Introduction
If you dig these songs please consider buying them; most can be had for less than a buck. They will also be hosted at Pruning Shears until Wednesday, so you can try before you buy over there.
Some lyrics may be NSFW. Listen at your own risk.
Here are my favorite songs this year from my RSS feeds. I use Sharp Reader as my aggregator. See the "Free MP3 sites" part of my blogroll for my current feed list.
Recommended albums
In addition to the ones mentioned in the list, here are the albums in 2015 I enjoyed front to back:
Charlie Parr - Stumpjumper. Along with James McMurtry's Complicated Game, Stumpjumper showed how vibrant folk continues to be as a genre. I got to see both of them live too, which was a treat. Parr is spectacular in concert.
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit. Like with CHVRCHES, a happy example of high quality music becoming popular as well.
Pet Politics - 2005 - 2008. I heard, and really liked, "When I Get Old" at the time it was released, but never tracked down any of Magus Larsson's other songs. Which was stupid of me, because his other stuff is just as good. He's gone on to other things now apparently, but this year his singles as Pet Politics were collected on one disc. Don't make the same mistake I did - catch it while you can.
Kali Uchis - Por Vida. Latina pop singer. I don't get how a song like "Lottery" doesn't completely take over the radio.
NYC All-Star 15 Mixtape (download). I think the title pretty well covers it.
Honorable Mention
I usually reserve an Honorable Mention spot for a longer song. Most years there's at least one 7+ minute song that I like quite a bit, but since I try to get lots of different artists on the list I don't want a single tune to crowd out several other candidates. When a longer song really blows me away I'll make room, but overall I prefer to keep my selections under five minutes or so.
22. "Ont menarem" - Trio Puech/Gourdon/Brémaud (Stream)
You may just hear noise at first, but keep listening.
The List
(Fits on a single 80 minute CD.)
21. "Rome Wasn't Built In A Day" - JD McPherson (Buy)
I used to feel a little self-conscious about liking music that had a retro vibe. It's not contemporary so it's not cool, right? I'm over that now.
20. "Shipwrecking" - Computer Magic (Buy)
Synth that hits like a bulldozer.
19. "Water" - Angharad Drake (Buy)
I love the contrast between the spare, unadorned arrangement and the sensual lyrics.
18. "Forever Ain’t So Long" - Tooth and Tusk (Stream)
Because pop music still matters.
17. "Black Eyed Susan" - Robert Chaney (Buy)
Mesmerizing guitar and haunting vocals.
16. "Her Last Wave" - The Go! Team (Buy)
From The Scene Between (2015 Album of the Year). The album got lukewarm reviews, and Rolling Stone even took a big 'ol dump on it, but I had it on constant rotation. It's just one incredibly well crafted song after another. Nothing special about that, right?
15. "Sifu" - Gabe 'Nandez (Stream)
The drums paired with the plucked strings just killed me.
14. "Patriachaeth" - Gwenno (Buy)
Swirling keyboards, soaring vocals.
13. "Try" - Liss (Buy)
Danish teen band swings at first pitch, clears the bases.
12. "Extendos ft. OG Boobie Black" - DJ Paul (Buy)
Best Beat of 2015.
11. "Summertime Daydream" - Madison (Buy)
Calculated to be a warm-weather anthem, and calculated very well.
10. "Hood Gone Love It" - Sheek Louch (Stream)
A guilty pleasure. You can fit what I know about the hood in a thimble, but when no one else is around I like to crank this one up and pretend otherwise.
09. "Morning Sun" - Holly Herndon (Buy)
Listen with headphones for the full effect. It's dizzying and weird, and there's this sound at 3:28 that's maybe percussion and maybe electronic and it'll twist down your spine like a corkscrew.
08. "Cruella" - Bad Bad Hats (Buy)
Off of Psychic Reader (recommended). Basic garage rock, perfected.
07. "Nowhere ft. RetcH" - Tasha the Amazon (Buy)
Hearing this led me to her FiDiYootDem album from a couple years ago, which is very much worth catching up with. Lots of crazy good hooks.
06. "Wasn't Love Cafe" - Tangina Stone (Buy)
Super smooth R&B with lyrics both ordinary and dramatic: "If you would have held my hand the way people do with their fingers intertwined when they love each other."
05. "Hailslide" - Júníus Meyvant (Buy)
It's impossible not to make the Van Morrison comparison, but of course that's completely unfair. Still, it sounds like a lost track from his lush late-80s period.
04. "Go Slow" - Tei Shi (Buy)
Off the Verde EP (recommended). Between her, Computer Magic, Holly Hernon, FKA Twigs and God knows who else, it seems safe to say that the ladies dominated electronic music in 2015.
03. "I'm Gonna Ride This Horse ('Till the Day I Die)" - Los News (Buy)
Off of If We Don't, Who Will (recommended). Like the rest of the album, it's loud and fast and catchy as hell.
02. "The Scene From Collateral" - Nappy Roots (Buy)
The hook is absolutely insane.
01. (2015 Song of the Year) "Someday" - Anielle Reid (Buy)
I started my little project of discovering and listening to new artists in 2007. In that time I've listened to 20,000+ songs, the overwhelming majority by different artists. (I make it a point to seek out unfamiliar work.) In that time there have only been a handful of songs - probably literally five or less - that instantly grabbed me. This is one. First notes of the first listen my head snapped up, what is this? Perfect bass, perfect guitar, perfect banjo, perfect fiddle, perfect vocals, perfect harmony, perfect song.