BarryGruff Albums of the Year (2015)

BGs Albums of the year 2015So it is that time of year again, lists, lists and more lists. Well, not be out done, here are my 41 (yes 41, and yes it’s a weird number) albums of 2015.

It has been such a good year for new albums, probably the best since I started the blog back in 2010. So much so that there is very little difference between the top 5, top 10, top 15 and so on. So without further ado, here are my favourite records from 2015:

There is also a Spotify playlist of the Top 20 albums, to save you time and hassle (it’s here).

41. Only Real – Jerk At The End of the Line’

40. Rozi Plain – ‘Friend’

39. Wildling – ‘Molecules To Moon’

38. The School – ‘Wasting Away And Wondering’

37. Sweet Baboo – ‘Boombox Ballads’

36. The Stammer – ‘Days In Between’

35. SexWitch – Sex Witch’

34. Faith Healer – ‘Cosmic Troubles’

33. Girl Band – ‘Holding Hands With Jamie’

32. Joanna Gruesome – ‘Peanut Butter’

31. Fort Romeau – ‘Insides

30. Soft Serve – ‘S/t’

29. Applescal – ‘For’

28. Zefur Wolves – ‘Zefur Wolves’

27. Hot Chip – ‘Why Make Sense?’

26. Drenge – ‘Undertow’

25. The Charlatans – ‘Modern Nature’

24. Gaz Coombes – ‘Matador’

23. Bill Ryder-Jones – ‘West Kirby County Primary’

22. Drinks – ‘Hermits on Holiday’

21. The Expert – Dynamic Drift

20. Boxed In – ‘Boxed In’

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Hot Chip – ‘Huarache Lights’ (Soulwax Remix)

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Soulwax have been providing us with a bountiful yield of top quality remix action of late.

The Belgian pair’s hot-streak of superb remixes continues with a brand-new rework of Hot Chip’s ‘Huarache Lights’. To be fair, the original was already a cracker, and similarly to their Tame Impala remix (see below), Soulwax have built from that base to serve up a re-imagining that is all kinds of wonderful. They flesh out the tune with increased spaciousness and dynamism before knocking the original synth up another level, and then cutting it all back entirely to unleash their funk. Impossible not to be affected by the insidious infectious of this one; it’s guaranteed to get you moving. Soulwax do tend to have a habit of doing that, right?

You can take a listen below along with some colourful visuals. The deluxe edition of Hot Chip’s latest album Why Make Sense? is out on October 24th.

Millions Like Us: A New Podcast In Conjunction w/ 604now.com

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Delighted to announce Millions Like Us, a new music podcast in conjunction with Vancouver news & culture site 604now.

Hosted by myself & craft beer, pastie and fast-food safari enthusiast, Justin Beats, we’ll be sharing great new music, some musings and general chit-chat, with a Vancouver slant, on a fortnightly basis. This is the first of what we hope is many, many podcasts and we’re looking forward to developing it further over the coming weeks and months. Not much else to say really, aside from thanks to 604now and we hope you enjoy the show (all feedback, good or bad, is most welcome).

You can read more on it here and listen to episode #1 below, and the tracklist (with links) is after the jump.

Episode #1 Playlist:

Faith Healer – ‘Cosmic Troubles’
White Poppy – ‘Confusion’
Sales – ‘Big Sis’
Danny Diggs – ‘Wino’
The Expert – ‘Devine’
Open Window – ‘0013 (Riot Tape)’
Villagers – ‘Courage’
Anderson – ‘Things We Have In Common’
Django Django – ‘Shake and Tremble’
Energy Slime – ‘Star On The Ground’
Hot Chip – ‘Started Right’
James Deen – ‘An Unwritten Love Song To Summer Roberts’
Sh-Shakes – ‘Little To Life’
Zen Mystery Fogg – ‘Pale Horse’
DRINKS – ‘Hermits on Holiday’
If you would like to get in touch? Email at millionslikeuspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com or on Twitter.

BarryGruff’s Albums of 2015 So Far……

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I’m not exactly the best at keeping you and the site up-to-date with album reviews, to be honest, it’s the old enemy time. Discovering the hours to scribble some thoughts about this album or that has become rather elusive, but thankfully finding time to listen to albums, and music in general, is less of an issue.

Here are a list of my most listened and loved records of 2015 so far with Spotify links and playlists for overall albums of 2015. There are plenty of playlists on Spotify and Soundcloud and on the blog too. Oh, and with regards to albums *cough, cough*, you can still download GruffWuff, a 19 track compilation celebrating 5 years of BarryGruff, for FREE from bandcamp, *cough, cough*.

Top 24 albums of 2015 so far…

01. Czarface – ‘Every Hero Needs A Villain’

02. H. Hawkline – ‘In The Pink Of Condition’

03. Villagers – ‘Darling Arithmetic

04. Blur – ‘The Magic Whip’

05. Ghost Culture – ‘Ghost Culture’

06. Boxed In – ‘Boxed In’

07. Django Django – ‘Born Under Saturn’

08. Girlpool – ‘Before The World Was Big’

09. Stealing Sheep – ‘Not Real’

10. The Charlatans – ‘Modern Nature’

11. Courtney Barnett – ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’

12. Gaz Coombes – ‘Matador’

13. Hot Chip – ‘Why Make Sense?’

14. Applescal – ‘For’

15. Public Service Broadcasting – ‘The Race For Space’

16. Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’

17. Sen Segur – ‘Films’

18. Zefur Wolves – ‘Zefur Wolves’

19. Faith Healer – ‘Cosmic Troubles’

20. Mowbird – ‘One-Offs’

21. Joanna Gruesome – ‘Peanut Butter’

22. Fort Romeau – ‘Insides’

23. Rozi Plain – ‘Friend’

24. Pale Honey – ‘Pale Honey’

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