Bloomers Best Of 2015: Complete. Thank you! - Page 18

K$Ellie

Want To Want Me

Run Away With Me is amazing

It should be smashing

I just listened to Begin Again and it was pretty good, the chorus>>>

Company

mathuss

3/4

Jamie xx + Blur

igor

Want To Want Me

backtoback

3/4

Want to Want Me is so catchy

Jason always releases good music

lhdang2000

Want To Want Me

Topmaster 2

Good Times

Want To Want Me

this is amazing

Rider

I really enjoyed Want To Want Me

potent

Want to Want Me is amazing, I didn't expect to like a Jason song so much again

The Jamie song is weird but I guess I kind of like it.

Ewan Chaos

Not us doing the double Talk Dirty/Worth It comparisons for Jason.

Want to Want Me is GREAT and he's been on such a roll these past two years. I figured it'd be in your list.

I figured There's Gonna Be Good Times would be in your list too! It's a compliment

I actually didn't care for the song at first (maybe I thought it was out of place on the album) but I've found a new love for it in the past few weeks. Good inclusion!

Automatic is a good song too. I need to listen to it more though.

jongshic

Happy Holidays

genetic fail

Hiatus?

P.S. Happy Holiday!

Sunderland 4ever

Merry Christmas, Bloomers!

Mezik

Want to Want Me

Cute song, sexy video.

Razzle

Achilles.

94 Between Me and You

Probably my favorite of the 'non-singles' from TDE.

77 Blackstar

Not you thinking David Bowie was some cool new artist with an edgy single

I love this one a lot. More than all of his last album bar The Stars, in fact.

73 Heartbeat Song

You are like the first person I've seen stan for this.

I should listen to the Jamie xx album again. I really like Loud Places, but I don't remember Good Times and people seem to be praising that one just as much / more.

minho

IKTGBGT (well that was a mess) is such a jam! I forgot about it for my own list unfortunately

Ivan

Want To Want Me is amazing, great choice

Bloomers

Thanks for the replies everybody! I'm starting the Honorable mentions for albums in a couple minutes and will resume songs tomorrow (maybe) and possibly a worst of list, Hiatus over officially though!

Merry Christmas also!

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Bloomers

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The Boring Intro: From here on out, I think I'm going to alternate between songs and albums. I mostly listen to albums straight through, rather than stand alone songs, so this is the more exciting list for me to run through. It's also going to be kind of different from my songs list. Looking through and comparing my (finally) finalized album list with my songs list, it looks like the albums list goes harder in the rock/hip-hop/and electronic direction.

It has been fun putting these lists together, I always learn something about myself and my listening habits. This year, I feel like I really figured out myself as a person and figured out the type of things I like and dislike which has been pretty cool. Musically speaking, I think I finally figured out that I prefer atmosphere over everything else; in other words, I don't care about vocals, outright displays of talent, or catchiness as much as whether or not the music has a unique atmosphere that helps it stick out and work as a whole. So, be prepared to see some untalented artists here!

It was a really strong year for music in my opinion and it was hard to put together this list of 51 albums (poor 2014 when I struggled to get to 51), so I decided to cop out and put together an Honorable Mention list, to highlight albums I really liked, that I just didn't get to spend enough time with, or just had to mercilessly cut because I didn't want to write up a new set of graphics.

Before I start with the album countdown, I just wanted to say thank you to everybody that has checked out my Best Of. It means a lot. I have had a great time following along with everybody's lists. It's always cool to see what everybody likes and dislikes. I would also like to extend a special thank you to Legend E. I was browsing through atrl-critic reviews and they inspired my format here.

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The Phantom Band - Fears Trending

This album came out very early in the year (around January), so early, I think it was pretty overlooked. In fact, just looking at the Youtube and Spotify stats for these sons, and I don't think I've seen such low numbers. The Youtube views are in the double digits, and only two songs off the album have over 10K plays. That's all just to say, the album was lost in the shuffle of the year. It's kind of fitting for a band named The Phantom band though, and for the actual album itself. The album is a very lonely sounding little album, almost sounding like it was recorded on the desolate little planet that appears on the cover.

That's not to say Fears Trending lacks energy or anything. Opener Tender Castle locks into a tight little electronic groove that's pretty easy to get into, with little guitar flourishes throughout. The album just operates on a smaller scale, overlooking big moves and keeping things lowkey; but, that means that there's a lot to discover in the album (and a lot to potentially overlook). Most of the songs are mildly bluesy, with some almost spaghetti western like accents, and an open space-y feeling. At times, it sounds almost like a Radiohead album, but if Radiohead were raised on blues instead of guitar-rock.

It's definitely worth a listen and really doesn't wear on a person as an album; in fact, it's a grower if there ever was one, improving on every listen with new backing vocals or instruments appearing out of the gloom of the album. It just lacks a certain flash to help it stand out; but that's kind of the appeal.

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Jamie XX - In Colour

It's a solid album, but I didn't seem to love it in the way that everybody else seemed to. There are definitely some highlights, some of which made my favorite songs of the year list

, but I thought there were just some better albums, and that In Colour was just a little lackluster, although admittedly, I could have spent more time with the album. It did seem that the album was pretty formulaic, I can't help but think of Caribou's recent albums when I listen, those albums seem to go after a similar effect and just shine a little brighter, and just hit harder from an emotional stand-point; it also doesn't help that the songs on the album don't have the beautiful quiet spaces of an XX album, or really sink in in the way that they might initially promise (even Gosh, one of my favorites, just doesn't seem to hit hard enough). That being said, there are some beautiful, dreamy, soundscapes throughout the album though and it makes for a nice soundtrack for falling asleep to. Maybe I just hold Jamie to such high standards for producing song of the decade Take Care

It's a promising debut though, that's for sure.

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Blur - The Magic Whip

Continuing right along with the gloomy album streak is Blur's comeback, The Magic Whip. It taps into a similar vein as The Phantom Band album above, but is obviously more Earth bound. There are no Song 2s or Girls & Boys here, but I think that helped the album out in maintaining the albums gloomy and more introspective mood. I do think it's a great album, but it's more an album that you have to be in a certain mood to listen to. It also takes a long time to sink in, I don't think I remembered how any of the songs went until after about a half dozen listens. It's a beautiful album when it hits you though.

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The Alchamest & Oh-No - Welcome To Los Santos

Yes. This is the soundtrack to a Grand Theft Auto Game (I think). But, it's one of the year's best soundtracks, many movie soundtracks don't even get it this right. If you've ever played a Grand Theft Auto Game, you'd pretty much know that they know the right songs to fit the mood of the game, and well, they didn't disappoint here. The songs capture the rawness of the (mostly) Los Angeles inspired Los Santos. The MNDR and Killer Mike collab is one of the year's highlights, equally stylish and violent. There are a lot of highlights though, alternating between sunbaked hip-hop and indie rock. Special props for offering the one track in which I have ever been able to tolerate E-40's cartoonish vocals.

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Waves - V

This was probably my favorite Wavves album yet and it hurt not to include this on the proper Best Of list. It doesn't quite hit the highs of King Of The Beach, but it has that unapologetic brattiness the best punk-pop music has. It's fun, introverted, has some catchy choruses. It's the perfect soundtrack to hanging around the beach on a cloudy day without doing anything else (maybe that's just a Southern California thing).

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Lana Del Rey - Honeymoon

Sometimes in Southern California it gets too sunny, it is nearly desert afterall. The sun shines too brightly to the point that it just becomes oppressive and overbearing, especially in the early spring and summer, where long stretches of endlessly sunniness without any clouds or relief is common. The long shadows cast by the bright sun become relief during those times, and you'll do pretty much anything to escape those intense rays. Overbearing feelings (from the sun, from boredom as a result of having the same thing or being with the same people day in day out, from whatever) and the need to escape from all that is the feeling that the majority of Honeymoon captures for me anyway.

Maybe it suffered from being such a quick follow-up to Ultraviolence, maybe it suffers from catering to a very specific mood, but It's Lana's worst album yet, although still a pretty solid album. That being said, it also has some of her best songs: High By The Beach is a masterpiece, Honeymoon, 24 (like many other songs released this year, it serves as a better Bond theme, made by a much more talented person, than the one we actually got), and Art Deco all stand out among her best songs.

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Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons To Die II

I was a huge fan of Ghostface and Adrian Younge's original Twelve Reasons to Die, released in 2013, it was one of my favorite albums of that year. This one is arguably more streamlined and polished out than the first in the series, but it just lacks some of the rough edges and cheesiness that made the first one so much fun for me, it felt more like a cheesy cult-classic low budget movie than an album, highly recommended.

This is definitely best listened to as an album, telling the story about a crime family and the mob, and well, it's just a fun listen, with some great rap storytelling, coated with some occasionally creepy 70s styled production

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Carrie Underwood - Storyteller

Speaking of Storytelling

I love Carrie and have loved her singles from Something In the Water to Smoke Break (the less said about the boring and sappy Heartbeat, the better), and I was really looking forward to this album. I wasn't quite disappointed with this album, but it just didn't deliver on the promise of those excellent singles. It also faced some stiff competition from other albums this year, so here we are. It is a very good album though, though not quite on the same level as Blown Away. There are some ill advised attempts at writing a pop song: Clock Don't Stop is the main offender, she's much better than that cheap attempt at a stuttered hook, but some very solid songs throughout.

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Coliseum - Anxiety's Kiss

This was a very enjoyable punk (post-punk?) album. It hits hard in just the right ways, unfraid to get in your face, but pulls back into a satisfying groove when it needs to. Just some very solid rock music

The only thing from holding this one back was that I just didn't give this one enough spins.

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Jason Derulo - Everything Is 4

It hurt to not include the most underrated pop star working today on my proper list. Jason's been on fire though at least since Talk Dirty, and he even placed on my best of last year

Everything Is 4 just isn't as outright fun as Talk Dirty the album though.

Anyway, he's had a great singles run so far, and I mean, Want To Want Me and Get Ugly are infectious as can be and never really get old. He brings the charisma, the vocals, the dancing, yet he remains slightly underrated for some reason. The album is full of some of the best pop songs released this year. Pain Killer is slinky and fun and also works better as a Bond Theme than what we actually got, Want To Want Me bounces along and boasts one of the best choruses this year, Cheyenne is just insanely propulsive and the best electro-R&B song yet (poor boring Style), really every song on the album has something to like, and Broke the bonkers Stevie Wonder and Keith Urban collab is the one of the most entertainingly messy songs this year.

Most importantly, Everything Is 4 delivered what few pop albums forgot to include, charisma and fun

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Ewan Chaos

In the words of Todd Terje, it's album time!

I can see why Jamie's album would be an HM rather than on a full list. Good to see a little Jason full album inclusion. I enjoyed WTWM but haven't checked out his full album, so I'll get on that soon! Wavves I listened to their album with Cloud Nothings and it sucked (well imo) so it's good to see their solo album from this year was better.

Some other cool stuff here that I'll need to check out. I was never too into Ghostface Killahhhhh though. Not sure why.

Also, merry Christmas!