best of 2015: albums

our year-end best-of week comes to a close with our favorite albums of 2015.  we’ll spare you from reading any more; click on each album cover to navigate away to a review – more often than not from this site – that adequately portrays our opinions.  as always, our picks will run in alphabetical order, and you can listen to each album by clicking on the link in its title.  dive in.

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astronauts, etc. – mind out wandering

beach house – depression cherry

deafheaven – new bermuda

eskimeaux – o.k.

foxing – dealer

ibeyi – ibeyi

julien baker – sprained ankle

port st. willow – syncope

sufjan stevens – carrie & lowell

vince staples – summertime ’06

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watch the music video for julien baker’s “sprained ankle”

memphis singer-songwriter julien baker released her debut full-length, sprained ankle, towards the end of last month; it’s a sparse, heartbreaking album with a level of introspective lyricism that would nearly betray baker’s youthfulness did her sentiments not resonate profoundly with such a dedicated audience.  a music video for the album’s title track surfaced last week, its bare-bones cinematography reflecting the simple beauty of baker’s music as she sings a plaintive vignette of uncertainty regarding her songwriting skills while a cyclical, pinched-harmonic motif hums in the background.  watch the clip for “sprained ankle” below.