Well this is the longish one. There are a whole bunch of albums from this past year that I haven't had a chance to spend quality time that probably belong on here, but they will be added into the archives once that time comes. The first ones are just a bunch that aren't in any particular order and then there is the top 15.
15. Dimaggio
These up and comers from Italy put out these two releases this year that probably flew under a lot of radars. In fact, I may be overcompensating by putting them so far up on my list so more people check these guys out.
14. Scherbatsky by Snowing
Really? You're going to put up a 7 inch that featured only one previously unreleased song? Yeah, I damn well am. This was the final goodbye to a band that may continue to influence bands for a long time. They remastered "Pump Fake" which made an already great song sound even better, and the other side is a new song called "Scherbatsky" that is a wonder in that it was never on one of their other albums.
13. Fade by Cloudkicker
When you're making an entire album yourself, you can really pump out material. Ben Sharp does it all in his Cloudkicker project. The highlight is the guitar work but he still has a knack for the entire composition in general. Although I don't find this release as good as last year's
Let Yourself Be Huge, it still is something to behold.
12. Ormai by Fine Before You Came
Another group of Italians! I am part Italian, so maybe I have a bias (thanks Nana for all the gnoccis). Or this album is just awesome, which it is.
11. It's Still Pretty Terrible by Dowsing
Dowsing has been around here quite a few times; they are from Chicago and myself from Michigan. In fact, Saturday we are making the trek to Chicago to catch Coping's last show and these guys are supporting them! However, this will be our first time seeing them since this came out. Let the sing alongs commence!
10. Feeling Better by Nai Harvest
These lads form the UK put out this 7 inch this year, and are in the process of recording new material at the moment. In fact, you may be hearing it soon...on our winter sampler. Oops!? No but for real, I listen to these songs way to much. So this is(n't) new to meeee!
9. Giant Orange by Cheap Girls
When I went on the road with Peace Be Still, we kind of weren't prepared for the rides music wise. We stopped at record shops and got cassettes and cds. We listened to a lot of The Cure, The Police, Sirs, Algernon, and Chalk Talk. We also listened to a fuckload of this album after picking it up from them at Pouzza Fest. Maybe it's nostalgia, but this album makes me feel all sorts of good inside.
8. Future Reference by Legs Like Tree Trunks
I tried pretty hard to set something up for these guys in Michigan this past summer, but it didn't work out. Honestly, I really wanted to see them which was a big disappointment. I think this came out a little bit after that, and I was even more mad that I couldn't hear these songs live. Oh well, please come back guys!
7. NOPE by Coping
This is a farewell to a great midwest emo band. In a couple days, they will be playing their last show at the Subterranean. I hope to get some documentation of this, and maybe throw it up on here. But I may be pretty fucked up. Actually, seeing that we are staying nearby, I know I will be fucked up. It's going to be a hot mess, in a good way.
6. Broad Shoulders by Dikembe
It's weird how things go. When the Chicago Bowls EP came out, I was immediately hooked on this band. Then their full-length came out on Tiny Engines, and I gave it a listen before it falling to the wayside. When I started thinking about this past year's releases a month ago, I started listening to this again. I kicked myself; why did I give up on it so easily? Oh, Dikembe, we have been catching up this past month haven't we?
5. Awkward Breeds by The Sidekicks
So, this album is a pop punk dream. It is just clear cut greatness, and it's so easy to sing along to. There isn't much more to say, just a really solid and uplifting album that separated itself from the rest for me.
4. Sirs by Sirs
Back in August, there was a day in Grand Rapids that began with a house show that featured Sirs, moved down the street to Mulligan's where Glocca Morra and Kite Party played and then to the Pyramid Scheme for free pinball and Algernon Cadwallader. It was one hell of a day/night and Sirs got it kicked off right. I was afraid I was going to miss them to go catch Glocca; I had thought another band was starting and then SIrs was on next. Well, a familiar song kicked in and I asked Matt Weaver next to me who this was because the song was awesome, and he said it was actually Sirs. The song was in fact "Early Riser" and it had taken me a minute to recognize it. Granted, I really started listening to this album heavily after I picked it up on vinyl that night.
3. Eunoia by Invalids
It's hard to justify putting an album so far up here that was created by two guys that have never met eachother. Or maybe that makes it even more charming? Either way, the music speaks for itself. There was a point where I would listen to "Steinborgium" at least once a day for a month. The song is great before 2:35, but then it just gradually starts hitting on all cylinders for me. The best part is that after I eventually got somewhat burnt out from that song, there were easy pickings for new songs to obsess over. Seriously, when any of these songs pop up on shuffle, I am immediately immersed back into this album and just want to listen to the rest of this song.
2. Get Disowned by Hop Along
For the longest time, I thought this album would be the album of the year for me. Frances has a way with her voice that can make knees buckle. It doesn't hurt that she is also a great songwriter that had the help of producer Joe Reinhart to make every part sound as good as it could in the
Algernon Warehouse. Plus, she told me about some Korean breakfast place in Ann Arbor I never heard of that is really awesome.
1. Glocca Morra (1 and 2)
Just Married and
Get Disowned were neck and neck for me until Glocca Morra spit out another great EP in
An Obscure Moon. Their delayed full length
Just Married was good enough by itself; every song has a part in it that flicks something in my brain.
Obscure was a departure from that LP, but was still fucking awesome and had hints of
Just Married scattered in. My
last.fm scrobbled for the past year don't lie, Glocca Morra has saturated my library/brain and for these two great releases. I can easily say they were my favorite artist this past year.
