1. Shlohmo - Dark Red
2. José James - Yesterday I Had the Blues
3. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
4. Levon Vincent - Levon Vincent
5. Cannibal Ox - Blade of the Ronin
6. Jon Hopkins - Late Night Tales
7. BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul
8. Michał Lewicki - Ton
9. Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too
10. Percussions - 2011 Until 2014

Tien albums beluisterd uit 2015, dit zijn ze op volgorde van goed naar slecht.

1. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit 4,5*
2. Until the Ribbon Breaks - A Lesson Unlearnt
3. Purity Ring - Another Eternity
4. Enslaved - In Times 4*
5. Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs
6. Benjamin Clementine - At Least for Now
7. The Slow Show - White Water 3,5*
8. Death Cab for Cutie - Kintsugi 3*
9. The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
10. Jessica Pratt - On Your Own Love Again 2,5*

1. Purity Ring - Another Eternity 5*
2. Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs 4.5*
3. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell 4.5*
4. Until the Ribbon Breaks - A Lesson Unlearnt 4.5*
5. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit 4,5*
6. Caitlin Canty - Reckless Skyline 4.5*
7. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly 4*
8. Roosbeef - Kalf 4*
9. Ibeyi - Ibeyi 4*
10. Benjamin Clementine - At Least for Now 4*
10. SoKo - My Dreams Dictate My Reality 4*

Mooi lijstje Gretz! We hebben vier dezelfde albums in onze top 5.

Wij krikken het gemiddelde van Purity Ring flink op met z'n tweeën.

01. (01) Benjamin Clementine – At Least for Now
02. (02) Asaf Avidan – Gold Shadow
03. (03) Scott Matthew – This Here Defeat
04. (04) Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
05. (05) Marc Almond – The Velvet Trail
06. (06) Susanne Sundfør – Ten Love Songs
07. (07) The Slow Show – White Water
08. (==) Kovacs – Shades of Black
09. (08) Mister and Mississippi – We Only Part to Meet Again
10. (==) Daniel Knox – Daniel Knox

11. (09) Belle and Sebastian – Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
12. (10) Árstíðir – Hvel
13. (==) Rats on Rafts – Tape Hiss
14. (11) Until the Ribbon Breaks – A Lesson Unlearnt
15. (==) The Great Dictators – Killers
16. (==) Blur – The Magic Whip
17. (14) Madonna – Rebel Heart
18. (15) Avishai Cohen – From Darkness
19. (13) Roosbeef – Kalf
20. (==) Nadine Shah – Fast Food

1.Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2. Ludacris - Ludaversal
3. Tourist LeMC - En Route
4. Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside
5. BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul
6. Shlohmo - Dark Red
7. Petite Noir - The King of Anxiety
8. Yous & Yay - Achtergrondmuziek voor Gearriveerden
9. Action Bronson - Mr. Wonderful
10. Jon Hopkins - Late Night Tales

Veel fijne albums dit voorjaar en ook een paar verrassend goede releases van Nederlandse bodem.

1. (1) Mini Mansions - The Great Pretenders 5*
2. (-) Skip&Die – Cosmic Serpents 4,5*
3. (2) Belle & Sebastien - Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance
4. (3) Atari Teenage Riot – Reset
5. (11) Natalie Walker – Strange Bird
6. (-) Brian Wilson – No Pier Pressure
7. (4) My Baby – Shamanaid
8. (7) The Decemberists – What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World 4*
9. (6) José Gonzáles – Vestiges & Claws
10. (5) Susanne Sundfør – Ten Love Songs

11. (10) The Waterboys – Modern Blues
12. (9) Nena – Oldschool
13. (-) Calexico – Edge of the Sun
14. (8) Marilyn Manson – The Pale Emperor
15. (14) Lila Downs – Balas Y Chocolate
18. (-) The The - Hyena
17. (13) Sevdaliza – The Suspended Kid
18. (20) Marina and the Diamonds – Froot
19. (12) Mark Ronson – Uptown Special
20. (-) Todd Rundgren – Global
21. (15) Katzenjammer – Rockland 3,5*
22. (-) Speedy Ortiz – Foil Deer
23. (16) Noveller – Fantastic Planet
24. (17) Natalie Prass – Natalie Prass
25. (21) Toto - XIV

1. Drenge - Undertow (2015)
2. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall (2015)
3. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
4. Asaf Avidan - Gold Shadow
5. Kult of the Wizard - The White Wizard
6. Death Grips - The Powers That B
7. A Place to Bury Strangers - Transfixiation
8. Turnstile - Nonstop Feeling
9. Dead Sara - Pleasure to Meet You
10. Ufomammut - Ecate

Tweede poging:

1. Oren Ambarchi - Live Knots
2. The Pop Group - Citizen Zombie
3. Shit and Shine - 54 Synth-Brass, 38 Metal Guitar, 65 Cathedral
4. Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, Floating Points & James Holden - Marhaba
5. Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld - Never Were the Way She Was
6. Merzbow & Xiu Xiu - MERZXIU
7. Six Organs of Admittance - Hexadic
8. Insanlar / Ricardo Villalobos - Kime Ne
9. Oren Ambarchi & Jim O'Rourke - Behold
10. Föllakzoid - III

1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
2. Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon
3. Shlohmo - Dark Red
4. Sonnymoon - The Courage of Present Times
5. Ibeyi - Ibeyi
6. Romare - Projections
7. Until The Ribbon Breaks - A Lesson Unlearnt
8. Björk - Vulnicura
9. Låpsley - Understudy EP
10. Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too

1.Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
2.Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
3.Björk - Vulnicura
4.Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late
5.Blur - The Magic Whip
6.Ibeyi - Ibeyi
7.Future - Beast Mode
8.Cannibal Ox - Blade Of The Ronin
9.Aphex Twin - Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments Pt. 2
10.Napalm Death - Apex Predator Easy Meat

1. Tourist Lemc – En Route
2. Retox - Beneath California
3. Strung Out – Transmission.Alpha.Delta
4. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
5. Turnstile – Nonstop Feeling
6. Blacklisted - When People Grow, People Go
7. Raised Fist - From the North
8. Calabrese - Lust for Sacriledge
9. JD McPherson - Let the Good Times Roll
10. While She Sleeps – Brainwashed

Tussenstand: april

1. Bell Witch - Four Phantoms
2. Tribulation - The Children of the Night
3. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell
4. Raketkanon - RKTKN #2
5. Napalm Death - Apex Predator - Easy Meat
6. Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
7. Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Stellar
8. Marriages - Salome
9. Toundra - IV
10. Therapy? - Disquiet

April is weer voorbij, tijd voor een update.

1. (1) Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
2. (3) The Slow Show - White Water
3. (--) Arena - The Unquiet Sky
4. (--) Blur - The Magic Whip
5. (4) Föllakzoid - III
6. (2) Asaf Avidan - Gold Shadow
7. (5) Toundra - IV
8. (--) The White Birch - The Weight of Spring
9. (7) Benjamin Clementine - At Least for Now
10. (--) Unreal City - Il Paese del Tramonto

1. (1) Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
2 (2) The Waterboys - Modern Blues
3. (3) Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing yesterday
4. (-) Scott Matthew - This Here Defeat
5. (4) Asaf Avidan - Gold Shadow
6. (5) Archive - Restriction
7. (6) Hanni El Khatib - Moonlight
8. (-) Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
9. (-) Marc Almond - The Velvet Trail
10. (8) Siskiyou - Nervous

11. (9) Dan Mangan + Blacksmith - Club Meds
12. (7) Björk - Vulnicura
13. (-) The Slow Show - White Water
14. (10) The Migrant - Flood
15. (-) Hail The Ghost - Forsaken
16. (11) Moon Duo - Shadow Of The Sun
17. (12) Duke Garwood - Heavy Love
18. (-) Laura Marling - Short Movie
19. (13) The Charlatans - Modern Nature
20. (14) Susanne Sundfor - Ten Love Songs

Nog veels te vroeg om wat dan ook vast te leggen, maar dit zijn alvast twintig fijne plaatjes... De top-4 maakt nu al goeie kans op een eindejaarsnotering.

01. Blur - The Magic Whip
02. Shlohmo - Dark Red
03. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
04. Maalem Mahmoud Guinia, Floating Points & James Holden - Marhaba
05. José James - Yesterday I Had the Blues
06. Levon Vincent - Levon Vincent
07. DRS - Mid Mic Crisis
08. Europe [Verzamelaar]
09. Walls - Urals
10. Jon Hopkins - Late Night Tales [Mixalbum]

11. Henrik Schwarz - Instruments
12. Cannibal Ox - Blade of the Ronin
13. Long Arm - Kellion
14. BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul
15. Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld - Never Were the Way She Was
16. Jamie xx - Home [Mixalbum]
17. Michał Lewicki - Ton
18. Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too
19. Substance [Verzamelaar]
20. Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$

Zo, die Marhaba ziet er interessant uit! Die ga ik eens opzoeken. Hoe klinkt het ongeveer?

Vier lang uitgerekte, repetitieve en zorgvuldig opgebouwde nummers, hypnotiserende, house-achtige grooves met Marokkaanse percussie, snaarinstrumenten en zang.

Zeker aan te raden, Arrie! (Indirect: mooie notering, panjoe!)

Daarnaast zou ik nog graag willen opmerken dat Maalem Mahmoud Ghania (Guinia/Khania/whatevz) al op een paar andere sterke albums heeft meegedaan: de samenwerking met Pharoah Sanders (wereldse jazz met tenorsax + guembri + percussie) en een freejazzplaat met Brötzmann en Drake. Een familielid van hem (vergeten wat nou precies de relatie is) bespeelt ook de guimbri, vrij sterk op twee fantastische freejazztracks op deze verzamelaar.

Long story short: de guembri is AAN!

Ik kan toch al een top-5 geven (op 5 albums gestemd en alle 5 ten minste 4*):

1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell 4,5*
2. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
3. Blur - The Magic Whip
4. Boudewijn de Groot - Achter Glas
5. The Waterboys - Modern Blues 4*

Over enkele jaren volgt een top-30.

Studio albums
1. Benjamin Clementine - At Least for Now 5*
2. Calexico - Edge of the Sun 4.5*
3. Pops Staples - Don't Lose This
4. Sven Hammond - IV
5. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall 4*
6. Bettye LaVette - Worthy
7. Tristan - 2Nd Phase
8. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
9. José James - Yesterday I Had the Blues
10. Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color

Verzamel / Heruitgave / Live
1. George Jackson and Dan Greer - At Goldwax 4.5*
2. The Soul Stirrers - Joy in My Soul
3. Sam Dees - It's Over (70s Songwriter Demos and Masters)
4. Diversen - Soul Emissaries: Super Funk
5. Jimmy Holiday - Spread Your Love (The Complete Minit Singles 1966-1970) 4*
6. The Valentinos - Lookin' for a Love
7. The Fame Gang - Grits & Gravy
8. Diversen - Los Angeles Soul
9. Diversen - Northern Soul's Classiest Rarities Volume 5
10. Jackie Wilson - NYC 1961-1966

Ozric Tentacles - Technicians of the Sacred: 5*

Thunder - Wonder Days : 4,5*

Allie X - CollXtion I: 4*
Purity Ring - Another Eternity: 4*
Say Lou Lou - Lucid Dreaming: 4*
Eclipse - Armageddonize : 4*
Toto - Toto XIV : 4*
Revolution Saints - Revolution Saints: 4*

Angra - Secret Garden: 3,5*
Sylvan - Home: 3,5*
Passion Pit - Kindred: 3,5*
Europe - War of Kings: 3,5*

Ep's:
Kate Boy - Kate Boy: 4,5*
Robert Parker - Cardinal: 3,5*
The Cavern - The Cavern: 3,5*

Dit is even de tussenstand. Uiteindelijk zullen een heleboel 4* wel een 3* of een 3,5* worden, zoals Toto en Eclipse. De 3,5* verdwijnen sowieso uit het lijstje, naarmate het jaar vordert.
Veel prachtige synth/electropop en spacerock releases dit jaar. Mooie uitschieter is de bluesy hardrock van Thunder.

1. (-) Other Lives - Rituals 4.5*
2. (1) Benjamin Clementine - At Least For Now
3. (2) Pond - Man It Feels Like Space Again 4*
4. (4) Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
5. (3) Viet Cong - Viet Cong
6. (5) Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
7. (6) Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
8. (-) Shlohmo - Dark Red
9. (7) BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul
10. (-) Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

1. Steven Wilson – Hand.Cannot.Erase
2. Beardfish – +4626-Comfortzone
3. Steve Hackett – Wolflight
4. Archive – Restriction
5. Lonely Robot – Please Come Home
6. The Gentle Storm – The Diary
7. The Waterboys – Modern Blues
8. The Neal Morse Band – The Great Experiment
9. Blur – The Magic Whip
10. Björk – Vulnicura

01 Benjamin Clementine - At Least for Now
02 Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol.3
03 Petrels - Flailing Tomb
04 Shlohmo - Dark Red
05 Variant ‎- Auratia
06 William Basinski - Cascade
07 Ghostpoet - Shedding Skin
08 Peter Broderick - Colours of the Night
09 Jam City - Dream A Garden
10 Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld - Never Were the Way She Was

11 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Easy Skanking in Boston '78
12 Villagers - Darling Arithmetic
13 Koss - Silence
14 I-LP-O In Dub - Communist Dub
15 Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
16 Jon Hopkins - Late Night Tales
17 Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
18 Rutger Zuydervelt - Sneeuwstorm
19 Oren Ambarchi - Live Knots
20 José James - Yesterday I Had the Blues

Update (ik zit inmiddels aan 10 albums, waarvan de top 5 mij zeker materiaal voor de uiteindelijke lijst lijkt. De nieuwe Blur is overigens, helaas, nog steeds niet binnen):

1. (1) Doomtree - All Hands 4,5*
2. (2) Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly
3. (-) Róisín Murphy – Hairless Toys (4)*
4. (3) Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
5. (4) Laura Marling - Short Movie
6. (5) Roosbeef - Kalf
7. (6) Lapalux - Lustmore
8. (7) Mevrouw Tamara - Zo lang mogelijk
9. (-) Kovacs – Shades of Black
10. (-) Selah Sue - Reason

Tijd voor het eerste overzicht van dit jaar. Er is al veel mooie muziek gemaakt dit jaar.

1. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday *4,5
2. The Slow Show - White Water
3. Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
4. Benjamin Clementine - At least for Now *4,0
5. Django Django - Born Under Saturn
6. Kovacs - Shade of Black
7. Mark Knopfler - Tracker
8. Blur - The Magic Whip *3,5
9. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowel
10. Death Cab for Cutie - Kintsugi

Hieronder nog 10 releases die ik interessant vindt.
11.Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly *3,5
12. Bill Fay - Who is the Sender
13. Steve Hackett - Wolflight
14. Nadine Shah - Fast Food
15. The Gentle Storm - The Diary
16. Viet Cong - Viet Cong *3,0
17. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
18. Calexico - Edge of the Sun
19. Jacco Gardner - Hypnophobia
20. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress

Echt al veel goeie platen dit jaar!
Mijn eerste top 20 van 2015 (al op 115 albums gestemd):

1. Glaciation - Sur les Falaises de Marbre
2. Zatokrev - Silk Spiders Underwater
3. Benjamin Clementine - At Least for Now
4. Shining - IX: Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends
5. Carach Angren - This Is No Fairytale
6. Siskiyou - Deserter
7. Wiegedood - De Doden Hebben het Goed
8. Raketkanon - RKTKN #2
9. Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs
10. We the Heathens - Regicide

11. Fauve - Vieux Frères - Partie 2
12. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell
13. Asaf Avidan - Gold Shadow
14. Balthazar - Thin Walls
15. Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves
16. Torche - Restarter
17. Izah - Sistere
18. Brothers of the Sonic Cloth - Brothers of the Sonic Cloth
19. Turnstile - Nonstop Feeling
20. Marduk - Frontschwein

YouTube-playlist

Heerlijk muziekjaar tot nu toe

1. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
2. Colm Mac Con Iomaire – And Now the Weather / Agus Anois An Aimsir
3. My Morning Jacket – The Waterfall
4. Blur – The Magic Whip
5. Belle & Sebastian – Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
6. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday
7. José Gonzalez – Vestiges & Claws
8. The Tallest Man on Earth – Dark Bird is Home
9. Vetiver – Complete Strangers
10. The Decemberists – What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World

Ozric Tentacles - Technicians of the Sacred: 5*

Thunder - Wonder Days : 4,5*

Anekdoten - Until All the Ghosts Are Gone: 4*
Allie X - CollXtion I: 4*
Purity Ring - Another Eternity: 4*
Say Lou Lou - Lucid Dreaming: 4*
Eclipse - Armageddonize : 4*
Toto - Toto XIV : 4*
Revolution Saints - Revolution Saints: 4*
Betamaxx - Plug & Play: 4*
Lonely Robot - Please Come Home: 4*
State Urge - Confrontation: 4*

Ep's:
Kate Boy - Kate Boy: 4,5*
Robert Parker - Cardinal: 3,5*
The Cavern - The Cavern: 3,5*

Groeimogelijkheden voor Lonely Robot en Anekdoten. Toto, Eclipse en Revolution Saints lopen de kans een 3,5* te krijgen en uit de lijst te verdwijnen.