BEST MUSIC OF 2015

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Abyss by Chelsea Wolfe

A quite personal and dark affair, excruciatingly heavy and doomy
at times. Chelsea Wolf said in an interview that she makes her guitar go places where her voice cannot. She also understands music dynamics and her compositions resemble a rudderless vessel at the mercy of tsunami waves. There is a certain hollowness you feel inside when the music's over. Wolfe's unconventional vision has created a masterful album teetering between the avant garde
and accessibility, the best album of 2015!






"Primrose Green" by RYLEY WALKER

Riley's old fashioned finger style acoustic guitar style, although owing plenty to the 60s British masters, is enchantingly and elegantly understated with rich psychedelic harmonic overtones colouring the airwaves that tickle the ears. Seriously unique...








"Psychic Warfare" by CLUTCH

The old headbanger in you will have a tough time keeping up with this one. You will get a sore neck because Clutch have evolved into a mean furious machine. Stoner? Nah, just hard hitting roc n' roll...









"Universal Themes" by SUN KIL MOON

Mark Kozelek is genius! "Benji" may have gotten better reviews but I find this one more intriguing. It's cool to experiment but it's cooler to experiment and get results. It is immeasurably difficult to deliver this stream-of-consciousness lyrical style with such confident and exhilarating storytelling. Amazing vocal delivery as he shifts from shouty to spoken effortlessly. A work of avant art...






"Tomorrow Is My Turn" by RHIANNON GIDDENS

Take a super talented member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and put her in a studio with supreme producer T Bone Burnett and you will get a timeless, knowledgeable masterpiece that reaches out to the blues, jazz, country and gospel. Giddens has impeccable knowledge (let alone taste) of the roots of American music. Hauntingly graceful she may be the most talented of her generation...




"Below The Belt" by JAMES LEG

James Leg (John Wesley Myers) is like a man possessed as he continues to preach his hyper garage punk blues (like he did with Black Diamond Heavies). Really, who needs a guitar when a distorted Fender Rhodes sounds so devilish! His Tom Waitsian voice adds more to the shambolic nature. A close listen will reveal just how excellent an instrumentalist he is. Check out the infectious southern rock/mariachi Casa de Fuego. It will make you hit the repeat button until you run out of fingerprints!




"Love, Fear And The Time Machine" by RIVERSIDE

Marius Duda has perfected the Gilmour-ish side of Floyd. The elegance, the eloquence, the majestic gentleness that emanates from this work is unparalleled...if only David Gilmour was playing the guitar on this...








"Children Of The Night" by TRIBULATION

Swedish death metal. But wait, there are some goth undertones. And it has some proggy bits. Hey, there is some black metal feel about it, too. And what am I hearing? Is that old skool riffs?
It all blends together immaculately without holding back the forcefulness of this metal masterpiece...







"Hey Joe Opus Red Meat" by OTIS TAYLOR

Fancy a different take (or two) on Hey Joe?
It gets the atmospheric trance blues Otis Taylor treatment...










"Ashes & Dust" by WARREN HAYNES & RAILROAD EARTH

Does Warren ever take a break to rest? He definitely has the Midas Touch and can probably play anything. He can be as heavy as Metallica with Gov't Mule, reggae, southern rock jams...
Here he plays more acoustic than electric guitar with the much underrated Railroad Earth and the results are exceptional...







"Kyrr " by KONTINUUM

Paying tribute to fellow Icelanders Solstafir, Kontinuum switch direction to a more atmospheric and melancholic post goth metal. The sound of cold isolation.
There must be something in the water there in Iceland...








"Blue Room" ANA & MILTON POPOVIC

A pretty straightforward covers album but made with a bucketful of affection towards these songs....










RE-RELEASE OF THE YEAR
"Amused To Death" by ROGER WATERS


The best Pink Floyd album after The Wall...












SONG OF THE YEAR
"Long Strange Golden Road" by THE WATERBOYS

Mike Scott is the Bob Dylan of the UK. There are many autobiographical songs out there. "Alive" (PEARL JAM), "At Seventeen" (JANIS IAN), "Tangled Up In Blue" (BOB DYLAN), "Bedsitter Images" (AL STEWART), "The Loner" (NEIL YOUNG), "Coal Miner's Daughter" (LORETTA LYNN) to name a few. This eclipses most of them! Stunning delivery by Mike Scott backed by seasoned Nashville session men. And a hammond organ to die for...





Long Strange Golden Road