Wax & Stamp’s 2015 in Review
As each year of this decade passes, more and more of us are noting just how much quality music is increasing in quantity. It’s easy to say it every time these lists roll around, but 2015 really has had an abundance of top tier records from brand new artists and returning heavyweights and everyone in-between. It’s harder than ever to keep up with it all.
Take this November just gone for example. Carly Rae Jepsen, Grimes, Rustie, Floating Points, Ellie Goulding, Coldplay, Arca, Erykah Badu, SOPHIE, Freddie Gibbs, Ty Dolla $ign, Kode9 and even bloody Adele all released brand new full-lengths, and that’s not even half of it. And that’s just within one month.
It’s not just who is releasing albums either. From pop to electronic to punk to jazz, every single genre and subgenre and subsubgenre have been thriving to the point of boiling over, and that’s something that’s without a doubt reflected in this list. All of us at Wax & Stamp come from different musical backgrounds, and we’re all heading down different paths, crossing somewhere in the middle that’s represented by unique, forward-thinking voices.
So, without further ado, here’s our Wax & Stamp Year in Review. Some of us have chosen our top tracks and some of us went straight in for the albums (ahem, Luke), but what’s remarkable is the amount of disparity here. Looking at it now, it really sums up 2015’s music in a nutshell — fresh, reinvigorated and really, really exciting.
Tom Walters, Editor
2015 saw one of the most significant shifts in my music taste since the day I first heard ‘I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ by Arctic Monkeys and showed the ever-increasingly commercialised punk scene the middle finger.
There have been a strange lack of guitars in my music this year — a move to Peckham introduced me to a whole world of brilliant and tiny labels, artists and DJs doing incredible things, and I found myself excited again about rap, pop and R&B. But then there was Girl Band — the best rock band of the year who made guitars visceral and biting again.
My song of the year is without a doubt ‘Thirstin’’ by Jack J — a song that ubiquitously captures the essence of summer while remaining extremely forward-thinking and — above all else — is ridiculously danceable.
Top 10 tracks:
10. Pender Street Steppers — ‘The Glass City’
9. Miguel — ‘Coffee’
8. Janet Jackson — ‘No Sleeep’
7. Julia Holter — ‘Feel You’
6. Holly Herndon — ‘Chorus’
5. Vince Staples — ‘Jump off the Roof’
4. Chaos in the CBD — ‘Midnight in Peckham’
3. Girl Band — ‘Paul’
2. Drake — ‘Hotline Bling’
1. Jack J — ‘Thirstin’’
Josh Lachkovic, Co-founder
Great pop music is like no other. It defines years and soundtracks our lives. For me, Jamie xx’s Glastonbury version of ‘Loud Places’ this year was just that. A moment far above the rest: euphoric, bittersweet, and the sound of 2015.
Top 10 tracks:
10. Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment — ‘Sunday Candy’
9. Dan Lissvik — ‘Shuvit’
8. Carly Rae Jepsen — ‘I Really Like You’
7. Paxton Fettel — ‘She’s Alright (Jimpster Remix)’
6. Pat Thomas & Ebo taylor — ‘Ene Nyame Nam A Mensuro (Henrik Schwarz Remix)’
5. D’Angelo and the Vanguard — ‘Really Love’
4. Oddisee — ‘That’s Love’
3. Alex Patchwork — ‘Untitled Keys’
2. Unknown Artist — Uganda
1. Jamie XX — ‘Loud Places’
Luke Murphy-Wearmouth, Co-founder
2015 has been a strong year for the album. Not only have we seen some amazing returns from the likes of The Spook School, Tellison, Seth Sentry and John Grant, but some newer artists have really hit it home with some phenomenal debuts. I was determined not to be a bandwagon jumper, but there’s no denying that Courtney Barnett’s debut album is one of the best things to be released this decade. The combination of quirky wit and a complete apathy with the world in the lyrics, overlaid with stupidly catchy melodies and riffs in the music, mean that this record hasn’t really left my turntable since being released at the beginning of the year.
Top 10 albums:
10. Mathias Kom & Ariel Sharratt — Don’t Believe The Hyperreal
9. The Spook School — Try To Be Hopeful
8. Girl Band — Holding Hands With Jamie
7. Only Real — Jerk at the End of the Line
6. Slaves — Are You Satisfied?
5. Elliot Moss — Highspeeds
4. Tellison — Hope Fading Nightly
3. Seth Sentry — Strange New Past
2. John Grant — Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
1. Courtney Barnett — Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
