Yesterday was the official beginning of Fall, which means it’s time to break out the pumpkin spice latte (or Oktoberfest), sit out on your porch and read a book, or finally take that road trip you’ve been meaning to do before it gets too cold outside. No matter what you end up doing this Fall, these songs will fit the many moods of the changing leaves.
Happy Fall!
This isn’t so much a list of the few albums and songs that I loved more than anything else in 2015 as it is a list of the music that I’ve listened to the most and have the strongest associations to this year. When I think of 2015, I think of these albums and songs.
Also, to say that the following albums and songs are “the best” is dumb, so I’m going to say that these are my favorites of 2015 so far aka some music from 2015 that you should check out if you haven’t already.
Here are my 10 favorite albums, in alphabetical order:
Alabama Shakes – ‘Sound & Color’
Belle & Sebastian – “Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance’
Courtney Barnett – ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit’
Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’
Jeff Rosenstock – ‘We Cool?’
Juan Wauters – “Who Me?”
Kendrick Lamar – ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’
Natalie Prass – ‘Natalie Prass’
Tobias Jesso Jr. – ‘Goon’
Will Butler – ‘Policy’
Honorable Mentions: Algiers (‘Algiers’), Blur (‘The Magic Whip’), Father John Misty (‘I Love You, Honeybear’), Hop Along (‘Painted Shut’), Josh Rouse (‘The Embers Of Time’), and State Champion (‘Fantasy Error’).
And here are my 20 favorite songs, in alphabetical order. To make things more interesting, I didn’t include any songs that came from any of my favorite albums (because most of those songs would be on this list).
Beach Slang – “Too Late to Die Young”
Best Coast – “Feeling Ok”
Carly Rae Jepsen – “I Really Like You”
Chromatics – “I Can Never Be Myself When You’re Around”
Colleen Green – “TV”
Craig Finn – “Newmyer’s Roof”
Dawes – “Don’t Send Me Away”
Desaparecidos – “MariKKKopa”
Diet Cig – “Scene Sick”
Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment – “Sunday Candy”
Downtown Boys – “Dancing In The Dark”
Hop Along – tie between “The Knock” and “Happy to See Me”
Hot Chip – “Huarache Lights”
Kacey Musgraves – “Dime Store Cowgirl”
Leon Bridges – “Smooth Sailin'”
Panda Bear – “Mr. Noah”
(The single came out last October, but I heard it for the first time when I listened to this year’s ‘Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper’, so I’m including it on this list.)
Sam Outlaw – “Jesus Take the Wheel (And Drive Me to a Bar)”
Sufjan Stevens – “Death with Dignity”
Titus Andronicus – “Dimed Out”
Tobias Jesso Jr. – “True Love”
(note: this song technically wasn’t on ‘Goon’, so I don’t feel bad about including TJJ on here)
And in case you missed it, here’s a Spotify playlist that I update throughout the year of all the songs that I like this year.
This new playlist combines many of the songs from the Garden State and Scrubs soundtracks in addition to some other songs that I think match Braff’s great range of taste in music. There are also some songs on here from his new movie Wish I Was Here released in limited release July 18th.
The month of August: back to school, back to college football, back to Breaking Bad, and back to listening to some cool tunes. This month’s playlist includes two bands that have “deer” in their names, I finally watch Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, and I pay tribute to The Postal Service and J.J. Cale.
Here are 20 songs for August 2013.
Well April marked the final days of winter – we still had snow in Indiana at the beginning of the month – which means I was on my annual National kick during the ugly transition between winter and spring (and because they have a new album coming out!). There was also plenty of great new music from James Blake, Kurt Vile, Daft Punk, Fall Out Boy, Iron And Wine, and Phoenix.
Here are my 20 songs from April 2013.
This month has a special edition of 15 Songs via Spotify. All of August I was on a folk kick that I’m still on. This playlist is a mix of all the great folk songs, both old and new, that I’ve been playing all month (Yes, there will be Bob Dylan).
Here are my 15 songs for August 2012.
This month’s playlist is all over the place. Most of these songs are oldies, but there are a few new tracks here. I have some Springsteen, Death Cab, Magnetic Fields, The Men, and everything else in between.
Here are my 15 songs for March 2012.
“1972” is the kind of song that you start your day with. It’s smooth, breezy, name checks Carol King, and gives off some good vibrations for you to start your day right. Though this song was released in 2003, it sounds like it could of been a huge hit if it was released in 1972.
