[Friday Playlist] The Best of May

Text by Adam Lehrer

More amazing music across all categories in May 2015: Hip-Hop, Electronic, Noise Rock, Metal, Experimental Folk, and on and so forth. Like Beyoncé’s Lemonade last month, my personal pick for the month’s best new album isn’t available on Spotify. If you haven’t been able to hear Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book mixtape, download the Apple Music app onto your phone now (even if you don’t care for Chance the app itself is incredible, any album you want downloaded into your iTunes for $10 a month, bye Tidal). While not as joyously adventurous as that other high profile album that Chance worked on this year, The Life of Pablo, Chance’s Coloring Book is in that wheelhouse. Chance, a recent father and generally sweet seeming guy, approaches Hip-Hop as conceptual art drawing upon his spirituality, life experiences, and dexterous flow. He is the logical successor to Kanye’s throne: a south side rapper who shuns gangster posturing for unbridled joy in making art. As the leader of SAVEMONEY crew with friends Vic Mensa, Joey Purp, and others, Chance shows that Hip-Hop doesn’t have to necessarily be a grim portrayal of life in South Side, but that it can be a gateway to an emotional connection to the attachment. With Coloring Book, Chance has put himself alongside Kanye, Kendrick, and Drake as the most important artists working in Hip-Hop.

Mark Pritchard, Under the Sun, Track: Beautiful People

Considering Mark Pritchard records for Warp Records, and that new record Under the Sun counts American Psych-Folk legend Linda Perhacs and motherfucking Thom Yorke amongst its vocal features, this new Pritchard record went slightly under the radar. I would like to establish here that this is a gorgeous record. Pritchard’s music is a muted, subdued, and highly stylized mish-mashed history of UK electronic music; Under the Sun takes on Techno, Hip-Hop, Ambient, Jungle, Grime, and god knows what else into a massive double album of hypnotic sounds. This is less a dance album than past Pritchard releases, almost like his version of Aphex Twin’s ambient albums. Take Xanax, put on headphones, and let Richard’s sounds lull you to sleep.


Marissa Nadler, Strangers, Track: Janie in Love

Marissa Nadler’s mezzo-soprano voice is her greatest tool. She welds it like a paint brush: on her new LP Strangers, she allows her voice enough clarity so you can examine the voice for meaning and messages, much like you would a painting (not surprising that Nadler studied fine art at RISD). Though Nadler is sober for the first time on record, she is not all peace and love: “The record is dealing with friendships dissolving and inner strife,” she said in an interview with The Quietus this week. The album’s sound, produced by genius Randall Dunn, feels more filled in than previous Nadler records allowing her more support to balance her voice, possibly due to Nadler wanting to record more with a band after feeling the loneliness of being a solo act for many years.
 


Death Grips, Bottomless Pit, Track: Eh

Welcome back, Death Grips, how we missed you. When drummer Zach Kill and MC Ride announced that Death Grips was over in 2014, I almost signed relief. Death Grips was easily the most exciting band of the early 2010s, but after a series of digital pranks and overly experimental and under-produced releases they started to become a bit of a caricature. The fact of the matter is that not giving a fuck is only interesting for so long. Fans want artists that care. On Bottomless Pit, Death Grips sound like they care. The album is both the band’s most accessible release since 2012’s The Money Store and also the best record of their career. Death Grips are at their best when they flirt with more accessible production and songwriting. Structure is what allows their sounds to really blare and gives Ride room to violently sermonize on drug addiction, poverty, the military industrial complex, and corrupted political landscapes. Bottomless Pit is the sound of two undeniable musical talents realizing they have a good thing; you can almost see Ride and Hill sharing an American Spirit and looking at each other to say, “Maybe we shouldn’t fuck this up.”


Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool, Track: Burn the Witch

A Moon Shaped Pool is a much different Radiohead record than OK Computer or Kid A. Unlike those records, it is not immediately transfixing. You can listen to it, rather quickly, all the way through and not take much notice of its sparse and lush arrangements. But it sneaks up on you, eventually revealing a Radiohead record, with all the pretentious beauty and unbridled grandeur that that entails.
 


Yak, Alas Salvation, Track: Harbour the Feeling

Yak is one of the last few exciting regular ol’ Rock n’ Roll bands around. And that is most likely because they don’t just give us garage rock rehashes of The Stones or Led Zeppelin. While those influences are there, the band’s feedback-fueled cacophonies are just as much in debt to some of the UK and US’s noisiest and most psychedelic rock bands: the hypnotic swirl of Spacemen 3, the drugged out swagger of Pussy Galore, and the acid house indebtedness of early Primal Scream. Finally: a Rock band trying to rock without the car commercial-readiness of The Black Keys.

 

Skepta, Konnichiwa, Track: Ladies Hit Squad (featuring D Double E)

As written about in a previous column, Skepta’s Konnichiwa is good enough to finally establish a strong Grime fan base in the United States.
 


Pantha du Prince, The Triad, Track: Frau im Mond, Sterne laufen

German conceptual electronic producer Pantha du Prince has been much missed since his last long player Black Noise was released six years ago. Arguably, Pantha du Prince was one of the first producers (along with Dubstep producer Burial) to shine a light back on the experimental possibilities inherent within digital music. While Black Noise could be described as chilly and subdued, new album The Triad is maximalist. Pantha du Prince pairs his minimalist production along with powerful live instrumentation on the record. The duality in sonics makes The Triad his most emotionally resonant body of music of his career.
 


ANOHNI, HOPELESSNESS, Track: Drone Bomb Me

You know, when ANOHNI was still Antony, I could never really get into her music. The voice was of course always incredible, but there was something kitsch about the approach to me. But ANOHNI has won me over with HOPELESSNESS. Never has her music felt this ALIVE. Aided by the bombastic beats of Hudson Mohawke and the bizarre production of Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never), ANOHNI protests, agonizes, and ultimately promises joyful reconciliation. This is the sound of one of the most compelling musicians alive finally free of the last shackle.
 


Julianna Barwick, Will, Track: Heading Home

It seems like there are a lot of artists recording music similar to that of Barwick. Everything from the more obvious peers like Grouper and Julia Holter to Daniel Lopatin and the first couple How to Dress Well records. These are artists who seemed to have grown up with fine art and have learnt from it how to create stories and concepts without the aid of concrete lyrics. Barwick’s new album, Will, is actually a rougher listen than her previous record Nepenthe. And that isn’t a bad thing, as Barwick doesn’t use her voice to be the centerfold of her music. On Will, she weaves her voice through cackling atmospherics and ambience as if to connect her body into something unknown. The record is truer to her approach and also highlights her contrasts with her contemporaries, in which the voice is just another layer in the production and not the star of the show.
 


Drake, Views, Track: Controlla

Views has taken some criticism and it’s not all unwarranted. The record is indulgently long and sometimes feels like Drake and producer Noah ‘40’ Shebib couldn’t find an exact direction to go into. But in the end, the record still highlights one of the most fascinating voices of popular music and his desire to make music that feels true to who he is. There are some beautiful songs on this record, and even some of the sloppy rapping doesn’t distract from those. Drake’s Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing, the confident lothario versus the sensitive crooner, feels very modern to me. It really sums up what it is to be a man in the modern world, where you can feel on top of it with one success one moment and utterly beaten down the next. I feel like Views might be better appreciated a couple years from now.
 


Ghold, Pyr, Track: Collusion with Traitors

There are few sub-genres more played out than Doom and Sludge Metal. The genre has already been perfected for some 20 years now by the likes of Eyehategod (Sludge), Electric Wizard (Doom), Earth (Drone Doom), Burning Witch (Blackened Sludge) and so on. But Ghold approaches slow beats and down-tuned feedback blistered riffs in a refreshingly new way. Traditionally a duo (Alex Wilson and Paul Antony), the band writes music for a four piece. On new record Pyr, the record has added a third member, multi-instrumentalist Oliver Martin. But by limiting their members, the band sounds rather bizarre. Though the influence of The Melvins’ Gluey Porch Treatments looms as large as it does on any other Sludge album, the record makes use of experimental instrumentation: a Free Jazz saxophone skree, a guitar noise breakdown. They are not an “Experimental Metal band,” they are a Metal band that experiments to make up for limited personnel. Thrilling stuff, really.
 


Arbor Labor Union, I Hear You, Track: Mr. Birdsong

Georgia-based Arbor Labor Union seem to draw upon both post-punk and Southern-twanged Psych Rock resulting in something akin to, I don’t know, let’s call it Southern Gothic Rock. The lyrics can be silly at times, with their hymns of joyous paganism. Another Randall Dunn production, this album packs an unusually strong and bombastic punch.
 


James Blake, The Colour in Anything, Track: Points

I’ve never been much a fan of James Blake. In a review for Bandwagon, Sean Francis Han wrote of Blake being “experimental electronic music’s answer to the late-00s indie folk sad boy phenomena,” and maybe that explains my distaste. I hated all of that shit. But, The Colour in Anything has won me over. Perhaps because it’s more of a pop record, with Blake’s voice front and center and his lyrics more direct. He also opened up his process, collaborating with Justin Vernon (I hate Bon Iver, but his voice is nice usually), Frank Ocean (new album coming soon y’all!), and Rick Rubin. Blake is becoming one of those artists who can flirt with the mainstream while still retaining his core ideas, no surprise that Kanye has shown interest in him and Beyoncé worked with him on her most adventurous album.
 


Ocean Wisdom, Chaos ‘93, Track: High Street

Brighton-based rapper Ocean Wisdom is like Grime’s answer to Earl Sweatshirt: a lyrical wunderkind who knows the history of his game enough to not be afraid to push and subvert it. He does not let up ever. His manically precise flow documents nonsensical near dream imagery along with social commentary and personal insight. I hope that Wisdom can ride the Skepta wave of renewed interest in Grime bringing a more experimental sensibility to the form. Every genre needs its weirdo iconoclasts.
 


Kaytrandaa, 99.9%, Track: GOT IT GOOD (featuring Craig David)

Montreal-raised producer Kaytrandaa veers between J Dilla worship and delirious house. His new record, 99.9%, is stacked with guest vocalists: Craig David, Vic Mensa, Phonte, Anderson Paak, and more. The album is a formidable display of the producer’s ability to find a beat that a rapper can jump onto and dancer can bust moves to. But it feels rather natural. It’s not like Trap where a slow hip-hop head banger devolves into a House breakdown. Instead, Kaytrandaa effortlessly finds a beat that can serve two very different purposes. It’s one of the most seamless combinations of dance and rap music I’ve ever heard.

 

Otoboke Beaver, Okoshiyasu!! Otoboke Beaver, track: Okoshiyasu!! Otobok

For those that like the kitsch-y manic Prog-Noise Rock blast of Japanese band Melt Banana in theory but can’t get behind the heaviness of it, Otoboke Beaver might prove a worthy alternative. The all-female quarter fashions itself in the lineage of bizarre Japanese Garage Rock (Guitar Wolf, Shonen Knife, DMBQ, etc..) and often recalls the jazzy riotous punk of God is my Co-pilot,  but there is a hyper-active day-glo quality to them that reminds you of the arcade culture of Tokyo warped into two-minute guitar anthems. The band also embraces performance and fashion, which is always refreshing in a world full of bands looking at the floor while wearing Chuck Taylor’s.
 


Heimat, Heimat, Track: Wieder Ja !

This French experimental act, Heimat, made up of members of warped Punk band Cheveu and experimentalists The Dreams, draws up a mixed bag of oddball sounds to create something succinct and slightly off-putting, but in a good way: horror movie soundtracks (particularly John Carpenter), crackling Hip-Hop beats (particularly those used by The Rza on the first few Gravediggaz albums), minimalist post-punk (Young Marble Giants, The Slits), and Afro-beat all seem to make up small fractions of Heimat’s overall sound. There is a menacing feeling luring beneath the tape his of this debut.



Machine Woman, Genau House, Track: I Can Mend Your Broken Heart

Russian sound artist Anastasia Vtorova records under the name Machine Woman. She produces tracks that take on minimal electronics while referencing European cinema. On new EP Genau House, she offers two tracks and a remix that offer a fine entry point into her sound.
 


Mirrors For Psychic Warfare, Mirrors for Psychic Warfare, Track: Oracles Hex

Though it’s been a long time since Neurosis have punished anyone’s ear drums as a band, its members are constantly making music outside the band. Leaders Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till have their own respective solo acts, there is the side band Tribes of Neurot, and Kelly’s band with producer Sanford Parker, Yakuza’s Bruce Lamont, and Eyehategod Mike IX, Corrections House. But Mirrors for Psychic Warfare, Kelly’s new project with Parker, might be the most difficult music ever to come out of this camp. The self-titled debut lurches at crawl speeds, taking aspects from blackened doom bands like Burning Witch as well as the smoky folk of Kelly’s solo material. It’s very hard to get into, especially if you are used to the orchestral onslaught of Neurosis. But the sound grows on you, and it’s refreshing to hear musicians of this stature move this far outside of their comfort zones.



Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial, Track: Fill in the Blank


Just when you thought the world didn’t need any Power Pop-leaning Indie Rock bands a songwriter comes along that has you totally reconsidering the form and its place in contemporary music. In this case, the songwriter is Virginia-born Will Toledo, AKA Car Seat Headrest. On paper, Toledo’s music shouldn’t be as good as it is. His influences read like a Pitchfork best of list: Animal Collective, Modest Mouse, Radiohead. But listening to this kid grapple with his own depression in sharp and acerbic lyrics reveals a depth unbeknownst to most or all Indie Rock acts of his age. His music also off-sets the lyrics. It’s surprising in places, and you don’t always know when the chorus is about to take effect. But when it does, it’s rather joyous. As DIY as this kid seems to be, he is not above the sing-along verse or the fist pumping breakdown. 

[FRIDAY PLAYLIST] The Best Hip Hop Tracks Of 2015

I was speaking with Lily Mercer, Editor-in-Chief of the excellent UK-based Hip-Hop lifestyle magazine VIPER, about the idea of the “Golden Age of Hip-Hop.” This period, often referred to as the years between the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, has only been referred to as such in retrospect. When Wu Tang dropped 36 chambers and Biggie dropped Ready to Die and Nas dropped Illmatic and Public Enemy dropped ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ and Ice Cube dropped Amerikkkaz Most Wanted and 2pac dropped 2pacalypse Now, no critic said, “Fuck, I think we are living in the Golden Age of this Rap shit.”

That makes it even the more ironic now that people are so nostalgic for the last Golden Age that they are not realizing that we are living in our OWN GOLDEN AGE. I 100 percent believe that 2015 has been a landmark year for Hip-Hop. We have gotten massive releases from the world’s biggest stars: Drake, Future, Rocky, etc..; to experimental records from some of the game’s most genre-bending weirdos: Le1f, Milo, Oddisee, etc.

Vince Staples said in an interview this year that hip-hop is the most important contemporary art form. I tend to agree with him. Aside from the fact that spoken word poetry over music genre-bending beats is one of the most winning music formulas the world has ever seen, no other “artist” can really match the reach that rap stars have. Now that Hip-hop is starting to represent more than one type of background and perspective (Women, gays) it’s entering a new phase of sonic and thematic maturity.

Read up on the tracks below...

1. Earl Sweatshirt, I Don’t Like Shit I Don’t Go Outside, Track: "DNA"

The Odd Future collective has outgrown each other. Frank Ocean has become a generational icon. Tyler has diversified into a human brand. And Earl Sweatshirt has become the best rapper on Earth. Sony really fucked Earl on this one, releasing I Don’t Like Shit I Don’t Go Outside on iTunes with no prior promotion. That meant that heads had a new Earl record they didn’t know about for a couple of days, and the record didn’t have near the cultural impact that it should have had. The record is sparser than his previous release Doris, but even more polished in the wordplay. He is most certainly a millennial rapper, heeding influence to everything from early Eminem and MF Doom. In a year fat with great rap records, this one I consistently went back to.

2. Drake, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Track: "Legend"

Drake owned 2015 from February onward: Hotline Bling, Meek Mill destruction, OVO X Jordan. And it all started with this record. It seems like Drake lost some of his fan boys with this disc that found him spit a bit more aggressive and lacking some of the Cure-ish melancholy “sad king” sounds from his earlier records. But that got me thinking. I once had a journalism professor who worked for EW and he said the coolest celebs were always the most famous ones: your Robert Downey, Jr’s, Brad Pitt’s, Clooney’s. Guys that are so fucking famous they are just used to people freaking out on them and no how to be cool about it. If You’re Reading This… has Drake acknowledging that he’s untouchable. If he died, he’d be a legend. And fuck if that isn’t the hottest opening hook I’ve ever heard.

3. Dr. Yen Lo, Days with Dr. Yen Lo, Track: "Day 1125"

Ka keeps the spirit of Brooklyn alive. With Night’s Gambit, he established himself as the logical successor to GZA as an MC that was equally meditative and streetwise. His whispered rhymes sometimes come at you more as a lullaby than street poetry. His Dr. Yen Lo project is collaboration with producer Preservation, perhaps previously best known for his work with Mos Def. The album finds them playing with the themes of the Manchurian Candidate. As with all Ka releases, it’s extremely minimal, pulling just the right bass line to keep a weed clouded head bopping ever so slowly. Day 11215 is a bit of an outlier on the album, with a beautiful guitar melody shimmering under Ka’s observations. It’s a shame that hip-hop like this will never be bigger.

4. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly, Track: "The Blacker the Berry"

Kendrick’s importance to contemporary culture has been discussed at length, and there’s not much for me to add to it. So I’ll talk about the music. When I first heard the new record, I respected that he pushing his sound outward to the land of free jazz and Parliament, but it wasn’t nearly as immediately addictive as m.A.A.d. city. That was probably a good thing. Not many artists get to international superstar status and get MORE experimental. Kendrick is bold. And this record grows on you until the point that you’ve realized that you listened to the damn thing over 20 times. The Blacker the Berry is still the best track, channeling the aggressive spirit of Kendrick’s hero Tupac Shakur and turning it inward. Kendrick is the protagonist and the antagonist.

5. Vince Staples, Summertime ’06, Track: "Jump off the Roof"

I saw Vince Staples twice this year: once opening for Run the Jewels on the Williamsburg waterfront, and once at the Rocky/Tyler extravaganza. He was incendiary both times. No other artist, except for Run the Jewels most likely, right now is packing such a club banging intensity while espousing revolutionary thought. Staples is a wickedly smart kid and his interviews are as enjoyable to read, as his music is to listen to. He can also get personal with the best of them, as in ‘Jump of the Roof’ where he ponders whether or not his vices are taking over his life.

6. Future, DS2, Track: "The Percocet and Stripper Joint"

I always have liked Future, without taking him overtly serious. That changed in 2014, with the Monster mixtape. He really has developed a singular style. After his split from fiancé Ciara he has started to question his inflated bravado. Celebratory songs of drugs and sex have turned into self-chastising tails of addiction and heartbreak. This was undoubtedly the biggest year of his career, between DS2 and What a Time to be Alive with Drake. I feel like a lot of heads dismiss Auto-Tuners. They shouldn’t. It’s an instrument, a tool. And Future has reached a new level of artistry with it at his arsenal.

7. A$AP Rocky, AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP, Track: "Electric Body (ft. Schoolboy Q)"

Though Rocky is massively popular, he seems to get overlooked critically. On Long.Live.A$AP; perhaps deservedly so. But Rocky both went back to what we fell in love with him in the first place for, anthemic fashion gangsta club tracks, AND expanded his sound, with psychedelic guitar drenched beats and splashes of color. He’s still not the best rapper out there, but he’s gotten a fuckload better, and his music is just so fun to listen to. This was the best driving record of the year. Schoolboy Q and Rocky bring out the best of each other on Electric Body, if you can handle the unabashed misogyny.

8. Bodega Bamz, Sidewalk Exec, Track: "Bring em Out (featuring Flatbush Zombies)"

The Flatbush Zombies and A$AP-affiliated Bodega Bamz, of Spanish Harlem, is an integral piece of the New York Hip-Hop puzzle, but everybody sleeps. ‘Sidewalk Exec’ pays homage to the horrorcore of yesteryear: Geto Boys, early Three 6 Mafia. Produced by V-Don, Sidewalk Exec plays out as both foreboding and at times terrifying.

9. Le1f, Riot Boi, Track: "Koi"

People had been waiting for this one for a while, and Le1f did not disappoint. As openly gay man in hip-hop, there was bound to be automatic interest in Le1f from the art crowds, but he has won over hip-hop crowds almost just as easily. His flow is truly one of a kind, like a more flamboyant Skeptic. He also takes the trap genre to its logical conclusion, incorporating near-cheesy happy hardcore beats into his record that are banged so recklessly joyous that the sound is undeniable.

10. Milo, So the Flies Don’t Come, Track: "An Encyclopedia"

Born of the Los Angeles alt-rap club, Hellfyre Club (is the Nick Tosches reference purposeful?), Milo released his most interested record yet with So the Flies Don’t Come. His beats are barely beats. His rhymes are nearly spoken word. But everything is so oft-kilter and chalk full of pop cultural references that everything comes together full circle. He delivers lines like, “People of Color coloring,” in an onslaught of repetition. His music gets under your skin.

11. Young Thug, Barter 6, Track: "Numbers"

As he appears naked in a Sandy Kim photograph on the cover of his record, it’s clear that Young Thug is a pop star for the millennial art generation. It doesn’t matter that his lyrics don’t make sense. He oozes soul and conviction. He is hyper-conscious of image errs towards performance art. When he edits himself, he also has songs. The Barter 6 is Thug’s most realized effort yet. Kanye needs to get with this kid and teach him how to hone that zaniness.

12. Oddisee, The Good Fight, First Choice

Like Rakim and A Tribe Called Quest before him, Oddisee is interested in the entirety of black American music history. His beats reference soul, jazz, and his hip-hop forebears. What I find most fascinating about him is his ability to weave his rhymes into complex melodies. His music sounds undeniably tight, much like a jazz collective. It’s a total interplay between voice and music.

13. Freddie Gibbs, Shadow of a Doubt, Track: "Narcos"

Gangsta Gibbs’ 2014 collaboration with Madlib, Pinata, was my favorite hip-hop record of 2014. Then last week he dropped another late-year instant classic with Shadow of a Doubt. Gibbs is one of the only MCs in the world that could accurately be labeled as both a coke rapper and socially conscious. His tales of gangbanging aren’t exploitative. They are journalistic. He offers a window into a world in hopes that we can gain a better understanding of it. On Narcos, he tells us that his woman can no longer stand his lifestyle, but he is addicted to it. He loves it. The sentiment is shocking and sad. He also has the best voice in rap. Period. Gibbs forever.

14. Rich Homie Quan, If You Ever Think I Will Stop Going in Ask Rr, Track: "Stupid Me"

How is Quan faring in the battle for Atlanta? Pretty good, I would say. His record If You Ever Think… revealed a new clarity in Quan’s vision. He is introducing a slew of new vocal techniques to pop music. He stays on beat more than Thug. He’s less experimental (if that’s the right word?). Not a perfect record, but promising nonetheless.

15. Meek Mill, Dreams Worth More than Money, Track: "Lord Knows (featuring Tory Lanez)"

Meek fucking Mill. This should have been your year! From its first track Lord Knows, it was clear that Mill was out for blood. No opener this year set the pace for such a bone-shattering album. He just went out for the wrong blood. Drake proved untouchable when Mill challenged him earlier this year, stomping on Meek with two perfect diss tracks. That will be Mill’s 2015 story. But, if you just focus on this record, then Meek won. Plus he gets to have sex with Nicki Minaj. Life can’t be that bad, right? (better than mine anyways)

16. White Boiz, Neighborhood Wonderful, Track: "Main St. (featuring Earl Leon’ne)"

White Boiz aren’t white boys. It’s actually a collaboration between MC Strong Arm Steady producer Star-Ra who came together for this Stones Throw-released Neighborhood Wonderful. The result is a record that channels the galactic spirit of Sun Ra as filtered through Flying Lotus and the meditative qualities of early Mos Def. Though experimental, the record is also quite accessible. It plays like a conversation between the two artists. A conversation that is important to listen to.

17. Quelle Chris, Innocent Country, Track: "Well Running Deep"

Quelle Chris is 13 fucking records into his career, and people still have no clue who he is. He really doesn’t care though, “As artists and musicians, we lost a lot of shit,” he said in an interview with Hip-hopDX, “We sacrifice everything to barely make anything while giving our whole life to people.” Chris makes real hip-hop at the expense of financial security. Generally, he’s pretty funny. On Innocent Country, he gets contemplative. He contemplates why he does what he does and why he is who he is. He never fully realizes his own ideas, and that makes him more interesting to listen to. While we try and figure out what he’s talking about, Quelle is still trying to figure out what he’s trying to talk about. Humanity runs deep in his rhymes.

18. Future Brown, Future Brown, Track: "Talkin Bandz"

I almost forgot about this one. I wasn’t that excited about this record when it came out, but Fatima Al Qadiri and crew grow on you. Warp Records artists, from OG gods Aphex Twin to modern abstract club cultists like Arca, have always paid heed to hip-hop music. Future Brown outwardly explores that connection. In the Internet culture, the kids who are out frying their skulls on Molly in packed clubs to dance music are often the same kids smoking weed in front of their computers all day listening to ‘90s hip-hop. Future Brown comes off as a conceptual project exploring that very mindset.

19. Travi$ Scott, Rodeo, Track: "Piss on ya’ Grave (featuring Kanye West)"

I have so many friends that hate Travi$. In some ways, I see their points. He isn’t the strongest lyricist and he seems more ready-made for fame than he seems willing to develop as an artist. But I found myself seduced Rodeo. It’s interesting to finally hear the Yeezus effect loud and clear. Kanye West once accurately told Zayn Lowe that rappers are the new rock stars, from the sounds to the fame to the fashions. Scott is an immediate rock star. Piss on ya’ Grave, the Kanye collab that serves as the album’s strongest track, takes a Hendrix riff and reappropriates it for a rap star generation.

20. Big Sean, Dark Sky Paradise, Track: "All Your Fault (featuring Kanye West)"

Sean is always going to be over-shadowed by his contemporaries. He lacks Kendrick's lyrical skill, Drake’s emotional resonance, and Kanye’s dominating personality. But when working with the right producers, he does pop-rap as good as anyone. Any other year Dark Sky Paradise would have been one of the biggest releases around. It’s undeniably listenable and a gigantic step up in quality from anything Sean has done previously. He’s also a million times better than J. Cole, but heads seem to hero worship J. Cole until no tomorrow while Sean is left in the G.O.O.D. Music shadow.

Bonus: Vic Mensa featuring Kanye West ‘U Mad Ha’

Though neither artists had full-lengths in 2015, both had strong years. Mensa is the heir apparent to Kanye’s legacy: he channels the grit of the South Side of Chicago while reaching for higher art aspirations. In a recent video, he revealed himself as political, fighting for the justice of Laquan McDonald. And while Kanye had no new record, 2015 still was one of the biggest years of his life. It was the year that the fashion industry finally had to take him seriously, as he released his deconstructed Helmut Lang-channeling military garb with Adidas, and three of the best sneakers ever made. On top of that, he got an honorary doctorate and gave the best VMAs speech ever. On ‘U Mad Ha,’ both artists come together for what will surely prove to be an interesting 2016.

Text and Playlist by Adam Lehrer



A Very Autre Thanksgiving Playlist Featuring Peaches, Bowie, and More

Text by Adam Lehrer

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Where will you be eating today? Family? Friends? Both? To commemorate the holiday we put together this playlist counting down a slew of songs that express gratitude to one thing or another. Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley's versions of 'Hallelujah' both praise the state of existing in this world. Lou Reed is grateful for heroin in this version of the Velvet Underground's 'Heroin.' Everyone is thankful for sex, and in 'Fuck the Pain Away' Peaches illuminates on the healing powers of rough sex while weird hair R&B singer Sisqo is merely thankful for the all mighty thong. On the more poignant end of the playlist is Stevie Wonder, whose track off 'Innervisions,' 'Living for the City,' express love and thanks for his parents. Bowie says thank you to all the heroes out there where ever they may be. Happy thanksgiving, and stay thankful.