Keepers 2015 (10th edition)

Somehow, I bought fewer new records in 2015 than any year in recent memory (it seems like I say that every year now). I could blame it several factors, from no longer having easy access to a record store, the recycling of punk-rock themes over generations or Mark Lanegan taking a break from releasing one to three albums a year.

New records from Calexico and Jason Isbell should stay in rotation as long as anything here. Anyone who has read one of these posts in past years knows I am no stranger to those artists. I’ve already written enough about Jose Gonzalez, the Drive-By Truckers and Paul McCartney this year. So let’s talk about what threw me off, blasted away expectations and left me thinking a little deeper. I know it lacks diversity – but this was not a year when new artists held much sway. As always, I’ll take recommendations.

Sufjan Stevens, Carrie and Lowell
 I loathe picking an album of the year or declaring an album perfect, but what else could I say about this one? Nothing else from 2015 came close to this poignant, emotional journey. With a few twists and turns, it could have easily been called Oregon to continue his wonderful talent for state-themed records. But Stevens lets the state and its history flesh out his personal story. The Tillamook Burn and Crested Butte embellish the narrative of Carrie and Lowell, spreading a deeply rooted foundation. It’s an almost perfect album. If pressed to say what falls below perfection, I would struggle to point out where.

Viet Cong, Viet Cong
It’s hard to imagine a more tone-deaf name for a band – thankfully the 20-something Canadians came around to its controversy and will choose something new. The music overcomes that misstep. Mashing Television-style guitar runs with Joy Division-esque atmosphere works wonders over this debut’s 37 minutes.

Faith No More, Sol Invictus There seemed to be a palpable sense of disappointment around this record, but the 17-year gap between Album of the Year and Sol Invictus showed FNM had surprisingly little rust to shake off. Sunnyside Up is the darkest song about breakfast you’ll hear in any year.

Panda Bear, Panda Bear Versus the Grim Reaper
 Two keepers from January alone – that’s not your normal year. But Panda Bear travels across a vast sonic geography on Grim Reaper. Panda Bear covers different terrain solo than with Animal Collective, from the digital swamplife of Sequential Circuits to the delicate Tropic of Cancer, a musing upon a loved one's terminal disease that perfectly fits a cloudless, moonlit night.

Wilco, Star Wars
It seems Jeff Tweedy makes these lists every time he hums a few bars. Wilco had its strongest year in ages, ending 2014 with a rarities boxed set, a career-spanning tour and the band’s first-ever all-acoustic show (available as a download and also worth a listen). Then came an e-mail in July with a link to a free new record. Anything free brings out the skeptic in me. But the punchy, 33-minute record is Wilco’s best since Sky Blue Sky and unlike anything they have recorded. I won’t single out any tracks because I play Star Wars in its entirety every time.

Best Rediscovery
Frank Sinatra, In the Wee Small Hours
I have accumulated a fair amount of Sinatra on vinyl (Moonlight Sinatra, Sings for Only the Lonely, September of My Years), but this 1955 number immediately became my favorite. Sinatra’s best moments came over Nelson Riddle arrangements, and Wee Small Hours is no exception. All these songs owe a debt to the darkest hours of the day but all feel intimate, not depressing.

Best Classical
Pablo de Sarasate, various recordings
Rarely does anything from classical radio catch an ear. On one November morning, a short piece from this Spanish violinist/composer seemed like a veritable clinic. Diving deeper into Sarasate’s catalog, I found a number of piercing pieces. Start with La Reve, Op. 53, and let his virtuosic violin propel you.

Best vinyl reissues 
Ennio Morricone, For a Few Dollars More
I came close to hyperventilating when I found this reissue, and even closer when I saw the price, but it could not be skipped. This 10-inch LP succinctly catalogs all the music of Sergio Leone’s second spaghetti western with Clint Eastwood, the underrated For a Few Dollars More. There are some amazing tracks on this short collection, including the powerful Sixty Seconds to What. A pocketwatch motif tied together the disparate threads. While shorter than The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - in part because of long silent sections in For a Few Dollars More, including a magnificent test of shooting skills – it’s every bit as powerful.

REM, Unplugged 2001 
Sure, it arrived in mid-2014 on Record Store Day but I didn’t get mine till Christmas. Both unplugged record document important moments in the seminal band’s career. After a year of listening to both, I lean more toward the latter performance, since it illuminates the band’s less-celebrated later career, which had some definite lowlights (Mine Smell Like Honey, indeed). Here REM showcase material that might have been passed by in the post-Bill Berry era. Heavy on songs from Up and Reveal, REM shows that songs like All the Way to Reno and Daysleeper fit in the band’s canon. They pepper in classic and their best deep cuts - they had me at Cuyahoga and Country Feedback.