Pho’s favourite releases of 2015

[enyx 903]

2015 marked the first year in which I kept a record of every new release that I listened to and attempted to create some sort of ranking system to determine which ones I most enjoyed. This is a favourites list, not a best of list; I don’t believe that music can be reviewed objectively and thus I feel that the concept of a best of is inappropriate. Also, I’m going to mix the Japanese and non-Japanese releases together and just list them all in alphabetical order.

 

AES DANA feat. MIKTEK - Alkaline

Ambient, Electronic, IDM

 

Both AES DANA and MIKTEK are members of European label Ultimae Records; a label specialising in a distinct brand of ambient and occasionally trance-influence IDM. It should come as no surprise, then, that Alkaline is a trip through a cerebral, almost dystopian aural soundscape. It marks the second instalment of a planned three-part series of releases by the two artists. I tend to find AES DANA’s work to be most enjoyable whenever he’s collaborating with other artists and Alkaline is no exception. Despite only being three tracks long, this is one of my favourite releases by either artist.

Sample song:

 

Aureole’s latest effort is the most direct, raw and straight-forward album they’ve ever put out. Despite generally being described as a post-rock band, Aureole’s previous releases haven’t been scared to delve into other territories including considerable ambient and electronic influences. On Spinal Reflex, however, the band opted to utilise a more streamlined sound-palette (the electronic elements in particular have been notably turned down) and the result is a more tightly-focused album than any of their previous efforts. It could perhaps have had a couple more stand-out moments, but overall Spinal Reflex is Aureole’s most consistent album to date.

Sample song:

 

One day I’ll stop shamelessly fanboying over everything that haisuinonasa does. Today is not that day. Almost two years after their previous release, 2013’s reflection, haisuinonasa came back to remind me why they’re one of the few bands I can honestly say have never let me down to even the slightest degree. 変身 is every bit as captivating as the rest of their material. Even if it’s not quite as experimental as their preceding single, it still encapsulates everything that makes this band so fascinating; it’s cerebral, unique, and utterly brilliant. New album in 2016, pretty please?

Sample song:

 

Geskia (apparently now sans his trademark !) released both an EP and a full-length this year. As you can probably guess from their almost-identical artworks, both of them are extremely similar in sound & style and thus are included together here. Unlike the majority of his work, Geskia opted to make heavy use of vocal samples this time around, resulting in slightly less complex but in many ways more chill soundscapes that make both of these releases rather unique within his discography. Neither of them are my favourites amongst his other releases, but they’re both welcome additions to his always exemplary portfolio.

Sample song:

 

Over half a decade on since their previous studio album, Los Angeles-based noise rockers HEALTH finally returned this year with DEATH MAGIC, arguably their most dynamic album yet. DEATH MAGIC sees the band finally embracing the pop elements that have slowly been creeping more and more into their sound whilst still retaining a large portion of their trademark noisiness. Usually the idea of a noise rock band embracing pop sensibilities would be a cause of concern, but in this case it works surprisingly well, and in fact helps to make this my favourite release by them.
Sample song:

 

For the longest time I had ATLANTIS AIRPORT’s a [ 360° ] Cosmic Flight set to feature in my favourites of 2015 list, but after finally listening to their split with Marmalade butcher released back in October, I’ve since decided to replace it with Rembrandt rays. Normally I tend to find splits hard to enjoy as cohesive entities as the two (or more) bands involved rarely tend to gel together effectively, but in the case of these two artists that problem is nowhere to be found. Marmalade butcher contribute two solid tracks that emphasise the band’s strengths while hiding the weaknesses in thei songwriting, whilst ATLANTIS AIRPORT put out one of their strongest songs in the form LOVECRAFT MYTHOS. Solid stuff all around.
Sample: 

 

mouse on the keys’ second full-length is probably their most dynamic release yet. Jumping from epic pieces like leviathan and the lonely crowd, to more subdued numbers like mirror of nature and reflexion, to an experimental recreation of Maurice Ravel’s le gibet. Despite their expanded stylistic palette this time around, however, mouse on the keys never lose sight of their core sound - minimally phrased piano melodies supported by the brilliant drumming of their main composer, Akira Kawasaki. It’s not a flawless release - the band still has a habit of coming off as being somewhat pretentious to me at times - but it is nevertheless one of 2015’s strongest efforts.

Sample song:

 

After a few years of embracing their darker/heavier side (albeit with a brief break in the form of 2014’s 今日も生きたね single), THE NOVEMBERS have finally re-embraced their softer, poppier leanings for the first time since 2012’s GIFT with Elegance. Compared with their 2012 effort, Elegance is tighter, more refined, and more accessible, yet nevertheless willing to throw a curveball at you in the form of its closing track, 出る傷を探す血. THE NOVEMBERS have established themselves as one of the true standout bands in Japan’s absolutely stacked indie scene, and Elegance does nothing to suggest that things will be changing any time soon.
Sample song:

 

the piqnic have created quite the buzz around here as of late and after listening to ZyouK it’s not very difficult to understand why. Their first official release is a well-crafted (albeit highly imitative) noise/shoegaze album that immediately earmarks the band as one of the most intriguing up-and-comers of the scene. That said, despite the albums many strengths, I’m not quite as willing to place them on the same level as say, THE NOVEMBERS, just yet. Rather they seem like a band that’s still trying to discover their own identity whilst nevertheless showing a lot potential in their songwriting abilities. I’ll be paying close attention to them in 2016.

Sample song: krs

 

사람12사람 - feels too letter

Acoustic, Chillwave, Electronic

 

SARAM12SARAM’s sound revolves almost entirely around vocalist zieum’s beautiful, wispy vocals with everything else simply serving as a musical landscape for her to play around in. It’s a simple yet highly effective approach that paid dividends on the duo’s first EP, 2013’s 빗물구름태풍태양. In comparison to that release, feels too letter isn’t quite as dark or moody and places more emphasis on the acoustic elements rather than the electronic, but nevertheless retains the duo’s core sound. In fact, if anything, feels too letter is more of a refinement of that sound than it is a progression, but it works and is, in my opinion, the stronger of their two main releases.

Sample song: Cripple

 

실리카겔 - 새삼스레 들이켜본 무중력사슴의 다섯가지 시각

Neo psychedelic, Prog rock

 

SILICA GEL’s debut EP is a wonderful, albeit short, aural acid trip. Their sound is basically a combination of predominantly-instrumental progressive and psychedelic rock mixed with a healthy dose of synth and occasional vocals for good measure. In a country where the term “indie rock” more often than not refers to chilled-out, sentimental pop in disguise, SILICA GEL are one of the few standout bands not afraid to challenge the musical norm. Hopefully this EP is just the beginning of what they have in store.

Sample song:

 

I already wrote a larger review for this album here if anybody is interested. In short, ghost is dead marks a welcome return for one of the few bands whose music I consider very close to my heart. Kana Otsubo’s vocals remain as insanely relaxing as ever, while on the musical side the compositions feature a renewed emphasis on minimalism and subtle complexity that plays to the band’s strengths. Given the extremely busy nature of each of the members’ personal lives, ghost is dead may be the last we hear of SCLL for quite some time, but fortunately this release shows that there’s still plenty of life in the band… when they can find the time to record new music.

Sample song:

 

I suppose I’ll get one thing out of the way early: I didn’t enjoy this release as much as IMMORTALIS. The main reason being that whereas I found their first album remarkably consistent throughout its long length, VITIUM seems to go through a notable dip in quality during its middle three songs. foster mother seems to aimlessly meander around without any direction, 雨上がりの優詩 feels like a song that the band didn’t really know how to finish and just cobbled together, and maniera seems like a song much more suited to a live setting than a studio record. That said, however, VITIUM’s strong points, most-notably leather field and focus, do more than enough to convince me that this is still one of the most intriguing CallItWhateverYouWant-Kei bands going at the moment.

Sample song:

 

Proudly sitting alongside 실리카겔 as one of my favourite Korean rock discoveries of the year, Tierpark’s music is a delightful blend of dreamgaze, post rock, and a hint of math rock accompanied by melodic, haunting vocals courtesy of the band’s vocalist SeHee. The Moment Two Worlds Meet is a notable improvement over their previous self-titled full-length released in 2013 (although the opening track is a little on the weak side); the arrangements are tighter, the compositions more intricate, and the vocals more effectively utilised. It’s kind of like what you’d get if you took COgeNdshE’s sound but placed more emphasis on the melodic vocals.

Sample song: 명왕성

 

toe - HEAR YOU

Math rock, Post rock

 

For the longest time I really wasn’t sure whether I wanted to include HEAR YOU on this list. Somehow toe have managed to come up with what I consider one of the strongest albums of the year yet simultaneously one of the most disappointing. Perhaps it’s just the ridiculously high bar they’ve set for themselves over their exemplary career, or my stubborn unwillingness to fully accept their subtle stylistic developments. Either way, I can’t deny that HEAR YOU is still an expertly made album, and even in my disappointment with its relative lack of mathy elements, I can’t deny that toe achieved exactly what they set out to achieve here. There is, admittedly, a rather delightful irony about the fact that whilst Japan’s plethora of toe clones keep trying desperately to imitate the magic of 2005’s the book about my idle plot on a vague anxiety’s intricate complexities, the real thing themselves have been moving further and further away from it.

Sample song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxeQmF4sUJY'>Boyo

[Jigsaw9 6783]

sukekiyo & the piqnic <3

Interesting selection! I remember listening to the album by mouse on the keys, quite a nice surprise. Spangle call lilli line didn't do it for me tho (then again, I'm not rly into that kind of sound to begin with).

[yakihiko 1480]

I will give a try for that release from Spangle call Lilli line, I liked the sample song there.

Comparing to song itself, I prefer Secret mode than きれいな海へ, what about you?

[Chi 2624]

That aureole album is pretty good yessss

Nice list Not Matt

[doombox 4421]

That Aurole album was great and that Geskia Remains Domain, which I have to thank you for introducing to me, both were a lot of fun this year. Most of these are just out of my wheelhouse, sans Atlantis Airport (though I didn't listen to this split, only their own release) and sukekiyo -which I adore. But I'm glad to see you liked enough to have a fairly long list!

[freesia 714]

Great list! I like how you include so many post-rock stuff in your list. It's got a few post-rock albums that are new to me to check out.

[enyx 903]

I will give a try for that release from Spangle call Lilli line, I liked the sample song there.

Comparing to song itself, I prefer Secret mode than きれいな海へ, what about you?

I didn't really get anything out of Secret mode to be honest. I was interested in DECAYS on account of its lineup, but so far their output has been very underwhelming to me. I hope you enjoy ghost is dead!

 

That Aurole album was great and that Geskia Remains Domain, which I have to thank you for introducing to me, both were a lot of fun this year. Most of these are just out of my wheelhouse, sans Atlantis Airport (though I didn't listen to this split, only their own release) and sukekiyo -which I adore. But I'm glad to see you liked enough to have a fairly long list!

Well 'favourites' is a relative term, I guess. Overall I found 2015 notably weaker than the last few years in the sense that there were a lot of 'good' releases but very few 'great' ones. These releases are my favourites amongst this year's output, but admittedly not all of them would have made my list in stronger years.

 

Great list! I like how you include so many post-rock stuff in your list. It's got a few post-rock albums that are new to me to check out.

Nice! Hopefully you find at least some of them enjoyable!

[doombox 4421]

Well 'favourites' is a relative term, I guess. Overall I found 2015 notably weaker than the last few years in the sense that there were a lot of 'good' releases but very few 'great' ones. These releases are my favourites amongst this year's output, but admittedly not all of them would have made my list in stronger years.

I'm not here to nitpick the difference between good and great, I'm just happy to see what people enjoyed enough to mention over the course of this year. It's the same with my list, some of them wouldn't get mentioned in a stronger year, or aren't even my favorite release from said band's discography. But it's still a nice chance to talk about what was released this year that got on our radars.

[CAT5 9075]

PHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

 

 

Brilliant list! The Aureole, mouse on the keys, and toe albums didn't make my list, but I feel like these three will be a staple in my playlist for a while to come. Definitely great picks.

Naturally, haisuinonasa, the piqnic, and THE NOVEMBERS are all on my list too. I loved Tierpark as well, and I'm grateful to you for recommending it!

HEALTH, SILICA GEL, and SARAM12SARAM are all intriguing prospects, so I plan on checking them out eventually.

Can you believe that I still haven't tried that Geskia album?

And aww, 'foster mother' was my favorite track from VITIUM, ahaha.

[enyx 903]

HEALTH, SILICA GEL, and SARAM12SARAM are all intriguing prospects, so I plan on checking them out eventually.

For some reason I think you'd really enjoy the HEALTH album. It was a hard one to choose a sample song for because there are quite a few killer tracks on there;  MEN TODAY and COURTSHIP II are both pretty brilliant too. 

 

Can you believe that I still haven't tried that Geskia album?

I wont say that I'm judging you, but I'm judging you. Nah, admittedly it's not his strongest release by any means, but it's pretty solid regardless. You should definitely give it a shot at some point.