"Best of" is such an inelegant description of these sorts of shows. There's a lot of good music out there. Picking the "best" is so subjective and ultimately impossible.
But we're not going to get into "Favo(u)rite" because we're British men living in America and that whole thing where y'all forgot how to spell is just awkward.
So this is a roundup, consisting of things we rather enjoyed from this year's bumper crop of tasty musical morsels. So many morsels, in fact, that we're going to split them across 2 ear-pleasing shows, this week and next week.
Playlist
-
Calm It Down by Sisyphus on Sisyphus (Asthmatic Kitty Records) - Break
-
Red Eyes by The War On Drugs on Lost In The Dream (Secretly Canadian) -
Do You by Spoon on They Want My Soul (Loma Vista) -
Happy Idiot by TV on the Radio on Seeds (Harvest) - Break
-
Hostiles by Damon Albarn on Everyday Robots (Honest Jon's) -
Everything is New by Slow Club on Complete Surrender (Moshi Moshi) - Break
-
Give, Get, Take by Maxïmo Park on Too Much Information (Daylighting) -
Turn on the Light by Jamie T on Carry on the Grudge (Virgin) -
Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers on Brill Bruisers (Matador) -
The Clock by Ty Segall on Manipulator (Drag City) - Break
-
Hi-Five by Angel Olsen on Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar) -
Seasons (Waiting on You) by Future Islands on Singles (4AD) -
Hunger Of The Pine by Alt-J on This Is All Yours (Canvasback/ATL) - Break
-
Schools of Eyes by Wye Oak on Shriek (Merge Records) -
Teenage Exorcists by Mogwai on Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1. (Rock Action) -
The Ship by Black Rivers on The Ship (Ignition Records) - Break
-
Line of Fire by Sucre on Loner (Red Velvet) -
Coffee by Sylvan Esso on Sylvan Esso (Partisan Records) -
Kicks by FKA Twigs on LP1 (Young Turks) - Break
-
New Dorp. New York. by SBTRKT on Wonder Where We Land (Young Turks) -
All Under One Roof Raving by Jamie xx on All Under One Roof Raving (Young Turks)