Favorite Music 2015

10. Star Wars - Wilco-  I don't think it's one of their best by any means, but, considering I got it for free, I can't complain about the price.

9. No Cities to Love- Sleater-Kinney- 90's Riot Grrrls come roaring back without losing any of their ferocity.

8. 25 - Adele- At first, I thought it had one to many ballads--- but then I realized complaining about too many ballads on an Adele album is like complaining about to many sweet riffs on an AC/DC album....

7. Tetsuo and Youth - Lupe Fiasco- not as solid as Food Liquor II but perhaps Fiasco's trippiest
release yet.

6. A Head Full of Dreams- Coldplay- A welcome uptempo return after the plodding, low-key Ghost Stories (an album which seemed play into every naysayers perception of Coldplay that I almost felt they were trolling everyone); It's their strongest since Viva La Vida!

5. Kauai- Childish Gambino- Technically this came out late last year but I didn't get it until early this year, Donald Glover keeps getting better in his musical alter ego.

4.Dodge and Burn - The Dead Weather- I'm a fan of anything Jack White does; this might be his most diverse set with The Dead Weather: Key Track: closing torch song "Impossible Winner"

3. To Pimp a Butterfly- Kendrick Lamar- I am just now getting into him but Lamar has more depth and lyricism than pretty much any rapper since Nas.

2. What A Terrible World, What a Beautiful World- The Decemberist- this is the first release by the band that I purchased immediately upon release.  Old school fans may decry it's not "as good as their earlier stuff" but, screw that, it's their most accessible batch yet.

1. 1989- Ryan Adams- I would like to emphasize that, once again, this is MY PERSONAL FAVORITES not an objective best of list (To Pimp a Butterfly is obviously of a far greater cultural importance) and this was the album I most enjoyed this year.  Adams turns dance-pop into acoustic ballads and reveals their underlying sorrow and turns "Style" into a U2-ish anthem.  Plus, I love the rewrite of the lyrics to "You got that daydream nation look in your eyes"