Slow Thrills albums of 2015: collaborations and others

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Don't forget that the top 25 is here


collaborations... and those that are hard to classify (s)=stream via Spotify (r)= my review


Tess Parks and Anton Newcombe 'I Declare Nothing' (s) | Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld 'Never were the way she was' (s) (r) | EL VY 'Return to the Moon' (s) (r) | DRINKS 'Hermits on Holiday' (r) (s) | Mbongwana Star 'From Kinshasa' (s) | Soccer Team 'Real Lessons in Cynicism' (s) | La Luz 'Weirdo Shrine' (s) | Telekinesis 'Ad Infinitum' (s) | The Go! Team 'the Scene Between' (s) | Public Service Broadcasting 'The Race for Space' (s) | Young Fathers 'White Men are Black Men Too' (s) | Kamasi Washington 'The Epic' (s)




This instalment illustrates that 2015 was a rich and varied year for music. Tess Parks and Anton Newcombe created a fine slice of woozy psychedelia, Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld made some eerie sounds together, and Tim Presley and Cate le Bon teamed up as DRINKS to deliver some quirky psych-rock which owed a lot to Faust (and the Fall!).

It should be a complement to be in this section as it means that your music isn't easily classified. No one illustrates this better than Mbongwana Star, a Congolese band who dabble with a blend of psych-rock and electronica. Kamasi Washington's aptly named The Epic was definitely jazz, and will be seen in years to come as a classic - in fact it is only outside the main list as I have only listened to it all the way through once.

There was plenty of decent music on the sidelines of pop too. Edinburgh's Young Fathers for a start, and the hybrid of The National and Menomena -EL VY - who end up sounding like a cross between Leonard Cohen and Fine Young Cannibals - and the Go! Team who made the best sunny indie-pop album of the year whilst besotted with the poppier side of MBV. Public Service Broadcasting silenced those who dismissed them as a gimmick by releasing an emotional concept album about the space race.
Soccer Team and Telekinesis made two of the best indie-rock albums of the year, and it was unfortunate that I didn't discover La Luz earlier in the year, because their take on garage-rock on Weirdo Shrine was a real thrill.

Final section next >>> Noise >>>>>

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