Albums of the Year: Honorable Mention Edition

First of all, let me make it clear that these are not necessarily the best or most popular or most significant albums of 2015. These are my favorite albums that I have listened to more than once or twice. It's my list.

I'll link to the album spotlights and interviews from this blog. There won't be any commentary in this post.

The list would be shorter if I were genre specific or only listened to mainstream stuff. This is about good music that I like. And I don't listen to much of anything mainstream. I listed my favorite albums of 2015 and came up with 24. This honorable mention list will include the 14 that didn't make the top ten.

The artist's name will link to my posts, the album name will link to the artist's web site.

In no particular order:

Plastic Rhino - Recondition

Jonathan Tyler - Holy Smokes

Lindi Ortega - Faded Gloryville

Frankie Bourne - Californicana

Samantha Fish - Wild Heart

Koritni - Night Goes On For Days

Europe - War of Kings

Striking Matches - Nothing But The Silence

Allison Moorer - Down To Believing

Gretchen Peters - Blackbirds

Butch Walker - Afraid of Ghosts

Brandi Carlile - The Firewatcher's Daughter

honeyhoney - 3

Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffian's Misfortune

Look for my top 10 coming out later this month.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

You've seen some of this in previous posts, but here's all the music I've been loving the past week:

Stumbled upon this Seattle-based alt rock/Americana singer/songwriter on Bandcamp.

Here's Kate Lynne Logan with "Whiskey Sea" from her album Animal Dreams.



Maybe because it's February, it seems like what I've been loving lately has been on the more melancholy introspective side. But the new Butch Walker record Afraid of Ghosts is so good. I wrote more about it here. This is what may or may not be my favorite track, "21+".



I promise more diversity next time, but this really is what I'm loving right now. So here's another singer/songwriter. From her Blackbirds album, here is Gretchen Peters with "Black Ribbons".



Sometimes I don't even remember how I find stuff. This is the case with Salvation Jayne, a blues rock outfit hailing from Kent, England. This is "Black Eyes" from their three song digital record I'll Be Damned! Good stuff if you like your blues a little rocked out and dirty.



Lastly, this one comes from an album I've been looking forward to for months. The latest Blackberry Smoke record Holding All The Roses came out last week. I was not disappointed. These countrified Southern rockers delivered. Here's "Let Me Help You (Find The Door)". Warning: a couple of maybe NSFW words, depending on where you're at.



That's what I've been loving. Hope I at least expanded you musical horizons beyond what's played on the radio.

New Music Tuesday with Gretchen Peters

Singer/songwriter Gretchen Peters' new album Blackbirds came out today. It's good. Here's a sample.