Year in Rock 2015: And the Winners Are...
Before we get around to handing out awards, I wanted to take a minute to say how much I appreciate you reading this. As a project I work on in my free time and without compensation, it's sometimes difficult for me to find the ambition required to generate content for Sound Bites; however, knowing there are people like you who like to stop by from time to time, I know the effort is that much more worth it. When this site launched a little over four years ago, I never would have guessed that it would ever amass 40,000 pageviews, much less so soon. With your support, though, it recently did just that; while numbers like this likely don't mean much to the bigger sites that pay people to churn out posts, it's damn sure a big deal to me. So thanks again for making Sound Bites a rousing personal success for me, and I hope I can continue to keep you all entertained and informed for many years to come.
Okay, enough mushy talk, let's crown some champs!
NEW ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Courtney Barnett, Bully, Highly Suspect, Meg Myers, Wolf Alice)
The winner of Sound Bites' New Artist Recording of the Year is Pedestrian At Best by Courtney Barnett!
The Aussie songstress had a banner year in 2015, releasing her debut record in March and conquering the world at festivals worldwide over the summer. Now, at year's end, she's placing high on many critics' best-ofs, and in my mind was a clear no-brainer as recipient of New Artist Recording of the Year.
SOLO ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Courtney Barnett, Chris Cornell, Matthew Good, Meg Myers, Joel Plaskett)
The winner of Sound Bites' Solo Artist Recording of the Year is Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart by Chris Cornell!
Though his latest solo record Higher Truth was a little too chill for my tastes, its lead single is a thing of majestic beauty, its sparse acoustics trumped up larger than life by its backing ensemble. To say there aren't a lot of songs like it on the record doesn't so much sell the album short as it does set the rest of it up for relative disappointment, such is the masterful quality of Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart.
COMEBACK RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Blur, Failure, New Order, Refused, Sleater-Kinney)
The winner of Sound Bites' Comeback Recording of the Year is A New Wave by Sleater-Kinney!
A lot of bands returned from hiatuses in fine form this year (including two I hastily nominated off singles alone last year in Faith No More and winner Veruca Salt), but only one came back with such a remarkable career highlight as Sleater-Kinney.
CANADIAN RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Cancer Bats, Finger Eleven, Matthew Good, I Mother Earth, Joel Plaskett)
The winner of Sound Bites' Canadian Recording of the Year is True Zero by Cancer Bats!
The nominees in this category alone show the wealth of talent Canada has to offer, and Cancer Bats have built up a loyal following not only across the country, but internationally as well. The punishing riffs and hopeful outlook they offer hit a real sweet spot this year on True Zero, a cathartic and inspirational rallying cry to find our way out of the darkness.
HEAVY RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Baroness, Cancer Bats, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes, Ghost, Lamb of God)
The winner of Sound Bites' Heavy Recording of the Year is Cirice by Ghost!
While some of their earlier work struck me as kind of silly, the quality of tunes on Meliora made me give Sweden's biggest heavy music exports some serious considerations. Yes, the shtick is still there, but now it's accompanied by music that's not just spooky and aggressive, but also bombastic, assured and with its full melodic capabilities realized. Cirice is the album's best example of that, and as shining an example I can recall in recent years of the full potential "metal" has when it stretches its boundaries beyond many fans' acceptable comfort levels.
SONG OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Courtney Barnett, Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, Blur, Built to Spill, Cage the Elephant, Cancer Bats, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes, Clutch, Coheed and Cambria, Chris Cornell, Dawes, Dead Sara, The Dead Weather, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Failure, Faith No More, FIDLAR, Foals, The Front Bottoms, Ghost, Matthew Good, The Helio Sequence, Highly Suspect, Lamb of God, Marilyn Manson, Metz, Modest Mouse, The Motorleague, The Mountain Goats, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Meg Myers, Joel Plaskett, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Refused, Royal Thunder, Screaming Females, Silversun Pickups, Sleater-Kinney, Speedy Ortiz, The Stanfields, The Sword, Titus Andronicus, Torche, The Vaccines, Veruca Salt, Wolf Alice)
The winner of Sound Bites' Song of the Year for 2015 is Mona Lisa by Dead Sara!
Man, what a tough category this year. There were a lot of songs I loved and continued to go back to this year, but I chose Mona Lisa because it's everything I love in a song and a perfect microcosm of what makes Dead Sara such an exciting emerging band. The sweetness and the fury, the feather and the whip, groove and thrash, it's all there in one whirlwind monster of a song.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Courtney Barnett, Between the Buried and Me, Cancer Bats, Clutch, Coheed and Cambria, Dead Sara, The Dead Weather, The Decemberists, Faith No More, FIDLAR, Ghost, Lamb of God, Marilyn Manson, The Motorleague, My Morning Jacket, Meg Myers, Joel Plaskett, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Royal Thunder, Screaming Females, Sleater-Kinney, Titus Andronicus, Torche, Veruca Salt, Wolf Alice)
When choosing Album of the Year, I often go into December wrestling over three or four choices, eventually whittling it down to two front runners before making a last-minute decision that I hope I can live with going forward. This year was a little different, because I went into December with only one clear choice.
In spring, I wrote about how women made their mark on rock (and my listening habits) in such a big way this year; a host of great records were made by women this year, but one in particular had me pressing play again and again. So, when I threw 25 CDs in my old CD Plus bag about a week ago, I was essentially giving 24 albums the chance to change my mind. Put simply, the award was hers to lose, and I can say now with confidence that she didn't.
The winner of Sound Bites' Album of the Year for 2015 is Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett!
For posterity, here's how my top 10 albums ended up looking:
1. Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
2. Clutch: Psychic Warfare
3. Dead Sara: Pleasure to Meet You
4. Royal Thunder: Crooked Doors
5. Titus Andronicus: The Most Lamentable Tragedy
6. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities To Love
7. Faith No More: Sol Invictus
8. Veruca Salt: Ghost Notes
9. Ghost: Meliora
10. The Dead Weather: Dodge & Burn
With that, there's only one thing left to do, and that's look forward. Next Monday, we take a peek at what we can expect from Year in Rock 2016. Thanks again for reading and rocking out in 2015.
Okay, enough mushy talk, let's crown some champs!
NEW ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Courtney Barnett, Bully, Highly Suspect, Meg Myers, Wolf Alice)
The winner of Sound Bites' New Artist Recording of the Year is Pedestrian At Best by Courtney Barnett!
The Aussie songstress had a banner year in 2015, releasing her debut record in March and conquering the world at festivals worldwide over the summer. Now, at year's end, she's placing high on many critics' best-ofs, and in my mind was a clear no-brainer as recipient of New Artist Recording of the Year.
SOLO ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Courtney Barnett, Chris Cornell, Matthew Good, Meg Myers, Joel Plaskett)
The winner of Sound Bites' Solo Artist Recording of the Year is Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart by Chris Cornell!
Though his latest solo record Higher Truth was a little too chill for my tastes, its lead single is a thing of majestic beauty, its sparse acoustics trumped up larger than life by its backing ensemble. To say there aren't a lot of songs like it on the record doesn't so much sell the album short as it does set the rest of it up for relative disappointment, such is the masterful quality of Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart.
COMEBACK RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Blur, Failure, New Order, Refused, Sleater-Kinney)
The winner of Sound Bites' Comeback Recording of the Year is A New Wave by Sleater-Kinney!
A lot of bands returned from hiatuses in fine form this year (including two I hastily nominated off singles alone last year in Faith No More and winner Veruca Salt), but only one came back with such a remarkable career highlight as Sleater-Kinney.
CANADIAN RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Cancer Bats, Finger Eleven, Matthew Good, I Mother Earth, Joel Plaskett)
The winner of Sound Bites' Canadian Recording of the Year is True Zero by Cancer Bats!
The nominees in this category alone show the wealth of talent Canada has to offer, and Cancer Bats have built up a loyal following not only across the country, but internationally as well. The punishing riffs and hopeful outlook they offer hit a real sweet spot this year on True Zero, a cathartic and inspirational rallying cry to find our way out of the darkness.
HEAVY RECORDING OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Baroness, Cancer Bats, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes, Ghost, Lamb of God)
The winner of Sound Bites' Heavy Recording of the Year is Cirice by Ghost!
While some of their earlier work struck me as kind of silly, the quality of tunes on Meliora made me give Sweden's biggest heavy music exports some serious considerations. Yes, the shtick is still there, but now it's accompanied by music that's not just spooky and aggressive, but also bombastic, assured and with its full melodic capabilities realized. Cirice is the album's best example of that, and as shining an example I can recall in recent years of the full potential "metal" has when it stretches its boundaries beyond many fans' acceptable comfort levels.
SONG OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Courtney Barnett, Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, Blur, Built to Spill, Cage the Elephant, Cancer Bats, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes, Clutch, Coheed and Cambria, Chris Cornell, Dawes, Dead Sara, The Dead Weather, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, Failure, Faith No More, FIDLAR, Foals, The Front Bottoms, Ghost, Matthew Good, The Helio Sequence, Highly Suspect, Lamb of God, Marilyn Manson, Metz, Modest Mouse, The Motorleague, The Mountain Goats, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Meg Myers, Joel Plaskett, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Refused, Royal Thunder, Screaming Females, Silversun Pickups, Sleater-Kinney, Speedy Ortiz, The Stanfields, The Sword, Titus Andronicus, Torche, The Vaccines, Veruca Salt, Wolf Alice)
The winner of Sound Bites' Song of the Year for 2015 is Mona Lisa by Dead Sara!
Man, what a tough category this year. There were a lot of songs I loved and continued to go back to this year, but I chose Mona Lisa because it's everything I love in a song and a perfect microcosm of what makes Dead Sara such an exciting emerging band. The sweetness and the fury, the feather and the whip, groove and thrash, it's all there in one whirlwind monster of a song.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
(Nominees: Courtney Barnett, Between the Buried and Me, Cancer Bats, Clutch, Coheed and Cambria, Dead Sara, The Dead Weather, The Decemberists, Faith No More, FIDLAR, Ghost, Lamb of God, Marilyn Manson, The Motorleague, My Morning Jacket, Meg Myers, Joel Plaskett, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Royal Thunder, Screaming Females, Sleater-Kinney, Titus Andronicus, Torche, Veruca Salt, Wolf Alice)
When choosing Album of the Year, I often go into December wrestling over three or four choices, eventually whittling it down to two front runners before making a last-minute decision that I hope I can live with going forward. This year was a little different, because I went into December with only one clear choice.
In spring, I wrote about how women made their mark on rock (and my listening habits) in such a big way this year; a host of great records were made by women this year, but one in particular had me pressing play again and again. So, when I threw 25 CDs in my old CD Plus bag about a week ago, I was essentially giving 24 albums the chance to change my mind. Put simply, the award was hers to lose, and I can say now with confidence that she didn't.
The winner of Sound Bites' Album of the Year for 2015 is Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit by Courtney Barnett!
For posterity, here's how my top 10 albums ended up looking:
1. Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
2. Clutch: Psychic Warfare
3. Dead Sara: Pleasure to Meet You
4. Royal Thunder: Crooked Doors
5. Titus Andronicus: The Most Lamentable Tragedy
6. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities To Love
7. Faith No More: Sol Invictus
8. Veruca Salt: Ghost Notes
9. Ghost: Meliora
10. The Dead Weather: Dodge & Burn
With that, there's only one thing left to do, and that's look forward. Next Monday, we take a peek at what we can expect from Year in Rock 2016. Thanks again for reading and rocking out in 2015.
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