Best of 2015
As always, there were so many records released this year that were technically dazzling and critically beloved that, quite honestly, I just never really listened to that much (Grimes, D’Angelo, Jamie XX)...and lots of records that might not necessarily have been critical darlings but still brought me lots of pleasure while I listened to them in my office while wearing pajamas, guzzling coffee and scrolling through cat photos on the internet. These are those records...
TOP 40 RECORDS OF 2015
Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
Lower Dens – Escape from Evil
Deerhunter – Fading Frontier
Bjork -- Vulnicura
Floating Points -- Elaenia
Hop Along – Painted Shut
Lana Del Rey -- Honeymoon
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly
Oneohtrix Point Never – Garden of Delete
Rabit -- Communion
Girl Band – Holding Hands with Jamie
Bully – Feels Like
Meg Baird – Don’t Weigh Down the Light
Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I just Sit
Tame Impala -- Currents
Joanna Newsom -- Divers
Tamaryn -- Cranekiss
Kurt Vile – B’Lieve I’m Going Down
Julia Holter – Have You in My Wildnerness
Blur – The Magic Whip
C Duncan -- Architect
Wax Idols – American Tragic
Sanhet -- Revisionist
Lotic – Heterocetera EP
Beach House – Depression Cherry
Jenny Hval – Apocalypse, Girl
Palaxy Tracks -- Wilderness
Chris Stapleton -- Traveller
Jessica Pratt – On Your Own Love Again
Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
PWR BTTM – Ugly Cherries
My Morning Jacket – The Waterfall
Carly Rae Jepsen – Emotion
Low - Ones and Sixes
Best Coast – California Nights
New Dog – Classic Ballroom Dances
Kasey Musgraves – Pageant Material
Martin Courtney – Many Moons
Swervedriver – I Wasn’t Born to Lose You
Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love
TOP 20 MOST-PLAYED SONGS OF 2015 AROUND MY OFFICE (According to my iTunes)
“Fourth of July” – Sufjan Stevens
“Say” – C Duncan
“Terrence Loves You” – Lana Del Rey
“Pretty Pimpin” – Kurt Vile
“Mr Noah” – Panda Bear
“Lionsong” -- Bjork
“Alright” – Kendrick Lamar
“Feel You” – Julia Holter
“A New Wave” – Sleater-Kinney
“Ugly Cherries” – PWR BTTM
“Softcore” -- Tamaryn
“Karen Don’t be Sad” – Miley Cyrus
“Ad Astra” -- Deerhunter
“Let It Happen” – Tame Impala
“To Die in LA” – Lower Dens
“I Don’t Mind” – Meg Baird
“Space Song” – Beach House
“Buddy in the Parade” – Hop Along
“Run Away with Me” – Carly Rae Jepsen
“Depreston” – Courtney Barnett
TOP 10 LIVE SHOWS OF 2015
This year was really an embarrassment of riches as far as live shows were concerned. Looking back, the most surprising thing is how much fun I had while seeing really big shows—like, stadium-size shows—as opposed to the more intimate, sweaty club shows that I generally prefer. Also, watching Madonna work at arena at close range and seeing The Rolling Stones from the FOURTH ROW in a ginormous stadium are things I’ll not likely soon forget. As much as my heart belongs to emerging music, there is a reason why some artists are meant to be icons…and it’s amazing to get to see them do their thing.
Fleetwood Mac / Oklahoma City
Madonna / Montreal
Bjork / Carnegie Hall, NYC
The Rolling Stones / Dallas
Tri Angle Records 5th Anniversary Showcase, NYC
Perfume Genius at Basilica Soundscape / Hudson, NYC
RIDE / Terminal 5, NYC
Swervedriver / St. Vitus, NYC
Garbage / Kings Theater, NYC
LOW / Music Hall of Williamsburg, NYC
TOP 10 REISSUED RECORDS IN 2015
Records so nice I had to buy them twice (or in the case of some of these, for the 3rd or 4th time).
Frankie Knuckles – House Masters
Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong with Love
The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers
Lizzy Mercier Descloux – Press Color
Coil - Backwards
Various Artists – Ork Records: New York, New York
Red House Painters – Box Set
Mariah – Utakata no Hibi
The Velvet Underground – Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition
Bikini Kill – Revolution Girl Style Now
TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2015
In lieu of listing all of my favorite movies from this past year, I should probably just make a list of all the "Murder, She Wrote" episodes that I watched (and rewatched) instead. Movie-wise, so many of this year’s heavy hitters escaped me…but here’s a list of the things I did manage to see and happened to love. Clearly, I have a thing for horror movies and documentaries.
Carol
It Follows
The Assassin
A Poem is a Naked Person
Going Clear
Tangerine
The Wolfpack
Amy
Unfriended
Goodnight, Mommy
THE 20 BEST BOOKS THAT I READ IN 2015 (that were actually published in 2015)
So many great books…and so many people I love and admire doing such great work.
Orient – Christopher Bollen
Girl in a Band – Kim Gordon
Selfish (poems) – Albert Goldbarth
Ordinary Light: A Memoir – Tracy K. Smith
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl – Carrie Brownstein
Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs – Sally Mann
The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories – Joy Williams
Heaven (poems) – Rowan Ricardo Phillips
Grace Jones: I’ll Never Write my Memoirs – Grace Jones
Don’t Suck, Don’t Die—Giving up Vic Chestnut – Kristin Hersh
What About This: The Collected Poems of Frank Stafford – Frank Stafford
Witches of America – Alex Mar
M Train – Patti Smith
The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle – Lillian Faderman
The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic – Jessica Hopper
Inside a Pearl: My Years in Paris – Edmund White
Chapter and Verse: Joy Division, New Order, and Me – Bernard Sumner
Anger is an Energy: A Memoir – John Lydon
Going Into the City: Portrait of a Critic as a Young Man – Robert Christgau
The Last Two Seconds: Poems – Mary Jo Bang
MY TOP 25 FAVORITE INTERVIEWS OF 2015
I literally say this every year--sitting down to do interviews with people remains my absolute favorite thing to do. I didn’t think it would be possible to top 2014 in terms of unbelievable interview subjects, but 2015 managed to do it. Never in my life did I think I’d sit down (and do tequila shots) with Madonna, talk to Vaughan Oliver about the Cocteau Twins, or quiz Bernard Sumner about the early days of New Order. I also got to spend a couple of days in Georgia with Bradford Cox, who remains perhaps my favorite interview subject of all-time. Talking to all of these folks was truly an honor.
Madonna for Pitchfork
Vaughan Oliver for Interview
Bernard Sumner for Stereogum
Fred Schneider (live Q&A at Word in Brooklyn)
Bradford Cox for Pitchfork
Tori Amos for Interview
JD Souther for Interview
Shirley Manson for Stereogum
Joanna Newsom for Stereogum
John Lydon for Man of the World
Lou Barlow for Stereogum
Michael Shannon for Maxim
Alan Sparhawk & Mimi Parker of LOW for Stereogum
Father John Misty for Man of the World
Giorgio Moroder for V Magazine
Neon Indian for The FADER
Savages for OUT Magazine
Julia Holter for Stereogum
Moses Sumney for V Man
Peaches for V Magazine
TOP 10 THINGS THAT GAVE ME LIFE IN 2015
Teaching my POPNY class at NYU, which reminded my how much fun my job actually is.
Teaching my Poetry & Photography class at Baxter Street, which reminded me how much I love writing poems.
Going to Zipolite, Mexico with Joshua Sanchez, which was both life-affirming and death-defying.
Going to Oklahoma for my grandmother’s 80th birthday, which was also both life-affirming and death-defying.
Introducing my mom, brother and sister to Stevie Nicks backstage after the OKC Fleetwood Mac concert.
Being a judge at Coney Island Drag Race.
DJing the Basilica after-party with Robin Carolan, Bobby Krlic and Joshua Sanchez (while Brandon Stosuy danced behind us).
My bartending family at Richlane. My bartending family at the Ace.
Going to Montreal for the opening night of the Madonna tour with Joshua Sanchez, which was surely the gayest thing we did all year…
#murdershetweets
Regarding 2015…
The main reason I do these lists every year is really just to engage in some sort of Oprah-style gratitude exercising. It’s a way to remind myself to appreciate all the amazing things I got to do this year and to document my work. Since I can’t seem to ever keep a reliable journal, these yearly “best of” lists have become a way to look back and actually remember all the good stuff (especially when it’s all too easy to look back and only remember the bad stuff). To take stock of the previous year and remember all the things I loved and enjoyed is not only a good way to put things in perspective, it’s also a way to ward off all of the cumulative darkness that it seemed impossible not to be overwhelmed by in 2015. As the world gets increasingly scary, I take great comfort (and pleasure) in the luxury of being able to write and talk about art for a living. I’m also more acutely aware than ever before of how lucky I am to be surrounded by amazing friends, a loving and supportive partner, and my insane but wonderful family.