90+ albums to look forward to in 2015

Is it too early to call it? Sleater-Kinney's latest may be 2015's best.
Is it too early to call it? Sleater-Kinney’s latest may be 2015’s best.

Don’t call it a comeback. It’s just worth acknowledging that years have passed since the forecast for upcoming releases has been this bright. Here’s hoping it doesn’t amount to an audio equivalent of the anticipation and subsequent let down one might experience on New Year’s Eve. Giorgio Moroder (who really made Daft Punk’s latest album a worthwhile listen), The Juliana Hatfield Three, and Sleater-Kinney are just a few of the sorely-missed acts making triumphant, long-awaited returns in 2015.

This list may have grown by twenty additional albums compared to last year, but that doesn’t mean every last major release was included. Sorry to inform you, in advance, that you won’t find the likes of Papa Roach, Marilyn Manson, Fall Out Boy, Fergie Ferg, or Canada’s *pride*/current Calvin Klein cover boy, Justin Bieber listed. Even Mumford & Sons will not be mentioned beyond this sentence. That’s just Spinning Platters allowing me and my subjective musical tastes to run amok. However, there is something here for every musical taste imaginable and as I mentioned at the conclusion, if there was something we must all know about that was overlooked, let it be known in the comments.

Read on, discover some new gems, and get an overview of what to expect this coming year. I’ve even included links to lead-off tracks where they’re available and, of course, my own witless banter when absolutely necessary. Happy New Year of listening.

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Spinning Platters’ Best Of 2014: Individual Staff Lists

One of the many great records that Spinning Platters Writers enjoyed in 2014
One of the many great records that Spinning Platters Writers enjoyed in 2014

2014 was a good year for music — you just had to lose yourself in something unsafe. – Staff Writer Jonathan Pirro.

A lot of people seemed mighty nonplussed by 2014’s recorded music output. Sure, there was a lot of somewhat generic, unimpressive stuff. However, if you did some real hunting, you’ll find that there was some incredibly impressive stuff out there. Here are Spinning Platter’s Staff’s individual lists of favorite records of 2014, starting with my own list:

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The Official List of the Best Albums of 2014

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Picking a list of our Top 10 albums has become quite the task here at Spinning Platters. Every year, we share a gigantic playlist with each other, made up of albums nominated by our entire staff. For 4-6 weeks,  it’s the only thing I listen to. Sometimes we find a new favorite album, and other times we find ones we actively root against. But in the end, the votes are tallied up, and we get our Official List. We’ll start this one off with number 10. Continue reading “The Official List of the Best Albums of 2014”

Album Review: Jenny Lewis, ‘The Voyager’

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Jenny Lewis is back!  And, she’s brought herself with her.  The Voyager is Lewis’ first solo record in six years, and appropriately named due to the long journey the new collection of songs took to find themselves together on a record.  Since Rilo Kiley officially split in 2011, Lewis involved her talented musicianship in a few endeavors, meanwhile she dealt with a long bout with insomnia and the death of her father.  The Voyager is a pronouncement of her strength and resilience.  The record enshrouds brutal honesty and confessions within a blanket of summer pop jangles and melodious hooks.

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Album Review: The She’s – Dreamers EP

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I’m a little burnt out and cynical at the age of 37 (in a row), and I often find things that used to be interesting to me (slot machines, the NBA) feel absolutely pointless. Next thing I know, I feel like Stan does after his 10th birthday in the South Park where everything sounds like shit to him. Luckily for you, the She’s single-handedly prevent me from being an asshole, at least while listening to these six new tracks. Continue reading “Album Review: The She’s – Dreamers EP”

Album Review: Liars – Mess

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Rating: Silver

Seven albums in and Liars are still one of the most notorious and formidable bands around. From their debut They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top to this year’s Mess, they’ve continued to defy expectations and challenge listeners. With each release the stacks have been raised and Liars have met these expectations by taking their music in a completely different direction. From their dance punk origins through the post punk and even noise offerings of Drums Not Dead to the more subdued but darker Sisterworld they’ve refused to stay true to one identity and in turn their identity has become protean and malleable. This can be an admirable trait in an artist but it can also be a hindrance as the artist’s allegiances begin to shift with the changing trends their artistic integrity is challenged. This is the quagmire that Liars finds themselves in with Mess.
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Album Review: Damaged Bug – Hubba Bubba

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Rating: Silver
Somehow, in-between putting Thee Oh Sees on hiatus, relocating to Southern California, and preparing to release another Thee Oh Sees album, John Dwyer has found time for another solo project. Hubba Bubba, his debut album as Damaged Bug, has Dwyer abandoning his fuzzy guitars for an even fuzzier synthesizer. But this foray into electronica isn’t Dwyer’s attempt at making a Depeche Mode album. Hubba Bubba sounds much more like a marijuana influenced Suicide album than an 80’s new wave rehash like so many artist are doing right now. The emphasis is placed on minimalist synth riffs behind Dwyer’s robotic vocals.

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Album Review: Fanfarlo – Let’s Go Extinct

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Rating: Bronze+
On their third full length, Let’s Go Extinct, London’s Fanfarlo deliver their most ambitious and yet most distant and uneven album to date. Though the album is well produced and performed to perfection, the music falls flat due to Fanfarlo’s reluctance to take the risks necessary to set them apart in a crowded genre. This seems like a paradox when the band is taking on bigger themes with even bigger production, but for all the grandeur at the surface, there are no new or imaginative takes on the genre nor is there any genre defining moment that would solidify Fanfarlo as an important part of the Baroque pop scene. Instead, the album bogged down by mediocre songs and overwrought imagery. That’s not to say the album lacks imagination or is devoid of musical highlights; it’s just that the album, as a whole, fails to deliver upon its ambitious promises.

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Album Review: Soft Cotton County – The Man Who Walked on the Moon EP

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Hi, this review isn’t Troy McClure. You may remember this EP from such Spinning Platters posts as “Individual Writers’ Lists: The Best Albums of 2013.” You’ll see there I made this my second-favorite record of 2013. And it’s an EP, so it is a breeze to listen to.

I have a … soft spot in my heart for Soft Cotton County. They’ve straddled the line between ambient and indie pop for about four years now. Some call it “dreampop.” I call it “cloudcore.” You can, too, but no one will know what you’re talking about. They’ve been firing out an EP roughly once per year, although a full-length may be in the works soon. We’ll see. Continue reading “Album Review: Soft Cotton County – The Man Who Walked on the Moon EP