Saturday, June 13, 2015

2015: Halfway Report

Here are the albums I've enjoyed so far in 2015, with much more still to come of course. It's in bastardised alphabetical order, not in rank. There are a few albums out in what remains of June that I haven't heard yet (Richard Thompson and Neil Young especially). Albums marked with a * are ones I've had a role in promoting. I probably won't include them in the final end of year list, but they definitely deserve your attention!

A Grave With No Name - Feathers Wet, Under The Moon (Lefse)
Aine O'Dwyer - Music For Church Cleaners Vols. I and II (MIE)
Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color (Rough Trade)
Alasdair Roberts - Alasdair Roberts (Drag City)
Alexander Hawkins Trio - Alexander Hawkins Trio (Alexander Hawkins Music)
Algiers - Algiers (Matador)
Ant Law - Zero Sum World (Whirlwind)
Babelfish - Chasing Rainbows (Moletone)
Badbadnotgood feat. Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul (Lex)
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba - Ba Power (Glitterbeat)
Beat Spacek - Modern Streets (Ninja Tune)
Beats & Pieces Big Band - All In (Efpi) 
Benoit Pioulard - Sonnet (Kranky)
Bill Fay - Who Is The Sender? (Dead Oceans)
Biota - Funnel To A Thread (RER)
Bjork - Vulnicura (One Little Indian)
Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh (Sacred Bones)
Blur - The Magic Whip (Parlophone)
Bob Dylan - Shadows In The Night (Columbia)
Bop English - Constant Bop (Blood And Biscuits)
Calexico - Edge Of The Sun (City Slang)
Cannibal Ox - Blade Of The Ronin (ihiphop)
Charles Lloyd - Wild Man Dance (Decca)
Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth - Epicenter (Clean Feed)
Chris Potter - Imaginary Cities (ECM) 
Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld - Never Were The Way She Was (Constellation)
Colleen - Captain of None  (Thrill Jockey)
Crying Lion - The Golden Boat (Honest Jon's) 
David Torn - Only Sky (ECM)
Dawn Richard - Blackheart (Our Dawn Entertainment)
Dean McPhee - Fatima's Hand  (Hood Faire)
Egyptrixx - Transfer Of Energy (Feeling Of Power) (Halocline Trance)
Elephant Micah - Where In Our Woods (Western Vinyl) 
Entropi - New Era (F-IRE)*  
Eric Chenaux - Skullsplitter (Constellation)
ESKA - ESKA (Naim)
Fantasma - Free Love (Soundway)
Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)
Firefly Burning - Skeleton Hill (Fathom)
GABI - Sympathy (Software Recording Co.)
George Crowley - Can Of Worms (Whirlwind)
George Fitzgerald - Fading Love (Domino) 
Ghost Culture - Ghost Culture (BECAUSE)
Ghostpoet - Shedding Skin (PIAS)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress (Kranky)
Goran Kajfeš Subtropic Arkestra – The Reason Why Vol 2 (Headspin)
Grasscut - Everyone Was A Bird (LO Recordings)
Gwilym Gold - A Paradise (Brille)
Hanoi Masters - War Is A Wound, Peace Is A Scar (Glitterbeat) 
Henry Threadgill's Zooid - In For A Penny, In For A Pound (Pi) 
Herbert - The Shakes (Accidental)
Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon (Sony)
Holly Herndon - Platform (4AD)
Hot Chip - Why Make Sense? (Domino)
Huntsville - Pond (Hubro)
Ibeyi - Ibeyi (XL)
Ivo Neame - Strata (Whirlwind)
Jaga Jazzist - Starfire (Ninja Tune) 
Jake Xerxes Fussell - Jake Xerxes Fussell (Paradise Of Bachelors)
Jam City - Dream A Garden (Night Slugs)
James Blackshaw - Summoning Suns (Important)
Jamie xx - In Colour (Young Turks)
Jenny Hval - Apocalypse, Girl (Sacred Bones)
Jessica Pratt - On Your Own Love Again (Drag City)
Jim O'Rourke - Simple Songs (Drag City)
Joel Harrison - Spirit House (Whirlwind) 
Julian Arguelles - Let It Be Told (Basho)*
Kamasi Washington - The Epic (Brainfeeder)
Kathryn Calder - Kathryn Calder (File Under: Music)
Keith Jarrett - Creation (ECM) 
Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly (Polydor)
Kenny Wheeler - Songs For Quintet (ECM)
Lau - The Bell That Never Rang (Reveal)
Laura Jurd - Human Spirit (Chaos Collective)
Laura Marling - Short Movie (Virgin)
Leon Bridges - Coming Home (Columbia)
Leonard Cohen - Can't Forget: A Souvenir Of The Grand Tour (Columbia) 
Liam Hayes - Slurrup (Drag City)
Liam Noble - A Room Somewhere (Basho)*
Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire (Thrill Jockey)
Lonelady - Hinterland (Warp)
Maria Schneider - The Thompson Fields (ArtistShare) 
Marius Neset - Pinball (ACT)
Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter Three (Constellation)
Matthew E White - Fresh Blood (Spacebomb)
Mbongwana Star - From Kinshasa (World Circuit)
Meg Baird - Don't Weigh Down The Light (Wichita)
Mew - +/- (PIAS)
Model 500 - Digital Solutions (Metroplex)
Moritz Von Oswald Trio - Sounding Lines (Honest Jon's) 
Myra Melford - Snowy Egret (Yellowbird)
My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall (ATO)
Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass (Spacebomb)
Nozinja - Nozinja Lodge (Warp)
Olivia Chaney - The Longest River (Nonesuch)
Panda Bear - Panda Bear vs. The Grim Reaper (Domino)
Paper Dollhouse - Aeon Flower (Night Music)
Partikel - String Theory (Whirlwind)
Percussions (Four Tet alias) - 2011-14 (Text/Bandcamp)
Phil Donkin - The Gate (Whirlwind)
Phil Robson - The Cut Off Point (Whirlwind) 
Polar Bear - Same As You (Leaf)
Pops Staples - Don't Lose It (Epitaph)
Prefuse 73 - Rivington Nao Rio (Temporary Residence)
Printmakers - Westerly (Basho)
Punch Brothers - The Phosphorescent Blues (Nonesuch)
Rachel Grimes - The Clearing (Temporary Residence) 
Rhiannon Giddens - Tomorrow Is My Turn (Nonesuch)
Roisin Murphy - Hairless Toys (PIAS)
Rudresh Mahanthappa - Bird Calls (ACT)
Ryley Walker - Primrose Green (Dead Oceans)
Sam Lee & Friends - The Fade In Time (Proper)
Samba Toure - Gandadiko (Glitterbeat)
Samuel Blaser Quartet - Spring Rain (Whirlwind) 
Scuba - Claustrophobia (Hotflush)
Shamir - Ratchet (XL)
Sir Richard Bishop - Tangier Sessions (Drag City)
Six Organs Of Admittance - Hexadic (Drag City)
Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love (Sub Pop)
Songhoy Blues - Music In Exile (Transgressive)
Squarepusher - Damogen Furies (Warp)
Steve Gunn/Black Twig Pickers - Seasonal Hire (Thrill Jockey)
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)
Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes (Caldo Verde) 
Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs (Sonnet Sound)
Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Motorcade Amnesiacs (Kscope)
Swervedriver - I Wasn't Born To Lose You (Cobraside)
Taraf De Haidouks - Of Lovers, Gamblers & Parachute Shirts (Crammed Discs)
Terakaft - Alone (Out Here)
The Bad Plus Joshua Redman - The Bad Plus Joshua Redman (Nonesuch) 
The Decemberists - What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World (Rough Trade)
The Deslondes - The Deslondes (New West)
The Unthanks - Mount The Air (Cadiz)
The Weather Station - Loyalty (Paradise Of Bachelors)
THEESatisfaction - EarthEE (Sub Pop)
Tim Berne's Snakeoil - You've Been Watching (ECM)
Tigran Hamasyan - Mockroot (Nonesuch)
Todd Rundgren/Emil Nikolaisen/Hans-Peter Lindstrøm - Runddans (Smalltown Supersound)
Tom Green Septet - Skyline (Spark)
Trembling Bells - The Sovereign Self (Tin Angel) 
Troyka - Ornithophobia (Naim)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love (Jagjaguwar)
Verneri Pohjola - Bullhorn (Edition)
Vessels - Dilate (Bias)
Vijay Iyer Trio - Break Stuff (ECM)
Vincent Peirani - Living Being (ACT) 
Waxahatchee - Ivy Trip (Wichita)
William Basinski - Cascade (2062)
Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too (Big Dada)
Zun Zun Egui - Shackles' Gift (Bella Union)

Reissues/Compilations:

Leadbelly - Smithsonian Folkways Collection (Smithsonian Folkways)
Karin Krog - Don't Just Sing: An Anthology 1963 - 1999 (Light In The Attic)
New Jazz Orchestra - Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe (Dusk Fire)
Evan Parker/Derek Bailey/Han Bennink - Topography Of The Lungs (Otoruku/Forced Exposure)
Robin Gibb - Saved By The Bell: The Collected Works of Robin Gibb (Rhino)
Various Artists - Next Stop Soweto 4: Zulu Rock, Afro Disco & Mbaqanga 1975-85 (Strut)
Various Artists - Nu Yorica! Culture Clash In New York City: Experiments In Latin Music 1970-77 (Soul Jazz)
The Supreme Jubilees - It'll All Be Over (Light In The Attic) 
Milton Wright - Complete Friends And Buddies (Athens Of The North)
Idris Muhammad - Turn This Mutha Out (Soul Brother)
William Tyler - Deseret Canyon (Merge)
Arthur Russell - Corn (Audika)
Amara Toure - Amara Toure 1973 - 1980 (Analog Africa) 
Iron & Wine - Archive Series Vol. 1 (Black Cricket Recording Co.)
Univeral Togetherness Band - Universal Togetherness Band (Numero)
Os Brazoes - Os Brazoes (Mr Bongo)
Michael Chapman - Window (Light In The Attic)
Arthur - Dreams and Images (Light In The Attic)