Sound Opinions Reveals Its "Best of 2015"

Dueling music critics from the popular radio show and podcast find rare common ground on their favorite albums of the year.

​​​Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, co-hosts of Sound Opinions, the popular  radio show and podcast produced by WBEZ Chicago and broadcast on stations across the country, have announced their Best Albums of 2015.  DeRogatis and Kot, known as much for their heated on-air debates as they are for their individual achievements as respected rock critics and prolific authors, had an unusually high number of similarities in their respective Top Ten albums list. 

Even rarer was the overlap of Kendrick Lamar as both a Sound Opinion Best-of pick and a nominated artist by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 

"Hell hath frozen over. We rarely agree with the recording academy's choices for Grammy awards - we're looking for artistic merit over commercial success - but Kendrick Lamar's album is undeniably excellent."

Jim DeRogatis, co-host of Sound Opinions

“Hell hath frozen over. We rarely agree with the recording academy’s choices for Grammy awards – we’re looking for artistic merit over commercial success – but Kendrick Lamar’s album is undeniably excellent,” said DeRogatis, who in addition to co-hosting Sound Opinions, is a lecturer at Columbia College, author of numerous books and former music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.   Kot, author and music critic for the Chicago Tribune agreed, calling Lamar’s sophomore effort the album with the “most staying power” of the hundreds of albums he listened to in 2015. 

            A complete list of the dueling music critics’ Top 10 picks are as follows:

Jim De Rogatis:

1.      Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

“Barnett has a sort of charisma that, it is no exaggeration to say, I have not seen since Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, “said DeRogatis. “There are some sonic throwbacks and some personality throwbacks.  This is a ferociously focused artist, she only introduced the band to the songs a week before recording and then they knocked them out in 8 days – this is what I love in rock n roll.”

2.      Low Cut Connie, Hi Honey

Said DeRogatis, “this is a group led by two singer-songwriters – it’s steeped in a sort of 50s, early 60s go-go bar, classic rock n roll, groovy Jerry Lee Lewis, hanging out with Tina Turner kind of vibe, both lyrically and musically.”

3.      Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly

4.      Bully, Feels Like

Bandleader Alicia Bonano, an audio engineer who interned with acclaimed producer Steve Albini, is described by DeRogatis as “obsessed with that 90s alternative rock sound.  Her perspectives are fluid – you don’t know whether she’s singing about an assault or a love affair or is there a difference…there are question marks there and there are incredible crunching guitar and wonderful melodies.”

5.      Titus Andronicus, The Most Lamentable Tragedy

DeRogatis noted the “ambition of this sprawling 93-minute, 28-track album”, the 4th from this New Jersey art punk group, and remarked, “the songs burst with short attacks of melody and energy, musically they’re all over the map, at times sounding like Bruce Springsteen, at other times very much echoing, I think, the two great art-punk concept albums of all time, Zen Arcade (Husker Du) and David Comes to Life (F****ed Up).  It’s a wonderful record that you can’t help but be moved by.”

6.      Le Butcherettes, A Raw Youth

7.      Wire, Wire

8.      Yo La Tengo, Stuff Like That There

9.      Torres, Sprinter

The third album from artist Mackenzie Scott is described by DeRogatis as “fascinating lyrically - you don’t have to agree with her vision of spirituality, there is a universality to what she is saying in her lyrics and the music is incredible. She is an inventive guitarist, and though the atmosphere on this album is rather spare, it has extremely dramatic soundscapes.”

10. Grimes, Art Angels

Greg Kot:

1.      Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly

“You listen this album 10, 12 times and you keep finding new stuff about it…it is that dense, it is that good, “said Kot.  “Lamar assesses where he’s going and the world around him – this album embodies the current “Black Lives Matter” movement as much as any album has. But in addressing it, it’s not a bleak record. It’s basically playing and performing the black musical diaspora – everything from afro-beat to jazz to rock and soul and hip-hop. In it, he not only questions America, but also questions his community and himself.”

2.      Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

3.      Protomartyr, The Agent Intellect

Kot remarked, “I’ve loved everything this band has done and they keep getting better.  They do not play with    any frills. They have a great rhythm section - power and swing – and they do a lot with texture and sound.”

4.      Shamir, Ratchet

“I think what he’s doing here is putting a punky, minimalist spin on house music – it’s not straight-up pop music although it has elements of pop melodicism. It’s very danceable, especially in its first half,” Kot said. “But I think the real strength of this record is the emotional resonance, even on the dance tracks, when the power of his voice really comes through on the second half in the ballads. He triumphs on this album.”

5.      Vince Staples, Summertime '06

“A record that can hold its own in that South California, mean-streets vibe with such exalted company as Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre,” Kot said.  “The rhymes, the stories are truly compelling in terms of his emergence into manhood under adverse conditions. The production by No ID has very eerie, industrial undercurrent that is almost avant garde.”

6.      Titus Andronicus, The Most Lamentable Tragedy

7.      Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment, Surf  

Produced by Chicago’s Chance the Rapper and fronted by Chance’s long-time trumpeter Nico Segal, this album was described by Kot as “Latin rhythms coexisting with gospel, Beach Boys harmonies rubbing up against disco, with a theatricality about it; psychedelia, soul, hip hop, rap - it slides all over the musical universe. I can’t think of a more eloquent statement about the community of the world.”

8.      Grimes, Art Angels

9.      Torres, Sprinter

10.  The Chills, Silver Bullets

 

The Best Albums of 2015 list was announced on Episode #524 of Sound Opinions, along with a selection of listener-submitted Best of lists.  To download or listen to the complete episode, visit www.soundopinions.org/show/524.

About Sound Opinions

Sound Opinions is a weekly radio show and podcast hosted by nationally respected rock critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis.  The show features artists’ interviews, talk about pop culture and music industry news, reviews on new record releases and trend insight from a historical context. And, because on Sound Opinions, “everyone's a critic,” listeners are invited to join in the debate.  Sound Opinions is produced by WBEZ Chicago and is distributed nationally by PRXSound Opinions can be heard on stations across the country and online at SoundOpinions.org.

About WBEZ Chicago

WBEZ 91.5 FM is the region’s premier public media service and Chicago’s exclusive station for NPR programming.  Our mission is to amplify conversations that matter by telling thought-provoking stories that entertain, capture emotion and inspire action. WBEZ produces two local shows The Morning Shift and Worldview, and has successfully launched several nationally acclaimed programs, including This American Life, Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! (a co-production with NPR), Sound Opinions, and the recent podcast phenomenon Serial. For more information, please visit www.wbez.org.

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