2015: a year that began with the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and Hypercacher, and ended with regional elections that resembled a democratic suicide. A year during which music, usually a collective outlet and a refuge for healing emotional wounds, found itself on a November evening targeted by a fascist and dehumanized ideology. A year with an undeniably hedonistic soundtrack.
Tame Impala - Currents
Having introduced more disco elements to his psychedelic rock, Australian Kevin Parker - the man behind the scores, pencils, mixing console, guitar, bass, drums, and synths of Tame Impala - hit the jackpot in virtually all year-end rankings, and deservedly so. Currents is thus filled with both soaring and danceable hits, which his high-pitched voice bathes in an undeniable erotic dimension. And speaking of eroticism, he also gave us the music video of the year with The Less I Know The Better, an adolescent anthem worthy of the Bee Gees.
New Order - Music Complete
The techno-cold-wave veterans still have it in their rhythm section! Uneven and schizophrenic - the left brain in industrial wasteland, the right on the dance floor - Music Complete is nonetheless an album perfectly in tune with the times, oscillating between the best of electro-pop and the most sophisticated indie rock. We'll forgive Barney and his band, now missing a sulking Hooky playing alone in his corner grumbling, the occasional missteps that pepper the album, especially since they highlight the excellence of Restless, Academic and Nothing But A Fool, all wrapped in one of the most beautiful covers of the decade.
Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
The Australian artist beautifully confirms the hopes placed in her with her first album, A Sea Of Split Peas, released in 2013. Her somewhat nonchalant flow hypnotizes, her storytelling moves, her guitar gets straight to the point, her melodies hit the mark: it doesn't take long to want to make her your best friend and explore with her the lost corners she illuminates with a little story or a sketch. With a largely positive hit-factor/filler ratio, Sometimes I Sit … is the ultimate road trip album. Let's go!
Django Django - Born Under Saturn
In the realm of the quirky, the Anglo-Irish-Scottish band made a strong impression with their self-titled debut album released in 2012: an unclassifiable mix of pop, surf, world, psych, folk, prog, trip hop..., in short, Marsupilami rock. Born Under Saturn clearly takes a turn towards a more formatted pop, without losing any creativity, a kind of Alt-J on acid. The biggest change for us is that we can now hum Django Django in the shower and run into them at clubs. For Django Django, no more intimate venues, they're heading for stadiums!
Albert Hammond Jr - Momentary Masters
Born with a silver pick in his mouth, Junior doesn't know how to do much else but rock. An orphan of the band-that-reinvented-rock&roll at the beginning of the new millennium, he therefore has no choice but to pursue a solo career, which has been in the background until now but is gaining momentum with this 3rd album. As for leather jackets, Stratocasters, sharp riffs, and skinny drummers, nothing is missing. It's on the vocal side that we see a new assurance, a more assumed personality, a kind of Michael Stipe singing The Strokes, to our great delight. We can't wait for what's next.
