Indiecast - Let's Revisit The Music Of 2015

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Steven and Ian open this week's episode by discussing recent controversies over Snoop Dogg and Nelly performing at Trump inauguration events [0:00]. Does anyone actually have the energy to care about this? They also do a quick Sportscast on Ian's team the Eagles being in the NFC Championship game [9:20], and check in on new albums by FKA Twigs and Benjamin Booker that are also on Ian's fantasy team. Then they dig into the music of 2015 -- the highs, the lows, the stuff they remember, the stuff they remember forgetting, and more [19:13].In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks about the new album from Mogwai while Steven recommends the latest from British guitarist James Blackshaw.New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 223 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [e-mail], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indycast is presented by Uprox's indie mixtape. Hello everyone and welcome to Indycast. On the show, we talk about the biggest indie news of the week, review albums, and we hash out trends. In this episode, we talk about the music of 2015. My name is Stephen Hayden, and I'm joined by my friend and co-host. I can't believe he performed at the Donald Trump Crypto Ball. Ian Cohen, Ian, Ian, how are you?

I mean, I can never listen to Air Force One again. I can never listen to Tip Drill again. I can never listen to all my favorite Nelly songs, which, you know, really had a lot of political valence before, you know, the latest things that went down. I mean, can I really listen to the game is to be sold, not to be told? Snoop Dogs. Canonical 1999, no limit debut.

Actually, I think that was 1998. I'm trying to remember what year I worked at a Jewish summer camp. Yeah, man, I never knew that country grammar was hate speech. Kelly. If you don't know what we're talking about, well, I'm sure you do because it was a big scandal this week. Snoop Dog performed at one of the Trump inauguration parties, I believe it was the crypto ball.

Yes. And he caught some flack for that. I actually saw he did an Instagram post. I'm not going to like read what he said because if I'm going to like repeat what Snoop said, it's going to sound racist. It's going to like sound like a racist. It's going to like sound like a. sound like a white guy trying to talk like Snoop.

I'm not going to do that. But he basically said, I did it for the crypto. Like he's a crypto fan, not a Donald Trump fan, which I don't know if that's better or worse. And then you have Nelly. He performed at the Liberty Ball, which was, I think, after the inauguration. So that's a different thing. That's a different thing. It was two separate events.

I think Snoop was before the inauguration. And Nelly, I think was the day of, like, after the inauguration. I think that's right. And then Nellie defended himself. He said, I did it because I respect the office. And it's an honor to do it. Well, I got to point out like what Soldier Boy apparently played the crypto ball as well. And this is great.

According to an NPR article, but Soldier Boy, the rapper behind the 2007 hit cranked at, parentheses, Soldier Boy, responded to the criticism online saying, quote, they paid me a bag. He's my favorite man I love Solchoboy I just think it's a shame that Snoop Dog finally sold out I know You know because he was basically the hip hop

Ian Mackay Before this happened Just the man of integrity You know He was very particular About what he associated himself with Before this event You know

Okay so we're in the Trump era now again And really We talked about this last week I think Trump's been president already for eight years. And now he's going to be president. It just feels like Joe Biden, memory hold president, never happened.

It's kind of an insensitive way to describe a man in like active, you know, mental decline. But, well, I'm just playing. All disrespect to Joe Biden. Okay, I'll just say that. All disrespect to Joe Biden. I'm not going to do this thing, again,

where I'm going to set my hair on fire every time there's some outrage during the Trump years. I'm sorry, I'm checking out on this. You know, I feel like there's been so much rhetoric with this. I just, I'm tired, I'm exhausted with it. Elon Musk, that whole thing this week. Is that a real Nazi salute? Is he just a spastic guy?

Is he doing that to troll people? Is he an actual Nazi? I have no idea. I don't. But I'm not, I'm not going to waste any, mental energy focusing on that. I don't know if that makes me apathetic, but just for my own mental health,

I can't, I can't do it. I can't do it, Ian. I cannot have, like, the New York Times news alerts on my phone. Every time Trump sneezes on social media, I am already exhausted with it. I'm checking out, Ian. I'm checking out. I'm checking out, too, until a Green Day album tells me what to think, man.

Because I thought that you were about to drop an American idiot. you know, reference with Wake Me Up When. It's like, it's been so long since I've heard that sentence ended with something other than when September ends. So, yeah. Yeah. What we need is like a British punk band to come along. And, uh, you know, play hard, like old school hardcore punk and, you know,

talk sing over it. Uh, we need, we know their band like that and, you know, you know that band Lambrini girls? We, we've DMed them. Yeah. This has been a very much Patreon-only discussion. Yeah, this band, there's a band like this every year.

And look, many of you listening probably don't know who this band is, but they're a band from England. They're a punk band, young, they're young women in this band. They have song titles like Big Dick Energy and, I don't know, other things like that. Yeah, there's one called, like, no homo. There's another one, like, I've listened to this album and like I've come to the conclusion that like

when you're 14 or 15 you need this kind of album just to like let you know that these things are happening out there in the world. But we've kind of called them like the Blue Sky Band of the Year. I don't know if you've been on blue sky. You're a double poster. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's perfect. Yeah. Look, you know what this band sounds like.

From what we've just said, you know what this band sounds like. Because there's a band like this every year. And they always get written about in a positive way. And they're always regarded as, this is the band we need right now. This is the band that's speaking truth to power. And it's like the same thing over and over again. Just the most boring. I mean, it's politically progressive, but musically it's the most conservative stuff that you can imagine.

It's just so paint by numbers. Resistance type music. It's like, are we doing this again? Are we going to have a bunch of albums like this? and then people are going to overpraise it because it has the right politics. I can't do it. I can't pretend that these records are good

because they're not good. They're boring. They're not good. Even the weirder part is that it's using like 2023 slang. Like the slang is like three years or two years old, which means it might as well be like 35 years old. You know, that's the part that really stands out to me. But actually I think this band came on my radar

because I was trying to remember where I heard this band before. I think they were like one of those first bands to make a big deal about pulling out of South by Southwest because they found out it has like ties to like military contractors. Right, right. So look, at least, you know what? It's 20, it's 2025. We need the new priests. We need, you know, I guarantee they're going to go on tour with idols or they're going to

make a big deal about not going on tour with idols. Here's the question I need to answer. Is Joy still a form of resistance in 2025? Can we get an answer on that? Look, I'm not, I'm pro protest music. I'm pro, you know, speaking out against the powers that be, but can we find an original way to do it? Do we have to just recycle this generic punk type thing

and then you're going to just spout, you know, internet slang over it? Come on. Like, do we have to pretend that this means? anything and this does anything it's meaningless music and it's so annoying to me to see it be taken seriously I just wish that we could recognize okay yeah maybe you agree with it ideologically but it's garbage music and if you actually had a great bad this is not the clash it's like 1977 this is

Lambrini girls in 2025 yeah the day it's the dam broke on one of our you know kind of DM favorites. We're going to hold back on another one until the album's dropped. There's another one. Yeah. There's another one that announced the new song this week, but we're going to wait a little bit. We don't give it.

We don't give a shit. Like, it's 20, 25. I think the common theme is that like no one gives a shit. Like, I talked Steve beforehand about how so many things in this world just feel like when you go to like a pizza join at like 10 o'clock at night and you're like, does anyone actually work here? You know what I mean? I'm just, there's a conspiracy of silence.

around certain bands that everyone knows are terrible, but the only people that talk about them are the people that like them. So there's a weird perspective that's being voiced publicly. And there's one band in particular where this is really egregious. And we're going to hold up on it a little bit. We've maybe wait for an album to come out. I feel like we've been teasing this for a while.

But it'll be worth it. But yeah, Lambini girls will take a shot at them. They're not any good. Let's do a quick sports cast here, Because your team, the birds, the team that gave you sweetheart of the rodeo, they won. They beat, guys who the Eagles beat. They beat the Los Angeles Rams, which is actually kind of, I mean, like, you know, I love Matt Stafford. Their receivers are great, but the Rams are kind of like, oh, they're in the playoffs sort of deal.

You know what I'm saying? Like it is perfectly appropriate to say that, like, because the Eagles didn't win so. much as like didn't lose. Well, your boy, Sacon Barkley won. Oh, God, man. I mean, look, I don't like the Eagles. And even I thought that that one run that he had where he started hitting his helmet as he ran into the end zone.

I think it was a second long TV run. Yeah, pop shit against Jared Verce, who was a, I look, man, I know that guy was talking shit and dominated the Eagles, but Jared Verse, I respect people who talk shit before the game. Yeah, I like that. I wish he could have backed it up. But that Saquan Barkley run. In the snow, even an Eagles hater like myself, I thought that was pretty badass looking.

And if I'm an Eagles fan, he's already got to be like an all-time eagle. Yeah. I don't know if he'll put him in the ring on her already, but he's pretty good. Not yet, not yet topping Freddie Mitchell. Like, first down Freddie is still just a little tick above Sequin Barkley and Big Dick Nick Foles is at the top of the heat. But yeah, he's number three right now, I'd say. Is it fair to say, and I'm going to revert to hater mode here, that this feels a little weird to say because he did get you to a Super Bowl a few years ago, but is it fair to say that you have the worst quarterback left in the playoffs? Oh, without a doubt.

I mean, even if you discount the fact that he may be suffering the lingering effects of a concussion and like his knee got or one of his legs got kind of messed up in the game. And when you were watching the Eagles and the Rams, like particularly in the second half, the annes. announcers would be extremely critical any time they drop back to pass. It's like, what are you doing besides handing the ball off to Saquorn and Barclay or Kenneth Gainwell, who had a good game as well. That's a great name, by the way, for a running game. It's incredible. Gainwell.

I mean, I think you're going to win this weekend, but I don't know. There's a chance that Jaden Daniels wins single-handedly again. I mean, that guy is unbelievable. So, and he, yeah, he just, he's so fun to watch and he's so calm. And he can run, he can throw dimes all over the field, just a great QB. And man, like, what, what great karma for Washington getting rid of Dan Snyder? I know. I'm still, like, not accustomed to, like, I mean, I am a little, like, weird about the fact that the owner of the team now is the guy who also owns the Sixers.

Right. is weird. I wonder in Philly, they must be having a field day with that, I'm guessing, on sports talk radio. Yeah, especially since the Sixers are ass, so. Can I give a possibly controversial take here? Sure. I kind of want to see the Chiefs repeat. I kind of want to, I'm not saying I absolutely want to see it. If I had to choose a team that I would like to win the Super Bowl, I would say the Bills. They're a likable team, and with their history, it would be great to see them finally win. then I'd probably say, I mean, the commanders would be a cool story with Jaden Daniels. But I do subscribe to the like, I want to see greatness school of thought.

And there's never been a three-peat in the NFL. And I think that would be kind of cool. I don't hate Patrick Mahomes. I'm maybe the last person outside of Casey who doesn't hate him. Although that flop against the Texans, I'm getting close to maybe going over. That was really corny. And thankfully, they didn't call a penalty on that. But I don't know.

Is that just a horrible take from me that I want to maybe see them three Pete? Well, I'm going to go off script because I just thought of this. I actually, I mean, it would be so 20, 25 for the Chiefs to win just because like the grim inevitability of it. But like, I do want to see that, like, I'm changing course and I do think it would be cool to watch them win, if only, because, and I think this happened last year as well, where they were like, no one believes in us, you know, like, they'll do that sort of thing where it's like, you know, we only believe in ourselves in the locker room and all the hate, like, because in a way, if they were to say that, they'd be correct because throughout the entire year, the narrative around the cheese, like,

how do they keep getting away with it? How do they keep winning every single game, like, 23 to 14? how is it that like they are they never are leading in like the third quarter and look I mean that was the kind that's the kind of cope I had to you know do for myself because watching mark andrews like my heart goes out to that fucking guy but like if it wasn't if that didn't happen what about Lamar your heart should go out to Lamar that's true he had a bed for staff but yeah Lamar also good I wish that he could get over the home I really like watching watching him play. That was a bummer to see them lose that way. Absolutely. But it's like if it didn't happen then,

like it would have been like Ernest Biner against the chiefs. Like no matter how bad that looked, I mean, you think about how the bills lost that chiefs that one time where like they like gave them the ball back with like 20 seconds and no timeouts. It was 13 seconds. That was, fuck, man. It was 13 seconds. Yeah.

It's like the worst. Sean McDermott. I mean, he's a good coach, but they could have fired him after that and been justified. I mean, that is, he's the defensive guy, too, on that team. Yeah, I'm just down to, like, we just got to eliminate all hope. You know, like, all you who enter here abandon hope. I think that's what the chiefs need. I mean, they are great.

They have, like, no real weakness. And everyone's like, oh, they don't have their wide receivers, like, aren't Tyreek Hill. Like, look, I saw Cadarius Tony beat the Eagles in that super. So I don't give a shit who's suiting up. Travis Kelsey will have 150 yards, 18 third down conversions. But run in slow motion too. He's like the old man in the sea out there and he's still getting, you know, over 100 yards and a touchdown.

Just incredible. I know we got Bill's fans out there. And like, look, we want you to win. But y'all are already, well, y'all are already immune to any sort of postseason failure. Generational trauma from the 90s, you know. They should. win. They feel like they're a better team, but I just would never bet against the Chiefs at home

in an AFC championship game. At some point, you just have to look at history. But I hope you win, Bill's fans, cheering for you. Love Josh Allen. Incredible. I'd like to see him win a Super Bowl, but I don't know. I don't think it's going to happen. Let's touch quickly here on our fantasy draft. You have two records out today. You have the latest from FCA Twigs. U.S. Sexua? Is that how you can answer? U-Sexua.

And I will keep saying this is long. I will find ways to bring this up. It is like euphoria, but like you replace the middle syllable with sex. Yeah, so it's E-U-S-E-X-U-A. That's correct. You-sexual. Man, can you imagine what we're going to, the kind of writing we're going to get on this record?

Yes. Can you imagine the things that are about to drop next week? I think that there must be, you know, like a hold on this record because there haven't been any reviews yet. So there's no metacritic score yet for this one. So we'll circle back to that next week. Your other record, and this was an interesting pick. This was definitely you taking a flyer on somebody. Benjamin Booker, his new record, I believe it's called Lower, is out today.

And that's currently at 80 for you? Yeah. I mean, it's, I'm starting to feel like late era Bill Belichick here because, you know, it's like, it's slowly like you, you look at the Patriots and, oh, like a winning franchise, Patriots way. And then they're like finishing like eight and nine for three straight years with guys like Mack Jones at quarterback. Like the reviews are exactly what I would expect for this record. They're all seen positive thus far. But the score isn't matching. And that was kind of a theme with my.

picks last quarter. But yeah, it's like it's an 80. Ethel Cane is like doing, I think, a 75 or something like that. Yeah, 75, man. Like weather station, you've got 84, which, you know, about what you expect. And I'm going to need it. I'm going to need FCA Twigs to do bad bunny numbers. However, I'm looking up on album of the year.

They sometimes get stuff earlier. I got NME 100 for FK8 Twigs. The skinny, 100. Rolling Stone, UK, 100. I'd never heard of the Arts Desk, but they give it a 60. Ooh. I don't know if that's included. Yeah, I don't know what that is.

Going rogue. I think there's a good chance that does 90 plus. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think you'll be okay. That Ethel Cain, where I inadvertently tricked you to taking that. That could be the difference. We'll see what happens.

Okay, let's get to our main topic for this episode. I wrote a column this week. It was an Ask a Music Critic column about the music of 2015, a reader. Actually, it was a listener. I stole an email from the Indycast mailbag for this column. And it was a listener from Melbourne, Australia. That was cool to hear from Down Under with this. But the listener noted that we're already seeing 10-year retrospectives for albums from 2015.

And I remember even at the end of last year, people started talking about, all these albums are going to be turning 10. And I think for a certain generation of people, it seems like 2015 is a big year. It seems like there's a lot of nostalgia for that year. It's the last year before the Trump era began. So maybe there's something there as well. You know, we just look back at those days, those innocent days where we all cared about Mr. Robot watching that show, listening to Uptown Funk in every elevator and grocery store and 7-11. Was that the year that Rude came out?

No, that's, I think that was 2014. I did write a 10-year anniversary piece about Rude. You know, I like to recognize landmarks in music history. And I don't know, it was interesting. I'm curious to get your take on this. We're going to talk about specific categories here in a minute. Did you read my column, by the way? I did.

I did. And for our conflict-loving listeners, I thought it was a great piece, and I was also a little disappointed about how much we agreed on stuff. Okay, because I don't know what you're going to say. You know what I'm going to say, but you're saying that we agree on a lot of things. I had categories in my column talking about different albums of that year. We'll get into that. But as far as the year overall is concerned, just looking back on that time,

I was struck by how it seems like a year, like it seems like a good year. Just like every year is a pretty good year for music if you know where to look. But it did feel like a year where a lot of the sort of establishment artists were putting out records that were good records. but it doesn't feel like it's ever their best record. You know, like Beach House put out an album that year, Depression Cherry, which is like a well-regarded Beach House album, but not necessarily maybe consider their best. Okay, so maybe, okay, so, I mean, it's up there.

I still feel like Teen Dream maybe would be. Yeah, no, as an album, it's like, you know, third or fourth best, but for whatever reason, space song, like, is just the song that is hit on Spotify. It's like the most popular Dream Pop song ever. made. So there's that record. There's Deer Hunter. They put out Fading Frontier that year.

Solid record. It's not Halcyon Digest. You know, deaf heaven puts out new Bermuda, which is like a decent record, but, you know, it's not sunbather. You've got Lauderdale. I mean, Sufion Stevens,

I guess Carrey and Lowell would be in the discussion. I still feel like Illinois is his definitive album, probably. Kurt Vile. An album you actively hate. I do not like that. I believe I'm going down. I'm a fan of that record, but, you know, it's not as good as waking on a pretty day.

Will kill Jason Nisbel, Jason Joina Newsom, on and on and on. Does that resonate with you? Do you feel like that's a pretty accurate summation of the year? Yeah, and like you were saying, I mean, in your piece, like, for me, like personally and professionally, it was kind of a nothing year. Yeah, like, that was the year that I stopped being a contributing editor of pitchfork, like, you know, I finished a grad program, but not one where you get like a degree or a graduation ceremony. It just feels like, especially because like 2014 and 2016 were such like phenomenal years for music like across genres. 2015 feels it's a slight.

I lost my job that year. Yeah. So did I. Grantland got shut down. Oh, yeah. In 2015. Although, okay, I didn't technically lose my job because I was under contract. So I wasn't working, but I was still employed.

So for about eight months, I got paid and got benefits. And I just didn't work. I mean, that's the greatest job I ever had. So, I mean, Grantlin getting shut down. It sucked in one respect, but it was kind of awesome for me personally. I mean, you can look at that as like that, like kind of a defining moment in 2010 publishing. You know, like Grantlin was just. I mean, like, we could do an entire, like, our favorite Grantland pieces.

And, you know, I think so much of, like, what has happened in media since then has been an attempt, however successful to replicate Grantland. I just, like, it was a really end of an era. Just unbelievable amounts of talent there. But, yeah, I would say that, like, 2015 is, like, one of those years. It's kind of similar to, like, you know, oh, wait, the Saints won that Super Bowl. You know what I mean? it's uh or oh right i guess the colts did win it that year uh not like a it i mean it feels weird saying that about a year that has produced you know to pimp a butterfly which is you know one of

those albums that is as long as they make 2010's best of list that's going to be like a top one but you know when i look back at this list there is as you said like a lot of um third or fourth best albums from Legacy Axe and I mean only like a I remember what was number one it would still be my number one and we're going to talk about that but I don't remember the top 10

actually I remember number two and we're going to talk about that one top 10 from what from 2015 I don't remember my personal time you mean like a pitchfork list or something yeah a pitfork list like my personal top 10 nor do I really even remember pitchfork's top 10 list I'd do some research on that yeah so okay so

in my column I talked about you mentioned to Pippa Butterfly. My friend Rob Mitchum every year, he does a spreadsheet of all the year endless, and he comes up with like what is the most acclaimed record of the year or the most like series of records. And he did one for 2015. And to Pimp a Butterfly was the consensus favorite on that list. I should pull this up here because yeah, to Pippa Butterfly, topped the most list, then it was Sue Fianne Stevens, then Courtney Barnett, Jamie XX, and then Tame and Paula. That was the top five.

It was interesting looking at that list because in 2015, Kendrick, let's see here, I think he landed in the top 10, 15 times, and he topped it, I think, seven times. And then he landed in the top, and then he was at number two, five times. I just looked at the year, I looked at the spreadsheet, the spreadsheet for 2024. Brat, like Brat? I almost said brought again. I always want to call it Brought. I'm so Wisconsin-brained.

That was in the top 10 on 29 lists, and it was 12 number one. Are there just more lists? Yeah, I think there's probably more lists, but I mean, God damn, that record did really well on year-end lists. I mean, I think even with the list. the increased number of lists. I mean, that's like almost twice as many top tens as to pip a butterfly. I mean, that seems crazy to me. But I don't know.

People love Brot. They love Brots so much. So, yeah. And then the best selling record of the year. Do you remember what that was? Was that a year where Adele came? Because I don't remember the specific years that Adele albums come out because I feel like they always come out in, like, December.

But was that in Adele year? That was Adele. Yeah, 25. Sold 8 million records in 2015. Hooty and the Blowfish spits on those numbers. Well, yeah, but Hootie didn't sell. I mean, this is like the third Adele record. You know, Hootie wasn't doing that on Fairweather Johnson or anything.

I mean, they had one record like that. You know, Adele is funny to me because she only puts out music every five years, and then she doesn't really have any kind of media profile beyond that. And people forget that she's secretly, she's not as big as Taylor Swift, but she's in that realm. Like, people never talk about her as, like, one of the big superstars. But, like, the silent majority of, like, moms love Adele. Like, Adele owns minivans from coast to coast. And it's just interesting because I feel like we forget that.

But she's just still, like, secretly huge. Yeah, I can't distinguish which songs are on like 25 and which ones are on like 21 or I mean the only time we really hear about her in between album cycles is that like one time where she had that picture with her in Cornrose in Jamaica

But yeah Or I feel like she's like court side at basketball games Sometimes so you'll see that But yeah other than that she's pretty low key You don't really hear And you know if you sell 8 million records like physical because she was like selling CDs

too I mean she was insisting I think for a while if I remember correctly she was holding her music from streaming platform so this isn't like the BS like you know equivalent units type thing like you you bundle streams together and

that produces a record this is like tangible physical objects retailing for like you know 1599 that she's selling the CD visor and the minivans definitely got 25 on deck. I also feel like she was one of the, like, and correct me if I'm wrong, I feel like this is like more your territory, but didn't her last album like completely bottleneck the vinyl industry

because, because like I feel like a lot of indie bands couldn't put out vinyl for like six months because, yeah, because like she and I think maybe Taylor Swift even at that time were putting out like vinyl versions to be yeah and I you would also see like all these like vinyl um these vine these unbought vinals of the last adela album like it was like you know r em's monster in 1995 right yeah yeah there's a there are landfills full of copies of vinyl from adele i think at this point but you know they're also ended up in in in the nation's minivans i can see if you have the turntable in the minivan if you're the that much of a vinyl

purist that you can't even listen to a CD in the car. You got to bring your record player into the van. I will say I was at the automotive museum in San Diego the other day because we were off. It was Martin Luther King Day and there was a car from 1947 that straight up had an ironing

board and like a hookah in it. It cost the equivalent of $1.3 million and it had like a reel to reel as well. So this vinyl in the minivan is maybe not as far off as you think. Oh my God. So I'm curious to hear what your favorite album of 2015 is, but maybe we'll do that at the end of this segment. Because there's some other categories here that I think would be fun to talk about.

And again, you know what I'm going to say. And if you've read my column, you know what I'm going to say. But I'm curious to hear from you. Most 2015 album of 2015. To me, this is an obvious answer. And it's Hamilton, the original Broadway cast recording. Big record in 2015. Obviously, Hamilton was a big deal going into 2016.

Remember that controversy where Mike Pence went to a performance of Hamilton? Like right after Trump got elected. And there was like a big to do about it. I wonder if like Hamilton shut down quickly after that. Because Hamilton just seems like such an Obama era phenomenon. Like you can't really, I can't even really. I can't even really picture Hamilton even existing once Trump got a let it's like imagine like Richard Nixon going to Woodstock or something like these things obviously they coincided but

they don't belong in the same context um do you have a different answer than that or is that your answer for most 2015 album of 2015 yeah I mean like sort of like magic's rude um it's just a song like I don't I can't associate it with a specific year Hamilton is just I I I I can't picture it being an album that was new in stores or streaming platforms because it's so late period, Obama. It just feels like an era-specific thing as opposed to a year. You could have told me it dropped in like 2014 or 2016, and I would have believed you. But definitely mid-2000s. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Definitely second term Obama. Wait second term as well. Where I think people still thought like, oh, we're just going to elect Democrats forever. You know, they're always going to win the presidency. And there's a certain smugness that sets in because of that. And then Hamilton comes out of that moment. It feels very of that time.

Absolutely. I do remember the Hamilton tote bags in the first place I worked at in 2017. But on the flip side of that, like, you can make an argument that Ray Sremmered, Sremfer, life is the most 2015 now. Because it exists in the, there is a two-month period, the only two-month period of human history. where you can make a song called up like Trump that sounds and looks watch the video it is such an unbelievable time capsule of 12 of 2015 like kind of pre-golden uh staircase but if i'm going to pick the most 2015 album and try to set aside political or broader social conditions when i remember like the conditions of music writer twitter and what people would not shut the fuck up about in that

year it's got to be carly ray jepson's emotion oh yeah yeah which i'm a little surprised that that one uh escaped fell under maybe maybe not like uh intentionally but like that was kind of um what that reminds me of what it was like to be on twitter at that time and you know what it might be a great album for all i know um but it is something i just have not i again making the mistake it's only human where the people who talk about a certain record just annoy you so much that you just cannot bring yourself to listen to it or like it. And, you know, I'm sure it's great. People, I'm sure people are like genuine when they like it.

But yeah, this was sort of like this, this is the sort of thing that music writers could talk about before everything had to be about Donald Trump. Yeah, it was the, I don't know if it was the pinnacle of the poptimist versus Rockus Wars of the 2010s, but it was definitely a landmark moment. And it was, I think the moment when the pop-tomist side people started to realize that Carly Ray Jepson is not actually a pop star, that she makes pop music for a cult audience that consists, at least partly of music writers. And I feel like that was a turning point maybe in that conversation about her specifically and maybe even that conversation generally.

I mean, it was definitely, you know, that generation that you and I are a part of, that was very concerned about that sort of thing. And I feel like there was a younger generation coming in that wasn't interested in that conversation really at all. And it started to fade a little bit after that. And then, as you said, Trump comes in and that trumps everything, so to speak, in terms of the conversation. That's a good call, though, for most 2015 album. All right, let's get to our next category here. This, uh, when we talk about 2015 album that's aged the best for you.

And again, this is a record that maybe you liked in 2015, but now 10 years later, you like even more than you did back then. What is your pick for this? So I would say that like, it's not my favorite, but when you think about what came after and just this mode of like,

you know, kind of humorous and self-tebrose and self-deprecating songwriting. I mean, doesn't the Courtney Barnett album sound like really fresh and or just refreshing after like a decade of like Phoebe Bridgers knockoffs that's still ongoing? I would say that one. And also, you know, I think that she's put out records that are good, not great. Like, you know, if she's been putting out like her version of Believe I'm Going Down ever since. I think Joanna Newsom's aged well just because she's never followed it up.

So it's kind of by default. But I'm going to go with a little bit of recency bias here because I just saw the 10-year anniversary piece of it. But the, I guess, formerly known as Viet Kong self-titled album, there is so, so, so much mediocre post-punk made in this style. You know, some of it being made by preoccupations. And none of it is as catchy or as creative. This record just sounds awesome. I like the fact that maybe it can get a little bump from the fact that like the Cindy Lee album,

it's just so hard. It's just so wild to believe that the same band, women produced both that and Cindy Lee. So, I mean, it's kind of a personal one. I don't think it's like going to be this album that's viewed as a classic. I don't think it's an album that really spoke to what it was like to be in 2015.

But like, this is one that I can, I think the fact that like it had that controversy and was like, maybe underrated on year-end list because of it has made it kind of easy to revisit. I don't have a lot of baggage with it, oddly enough. Yeah, no, I think that's a good choice. I actually do feel like, I don't know if it'd be called a classic,

but that does feel like a record whose reputation has grown, certainly since 2015. It's interesting you bring up Courtney Barnett because Barnett and Carseed Headrest to me are in the same context in terms of feeling like they were going to be the standard bearers for the next 10 years when they emerged around this time. Obviously, you have teens of style from Carcy Hadrest that comes out in 2015, and then the next year, 2016, you get Teens of Denial, which is a great record.

And I think people look at that as the high water mark. And then since then, I don't know, they haven't put up many records. And, you know, make a door less open was the most recent Carseat Haddard rest album came out in 2020. Kind of a mess of a record, some good moments on it, but definitely felt like a step down. And like you said, it feels like Courtney Barnett's

output since that first proper record, she had the compilation of EPs that came out before that. It's been a little underwhelming. And if you had asked me in 2015, 2016, like who are you putting your money on to be like, okay, this is going to be the next legacy artist,

putting out just one great record after another, I would have bet on those two. And it just goes to show you never know. I mean, yeah, it's been a little underwhelming, I think, in the last 10 years for both of them. So for me in this category, I sort of went against what I said is the overarching trend for me,

which was establishment bands putting out like their third or fourth record. Because this is an album that I would have said, I would have grouped in that category in 2015, but I actually feel like 10 years later, this might be my favorite record by this band, or this artist, I should say. Now, I often say that about a lot of records by this artist,

but I'm going to say Destroyer, Poison Season, is a record I like a lot. And it's a record I liked in 2015, but I like it even more now. I mean, look, I think, I mean, we're going to have this conversation in a few months because there's a new destroyer record coming out, I think in March.

Dan's boogie, brilliant title. But to me, he's like one of the great artists of the last 25 years. And it's something that I liked him a lot 10 years ago. But I mean, his output in the last 10 years has been great. But I don't know. To me, he's like the closest thing in indie rock right now to like a Bob Dylan in terms of just like the breadth of his career

and just how he does things that seem bonkers sometimes, but then you look back on it, you're like, oh, wow, like, your blues is a great record, or, you know, whatever, him calling a song baloney. Like, oh, that's a pretty brilliant masterstroke. So that was my choice. Yeah, I don't remember listening to that out that much, because I think that was the follow-up for Caput, right?

Right, yeah, yeah. There was like a four-year break, and then he definitely, went in a different direction after Caput. Yeah, that's an album I have to revisit because, like, I would put it in the category of, like, believe I'm going down where it's like, man, I really like that last record. This one I'm not fucking with, but like it didn't strike me quite as strongly as the Kurt Vile record. So I'm down to revisit that one. So this next category, I wonder how much overlap there is.

I feel like there probably is some overlap with us since we were both boosters of this record. But 2015 album that aged the worst. I have two answers for this. One is a more personal one and one is a broader one. You might actually agree with me on both of these. But I'm curious, what's your answer for a 2015 album that age the worst? So, I mean, I know a lot of people are probably thinking it's got to be. art angels, right? Because of like, you know, everything Grimes has said or done since. But I revisit

this album, it's still incredible. It's like maddening how good Grimes was in her prime knowing what came next. But I mean, what album's age? Like, there's only one answer. Like, there is no other answer. And this is also a subject that we've been kind of mum about, like maybe talking more in the DMs. And I think this is true of everyone who wrote about this record positively. But it's got to be beach slang. This was probably my. number two that year and we all knew we were getting suckered at the time. Like I think

everyone who wrote about this kind of knew not that it was like a joke but it's like yeah I know that this is pandering to us. It's been three years since you Japan droids album. It's yeah we kind of knew but it felt nice to be pandered to for like you can say oh like a white guy who likes rock music

you don't feel like you're being pandered to but there was just it it just feels in the same way that like, you know, you felt like sleigh bells or like junior, senior, or whatever. I bought in. I, you know, buy the ticket,

take the ride. And, like, we need to have like every, all, like all the beach lying people, like me, you,

David Anthony, Dan Ozzie and just do like a podcast together when this album turns 10 to like a tone for what we've done. Yeah, you know, Speaking of Grantland, my last column ever for Grantland was about Beach Slang. That's how I went out at that. And I didn't have an official year-end list because I wasn't working at the end of 2015,

but I did post a list on Twitter. And lo and behold, my number one album was Beach Slang. And so, yeah, and then you couple in the whole cancellation aspect of the story, which we don't want to get too much into that. Yeah, that was the obvious answer for me. Although I did have an honorable mention for that year. And I feel like this has been a joke, maybe just between you and I for years,

but Tobias Jesso Jr., goon. I feel like it's a record that... I remember I wrote about that record for Grantland. I interviewed Tobias Jesso. And I remember in the moment talking to him and feeling like with all due respect, that he was a bit of a hymbo. And it made me like the record less.

So during the course of writing it, I went in thinking like, oh, this guy's kind of doing like a 70s pop, Todd Rungren, Randy Newman type thing. I like that kind of stuff. And then as I was writing it, it's that terrible feeling where you're like, I don't really even agree with what I'm saying here. But I'm kind of already committed.

So I got to finish it. off. I mean, Tobias Jesso, I don't feel bad taking shots at him because he went on to a very successful career as a songwriter and producer. Speaking of that Adele record, we were talking about 25, he had two writing credits on that record, which that alone, I'm sure, bought him a humongous house in California. And then all the other, he's worked on a ton of other big time pop records. So he's doing great. He's not going to be offended that I called him a hymbo on a podcast. I'm sure he's doing just fine.

Yeah, because of that, I wonder if, like, the album maybe, like, just holds up better than we would. I mean, I remember hearing Hollywood.

I'm like, this song is so fucking dumb. I can't believe. I mean, for, I guess for a certain type of person, that, hearing that was akin to us hearing beach slang.

If you're like, well, that was, that was like that for me. That was pandering to another side of me. Yeah. for sure. And then just realizing that, well, this is really, is this really good or is this just the collection of signifiers that appeal to me? Is Foxigen the Japan droids in that particular

like comparative? I don't know. I feel like that's the sort of album where, you know, maybe if people look back on it now, just because he never followed it up, they might feel a little more warmly to it than they otherwise would if he just made it. Wait a second. Are you defending Tobias Jesso? I'm like trying to find an angle. If not to not like maybe in in substance, but like in spirit. Like I can see an angle where people might, you know, just because he never did like a Courtney Barnett type thing where he just released kind of lesser versions of the same thing. I can see why people might say it.

But I'm just maybe I want to see just due to every other article we've been looking at lately. I want to see someone like dedicate themselves to some bullshit like in defense of Tobias Jesso Jr. Yeah. Well, again, I mean, the defense of him is that he's had a, he has had a long career since this record. I mean, he just isn't the frontline artist. He's just working behind the scenes and I'm sure he's making way more money doing that than he would have been putting out singer-songwriter indie rock records. So good for him. He won.

Good job for you, Tobias Jesso Jr. Wow, look at us. This is the nicest thing we've ever said about Tobias Jesso. We've made so many jokes at that dude's expense, and now we're praising the guy. 2025 is truly upside down. We've got to blow through these closing categories here a little quicker. We got tied up in the beachline thing.

There's some trauma there that we need to work through, some rock critic mental issues. Most influential 2015 album. I had two answers for this too. I'm curious, like, for you, what would be your choice for most influential album from this year? I mean, neither of these are their most beloved albums, but, you know, I thought, like, Alex G's beach music

and the Car Seat Headrest compilation were, like, their first albums on, like, Domino and Matador and so much music in the time since it sounded like it. I have two answers, like one indie track and one rap track. For indie rock, it's got to be, current, right? I mean, I think that's, and look, this is an alam I actually like less than loanerism, so you could talk, you can put that in the category of depression cherry and such.

But like, after current, man, like. But that's their biggest record. Yeah, that's the sound of festival filling, streaming, streaming slop that has continues to this day, taking their entire agenda from that record. It put Kevin Parker on like ASAP Rocky records and, um, I mean, are they still playing that record nonstop in like the lobbies of boutique L.A. hotels? The answer is yes.

That album is the like the boutique, the boutique L.A. Lobby Hotel record of all time. Well, now it's playing at a sweet green like, you know, when I went to Milwaukee in 2024 and they opened up sweet greens and like they were super excited about that or maybe that was 20, yeah, that was 2023. Yeah. Yeah, like you can, like the less I know the better is absolutely playing at the sweet green. And look, I'm a fan of that record.

I still love that record. I listen to it fairly often. It probably be my second favorite record of that year, honestly. But yeah, that was my honorable mention for Most Influential. The one rap one I'll bring up is Earl sweatshirts. I don't like shit. I don't go outside because so much critically acclaimed rap in the time since has sounded just like it, like drumless,

NYC, kind of mumbly, but like really introspective. And also I don't like shit. I don't go outside. Usually describes the people who like that music too. So, yeah,

under the radar choice, you know, in terms of like what we typically cover. But that's what I'm going with. Well, and for my main choice, I'm going outside, but we typically cover as well

because I do think that this record is influential, not just in a genre, but on pop music generally, especially now. with how country-fied everything is. And that record is Traveler by Chris Stapleton. You know, Stapleton coming in as this quasi-outlaw country type

that also has pot music, Bonifides, you know, I feel like that just set a template that a lot of other people have taken to the bank, whether it's Zach Bryan, whether it's Tyler Childers, even like Morgan Wallen to a degree, I feel like he's definitely more, he has more hip-hop influence in his music, but I think just that sort of hip,

updated new spin on like the country establishment singer, like that record, I think it was so big in its time, and I just feel like whatever currents is for indie rock or indie music, like that record is for country music and maybe pop country or, pop music in general. Yeah, that was a great choice. Like, it was one outside my scope, but like, yeah, if you're looking at like the landscape of pop music right now, it's extremely contri-fied,

will continue to be more. So that's a great choice. Let's do memory hold album here quick, before we talk about our favorite album of 2015. To me, this is only one choice here. Maybe you're going to have a different one, but it's got to be Donnie Trumpet in the social experiment. surf. Yeah, you mentioned the Earl Sweatshirt record before. On Rob's spreadsheet of like year endless, that record ranked higher than Earl Sweatshirt. It ranked higher than Wilco, Chris Stapleton, Casey Musgraves. It was sort of like in the group, I think it was like 29th. Best reviewed album of the era or it did the 29th album on Year Endless.

But it was like in the group with like Beach House and Deer Hunter and Jason Isb. Bill. Number 15 on Paas and Jop in between Miguel and Joanna Newsom. Oh, there was a Pausand Jop that year? I thought Paus and Jop was done. It apparently happened. Apparently happened. Emotion was number three, by the way. Of course. And that record did well because it was

associated with Chance the rapper, who in a way, feels like the most memory-holed superstar of the 2010s. So there's like a double memory hole thing going on there. I don't know. This is a record. that like does not exist anymore like I no one talks about this album no one references it it doesn't matter I would be curious to see if there is a 10 year anniversary record I mean maybe there is a generation of people you know like young chance to rapper fans who just love donnie trumpet in the social experiment but I don't know to me this is the memory hold record of the year

do you have a different choice I'm gonna say something different because like this is like kind of a funny memory like serve as a kind of a funny memory like serve as a kind of a funny memory hold album because of the, if it's name, and they also changed the name of the band or the project because of Donald Trump. Oh, that's true. I never thought of that. They did. That really happened.

Is that a play on Donald Trump? Are they referencing Donald Trump with Donnie Trumpet, or was there just a guy named Donnie Trumpet? And it was a little too similar to Donald Trump. Yeah. We need our chance. We need our chance heads to chime in, because I don't know the answer to that. We need our social experiment scholars to write in and explain.

this whole thing. It's sort of like when rappers were like, you know, he had like Noriega, Mussolini and, you know, one's named themselves after dictate, like tragedy, Gaddafi. But, yeah, I think that, like, that album was like, just because it wasn't a chance the rapper album by name, it was a little bit minor. But

this is, like, the absolute, like, there was no other possible answer. And we've been talking, but we, this is like our standard bear for memory hold albums to the point where it's like maybe having the opposite effect, but it's got to be comped in. Like, I can't think of an out, like aside for maybe outcasts, Idlewild, I cannot think of a rap album from like a living legend that was actually highly anticipated and had less impact on the culture.

I mean, this was the year that the Pimp a Butterfly came out. So, you know, people were checking for a Dr. Dre project, even if it wasn't detox. But straight up, I so want to see a 10 year anniversary piece on this one because I just, I mean, it showed up on your. endless. It got really well reviewed, but I cannot remember a fucking thing about it. Yeah, this was my honorable mention. And I was trying to figure out, like, was this put on title additional or something? I probably. I mean, I must have been on Apple Music because Dre, you know, beats by Dre. I mean, like, he has the association there. I just feel like in the moment that the record was hard to hear, because it was only on one platform. And maybe it was absolutely,

Apple Music, and I just didn't have Apple Music at the time. It was just like a weird release, like where, because it's, you know, in like a walled garden of one streaming platform that it gets forgotten a lot quicker, because there was like a week. No, I was on Apple Music and the iTunes store. That was, I think it was an exclusive. So, so, like, it wasn't on Spotify. It wasn't on any other platform. I think that hurt that record a lot.

And I wonder if it's still just on Apple Music and not anywhere else. I have a feeling of maybe it's on Spotify. I don't know if we want to look that up quick, Compton. But yeah, there was like a week, maybe not even a week, where that record was a big deal. And then you're right. Two weeks of Apple Music exclusivity. I'm looking at the Wikipedia.

And yeah, then it was gone forever. after that. Yeah, it's gone, it's a, as of June 2016, it has sold over 600,000 copies, so doing about like one 16th of what Adele's album did. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good answer. That was my honorable mention for sure from that year. All right. Favorite album of 2015. I'm just going to say before I reveal mine, that it wasn't on that little Twitter list that I posted and I put beach slang at number one. This album was not even in the top 10. And I don't understand. what the hell I was thinking back then. Because to me it's my obvious number one.

But I'm curious, like, what is your favorite album of 2015? All right. So number one in 2015. This was like by a very, very large margin. Maybe the largest margin of a number one, between number one and number two of any year. And, you know, you've already heard what number two was. But the world is a beautiful place.

And I'm no longer afraid to die's harmlessness was my favorite album of 2015. still is. I mean, it's a little hard to listen to sometimes knowing what, you know, kind of happened internally with the band. But that's like just peak emo revival, like, oh, maybe this can like produce something that is, you know, a Paa Zop Top 20 album. It's still amazing. It's unbelievable how good that album is.

If I had to pick a number two, though, like the one I've listened to the most, it's futures, Dirty Sprite 2. That is an album that really, um, that is an album that really, um, just captures like the nihilism and, you know, negativity of, I guess, the current day, but in 2015, I think that one holds up extremely well. So 2015 was a harmlessness slash DS2 year and 2025 still is. So that's what, those are my two picks. So, yeah, this album didn't make my top 10.

And I don't know why because in retrospect, it is the most me album of the year. And similar to you, you've picked a very Ian Cohen album. And you're like, nothing's really even close. And I'd say the same for me. It's Father John Misty. I love you, Honey Bear. To me, this is a record that did really well in Year Endless, so it was appreciated in the moment.

Apparently not by me, as much as I should have. But I don't know. To me, it's like the slam dunk timeless record from that time. Like if I was going to pick a classic, obviously to Pipp a Butterfly, I still think that's a great album. but I don't know for me the all-time classic album from that year is the Father John Misty record and I mentioned currents earlier I feel like that record it's easy to clown on it and we were

joking about how it's played and you know boutique LA hotels and what was that Milwaukee place sweet sweet green it's a it's a sweet greens yeah but you know there's a reason why It's played in all those places. It really works. It's a really well put together record. So, yeah, again, overall, 2015, a good year. Maybe not an all-time year. But, you know, it's fun to look back on music industry.

I cannot believe I love you. Were you that much of like a fear fun guy where it's like, this is actually kind of a letdown. Like, that just seems impossible to not. I think it was in my top ten. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what I was thinking.

Sometimes I get a little weird with my year-end list. where you overthink it. Yeah, you overthink it. And sometimes the album that you secretly love the most, you put it at number seven. You're just like, well, you know, maybe I'm a little sick of it by the end of the year. I've played it too much.

And I'm going to put this other record that I've just gotten into like in the last month. I'm going to put it at number three. And then you look at it 10 years later and you're like, I haven't even heard that album at number three since, you know, I made this list. So you never know, but you know, that's why it's fun to revisit these things. We now reach the part of our episode that we call Recommendation Corner,

where Ian and I talk about something that we're into this week. Ian, why don't you go first? All right, so I'm going with a band, like, and this is like a sort of a band that we, if I didn't put it in a Recommendation Corner, I'd probably nominate it for, you know, yay or nay. It's Maguai. Their 11th album, I believe, The Bad Fire. They've done a lot of soundtrack, so it could be their 11th album, their fourth, they've

just been around for a long time. and they're never a band I've done a deep dive with. My, on his beat, you know, on the Courtney Barnett tip, they've been a band that, like, you know, their debut is the best one, right? Young Team. And in the time since they've just kind of been around. And even then, like Young Team is an album.

I like the bands that it's influenced more than the album itself. But, you know what? Like, at a time like this when you just need something good to throw on and there isn't a whole lot that's out there that's really interesting me, Magwai, John Congleton producing, really hits the spot. You know, it's mostly instrumental. It does some cool production things.

It's very cinematic, but not in that corny. I love explosions in the sky, but it's more like post-rock, post-rock. Also, because we live in hell, I've already seen some reviews of this album try to politicize it. Like, you know, because the bad fire is a Scottish turn for hell.

It's like, oh, they saw the future. like we're we're legit politicizing magwai albums which are mostly instrumental um god help us all but good album though so i'm in the mode still where i'm catching up with records that came out at the end of 2024 so the record i'm going to be talking about actually came out in november uh but i wanted to talk about it this week it's called unraveling in your hands and it's by a british guitar player named jane of Blackshaw and look if I describe this record to you you probably know what you're going to be getting there's there's three songs on this record the title track is 27 minutes long the other two songs are you know in the six to eight minute range

very beautiful atmospheric instrumental guitar music definitely in that John Fahey Jack Rose school of records and Blackshaw actually briefly retired from music after his previous record. And it looked like he wasn't going to be recording again. And then he released this album. It was his first in nine years. And, you know, I listened to a fair amount of, like, instrumental guitar records,

and sometimes they can be a little interchangeable or, you know, sort of by the numbers. But Blackshaw, I think, really does create a mood with this record. And I think it helps that I'm listening to it in winter. And it's literally zero degrees outside. But it's a sunny winter day. If you live in a cold place, you know what that's like where it really looks actually like really beautiful when you look at the window. You see the snow on the ground and the sky's really blue and everything's kind of golden.

But it's just cold as hell. This is a record. If you live in that kind of climate, I think it pairs very well with it. So I'd say put it on. Have a nice cup of coffee. Maybe put a blanket over yourself. You know, like Mr. Potter and It's a Wonderful Life. Just treat yourself on Saturday morning, listen to this record.

I believe it's only on band camp. I don't think it's on streaming platforms. So you can stream it for free on band camp and then, you know, kick the guy some money. You know, he retired for music for a few years, for goodness sakes, because it's just hard out there for a musician. So pick him some money. It's worth it. It's a good record.

It's called, again, Unravel. in your hands by James Blackshaw. Yeah, it's like 30 degrees. It's like 32 degrees in the morning in San Diego still, so I know exactly what you're talking about. There you go. There you go, man. Cold life, cold life everywhere right now.

Thank you all for listening to this episode of Indycast. We'll be back with more news reviews and hashing out trends next week. And if you're looking for more music recommendations, sign up for the Indie Mixedape newsletter. You can go to uprocks.com backslash indie. And I recommend five albums per week. and we'll send it directly to your email box.