Monday Mixtape, Vol. 29
Welp. I just wrote a ton and it got deleted because the page tried to reload. That sucks. Let's try this again.
A number of solid albums have been released in the past few weeks that have reached into my Top 25 Albums of 2015.
Borns has released one of the best Electro-Pop albums this year. He (yes, that's a dude singing!) tackles somberness like Beach House (as the guitar shows in "The Emotion") yet provides upbeat and lighthearted jams throughout (as his falsetto indicates on "Dopamine") that remind me a bit of Passion Pit and MGMT's first album.
I first heard C. Duncan because he was nominated for the Mercury Prize - the award given to the best album of the year from the UK or Ireland. The prize ultimately went to Benjamin Clementine, a man with a mountain of a voice and a piano at his palms. But C. Duncan's album has intrigued me. I feel lost in a forest of folk, whistling tunes like he does in "For." The only guy I could think to compare him to is Bibio.
I don't know how I found Sea Ghost, but they're unadorned rock by a singer with a voice no one would write home about, yet that sincerity is exactly why it works. The xylophone doesn't hurt either on "Cowboy Hat."
Julia Holter vibrates in strings of instruments with an ethereal aura about her. She reminds me of Andrew Bird. Very cool album worth a listen!
I wasn't overly impressed with Metric's album, but I thought this was a pretty powerful electro song.
The first half of Pure Bathing Culture's new album is really good but then it drops off a bit. If you like this track, check em out!