Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #1

#1 Entropy-Grimes Fet. Bleachers

So I'm just going to be really honest here I actually started composing this list at the end of March as more an unorganized Spotify play-list of tracks to kind of keep in mind whenever it came to be time to start writing up this list and in all honesty this was the very first song I saved to that list and since that day it hasn't left Number 1 and in all honesty the first time I heard this song I legitimately knew it was probably going to be the number 1 song of the year and here we are my number 1 pick of 2015 Enthropy by Grimes featuring Bleachers.

At it's core this song is nothing more than a 3 minute pop song lead by a very kind of tribal but steady percussion heavy beat that serves to kind of support Grimes light and airy vocals that are very VERY much the absolute blend of borderline diabetes sweet but also gruffy enough to give it's lyrics a bit of girth if not enhancing their kind of depressing tone of the lyrics and the midly heartbreaking expressions of, “Leave me Lonely,” which is kind of Grimes charm in a lot of ways.

What get's me is that this is actually the second time these acts have collaborated the first being one of Strange Desires more underrated cuts in the form of Take Me Away which Grimes kind of acted as the background note to Jack Antonoff and this song is almost like him deciding to take a back seat to her and instead he just acts as the producer.

There's something about this song for me that's difficult to really put into words because it has the most understated quality to it that you just feel like you're listening to the most special thing ever and ever since that first listen I just can't shake that feeling and no matter how many great songs I've heard this year and how many amazing shows I've seen this song just kind of can't be topped and even now looking back I legitimately can't think of another song I wanted to put at this spot and as such here we are my number 1 pick of 2015.

I hope you enjoyed reading this list as much as I enjoyed throwing it together if there was any songs you think I missed make sure to let me know either at my official Facebook page or even my own Twitter account but stay tuned because I may have an announcement come new years for the future of Sam's Song of the day but until then Happy Holiday's and enjoy the best song of 2015....

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #2

#2 Hands Down-The Greeting Committee

So I'm just going to say it now this group of Kansas City's finest had the best god damn summer this year that's for damn sure they got to open the Homegrown Buzz Showcase, Buzz Beachball,  Joywave, Civil Twilight, Bastile, the Wombats on select dates, managed to score an alternative radio smash here, they got a record deal with Harvest Records, and AAAAAND may have just recorded the great modern love song in the form of my #2 pick of the best song of the year.

Hands Down it's a very adorable little number that upon hearing you really feel like you've heard it somewhere but you can't quite put your finger on where it sounds just like every Teen Romance flick you ever hate watched and very ashamedly enjoyed with it's light hearted singing to sugary sweet lyrics that are just pure puppy dog romance in a tune there's an immediately special feeling you get when you hear this song and even now a year later I still get those warm fuzzy feelings when I hear this song and I'm so glad that I got to see them play it three times and even managed to yell out the 1,2,3,4 part after their, “Man oh man you're my best friend line,” which may have been the most bad ass thing ever,  because maybe just maybe these kids will do something big but until then enjoy Kansas City's breakthrough act of the year in this video of the first time I got to see them play it live.....

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #3

#3 Cocoon-Catfish and the Bottlemen

You know for being a band that's only been on the scene for a short period of time they've managed  to craft out some of the most strongly written and well performed songs that are a level of quality that give you this impression that they have been from a band that's been spending decades crafting these things but no it's only their second single and it already feels like a classic.

It's one of many songs that I got the joyous pleasure of getting to see live and it's an experience like that which solidified this songs place on my list because it's an amazingly simple song that's both heartbreaking and hopeful in it's expressions of, “Fuck it if they talk, fuck it if they try to get to us,” which is an instantaneously impacting line of lyrical awesomeness that you can't help but apply to a lot of things you've been through.

Really just great great music from a band that has a whole lot ahead of them and I can only be excited at the thought of them keeping such a streak or at the very least giving me plenty of opportunity to continually be blown away by this tune.

Also special shoutout to one Kayla Abell for capturing the footage.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #4

#4 Pitty Party-Melanie Martinez

This year had a lot of female representation for me and of all the ladies to come out of the blue and just grab the ball and run with it I'd have to give credit to this talented little pixie.

While I'll admit my review of Cry Baby as an album wasn't super spectacular and in retrospect it's proving to be a solid effort it's still not really to the expectations that this song just unexpectedly created and even now this song on it's own is just too damn good to ignore.

An interpretation of the Lesly Gore classic, “It's My Party,” this song has Melanie doing what she does best in singing about how fucked up and miserable her life is and in this song maybe more so then anything else she's recorded it works because of it's kind of droning but steady electronic beats that help make her voice in all of it's pissed off woe is me sounding way's work while she delivers plenty of lines about the feelings of being ditched on your birthday.

This song is in the business of misery and for Melanie business is damn good.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #5

#5 Wolves(You Got Me)-Dreamers

So this for me would be 2015's Demon Dance in that it's an amazingly old school sounding song that's the perfect blend of 90's feedback heavy alternative shoe-gazing rock and roll with some punk rock lyrical poetry that's an awkward series of metaphors for the torturingly crazy experience of falling in love and how it's like being thrown into a den of wolves learning to follow the pact and get use to that crazy feeling and the fucked up things to come.

It's a beautifully simple song that's just everything I love hearing in alternative music that's managed to constantly sound like the best classic song that reminds you of the day's of looking left of the dial and it's only bested by a few truly bad ass tunes that kind of edged it.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #6

#6 Octa-Hate-Ryn Weaver

You know love is an emotional rollercoaster people and for every peak there's a bitter low and probably more so then any other song this year for me personally there wasn't any other low that sounded nearly as good as this pounding little number from one Ryn Weaver.

This song is pretty simple it's a breakup song about the various emotional stringing along that we all deal with whenever we aren't completely over someone in the early stages of any break up and it's really driven so well in this song by not only Weavers really solidly auto-tuned vocal performance but it's tendency to just kind of unexpectedly slowdown and speed up it's tempo that give you these kind of thumping and aggressive parts to really give you an idea of just how much she means it whenever she exclaims, “I can't Take it, from the Day I saw my heart start breaking, No one saved me, I can't take it, can't belive I went and lost you baby.”

Really one of the best examples of production and performance really driving a song forward to create this odd little poppy bit of depressive joy even if her album as a whole wasn't nearly as instantaneously memorable nor solid as this song gave me hope to be but even so she managed to make a few solid numbers this year just this song in particular kind of stood so far up that I do have faith that she'll get some footing at some point especially if she can bust out another aggressively angry number like this.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #7

#7 Sorry-Meg Myers

OH MEG how I adore thee and love the fact that you finally released your debut major studio album and oh how it's filled with so many great choices, but whenever it came to trying to figure out which one of your angry ex-girlfriend singing those songs she wrote about you tunes to choose there really was only one that stuck around well enough to be considered one of the best.

Like I said prior this song is your angry ex but unlike your angry ex hearing this doesn't really give you any awkward feelings instead you just want to belt along because this is a very poppy approach at making a breakup tune that isn't as raw as her previous tunes but still isn't really anything to tooth-achingly poppy.

Really one of the best  heartbroken tunes I heard this year if not for the fact that I really more so enjoy singing along in the worst way's to it.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #8

#8 You've Got Spirit Kid-Coheed and Cambria

Somebody Call 2003 because these mother fuckers are back and 12 years of crafting conceptualized piece of work after complexly musical efforts have finally manged to give me undeniable proof that these guy's are the modern day Rush god damnit because this is THE MOST ROCK AND ROLL song released this year and from it's amazingly simple but solid guitar work to Claudio Sanchez's signature high pitched vocals you have a song that emits this 70s classic rock sound without sounding super cheesy or pretentious and it's probably the best thing they've made since their breakthrough all the way back and of course if you've gotten the pleasure of seeing it live you'll really know just why this song is so fucking amazing people.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #9

#9 Leave a Trace-CHRVCHES

So it's been about 2 years since this little collective of Glasgow's finest topped my year end list and while last years, “Get Away,” was and still is a spectacular cut it only really kind of served as a distraction before they had to make another, “Mother We Share,” and while, “Leave a Trace,” isn't quite  that it's still a spectacular cut none-the-less and an amazing experience to see live.

This song is kind of a very danceably disguised fuck you to all of Lauren Mayberry's critics in many ways and it's a showcasing of a more pop oriented direction that Every Open Eye as an album was quite a lighter take then The Bones of What You Believe which isn't a bad thing because it's still a solidly good effort that yielded a shit load of quality live tracks and a band that's honestly putting on a much better show then the year before.

These guy's really had one hell of year and I can only hope that they continue this trend of quality singles and albums.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #10

#10 Our Own House-Misterwives

One of the best shows I saw all year and the 10th best song of the year Misterwives have arrived people and this song is a pretty good follow-up to last years Reflections even if seeing it live a second time immediately following that song kind of showcased how similar it is to that song, but while that could be a source of complaint the crowd reaction alone to this song is proof that it deserves it's spot because this song is just the most decidedly racious thing you could possibly experience from this group.

This song is just pure fun at it's best and seeing a visible growth in quality since I first heard it back in December is just kind of mind blowing to think of people.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #11

#11 King Kunta-Kendrick Lamar

I'm not going to lie the first five tracks of this album was probably the best god damn thing I heard album wise ALL YEAR and yet for some reason or another I keep dipping out of this awesome bit of G-funk heavy amazing and only find myself randomly getting reminded of the heaviest and most consistently great rap album I've heard since J. Cole's, “Born Sinner,” but unlike that album this one I found right in the ripe of it's cultural importance and while I'm not going to get into it this was the most  currently relevant message made all year and this song is just one of MANY great cuts that I had to choose from and while I personally prefer Wesley's Theory for both it's sampling of Boris Gardner's, “Every Nigger is a Star,” but it's pure fast paced interestingly lyrical cut I just kind of found this to be a song that could stand on it's own as a single rather then that one which just kind of sucks you in and is like the rock you trip over before falling into the rabbit hole.

I'd honestly have this higher but it's my own personal lack of consistency in listening to the album in question that has it just barely miss out on the top 10.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #12

#12 Song's I can't Listen To-Neon Tree's

YOU know Tyler Glenn it's kind of cruel to release a new single out of the blue during an awkward point of the year for me and then proceed to not do a god damn thing afterwards.

This song is like a bridge between the super 80's new wave punky tones of Picture Show with a slight poppy tone that heavily dominated Pop Psychology without sounding like an unnecessary b-side and it's fucking awesome but it's like getting teased by the finest girl you'd ever seen because it came kicked ass and just left me wanting more but no I haven't gotten another tune or any news of more new music to come.....songs still great though and definitely every time I find myself randomly hearing it I find myself just getting blown away with each subsequent listen.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #13

#13 Drum + Fife-The Smashing Pumpkins

So I got to see Billy Corgan and company this year and I got to see them play this song and it was FUCKING GREAT!!!!!! but sadly even with that in mind it was hard to really place this song that high on my list of the best of because it's only really on here because it got a really solid amount of radio play in the early part of the year but kind of sadly fell off the radar a lot like Being Beige last year but even with that in mind it's a solidly well done song from an album that wasn't the best of the Teargarden project but its something that I'm sure will grow in appreciation over time and this song even while not the best stuff Corgan has made it's still a great song none-the-less and the fact that he dedicates it to our veterans before every performance is a pretty good PR move.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #14

#14 OutRight-Wild Party

So of all the random kind of indie rock radio friendly new-wavey rockers to kind of come and go but be awesome as fuck while they were here I'd have to say that it'd be this song.

It really is just a simple but great little rocker that had some mild radio success in my area and in a lot of way's has a kind of Oasis with synthesizers charm that is in it's amazing hook of a chorus and it's kind of classic feel that you can't help but love especially if you're kind of a sucker for some real old school alternative rock like myself.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #15

#15 Talking Body-Tove Lo

So while Habits was a very accessibly good song that showed some radio promise this song is just pure guilty pleasure dirty dance pop gold people and while I'm a bit disappointed that Tove Lo was more sugar coated pop then I'd honestly of expected from her first single this song in the grander scheme of things is still a pretty damn catchy number that I rotated quite a bit to the point where it was my most streamed track on Spotify this year apparently but even so I still do enjoy giving this a listen from time to time.

It's not a subtle track by any means and its pure unadulterated dirty fun that you can do all sorts of grooving to and it managed to get her out of the one hit wonder category of singers so credit to her for managing to maintain a steady presence.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #16

#16 Walk Alone-Hembree

I went to a shit load of concerts this year and while last year had plenty of amazing moments I felt something different this year because while I've been very distant about things in terms of the music I'm writing about and the direction of my blog and life there's a certain closeness that I've developed with Kansas City that kind of really became a thing whenever I went to the Homegrown Buzz Showcase and saw these guy's for the second time because not only did I realize that Kansas City is bringing us some great great bands but getting to really talk to bands and getting to really communicate with a group gives you a sense of closeness that is really quite crazy to think about and the fact that these guy's have supported my own spreading of their awesomely jammy tunes.

This song really is a gem of a tune it's something you can both groove to and get your rock on and I often find myself repeating it's chorus all the time this really is music courtesy of the soon to be new music capital of the world Kansas City.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #17

#17 Heavydirtysoul-Twenty One Pilots

So for some reason or another this group of beat poetry spewing Caucasian rockers managed to not only have a number 1 album but kind of become the breakout rock act of the year and have been just selling out places you honestly couldn't of imagined these two even being able to play not only a few years ago.

While I'd admit that I'm not one to really be considered a fan of them they did manage to craft some delightfully amusing tracks on an otherwise bland album and none really kind of stick out in terms of sheer awesomeness more so then the opening track Heavydirtysoul which is a very wall of sound kind of breakneck series of verses just rapidly shot at you before entering a very earwormingly catchy chorus that's bound to keep you hooked and ready to go along with the ride.

And to think only a few years ago somebody stole their car radio and now they just sit in a full arena....

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #18

#18 Moms and Dads-WATERS

One of the more pleasantly surprising opening acts I saw this year and a good example of giving a group a shot WATERS seemed to just come out of nowhere for me really and in a very Grouplove style just kind of weaseled their way in to my collective listening habits with a solidly good album that really has yielded quite a bit of good singles but oddly enough when coming up with this list I found this little ode to having to go back to your parents a particularly strong cut that I couldn't help but want to mention because their album What's Real is a super solid collection of tunes and it's really saying something that such a random track can be so good when you give it a shot.

These guy's are a fun and great collective if you get the chance to meet them they'll sell you in a heartbeat if their music hasn't done it already and luckily for me I managed to come across a video of when I got to see them perform this live along with an amusing little cover....

 

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #19

#19 Jealousy-Robert DeLong

Holy shit this song is just pure energetic awesomeness from one of the more surprising and awesomely danceable shows I've been to this year and yet another solid cut from a guy that's been really shaping himself up as a formitable musical act over the past few years.

This song is just a very dance heavy number that'll leave bodies moving and grooving in every good way you could possibly want and one of those instantaneously great tunes that I heard once and just couldn't forget.