoirs of turn it into a cathartic ride his return to action after Dream Day, “Works for “Wire” (Chairs Missing).
listener. Out of the hun- empathy, tenderness, cour- as they shift from low-fi nearly two decades of Tomorrow” (Thrill
dreds of albums I listened age. The album peaks with ballads to blast-furnace health and drug problems. Jockey); Low Cut Connie, Greg Kot is a Tribune News-
to in 2015, here are the ones two of the year’s most mov- anthems, with touches of He sounds like a man re- “Hi Honey” (Contender); papers critic.
that had the most staying ing songs, “Why Does it Celtic folk and gospel. newed on what is essen- Blackalicious, “Imani, Vol.
power: Shake?” and “Ellen,” which tially a protest album that 1” (OGM Recordings/Ma- greg@gregkot.com
pull hope from despair. Donnie Trumpet & the addresses contemporary hogany Sun/Quannum);
Kendrick Lamar, “To social and ecological issues
Shamir, “Ratchet” (XL): Social Experiment,
Pimp a Butterfly” (Top As Los Angeles was to
Dawg/Aftermath/Inter- Frank Ocean on “Channel “Surf” (self-released):
scope): In 2012, Lamar Orange” or Chicago to Like Lamar’s “To Pimp a
examined where he came Green Velvet, Las Vegas is a Butterfly,” the first album
from on “good kid, m.A.A.d seductive yet harsh muse by Chance the Rapper’s
city.” With “To Pimp a for Shamir Bailey on his trusted sidekick, trumpeter
Butterfly,” he assesses debut album. Putting a Nico Segal, is about com-
where he’s going, and the punky, minimalist spin on munity. The tracks contain
world outside Compton, house music, Shamir sings a multitude of collaborators
Calif. In a year of rising about complicated relation- augmenting the Social
social consciousness in ships — with his city, his Experiment, the core group
music and culture, Lamar lovers, with his fluid sense shaped by Chance for his
set the bar with an album of gender. The first half of projects.
that chronicles the black the album raves as if to blot
music diaspora from Africa. out the anxiety, and the Grimes, “Art Angels”
It looks beyond the geo- second half deals with it
graphic and psychic shack- head-on in devastating (4AD): Claire Boucher flirts
les of his hometown to ballads. with mainstream pop, but
underline that, for a person on her own uncompromis-
of color, the struggle for Vince Staples, ing terms.
civil rights is in many ways
stuck in a ditch on a steep “Summertime ’06” (Arti- She writes, produces,
road, and rolling backward. um Recordings/Def Jam): sings and plays virtually all
The 22-year-old MC de- the instruments on a collec-
Courtney Barnett, votes his debut album to tion that bears a punky,
the summer he turned 13 in homemade stamp even as it
“Sometimes I Sit and the unforgiving streets of hits one melodic sweet spot
Long Beach, Calif., a world after another.
Think, and Sometimes I in which boyhood dreams
of busting out from the Torres, “Sprinter” (Parti-
Just Sit” (Mom & Pop/ ghetto clash with the daily san): Georgia-born singer
Marathon Artists/Milk!): business of survival. Sta- Mackenzie Scott takes on
The Australian singer- ples’ rhymes avoid easy big topics — her adoption,
songwriter plays a mean answers and the music — her Bible Belt upbringing,
guitar and turns her wordy overseen by No I.D. — mir- death and mortality — in
songs into vivid little mov- rors that unresolved ten- songs that erupt as much as
ies about everyday inter- sion. unfold. The narratives
actions that are humorous, don’t flinch from the truth,
and neither does the in-
28 poignant, revelatory. She tensely focused guitar-
based music.
makes guitar-bass-drums
BEST OF 2015 POP AND ROCK ALBUMS
Lamar, Barnett
made the year’s
most vital pop
By Greg Kot THE MORNING CALL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015 rock sound spontaneous Titus Andronicus, “The The year’s best albums include releases by, clockwise from top right, Grimes, Protomartyr,
and casual, yet absolutely Titus Andronicus, Vince Staples, Shamir, Kendrick Lamar and Courtney Barnett.
Tribune Newspapers vital. Most Lamentable Trage-
The Chills, “Silver Bul- with the chiming, guitar- Tame Impala, “Currents”
Let’s face it, because Protomartyr, “The dy” (Merge): A five-act, pop zeal of old. (Interscope); Miguel,
nobody can listen to the triple-CD rock opera cen- lets” (Fire): Martin Phil- “Wildheart” (ByStorm/
thousands of albums re- Agent Intellect” (Hardly tered on singer Patrick lipps was one of the prime The next 10: RCA); Sleater-Kinney, “No
leased each year, a year-end Art): In the hard, gray ter- Stickles’ struggles with architects of New Zealand’s Cities to Love” (Sub Pop);
“best of” list is really a list rain blasted out by this manic depression may not flourishing indie-rock Van Hunt, “The Fun Joanna Newsom, “Divers”
of “favorites,” the record- no-nonsense Detroit band, sound particularly inviting. scene in the ’80s and early Rises, The Fun Sets.” (God- (Drag City); Seinabo Sey,
ings that made the most singer Joe Casey finds But Stickles and his band ’90s, and this album marks less Hotspot); Eleventh “Pretend” (Virgin); Wire,
impact on one particular unexpected reservoirs of turn it into a cathartic ride his return to action after Dream Day, “Works for “Wire” (Chairs Missing).
listener. Out of the hun- empathy, tenderness, cour- as they shift from low-fi nearly two decades of Tomorrow” (Thrill
dreds of albums I listened age. The album peaks with ballads to blast-furnace health and drug problems. Jockey); Low Cut Connie, Greg Kot is a Tribune News-
to in 2015, here are the ones two of the year’s most mov- anthems, with touches of He sounds like a man re- “Hi Honey” (Contender); papers critic.
that had the most staying ing songs, “Why Does it Celtic folk and gospel. newed on what is essen- Blackalicious, “Imani, Vol.
power: Shake?” and “Ellen,” which tially a protest album that 1” (OGM Recordings/Ma- greg@gregkot.com
pull hope from despair. Donnie Trumpet & the addresses contemporary hogany Sun/Quannum);
Kendrick Lamar, “To social and ecological issues
Shamir, “Ratchet” (XL): Social Experiment,
Pimp a Butterfly” (Top As Los Angeles was to
Dawg/Aftermath/Inter- Frank Ocean on “Channel “Surf” (self-released):
scope): In 2012, Lamar Orange” or Chicago to Like Lamar’s “To Pimp a
examined where he came Green Velvet, Las Vegas is a Butterfly,” the first album
from on “good kid, m.A.A.d seductive yet harsh muse by Chance the Rapper’s
city.” With “To Pimp a for Shamir Bailey on his trusted sidekick, trumpeter
Butterfly,” he assesses debut album. Putting a Nico Segal, is about com-
where he’s going, and the punky, minimalist spin on munity. The tracks contain
world outside Compton, house music, Shamir sings a multitude of collaborators
Calif. In a year of rising about complicated relation- augmenting the Social
social consciousness in ships — with his city, his Experiment, the core group
music and culture, Lamar lovers, with his fluid sense shaped by Chance for his
set the bar with an album of gender. The first half of projects.
that chronicles the black the album raves as if to blot
music diaspora from Africa. out the anxiety, and the Grimes, “Art Angels”
It looks beyond the geo- second half deals with it
graphic and psychic shack- head-on in devastating (4AD): Claire Boucher flirts
les of his hometown to ballads. with mainstream pop, but
underline that, for a person on her own uncompromis-
of color, the struggle for Vince Staples, ing terms.
civil rights is in many ways
stuck in a ditch on a steep “Summertime ’06” (Arti- She writes, produces,
road, and rolling backward. um Recordings/Def Jam): sings and plays virtually all
The 22-year-old MC de- the instruments on a collec-
Courtney Barnett, votes his debut album to tion that bears a punky,
the summer he turned 13 in homemade stamp even as it
“Sometimes I Sit and the unforgiving streets of hits one melodic sweet spot
Long Beach, Calif., a world after another.
Think, and Sometimes I in which boyhood dreams
of busting out from the Torres, “Sprinter” (Parti-
Just Sit” (Mom & Pop/ ghetto clash with the daily san): Georgia-born singer
Marathon Artists/Milk!): business of survival. Sta- Mackenzie Scott takes on
The Australian singer- ples’ rhymes avoid easy big topics — her adoption,
songwriter plays a mean answers and the music — her Bible Belt upbringing,
guitar and turns her wordy overseen by No I.D. — mir- death and mortality — in
songs into vivid little mov- rors that unresolved ten- songs that erupt as much as
ies about everyday inter- sion. unfold. The narratives
actions that are humorous, don’t flinch from the truth,
and neither does the in-
28 poignant, revelatory. She tensely focused guitar-
based music.
makes guitar-bass-drums
